To be continued . . . Syntheses and trends in follow-up of quality assurance in West European higher education

The authors report on West European trends in follow-up arrangements of national quality assurance procedures. They argue that external quality assurance ought to adopt a broader conception of quality than is now often the case. Next, the general public ought to have a guarantee that external quality assurance is valid (through meta-evaluation) and has consequences (through follow-up arrangements). Follow-up currently is not well developed in many European countries in a formal sense, but is receiving more attention as external quality assurance is maturing. Finally, the authors link national quality assurance to the European dimension; an international network could fulfil important functions in making quality assurance transparent and credible across Europe. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Legal influences on local education powers in the Netherlands: A European and international dimension?

One of the most striking recent developments in education in the Netherlands is the shift of powers from the central national level to the local level for several education policy fields, most notably for the policies aimed at reducing social and education disadvantages and those aimed at the integration of non-nationals into Dutch society. In this article, the influences from European and international law on this Dutch development are being discussed. The conclusion is that there must be a European influence on the contents of national policy matters as such in a general manner, but that the legislation influence stays behind in development.     

论《茶花女》对《断鸿零雁记》创作的影响

《断鸿零雁记》是苏曼殊的代表作。长期以来，苏曼殊在文学史上的地位未得到充分肯定。本文通过分析《断鸿零雁记》在引入书信体、叙事模式的使用、宗教观以及悲剧结局等方面受《茶花女》的影响，认为苏曼殊在中国小说从古典向现代过渡过程中起到承前启后的作用。     

东亚共同体:路径、机制与挑战

基于东亚金融危机的体制性原因,东亚一体化提上了议事日程,应该说,这是区域合作的政治构想。然而,作为政治构想的东亚一体化是一种"经济增长型政治"的意图,它走出了一条与欧盟完全不同的路径。首先,在欧洲,以"欧洲人"为核心的欧洲主义成为地域统合的原动力,可是,东亚经济统合缺乏"欧洲人"那种主体性意识,这是一种地域结构性的差异。其次,东盟"10+3"模式是东亚共同体的推进机制,然而,与欧盟比较,东亚缺少一个既有共同政治基础、又有法律约束力的推进机构。再次,冷战从欧洲全面退却,但是,在东亚,"冷战"呈进攻态势,"亚洲主义"成为东亚一体化进程中难以跨越的障碍。最后,文章指出,应以自由贸易协定推进东亚机构建设,以机构推进东亚一体化进程,并推动东亚共同的经济政治制度建设。     

欧洲福利国家公共服务对我国的启示

在欧洲有着悠久历史并给各国人民带来了幸福美好生活的社会福利制度和公共服务,从高福利开始逐步造成了各国家的高税收,继而导致生产的高成本、社会的高失业率和国家竞争力的减弱,如何在不过于影响人民现有福利水平前提下走出这个怪圈,已经成为欧盟与各成员国政府公共服务改革与创新的一项主要议程。欧盟福利国家的经验启示是:我国社会公共服务要量力而行,社会保障服务要以救援为主,社会保险应引导自助为主,社会保险基金管理应选择市场化为主。     

欧洲金融刑事侦查的战略和战术

文章介绍了欧洲各国金融刑事侦查的主要战略:揭露非法收入的资金管理,目的是阻止犯罪企业在市场地位的巩固或者削弱其所在领域的影响力和控制力;还介绍了两种金融侦查战术:绘制犯罪企业的金融构成图;了解犯罪资金的相关金融管理,包括偿付和交易两种形式。     

婚姻与历史——读《内闱:宋代的婚姻与妇女生活》

海外研究中国女性史的典范著作《内闱:宋代的婚姻与妇女生活》一书选取最常见的婚姻及家庭中的女性为研究对象,娴熟地运用女性视角,生动客观地重构和展现了宋代女性的生活状态,并通过考察宋代妇女的婚姻与家庭,指出了宋代妇女在历史发展中的重要作用。     

Political strategies of large companies and their significance for the implementation of the European single electricity market: the examples of France and Germany

Electricity supply in the European member states has been a closed national public sector service without competition for a long time. Currently, the European electricity industry is subject to radical change resulting from the European directive establishing common rules for the internal market in electricity, which came into force in 1997. This paper attempts to explain the varying forms of implementation of the internal electricity market in France and Germany. First, it clarifies the special characteristics of electricity supply and European electricity policy. Secondly, the paper shows the divergent sectoral arrangements of the French and German electricity industries. Thirdly, it points out that the different degrees of linkage between the public players and the electricity companies in France and Germany produce different political strategies which are followed by the companies at the European level, especially those strategies which seek direct influence on the European Commission. Finally, the paper reveals the significance of these strategies in Brussels in terms of the implementation of the single electricity market in both member states. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications     

Europeanising Gender Mainstreaming: Constraints and Opportunities in the Multilevel Euro-polity

What are the conditions for empowering `gender mainstreaming' as a new policy frame beyond the supranational level in member states and regions of the European Union? This paper is premised on the following assumptions: that mainstreaming will reduce gender disparities in Europe only if it takes root at all levels of decision-making, but that some national gender regimes can be expected to resist mainstreaming more than others, especially because it does not command `hard' legal tools. The puzzle to be examined is how mainstreaming can become effective across the European multilevel polity. It is argued that vis-à-visthe resistance of domestic gender regimes, the Europeanisation of equal treatment norms in national, regional and local contexts over the past decades has generated a variety of mechanisms for the cross-border diffusion of new policy ideas that can help to promote mainstreaming. Drawing on comparative Europeanisation research, this argument is developed in three steps. First, the past performance of member states in the implementation of E.U. gender directives is explored, to identify patterns and dynamics and classify leaders and laggards. Second, current mainstreaming experiences in one of the most conspicuous laggard states – Germany – are examined closely. Finally, as a means of explaining the rather intense engagement of German federal and regional governments with mainstreaming, two factors are highlighted: elite learning, and new governance instruments developed by the E.U. Notwithstanding the steps taken to promote mainstreaming, the prospects for further institutionalization within the E.U. appear contingent on the outcome of the Convention on the Future of the Union and the Intergovernmental Conference planned for 2004, since the invigorating of the subsidiarity principle and the division of competences across the multilevel polity are key issues of debate. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.