'Good Governance': The Rise and Decline of a Policy Metaphor?

This study aims to explore the conditions under which the criterion of 'good governance' first became adopted as a donor policy metaphor and now seems likely to get eclipsed. Why did it emerge at the time it did, and what, since then, has been its track record? Particular attention will be given in this regard to successive shifts in the relevant policy thinking within the World Bank. Moreover, the study discusses whether good governance is likely to keep drawing the same level of attention as it has done hitherto.     

Discourses on Poverty: emerging perspectives on a caring economy

In The Real Wealth of Nations, Eisler proposes a holistic view of the economy, which would include the caring sectors—the household, unpaid community work and the environment—as an alternative to market-oriented economic models that have proven ineffective in dealing with the problems facing our local and global communities. Her inclusion of language change as part of a strategy for economic transformation implicitly recognises the socially constitutive function of discourse, a notion put forth by critical linguists. Based on these economic and linguistic perspectives, this article reports on a study that examined the social knowledge about poverty constructed through selected discourses to determine whether they communicate a narrow or holistic view of the economy. It proposes that economic planning for poverty reduction build upon the process of language change towards a caring economy as revealed by the study.     

The wto in Bali: what mc9 means for the Doha Development Agenda and why it matters

The conclusion of the World Trade Organization’s (wto) ninth ministerial meeting – held in Bali 3–7 December 2013 – is at one and the same time momentous, marginal and business-as-usual. It is momentous because it marks the first multilateral agreement reached in the wto since the organisation began operations on 1 January 1995; it is marginal because the deal reached will have only a limited impact on the global trading system; and it is business as usual because the Bali package will be of disproportionally greater value to the industrial states than to their developing and least developed counterparts. We examine what happened in Bali, covering the principal issues at stake and the content of the outcome, what this means for the wto and for the Doha Development Agenda (dda), and why it all matters. We argue that, while the Bali ministerial is significant and the agreements reached important, the conclusion of the meeting and the package agreed represent only a limited movement forward in addressing the fundamental problems and inequities of the wto system.     

Reinterpreting India's Rise through the Middle Power Prism

Abstract

India's spectacular rise in recent years has been the source of hyperbolic theorising and speculation on its major power status. Middle power theory offers a set of dynamic analytical parameters which allow for re-evaluating India's global influence and identifying both strengths and weaknesses of its power projection and resources. Placing emphasis on themes of Third World leadership, good international citizenship, multilateral activism, bridge-building diplomacy, and coalition-building with like-minded states, the middle power concept can encapsulate key aspects of India's contemporary agency and account for structural dynamics which constitute a reformist world-view through the reconfiguration of the Indian state within the existing world order. Overall, middlepowermanship delineates fundamental continuities in India's foreign policy tradition, epitomises India's existing position in the neoliberal world order, while providing a good indication of the directions India will take on the global stage in the short and medium-term.     

Public support for democracy in hong kong

Hong Kong witnessed a large-scale public rally and extensive support for democracy in mid-2003. This article explains the support by means of variables extracted from cultural, instrumental and sociological approaches. Drawn from the cultural approach, ‘post-materialistic activism’ and low levels of ‘respect for authority’ are found to be most powerful in explaining mass support, among all explanatory variables. Since culture seldom changes overnight, popular support for democracy may be sustained in the short and medium term. The calculation of the economic consequences for democracy, a variable drawn from the instrumental approach, has no effect on mass support. Thus, any attempt to suppress popular demand for democracy by offering economic sweeteners alone may prove futile. The most important instrumental factor among the public is ‘their confidence in political parties’. Whether pan-democratic parties can elevate such confidence becomes pivotal to boosting and sustaining this support. The lack of relatively stronger support among the younger and more educated stratum of people in Hong Kong does not bode well for prospects of increased mass support in the future. Finally, the article offers a small footnote on the implications for the ‘Asian values’ debate.     

Protecting personal data in wartime: The destruction of the alphabetic tabulators in Oslo

As a contribution to this special issue of CLSR, Jon Bing offers a unique wartime account of one of the earliest attempts to prevent ‘online processing’ of personal data by the occupying authorities for oppressive purposes.     

马克思的社会形态演进理论与全球化解析

全球化热潮在当今世界发展进程币日趋明显,一系列伴随的问题和困惑正迎面而来,在以马克思主义为主流意识形态的中国,必须用马克思主义的理论和观点来指导和认识社会历史的发展状况,对于全球化,深入理解而不是简单认识马克思的社会形态演进理论十分关键。全球化和马克思的社会形态演进理论之间的关系将迎刃而解,社会历史发展的规律和中国在全球化之下的发展路径和疑惑将得到解决。     

从思想世界的重演到法律历史整体性的终极指向

思想世界的通达应当是我们研究法律历史整体性的一个基本前提。但是,如何进入古人的思想世界,依据何种标准进行评价及其在价值论基础上重新进行认同,进而演绎活着的法律文化传统,是一个相当重要的核心问题。正是在此意义上,在这个没有封闭的框架中,我们需要找出一种适应时代阐释的活着的东西——历史中从来无法断绝的更为本原的思想。它不仅仅需要历史的传统来界定和彰显它的存在,而且需要一种出自日常生活的观念来支持和认同此种活着的思想。人类社会变迁的历史就是从虚无性之中开出的历史,所有的历史都是被人类的思想观念赋予了相对意义的历史,全部人类行为所到之处都被异化为一个意义世界。职事之故,传统中国的法律道路也只能在这个前置性的框架中才能得到建构和确切的理解,也只有在逐层剥离思想精义的外壳之后,方有可能看清楚法律道路的走向。     

北京奥运会的政治遗产

在7年的奥运会筹备过程中,一个减少官僚化的政府、具有使命感的政府、面向公众的政府、面向市场的政府和清正廉洁的中国政府形象得以逐步呈现。这笔珍贵的北京奥运会政治遗产应在当前的政府改革中得到继承和进一步发扬。     

评但丁《论世界帝国》中的法律思想

但丁是意大利文艺复兴时期的著名诗人,也是西方政治法律思想发展过程中由神学传统转向人文主义传统的过渡性人物。通过概述但丁《论世界帝国》一书中的成书背景,总结了其中的法律思想,并评析了但丁法律思想的哲学立场、时代特征和历史影响。