The presidential dynamics of leadership decline in contemporary British politics: the illustrative case of Tony Blair

The presidential analogy has provided many explanatory insights into the contemporary development of the British premiership. Nevertheless, the usage of this analytical device is almost invariably confined to the establishment and consolidation of leadership. This article demonstrates that the presidential dimension has comparable utility in accounting for the erosion and decline of leadership. In examining the Blair premiership in relation to three signature themes of the American presidency – public outreach, personalized leadership, and democratic disjunction – the analysis reveals a set of dynamics that not only provides a vehicle for political opposition but largely predetermines the nature and formulation of that critique.     

转型时期执政党执政的合法性基础构建

政治合法性是现代政党存在和发展的最主要的执政资源,它是有效统治和政治稳定的基础。在日益迅速发展的社会转型期,中国共产党的执政合法性基础面临着前所未有的挑战,重塑我党的政治合法性基础已是历史发展的必然逻辑。为此,党必须增强和拓展新的执政合法性资源,构建新的合法性基础,有效地巩固党的执政地位,不断提高党的执政能力。     

中国特色社会主义制度体系视野下的利益表达机制——基于制度视角的分析

利益表达机制作为中国特色社会主义制度体系的重要组成部分,在转型时期的政治制度体系中发挥着重要的政治功能。探索利益表达机制制度创新,是保障人民群众的表达权和参与权,提高公共行政的民主性和科学性,提升公共权力的合法性,适应经济社会快速而深刻变化局面的需要。     

民生政治视域中的执政党合法性建设研究

党的十七大报告提出了加快推进以改善民生为重点的社会建设,标志着中国进入民生政治时代。在民生政治时代,改善民生成为执政党获得政治合法性的重要来源。民生政治背景下的合法性建设不能孤立进行,必须纳入到中国特色社会主义事业的总体布局中去加以推进。民生政治时代党的政治合法性建设应当是以提高民众生活满意度为重要支撑来源,以加强经济民生、政治民生、文化民生、社会民生四大领域建设为重点,以民生的改善、国民福祉的实现作为最高标准的综合性实践工程。     

The Social Context of Responses to Injustice: Considering the Indirect and Direct Effects of Group-Level Factors

Whether individuals evaluate a distribution of outcomes to be unfair and how they respond to it depends upon the social context and their perceptions of why the objective injustice occurred. Here we examine a general feature of the situation that highlights what is often overlooked in distributive justice research: the impact of the group. We conceptualize such impact in terms of the group value model of procedural justice (Lind and Tyler, 1988) and in terms of collective sources of legitimacy (Walker and Zelditch, 1993). The former highlights how the extent to which one feels valued by the group may enhance perceptions of distributive justice (net of actual outcomes) and thus ameliorate the impetus to respond to objective injustice. The latter considers how the dynamics of group influence may reduce the propensity to respond behaviorally to perceived injustice. Our analysis shows how procedural justice and legitimacy (in the forms of authorization and endorsement) may affect attributions in a work setting, and, in turn, influence individuals' justice perceptions and reactions. By combining these elements, we chart for the first time the relative impact of two factors representing elements of the group on an individual's evaluation of and response to distributive injustice.     

Black Box Production of Paper Fish: An Examination of Knowledge Construction and Validation in Fisheries Management Institutions

In this paper I examine the relationship of institutional structures of governance to the production, acceptance and legitimization of knowledge by various stakeholder groups participating in fisheries management arenas. I focus first on the New England groundfishery where the stock assessments of federal scientists have come under intense criticism by fishermen. As a counterpoint, I examine knowledge production for management purposes in two fisheries where cooperative management institutions have emerged: the Puget Sound region of Washington and the Kuskokwim River watershed of Alaska. Knowledge is produced and legitimated differently by the different stakeholders in the management process. The findings highlight the critical importance of two-way communication, in which stakeholder groups both listen and are listened to, in creating a legitimated and more robust knowledge base with which management decisions can be made.     

The Istituto Affari Internazionali's annual report: Activities in 1987

The revelations from the former National Security Agency contractor, Edward Snowden, in July 2013 will have an enduring impact on the modern business of intelligence and the communication strategies of governments and non-state based adversaries alike. Snowden’s revelations do not mark a fundamental divergence from the general understanding of intelligence. In making these implied understandings public, however, Snowden has changed the political dynamic around mass surveillance. The revelations amplify a tension within several layers of social contract from interactions between governments to those between governments and citizens. Long-term, diplomatic relations between the US and European governments should remain largely unaffected.     

Asia‐Pacific: More security,less uncertainty,new opportunities

Abstract

This article examines the emergence of an increasingly vociferous public debate in China over the true contribution made by the KMT in the war against Japan. Following years of rigid adherence to the traditional Maoist line that the CCP won the war almost single-handedly, the party has finally moved towards a more realistic and honest assessment that recognises the pivotal role played by the KMT in defeating the Japanese. The rationale for conceding this point is ultimately linked to the question of nationalist legitimacy. At a time of increasing socio-economic uncertainty and in an effort to fill the ideological void left by the demise of Chinese Marxism, the party is trying hard to bolster its nationalist credentials. One way that it is doing this is by presenting a united patriotic front on the war against Japan, with itself at the helm. However, things have not materialised in the way the party had anticipated. Along with strong expressions of national pride in China's war effort, some members of the public have responded with sympathy towards the KMT veterans who fought the Japanese. With this sympathy has come antipathy towards the CCP who are accused of persecuting KMT soldiers after 1949, of re-writing the history of the war for its own propaganda purposes and of betraying the nation by, amongst other things, avoiding armed conflict with Japan and leaving the KMT to fight the war on its own. In light of this growing (although not necessarily majority) public reaction, we argue that instead of fortifying the party's nationalist legitimacy, the official reappraisal of the KMT's role in the war runs the risk of eroding that legitimacy.     

中国传统社会：权利来源于国家授予性的成因及影响

中国传统社会,权利合法性来源于国家的授予,而究其根源在于普天之下为皇帝所有。中国传统社会普天之下为皇帝所有得以形成的制度因素主要在于以下三个方面：历代王朝对国家权力获取方式的军事性和暴力性;历代王朝都禁止社会结社,并在统治方式上体现为通过官僚体制实现有组织的国家统治和无组织的社会;历代王朝都对法律进行垄断,法律体现为帝王统治之工具而非民众保护权利之手段。作为不争事实,中国传统社会普天之下为皇帝所有和权利来源的国家授予性,对中国传统社会的权利存在样况及市场经济的形成发展产生了明显的消极影响。     

协商民主能否成为可能——自由、平等与理性之于协商民主

20世纪最后20年,一种新型的民主理论——协商民主在西方政治学界开始兴起、发展,并成为人们讨论研究聚集的焦点。作为一种可能的新型民主,面临着许多挑战,何以成为可能或者说能否成为可能成为人们争论的焦点,这一问题值得我们认真思考。基于此,从一种自由、平等、理性分析的视角来看,协商民主能够化解自由与秩序的矛盾,维护社会的平等和正义,能够在公开的理性下实现政治的合法性,解决现有民主制度的困境与挑战,是确实能够实现的政治理想。