Hong Kong's Elite Structure,Legislature and the Bleak Future of Democracy under Chinese Sovereignty

A decade after retrocession to China, Hong Kong still has limited democracy. Only half of the legislature is directly elected by the people, and the Chief Executive – the leader of Hong Kong government – is chosen by an election committee of 800 people, most of them loyal to Beijing. In December 2007, the Chinese Central Government announced that the direct election of the Chief Executive and the whole legislature may be implemented from 2017 and 2020, respectively. Still, in this paper it is suggested that real democracy in the foreseeable future is unlikely. This paper demonstrates the existence of a “power elite” of tightly knit business-state networks in Hong Kong society and argues that this constitutes a systemic barrier against further democratic development. Central to the discussion is an analysis of the formation and composition of the legislature and the relations to the elite-interlocks among influential organisations in society. Mainly based on 2006‐07 data, the Elite Database which is subject to network analyses is composed of 1531 individuals holding 1854 seats from 40 listed corporations, 27 government committees, 20 non-governmental organisations, and eight universities.     

Knowledge free and ‘unfree’: Epistemic tensions in plant knowledge at the Cape in the 17th and 18 th centuries1

ABSTRACT

This article utilises the same epistemic objects, particular indigenous medicinal plants of the Cape region, to explore the gamut of epistemologies in contested, dynamic tension in the early Cape Colony: That of the frontiersman, the Khoikhoi, the Sonqua or Sankwe, and the slave. Drawing on a transdisciplinary set of literatures, the article puts Africana studies, the study of indigenous knowledge systems, and social studies of science and technology in wider conversation with each other, and argues for the adoption of an epistemic openness, methodologies which ‘braid’ seemingly separate strands of social history and differing knowledge practices, and cross-border collaboration among scholars of African and African diasporic knowledges. The findings and interpretation suggest new ways to view the ‘multiplexity’ of early indigenous southern African botanical, therapeutic and ecological knowledges, as well as the necessity for rethinking both the construction of colonial sciences and contemporary concerns about indigenous knowledge, biosciences and their 21^st century interaction.     

A Review of: “With God on Our Side: George W. Bush and the Rise of the Religious Right”∗

Recent evidence supports the important political role that political network size and distribution plays at both the individual and system levels. However, we argue that the evidence is likely stronger than the current literature suggests due to network size measurement limitations in the extant literature. The most common approach to measuring political network size in sample surveys—the “name generator” approach—normally constrains network size measurement to three to six individuals. Because of this constraint, research often undercounts individual network size and also leads to a misrepresentation of the distribution of the underlying variable. Using multiple data sets and alternative measurement approaches, we reveal that political network hubs—individuals with inordinately large network sizes not captured by name generators—exist and can be identified with a simple summary network measure. We also demonstrate that the summary network size measure reveals the expected differences in communicative, personality, and political variables across network size better than name generator measures. This suggests that not only has prior research failed to identify network hubs, but it has likely underestimated the influence of political network size at the individual level.     

Digital Network Repertoires and Organizational Hybridity

This article summarizes a study of 37 televised debates on political issues in Denmark, conducted live before representative audiences, with polls on the issues before and after each debate. These debates are of interest to research because they were authentic, and they supply data indicating persuasive effects. Various rhetorical features were observed and related to debaters success in attracting votes. In a qualitative interpretation of the observations, we suggest that debates such as these are likely to be won by debaters whose argumentation is fair and thoughtful. Audiences may respond differently depending on whether they are voters or merely viewers. The debate format may enhance such a response, for the benefit of the democratic process.     

Social network analysis and counterinsurgency: a counterproductive strategy?

Social network analysis has been adopted by a number of governments in their counterinsurgency campaigns. By using network analysis, security agencies claim they can render militant groups impotent by targeting ‘nodal points’ or key links in insurgent networks. The article makes three arguments on the potentially counterproductive nature of social network analysis-assisted counterinsurgency campaigns. Firstly, social network analysis may be ‘too successful’ in stripping militant movements of a cadre who could negotiate a peace accord. Secondly, social network analysis-assisted campaigns fail to address the root causes of violent conflict. Thirdly, by denuding communities of social capital and social entrepreneurs, social network analysis – as a counterinsurgency tool – may condemn communities to underdevelopment and failed post-war reconstruction. In short, the ‘magic weapon’ of social network analysis might actually prolong the conflict it is supposed to help quell. The article employs the government of Sri Lanka's social network analysis-assisted counterinsurgency campaign as a case study, though it also has application to other cases. It concludes by considering if social network analysis can be put to more constructive uses, specifically in the rebuilding of communities after violent conflict.     

