《中国法治建设年度报告(2008年)》中立法工作的几个亮点

中国法学会发布的《中国法治建设年度报告(2008年)》中把立法工作作为开篇之作进行总结,足以说明立法工作是我国法制建设的重中之重。本文仅对《中国法治建设年度报告(2008年)》中的立法工作作一点粗浅的探讨,以透视2008年我国立法工作的亮点。     

推进阳光工程 提高企业应对金融危机的能力

厂务公开民主管理是搞好企业的一把“金钥匙”。在国际金融危机的冲击下，要实现保增长、保民生、保稳定，需要通过实行厂务公开、民主管理，充分调动和发挥广大干部职工的积极性和创造性，提升职工应对危机的信心和责任感，与企业共渡难关。     

嬗变中建构——中国共产党民主制度建设历程论析

中国共产党在发展过程中,不断加强民主制度建设.本文通过对党的几代中央领导集体民主建设思想进行梳理,考察党的民主制度建设的嬗变历程,指出党的民主建设思想既是对马克思主义民主制度建设思想的继承与发展,又富含中国特色,具有鲜明的时代特征.     

理念发展与实践转型——兼论“首要标准”的重大意义与实现途径

贯彻落实首要标准必须全面把握其内涵与价值,高屋建瓴、全局统筹,通过深化体制改革、优化机制运行、改进工作方法、聚焦改造内容、调整改造流程、创新评估体系等,实现监狱改造罪犯模式的多维转型,为提高改造质量奠定坚实基础。     

30年民主政治建设：内容与形式的统一

改革开放前，我国的民主政治建设走了许多弯路，究其原因是民主政治建设没有寻找到实现民主内容的适当形式和手段。十一届三中全会以来，中国共产党从历史和现实出发，在民主的实现形式上下工夫，积极进行政治体制改革，形成了使政治运作正常化的真正意义上的体制和机制，民主政治建设有序、渐进、稳步地推行，取得了巨大成就。改革开放30年的民主政治建设，是政治系统活动的一种具体反映。用政治系统理论来分析我国民主政治建设，使我们能够更全面深入地认识民主的内容与形式的统一的重要性，把握事物的规律，科学指导实践。     

浅议司法会计鉴定引用标准的分类及引用原则

司法会计鉴定引用标准的科学分类和正确引用,是司法会计鉴定结论具有科学性、客观性和合理性的重要保证。对于五类司法会计鉴定引用标准,在引用时应遵循合法性、有效性、关联性和层次性原则。     

关于加强和完善班组民主管理的思考

班组民主管理是职工民主管理中的重要一环，也是确保企业内部和谐稳定的最有效手段。加强和完善班组民主管理，维护职工民主权利，调动他们的积极性、主动性和创造性，有利于促进企业和职工共同发展，真正实现在共建中共享、在共享中共建。     

Reviews

Books reviewed:
Daintith and Page, The Executive in the Constitution: Structure, Autonomy, and Internal Control
Walters and Davis-White, Directors' Disqualification: Law and Practice
Collier and Lowe, The Settlement of International Disputes: Institutions and Procedures
Backhaus, The Elgar Companion to Law and Economics
Bouckaert, and de Geest Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Vols I–IV
Ewing and Gearty, The Struggle for Civil Liberties: Political Freedom and the Rule of Law in Britain, 1914–1945
Dine, The Governance of Corporate Groups
Collins, Regulating Contracts
Karpik, French Lawyers A Study in Collective Action, 1274–1994
Aust, Modern Treaty Law and Practice
Douzinas, The End of Human Rights: Critical Legal Thought at the Turn of the Century
Cotterrell, Emile Durkheim: Law in a Moral Domain
Revesz, Sands and Stewarts, (eds) Sands and Stewarts (eds): Environmental Law, the Economy, and Sustainable Development     

Majority representation and legitimacy: Survey-experimental evidence from the European Union

What can policy makers do in day-to-day decision making to strengthen citizens' belief that the political system is legitimate? Much literature has highlighted that the realization of citizens' personal preferences in policy making is an important driver of legitimacy beliefs. We argue that citizens, in addition, also care about whether a policy represents the preferences of the majority of citizens, even if their personal preference diverges from the majority's. Using the case of the European Union (EU) as a system that has recurringly experienced crises of public legitimacy, we conduct a vignette survey experiment in which respondents assess the legitimacy of fictitious EU decisions that vary in how they were taken and whose preferences they represent. Results from original surveys conducted in the five largest EU countries show that the congruence of EU decisions not only with personal opinion but also with different forms of majority opinion significantly strengthens legitimacy beliefs. We also show that the most likely mechanism behind this finding is the application of a ‘consensus heuristic’, by which respondents use majority opinion as a cue to identify legitimate decisions. In contrast, procedural features such as the consultation of interest groups or the inclusiveness of decision making in the institutions have little effect on legitimacy beliefs. These findings suggest that policy makers can address legitimacy deficits by strengthening majority representation, which will have both egotropic and sociotropic effects.     

Revisiting the role of civic organizations in Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan: Confidence,membership, and democratic practice

In many emerging and authoritarian countries, civil society organizations that focus on political or sensitive policy issues are being cracked down upon, while service-oriented ones are given a relatively greater ability to operate. What might the consequence of this be for democratic practice given the important role civic organizations play in this process? We examine this question by considering whether the absence of confidence in a country's governing institutions is related to membership in service-rather than governance-focused civic organizations, and how such membership is associated with elite-challenging, political activities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. We find that individuals who have no confidence in state institutions are less likely to seek membership in governance-focused civic organizations, but not necessarily in service-focused ones. At the same time, membership in both types of civic organizations is associated with participation in political activities, while beliefs that a country is run democratically decreases it. This suggests that a variety of civic organizational types, even those without an explicit governance-focus, contingent on perceptions of democratic governance and other covariates held constant, enhance democratic practice.