Civic activism and Korean democracy: the impact of blacklisting campaigns in the 2000 and 2004 general elections

Abstract

For the general elections in 2000 and 2004, civic groups in South Korea joined forces to stage the so-called ‘blacklisting campaign’ or ‘defeat campaign’ against allegedly corrupt, incompetent or anti-reform politicians. The campaigns not only played a significant role in thwarting many politicians from getting nominated or elected but also heralded a new era in Korean politics: civic groups have now emerged as a major political force, capable not only of challenging party policies and pending legislation but also taking on an agenda-setting prominence in a wide array of policy areas. In analyzing the success of NGO political activities in the 2000 and 2004 general elections, this paper draws on resource mobilization theory to show how the civic groups effectively utilized various resources, including leadership skills, communications and office facilities, and access to the mass media, to achieve their objective rather than relying simply on the spontaneous participation of voters. In comparing the efforts of civic groups in the two elections, the paper also explains the factors that made their endeavors relatively less successful in 2004 (e.g. a splintering of alliances among the civic groups). On the whole, the paper argues that the greater political involvement by civic groups is likely to lead to a more pluralistic, open and competitive form of democracy, and that the vibrant civic activism in Korea is an indication not only of maturing democracy but also a more secure entrenchment of civil society.     

Interest group–party linkage in the twenty‐first century: Evidence from Denmark,the Netherlands and the United Kingdom

This article systematically investigates interest group–party interactions in the Netherlands, Denmark and the United Kingdom based on cross‐national surveys with responses from 1,225 interest groups. The findings show that interest groups and parties still interact in the beginning of the twenty‐first century, but that the vast majority of their interaction involves a low degree of institutionalisation. Using fractional logit analysis, it is demonstrated that the strength of interest group–party linkage is primarily affected by systematic differences in state–society structures and organisational group characteristics. Moreover, differences are found in what conditions different types of interaction. Whereas historical legacies and partisan origin influence an interest group's structural party links, group resources make interactions of a less institutionalised, ad hoc nature more likely.     

转型期弱势群体社会保障问题探析

随着我国社会体制的变革和社会结构的转变,弱势群体的内涵不断发生着变化,其可能引发的社会风险也与日俱增,如何有效保护弱势群体的合法利益,直接关系到和谐社会的实现.目前我国对弱势群体的社会保障方面却存在着法律体系滞后、救助理念落后、救济程度有限、综合性保障机制不完善等问题,应予健全与完善,以促进社会稳定、实现公平正义和社会和谐.     

The Future of Belgian Federalism Through the Eyes of the Citizens

How do Belgian citizens see the future of federalism? In the typical consociational Belgium citizens have not had much to say about the federalization process, which has been largely elite-driven. And actually not so much is known about the future of Belgian federalism through the eyes of the citizens. Survey research shows some differences in identity and in institutional preferences between the two language groups, but also a low salience of the issue when they cast a vote. This article, therefore, looks at alternative methods to capture the perceptions of the citizens: focus groups, deliberative experiments and mental maps.     

西方犯罪学社会支持理论研究及其借鉴意义

社会支持理论在西方犯罪学领域产生与发展之前,早已存在并应用于精神卫生研究等领域。文章在对社会支持理论的定义及其相关命题、主要分类及功能价值进行介评后,着重对该理论的功效及缺陷进行了简要的评价与分析。进而指出：西方犯罪学社会支持理论极力推崇一种积极的刑事政策,这对于当前处于社会转型期的中国所面临的许多弱势群体犯罪问题,如青少年犯罪、女性犯罪、老年犯罪、农民工犯罪、农村留守人员犯罪等,具有一定的解释力,有着重要的理论借鉴价值和社会实践意义。     

跨界民族问题研究:理论与现实

作为一种国际社会现象,跨界民族问题对现代国际关系产生了重要而深远的影响。文章从历史与现实的角度,对跨界民族问题在国际关系中的表现形态在理论上进行了深入的探讨,并考察了其在当前发展变化的新动向,认为要解决好这些问题,需要有着全新的思维方式和正确的策略。     

Legislative Bellwethers: The Role of Committee Membership in Parliamentary Debate

Political parties and legislators use legislative debates to establish their reputation, challenge rivals, and engage in coalition management, among many other tasks. Yet, existing theories on parliamentary debates have abstracted away from the need for information and expertise, which are costly to acquire. Drawing on the “informational” perspective on legislative organization, we address this problem by arguing that party leaders use committees as training arenas for their backbenchers. They task their assigned members with acquiring specific expertise and then rely heavily on those members during the corresponding debates. We turn to the Portuguese legislature, from 2000 to 2015, to discuss how saliency, government dynamics, and party size affect the use of experts. We test this theory using a novel approach to classify speeches that leverages the texts of legislation as training data for a supervised approach.     

关于当代中国社会群体变动问题的探析

当代社会群体变动是理论界关注的问题之一。由于经济力量的推动,我国社会群体的剧烈变动和群体内部的变化,是经济社会发展进步的表现。     

免疫酶斑点法同步检测人精液中P30及ABH物质的研究及其应用

本文用免疫酶斑点法同步检测人精液中前列腺特异性抗原P30及ABO血型,并与常规的精子检出法和中和法进行比较。结果表明用免疫酶斑点法同步检测人精液申特异蛋白P30和ABO血型,可以替代常规的精子检出法和中和法在实际检案中应用。     

Tracing policy influence of diffuse interests: the post-crisis consumer finance protection politics in the US

Dodd–Frank, the financial reform law passed in the United States in response to the 2008 financial crisis, established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a new federal regulator with the sole responsibility of protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices. This decision marked the end of a highly politicized reform debate in the US Congress, in which proponents of the new bureau would normally have been considered to be much weaker than its opponents. Paradoxically, an emerging civil society coalition successfully lobbied decision-makers and countered industry attempts to prevent industry capture. What explains the fact that rather weak and peripheral actors prevailed over more resourceful and dominant actors? The goal of this study is to examine and challenge questions of regulatory capture by concentrated industry interests in the reform debates in response to the credit crisis which originated in the US in 2007. The analysis suggests that for weak actors to prevail in policy conflicts over established, resource-rich opponents, they must undertake broad coalition building among themselves and with influential elite allies outside and inside of Congress who share the same policy goals.