‘Big Men’ Rule: Presidential Power,Regime Type and Democracy in 30 African Countries

This article provides a systematic overview of the institutional basis of presidential power in 30 sub-Saharan African countries, using a broad comparative scheme to assess presidential power developed by Siaroff (2003). The dual purpose is, first, to compare the power of African presidents to patterns found by Siaroff for countries worldwide, looking particularly at the relation between regime type and presidential power; and second, to make a preliminary analysis of the political consequences of high levels of presidential power in the light of earlier theoretical claims associating it with regime problems such as democratic breakdown.

The article's comparative framework illustrates the high levels of institutional power of presidents in 30 African countries. As argued by Siaroff, regime type tells us little about presidential power; in these African cases, semi-presidential systems score even higher than presidential systems. One ‘parliamentary’ system also shows a high degree of presidential power. Moreover, there is very little difference in presidential power between democracies and non-democracies, and ‘minimal’ electoral democracies score higher on average than non-democracies and liberal democracies.

Examination of the consequences of high levels of presidential power also shows that more than a quarter (28.6 per cent) of such regimes experienced a democratic breakdown, although this is not a statistically significant level. A weak correlation is found between presidential power and freedom and democracy ratings, again not at a statistically significant level, while correlations with governance ratings are strong and statistically significant. A repeated measures test, however, does show a statistically significant relation with freedom and democracy. Although more research is needed, including a larger N and more variation in the independent variable, the evidence supports intuitive knowledge: a high degree of presidential power bodes ill for democracy and good governance in Africa.     

Mind the Gap: Using UK Parliamentary Sources to Enhance Teaching

Online primary parliamentary sources can be of great value in teaching Parliament-related courses and a valuable means of promoting the development of students' research and analytical skills; particularly taking into account the research habits of the modern student population. Through a series of focus groups with politics students and a national survey of politics lecturers, the perceptions and current use of the UK Parliament website in teaching are analysed. It was found that a considerable number of lecturers are making use of the website for teaching purposes, though this is usually at a very basic and often superficial level. Barriers to the use of parliamentary resources include a lack of awareness of the types and variety of parliamentary material, difficulties in finding appropriate material on the Parliament website and a lack of understanding on the part of lecturers as to how to use this material effectively in lectures and seminars.     

中国共产党领导改革开放的基本经验

中国共产党在领导波澜壮阔的改革开放进程中,以破解社会主义初级阶段基本矛盾为主线,在坚持社会主义基本制度的前提下,大力革除生产关系和上层建筑中不适应生产力发展的因素,积累了宝贵经验。深刻总结并丰富发展改革开放的宝贵经验,继续把改革开放伟大事业推向前进,中国共产党必将在新的征程中书写更加壮美的历史画卷。     

美国“其他保险条款”诉讼：现状与未来

其他保险条款诉讼是一个已经困扰了美国法院近四分之三个世纪的极其复杂的法律问题。美国各州在司法上对该问题的解决方式也存在差异。文章通过对美国有关其他保险条款冲突典型判例的分析,试图寻找美国法院在长期的判例实践中所形成的一些相对比较成熟的解决其他保险条款冲突问题的判例规则及其未来在解决该问题上所遵循的价值理念和解决思路,以此希望能为我国将来保险立法的进一步完善和对解决我国目前既无法可依又无章可循的其他保险条款诉讼提供可资借鉴的法律原则和价值理念。     

天麻钩藤饮联合卡托普利治疗原发性高血压的系统评价和Meta分析

目的 评价天麻钩藤饮联合卡托普利治疗原发性高血压的有效性和安全性,为动物实验和临床推广提供科学依据。方法 纳入天麻钩藤饮联合卡托普利与单纯卡托普利治疗原发性高血压的随机对照试验（randomised control trails,RCTs）文献,用Jadad量表对文献的质量进行评分,进行Meta分析。结果 共纳入8篇RCTs文献,均是Jadad评分小于3分的低质量研究。两组临床疗效、原发性高血压症状的合并效应量比值比（odds ratio,RR）分别为1.15、1.41;治疗后收缩压、舒张压的合并效应量分别为-5.37、-4.85 mmHg,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。两组的不良反应均较少。结论 与单纯卡托普利比较,天麻钩藤饮联合卡托普利治疗原发性高血压有更好的临床疗效,可改善症状,降压效果更佳,具有较好的安全性,适合临床的推广使用。由于纳入文献的质量不高,仍需要高质量的大样本双盲RCTs的支持。