Mobilizing party activism: A field experiment with party members and sympathizers

Electoral mobilization and persuasion are often characterized as two-stage processes, where parties activate their core supporters, who then mobilize and persuade larger shares of the electorate. While there is a lot of research on the second stage of this process, the mobilization and persuasion of the wider electorate by party activists, there is little causally identified evidence on whether party elites can encourage campaign activism among party members and sympathizers. To address this question, we conducted a randomized field experiment in cooperation with the Swiss Social Democratic Party in the context of the 2015 cantonal elections in Ticino. The experiment consisted of the randomized administration of telephone calls to members and strong supporters of the party, while their self-reported campaign activism and attitudes towards the campaign were measured in a two-wave online panel survey. Against expectations, we record null effects on various measures of campaign activism, including on the mobilization of relatives, and friends. The results raise questions about omitted variable bias in observational studies of party activism that consistently report large positive effects of party contact on the campaign activism of members and sympathizers.     

Is the genie out of the bottle? Digital platforms and the future of clinical trials

Is it possible to conduct impartial clinical trials in a world full of digital networking tools that patients can use to coordinate themselves and act against research protocols? This paper builds on an ethnography of PatientsLikeMe, a company running an internet social media network where patients with different conditions share their clinical data with standardized questionnaires. The company faced a serious dilemma in 2011 when some ALS patients, members of the site, started sharing data about a phase II clinical trial of an experimental drug (NP001) in which some of them were participating, to anticipate the experiment’s outcomes and understand each one’s allocation over trial arms. In parallel, some other patients were using the site and other web tools to coordinate and run their own replication of the trial with homebrew mixes of industrial grade chemicals. PatientsLikeMe researchers reflected on their position as networks managers and eventually decided to use the collected data to develop their own analysis of the efficacy of the original compound, and of the homebrewers’ compound. They presented the NP001 events as a case in point for articulating a new social contract for clinical research. This paper analyses these events, first, by understanding the clinical trial as an experiment organization form that can succeed only as long as its protocol can be enforced; second, we observe how web networks make it dramatically easier for the trial protocol to be violated; finally, we point out how a potentially dangerous confluence of interests over web networks could incubate developments that disrupt the status quo without creating a robust and safe alternative for experimentation. We conclude by warning about the interests of the pharmaceutical industry in exploiting patients’ methodological requests to its own advantage.     

新时代我国基层政权建设的实践难题及路径选择

基层政权作为国家政权极为重要的组成部分,在整个国家政权体系中发挥着基础性作用,是党和政府联系群众的桥梁和纽带,是国家各项工作的重要落脚点。当前,我国基层政权建设存在的实践难题主要表现在四个层面:基层政权的财权与事权不对等、基层政权公共性与自利性的冲突、基层政权与群众自治组织关系有待理顺、基层政权与人民群众关系发生变化。而要科学解决基层政权建设中存在的这些问题,就需要在坚持党的领导下,理顺基层政权的财权与事权关系,重构基层政权的公共性,构建多元化的基层社会治理格局,构建新型和谐政民关系。     

Uruguay’s long transitional decade and a new era of gendered activism

This article examines the nature and type of women’s activism before, during, and after Uruguay’s dictatorship, arguing that advocacy during the latter part of the country’s military rule paved the way for an increased role for women in society after democracy was restored. Focusing on the female-led movement to place the 1986 Ley de Caducidad (Law of Expiry or amnesty law) before a national referendum, it analyzes how women marshaled a gendered identity that had been effective in campaigning against the military. Through examining connections between earlier women’s movements and the 1980s, the article explores how challenging a key piece of legislation in the recently restored democratic environment ultimately forged a new era of activism for women in post-authoritarian Uruguay. The article ultimately rethinks the process of Uruguay’s transition, the continual negotiations over what is included in human rights discourse, and the importance of gendered activism in transitional societies.     

Exploring a New View： Judicial Activism of Justice Attestation Quantitative Analysis fromPerspective of Procedure

随着社会经济的迅速发展，司法实践对法官能力提出了更高的要求。赋予法官司法能动权，改变传统的司法运行模式，不仅需要在刑事诉讼中营造有助于法官能动性发挥的外部环境，还要探寻激励法官能力提升的内在因素。刑事认证程序是法官发挥司法能动性的重要领域，通过对这一阶段法官心证的定量化分析，可以直观掌握不同因素影响法官司法能动性发挥的现状，进而采用合理搭配各学历层次法官比例、优化法院内部考核及选任方式、培养法官整体性思维等方式提升法官能动性的发挥。     

论执行能动

执行能动是新时期最高人民法院针对执行难问题提出的新的执行理念。它包含启动强制执行制度、强制执行运行制度以及强制执行监督制度。司法机关依职权能动地行使民事执行权作为一个理念使得各项制度顺次推进。在执行领域贯彻能动性理念可以降低执行成本,提高执行效率,进一步化解社会矛盾,提高法院的公信力。目前,执行能动理念在我国仍处于探索期,虽然实践中已经取得了一定成效,但就制度构建而言仍不健全,必须致力于建构起科学、完善、能动的执行体系。     

探索构建基层党建精细化管理模式 全力加强边检基层党组织建设

党的基层组织是党的全部工作和战斗力的基础,职业化改革十多年来,边检机关各级党组织在公安部党委的领导下,在推动发展、服务群众、凝聚人心、促进和谐等各项工作中充分发挥了战斗堡垒作用。然而,由于种种原因,致使一些基层党建始终处于粗放式的运作过程中,为此,需要将源于现代企业先进的管理模式———精细化管理,引入边检机关基层党建工作中,构建包括制度规范体系、目标考核体系、日清控制体系和结果应用体系在内的一整套科学合理的管理模式。     

对开展“创先争优”活动的理性思考

开展创先争优活动是推进党的基层组织和党员队伍建设的需要。分析了创先争优的内涵、特征以及开展创先争优活动的意义,继而从树立公仆意识、选好着力点、发挥典型引领作用和提防三大误区等方面对构建创先争优活动长效机制进行了探讨。     

法治语境下司法核心公信力探析——对公正裁判力的法理学考量

从"力"的视角考量司法公信力,其内涵包含司法能够赢得社会公众普遍信任和信赖应具备的能力,司法获得社会公众普遍信任和信赖后产生的影响力以及二者之间的相互作用力等三项内容。其中,第一项内容最为重要,应属于司法公信力的核心内容。司法裁判的本质必然要求司法公信系于裁判力,而司法公正的使命必然要求司法公信注重公正裁判,因此,公正裁判力应该成为司法核心公信力的内在构成要素之一。基于司法公正包含实体公正和程序公正两个方面,提升司法公信力则需要在实体和程序两个方面增强公正裁判的能力。司法公正在法治语境下对裁判力的基本要求主要体现为两个统一,即司法职业化和司法民主化之间的辩证统一以及司法能动和司法自制之间的辩证统一。