Democracy and innovation: from institutions to agency and leadership

Democracies are, by definition, marked by a strong normative commitment to innovation and change, and all democratic regimes must seek to generate innovations both to keep their fundamental promise and to secure their own survival. In response to the latent crisis of representative democracy, recent political research has devoted eager attention to innovating democratic institutions, yet with conspicuously little regard for the likely effects of such reform proposals on the innovation-related performance and innovation capacity of democratic regimes. Indeed, some reform proposals, if implemented, would appear to reduce rather than increase the innovation capacity of representative democracies. Innovation-focused leadership may be able to fill that gap and provide what even the best institutions alone are unable to accomplish. In contrast to recent research on leadership and innovation in the public sector, which tends to centre on forms of collaborative leadership within networks, this article emphasizes the importance of individual leaders, and more specifically of political chief executives whose status and position in the governance process have been significantly enhanced by a combination of different factors. However, while leadership might be the key to democratic political innovation, innovative leadership and institutional engineering remain closely related to one another.     

How does democracy influence citizens’ perceptions of government corruption? A cross-national study

We examine the effect of democracy as an institutional context on individuals’ perceptions of government corruption. To do so, we compile an integrated dataset from the Asian, Afro, and Latino Barometer Surveys and use a hierarchical linear regression model. Our primary finding is that the effect of democracy has different effects on ordinary citizens’ perceptions of corruption in different contexts. In general, people in countries with higher levels of democracy tend to perceive their governments to be more corrupt. However, more importantly, conditional models show that in countries with more developed democratic institutions, individuals with stronger democratic values are less likely to perceive the government to be corrupt. Moreover, people in such countries are less likely to assess their government based on their perceptions of economic situation.     

论法治与和谐社会建设

法治作为解决社会冲突的有效手段显得越发重要,它是实现社会和谐最重要的保障机制。其核心在于通过平衡社会成员之间的利益,维护社会的正常秩序,实现人权保护。但是,法治并非构建和谐社会的唯一方法和手段,必须同时运用经济、行政、道德等手段,使之相互补充,最佳整合,才能最终达到构建和谐社会的目的。     

论新世纪新阶段统一战线与基层民主政治建设

党的十七大提出要把发展基层民主作为发展社会主义民主政治的基础性工程。统一战线作为发扬社会主义民主的重要途径和载体,与基层民主政治建设有极大的关联性,在基层民主政治建设中具有极其重要的作用。     

协商民主的内在关联性及其定位——基于中西方协商民主发展的环境视角分析

协商民主是实现人民民主,发展社会主义民主政治的一种新型的民主范式。比较分析西方协商民主发展的背景和中国协商民主推进的动因,可以发现在中国民主化进程中,协商与民主"分"的可能性和"合"的现实性以及两者间不必然的关系,在此基础上明确协商民主在中国民主化进程中的定位。     

略论西方民主政治的理论基础

根据西方的民主理论,民主政治应当体现为多数人的统治。但是,如果多数的权力不受制约,多数人进行统治并不一定带来真正的民主政治,因为集体的智慧是有限的,多数的无限权威容易导致权力的滥用,多数的交易规则对少数人具有强制作用,这样常常会产生多数人忽视少数人权益的现象。因此,要使多数人的民主成为多数善政,要使民主政治具有适当的制度基础,就要对多数投票决定问题的范围加以限定,少教人应当被给予更大程度的自治,司法体系和社会力量要充分利用起来对多数的权力加以制衡。     

Civil and Uncivil Actors in the Guatemalan Peace Process

Abstract This paper examines the Guatemalan peace process by focusing on different actors in civil society. It considers the peace negotiations between the government/ military and the guerrillas, rather than the realm of electoral procedures, to be the main locus of political transition. Challenging the work of many elite-centred theorists of democratisation who claim that civil society is an ephemeral and largely insignificant actor in transitions, the analysis considers both popular actors and business associations, one of the major‘ uncivil’ actors in Guatemalan civil society, and shows that civil society can have an impact on transitions on multiple levels. In attempting to explain the degree of impact, the paper illustrates the need to examine both the surrounding political opportunity structure and internal factors such as organisation, strategy and leadership.     

民主的形式之惑

民主,代表着人类进步和社会发展的文明化程度,是现代国家的一个基本标志,是现代公民的普遍追求和基本权利。但在对民主的认识上依然存在着一些需要廓清的基本问题,厘清这些问题对中国特色社会主义民主建设不可或缺,民主的形式之惑就是其中之一。     

The understanding of the laws and bylaws and the methodology for drafting in the socialist regime

The methodology for drafting is one of the most important concepts in drafting of a policy paper and translating this policy into legislation. Regarding this, it is necessary to know how the legislative drafting developed in the past during the socialist regime, and how it has changed with time after the beginning of the democratic processes of the country. Due to the correct methodology of drafting, we enable a good correct legislation as an important element of good governance, where the concept of law lays on its foundations and the democratic system is the major goal.     

我国民主政治发展的路径依赖及路向选择——基于路径依赖理论的分析视角

从路径依赖理论的视角来考察,我国民主政治的发展在取得诸多成就的同时,也存在着思想观念、民主制度体系、民主组织行为等方面的非良性路径依赖,阻碍了我国民主政治的发展。加快我国民主政治发展必须打破非良性的路径依赖,实现路径替代,需要在更新民主观念、深化市场经济体制改革、推进政治体制改革、以及扩大公民有序政治参与等方面做出努力。