From centralisation to fragmentation and back again: the role of non-state actors in Brazil’s transformed foreign policy

Abstract

Since the 1990s, Brazil’s foreign policy-making, traditionally a highly centralised and hierarchical process, has become more fragmented, plural and horizontal. In this context, the role of non-state actors has been increasingly relevant. The impact and significance of these actors have been however a matter of debate. While there are authors that consider that non-state actors play only a secondary role in the policy-making process, there are others that assert that these actors work alongside governmental actors and directly influence policy choices. Drawing on the concept of network governance, the paper proposes a different view from the two recurrent approaches in the literature mentioned above. It argues that the recent steps to transform Brazil’s state governance from hierarchy to horizontal networks have indeed expanded the room for the direct participation of non-state actors in the policy process. However, state authorities fought to adjust this tendency, in order to retain control over the decision-making process, by putting in place formal and informal coordinating mechanisms led by the Ministry of Foreign Relations and the Presidency. This suggests Brazil’s foreign policy was made in the shadow of hierarchy. The paper demonstrates the argument using the case of Brazil’s foreign policy towards China.     

全面建成小康社会之特质问题析论

中华人民共和国即将向世人宣布,在中国共产党集中统一领导下,通过精准扶贫,中国已经基本实现了脱贫目标,全面建成小康社会。自改革开放以后提出建设小康及小康社会以来,人们比较关注小康及小康社会的生活发展程度及其发展阶段,而对小康及小康社会的特殊性质的认识方面则存有一定的偏颇或忽略。在时间与空间的政治层面上,中国特色社会主义问题直面的是国际平台,社会主义初级阶段问题直面的是国内平台,小康社会问题直面的则是可望又可及的近期平台。如果不能正确解读小康及小康社会的特殊性质,人们对社会主义初级阶段的社会主义性质及中国特色社会主义的社会主义性质就会有某种存疑。那么,小康及小康社会的特殊性质究竟是什么呢?文章试图从比较分析小康与大同社会原本意义上的异同,小康社会与后新民主主义社会,以及社会主义初级阶段与马克思主义科学社会主义的底线入手,阐释小康及小康社会客观上所具有某种"私"及"天下为家"与中国特色社会主义所具有的"公"及作为未来情景的"天下为共"两者之间不可或缺的相互依存性特质,拟提出"社会主义小康社会",以利于我们不忘初心,牢记使命。     

浅析列斐伏尔《空间的生产》的三维性辩证法

列斐伏尔的重要代表作之一是《空间的生产》,他晚年致力于对空间的批判,从空间的角度重新阐释辩证法,形成了三维辩证法模式;提出以土地及其对土地的投资进行的生产等等是资本增值的第二个循环,从而超越以往的政治经济学范式,又避免了还原论者的经济学。对资本主义空间的批判就是对资本主义社会关系的批判,旨在扬弃资本主义的量化的、碎片化的和均质化的空间,建立社会主义差异化的、多元化的和异质化的空间,这既是列斐伏尔的政治诉求,也是他重建马克思主义的现实路径。     

医疗损害责任的规制逻辑与适用路径——以《民法典》与“医事法”的协调为视角

为推进对《民法典》的规范阐释,促使其与医事法的衔接、互补,应对"医疗损害责任"的规制逻辑与适用路径进行明晰。"医疗损害责任"整体延续了《侵权责任法》的概念体系和框架结构,在说明义务、责任主体以及责任构成等方面加以创新。其作为《民法典》的具体规范,对总则编之规定予以遵从,是侵权责任编一般规定的特别法;其作为医事法的基本范畴,处于上位效力层级之中,与其他规范条文形成条件关系和并列关系。鉴于此,应遵循"从民法典到医事法"的适用路径,藉由内外在规范的自足与互助,明确规范条文之间的内在关联,实现规范概念的阐明和规范内涵的拓补,以推动《民法典》相关规则的贯彻实施,促进我国医事法学的蓬勃发展。     

Perception of societal influence among civil society leaders – an elite perspective

ABSTRACT

This article explores the perception of societal influence of civil society leaders based on a survey study conducted in 2017 among leaders of Swedish civil society organizations. Civil society leaders represent organizations that are often based on and guided by religious, political, or cultural values and that often strive to achieve some sort of social change. To exercise influence on society is thus a crucial feature of civil society leaders. Drawing on elite theories, the article seeks to explain differences in the perception of influence by looking at the following factors: (1) personal qualities and resources such as age, gender, country of birth, education, and working experiences, (2) social networks and contacts with representatives of different institutions (media, government, etc.), and (3) organizational position and resources, including relations with public authorities. The analysis shows that two out of three surveyed leaders perceive they have great influence in society concerning the issues they work with. Among the factors explaining the perception of influence, we find being a leader of an organization at the regional level, being of older age, having leading representatives of the media in one’s personal network, and stating that one has great influence over the organization one leads.     

