Ukrainian kleptocrats and America's real-life House of Cards: Corruption,lobbyism and the rule of law

Washington DC is not only a center for democracy promotion programs by government-funded and private foundations and think tanks. Washington DC has also attracted hundreds of millions of dollars for lobbyists, political consultants and think tanks from authoritarian political forces and kleptocrats who have little in common with American and European values. Both Republicans and Democrats have been recipients of these illicit funds from state officials and oligarchs who are seeking to ingratiate themselves with American public opinion. Political consultants, lobbyists, lawyers and think tanks which receive funds from such sources are part of a bigger problem of reverse corruption and cynicism and the export of authoritarian practices from Ukraine and post-Soviet states to the West. This was clearly seen in the hiring of Paul Manafort, Viktor Yanukovych's long-time political consultant by US presidential candidate Donald Trump. Trump's promise to ‘drain the (Washington) swamp’ rings hollow after it was revealed he accepted funds from a Ukrainian oligarch who had earlier donated funds to the Clinton's (Reader 2016).     

UK Governance: From Overloading to Freeloading

The UK's ongoing political turbulence has prompted a reprise of debates from the 1970s when many concluded the country was ungovernable. Then, the most influential diagnosis conceptualised the UK's governance problem as one of ‘overloading’ caused by the electorate's excessive expectations. This article argues that these accounts overlooked another phenomenon besieging UK governance during this period. This phenomenon was freeloading: the withering of government capacity deriving from the ability of actors to enjoy the benefits of citizenship without altogether contributing to the cost. In the interim, these problems have become endemic, not least because of the unspoken but discernible policy of successive governments to turn the UK into a tax haven. High‐profile scandals involving prominent individuals and corporations, plus the failure to clamp down on them have reinforced the perception that the UK's political system is geared towards the rich and the powerful at the expense of the marginalised majority.     

Integrating Concerns with Climate Change into Local Development Planning in Cambodia

Integration of climate change adaptation with development planning at multiple scales is widely seen as preferable to reactive, fragmented, or highly centralized responses. At the same time, there are growing concerns on when intervention is most appropriate, the transaction costs of coordination, and the adequacy of institutional capacity at local levels, especially in developing countries. This article examines entry points and mechanisms for integrating concerns with climate change into local development planning in Cambodia. An institutional ethnography of the planning process indicates that subnational planning is participatory and flexible; and thus, provides plausible entry points to integrate climate change concerns. Case study methods applied to two externally supported, climate‐resilient development projects identify promising mechanisms and strategies, as well as obstacles to integration. A vulnerability reduction assessment tool and top‐up grant scheme both included promising deliberative and participatory elements from which lessons for future and elsewhere can be drawn. At the same time, key stakeholders concede that local integration more widely is hampered by multiple obstacles, including weak institutional capacity, low community participation, and lack of resources and incentives. Addressing these challenges requires political commitments for good governance, capacity development, and additional resources.     

论民族地区税源与税收收入的背离问题

《中华人民共和国企业所得税法》出台,标志着我国新一轮税收制度改革进入重要阶段。税收制度中的深层次矛盾也日益凸现。其中,税收制度中的税源与税收收入背离问题尤其值得关注。本文以民族地区为视角,研究地区税源与税收收入存在的背离现象,并对这种背离带来的问题进行分析,以之为基础,提出相应的解决思路和政策建议。     

税收立宪的价值及其在我国的运用

西方国家通过税收立宪,实现了国家征税权的宪法限制、私有财产权的宪法地位、纳税人权利的宪法保障,最终走上了宪政发展的道路。我国宪法税收条款缺失,没有规定税收法定原则,行政机关成为税收立法权和执行权的中心,使得征税权在我国成为几乎不受约束的权力。我国宪法对于私有财产权与公有财产权实行不平等保护,只规定了纳税人义务内容而没有规定权利内容,导致纳税人权益无从得到切实保障。税收立宪的价值就在于通过限制国家征税权来保障人权并实现宪政。     

Simplification： A single tax and a single entitlement

The United States is experiencing a very serious economic downturn. It is now necessary to consider some significant changes in government policy. The system of revenue collection should be simplified with a single tax levied and itemized at the national, state, and local levels. Likewise, the system of benefit distribution should be simplified with a single entitlement paid to each individual at every level with absolutely no strings attached. Such simplification would save a massive amount of time and money even if it was neutral in terms of overall revenue and expenditure. And, it would minimize fraud, waste and abuse. The gains in efficiency and accountability would be enormous.     

对完善我国《个人所得税法》的思考

随着中国社会经济的发展,个人所得税在调节个人收入,维护社会公平方面的重要意义将更加凸显.我国现行的《个人所得税法》存在的主要问题有:税制模式不能体现纳税人税负的公平合理;个人所得税的征收范围窄,不利于发挥税收的调节作用;费用扣除标准的设定不合理;税率设定复杂显失公平;税收征管缺乏力度;全社会依法纳税的意识依然淡薄,纳税义务人故意隐瞒收入.其改进方案包括:选择合理的税制模式;拓宽个人所得税的征税范围,减少减免税项目;调整费用扣除标准;税率调整;加强税收源头控制,防止税款流失;加大对偷漏个人所得税行为的查处、打击力度,维护法律的严肃性.通过有针对性的改革,进一步修改、完善适合我国社会主义市场经济发展需求的科学的《个人所得税法》.     

西部民族地区城镇化建设中税收优惠的法律经济学研究

本文在分析现阶段西部民族地区的税收优惠政策及其局限性的基础上,从法律经济学效益最大化的思想出发,指出在西部民族地区城镇化建设的税收优惠中必须依法治税,应当赋予部分西部民族地区政府地方税收立法权,还要落实西部民族地区自治机关的税收管理自治权。