民主的形式之惑

民主,代表着人类进步和社会发展的文明化程度,是现代国家的一个基本标志,是现代公民的普遍追求和基本权利。但在对民主的认识上依然存在着一些需要廓清的基本问题,厘清这些问题对中国特色社会主义民主建设不可或缺,民主的形式之惑就是其中之一。     

The understanding of the laws and bylaws and the methodology for drafting in the socialist regime

The methodology for drafting is one of the most important concepts in drafting of a policy paper and translating this policy into legislation. Regarding this, it is necessary to know how the legislative drafting developed in the past during the socialist regime, and how it has changed with time after the beginning of the democratic processes of the country. Due to the correct methodology of drafting, we enable a good correct legislation as an important element of good governance, where the concept of law lays on its foundations and the democratic system is the major goal.     

民主:作为一种价值理念与社会机制

民主的实质是基于自身权利之上的人民的自治与自主。它作为一种价值理念,作为实践理性的一种自我立法,深刻地体现了人的主体性和平等性。现代社会中的民主作为一种自治的运行机制,具体表现为三种存在形态:市民社会个体与各种组织的自治民主、作为政治公共领域的参与民主、作为一种国家形式和国家形态的建制性政治民主。成员的参与是民主的关键尺度,基于公正程序的“少数服从多数”原则构成了民主决策的最一般的规定。     

Social Democracy's Muted Revival

After a long malaise, social democracy is making a muted revival. What is the place of social democracy in the political and economic order that is emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic, and the economic crisis that has followed in its wake? Patterns have begun to emerge across the party family that are indicative of how social democracy is defining itself for the period to come. This article briefly surveys the revival of social democracy in three countries that have been historic bastions of the creed: Germany, Britain and Australia. It considers three particularly potent trends in this social democratic moment that reveal the movement's current character and the challenges it faces: building an ongoing coalition amid changing electorates; seeking transformation in an era of constraint; and a lack of ideological coherence. It considers what this muted resurgence suggests about the prospects for the centre-left.     

Who would vote NOTA? Explaining a ‘none of the above’ choice in eight countries

In this study, we investigate who would vote ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) if this were available on the ballot paper using original data from eight European countries. In particular, we examine whether NOTA would be used by abstainers and voters to protest within the electoral process. We also test whether socioeconomic factors and specific and diffuse support for democracy and its institutions correlate with a NOTA vote. We find that having NOTA on the ballot would reduce invalid balloting more than abstention and much more than protest party voting. Our results also suggest that NOTA is related to socioeconomic status, political interest, political knowledge and distrust in political institutions and authorities, but not to broadly undemocratic attitudes. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the increasingly large amounts of abstention and invalid voting, as well as the growing distrust of political institutions, in democratic countries. They also hold lessons for electoral reformers.     

Calling on Jefferson: the ‘custodiary’ as the fourth estate in the Democratic Project

Aimed at reinforcing the democratic values of freedom of speech and increased diversity in civic access to the means of communication, this paper examines the concept of democracy within an information and communication technology-mediated context. Discussion proceeds with an analysis of orthodox views adopted by Jefferson and the architects of the American Constitution. Building on the Jeffersonian tradition, a critique is presented of present-day, non-transparent constraints on the democratic values of freedom of speech, information access and the structural constrains mitigating unfettered public access to critical information and debate on fundamental social and political issues of the day. The proposed ‘custodiary’ model for the new Democratic Project is premised on the development of a constitutional framework which encourages information diversity and freedom of access and expression as a way of bringing back ‘discourse’ into democratic praxis.     

Psychic investment in cruelty: three parables on race and imprisoning the mentally ill

Drawing on ethnographic and activist work in New York, I analyze three contemporary cases of mentally ill people charged violent crimes. State violence against them can be characterized as a differential and differentiated set of racial and gendered practices. The case studies offer something between a parable, a field report, and a cautionary tale of the dystopian tendencies already embedded within the criminal justice system in the United States. Based on these cases, I will argue that despite recent liberal reform, scant evidence suggests any deep shift in the web of agencies that pipe people, especially the mentally ill, into prison and jail, or a shift in the cruel and humiliating practices these agencies embody. For the society to achieve what Du Bois called an abolition democracy, the affective infrastructure and psychic investment in debasing subordinated others would have to be abolished.     

司法审查正当性的证成路径及其评析

对于美国宪政结构中司法审查与民主的悖论问题,西方学界致力于改造传统多数主义的民主观念并提出相应的宪法解释技术来论证司法审查的正当性,这表现为伊利的程序性民主与司法监督、德沃金的合宪性民主与道德解读、波斯纳的精英式民主与实用主义审判、哈贝马斯的协商式民主与程序主义司法等诸多具有代表性的理论范式。事实上,司法审查的正当性证成不能仅仅依靠重构民主观念的外部论证来实现,还需要依靠法官精湛的判决论证技术的内部路径来提升。这说明司法审查与民主的悖论是宪政结构中构成性的内在矛盾,而司法审查与民主的互动则是宪政具有生命力的内在源泉。     

试论我国行政监察的法治化途径

行政监察工作法治化是依法行政的必然要求,纵观我国现行行政监察体制和运行机制,存在着明显的缺陷和不足。探索一条科学有效的社会主义行政监察之路,需要在马列主义、毛泽东思想、邓小平理论以及“三个代表”重要思想指导下,弘扬民主理念,完善行政监察立法,深化体制改革,建立专职的行政监察队伍,实现国际社会联合协调行动。     

企业民主价值析

企业民主是市场经济条件下,企业作为社会经济组织的一种组织文化。其必然大行其道的原因在于,只有以民主的方式组织和运作企业,才能保证企业持续不断地产生适应市场竞争的强劲经济张力。其中的秘密是,企业民主具有适应当代社会经济文化的价值功能,而经济价值和人文价值是其中的两种基本要素。