Construction Procurement and State Government Strategy: Aligned or Disconnected?

Australian state governments are engaging in strategic planning processes and publishing departmental and/or overall state strategic plans. One means of achieving the goals outlined in these strategic plans is via public procurement processes. Investments in construction projects by governments are strategic in nature and made to create infrastructure, which enables the provision of public services. This article investigates the contribution that construction procurement across the five Australian state governments who expend the most money on infrastructure makes towards the achievement of government strategy. The research draws on interviews with experienced project managers to assess whether public sector construction procurement is aligned or disconnected with publically stated government strategies.     

二战后初期日本民间掳日劳工遗骨送还运动

战后初期,日本民间14个团体组成的中国战俘殉难者追悼执行委员会为督促日本政府尽快解决掳日劳工遗骨送还问题,积极开展劳工遗骨调查、追悼活动,并与政府进行交涉,促成了一批劳工遗骨的归国。日本政府相对于民间团体积极解决问题的态度,则呈现出"不承认""不作为""与政府无关"的敷衍态度。日本民间和平团体开展的掳日劳工遗骨送还运动推进了中日邦交正常化的进程。正是因为战后初期特殊的国际局势与中日关系,致使掳日劳工遗骨归还问题逐步演变为战争遗留问题。     

The More Fragmented the Better?—The Impact of Armed Forces Structure on Defection during Nonviolent Popular Uprisings

Authoritarian regimes frequently employ fragmentation to safeguard themselves against coups and reduce the power of the military apparatus. This article investigates the impact of structural coup-proofing in the setting of a nonviolent popular uprising that threatens the regime and its survival. It is argued that in such settings fragmentation can have unintentional consequences with respect to the question whether the army fulfills orders of repression or defects. If the security apparatus is highly divided, some armed organizations will seize the opportunity to defect and side with the protesters because the efficiency of counterbalancing decreases if more effective armed organizations are involved. This can be mainly explained through collective action problems that the security apparatus faces in such a setting. This article compiles data of nonviolent uprisings from 1975 to 2006 and data on armed forces structure for conducting a multivariate probit regression on the probability of defection. The findings indeed show a U-shaped relationship between armed forces fragmentation and the likelihood of defection during nonviolent mass uprisings. While security apparatuses with around two effective armed organizations display only a low probability of defection, minimally and highly fragmented forces indicate higher chances of defection from the ruling regime.     

Interview with Nathalie Tocci on the Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy

The Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign And Security Policy, “Shared Vision, Common Action: A Stronger Europe”, presented at the European Council on 24 June 2016 by Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, was drafted by Nathalie Tocci, Deputy Director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and co-editor of The International Spectator. 

Given the importance of the document, we asked Nathalie for an interview and 18 foreign policy experts from around the world to comment on it.     

Assessing Risk of Placement Instability to Aid Foster Care Placement Decision Making

Placement stability is of critical importance to the well-being of children in foster care and has an impact on other key outcomes. Placement decision-making that matches children with placement resources is often cited as a practice that impacts placement stability, but little research exists to inform this practice. The focus of this research is on a child assessment tool that was developed to determine the appropriate level of care, which serves as one component of a web-based matching system that pulls together child and placement information used to inform the placement decision. The research examines the relationship between the child assessment subscale domains and placement stability for first and subsequent placement decisions and evaluates the stability of placements made in and outside of the indicated level of care.     

在统一和独立之间——民事权利类型与诉的类型关系之我见

民事权利类型与诉的类型之间有着无法割裂的关系,对诉的类型影响最大的为根据权利的作用形式或功能对民事权利的分类,据此可把民事权利分为支配权、抗辩权、请求权与形成权。诉的最基本的三种类型是给付之诉、确认之诉、形成之诉。四种民事权利与诉的类型并非是一一对应关系,而是介于统一与独立之间的关系。     

从蒲安臣和《蒲安臣条约》看晚清中美关系

蒲安臣是中国历史上第一位外交使节,由于他本身是美国人这一特殊身份使得他在中美关系史上具有重要地位。在他主导下签订的《蒲安臣条约》是近代中国第一个以平等身份签订的条约。从蒲安臣的经历以及《蒲安臣条约》看出：晚清美国的对华政策往往是理想主义与现实主义交融的产物,而清政府则希望利用美国相对于其他列强对中国的善意达到“以夷制夷”的目的。《蒲安臣条约》在劳工、留学等方面对日后的中美关系产生了重要影响。     

对现代家庭婆媳关系的思考

正确处理好婆媳矛盾对于建设和谐的家庭关系具有重要意义。文化的差异、经济利益的纠纷以及情感上的争夺是造成现代家庭婆媳矛盾的主要原因,责任与义务观念的确立、个体家庭角色的自我调适以及社会保障体系的建立和完善,是解决以上矛盾的有效途径。     

刑法分则第128、130、297条的交叉适用——兼论法条竞合犯的特殊关系

刑法分则第128、130、297条的关系属于典型的法条竞合犯中的特殊关系,但是,如果完全按照特别法优于普通法的原则处理的话,将导致三个罪名的适用明显不合理。对此特殊关系的选择适用应遵循以特别法优先于普通法为主体,重法优于轻法为补充的原则,根据具体情况,确定相应的罪名。     

古代家庭的邻里关系教育

促进邻里和谐是古代家庭邻里关系教育的基本目标。重视巩固邻里之间的情感关系和化解邻里之间的利益冲突是邻里关系教育的基本内容。将情感和利益关系进行道德化和人情化处理是邻里关系教育的特色。