New members as party modernisers: The case of the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland

Amid the literature on members of political parties, surprisingly little has been written on the potential or actual impacts that can be made upon party strategy or policies by a rapid influx of new members. New joiners may have different outlooks and desires than long-standing members. Although already sympathetic to the party they are joining, new arrivals, if signing up in large numbers, may hold sufficiently revisionist views to be able to re-orientate a political party in a direction not previously taken. Using data from the first-ever membership survey of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland, the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly since 2003 and the fourth largest UK parliamentary party since 2005, this article analyses whether more recent joiners of the Party have brought greater pragmatism and moderation to an organisation previously dominated by hardline political, religious and ethnic attitudes. Modernisation from outsiders who become insiders can be a key aspect of party development. The DUP offers one of the stiffest tests of modernisation, given its history of opposition to moderation. This article shows that newer members have tempered beliefs in one of the most robustly ethno-religious parties in Europe.     

"三队一室"运作模式的警务价值评析

派出所工作是公安基层基础建设中最重要的一环.派出所"三队一室"警务模式改革,解决了长期困扰基层派出所工作运行中的警力难以下沉、机构设置不合理、职能分配不明确、勤务效率不高、防范不到位、打击不及时等突出问题,保证了基层基础工作在"大防范"中的基础性、先导性战略地位,有利于形成统一、高效、完整的现代警务运行机制.     

加强对"三类案件"的防控和侦查预警深挖和打击黑恶势力犯罪

黑恶势力犯罪是新时期刑事犯罪最突出的表现形式.近年来,黑恶势力犯罪表现较多的就是寻衅滋事、聚众斗殴和故意伤害案件(简称"三类"案件).因此,准确把握"三类"案件与黑恶势力之间的关联,确立对策措施,加大打击防范力度,对有效预防、控制和打击黑恶势力犯罪具有十分重要的意义.     

论个性化执政值得推崇——从“仇和现象”谈起

"仇和现象"引发了人们对个性化执政的思考.个性化执政是国家的大政方针与当地具体实际的最佳结合,是领导者个人主动性和创造性的高度发挥,是领导者的领导活动富有魅力和特色,是领导者大有作为创造出为老百姓称道的实绩,是领导者对人民竭忠尽智的无私奉献.我们这个时代呼唤个性化执政,同时为个性化执政提供了广阔的生存空间.个性化执政是提高党的执政能力的内在要求,是执政能力建设的一种趋势和方向.个性化执政符合社会主义民主政治和公众的要求.我们不能简单化地将个性化执政理解为人治,个性化执政恰恰是通向法治的必经之途.     

Bases That Leave: Consequences of US Base Closures and Realignments in South Korea

ABSTRACT

Contrary to ample attention on American military base closures at home, the consequences of base closures abroad remain under-examined even as the American military continues to adjust its global force posture. South Korea, the third biggest host of US military bases overseas, is an under-investigated case despite offering useful insights applicable to other US base hosts. This article examines short-term local-level consequences of US base departures in South Korea, with a focus on environmental and redevelopment challenges that shape the political and economic fate of former base sites. Detailed analyses and interviews on the oft-overlooked fate of multiple post-military sites draw a rather unsettling picture: Most sites remain empty, temporarily deserted and heavily contaminated spaces plagued by redevelopment difficulties. When overseas American bases are closed, they leave problems behind and those problems persist long after base sites return to host communities.     

Ghana's elections of 7 December 2016: A post-mortem

Ghana went to presidential and parliamentary polls on 7 December 2016, leading to the defeat of President John Mahama and the National Democratic Congress government by the opposition, the New Patriotic Party led by Nana Akufo-Addo. The outcome of the elections therefore followed in the same vein as those held in Ghana in 2000 and 2008, in which the incumbent party lost to the opposition. This article is based on a desk study review of the 2016 elections. There is a brief overview of the state of affairs in Ghana's electoral politics, followed by a discussion of Ghana's electoral reforms, the organisation and management of the elections, the candidates and the campaigns, and the outcome of the elections, as well as some of the challenges that faced the transition process.     

From rebels to politicians: Explaining the transformation of the RCD-Goma and the MLC in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

This article analyses the transformation of two former Congolese rebel groups, namely the Congolese Rally for Democracy–Goma (RCD-Goma) and the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC), into political parties following the conclusion of the Second Congo War (1998–2003) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is argued that three sets of factors influenced the process of the political transformation of the RCD-Goma and the MLC. These factors related to the stabilisation process that unfolded in the country starting with the signing of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement in July 1999, the make-up and the behaviour of the rebel groups involved as well as changes in international politics, especially the advent of the Bush administration to power in the United States in January 2001, which led to increased international pressure on Rwanda and Uganda to desist from interfering in Congolese internal affairs and the strengthening of the United Nations' peace efforts in the DRC.     

秦汉社会势力及其官僚化问题——以商人为中心的探讨

社会势力的产生是古代国家与社会关系发展过程中的必然现象。国家既利用掌握政治、经济、文化等资源的特殊地位实施统治,注重吸收、改造、利用、动员、协调各种社会力量服务于国家,又对各种可能危害统治阶级的社会势力实施控制、打击,这是我们常见的国家与社会势力之间既相统一又相矛盾的现象。实际上,历代国家的盛衰,都与其能否处理好与各种社会势力的关系有关。秦汉社会势力因其身份构成的不同、所处历史时期的不同而与国家政权的关系十分复杂而微妙,商人就是其中的代表之一。     

Japan’s new role in peace-building missions

Japan’s policy towards peace operations has been in a state of evolution. One of the issues on its peace operations policy was that the Japanese Government tended too much attention to possible tasks involving the Self Defense Forces (SDF). However, the Japanese society should consider the possibility of its participation in peace operations in the wider framework, such as multifunctional peace-building missions. In fact, the concept of peace-building is compatible with UN Millennium Declaration in 2000, and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also recommends that peace-building should be included as one of the priority issues in Japan's new policy on Official Development Assistance (ODA). Meanwhile, Japan will be required to participate in peace-building with the framework of multinational forces as well as the United Nations in the current post-9/11 era, such as its current mission in Iraq.