A test of European Union post-accession influence: comparing reactions to political instability in Romania

The positive role of the European Union (EU) in the democratization process in post-communist countries has been amply documented. The pre-accession conditionality was to a large extent the tool used to enhance adoption of norms, and implementation of policy. In this context, it is less clear what happens after countries join the EU and conditionality is no longer an option. This article seeks to provide an answer by analysing how the EU can influence democratic governance after accession of a new member state. In particular, it focuses on the reactions of EU actors in two institutional conflicts (the 2007 and 2012 presidential impeachment referendums) in Romania. The main findings indicate how EU leverage on domestic politics remains possible, though the effectiveness of involvement, monitoring and evaluation of respect for democratic principles depends on a complex interaction of international and domestic actors.     

制度变迁理论视角下的公安教育改革

公安教育改革是公安教育为适应新时期公安工作特点而进行的体制变革,其目标是提高公安教育有效供给。制度变迁理论是新制度经济学的核心理论,通过此理论可以从动力因素、主体选择、变迁路径等角度审视公安教育改革的进程,论证公安教育改革的内在机理。     

浅析不动产预告登记制度——兼论我国预告登记制度的完善

预告登记是起源德国普鲁士法的一项古老制度,其旨在保护以不动产物权变动为目的的债权请求权,因其在保障不动产交易安全、促进交易效率等方面发挥了非常重要的作用,后被许多国家和地区采用。我国于2007年10月1日施行的《中华人民共和国物权法》正式确立了不动产预告登记制度,但是它在实践中还存在许多不足,亟待解决。     

论遏制我国特殊利益集团的制度建设

在我国经济体制转变过程中,制度冲突、制度缺失和制度执行失范等现象普遍存在,为特殊利益集团的衍生提供了可乘之机。特殊利益集团掠夺和侵害社会公共利益,引发社会利益结构的失衡,激化社会矛盾,而社会矛盾的本质和根源是制度矛盾。因此,必须通过加强制度创新建设来有效遏制特殊利益集团。     

Reforming sacred institutions: the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Roman Catholic Church compared

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) are both conceptualized as sacred institutions, with many features of ideology/theology, hierocratic structure, and policy process in common. After periods of exclusion, they both also faced strong pressures to adapt to changes in the modern world, both internal and external, and to reduce status differentiation within the hierarchy and between the clergy/apparatchiki hierarchy and the laity/population. The present article compares and contrasts de-Stalinization under Khrushchev (1956–1964) with the results of Vatican II (1959–1965), and Gorbachev’s reforms (1985–1991) with the efforts of Pope Francis to reform the RCC (2013–present). The comparisons validate the explanatory power of the noted similarities between these sacred institutions, while also highlighting significant differences in structure, mission, and process, which explain why Pope Francis has adopted an incremental strategy for reform of the RCC, in contrast to Gorbachev’s revolutionary strategy for reforming the CPSU.     

略论我国第一个《刑法修正案》

笔者认为,《刑法修正案》不属于单行刑法,用“修正案”的形式补充修改刑法具有灵活性、便于适用性,能保持刑法统一等优点,但是我国第一个《刑法修正案》在立法技巧上仍不当地沿用了以往单行刑法的模式。     

Understanding the changing role of public sector performance measurement in less developed countries

This article develops a framework for understanding changes in the demand for and supply of performance information in public sector organizations in less developed countries (LDCs). New Institutional Sociology (NIS) is used to argue that pressures from specific stakeholders stimulate organizations to produce particular performance information. The article distinguishes three groups of stakeholders (i.e. funding bodies, statutory boards and purchasers), and elaborates on the performance dimensions these stakeholders are interested in. The group of funding bodies, with their interest in financial performance information, used to be the most important group of stakeholders. However, statutory boards and purchasers are gaining importance as a result of recent public sector reforms, which include decentralization, marketization and the implementation of anti‐corruption programs. As a consequence of pressures coming from these stakeholders, new performance dimensions, such as the quality and quantity of services and the political governance structure, will be added to organizations' performance measurement (PM) systems. Whether these and other—often more traditional financial—performance dimensions will be balanced and integrated throughout organizations depends on the power positions of the various stakeholders. The arguments presented in this article intend to stimulate public sector organizations in LDCs to design and redesign PM systems as a response to changing stakeholder interests. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

论制作、贩卖、传播淫秽物品罪的立法完善

制作、贩卖、传播淫秽物品罪就是传播淫秽物品的行为犯罪。现行刑法关于淫秽物品犯罪的规定存在不足,应从罪名确定、法定刑配置、过失罪取消、走私罪调整等方面予以完善。     

Do FDI patterns differ between manufacturing and service sector in CEE countries

In the paper, we presented results of the research, realized with the goal to test main determinants influencing on FDI stock in manufacturing and services in transitional countries, precisely CEE countries. Some of the conceptual issues identified under possible differences of FDI determinants in manufacturing and services we started with were： （1） What are the most important determinants of FDI in manufacturing and services？ （2） Are there significant differences between the main influencing determinants/factors between manufacturing and services？ （3） Are there significant differences between FDI determinants for developing countries/transitional countries and industrial countries？ （4） What are the implications for policies and strategies to attract FDI in different industries for developing countries？ Dependent variable used in this paper is the FDI stock p/c （NACE 1-digit） into manufacturing and service sector for each observed CEE country, in the period 1999-2006. In case of our sample countries, a set of possible FDI determinants was selected from the pool of traditional and institutional-related determinants in the literature, and relevant indicators available. Empirical analysis was conducted by the regression assessment of panel data, using the set of data for CEE countries, studied over eight years. We estimated fixed effects model and OLS with panel-corrected standard errors （PCSEs） using Prais-Winsten to take into account the AR（1） process. Two out of four traditional variables showed differences between the manufacturing and service sector： （a） Inflation, as the indicator of macroeconomic instability, was not statistically significant for manufacturing sector but it was significant for service sector; （b） wages had statistically significant influences on the FDI in manufacturing sector, but had no influence on service sector. Looking at the results of testing indicators we had found significant differences between all indicators： （a） Privatization influenced on FDI attractions in manufacturing sector and it was significant for service sector, with negative influence; （b） wages had statistically significant influences on the FDI in manufacturing sector, but had no influence on service sector; and finally （c） other two traditional variables-market size indicated through GDP p/c and openness of economy had the same results for both, manufacturing and service sector.