Political Candidates and the Energy Issue: Nuclear Power Position and Electoral Success

Members of parliament are key actors for the implementation of energy transitions, such as phasing out nuclear power. Before legislators can cast their maybe decisive vote in parliament, they need to run for office and actively strive for election. This paper assesses what political candidates oppose renewable energy transitions and questions whether the energy issue matters in national elections, and thus has consequences for the implementation of new sustainable energy sources. We analyze these questions by first describing the specific characteristics of political candidates. The paper then evaluates the relevance of the energy issue for electoral success in three national elections in Switzerland (2007, 2012, and 2015). Based on candidate data from the voting advice application smartvote.ch, we find that female candidates support ETs more than men do; that especially the French‐speaking part of the country is more in favor of a nuclear phase‐out, and that younger candidates are also more open toward restructuring the energy system than older candidates are. Our models further show that the energy issue does not matter in elections, independently from its salience in the respective election campaigns. Candidates are thus relatively free to choose their position on the issue and do not have to fear consequences at the ballot. However, candidates of center parties, in contrast to the pole parties, are sensitive to the energy issue and reflect public mood in their positions.     

Determinants of Firm‐Level Lobbying and Government Responsiveness in Agricultural Biotechnology in China

Understanding what stimulates agribusiness firms to lobby the government and what makes the government responsive to lobbying are the two issues that have been discussed extensively in the debates concerning determinants of biotechnology policy. This paper examines the factors influencing agribusiness firms' lobbying and government response using econometric modeling on a new data set of 160 leading agribusiness firms in the food, feed, chemical, and seed industries in China. The results show that approximately 10% of agribusiness firms lobbied the government about biotechnology policy and regulations and over half of those that lobbied received a verbal or written acknowledgment from government agencies. Seed and feed companies are more likely to engage in lobbying than chemical companies. Owning GM patents not only has a positive impact on firms' lobbying activities, but firms with these patents are more likely to receive a government response to their lobbying efforts. The experience of selling GM products does not significantly influence lobbying activities or response from the government.     

A 21st Century Low‐Carbon Transition in U.S. Electric Power: Extent,Contributing Factors,and Implications

The U.S. electric power sector has experienced a substantial shift of the generation mix since the turn of the century, moving from heavy reliance on coal‐powered generation to one drawing more from natural gas and, more recently, renewables. This transition has been forged by a mix of macroeconomic factors (recession and recovery); technological breakthroughs (horizontal drilling coupled with hydraulic fracturing; improvements in natural gas plant efficiency); clean energy policies at federal, state, and local levels of government; and private sector demands for carbon‐free energy sources. These factors have combined to reduce carbon emissions from electric power generation substantially this century. In this article we examine the extent of this transition, its causes, as well as the distinct American institutional factors steering it, including energy and environmental federalism, electoral politics, and the political economy of clean energy policy enactment and resistance.     

Applying Stone in a Western Landscape: Ranchers,Conservationists, and Causal Stories in the “American Serengeti”

As the emergence of nongovernmental conservation efforts generates conflict among various stakeholders, the causal story that each party articulates regarding conservation and the causes of land degradation reflects their unique interests. This study uses existing literature to evaluate causal stories surrounding a contemporary conservation effort: Montana's American Prairie Reserve. Through qualitative review of web‐based documents and newspaper articles, it generates a preliminary account of key stakeholders' causal stories. The case study suggests that parties who might be disadvantaged by ascribing responsibility for environmental harms in an adversarial fashion may instead elect to articulate causal stories that are more neutral than existing approaches might forecast. The study concludes by suggesting that further development of causal story literature may enable it to better address contemporary conservation efforts.     

略论推进农村信息网络建设的现实意义和方式

信息滞后所形成的城乡之间的"数字鸿沟",是我国最大的城乡差距之一.大力推进农村信息网络建设,可在短期内缩小和消除城乡之间的差别,是当前深化改革和加快发展的现实需要.推进农村信息网络建设,提高互联网普及率,并整合涉农信息资源,构建信息化的各类应用平台,推进面向"三农"的信息化服务,有利于提高农民群众的文化素质、生活素质和劳动生产技能,将对建设社会主义新农村,促进城乡一体化发展,推动农村经济发展和社会进步产生巨大的积极影响.     

