Shaking off the neoliberal shackles: “democratic emergence” and the negotiation of democratic knowledge in the Middle East North Africa context

ABSTRACT

There is a general assumption in democracy promotion that liberal democracy is the panacea that will solve all political and economic problems faced by developing countries. Using the concept of “good society” as analytical prism, the analysis shows that while there is a rhetorical agreement as to what the “good society” entails, democracy promotion practices fail to allow for recipients’ inclusion in the negotiation and delivery of the “good society”. Contrasting US and Tunisian discourses on the “good society”, the article argues that democracy promotion practices are underpinned by neoliberal parameters borne out from a reliance on the transition paradigm, which in turn leave little room to democracy promotion recipients to formulate knowledge claims supporting the emergence of alternative conceptions of the “good society”. In contrast, the article opens up a reflective pathway to a negotiated democratic knowledge, which would reside in a paradigmatic change that consists in the abandonment of the transition paradigm in favour of a “democratic emergence” paradigm.     

正确理解、全面推进社会主义新农村建设问题探究

社会主义新农村建设是一个全新的概念,是一项惠及广大人民群众的系统工程,也是我国"十一五"规划中的重点内容之一。本文着重探讨了实施这项工程的重要意义、如何理解其基本内涵、当前农村面临的主要问题以及全面推进这项工程建设的基本做法。     

日本对外直接投资的新发展与海外经营的新动向

从2005年开始,日本对外直接投资迅速增加,2006年终于超过了1990年的投资规模。在日本对外直接投资迅速增加的同时,其投资对象和投资内容都发生了新的变化,出现了新的特点。由此,日本企业的海外经营规模进一步扩大,今后将继续扩大投资。     

马克思主义与时俱进的光辉典范--列宁创立新经济政策理论的启示

马克思主义具有与时俱进的理论品质,它总是根据时代的发展要求而不断创新。列宁所创立的新经济政策就是马克思主义在新的历史条件下与时俱进的一个光辉范例,是对马克思主义东方社会理论的重大发展和实践创新。深入研究列宁在创立新经济政策中所体现出来的与时俱进的理论品质、方法和原则,对我国在新的历史条件下立足社会主义初级阶段的实际,坚持与时俱进,开拓创新,全面建设小康社会具有现实意义。     

西方新城市管理：理论轮廓与反思

近十几年来,公共服务途径经历了重大转型。一个多世纪建立起来的公共服务精神受到了新公共管理理论的挑战。新公共管理理论主要依赖私部门管理实践,强调将竞争引入公共服务领域的重要性。实践中,新公共管理力求将市民(公民)定义为产品的消费者或公共服务提供者的顾客。研究显示,尽管新公共管理运动促进了某些城市服务的改进,但也存在严重局限。主要表现在它不能释放改进公共服务的关键动力———市民和社区能量。作为一个整体,城市领导者与管理者在重塑公共服务改革议程中有着关键作用。作为改进城市治理质量,必须处理3大关键挑战。并将这一途径称为“新城市管理”,以寻求管理变革与地方政治复兴的融合。     

新经济政策与列宁社会发展理论

务实和创新是列宁社会发展理论的精髓。它在新经济政策中得到了充分的体现。务实创新精神的贯彻,主要表现在列宁对落后国家发展基点、发展道路、发展主体、发展规律及发展动力等问题的深刻认识中。新经济政策在列宁社会发展理论中占据着重要的地位。     

老纽约社会的婚姻--论伊迪丝·华顿的纽约小说创作

20世纪初,美国文坛上升起了一颗璀璨之星,即女作家伊迪丝·华顿。她运用细腻的人物心理描写和精当的语言描绘了一幅“老纽约”贵族女性的生活蓝图,以独特的视角审视上流社会中女性的地位及其命运。本文在仔细研读华顿作品的基础上,分析其小说创作中的婚姻主题,认为她通过对这些贵族女性的生活际遇以及她们所处社会环境的错置现象的叙写,揭示出女性在父权制社会中的从属地位,进而窥视其反抗的声音以及日益增强的女性自我意识。     

Institutional Change in Swiss Cantons: A Contribution to Describing and Explaining Institutional Reforms

Most accounts of Swiss federal institutions are unable to explain institutional change. In this contribution the authors trace change in Cantonal reforms and then use multivariate explanation models to account for institutional reforms such as New Public Management reforms. The multivariate analyses used rely on an “event count model” to explain the frequency of institutional reforms and a “binary response model” to explain why Cantons adopt New Public Management reforms. This research demonstrates that policy research as well as innovation and diffusion theories can contribute to explaining institutional reform.     

Remortgaging Women's Lives: The World Bank'sLand Agenda in Africa

In recent months, the World Bank has issued a series of draft policy reports on land relations. This is the first time in over two decades that the Bank has sought to review its policy on lending in the land sector. Access to the draft reports and participation in the consultation process has, however, been severely limited. Nonetheless, the World Bank expects to issue the final Report by the end of this year. This paper presents a gender analysis of the two draft documents that have been made available to date. It assesses their implications for gender relations in Africa. It explores the World Bank's promotion of formal rural credit and challenges the assumption of the availability of women's unpaid agricultural labour. The paper argues that, far from being over, the struggle over land relations which has characterised the last decade in Africa, must continue. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

浅论新时期的专群工作

专门工作和群众路线一直是我国公安机关工作的根本路线,并在社会治安综合治理中发挥着重要作用。但随着市场经济体制的发展以及城市化进程的加快,旧的专群工作体制已不适应变化了的新情况,因此,建立符合时代特征的专群工作新机制就成为当前公安工作亟待解决的重要任务。