Measuring Governance in Urban Innovation

Abstract

The international political science literature is ambiguous on the point if the involvement of a plurality of external actors (citizens, economic and social groups, NGOs and CSOs, Universities and experts, different public authorities at the same or at different territorial level, etc.) in governance processes is an end in itself (because it increases democracy) or it is useful in order to achieve better results in the production of public goods.

This article espouses the latter hypothesis and tries to understand if a governance perspective brings about a higher level of innovation in metropolitan areas. In order to test this hypothesis, two metrics are designed: ? In measuring innovation, the ideas are that there are four dimensions in urban innovation (agenda innovation, process innovation, product innovation and innovative communication) and that a metropolitan city has to score high in most of them in order to be considered really innovative.

? As far as governance is concerned, the analytical proposal is that the ideal governance network is at the same time complex (bringing together actors from different territorial levels and from different societal and institutional domains), dense (favouring direct interaction between the actors) and ‘focused’ (showing one or few actors able to act as focal points of the network).

Drawing from a research done in four Italian cities (Turin, Milan, Florence and Naples) through the reconstruction of 120 urban innovation processes, the article illustrates the analytical steps taken and the conclusions that can be reached.     

From Emigrant to Immigrant Society

Abstract

As the host of complex factors that give rise to forced and voluntary migration change over time, the history of migration in any one country also changes. This paper is concerned with the processes of transition and change in migration patterns in the Republic of Ireland over the past fifteen years, as Ireland has moved from being a country of net emigration to one of net immigration. More specifically this paper considers the manner in which, as immigration acquires a negative label through reactive state policies enabled legislative provisions both migrant and local population groups focus on resource-based tensions. As a result, a complex set of barriers emerges to inhibit the formation (by migrants) of extensive social networks within Irish society and ultimately to restrict general social interaction and integration. This paper considers the manner in which, migrant interaction with the host society becomes more limited and of less relevance to the individual when social interaction takes place in the context of a heightened sense of difference and of barriers between local and migrant groups. As a consequence, the barriers and boundaries between the immigrant and the local population are further reinforced.     

Privacy by design and anonymisation techniques in action: Case study of Match technology

Privacy by Design is now enjoying widespread acceptance. The EU has recently expressly included it as one of the key principles in the revised data protection legal framework. But how does Privacy by design and data anonymisation work in practise? In this article the authors address this question from a practical point of view by analysing a case study on EU Financial Intelligence Units (“FIUs”) using the Ma³tch technology as additional feature to the existing exchange of information via FIU.NET decentralised computer network. They present, analyse, and evaluate Ma³tch technology from the perspective of personal data protection. The authors conclude that Ma³tch technology can be seen as a valuable example of Privacy by Design. It achieves data anonymisation and enhances data minimisation and data security, which are the fundamental elements of Privacy by Design. Therefore, it may not only improve the exchange of information among FIUs and allow for the data processing to be in line with applicable data protection requirements, but it may also substantially contribute to the protection of privacy of related data subjects. At the same time, the case study clearly shows that Privacy by Design needs to be supported and complemented by appropriate organisational and technical procedures to assure that the technology solutions devised to protect privacy would in fact do so.     

“质”的耕耘还是“量”的拓展？——浙江上市公司连锁董事网络对企业绩效的非线性影响

本文用社会网络和统计分析方法对浙江省144家上市公司2009年的连锁董事网络进行了研究分析,发现浙江省连锁董事网络具有幂律分布的特征.在此基础上,通过NLS回归分析发现,浙江上市公司连锁董事网络的“质”中心度与企业绩效正相关,“量”中心度与企业绩效负相关,连锁董事网络的行业趋同度和地域趋同度也与企业绩效负相关,利用OLS回归分析进行稳健性检验,发现这些实证结论依然稳健.基于这些实证结果,本文在理论上的贡献在于：证明了连锁董事网络具有异质性特征;连锁董事网络中心度,在“质”和“量”上对企业的绩效贡献迥异;上市公司要发挥连锁董事网络实质性的绩效贡献,宜强化“质”的耕耘、而非“量”的拓展,力求构建异质网络、避免过度嵌入与趋同.