Responding to the crisis: Eurosceptic parties of the left and right and their changing position towards the European Union

At the time of the election of the European Parliament (EP) in 2014, the European Union (EU) was heavily affected by a multifaceted crisis that had – and still has – far-reaching implications for the political system of its member countries, but also for the European level of governance. Against the background of the strong Eurosceptic vote in the 2014 EP elections, this study aims to investigate in which way Eurosceptic parties of the left and the right respond to the multiple crises of the EU. Using data from the Euromanifesto Project from 2004/2009 and 2014, changes in the party positions towards the EU are analysed in the shadow of the multiple crises and the reasons thereof are explored. The findings show a general anti-European shift among the two types of Eurosceptic parties. Nevertheless, the changes in the EU polity tone are not determined by issue-based repercussions of the multiple crises, but by the EU-related evaluation – the polity mood – of the national citizenry. For far-right Eurosceptic parties, the shift is moderated by the level of public support for EU integration in their national environment. Among far-left Eurosceptic parties, by contrast, it is moderated by the more specific public attitudes about the monetary union policy of the EU. Consequently, political parties when drafting their manifestos for EP elections are not so much guided by the objective severity of political problems or by the evaluations of these problems by the citizenry. What matters in the end is the link that citizens themselves are able to establish between the severity of political problems, on the one hand, and the responsibility of the EU for these problems on the other. This has important consequences for understanding of the nature and substance of political responsiveness within the EU system of multilevel governance.     

United in diversity? The convergence of cultural values among EU member states and candidates

The European Union (EU) is considered to be a unique economic and political union that integrates most European countries. This article focuses on the cultural aspect of European integration, which has been increasingly debated over the course of deepening and widening integration and in the context of the legitimation crisis of the EU. Among the main goals of the EU is to promote certain values, which raises the question of whether it has been efficient in (or enabled) reducing cultural value gaps among the participating countries. World polity and institutional isomorphism theories suggest that cultural values may trickle down in a vertical manner from the institutions of the EU to its member states and candidates. Furthermore, hybridisation theory postulates that values diffuse horizontally through intensified interactions enabled by the EU. These two perspectives imply the possibility of cultural convergence among countries associated with the EU. By contrast, the culture clash thesis assumes that differences in cultural identity prevent value convergence across countries; growing awareness of such differences may even increase the pre-existing cultural value distances. To test these different scenarios, distances in emancipative and secular values are compared across pairs of countries using combined repeated cross-sectional data from the European Values Study and the World Values Survey gathered between 1992 and 2011. This study finds that the longer a country has been part of the EU, the more closely its values approximate those of the EU founding countries, which in turn are the most homogenous. Initial cultural distance to the founders’ average values appears irrelevant to acquiring membership or candidacy status. However, new member states experienced substantial cultural convergence with old member states after 1992, as did current candidates between 2001 and 2008. Since 1992, nations not participating in the integration process have diverged substantially from EU members, essentially leading to cultural polarisation in Europe. The findings are independent of (changes in) economic disparities and suggest the importance of cultural diffusion as one of the fundamental mechanisms of cultural change. This empirical study contributes to the literature on European integration, political and sociological theories of globalisation, and cross-cultural theories of societal value change.     

加强文化力建设提升蓝色经济区引擎作用

文化力是蓝色经济区发展的新着力点,是蓝色经济区发挥引擎作用的关键.蓝色经济区在文化力发展方面既有有利条件也存在不足.在发挥自身文化力优势的基础上,努力凝聚蓝色经济区的核心文化力,建立促进文化力发展的制度体系.     

历史演进视角下的欧盟与北约关系走向——兼析拜登当选的影响

自欧盟确立共同安全与防务政策以来,欧盟独立防务与北约之间存在着“相互替代”和“相互增强”两种论调。争论焦点在于价值观念、威胁评估和战略文化、军事和民事能力、国防工业和支出。在过去几年,欧盟与北约的关系也围绕上述四个方面发生变化。具体而言,欧盟与北约之间总体上呈现以合作为主、竞争为辅、两者同步增强的发展态势。美国新任总统拜登承诺修复美国与盟友的关系,包括进一步加强北约。同时,美、欧将在价值观念上回归“旧常态”,在威胁评估和战略文化上进一步靠拢,在民事和军事手段的运用以及增加国防工业投入上也会有更多共识和共同行动。因此,欧盟与北约的关系将进一步呈现相互增强的态势,但前提是欧盟的战略自主建设不只是出于做强自身,而是更多地为了使欧、美双方公平承担相应的责任。     

On the political consequences of privatisation: the case of Teléfonos de México

This article examines the political consequences of the most important single privatisation in Mexico, that of the national telecommunications company, Telmex. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, diverse observers of Mexico claimed that, as the government pursued a dramatic privatisation programme as part of a broader plan to liberalise the economy, democratic growth would be encouraged. This argument is challenged in the case of the Telmex privatisation. It is shown how privatisation generated new resources that were channelled to lubricate corporatist relations and that the so‐called new unionism emerging from the telephone workers’union did not represent a departure from, but a culmination of, traditional state‐labour relations in Mexico.     

广东高等职业教育对经济增长贡献的实证分析

20世纪60年代以来,教育对经济的贡献逐渐引起经济学界的重视。基于相关理论模型测算,广东省2002年~2012年教育对经济增长的贡献为3.44%,高等职业教育对经济增长贡献为0.65%,高等职业教育占整个教育对经济增长贡献的18.99%。因此,广东应加快转变经济增长方式,加大高等职业教育投入力度,充分发挥高等职业教育对区域经济增长的优势作用。     

中国如何应对经济全球化的冲击

21世纪是经济全球化的世纪,每一个国家都以积极的姿态迎接经济全球化的挑战.中国应保持清醒的头脑,融入经济全球化进程,勇敢迎接挑战,借经济全球化的契机,大力推进经济结构调整,发展开放型的经济,壮大自身实力,才能扭转自己在经济全球化中的劣势地位,才能应对经济全球化带来的挑战和冲击.     

外部性视野下我国价格听证制度的完善

由于《价格法》和《政府制定价格听证办法》对价格听证的规定比较粗略，消费者的知情权、参与权、表达权、救济权等得不到真正实现，政府、企业的程序义务、违反义务等得不到真正落实，导致在政府、企业、消费者的利益三角中消费者处于弱势地位，使得消费者权益受到侵害，从而遭受负外部性。价格听证中的外部性的经济法克服需要：其一，赋予消费者相应的权利并保证其实现；其二，赋予经营者相应义务并保证其实现；其三，赋予政府相应职责并保证其实现。     

从苏联解体看和谐社会的目标指向

苏联解体时人类历史发展进程尤其对国际共产主义运动影响深远。对相关问题的研究，尤其是对苏联解体原因、经验教训的分析与反思，无疑对我国社会主义和谐社会的建设具有重要借鉴意义。     

论经济权力的程序化：以反垄断执法权为例

程序是约束经济权力的重要机制，但在我国由于历史传统、法律细则化以及不完善等因素的影响，经济权力的程序化在我国尚面临困境。这就需要在克服历史传统和法律实体规范细则化的基础上，划定经济权力的运作边界，确立经济权力运作的基本原则和制度，将抽象的原则具体化到经济权力运行的全过程。反垄断执法权作为一项重要的经济权力，为这一路径的具体操作提供了示例。