Memorializing genocide: embodied semiotics in concentration camp memorials

Theorists have argued that the “attempt to comprehend” the genocidal event represented by Auschwitz has “defeated the intellects of countless men and women”. Memorials at Auschwitz and other concentration camps such as Dachau and Buchenwald, and to a certain extent those outside of Europe, such as Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek in Cambodia, are attempts to call attention to these atrocities in the hope of preventing the repetition of their like. Yet these projects, like all historical monuments and memorials, face the problem of a certain coldness and indifference caused by historical distance, consumerist culture and the seemingly abstract nature of historical images and documents. Concentration camp memorials are not entirely immune from these problems. However, in their use of an embodied semiotics invoking the visitor’s own body as a direct participant in immersive environments, sensory surfaces and displays, these memorials engage – not unproblematically – in a project to realize this history in visceral and concrete ways. This paper examines the semiotic strategies of the concentration camp as a technique of “embodying” suffering that is intended to counter the dissipation of affect in a media-saturated consumerist era.     

Justice in a non-ideal world: the case of climate change

Ideal theory faces a paradox. The ‘capacity of guidance’ is an important feature of most normative theories, but ideal principles of justice are not well suited to guide action in non-ideal circumstances. This charge presses us to seek plausible avenues to connect ideal values with the non-ideal realisation of justice. The objective of this paper is to introduce an analytical framework and present a case study in support of what I call the ‘reflective integration thesis’. The thesis states that: if we wish to formulate principles of justice that can guide action in non-ideal circumstances, we need to integrate ideal and non-ideal theory, and the way to integrate ideal and non-ideal theory is by seeking reflective equilibrium between these levels. Taking climate justice as a model, this paper will explore the features of a non-ideal theory of justice, thereby providing insights about the structure of an action-guiding theory. It will show that, in order to guide action, our ideal principles of climate justice need to be reformulated in the light of real-world considerations, which we only obtain by integrating the relevant empirical work on the matter.     

Experimental analysis of the effect of standards on compliance and performance

Legal directives – whether laws, regulations, or contractual provisions – can be written along a spectrum of specificity, about which behavioral and legal scholarship present conflicting views. We hypothesized that the combination of specificity and monitoring promotes compliance but harms performance and trust, whereas the combination of specificity and good faith enhances both the informative goal‐setting aspects of specificity and people's sense of commitment. To test these hypotheses, we used a 2x2x2 experimental design in which participants were instructed to edit a document with either general or detailed instructions, with a reference to good faith or without it, and with a review of the work or without it. Participants could engage in various levels and kinds of editing, allowing us to distinctly measure both compliance and performance. When participants require information and guidance, as in the case of editing, we found that specificity increases performance relative to the vague standard condition. We discuss the characteristics of the regulatory frameworks in which our findings are especially relevant.     

高职《机械设计基础》教学改革的探索和实践

文中对《机械设计基础》课程从教学内容、教学方法、教学手段、实践环节和考核机制等方面提出了新的教改理念和具体的改革措施.通过教学实践,这些教改措施取得了较好的效果.     

Strengthening local political leadership through institutional design: how and why

ABSTRACT

Over recent decades, the institutions of political leadership have been criticised for being caught up in outdated designs that are not adapting to societal changes. In many western countries, this diagnosis has spurred design reforms aimed at strengthening political leadership at the local level. Based on a study of reforms in Norwegian and Danish municipalities, this article first develops a typology of reforms aimed at strengthening local political leadership. Leadership reforms are categorised into four types aimed at strengthening Executive, Collective, Collaborative, or Distributive political leadership. The typology is used to map the prevalence of the different types of reforms in the two countries. The results show that design reforms as such are more widespread in Danish than in Norwegian municipalities. In particular, reforms aimed at strengthening Distributive political leadership are used more extensively in Denmark than in Norway. The article discusses the contextual differences that may explain this variation.     

The incumbency disadvantage in South Korean National Assembly elections: Evidence from a regression discontinuity approach

In marked contrast to the findings from advanced democracies that incumbent office holders enjoy electoral advantages, this study finds that a substantial incumbency disadvantage exists in South Korean National Assembly (KNA) elections. I employ a quasi-experimental regression discontinuity design to distinguish the true effects of incumbency from the selection effects associated with candidate qualities, such as charisma and ability levels. My results show that serving a term in office reduces the probability of winning by around 20–30 percentage points and reduces the vote share by about 3–7 percentage points. Possible reasons for the incumbency disadvantage are briefly discussed, with an emphasis on the particularly high level of public discontent with governing elites in the KNA due to what voters perceive to be their widespread corruption.     

Eyes on the ballot: Priming effects and ethnic voting in the developing world

Many countries include candidate photographs on ballots to facilitate autonomous, correct voting. However, the possible unintended consequences of these aspects of ballot design have not been sufficiently considered. We argue that photographs have the potential to increase ethnic voting, particularly by priming individuals to consider identity when making their electoral decisions. We conducted an experiment days prior to the 2011 Ugandan elections, in which subjects marked mock ballots including, or excluding, candidate photographs. We find that photographs increased ethnic voting, and our evidence indicates a priming effect, while ruling out learning as a likely alternate explanation. Subtle stimuli at the end of a campaign can affect ethnic voting in developing countries by altering identity salience.     

“用文字来表现一种造型感”——论罗杰·弗莱设计美学对伍尔夫小说实验的影响

弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫的现代主义小说实验深受英国艺术批评大师罗杰·弗莱视觉艺术观念的影响。弗莱高度重视形式与设计,认为画家要运用线条、色彩、块面等手段赋予画面的整体结构以稳固、和谐和富于秩序的效果,而他惊喜地在法国后印象派画家塞尚的画作中找到了自己艺术追求的现实范本。在他的影响下,伍尔夫的小说也着力追求绘画的结构设计与空间造型特征,体现出塞尚画风的明显影响。     

Getting things straight: The effects of ballot design and electoral structure on voter participation

This paper considers the implications of the straight-party voting option (STVO) on participation in judicial elections. Voters using straight-party options (by definition) do not vote for candidates in nonpartisan elections. Consequently, ballot roll-off in these elections is more likely to occur when people are given the chance to vote the party ticket and complete the voting process quickly. This is the case because nonpartisan judicial elections are considerably less salient than statewide and federal partisan elections. This article separates out the effects of the institutional structure of the election on political participation with the effects of ballot design. We find that in nonpartisan elections, the straight-party option decreases voter participation since voters who utilize the straight-ticket option may erroneously believe that they have voted for these nonpartisan offices, or simply ignore them. However, in nonpartisan elections without straight-ticket voting, participation is increased compared to nonpartisan elections with straight-ticket voting. Additionally, both forms of nonpartisan elections have less participation than partisan elections, all of which have the straight-ticket option. Thus, voter participation is affected not only by the type of election, but the type of voting rules in the election.     

深化行政执法体制改革加快推进法治政府建设

党的十八届四中全会《决定》提出全面推进依法治国,并首次对法治政府做出标准界定。深化行政执法体制改革,加快推进法治政府建设,是深入贯彻四中全会《决定》精神的应有之义。行政执法体制与法治政府建设标准的各个方面密切相关,应从三个方面入手:一是深化行政执法主体改革,规范执法主体权限,严格政府权力边界,促进政府"职能科学、权责法定";二是深化行政执法程序改革,严格执法程序和执法标准,切实解决老百姓身边的执法不公问题,促进政府"执法严明、公开公正";三是深化行政执法责任改革,加强执法监督和执法责任落实,促进政府"廉洁高效、诚实守信"。