EU Integration and Cultural Diplomacy in Times of Crisis: The Case of Greece

The economic crisis challenges the integration policies of the European Union (EU) and reduces its soft power. Developing from a discussion on cultural values, cultural diplomacy is proposed as a way for the EU and its member states to address the negative effects of the crisis on their soft power and integration process. Cultural values, identity issues, top-down and bottom-up stakeholders, policies, and prospects for cultural diplomacy are explored with a focus on Greece. A proposal based on the balancing of sociocultural with economic principles is presented as a conclusion that would address soft power deficits and further EU integration.     

Deception among pairs: “Let's say we had lunch and hope they will swallow it!”

Deception research has neglected the fact that legal-workers often have to try to detect deceit on the basis of statements derived from pairs of suspects, each having been interrogated repeatedly. To remedy this shortcoming we conducted a study where each member of 10 truth-telling pairs and 10 lying pairs was interrogated twice about an alibi. One hundred and twenty undergraduate students were enrolled as lie-catchers. The main findings were that (a) overall deception detection accuracy was modest; (b) lie-catchers given access to a large number of statements did not outperform lie-catchers given access to a lesser number of statements; (c) when asked to justify their veracity assessments the most frequently reported cue was ‘consistency within pairs of suspects’; (d) all cues to deception were of low diagnostic value. Psycho-legal aspects of integrating sequential information in deception detection contexts are discussed.     

Signs of change in North Korea

The spread of liberal democracy around the world has raised the risk of wishful thinking by students of democratization who hope that what they study will happen. One way of reducing this risk is to focus on regions that challenge the expectations and explanations of democratization. Four criteria can roughly measure a region's ‘recalcitrance’ in this regard: the extent to which it: (1) lacks liberal democracy, thus disappointing democ‐ratizers; (2) is diverse, thus making it hard to explain the lack of liberal democracy with across‐the‐board generalizations; (3) seems not to fit a particularly common expectation, e.g., that more well‐to‐do countries should be more liberal‐democratic; and (4) has leaders who have articulated a serious critique of liberal democracy. By meeting all of these criteria more fully than other parts of the world, Southeast Asia qualifies as the most recalcitrant region. The anomalousness of Southeast Asia is no reason for pessimism. But it does suggest that observers would do well to diversify what they mean by democracy beyond its conventionally liberal form.     

探索培育和引导大学生涵养和践行核心价值观的途径

青年是祖国的希望和未来,是社会主义建设的中坚力量.当代大学生作为青年中的优秀群体,学校、家庭和全社会必须结合当代青年学生的思想特点,不断探索行之有效的措施,积极培育其涵养和践行社会主义核心价值观,使其成为德才兼备的人,这对于持续推进社会主义现代化建设和改革发展、早日实现中国梦意义重大.     

论科学发展观的历史地位和时代价值

科学发展观是中国特色社会主义理论体系的最新成果,是在深入分析当今时代新变化、实践新发展和人民新期待基础上形成的科学认识,是中国共产党集体智慧的结晶,是马克思主义关于发展的世界观和方法论的集中体现,把对中国特色社会主义规律的认识提高到新的水平。解放思想、实事求是、与时俱进、求真务实,是科学发展观的精神实质,必须把握关键、抓住重点,将科学发展观真正落到实处。     

Legitimacy and Social Impact in the Context of Changing Public Cultural Organizations

This article explores an organization's practices, values, and its role in society within a transformed legal status. The article clarifies the role of the organizational form in engagement with society and outlines the connections between different types of legitimacy by elaborating concepts of neo-institutional theory and cultural policy. A conceptual map of the institutional elements, cultural values, and legitimacy is presented. The analysis is based on the Estonian Russian Theater and concludes that an organization can influence the basis of its legitimacy. The management's aspirations to balance values and deal with cognitive legitimacy may lead to rearranging the institutional framework.     

论作品的原创性

原创性是作品可版权性的核心要件,其最基本的涵义就是作品来源于作者,而不是抄袭他人作品的结果;原创性并不包含艺术价值和新颖性的要求;个性的存在是原创性的直接证据;在特定作品中,版权法的原创性要求可能与这些作品将要实现的社会价值相冲突,版权法需要作出适当平衡;创作意图的存在与否不应当成为原创性的要件;额头出汗原则不应当成为现代作品获得可版权性的基础;原创性是否包含创造性应当视作品类型的不同而作不同处理。应当将作者导向型分析与作品导向型分析,特征导向型分析与目的导向型分析,定性研究与定量研究结合起来对作品是否具有原创性作出适当的界定。主观性的表达可能受版权法保护,但客观性的事实却不具有可版权性。     

“Opt in” and “opt out” mechanisms in the internet era – towards a common theory

In order to provide for adequate legal protection mainly in mass-transactions on the internet, both the legislature and private parties increasingly, resort to so-called “opt in” and “opt out” mechanisms. Whether or not an “opt in” or an “opt out” mechanism is used is often decided on a case-by-case basis. The same is true regarding the circumstances under which private parties are or should be allowed to resort to “opt out” mechanisms, and if so, what restrictions should safeguard the free will of the addressees of such mechanisms. This paper argues that the existing “opt in” and “opt out” schemes should not be regarded and discussed as isolated phenomena. Rather, they should be analyzed from the viewpoint of a common underlying legal theory which builds on the common character of the underlying regulatory structure of all “opt in” and “opt out” schemes. This requires a complex matrix which comprises not only the opposites of “in” and “out”, but also of “active” and “inactive”, of “preference” and “non-preference” for the respective default rules, as well as of “ex ante” and “ex post” enforcement of the law. It also involves normative, economic, psychological and, last but not least, technical issues.