服务型政府：构建社会主义和谐社会的制度基础

公共服务型政府是一种新的政府治理模式,强调以公民为中心,具有服务性、法治性、有限性、透明性和高效性的鲜明特征。服务型政府的建设是构建社会主义和谐社会的必然选择,是提高国家核心竞争力的重要途径,是和谐社会题中应有之义,是和谐社会构建的制度平台。建设服务型政府要求政府从管理理念、管理职能、管理制度、管理手段和行为方式等方面实现根本性的转变。     

牢记“四点希望”开创高校工会工作新局面——学习贯彻胡锦涛总书记在北京大学建校110周年座谈会上的讲话精神

胡锦涛总书记在北京大学建校110周年座谈会上的讲话中强调,教师乃至全体教职工在高校的高素质人才队伍建设中具有举足轻重的作用.高校工会组织要努力做好服务教职工的各项工作,就要紧扣总书记提出的"四点希望"的内涵实质,切实发挥高校工会的组织教职工、引导教职工、服务教职工、维护教职工的作用,努力开创工会工作的新局面.     

Divergent fates: company unions and employee involvement committees under the railway labor and national labor relations acts

Well known is that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA, 1935) in the United States places a largely per se ban on nonunion employee representation (ER) groups which deal with employers over a term or condition of employment. Much less well known is that America’s other labor law, the Railway Labor Act (RLA, 1926), takes a different approach and permits employers to operate such councils and committees as long as they do not perform a collective bargaining function or interfere with workers’ free choice of a bargaining agent. Thus, under the RLA Delta Air Lines is able to operate what is today the closest living approximation to a 1920s-style ER plan while hundreds of other companies (e.g. Polaroid) under the jurisdiction of the NLRA have been forced over the years to disband similar groups on grounds they are a proscribed company union. No study to date has explored the history behind the RLA and NLRA’s divergent treatment of nonunion ER groups so this article takes a first look. The main part of the story covers the 1920–1935 period and examines the events, people, and experiences associated with company unions and ER in, respectively, the rail and manufacturing industries and why the legislative outcome in the former was a permissive stance on nonunion committees but prohibitive in the latter. The last part of the paper fast-forwards the RLA-NLRA story from the 1930s to contemporary law and practice in order to demonstrate how “history matters” when it comes to what employers can and cannot do with nonunion representation groups, such as works councils, participation and involvement committees, and dispute resolution forums.     

平台异化还是因债致罪？——P2P网贷涉非法吸收公众存款罪裁判文本实证研究

文章采用文献研究的方法对83份P2P网贷平台构成非法吸收公众存款罪的裁判文书进行实证分析。通过对平台异化模式的定性分析和平台负债情况的定量分析以及与刑事责任程度的交叉分析,文章认为,平台异化是P2P网贷平台构成非法吸收公众存款罪的基础性因素,负债规模、存款人人数和无法清偿的数额等三个因素都对刑事责任的程度产生影响。而且相比之下,无法清偿的数额对刑事责任影响的程度最为显著。实际上对P2P网贷平台追究非法吸收公众存款罪的刑事责任是因为网贷平台无法清偿举债数额巨大,即因债致罪。这种因债致罪的司法行为逻辑,可以从司法者作为“清场者”的功能定位和对社会秩序的价值追求来解释其合理性,但是从多元价值权衡和刑事民事分离的角度分析,其又是不合理的。     

Identifying the Causes of Issue Attention and Policy Change: Evidence from U.S. Offshore Oil and Natural Gas Drilling Policy, 2008

The flow of attention in the policy process is dynamic and disruptive. While we know changes in issue attention often result in policy change, the causal mechanisms underlying the different stages of the attention allocation process remain unclear. This article uses Punctuated Equilibrium Theory to examine an underdeveloped aspect of issue attention within policy‐making institutions: how specific policy indicators influence the entry and exit of issues on policy‐making agendas. Partisan issue attention in the House of Representatives is used to analyze a significant change to U.S. offshore oil and natural gas drilling policy in 2008. The results highlight how historically high gasoline prices precipitated a shift in attention to offshore drilling and subsequent policy change. Moreover, gasoline prices Granger‐cause attention to energy policy in partisan speeches over time. The analysis further reveals how competing policy frames and a salient focusing event shaped congressional and public discourse, leading to subsequent changes in attention. Taken together, the findings broaden our understanding of the policy process by identifying the specific forces behind the entry and exit of issues on the policy‐making agenda.