Scrutiny in English Local Government and the Role of Councillors

Overview and Scrutiny Committees were introduced in England and Wales in the Local Government Act 2000 that ended the role the full council and its committees as the locus of decision‐making for most local authorities. Overview and scrutiny committees composed of councillors not on small decision‐making executives were tasked with holding these to account. The performance of scrutiny committees is variable. Generally they work best where they concentrate on reviews of policy and practice, with recommendations following from well‐researched reports. The paper reviews the difficulties which arise when scrutiny committees endeavour to hold powerful executives to account, and suggests that to strengthen this new legislation is required, in particular to institutionalise scrutiny committees as agencies of the full council, the representative body for the area, comparable to the way in which the select committees at Westminster are the agencies of the Parliament.     

Bewitched—The Tea Party Movement: Ideas,Interests and Institutions

This article considers the development of the Tea Party movement, the character of its thinking and the nature of the interests and constituencies to which it is tied. The article suggests that despite the importance of ideas and interests, and the process of interaction between them, the movement has also been shaped and energised by institutional arrangements. In particular, it argues that there are significant numbers of independent or ‘detached’ conservatives and that the institutional architecture draws them towards political engagement but at the same time imposes constraints. The political friction that this creates has contributed to the anger that has characterised the movement. While the Tea Party movement may, as such, have only an ephemeral existence, independent conservatives are likely to remain a significant and potent constituency and will, within the institutional structures that define the American political process, give rise to other movements and protests.     

Coalition formation and polarisation

Party ideology plays an important role in determining which government coalitions form. Research on coalition formation tends to focus on the ideological distance between coalition parties. However, the distribution of preferences within the coalition, and the legislature, also has implications for which government coalition forms – that is, a party's willingness to join a coalition depends not only on its prospective coalition partners, but also on the alternative coalitions it could form. Several hypotheses about the effects of legislative polarisation are offered and tested using data on coalition formation in 17 parliamentary democracies in the postwar period. This article also demonstrates how the traditional measure of ideological divisions within coalitions fails to capture certain aspects of ideological heterogeneity within the cabinet (and the opposition) and how Esteban and Ray's polarisation index helps in addressing these deficiencies.     

案外第三人申请再审问题研究

修订后的《民事诉讼法》第二百零四条和最高法院2008年11月通过的《关于适用（中华人民共和国民事诉讼法）审判监督程序若干问题的解释》（以下简称《解释》）第五条、第四十二条确立了独具中国特色的案外人申请再审制度。但是,现行司法解释的规定过于模糊,关于此制度的设计存在诸多缺陷,在民事诉讼法修订时需要进一步立法规范。     

加强党陛修养 推动科学发展——对新时期加强领导干部党性教育的思考

重视党性教育,加强党性修养和党性锻炼,是中国共产党加强自身队伍建设的优良传统和一大优势。在不同的历史时期,领导干部党性教育既表现出内在的一致性,同时又表现出明显的时代特点。新时期,世情、国情、党情都发生了重大变化．对加强领导干部的党性教育提出了新的要求、新的考验。     

党的建设理论创新的历史进程与经验总结

中国共产党自诞生之日起,就高度重视自身建设的理论创新。在革命、建设、改革的各个历史时期,中国共产党坚持实事求是的思想路线,结合不同时期的政治路线,积极推进党的建设理论创新。党的建设实现了由思想、组织、作风三大建设到思想、组织、作风、制度四大建设,再到思想、组织、作风、制度和反腐倡廉建设＂五位一体＂新布局的历史性转变。回顾党的建设理论创新的历史进程,我们可以总结出密切党的政治路线、坚持实事求是的思想路线、总结正反两方面历史经验、加强和完善学习型政党建设、保持居安思危的忧患意识、处理好理论创新和实践创新、制度创新之间的关系等基本经验。     

与第三方物流相关的法律问题

在介绍第三方物流的概念的基础上,分析第三方物流经营人的法律身份及制定现代物流特别法的必要性与存在的困难,探讨第三方物流纠纷的处理思路,即依次确定合同的性质,确定第三方物流经营人的法律身份,确定争议适用的法律等,并介绍第三方物流纠纷的解决途径。     

评瑞士商事仲裁协议效力扩张之实践——兼论对我国的启发

由于商事交往的发展以及仲裁本身的独特优点,很多国家和国际组织都支持仲裁更多、更广泛地应用。但是由于国际及国内商事交易中,主体、客体以及法律关系的复杂性,法院和仲裁机构都面临着更多的实际问题,特别是关于仲裁协议效力扩张的问题。瑞士对于此问题已经有了丰富的理论和实践。我国可以借鉴瑞士的经验,循序渐进地在立法上引入仲裁第三人制度,并且通过司法实践加以完善,以满足我国市场经济发展的需要。     

论什么是社会主义——基于非剩余价值学说视角

马克思的剩余价值学说被称为科学社会主义的理论基础,但这一学说自身的逻辑有必要重新检讨,其在社会主义实践中体现出来的并不全是真理性。苏联模式社会主义和中国特色社会主义,都不能说是以剩余价值学说为基础的社会主义。作为列宁主义的核心和根本的列宁建党学说体现了马克思主义的精神实质。列宁主义和中国特色社会主义的核心是共产党领导。     

办好党建网站的三维路径选择

办好党建网站,是提高党的建设科学化水平的内在需要,是以科学方法提高党的建设科学化水平的时代选择。办好党建网站的基本原则是坚持正确导向;办好党建网站的核心所在是坚持内容为王;办好党建网站的坚实基础是着力提供保障。