Correspondence

The viability and desirability of a finance-led growth regime is first assessed against the historical evidence about the many alternative regimes that have been proposed as successors to Fordism. A purely hypothetical model is then built by assembling various hypotheses derived from the observation of current American trends. The imposition of financial norms, such as shareholder value, requires a new and coherent architecture for the mode of governance of firms, the form of competition, the wage labour nexus and the objectives of monetary policy, public budget and tax system. According to the model, any requirement for increased profit has a variable macro-economic impact on wages and economic activity according to the size of accelerator effects and the relative importance of wage and profit in income formation. The stability of an equity-based regime depends on monetary policy which controls financial bubbles and thus the diffusion of finance may push the economy into a zone of structural instability. The next major financial crisis may originate in the USA whose economy approximates most closely to the model. But, the so-called American 'new economy' combines diverse but interdependent structural transformations: diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies, search for new rules for competition, increased flexibility in wages and employment, shift from manufacturing to services. Finance is an element in, but not the whole of, this complex emerging regime.     

Long-Term Performance of Political Parties

Abstract

Whilst politicians can “buy” votes in the short-term, most political parties are more interested in maintaining power over a period of years in order to implement their policies. This paper explores whether political parties can be considered to possess long-term competitive resources that sustain their competitive advantages. It employs the well-established strategic management concept of the Resource-Based View of strategy development for this purpose. Because such a concept has not previously been applied to political parties, the paper begins by considering the nature of the competition that exists between political parties and the role of resources in developing superior political performance. A series of theoretical propositions about why some parties maintain political power and influence for lengthy periods is then developed. We argue that the competitive resources of a political party such as its policies, leadership, organisational and communications skills require long-term investment and development, rejecting the notion that long-term electoral success is based primarily on the promises and resources deployed in the final election campaign.     

网络反腐的现实困境与多元反思

随着互联网的发展,网络反腐日益兴盛,在推进我国反腐倡廉建设中发挥着巨大作用。同时网络反腐也面临诸多困境,如网络反腐非理性化、缺乏法律规范、查处具有偶然性、容易泄露反腐机密和受理解决的机制尚未形成等,严重制约了网络反腐的规范化和制度化进程。因此,引导网民理性反腐、加快网络反腐立法、加强网络舆情监测、建立网络反腐信息处理与反馈机制、实现网络反腐与制度反腐的有效对接和建设反腐倡廉网络监督员队伍等成为规范网络反腐的必然选择。     

Knowledge generation,political action and African development: A polycentric approach

ABSTRACT

Knowledge generated to meet societal needs is the bedrock of development. Africa's development crisis is marked by the persistent gap between the application of intellectual rigours and political action. Despite abundant development potential (human and natural resources, and scientific knowledge), coupled with reform declarations and commitments by African leaders over the past four decades, development remains illusory. This article examines the relationship between key development players (African public officials and African scholars), and how generated knowledge is applied to respond to the needs of African citizens. Using the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework (otherwise known as new institutionalism) this article examines weaknesses in the interaction of knowledge, political action and development, while at a local level African citizens, through shared strategies and problem-solving interdependency, are effectively transforming indigenous knowledge inherited from their parents to confront daily challenges. The article suggests ways of bridging the gap between development players by proposing an African Development Institutional Mechanism (ADIM) aimed at enabling key development players to operate in synergy.     

Shadow chairs as monitoring device? A comparative analysis of committee chair powers in Western European parliaments

Recent work on coalition governance claims that government parties use the chairs of parliamentary committees to ‘shadow’ ministers and thus to monitor coalition partners. This argument rests on the assumption that committee chairs enjoy special powers to extract information from ministries and to affect policy-making in committee. To test this assumption, the paper develops the first comparative measure of committee chair powers in fifteen Western European democracies. The analysis shows that most committee chairs have very limited formal powers and that the share of shadowing chairs does not increase when committee chairs are more powerful. Both findings cast doubt on the interpretation of shadow chairs as a monitoring device. We sketch an alternative explanation according to which coalition parties employ the shadowing strategy in order to increase public visibility and to counteract issue ownership by the minister’s party.     

坚持科学发展 开创信息警务新格局——以澧县公安局信息警务为视角

基层信息警务的内涵是情报信息主导警务,它是以局域网络为平台、以情报信息研判和应用为核心,充分发挥信息资源优势的一种警务运行模式。当前,随着时代信息化、信息全球化的快速发展,新的治安形势给公安机关提出了更新的要求,建立信息警务已成为基层公安工作可持续发展的必由之路。近年来,澧县公安局以科学发展观为指导,认真贯彻落实公安部"三项建设"精神,立足长远,大胆探索,强力推进四大信息基础建设,开创了"全警采录、全警共享、全警研判、全警应用"的信息警务新格局。     

Friendly neighbor or Trojan Horse? Assessing the interaction of soft law initiatives and the UN climate regime

Current global climate governance is characterized by increasing institutional proliferation. Within the last 5 years several non-legally binding initiatives have emerged, including (i) the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate and various other public–private partnerships working on the policy implementation level and (ii) the Group of Eight Gleneagles Dialogue on Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development, and Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change as high-level political processes. As a first step toward analyzing the relationship between these parallel initiatives and the UN climate regime, this article looks at the negotiations of four UN-hosted climate meetings in 2007–2008, providing an examination of the interaction of ‘soft law’ climate initiatives and the ‘hard law’ UNFCCC/Kyoto Protocol process. The methodology of the study is based on participatory observations in the negotiations and document analysis of country and stakeholder positions. The analysis shows that the current multitude of processes in global climate governance entails potential institutional interaction. Deliberations of the key actors give some support to the claims of non-UN soft law being used to exert influence on the negotiations on a future climate regime within the UN context.

国有控股、参股公司国家工作人员的司法认定

国家作为股东之一的国有控股、参股公司中工作人员利用职务进行的经济犯罪如何定罪取决于犯罪人的主体身份,对国有控股、参股公司国家工作人员的司法认定是当前司法实践中面临的一个崭新课题。本文从当前的刑法理论及司法实践经验出发,对如何认定国有控股、参股公司的性质及如何认定国有控股、参股公司中国家工作人员进行了论述,并对在司法实践中处理该类案件中要注意的几个问题作了一些探讨。     

论企业竞争优势的重塑

加入WTO的过渡期满以后,中国企业将面临更加激烈的竞争格局,理性认识新竞争格局下企业自身的市场地位,重新塑造竞争优势,是中国企业参与国际市场竞争的必修课。本文系统分析了中国企业正在弱化和丧失的竞争优势、仍然可资利用的竞争优势,明确提出要在自主创新、自主品牌等方面重塑企业竞争优势。     

Changing institutional culture in the wake of clerical abuse – the essentials of restorative and legal regulation

The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse completed its final report in December 2017 after five years of hearings. The Royal Commission was the culmination of pressure from a series of public inquiries about institutional sexual abuse and sustained advocacy from victims and survivor support groups. The Commission made recommendations designed to change institutional leadership, governance and culture. The challenge is to have that change embedded in institutional culture. This paper considers how this might be done in a specific institution, the Catholic Church given that more than two-thirds of reported abuse in faith-based institutions occurred within its ranks. Regulatory theory suggests effective regulation must be responsive to past institutional behaviour. In the case of the Church, the task is profound given its strong self-protective culture which has long shielded abusers. The form of regulation must provide a balance where criminal sanctions loom large in the background while redress processes proceed in the foreground to repair both the harm suffered by survivors and renew Church culture.