So Close,but so Far? The Davies Commission and the Contested Politics of UK Airport Expansion

Aviation expansion and the construction of a third runway at Heathrow airport is firmly back on the political agenda. Yet, the stark fact remains that a growing list of British governments has been unable to engineer a partial or temporary policy settlement in aviation. In exploring the challenges of reaching such a settlement, this article characterises the shifting and contested political and policy contexts of UK aviation. It begins by exploring the ‘wicked issue’ of aviation expansion before foregrounding how the politics of air travel is riven by competing policy frames, fragmented governance and the absence of gatekeepers. It argues that the Davies Commission and its efforts to remove aviation from the domain of partisan politics provided little more than a temporary respite for government. It thus concludes by questioning whether the May government's expansion proposals will succeed this time around, outlining how the contributions in this collection address the themes and issues of this overriding policy puzzle.     

When school meets the Other: intercultural policies in the Basque inclusive school

ABSTRACT

Gatti, Irazuzta and Martinez address the intercultural public policies implemented in the education system of the Autonomous Region of the Basque Country (Spain). Focusing on the education system allows them to reconstruct the historicity of identity-alterity production in a region in which language has been central for the establishment of ethnic frontiers. More specifically, they examine the implementation of these policies in three pre-school and primary educational institutions in a multicultural neighbourhood of the city of Bilbao. They look at Euskara—the Basque language—as a key element of the us-them distinction. The various education models regarding language and the teaching in/of Euskara or Spanish pave the way for the specialization and spatialization of the schools analysed. ‘Integration’ policies are implemented in ethnically marked schools only, based on a rhetoric of interculturality that assumes that any ‘racial or ethnic discrimination’ can be overcome through knowledge of the Other. Moreover, the assessment of public policies through ‘interculturality figures and best practice’ developed to address the so-called ‘immigration issue’ promotes a protectionist intervention on behalf of the assumed social vulnerabilities of immigrant schoolchildren and their families, which are read as ‘problematic characteristics’. The article argues that, as a result of the approach based on the social conditions of immigrant children and their families in the Basque Country, the race issue evaporates.     

ASEAN as the ‘regional conductor’: understanding ASEAN's role in Asia-Pacific order

This paper analyses ASEAN's prominence in regional order negotiation and management in Southeast Asia and the Asia-pacific through the lens of social role negotiation. It argues that ASEAN has negotiated legitimate social roles as the ‘primary manager’ in Southeast Asia and the ‘regional conductor’ of the Asia-Pacific order. It develops an English School-inspired role negotiation framework and applies it to three periods: 1954–1975 when ASEAN's ‘primary manager’ role emerged from negotiations with the USA; 1978–1991 when ASEAN's role was strengthened through negotiations with China during the Cambodian conflict; and 1991-present when ASEAN created and expanded the ‘regional conductor’ role. Negotiations during the Cold War established a division of labour where great powers provided security public goods but the great power function of diplomatic leadership was transferred to ASEAN. ASEAN's diplomatic leadership in Southeast Asia provided a foundation for creating its ‘regional conductor’ role after the Cold War. ASEAN's ability to sustain its roles depends on maintaining role bargains acceptable to the great powers, an increasingly difficult task due to great power rivalry in the South China Sea.     

公安行政执法存在的问题及解决途径探析

严格公正执法是公安工作的灵魂、是依法治国的基本要求。当前公安行政执法存在部分执法人员综合素质偏低、法治意识淡薄,滥用职权、行政执法利益化倾向依然存在,行政执法程序不规范,公安执法监督机制弱化、执法监督力度不大等问题。对此,文章分析、探讨了进一步强化社会主义法治理念教育,不断强化依法行政观念,深化执法责任制、强化执法过程监督,重视公安行政执法的基层基础工作建设等解决问题的途径。     

对当前我国高校安全保卫工作的研究

高校安全保卫工作对维护高校稳定和安全、保证高校正常教育教学和科研秩序具有重要作用,是一项政策性强而工作难度大的工作。在新的历史条件下,高等院校应紧跟时代发展和形势变化,大胆创新、开拓进取,积极研究高校安全保卫工作的特点和规律,为进一步加强高校安全保卫工作提供理论依据。     

