特赦问题研究

赦免,一个古老而又常新的话题。盛世时赦少,乱世赦多也是历史所证明的。赦多则宽暴徒、伤良民,使国家法令废弛,更有鼓励犯罪之嫌。当今社会,赦免是许多国家弥补法律僵化的重要手段,然而赦免对于法治的违背使人们对赦免的合理性产生怀疑,而且赦免存在滥用政治目的的可能。目前,我国关于特赦的立法并不成熟;社会的后续接受能力也有限;老百姓对特赦所产生的危机感更是难以消除。因而在目前情况下不宜进行特赦。     

“满铁”对华经济掠夺问题新探

南满洲铁道株式会社对中国的经济掠夺,是以股份公司的形式作为伪装,执行日本帝国主义侵略掠夺中国的对外政策。＂满铁＂依靠特权建立起一个超乎中国主权和法律之上的＂满铁王国＂,构成了日本国家资本为主导,日本产业托拉斯和中小私人资本为辅助的经济体系。＂满铁＂通过这套经济体系,利用显性和隐性两种方式对我国进行经济掠夺、政治扩张、文化渗透,对中国的经济结构和民族工业造成了异常严重的破坏。     

抗战期间东南亚华侨的救国活动及彰显的民族精神

抗日战争是中华民族近代史上抗击侵略者的民族解放战争,抗战爆发后中日之间由于国力的差距,中国抗战面临着严重困难,而当时的欧美列强又为了自身利益大多袖手旁观,使得中国面临着严峻的国内外形势。而东南亚华侨在民族危亡的关键时刻,挺身而出,为支援祖国抗战掀起了波澜壮阔的抗日救国运动,华侨在经济方面捐款捐物、认购公债,抵制日货,为祖国抗战提供了巨大帮助。而更为人称颂的是不少华侨回国参加抗战,将青春与热血献给了祖国的抗战事业。     

中韩农业贸易中的政治性贸易保护问题研究

在中日韩三国自由贸易区谈判即将召开的情况下,韩国农业领域的贸易保护问题已经成为阻碍中韩FTA签订的重要问题。韩国农业领域的贸易保护倾向不仅根源于福利国家体制和国家干预制度,还和韩国独特的历史和现实政治情况紧密关联,这就要求我国政府在解决该问题时除了遵循FTA基本原则外,更要兼顾社会和政治方面的对韩协调,整合中国农业出口部门,实现对农业领域自由贸易的政治护持。     

REASSESSING THE BREADTH OF THE PROTECTIVE BENEFIT OF IMMIGRANT NEIGHBORHOODS: A MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS OF VIOLENCE RISK BY RACE,ETHNICITY, AND LABOR MARKET STRATIFICATION*

Researchers in the United States have increasingly recognized that immigration reduces crime, but it remains unresolved whether this applies to people of different racial–ethnic and economic backgrounds. By using the 2008–2012 area‐identified National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), we evaluate the effect of neighborhood immigrant concentration on individual violence risk across race/ethnicity and labor market stratification factors in areas with different histories of immigration. The results of our analysis reveal three key patterns. First, we find a consistent protective role of immigrant concentration that is not weakened by low education, low income, unemployment, or labor market competition. Therefore, even economically disadvantaged people enjoy the crime‐reduction benefit of immigration. Second, we find support for threshold models that predict a nonlinear, stronger protective role of immigrant concentration on violence at higher levels of immigrant concentration. The protective function of immigration also is higher in areas of longer histories of immigration. Third, compared with Blacks and Whites, Latinos receive a greater violence‐reduction benefit of immigrant concentration possibly because they live in closer proximity with immigrants and share common sociocultural features. Nevertheless, immigrant concentration yields a diminishing return in reducing Latino victimization as immigrants approach a near‐majority of neighborhood residents. The implications of these results are discussed.     

The ASEAN-China Investment Agreement: A regionalization of China��s BITs

This paper analyzes the provisions of the Agreement on Investment of the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (the “ASEAN”), especially those on the scope of application, national treatment, Most Favored Nation (MFN) treatment, expropriation, and investor-state dispute resolution. The paper then compares the new agreement with other international investment agreements concluded by China or ASEAN. In comparison with existing Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) between China and individual ASEAN member states, there are significant changes in the Investment Agreement which provides a higher standard of investment protection. Such an investment protection is common in the new generation of Chinese BITs, which were signed by China since 2000. However, unlike some other investment agreements in free trade arrangements, the Investment Agreement rarely touches upon the investment liberalization, although the Framework Agreement of ASEAN-China FTA provides for creating a liberal investment regime. This paper concludes that negotiating an investment agreement in China’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) is regarded as an opportunity to update its old BITs, but China is not yet prepared to undertake investment liberalization in its FTAs. The ASEAN-China Investment Agreement is, rather, an extension of China’s BITs at the regional level, which is a demonstration of China’s growing influence at this level.     

Party Politics and Governance in Grenada: An Analysis of the New National Party (1984–2012)

Abstract

This article examines party politics and governance in post-revolutionary Grenada, using the case of the New National Party (NNP). The central question is what does the evolution of the NNP suggests about governance and democracy in post-invasion Grenada? The article traces four phases of the NNP since its formation in 1984: (1) externally imposed marriage of convenience; (2) intra-party conflict and splintering; (3) rebranding, consolidation and dominance; and (4) electoral defeat. The article contends that Grenada has transitioned to formal democracy and the NNP is a significant actor. Yet, despite this transition, Grenada has not become the showcase of democracy that the US said it would in 1984.     

So Close and Yet So Far: Strategies in the 13th Malaysian Elections

Abstract

This article examines the strategies employed by the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional (or National Front), and the opposition alliance, Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Alliance), in the 13th general election held in Malaysia in May 2013. It argues that while the opposition used the right strategy for the 2013 campaign, it lost because it could not overcome the three biggest hurdles for opposition politics in Malaysia: East Malaysia, the rural Malay votes and a biased electoral system.     

Developing Bureaucracies for Environmental Governance: State Authority and World Bank Conditionality in Laos

This paper considers the on-going production of bureaucracies for environmental governance in developing countries and the ways in which donor engagement is reshaped through localised bureaucratic dynamics. In Laos, World Bank conditions associated with the Nam Theun 2 hydropower project saw the establishment of the Watershed Management and Protection Authority (WMPA). I examine internal dynamics at the WMPA headquarters in Nakai District, including formal institutions for forest management, informal institutions for recognising local authority and wealth redistribution and the personal aspirations of WMPA officials. In doing so, this piece contributes to current discussions about donor-driven institutional change, practices of state-making and the local “technocrats” who are personally confronted by the complex intersections of donor conditionality and state authority.     

ANC foreign policy making during the Mbeki period: More democratic or less?

The African National Congress, as an entity distinct from government, served during the 1994–2008 period as an independent forum for debate about South Africa's foreign policy, particularly in the National Executive Committee's Subcommittee on International Relations. This debate retained the oligarchic character of the movement in exile, with few voices – Thabo Mbeki's most prominent among them – dominating the discussion, inputs from subnational party structures almost non-existent, and dissenters expected to keep quiet publicly. That said, participants in these discussions largely dismissed characterisations of Mbeki as a dictator in the foreign policy debate, noting that the predominance of his views stemmed mostly from his strong argumentation and knowledge rather than bullying. Senior ANC leaders also claimed that limited interest in foreign policy, outside of national party structures, hindered efforts to broaden participation in foreign policy formulation.