Redefining development for national security: implications for civil society

The effects of counter-terrorism legislation on civil-society organisations (CSOs) based in the South have received little attention in the wider literature. This article reports on the findings of a series of international workshops to examine the effects of such legislation, held in Lebanon, the Kyrgyz Republic, India, the Netherlands, the UK, and the USA. The evidence presented at these workshops suggests that counter-terror legislation is undermining the work of civil society in complex and interrelated ways.     

中国在东南亚的软实力和中美关系

软实力在国家的对外关系中的作用越来越引起人们的重视。中国在东南亚的影响力的上升在美国的舆论界和学术界引起了警觉,认为中国要超越甚至排挤美国在该地区的影响。作者考察了中国在东南亚的实际影响,实事求是地分析了中国影响上升的原因,并指出了这种影响的局限性。最后呼吁,为了本地区的和平、稳定与繁荣,中美两国应该和平共处,合作共赢,良性竞争。     

STI policy conventions in Uruguay. An analysis of political party platforms 2004–2019

Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) have been considered as critical tools in development processes, gaining growing importance in the public policy agenda. We assert that an intersubjective agreement about STI policy has emerged in Latin America from the beginning of the twenty-first century. This operates as a developmental convention which is based on a hybrid theoretical rationale from neoclassical economics and the innovation systems approach. This process has been analyzed from different perspectives of innovation and political economy studies. However, as far as we know, the role of political parties in the construction and reproduction of STI conventions has not been studied. After illustrating the general assertion with stylized facts from the whole Latin American region, we study the platforms that Uruguayan political parties presented in the national elections between 2004 and 2019. Text analysis techniques show that platforms of both left- and right-wing political parties were embedded in the current STI policy convention. However, critical discrepancies emerge in relation to policy implementation—the positive and negative agendas—which show that there has been political competition regarding the role of the state and of markets. This leads us to conclude that even though one can observe a shared set of building blocks on STI policy and development, there is competition within the current convention, suggesting that any agreement is illusory.     

Feminists and Technocrats in the Democratization of Latin America: A Prolegomenon

Women's movements made important contributions to ending the period of authoritarian rule in Latin America, but their participation in the reconstruction of democratic politics has been more limited than expected. This paper argues that the enormous influence exerted by technocratic elites in the democratization process in Latin America has represented an obstacle to the improvement of women's status in the region. Gender-biased assumptions and practices have been only partially addressed, in part because the policy-making process is under the control of economists, a professional group with a particularly unfriendly stand towards gendered analysis. It is suggested that reforms within economics may help in the task of making democracy more responsive to the demands of women.     

对抗，还是缓和？——核危机下伊朗对美政策解读

内贾德上台后,伊朗在核问题上态度强硬的同时,又注意讲求策略,避免矛盾彻底激化,其目的是促使美国进行直接谈判,从根源上解决核问题。伊拉克战争后内外交困的处境是伊朗寻求伊美关系缓和的根本原因。在伊朗已经愿意有条件妥协的情况下,不排除美伊关系缓和的可能。但是,如果美国在关键问题上不做让步,伊美将会走向军事冲突,对伊朗的核设施进行空中打击将是美国的优先选择。     

北美刑事司法教育的发展及其启示

北美刑事司法教育是伴随着美国、加拿大警察专业化运动的产生与发展而兴起的。特 殊的历史渊源决定了美、加两国的刑事司法教育制度带有英国体制的烙印;在加拿大的局部地区,还带有 法国体制的明显痕迹。北美刑事司法教育的基本特点是:具有独立的行业发展理念和内部规范;专业要求 有高度的心智活动,并需要有较强的判断力;具有特殊的知识领域;通识教育与特殊的专业知识教育相结 合;根据职业要求不断进行相关培训;已经形成终身职业制度;以服务社会为最高目的;设有健全的专业 组织。从下述方面借鉴北美刑事司法教育体系具有现实意义:设置专门的学科专业,找准办学定位和培养 目标;学历教育与在职培训并重,形成较完整的体系;较好地处理教学、科研以及为实战服务三者的关 系;有规范化的行业内评估机制;教学方法多样化,内容设计要理论与实践相结合;形成高质量的专兼职 教师队伍。     

中美军事审判权比较

军事审判权是军事审判制度的核心。尽管中美两国有着不同的政治结构体系和军事领导体制,但在军事审判权的性质上却有着相似的性质：双重渊源。我国的军事审判权渊源于国家审判权,同时又受到军事统率权的支配;美国的军事审判权更大程度上受军事统率权的控制,但仍属于国家司法权的统一行使     

The capacity to aspire: young persons and gender–age relations in southern Tajikistan and North India

ABSTRACT

Rather than studying young men's career- and/or economic-based aspirations, this article explores the obstacles that hinder youths of both sexes in gerontocratic southern Tajikistan and North India from developing the capacity to make their own life choices. Focusing mainly on the selection of marital partner and largely on women, I explore the narratives of those who have never even dreamed of a good life, of others who have dreamed but been unable to actualize their dreams, of a few who have started to plan the way forward, and of a tiny number who actually managed to achieve their aspirations, teasing out the influences that facilitate this. I suggest that even educated youths with some control over their public lives are constricted by their family relations and that it requires quite specific support to defy one’s family, which can create significant vulnerabilities in settings with no other safety net.     

Educational efficiency in the Caribbean: a comparative analysis

With a rapidly growing population and limited resources, accountability has taken on increased importance, especially in the area of public management. To assess the effectiveness of public spending on education in the Caribbean, this article compares performance in five Caribbean nations, looking at input indicators such as the teacher–pupil ratio, expenditure per pupil, the number of adequately trained teachers as a proportion of total teaching staff, and public commitment to education. It analyses their impact on output indicators, including performance in English and mathematics, the repetition rate, and survival rate to the final grade in school. The article concludes that the levels of efficiency in the development of human capital in the Caribbean are very uneven, and that serious challenges face Caribbean countries as they seek to maximise the returns on their investment in education.     

Judicialization of politics or politicization of the judiciary? Recent trends in Latin America

This article examines the judicialization of politics in Latin America with particular reference to Mexico and Argentina. It surveys several inter-connected processes with regard to the democratic aspiration of building the rule of law and enhancing citizenship. More than ever before regime legitimacy is linked to the credibility and success of rule of law construction. At the same time, judicial institutions and legal processes have acquired an unprecedented public and political centrality, as judges are called upon to resolve political disputes and engage in the judicial and legal review of governmental processes. Moreover civil society in varying degrees is increasingly resorting to legal mechanisms as one means of reclaiming and advancing citizenship rights. However, this process of judicialization of politics in young democracies does not necessarily imply improvement in regard to the rule of law. And a failure to live up to expectations concerning the rule of law is placing an additional burden on the embattled democracies of the region.