Microscopic Age Estimation from the Anterior Cortex of the Femur in Korean Adults*

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to develop age‐predicting equations from the anterior cortex of the femur of Korean adults. Seventy‐two femoral samples (44 male and 28 female) were obtained from Korean cadavers and used to develop the equations. The thin sections (<100‐μm thick) were prepared by manual grinding; the sections were not decalcified and were stained with Villanueva bone stain reagent. Analysis of covariance showed no significant differences in age‐adjusted histomorphological variables between sexes. In stepwise regression analysis, osteon population density, average osteon area, and the most anterior cortical width were selected for an age‐predicting equation which produced a high regression correlation (R² = 0.789). The average Haversian canal area was not significantly related to age for any specimen.     

Can wedge strategies by mainstream parties cross-cut the anti-immigration far right vote?

Anti-immigration campaigns have helped far right parties to establish themselves in party systems around the world. We examine whether mainstream parties can employ wedge issue campaigns that divide the far right anti-immigration vote to win back electoral support. Wedge issues that cross-cut the anti-immigration vote may enhance the electoral support of mainstream parties, as long as they do not simultaneously alienate pro-immigration voters. We evaluate this expectation using a panel survey experiment conducted during the 2021 German federal election. The first wave allows us to identify wedge issues that the mainstream CDU/CSU can stress to cross-cut the anti-immigration vote. The second wave raises the salience of these issues by manipulating the perceived issue agenda of the CDU/CSU using hypothetical campaign posters. While our results show that wedge issue strategies are not effective on average, exploratory analyses reveal the potential of strategically targeted messaging in winning back support of some anti-immigration voters.     

Party factions and coalition government: portfolio allocation in Italian Christian Democracy

In this paper I elaborate a recently advanced argument about government formation, and assess it by studying the factions of the Italian Christian Democratic Party (DC). I contend that the costs of making and breaking coalitions depend on political institutions and on the configuration of actors in policy space. Comparisons across parties in Italy and other countries support this argument. So also do comparisons across party factions. The Christian Democratic factions that incurred the lowest office costs to build coalitions were those at or near the left–right median in Italy's core party. When electoral rules were rewritten in the DC, internal party competition over portfolio allocation changed as well. The paper's conclusion outlines how the argument would guide further research on party factions.     

中国共产党自身建设规律的体系建构与实践创新

中国共产党之所以能够领导广大人民群众创造彪炳史册的千秋伟业,归根结底是因为中国共产党能够主动认识、始终遵循和自觉运用党的自身建设规律来领导革命、建设和改革。中国共产党自身建设规律科学回答了“建设什么样的党、怎样建设党”这个重大课题,是对共产党执政规律、社会主义建设规律、人类社会发展规律的创新发展。从党的建设百年光辉历程探索党的自身建设规律的历史脉络,探讨党的自身建设规律理论体系的建构逻辑,探析党的自身建设规律的实践要求,有利于促进党的自身建设规律理论研究与实践应用的贯通融合,持续提高党的建设质量,坚定不移建设世界上最强大的政党、领导人民实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦。     

马来西亚政党政治的变化及其走向

巫统一党独大是马来西亚长期以来政党政治的一大特点 ,但是 1999年末马来西亚第 10次大选却表明这种局面正在发生明显的变化 ,这必将对马来西亚的政局产生深远的影响。本文试从马来西亚政党政治变化入手 ,分析变化的成因 ,并对今后一个时期马来西亚政党政治和政局的发展趋势作一展望。     

党员先进性辩证分析

科学分析党员先进性是开展保持党员先进性活动的理论前提,辩证分析党员先进性是马克思主义唯物辩证法的基本要求。党员先进性是阶级性和群众性的对立统一,是个性和共性的对立统一,是理论与实践的对立统一,是现实性和可能性的对立统一。这几个辩证范畴是科学认识党员先进性的必然要求,对实现保持党员先进性活动的目标是十分重要的。     

传统选贤任能思想的现代转换

传统选贤任能思想的现代转换就是指对传统选贤任能思想的批判继承问题。中国共产党在干部队伍建设方面以马克思主义人才观为指导,批判地继承了传统的德才兼备、知人善用、量才授职等选贤任能的选拔标准和用人原则,提出了一套符合中国现代化建设实际的选贤任能思想。     

The revival and decline of rank and file movements in Britain during the 1930s

The economic and political crisis of 1931 provoked the reappearance of rank and file movements in Britain. This article examines the unofficial organisations that developed in building, engineering, passenger transport and the railways – as well as more ephemeral bodies. It critically synthesises the existing historiography and replenishes it with new material from the Russian archives. The progress of rank and filism to 1939 is surveyed and the largely forgotten project of a new Communist-led rank and file organisation, a Trade Union Militant League, which would supersede the National Minority Movement, is recuperated. The article stresses the role of Comintern policy in harnessing and moulding grass-roots rebellion. It validates that strand in the literature which argues that Moscow’s subsequent turn to the popular front and aspirations to alliances with labour movement leaders predominated over, and legitimated, indigenous influences, enhanced existing adaptation to trade unionism, and encouraged subordination of oppositional movements to activity in official structures. By 1939, the Communists had abandoned the idea of a national rank and file movement they had pursued since 1923. Little survived of the revolutionary enterprise launched in 1931. Rank and filism endured only as a handful of sectional, party-sponsored, trade union ginger groups.     

The trap of pop-charisma for the institutionalization of Indonesia's post-Suharto parties

This article investigates how the Indonesian party system has created parties that increasingly rely on charisma for support and votes. Initially associated with divinely bestowed qualities, the concept of charisma has evolved to emphasize popularity and recognizability instead. In Indonesia, this tendency has combined with direct elections to distract parties from their ideal functions of developing platforms and programmes. Instead, parties have sought to pick and choose candidates that are popular to front their campaign. This has contributed to the formation of dysfunctional parties that are opportunistic, corrupt, and rent-seeking. As Indonesian parties continue their struggle to prove themselves by relying on the ephemeral attraction of personal charisma, the resultant incapacity to develop solid organization will continue to be a crippling trap for them.     

斯尼夫列特战略与第一次国共合作

中国共产党的诞生及其早期革命,是与共产国际“二大”的指导思想分不开的。共产国际“二大”的中心议题是在殖民地、半殖民地国家无产阶级与资产阶级民主派的民族主义合作问题,在这次会议上荷兰人马林所创造的“斯尼夫列特战略”被认为是最佳选择。认识到这个战略的起源及其被列宁和共产国际所采纳以及后来在中国的实行,对中国共产党初期要求与国民党合作的历史就容易理解了。