Alternative South–South development collaboration? The role of China in the Coega Special Economic Zone in South Africa

Aid, in the form of financial aid and investment, has become increasingly prevalent in both bilateral and multilateral partnerships in the BRICS. In Africa, the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation provides the official framings for forms of development assistance to the continent, with financial forms of aid available through the New Development Bank and the China–Africa Development Bank (CADFund). This article explores how Chinese international development assistance has influenced South Africa's economic growth and development strategies and is reshaping South Africa as “gateway” to Africa and continental leader. Special economic zones (SEZs) have become a prioritised form of BRICS development collaboration particularly in terms of Chinese trade and investment expansionism into Africa through South Africa. Chinese international development assistance and foreign direct investment in South Africa in particular are very notable and have been strengthened during the Chinese official state visit prior to the Johannesburg BRICS Summit in 2018. The article critically analyses the development policy discourse on BRICS spearheading an alternative model of South–South international cooperation by examining the Coega SEZ in South Africa, hailed as the most SEZ in Africa. The article critically examines the development alternative potential of the Coega SEZ.     

Between regulatory field structuring and organizational roles: Intermediation in the field of sustainable urban development

Recent contributions in the domains of governance and regulation elucidate the importance of rule‐intermediation (RI), the role that organizations adopt to bridge actors with regulatory or “rulemaking” roles and those with target or “rule‐taking” roles. Intermediation not only enables the diffusion and translation of regulatory norms, but also allows for the representation of different actors in policymaking arenas. While prior studies have explored the roles that such RIs adopt to facilitate their intermediation functions, we have yet to consider how field‐level structuring processes influence (and are influenced by) the various and changing roles adopted by RI. In this study we focus on the mutually constitutive relations between field‐level change processes and the evolving roles of RIs by studying the rise of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI)/Local Governments for Sustainability, an RI serving as a bridge for sustainable urban development policies between the United Nations and local authorities. Using ICLEI as an illustrative case, we theorize four different processes of regulatory field structuration: problematization, role specialization, marketization, and orchestrated decentralization. We discuss their implications for RI roles in the field and further theorize the changing dynamics of trickle‐up intermediation processes as an RI gains power and influence.     

Do party supporters accept policy compromises in coalition governments?

Government formation in multi-party systems often requires coalition negotiations and finding common ground among coalition partners. Supporters of parties involved in the government formation process face a trade-off when evaluating such bargaining processes: on the one hand, voters usually prefer seeing their party being in government rather than in opposition; on the other hand, negotiations require coalition compromises that they might dislike. In this paper, we study voters’ willingness to accept policy compromises during government formation processes. We argue that voters’ acceptance of policy compromises depends on both the strength of their party attachment and the importance they assign to the issue at stake during the coalition negotiations. Not giving in on important issues is key, especially for supporters of challenger parties, who hold strong policy preferences on a selected number of issues. To test these expectations, we collected original survey data immediately after the Spanish general election in November 2019. The results show support for the hypothesized effects, shed light on the pressure potential coalition partners face during government formation and help explain the failures of government formation attempts in increasingly polarized societies.     

Examination of pretreatment methods for DNA extraction from nails

In the conventional method of DNA extraction from nails, it takes approximately half a day to dissolve the nails. In this study, we examined whether using the HOrizontal Nail MAshing (HONMA) method, in which pressure is applied to the nail to crush it flat and increase its surface area, would improve DNA extraction efficiency. Fingernails (5 mg) provided by ten volunteers were used as samples. Nail pieces (1–3 pieces), shredded with nail clippers, were thinly stretched by applying 2 t of pressure to each piece using a hydraulic press. DNA was extracted by incubation at 56 °C for 10 min and 1 h during proteolysis. DNA yield from the nails pretreated using the HONMA method increased by 0.20–7.10 times compared with that from unprocessed nails. In particular, 10-min incubation using the HONMA method resulted in an average 2.05-fold increase in DNA yield compared with that under overnight incubation. However, the impact of using the HONMA method varied widely among individuals, and the amount of extracted DNA decreased in some cases, suggesting that the yield may differ depending on the nail quality.     

论我国取保候审制度之完善——以英美保释制度为视角

相比英美保释制度，我国取保候审在性质定位上和适用方式上都相去甚远。《刑事诉讼法修正案（草案）》中对我国取保候审制度进行了完善，体现了对犯罪嫌疑人、被告人权利的保障，但在取保候审的适用方式、适用程序和相关保障措施方面仍然存在不足。应借鉴英美保释制度，完善我国的取保候审制度。     

论清代命案检验中的鉴定文书

清代的鉴定文书不仅应包括通说中的尸格、尸图、骨格、骨图,而且还应该包括通详类上行文书、仵作甘结,它们各有侧重,相互验证。通详类文书中有介绍现场勘查、分析说明的作用,仵作甘结则体现了验证图格,防止作弊的用处。三者共同构成了一套精巧的表达体系。同时,清朝还在损伤描述要素上作了规范化的努力。     

论人大在预防群体性事件中的职能定位

群体性事件频发已成为影响我国社会和谐稳定的突出问题。本文认为,在影响群体性事件发生的诸因素中,人大的利益代表职能及监督职能未正常发挥是根本性因素。因此,有效预防与化解群体性事件,应完善人大的代表职能、沟通职能、监督职能,尽快建立人大代表职业构成比例制度及代表联系选民制度,逐步完善代表质询制度等三位一体的人大权力监督机制。     

Terrorism,violence against the public,and the media: The Australian approach

This paper examines the balance between the apparently competing objectives of government and the media in the general area of violence against the public and details the Australian model for handling issues associated with terrorism and the media. Australia's counterterrorism strategy may be considered holistic, going beyond the idea of a comprehensive capability for response to an actual public incident to include preventive measures and enhancement of the national security environment, suggesting that all elements of the society, including the media, regard security as a cooperative endeavor. These elements have been developed in the “National Anti‐Terrorist Plan” (NATP), developed by Australia's Standing Advisory Committee on Commonwealth/State Cooperation for Prevention against Violence (SAC‐PAV). For the past several years, the SAC‐PAV has been developing a basic strategic guide to provide structure for its many activities, and the committee has agreed that the NATP requires a fourfold strategy for dealing with the media: (1) public communication policies and guidelines, (2) incorporating media response and incident management strategies, (3) media training, and (4) physical controls. In addition, the SAC‐PAV has formulated a set of guidelines for the media to apply when covering terrorist incidents, indicating clearly what crisis managers and counterterrorism response organizations expect of media handling of public crises.     

规范教师资格认定的建议及设想

教师资格证书制度是国家对教师实行的一种特定的职业许可证制度。回顾实施教师资格认定以来的基本情况，探讨教师资格认定中存在的主要问题，规范其认定途径十分必要。