风险社会下农村重大疫情防控策略及其治理逻辑——基于河南省H村新冠肺炎疫情的防控分析

新冠肺炎疫情是时空压缩的现代化中社会风险的突发呈现,具有强传播性、不确定性等特点,这增加了防控和治理难度。农村社会为化解疫情防控资源不足和设施薄弱等问题,实现了由常规治理向运动式治理的快速切换,通过集中资源、快速决策、硬核管控、群众参与等方式,建立起“低成本、高效率”的治理体系,实现了疫情的高效防控。农村高质量的防控源于治理模式的转换,也得益于村庄日常性合作文化的培育、组织载体的建设和群众路线的坚守,这对基层治理能力的提升、乡村振兴的实践及国家应急管理体系的完善都具有重要借鉴意义。     

数字社会治理的权利逻辑:以个人信息权为中心

以信息技术为核心的数字社会迅速发展,促进多元主体信息交流和资讯共享,给个人信息保护带来挑战。作为数字社会公民身份的基本表征,个人信息权既是数字公民实现全面自由发展的先决条件,也是防范和控制数字权力异化的重要工具。实现数字社会个人信息权保护的价值追求,国家立法机关应秉持作为宪法价值核心的人格尊严进行立法,明晰个人信息权的规范内涵与保护机制;行政机关应遵循权力法定原则,严格基于法律保留、公共利益和比例原则处理和使用个人信息,并建立专门的个人信息权保护的监管机构;司法机关应通过法律适用和司法解释对被侵犯的个人信息权提供及时司法救济,填补法律漏洞,实现数字社会个人信息权保护的制度正义目标。     

Strategic rebels: a spatial econometric approach to rebel fighting durations in civil wars

ABSTRACT

Recent research on multi-actor civil wars highlights that rebel organizations condition their conflict behavior on that of other rebel organizations, with competition and free-riding constituting the core theoretical mechanisms. We provide a new actor-centric approach to explicitly model strategic interdependence in multi-actor civil wars. We argue that rebel organizations have incentives to remain mobilized until the end of a conflict to maintain their power to negotiate, power to spoil, power to enforce, and power to protect. This induces strategic complements that dominate duration dynamics in multi-actor conflicts. Based on a network game-theoretic model, we derive a spatial econometric framework that allows for a direct test of strategic interdependence. We find that the estimated duration interdependence is positive but partially offset in secessionist conflicts where the public goods nature of the incompatibility also induces strategic substitution effects.     

Economic globalisation,the perceived room to manoeuvre of national governments,and electoral participation: Evidence from the 2001 British General Election

Recent macro-level research argues that economic globalisation negatively affects electoral turnout by constraining the leeway of national governments and thereby rendering elections less meaningful to voters. This article analyses the link between perceptions of the national government's room to manoeuvre and turnout on the individual level. Drawing on the 2001 British General Election, it is shown that citizens who believe that economic globalisation leaves the national government with less influence on the economy are less likely to report to have voted. Further findings also support the proposed theoretical model according to which room to manoeuvre perceptions affect turnout via views on the importance of elections and matter specifically for citizens that tend towards the left side of the left-right scale.     

Elections as a democratic linkage mechanism: How elections boost political trust in a proportional system

Elections offer a privileged moment in representative democracy, when citizens have the opportunity to express their views, both on the track record of the incumbent government, as on the way the country should be governed in the future. Procedural fairness theory assumes that taking part in a decision making procedure that is perceived to be fair, strengthens the legitimacy of the entire process. Most of the empirical research assumes that the attitudinal effects of elections are mainly due to the fact that one's preferred party wins the elections. In multi-party systems, however, such a clear distinction is not always possible and therefore it is hypothesized that the winner-loser-logic is weaker in this kind of party system. In this study we rely on a unique Belgian panel study to ascertain how electoral participation has an effect on political trust. The results show that in a proportional system all voters rise in political trust following their participation in elections. The winner-loser effect is not significant. Furthermore, the analyses suggest that especially the respondents with the initially lowest trust levels gain most by participating in elections. The theoretical implication of this finding is that apparently elections are still considered to be an important and legitimate linkage mechanism between citizens and the political system.