The Emerging Neocommunitarianism

The financial crisis which began in 2007 has been widely interpreted as a crisis of neoliberalism, akin to the crisis of Keynesianism of the 1970s. But there is little sign of a major paradigmatic alternative, either in theory or in practice. This article looks at how the crises and failures of neoliberalism are occurring at a micro‐policy level, where they are interpreted in terms of the fallibility of individual rational choice. Policy responses to this crisis, drawing on more psychologically nuanced accounts of economic behaviour, can be described as ‘neocommunitarian’, inasmuch as they echo the communitarian critique of the liberal self. Where neoliberalism rests on a vision of the individual as atomised and rational, neocommunitarianism treats individuals as governed by social norms and incentives simultaneously. And where neoliberalism subjects individuals to periodic audit organised around targets and outputs, neocommunitarianism conducts a constant audit of behavioural fluctuations in real time.     

Making Sense of Greek Austerity

The process of approving a Greek drawing on funds provided by the international community is now familiar. There is concern about the prospect of securing an agreement between the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union (EU), the European Central Bank (ECB), and Greece, which satisfies all parties. This paper suggests that all parties to the agreement have interests in an orderly resolution of the Greek crisis that keeps Greece in the Eurozone. Furthermore, it argues that disagreements and delay before eleventh‐hour agreements can best be explained politically. The paper first demonstrates how Greece, the IMF, and the EU each have a clear interest in finding an orderly solution to the Greek crisis that allows it to remain in the Eurozone. It then outlines the incremental nature of the package and its strategic benefit both for the European banking sector, and governments in Greece and the Eurozone more broadly.     

Economic voting under the economic crisis: Evidence from Greece

Having joined the Eurozone in 2001, Greece experienced a short period of economic euphoria before confronting a major financial crisis some nine years later. In the period between joining the Eurozone and accepting the joint IMF/EU bailout package, the economic situation facing Greek voters changed dramatically. I use this setting to test the economic voting hypothesis. Using longitudinal aggregate data from 1981 to 2009, I investigate the relationship between macroeconomic indicators and vote share of the incumbent party to test the “grievance asymmetry” hypothesis. Moreover, by using individual-level data from 2004 to 2009, I investigate the extent to which retrospective sociotropic evaluations about the state of the economy are associated with support for the incumbent party. The results suggest that sociotropic economic evaluations are associated with government party support, but in a period when the economy is at its worst the incumbent has no real chance of winning and should expect support only from its long-time loyal supporters.     

PIGS or not? Economic voting in Southern Europe

Economic voting has been little studied in the nations of Southern Europe. Here we examine economic voting in the Southern European countries of Portugal, Italy, Spain, and Greece – the PIGS. Through the analysis of a large, ten European nation survey pool, we establish that economic voting exists in the PIGS, with a strength that significantly exceeds that in non-PIGS of Northern Europe. The explanation for such a difference, we suggest, lies in the generally less complex governing coalitions and the poorer economic performance that characterize these Southern European nations. This relatively greater strength of the economic vote in the PIGS implies their electorates will hold government tightly accountable for management of the ongoing economic crises they face.     

新形势下警察危机公关工作初探

警察危机公关是警察公共关系的重要组成部分。在我国经济社会快速发展和互联网等新媒体影响力与日俱增的新形势下,公众对公安机关的社会管理服务和自身素质形象高度关注并监督甚严,公安机关稍有不慎不当,极易形成警察危机事件。要认真研究警察危机事件的成因和特点,正确把握相关原则和方法,切实提高预防处置的能力和水平。     

论我国环境影响评价制度的效用及完善

环境影响评价(Environmental Impact Assessment,英文缩写为EIA)是实现可持续发展的重要工具,多数国家都要求时建设项目进行环境影响评价.我国法律要求对国家的政策、计划和规划项目进行的环境影响进行评价,目的是通过该制度把环境保护目标和措施纳入经济和社会发展的规划中,使环境因素与经济、社会因素一起,在规划形成的早期阶段得到重视.鉴于环评制度的重要意义,从环境影响评价的基本问题出发,分析环境影响评价效用以及存在的现实问题,最终提出环境影响评价制度的完善措施.     

公共危机状态下政府公信力的提升

公共危机管理是现代政府的重要职能,也是影响政府公信力的重要因素。如何应对危机、提升公众信任,是政府面临的实际问题,也是政府公信力研究应致力解决的重大课题。     

跨界治理视阈下我国危机管理跨省际合作机制探究

本文通过对危机管理视角梳理,提出一个新的理论视角——危机管理跨省际合作,通过对建构这一机制的理论基础的阐述,发现这一机制存在的主要障碍,最终寻求合理途径提出相应对策。     

Paradoxes and Failures: ‘New Governance’ Techniques and the Financial Crisis

This article examines the performance of four ‘new governance’ techniques of regulation in the period leading up to the financial crisis: principles based regulation, risk based regulation, meta‐regulation and enrolment. These techniques have been advocated on the basis that they are responsive, flexible, and in enrolling others in the regulatory project thereby expand its capacity, and even its legitimacy. However, experience in the crisis revealed that in their implementation they can be out of touch or indulgent, focus heavily on auditable systems and processes, and that in enrolling others they can increase vulnerabilities and the potential for negative endogenous effects. The argument is not that there should be a return to adversarial ‘command and control’ regulation, rather that experience of these strategies in the crisis suggests a need to understand in greater depth the refractive effects of the organisational, technical/functional and cognitive dimensions of regulatory governance, if we are to understand and adapt its performance in different contexts.