Institutional determinants of the largest seat share

The degree of predominance of the largest party in a representative assembly affects government formation and survival. The seat share of the largest party, in turn, is constrained by the interaction of assembly size and electoral district magnitude in the following way. When all S seats in an assembly are allocated in districts of magnitude M, a logical quantitative model proposes that the largest fractional share is s₁ = (MS)^−1/8. As a curve, the model is found to fit with R² = 0.509, considering data from the averages of 46 periods in 37 countries, during which the electoral rules were essentially steady. As a worldwide average, the expression s₁(MS)^1/8 = 1 holds within 1%. Deviations from this average express the impact of various country-specific political and socio-cultural factors that can be investigated once the basic institutional constraints are controlled-for. This means that the degree of largest party predominance may be engineered to hover around a desired average by adjusting assembly size, and district magnitude, while keeping country-specific factors in mind.     

对"三个代表"关于党执政合法性的意蕴解读

"三个代表"重要思想是对中国共产党长期执政的政治合法性的直接应答,政治合法性意蕴是"三个代表"的应有之义.从政治合法性的层面解读"三个代表"重要思想,有利于完整地理解"三个代表"重要思想,消除"三个代表"研究的盲点."三个代表"重要思想从政治合法性的绩效性基础、意识形态基础、群众基础、法理型基础等方面论证了中国共产党长期执政的政治合法性.     

试论邓小平政治合法性维护的实践及其启示

合法性是关系到党和国家政权生死存亡的根本问题,"文革"结束后,党和国家政权的合法性问题凸现出来,邓小平正确处理了毛泽东的意识形态遗产,开始重建法理权威,并通过促进经济发展和反腐败树立政府形象的方法,维护了政治的合法性。新时期我们仍面临着合法性维护的问题,邓小平的实践为整个现代化进程中的合法性维护提供了诸多有益启示。     

中国特色妇女理论的后现代主义方法研究

合法性问题是中国特色妇女理论方法研究的一个重要方面,在一定意义上说解决了合法性问题也就是解决了方法问题。中国特色妇女理论的构建在方法上首先须做到“三个一致”;其次要了解后现代语境中的合法性与非合法性问题,破除对理性主义和科学主义的盲从,倡导妇女理论中的个性化、多元化表达;再次,吸取合法性即“悖谬”的启发,制定和遵从中国特色妇女理论自身的言说规则。     

Proportional representation and attitudes about politics: results from New Zealand

PR systems often are credited with producing more equitable outcomes between political parties and encouraging wider social group representation than majoritarian systems. Theory suggests that this should instill greater trust, efficacy, and faith in the political system. We assume that citizens disadvantaged by majoritarian rules (political minorities) will have a relatively greater shift toward positive attitudes about democracy following a transition from a majoritarian system to proportional representation. We employ panel data from the 1993–1996 New Zealand Election Study (NZES) to test hypotheses about the effects of electoral system change on attitudes about governmental responsiveness, trust in government, and political efficacy. We find that there is a general shift in mass opinion toward more positive attitudes on some measures of efficacy and responsiveness. Political minorities display a greater shift toward feelings of efficacy than other voters.     

论行政立法回避制度——兼与杨建顺教授商榷

行政立法回避制度做为一种民主立法制度应当在我国行政立法活动中得以全面实施,并且其是提高行政立法质量、增强行政立法法律文件实效之本源。行政立法回避制度之所以能够做为一种民主制度存在既有其存在的合理性,也有其存在的合法性。为充分发挥行政立法回避制度的作用,必须从立法上予以完善,明确投标单位、被委托的专家或组织应具备的资质,并走政府规章制定的职业化之路。     

我国刑事审级制度的建构与反思

裁判的正当性和裁判的终局性是刑事审级制度建构的两大基本目标。我国两审终审制的建构基本上遵循了大陆法系的模式，但第一审程序在吸收不满、保障裁判的正当性方面存在着先天的不足；第二审程序的某些方面亦有待完善，其在司法实践中表现为，裁判的终局性几乎不成问题，但裁判的正当性则主要来源于实体的正确性。我国刑事审级制度的改革与完善，首先应当着眼于从第一审程序加强裁判的程序正当性，其次应当对第二审程序加以完善，并在完善再审制度的基础上赋予当事人更多的上诉机会，从而使终局的裁判更加具有正当性。     

我国民事诉讼中悬赏取证问题探讨

所谓悬赏取证，是指当事人为证明诉讼事实，以公开许诺奖励的方式，请求证人为其作证的举证形式。诉讼法理论界以及司法实务界针对悬赏取证问题出现了两种不同的观点，从两个典型案例出发，探讨悬赏取证出现的现实基础，是否具有合法性以及其证据效力；并且悬赏取证不等于收买证人，与收买证人是两种不同的概念。在此基础上，对悬赏取证的法律规制问题予以阐述，以期规范我国的取证方式。     

Two strategies for building a personal vote: Personalized representation in the UK and Denmark

Across parliamentary democracies, elected representatives constitute the link between citizens and government. MPs can connect with voters via the party label, or through personalized forms of representation, which is seen to be increasing in importance. However, scholars disagree on what explains variation in MPs' use of personalized representation strategies. In this article, we argue that politicians use different strategies to personalize the link between themselves and citizens: a constituency-oriented and a person-oriented strategy. To test our argument, we develop a new and novel dataset with behavioral measures of personalized representation. Using a content analyses of 698 British and Danish MPs’ personal websites, we demonstrate that the use of personalization strategies is conditional on the incentives MPs face in terms of electoral insecurity, candidate selection procedures, and the electoral context of the system. Our findings show that the level and type of personalized politics vary across political systems and may pose different types of challenges to party democracies.     

发展是党执政兴国的第一要务:发展价值的崭新定位

“发展是党执政兴国的第一要务”是以江泽民为核心的第三代领导集体在继承第一、二代领导集体关于发展价值定位的历史经验基础上,从党的执政合法性的高度对发展价值做出的科学定位。这无论从物质基础、文化基础,还是从群众基础来看,都有着非常重要的意义。