Elite interests and political participation in Botswana, 1966–2014

ABSTRACT

Botswana’s tiny economy is overwhelmingly government-driven and political participation, particularly on the side of the ruling party, is critical for one’s economic survival and prosperity. This has led to enduring intrigue and conflict among the country’s political power elite. Opposition party activists traditionally have embraced leftist policies and claimed to be representing the country’s poor and downtrodden while castigating the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (in power since 1966) of being pro-rich and politically connected business. Ironically, some members of the opposition elite also engage in business ventures with their ruling party counterparts. The scramble for economic opportunities has fuelled debilitating factionalism within both the ruling and opposition parties over the years. In some instances tribalism was mobilised in intra- and inter-party elections for positions of influence even though voters are more interested in service delivery than traditional ethnic issues. Our paper considers the question: ‘Whose interests do Botswana’s politicians represent?’     

新加坡集选区制度初探

集选区制度是新加坡国会大选的独创。1988年新加坡国会大选实行集选区制度与单选区制度并行,这对新加坡整个政治生态产生了重大影响。国内新加坡研究涉及集选区制度的著述甚少,基本未对集选区制度予以系统阐述与分析。本文比较全面地介绍新加坡集选区制度的产生与实践的过程,并围绕新加坡集选区制度的核心争议,即代表性问题和程序公正性问题进行分析。本文认为反对党虽有突破,但选举程序设计对反对党仍然是极大的障碍,由于目前反对党积极性迅速提高,使人民行动党面临极大挑战,因此自主革新的可能性是存在的。     

论网络教学中教师角色的体现

网络教学的发展并不意味着教师角色将淡出历史的舞台。教师作为公共知识的传播者、学习兴趣的激发者、学习态度的培养者、知识价值的赋予者,在教育中具有不可替代的作用。研究如何利用网络技术充分地发挥教师传统的传道授业解惑的角色作用,应该是未来网络教育发展的方向。     

城市社区管理中的居民参与

居民参与在我国城市社区管理中发挥着重要作用,它有助于推动我国的民主化进程,有助于解决政府管理危机,有助于确保公共政策的有效运行。当前,我国城市社区管理中居民参与已经取得了一定的成效,但还存在参与广度与深度有限、参与发展不平衡、参与渠道不畅等问题。完善城市社区管理中的居民参与可以从三方面进行：一是大力培养和增强社区居民的参与意识;二是进一步健全与完善社区居民参与的组织体系;三是在法律中明确社区居民的参与权利与参与程序。     

Are Public-Led Arts Incubating Programs a Double-Edged Sword? A Case Study of the Arts Council Korea’s Performing Arts Grant Program

A nation’s cultural policy is derived from its political and governance history, and its past practices. Taking the genealogical traits of South Korean cultural policies into account, the authors examine the contributions and risks of a public-led arts incubator program. One of the Arts Council Korea’s grant programs in the arts-incubating structure was involved with a public funding scandal of political intervention during the grant review process. Consequently, questions were raised about the current bureaucratic system for cultural policy. This article discusses the legitimacy of state intervention in the arts, and analyzes the case with relevant collected documents and interviews.     

Prison visitation as human ‘right’ or earned ‘privilege’? The differing tales of England/Wales,and Scotland

Prison visitation has been widely recognised as an important feature of a just and humane prison system, providing important benefits for prisoners and their family in maintaining ties. However, emphasis on maintaining prisoner–family ties over the sentence has remained a low priority for the prison service in England and Wales, with prison visits ideologically framed as a ‘privilege’ rather than a ‘right’ for prisoners. This paper contrasts England and Wales with Scotland where a diverging approach to supporting visitation and family contact has been implemented. In Scotland, a strong focus on human rights as a justification for these policies has occurred, in tandem with more palatable historical context of penal welfarism. This paper assesses differences between the two governmental approaches to prison visitation, situated in discussion of some of the broader resettlement outcomes which may be garnered via these policy responses.     

Preferences and agreement in legislative parties: testing the causal chain

This research note focuses on two specific dimensions of legislative cohesion: the homogeneity of preferences within a party and party agreement. Although these two dimensions have often been considered as synonyms, it is argued that these two concepts refer to different realities. The authors therefore develop distinct measurements for these two concepts. The authors then examine their statistical relationship, putting to the test the widespread assumption that heterogeneous preferences increase the probability of disagreement. The authors do so by testing the effect of different measures of a member of parliament’s ideological distance to her/his party on her/his self-reported frequency of disagreement with her/his party. It is demonstrated that the causal chain linking both concepts is only verified in the case of a conscious ideological distance. The results have crucial theoretical and methodological implications for future research on party cohesion and party unity.     

论我国社区矫正制度的确立——以《中华人民共和国刑法修正案（八）》为观照

社区矫正代表着当今行刑制度的发展趋势。刑法修正案（八）实行社区矫正的规定,为司法行政机关开展社区矫正工作提供了法律依据,为改革完善我国刑罚执行制度奠定了重要基础,标志着我国社区矫正法律制度的确立。     

瓦格纳定律之英国实证检验及其对中国公共财政建设的启示——新公共管理运动背景下的探索

新公共管理运动的兴起,从理论上看财政规模弱化不可避免。英国作为新公共管理运动的发源国之一,其行政管理改革充分贯穿和系统展现了新公共管理理念的精髓。以英国新公共管理运动以来(1979—2006)的财政数据为依据,对瓦格纳定律进行实证检验,具有显著的代表意义。根据英国财政数据的研究结果与新公共管理理念高度吻合,表明瓦格纳定律在英国的适应期已经结束。有理由认为,只要推行新公共管理运动,瓦格纳定律就难以得到支持。鉴于新公共管理运动的世界性,及其不断推进的必然性,应当重新审视瓦格纳定律的客观性。有鉴于此,中国应该顺应世界新公共管理运动的潮流,立足于中国现实和中国社会经济转型的发展趋势,本着服务型政府的内在要求,适时调整财政政策。     

论行政调查中的不得自证己罪原则

不得自证己罪原则在行政调查领域的适用,在美国等西方国家,是一个宪法问题。在我国,从长远来看,不得自证己罪原则的适用,包括刑事诉讼领域和行政调查领域,是必然的趋势。在行政调查领域,适用不得自证己罪原则,应当考虑行政法本身的特点,与行政程序中的证据规则配合使用。