Two perspectives on Zimbabwe's National Democratic Revolution: Thabo Mbeki and Wilfred Mhanda

The concept of the ‘National Democratic Revolution’ (NDR) is often used by left-leaning scholars and political actors in attempts to explain or justify the lack of socialism in third-world societies governed by rulers who consider themselves ‘scientific socialists’. It has been invoked in analyses of Zimbabwe by both the former president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, in 2001 as he was embarking on his ‘quiet diplomacy’, and Wilfred Mhanda, a Zimbabwean guerrilla leader imprisoned by the Mozambican government in the late-1970s for posing problems to the leadership aspirations of Robert Mugabe, who later became president of the country posing problems for Thabo Mbeki among others. Analysis of both these political intellectuals’ writing sheds light on the concept of the NDR (evoked often in contemporary South African politics and Zimbabwean discourse about the current crisis) as well as the theoretical and practical aspects of the authors’ careers.     

Within,Above, and Beyond: Churches and Religious Civil Society Activism in South Kivu

In South Kivu in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), various church actors have chosen to involve in advocacy and mobilization through a formalized civil society structure known as La Société Civile (LSC). In this article, we explore the relationship between the churches and civil society in Eastern DRC, paying particular attention to why this cooperation has taken such a formalized expression, the motivations of church actors to become involved in LSC and, finally, how this relationship between different civil society actors has underpinned various peacebuilding efforts at the local, provincial, and national scale.     

Anarchy in the UK(‘s most famous fortress): comradeship and cupidity in Gibraltar and neighbouring Spain, 1890–1902

This article is the first to investigate the growth of anarchist ideology and tactics in Gibraltar and the surrounding Spanish region, the Campo de Gibraltar, in the period 1890–1902. We draw upon hitherto unused material from both The National Archives in London and the Gibraltar Government Archives. By doing so, we demonstrate that during this period Gibraltarian and Spanish workers came together, not only to defend and advance their interests by direct action, such as strikes and attacks on employers, but also to advance educational and social causes too. Indeed, by 1898–1899, the appeal of this movement was so strong that an attempt by the British Social Democratic Federation to establish a more constitutionalist approach to industrial relations failed. By 1902, the power of anarchist movements and tactics concerned employers in Gibraltar, so greatly that they engineered a lockout – styled a general strike by local workers – and successfully smashed the organising power of the local movement. Meanwhile, on the Spanish side of the frontier, a massacre engineered by the local Spanish authorities resulted in the deaths of a number of activists and a hiatus in the movement that would last until the Great War of 1914–1918.     

从政治营销的视角看台湾民主：以民进党的实力消长为例

20世纪90年代以来，台湾社会的民主化发展取得了相当重要的成就，两次政党轮替已经使台湾民主逐步走向成熟。但是，台湾民主的发展仍然存在诸多问题，台湾民主的“异化”现象更是备受关注。在台湾民主日益成熟且相对稳定的情况下，深入理解台湾民主“异化”的原因，对于全面认识台湾民主政治，促进两岸关系的和平发展，具有重要的理论意义和实践价值。本文运用政治营销的相关概念，以民进党的实力消长为例，尝试探讨台湾民主“异化”的原因，并从新的视角解析和理解台湾民主问题。     

Champions of the poor or “militant fighters for a better pay cheque”? Teacher unionism in Mexico and South Africa, 1979–2013

There are some fascinating historical parallels between Mexico’s giant teacher union, the Mexican National Education Union, and the South African Democratic Teachers Union. Although both teacher unions played an important role in challenging political oligarchies at certain points in their history, they became increasingly protectionist. Through their close affiliation to ruling parties, they were able to wield substantial political influence. In both of these cases, the unions played a controversial role in preventing central government surveillance and intervention in schools. Arguably, this often allowed not only for corruption in appointments and promotions, but also the protection of negligent teachers. There is some evidence to suggest that in protecting their sectional interests, both unions have frequently alienated parents and students at the community level. This paper addresses broader debates about the impact of powerful teacher unions on the quality of public schooling.     

当代德国社会民主党的社会主义经济观

德国社会民主党的社会主义经济观经过一个多世纪的演进,发展到当代,其主要内容表现于:在生产资料所有制方面,主张混合制经济;在生产中人与人的相互关系方面,主张建立和发展工人参与决策和管理的民主经济;在产品的分配和再分配方面,主张建立和发展社会福利经济。     

重组改制企业职工持股会问题的初探

职工持股会通过职工出资对企业所有权的参与,把职工与企业的命运连在一起, 进一步调整了劳资关系。建立职工持股会,有利于延伸企业的民主管理。     

农村社区民主自治的条件和机制

对北京市远近郊区五个农村社区村委会的调研说明,经济发展和民主意识是村民自治的基础条件。经济层面主要在于集体经济所有制、农村集体经济的发展和农村股份合作制改革三个方面,经济的独立性决定了村民自治的必要性;意识层面则由于农村土地制度和农民的生产方式、二元化的户籍制度和农村社会保障体系的建立,使村民在心理上具有强烈的自治意识和要求,村民自治的组织体制和运作机制包括静态和动态两个方面,前者指村民自治的组织体系,后者则是以“四个民主”为基础的村民自治运行机制。     

公共行政的立宪分析

从宪政的视角思考公共行政通常被人们所忽视,文章分析了人们为什么会忽视从宪政秩序思考公共行政问题,探讨两种宪政秩序与公共行政之间的内在关系,即统治秩序与官僚制行政之间关系,自治秩序与民主制行政之间关系,并在此基础之上,进一步总结了两种行政理论之间的区别。     

Towards understanding Botswana and South Africa’s ambivalence to liberal democracy

ABSTRACT

Despite their recognised democratic successes, Botswana and South Africa have had ambivalent experiences with liberal democracy. It is contended that they fall somewhere in-between what scholars refer to as electoral and liberal democracies; dominant party systems within Carothers’ ‘gray zone’. Two explanations are offered. The first relates to the underlying political culture of the ruling elite: the liberal democratic values of the founders and early elites of both the African National Congress (ANC) and the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) were never fully embedded; instead, their political cultures were influenced by traditions and ideologies with illiberal values. The second explanation focuses on a key feature of a liberal democracy – restraining of power, namely through encouraging an autonomous civil society and limiting executive access to the state. It is argued that for fear of losing their dominant positions, the ANC and the BDP resist restraints on their access to state power.