Making the economic case for independence: The Scottish National Party’s electoral strategy in post-devolution Scotland

This article examines the strategic behaviour of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in regional elections from 1999 to 2016. It builds on recent work that has theorized the kind of strategic tools regionalist parties have at their disposal in electoral competition, and the factors expected to determine the strategic choices these parties make. An in-depth case study of the SNP describes when and explores why the party makes strategic choices in an effort to bolster its electoral support in post-devolution Scotland. The analysis finds (i) that the SNP has consistently sought to ‘frame’ the issue of independence in economic terms, by advancing an economic case for separating Scotland from the UK and (ii) that this strategic approach is the result of competing constraints internal and external to the party. These findings suggest that the strategic behaviour of regionalist parties in electoral competition is more sophisticated than expected by extant theoretical accounts.     

Labor migration numbers and rights: do they trade off or advance together?

This article reconsiders the argument that as labor immigration policy opens, it must also become more restrictive in terms of immigrant rights. After discussing this tradeoff logic, positing a negative relationship between external (numbers) and internal (rights) labor migration policy, it then extends the underlying political model to show that when accounting for the lobbying pressure of firms seeking high skill labor, a very different expectation emerges. This political accommodation argument predicts a positive relationship between external and internal migration policy, or that policy related to labor immigration openness and immigrant rights should advance together, although not necessarily quickly or at the same rate. It then tests these competing propositions using a new dataset that sorts labor migration policy changes among 38 advanced industrial democracies from 1995 to 2016 into these two dimensions, finding a significant positive relationship between them.     

党的执政理念的历史演化及启示

新中国成立以来,我们党的执政理念经历了从动机合法性到工具合法性两大形态。提出并解决执政者自身和人民大众利益的关系问题,是新一届中央领导集体"以人为本"这一新的执政理念所面临的一大崭新课题,并给我们以有益的启示。     

牢牢把握代表中国先进生产力发展要求的根本要义

生产力本质上是人们为生存发展而形成的整体力量,它本身始终隐含着为全社会所占有的内在要求和趋势。生产力发展的规律是一个具有多层结构的体系。坚持马克思主义关于生产力发展规律理论,必须进一步完善和发展社会主义生产关系。代表先进生产力的发展要求,关键的要义在于不断解放生产力和发展生产力,根本在于通过发展生产力不断提高人民群众的生活水平。解放和发展生产力是中国共产党性质和宗旨的重要体现。     

台湾共产党成立之研究

俄国十月革命后,列宁站在世界无产阶级革命的战略高度,提出了民族和殖民地理论,在这一理论的指导下,共产国际指示日本共产党筹建台湾共产党。1925年11月,在中共的推荐下,林木顺与谢雪红赴苏联莫斯科东方大学学习,为台共建党做准备。1927年10月,谢雪红、林木顺在莫斯科被共产国际执委片山潜召见,片山潜正式代表共产国际向他俩传达了筹建台湾共产党的决定。在共产国际、日共、中共指导和帮助下,1928年4月15日,台湾共产党在上海正式成立。     

略论共产党执政与构建和谐社会的价值契合

中国共产党执政与构建社会主义和谐社会之间必然构成一种相互统一的价值关系、一个相互联系的价值体系、一项相互支撑的价值工程。中国共产党执政与构建社会主义和谐社会的价值契合首先体现在价值主体、价值目标和价值追求等主导价值层面;也体现在经济、政治、文化和人的发展等多维价值层面;还体现在合规律性、合人民性和合法治性等基础价值层面。