Party over Policy? Scottish Nationalism and the Politics of Independence

The Scottish National Party (SNP) won control of Scotland's devolved government in the 2007 election yet opinion polls show no majority for its objective of independence in Europe. While the party is adept at exploiting short‐term political opportunity structures in the wider British context, as well as appealing to the ‘opinion electorate’, it appears less successful at persuading a majority of Scottish voters to agree with its core ideology. Helpful parallels can be drawn between 2007 and the last time the party polled over 30 per cent of the popular vote in Scotland at the 1974 (October) British General Election—then, as now, the Scottish voter appears to be willing to distinguish between party and policy.     

Does the multi-phased high school entrance program affect the equity of educational opportunity？

The Taiwan Government has proposed many educational reform programs in these years. Since 2000, in addition to the joint high school entrance examination, new ways of entering senior high school have included recommendation, application, register-and-distribution, as well as direct promotion. In 2001, the joint high school entrance examination was further annulled for good. However, contrary to the Taiwan Government＇s anticipation, the multi-phased high school entrance program has been severely criticized due to its controversial operating process. Based on our in-depth interviews and analyses of data collected by the Taiwan Education Panel Survey, the results demonstrate that the multi-phased high school entrance program has divided the selection process into several critical parts. Firstly, students have to face the requisition both on and off campus. Secondly, the selection and recommendation criteria are not uniform among different schools. Thirdly, students with better family backgrounds are still benefiting from the advantages of being recommended to public senior high schools. Finally, the selection process and related criteria can easily be influenced by the parents or relatives of students with higher socio-economic status. We therefore argue that the issues related to the selection and recommendation criteria, timing of assignments, school categorizations, as well as the review process for the multi-phased high school entrance program should all be re-considered.     

福利国家模式、职业结构与不平等原因

福特主义工业社会向后福特主义服务经济的转变,赋予各类福利国家诸多新特征。从职业分层来看,经济服务化过程中大量专业岗位的创造及其对熟练技能的需求,使得教育以及其他社会政策,越来越成为推动阶层流动的决定力量。从收入分布来看,全球化、去管制化、去工业化与老龄化、经济服务化、城市化的叠加,使得福利国家模式普遍呈现出收入极化或不平等,中产衰退的迹象也比较明显。效率公平权衡的努力,进一步加剧了福利国家模式分化。鉴于高度现代化过程中不断出现的困难和挑战,产业均衡发展,经济政策与社会政策协调,构成稳妥推进共同富裕的重要基础。     

社会运动的策略与后果

在社会运动研究中,主流政治过程理论的结构主义倾向与狭隘的政治关注面经常遭致批评。对这些缺陷的修正并不在于抛弃"政治契机结构"概念,而是拓宽契机的类型,包括政治契机、经济契机和话语契机,并将其动态化为行动的一部分。这一论点以计算机回收运动为案例,其重大成就同它与经济、政治和话语契机结构之间的灵活互动密切相关。     

江西绿色崛起的新机遇、困难和对策——以鄱阳湖生态经济区建设为龙头

＂十二五＂时期是以鄱阳湖生态经济区建设为龙头、加速江西绿色崛起的重要机遇期。江西应抓住机遇,扬长避短,积极进取：战略思维要有新高度、新视野;要有促进绿色低碳发展的制度创新和政策引导;要全力推动绿色低碳科技创新和产业生态化转型升级;要发挥区域中心城市集聚、规模、辐射功能,围绕＂一带五都五城＂科学布局绿色低碳生产力;要倡导绿色低碳消费,引领绿色低碳社会建设,全面促进江西绿色崛起。     

Italian commentators on foreign affairs

The enduring economic crisis, austerity measures and corruption scandals have created a favourable environment for the advent of new political actors all over Europe. During the last general elections (February 2013), Italy was shocked by the inexorable rise of the Five Star Movement. Beppe Grillo’s creature upset the political system, occupying portions of the public sphere that had been ignored (the web) or gradually abandoned by traditional political parties (the squares). Its unusual campaigning style, its internet-based organisational structure, its atypical political positioning (beyond left and right), and its oversimplification of complex problems all help to explain its electoral performance, and distinguish it from similar anti-establishment parties that have emerged in Europe over the past decade.     

The Kurdistan Referendum Movement: Political Opportunity Structures and National Identity

This article examines the lack of mass mobilization by Iraqi Kurds to establish an independent Kurdistan. It argues that while the outcome of an unofficial January 2005 referendum – in which 98 per cent of Kurds supported independence – was a clear expression of their will, the political opportunity structures within which the Kurdistan Referendum Movement operates are closed to the formation of a mass-based social movement. Utilizing data from a survey of Kurdish elites and activists, as well as follow-up interviews, this analysis provides insights into the future of democracy in Iraq and the value of political opportunity theory in understanding mass mobilization.     

UNEMPLOYMENT AND PROPERTY CRIME: A TARGET‐SPECIFIC ASSESSMENT OF OPPORTUNITY AND MOTIVATION AS MEDIATING FACTORS*

Most recent unemployment‐crime (U‐C) research is informed by the possibility that unemployment could both increase motivation for crime and decrease criminal opportunities. The mediating links of motivation and opportunity, though often assumed, have almost never been measured. We directly test for the potential mediating effects of opportunity and motivation using county‐level data for target‐specific crime rates such as convenience store robberies, motorcycle thefts, etc. We link these with data on the supply and value of corresponding crime targets (e.g., number and annual sales of convenience stores). Opportunity levels were generally unrelated to property crime rates and do not appear to mediate the U‐C relationship.     

中国入世后法庭科学的机遇和挑战

随着中国的入世 ,人们的法律意识将得到加强 ,诉讼问题也日益变得突出 ,其中证据问题将显得越来越重要 ,而作为取证手段的法庭科学技术 ,在世贸组织这个涵盖世界上多个国家和地区的体系里 ,不同领域的法庭科学理论、规则 ,不同的法庭科学观念和意识 ,不同的法庭科学的价值观和思维方式将相互促进、融合 ,研究法庭科学问题将对我国当前法庭科学的发展有促进作用。     

Poverty Among Small Farmers Under Frei and Pinochet, 1968–1986

Abstract — This paper draws on the results of a nation-wide panel study of small farm households interviewed in 1968 and 1986 to complement accounts of Chile's economic performance under the governments of President Frei (1964–1970) and General Pinochet (1973–1989). It is shown that in contrast to macroeconomic trends of increased inequality and impoverishment after 1973, the incidence of poverty in the sample declined slightly but significantly over the period. The result is robust both to the choice of poverty index and poverty line. It is all the more striking because the sample represented the poorest group in Chile during the 1960s. Nevertheless, the incidence of poverty in the sample remained extremely high. In 1967–1968, more than three-quarters of households could not meet their basic needs, while in 1985–1986 this proportion reached nearly two thirds. The fall in poverty may be attributed to a combination of increased coverage of the rural areas by targeted welfare programmes and the effects of the life cycle in increasing the proportion of panel household members eligible for, and dependent on public transfers between 1968 and 1986.