建国前夕刘少奇对新中国政权建设的重大贡献

中国共产党在新中国成立前后的政权建设方面,有两大历史创建：建立了人民代表大会制度,成立了中央人民政府的雏形──华北人民政府。当时先后担任中共中央工委书记和华北局书记的刘少奇,直接指导了华北临时人民代表大会的召开工作;并创造性地提出和直接领导了华北人民政府的成立,为新中国国家机构和政府体制的建立打下了坚实基础。     

美国对女性卖淫犯罪人的社区矫正制度及其借鉴意义

美国对女性卖淫犯罪人一般定轻罪或微罪，并且多数采取社区矫正制度，包括常规社区矫正和居住式社区矫正，其中居住式社区矫正机构与民间组织合作开展了很多针对卖淫女性的矫正项目并取得了良好的效果。我国可以借鉴美国的经验，将卖淫行为有限犯罪化，在刑法中建立轻罪序列，并对其适用社区矫正。     

Causes of absenteeism at the secondary level in Jamaica: parents' perspectives

This article examines parents' views on the causes of students' absenteeism at the secondary level, using a sample of 221 parents from nine schools across Jamaica. The key factors identified as causes are little value for education, lack of resources, and factors within the immediate school environment. Apart from improvements to the school environment, the article underscores the need to provide employment-generating opportunities to enable parents to meet the needs of their children, and emphasises that efforts to address students' absenteeism must involve multi-agency partnerships including parents, community members, and social workers.     

“Ain't Making It in America”: The Economic Characteristics of African Immigrants in North Carolina,USA

This study interviewed 350 African immigrants in North Carolina (NC) to shed light on their economic conditions. It focused primarily on their labor force participation and incomes for the period 2004–2014. The findings showed that both structural changes in NC's economy and prejudicial experiences within the labor force were the most important forces that undermined the economic ambitions of the Africans. The study also yielded a complex picture and raised some questions about the resettlement outcome of African immigrants in the United States.     

Participatory system dynamics modelling for dairy value chain development in Nicaragua

The use of system dynamics tools can add valuable insights when identifying and evaluating priorities for pro-poor value chain upgrading. However, to better understand the complex systems in agricultural value chains and to develop useful models, a participatory modelling process is important. This article highlights the group model building process of the dairy value chain in Matiguás, Nicaragua, one of a few examples of participatory model building in developing countries. The results confirm several benefits with participatory system dynamics modelling, including team learning, a greater understanding of the value of modelling, and a tool for decision-making and priority setting.     

Implementing national food policies to promote local family agriculture: Belo Horizonte's story

Policies in Brazil promoting family agriculture such as the Food Acquisition Programme (PAA) and the 30% minimum procurement law for the National School Meals Programme have had varying success across the country. To understand why these policies work effectively only in some areas, the implementation processes must be clarified. This exploratory, ethnographic study identifies the causal mechanisms involved in implementing PAA and the 30% law in the city of Belo Horizonte. The findings reveal that although beneficial, large supply volumes and transportation costs are challenges faced by farmers in the implementation process.     

Ethnocompetitiveness,relations, and networks: towards rural sustainability

Small producers face various obstacles in placing their products on the global market. The most important obstacle is associated with the generation of innovative products in a dynamic context. This article presents a case study which provides support for a methodology designed to quantify the competitiveness of small and medium-sized local producers in relation to other producers in the same region and nation. It explores how the evolution of knowledge relates to the ability of agricultural producers to sell their products in regional and international markets. To do so, it utilises the concept of ethnocompetitiveness, which can be understood as the hybridisation of local knowledges with external or codified knowledge.     

Building indicators to address community sustainability: learning from the Mixteca region,Mexico

This article reports on an indicator model to assess sustainability at the community level that was developed by an interdisciplinary work group. We applied this model in a case study of the Mixteca region in Oaxaca, Mexico, and provided a tool guide to measure the effectiveness of community-based actions. Two innovative aspects are presented: an iterative process with the community to develop a locally appropriate set of indicators drawn from the literature, and a baseline diagnostic assessment of the community’s performance on these indicators. This assessment may serve as a basis for future research and community-driven projects.     

论美国侵权法限制运动及其发展趋势

始于20世纪七八十年代的侵权法限制运动,以责任保险危机、诉讼爆炸、陪审团失控、无聊诉讼、原告律师贪婪为限制侵权责任的理由,但无论哪一理由都无可靠性可言。侵权法限制运动基础如此薄弱,且以限制原告获得赔偿的可能性和赔偿数额为主要目标,却未遭遇民众的反感甚至反对,原因在于侵权责任限制的支持者巧妙利用了修辞术、立法机关与司法机关的冲突,巧妙架构内部组织结构以及个人主义仍是美国文化的核心。经过几十年的改革,侵权法限制运动确实使原告更难获得赔偿、律师行业受到重创,却并未降低保险费、事故发生率和产品安全。因侵权责任限制支持者的失信和改革伊始蓄意的欺骗,该运动获得的民众支持会越来越弱,它给我们的教训是:法律改革非政治运动,理性当头。     

个人主义价值观中的“集体精神”传统:美国早期文化思潮探究及其启示

Individualism lies at the very core of American culture and values. However, American individualism has very profound and complex nature rooted from several cultural traditions, and takes on different meanings in various contexts. The paper examines four cultural traditions in early American history——biblical strand, republican strand, utilitarian and expressive individualism, and then introduces their representative individuals——John Winthrop, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Walt Whitman. As the result of the interaction and competition of these four traditions, American individualism shows both “individualistic” and “collectivistic” modes, and they work together to shape the rich national character. The study shows that a dynamic and interactive perspective on American individualism also leads to some enlightenment on current studies of Chinese values.