浅谈职业院校日语教学质量的提高

为适应社会对外语人才高质量的要求,高校日语教学除保留传统教学的优势之外需要采取新的教学方式,加强日语基础知识教育的同时,把语言学习和文化学习相结合,培养学生的语言交际能力、大胆实践口语、增强独立学习的能力,以培养适应社会发展的综合型人材。     

当前消防执法中存在的问题与思考

新修订的《消防法》已于2009年5月1日正式实施。公安消防机构管辖的范围可谓宽泛,以新《消防法》为代表的一系列消防法律法规取得效果的好坏,在很大程度上反映在消防行政执法的活动之中。研究和解决当前消防行政执法方面存在的问题,努力提高消防行政执法能力和水平,对于完善社会主义市场经济,建设法治政府,维护社会稳定,提高党的执政地位具有重要的现实意义。     

浅谈我国被迫辞职制度的不足与完善 —— 以司法实务为视角

我国劳动法关于被迫辞职的立法经历了一个不断完善的过程。现有的被迫辞职制度存在适用范围狭窄、认定条件宽松、相关规定不明确以及用人单位的法律责任过轻等问题,进而导致司法实务中部分裁判的社会效果不佳。可以从采取例举与一般规定相结合的立法技术、主客观相结合的判断标准、规定合理的催告期、按违法解除承担法律责任等方面予以完善。     

Greek-Cypriot teachers’ perceptions of religious education and its contribution to peace: perspectives of (in)compatibility in a divided society

This paper explores the ways in which a group of primary school teachers in Cyprus interprets religious education and its contribution to peace. In particular, this phenomenological exploratory study: first, examines how teachers perceive religious education and whether this conceptualization is considered to be (in)compatible with peace in the context of a conflict-affected society; and, second, shows some of the tensions that exist in the aims of religious education between the desire to encourage mutual understanding and exposure to religious pluralism, on the one hand, and the political demands for entrenching ethnic cleavages, on the other. Although these tensions are largely contextual, they nevertheless raise two important issues that are worthwhile to consider for religious education and peace in conflict-affected societies: first, the ‘naturalization’ of religion and religious instruction, on the one hand, vs. the recognition that some models of religious instruction (i.e. confessional teaching) might actually limit the space within which teachers can make contributions to peace, on the other; and, second, the tension between the different models of religious education within a conflict-affected society and particularly which model would strategically and politically serve best the purposes of peace in the short- and long-term.     

Fostering Constructive Action by Peers and Bystanders in Organizations and Communities

Peers and bystanders play important roles in organizational and community conflict management. Bystanders often learn relevant information and have opportunities to act in ways that can affect three of the basic functions of a conflict management system (CMS.) They can help (or not help) to identify, assess, and manage behaviors that the organization or community deems to be “unacceptable.” Examples in which bystanders play important roles include sexual and racial harassment, safety violations, unethical research, national security violations and insider threats, cyber‐bullying and cyber‐sabotage, violence, fraud, theft, intimidation and retaliation, and gross negligence. Bystanders often are a missing link in conflict systems. For the purposes of this article, I define peers and bystanders as people who observe or learn about unacceptable behavior by others, but who are not the relevant supervisors, or who knowingly engage in planning or executing that behavior. I define CMS managers as all those people, including line managers, who have responsibility for managing conflicts. Conflict managers face many challenges in fostering constructive behavior from bystanders. The interests of bystanders may or may not coincide with the interests of conflict systems managers in an organization or community. Bystanders often have multiple, idiosyncratic, and conflicting interests, and experience painful dilemmas. In addition, peers and bystanders, and their contexts – often differ greatly from each other. Blanket rules about how all bystanders should behave, such as requirements for mandatory reporting, are often ineffective or lead to perverse results. Bystanders are regularly equated with “do‐nothings,” in the popular press. In real life, however, helpful bystander actions are common. Many bystanders report a wide variety of constructive initiatives, including private, informal interventions. In this article, I report on forty‐five years of observations on bystanders in many milieus. I present what bystanders have said are the reasons that they did not – or did – take action, and what can be learned to help organizations and communities to support bystanders to be more effective when faced with unacceptable behavior.