Changing classes,changing preferences: how social class mobility affects economic preferences

Abstract

While many studies have identified an association between social class and economic preferences, we know little about the implications of changes in class location for these preferences. This article assesses how social class and intra-generational class mobility affect economic preferences drawing on longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Survey. In doing so, the article adopts a post-industrial perspective that considers horizontal and vertical class divisions. Even when time-invariant characteristics of individuals are kept constant (through fixed-effects estimation), it is found that both vertical and horizontal class location explain economic preferences. Thus, these estimations suggest that social class moulds preferences, even when accounting for factors that can lead to selection into classes. Moreover, people who change classes hold different economic preferences than their peers in the class of origin, but do not completely assimilate into their class of destination. This implies that growing intra-generational class mobility could undermine the class basis of political conflict.     

The role of electoral geography in the territorialization of party systems

When does a country's social structure foster the development of territorialized party systems? This article argues that electoral geography – defined as the interaction between the geography of social diversity and electoral rules– is key to answering this question. I make two claims: first, the impact of geographically concentrated diversity on party system territorialization depends on the proportionality of electoral rules. Second, the types of geographic cleavages (ethnic versus economic) and whether they are overlapping or cross-cutting also affects the likelihood of party system territorialization (conditional on the electoral system). I test these claims with an original dataset measuring party system territorialization in 382 elections across 60 countries that also includes comparable cross-national measures of different types of geographically concentrated diversity (language, race, religion and income). The main conclusion is that proportional electoral systems and cross-cutting cleavages can act as a powerful constraint on the translation of territorial ethnic cleavages into territorialized party systems.     

社会语言学视角下的翻译探析

语言的使用不仅因情景、地域的不同而变异,也因各种社会因素的不同而发生变化形成变体,因此翻译是与社会实际紧密联系的,其功能就是要服务于社会,因此翻译存在的理据不是语言的差异性,而是语言的社会性。     

我国社会组织参与社会管理的现实性探析

改革开放后,我国社会结构发生变化,国家社会由一体化向二重化发展,社会呈现多样化,政府在社会管理中覆盖面窄、手段僵硬、效率低下的特点已不能适应现代社会的发展,急需转变社会管理方式。新时期下的社会组织获得蓬勃发展,它自主、自律、民间、灵活、高效、贴近基层的特点能够弥补市场和政府在公共领域的不足,符合我国政府职能转变的要求,将社会组织引入社会管理,能够实现政府和社会资源配置的最优化,最大程度地保障公民权益。     

比较与反思:社会认同价值指向的中西视境

社会认同价值指向直接规约着社会整体的凝聚与集体意义的归属。管窥中西社会认同价值指向,不难发现,中国社会认同价值指向表征的是忠孝推演下的纵向价值指向、家国同构下的单向价值指向与威权政治下的身份价值指向。西方社会认同价值指向表征的是"人—人"关系下的横向价值指向、"上—下"对接下的双向价值指向与"法—情"结合下的契约价值指向。中西视境的当代省思表明,当代中国社会认同价值指向要从纵向依附转向横向平等、单向基点转向双向责任、身份观念转向契约逻辑。     

我国私人参与履行警察任务法制的现状与课题

我国严峻的治安形势与有限的警察力量之间的强烈反差，倒逼出私人力量对警察任务的参与。无论是充满争议的治安承包、辅助警察、拍违有奖和警方线人改革尝试，还是具有明确法律依据的合作戒毒和社区矫正，都真实地反映了转型中国警察任务民营化跌宕起伏的图景。从警察任务民营化改革的时机选择、法制依赖和监督加强上看，私人参与履行警察任务在我国行政法上依旧是一个未竞的前沿课题。     

从马克思的东方社会理论到“冲击-反应”论——考察毛泽东的国情观与革命论的一个视角

"冲击-反应"论是近现代西方学者包括马克思以中国国情为依据分析中国社会现代化进程的一种观点。中国革命的导师毛泽东对中国国情的分析就明显受到马克思中国观的影响,其观点与"冲击-反应"论亦存在着某种程度的相似。但在近现代中国革命任务的问题上,毛泽东却在当时苏联的影响下得出了自己的结论。这使他的革命论与马克思的社会革命理论、世界历史理论与东方社会理论存在着一定的偏差,并影响了建国后的政治实践。     

Issues of local ownership in Kosovo’s security sector

Local ownership represents an overarching concept in international development. However, its core principles have been occasionally neglected in the practice of state-building such as in the case of Kosovo. This paper explores relations between the international community and local actors in the process of Kosovo security sector development after 2008, when the country declared its independence. This article finds that externally-driven models were imposed in some phases of security sector development. The actions of the international community disregarded the local context and created distrust by the local actors. The study relies on extensive face-to-face interviews with relevant national and international stakeholders, a public opinion survey with a sample of 1102 respondents, focus group and personal observation.     

The Creative Industries Concept: Stakeholder Reflections on Its Relevance and Potential in Australia

The creative industries concept or term continues to attract attention in both developed and developing economies worldwide. However, it is not universally applied, with other terms such as cultural industries, arts and culture, copyright industries, or the experience economy used in various global locations. There is also ongoing debate and critique in relation to the creative industries concept, given that it emphasises employment and wealth creation and gathers together a range of disparate disciplines. This article explores these issues via interviews with twenty-two key leaders representing fifteen different industry organisations, advocacy groups, and government funding bodies in the Australian creative industries sector. The findings reveal only a moderate level of understanding and application of the creative industries concept, with a range of views on its relevance and utility for those working in the sector. In addition, the findings propose that there is significant potential and need for the sector to work towards a stronger advocacy position and profile within the broader economy. However, this represents a major challenge for the creative industries sector, given the existing vertical and horizontal power structures within this complex and diverse area of the economy.     

More with Less? Fiscal Decentralisation,Public Health Spending and Health Sector Performance

Decentralisation is considered a panacea for deficient public sector performance by many. However, recent trends of health sector recentralisation in several OECD countries suggest the opposite. Taking on a cross‐country perspective, I examine two hypotheses, namely that decentralisation leads to an increase in public health spending (H1) and to poor health sector outcomes (H2). The evidence I present suggests that decentralising spending tends to lead to larger public health sectors and to poorer health sector outcomes. However, decentralising tax authority has no effect on the size of the health sector and may actually have a positive effect on health sector performance. The broader lesson is that while general fiscal decentralisation research tends to imply that its conclusions are valid for all policy areas in a similar way, sector‐specific insights can reveal a more nuanced view on the consequences of fiscal decentralisation.