思想政治工作要贯彻好“与时俱进”原则

思想政治工作"与时俱进"原则的精髓就是解放思想、实事求是,就是从群众中来,到群众中去.它既是马克思主义的思想路线和科学方法论的核心,也是思想政治工作必须把握好的基本原则.要在思想政治工作实践中真正贯彻好"与时俱进"原则,关键要在理论和实践上做到以下"四个适当"一、思想政治工作的定位要适当,对思想政治工作地位和作用的理解要"适当",这是贯彻好思想政治工作"与时俱进"原则的前提;二、思想政治工作在举措上要"适当",即政策对路,措施得力,落到实处,要"管用".这是贯彻好思想政治工作"与时俱进"原则的关键环节;三、先导性是思想政治工作把握度量、体现"适当"的基本要求,也是贯彻"与时俱进"原则的重要内容;四、思想政治工作在覆盖范围上的适当性要求.顺应思想政治工作的时代性要求,建立健全覆盖全社会的思想政治工作网络,是在实践中贯彻好"与时俱进"原则的题中应有之意.     

鲍德里亚符号政治经济学批判的一般理论建构

符号政治经济学批判是鲍德里亚早期思想建构中的重要内容,也是他分析消费社会的理论平台。鲍德里亚认为,使用价值与交换价值的区分同符号的能指与所指的区分具有理论的同质性,在消费社会中,能指与所指的区分构成了现代资本主义合法性的前提。这决定了马克思的政治经济学批判只有发展为符号政治经济学批判,才能揭示消费过程中意识形态的产生过程。也正是在这一思考中,鲍德里亚离开了马克思,经过《生产之镜》转向后马克思思潮。     

当代马华报刊文本中的华族政治参与意识表达

本文通过对《星洲日报》和《南洋商报》及其他马华主要报刊相关言论和社论的文本分析,揭示了20世纪80-90年代期间马来西亚华人政治参与意识的变化,包括民主政治思想的启蒙,民主政治实践的探索,以及超越种族政治的发展变化过程.     

Rejecting representation? Party systems and popular support for referendums in Europe

Under what conditions do citizens favor deciding political issues by popular vote? Models of support for popular vote processes usually consider the influence of individual attitudes such as political trust and interest in politics. But much less is known about the effect of institutional variables on support for popular vote processes. This article builds on research showing that disaffection with elected officials shapes support for referendums by considering the influence of the party system. First, an analysis of multilevel data from twenty-four European democracies indicates that individuals are more supportive of referendums in countries with fewer effective political parties. Second, a mediation analysis provides evidence that the number of parties influences referendum support through individual-level political trust and external efficacy. Where there are fewer viable parties, feelings that elected officials are unresponsive tend to increase popular support for referendums. These findings suggest a trade-off between available representation by political parties and support for direct influence over public policy.     

Children’s attitudes towards animal cruelty: Exploration of predictors and socio-demographic variations

ABSTRACT

Assessing the risk for animal cruelty is imperative, yet understudied and problematic due to the sensitivity of the topic. Early prevention is critical, yet very little research examines cruelty when it first appears in childhood. The aim of this study was to explore children’s attitudes towards types of animal cruelty, to investigate potential demographic differences, and to examine potential associations between acceptance of cruelty and cognitive and affective factors that place children ‘at-risk’ for cruelty perpetration. Questionnaire data was collected from 1127 children in schools. The results indicate that cruelty attitudes are predicted by some demographic variables such as urban living, being male, younger age and not having pets, but depend on the type of animal cruelty. Acceptance of cruelty predicted low compassion and low reported humane behaviour towards animals. Acceptance of cruelty was predicted by negative attitudes towards animals, lower beliefs in animal minds and low attachment to pets, signifying the importance of targeting such variables in future prevention programmes. This study is an original contribution to research into childhood animal cruelty in the general population, with implications for designing and implementing early prevention programmes that tackle problematic attitudes to cruelty.