Forward Russia! Sports mega-events as a venue for building national identity

This paper contributes to the discussion of links between sports, nationalism, and globalization by focusing on the political aspects of the preparation of Russian national teams for sports mega-events staged in Russia. By analyzing the cases of the XXVII Summer Universiade in Kazan, the XXII Winter Olympics in Sochi, and the XXI FIFA World Cup scheduled to take place in 12 Russian cities, the paper provides a comparative study of the benefits that mega-events provide for the host nation in terms of building national identities. To involve the sports component in the study of the nation-building processes, the paper applies the concept of the “spillover effect” of sporting nationalism which presumes that nationalist sentiment or ideology configured and promoted through sports affects non-sporting political processes, actors, and institutions. The paper argues that the “spillover effect” of sporting nationalism allows for the converting of excellence in sports mega-events – the centerpiece of global sports – into political excellence and displays the strengths of the nation to both the global and domestic public. Therefore, showing excellence as the host nation is the main objective that Russian political actors pursue in both their rhetoric and course of action.     

Revolution,power and the Third World: a review of Michael Mann’s The Sources of Social Power,Volume 4

The fourth volume of Michael Mann’s The Sources of Social Power is the last in his historical sociological series, which has centred on an analysis of ideological, economic, military and political power in human societies from the start of civilisation. Mann’s final volume provides an important overview of the period of American hegemony and its worldwide effects, the rise and crisis of neoliberalism, the contrasting fates of the USSR and Maoist China, the vagaries of American empire, and modern revolutions. The implications of his study, particularly regarding the history and theory of revolutions, are of the utmost value to anyone on the Revolutionary Left today, especially in the Third World. While Mann’s study is primarily focused on the West, it provides important lessons to be drawn for the Third World.     

The role of global cities in land grabs

Key trends link a globally connected urban archipelago and its hinterlands, warranting new studies of power in its most contemporary forms. This article locates land power and where that power is exercised – looking at the burgeoning global land rush from the perspective of cities. Urbanisation continues to drive vast political transitions, uprooting longstanding agrarian modes of living while creating myriad inequalities within cities. Are the world’s most powerful agglomerations active agents in this transformation? Answering affirmatively, the article reframes urbanisation as a vast, global geopolitical transfer of power from rural to urban. Leading global cities like New York, London, Hong Kong, Chicago and Singapore are not merely impressive collections of factor endowments. They are also sites of concentrated power with coercive influences beyond municipal boundaries. The article asks how cities project power in the contemporary global system. Juxtaposing data on global connectivity with the location strategies of private firms, we learn that the world’s most successful global cities are also sources of exploitative accumulations of land.     

International institutions and market expectations: Stock price responses to the WTO ruling on the 2002 U.S. steel tariffs

Many scholars assert that international institutions have little power to enforce laws, punish offenders, or force compliance. Others stress that international institutions are important actors, specifically in the regulation of international trade. In this paper, I show that the recent trade dispute over U.S. steel protection provides us with a critical case to evaluate the role of the World Trade Organization in settling trade disputes and specifically stabilizing expectations of market actors over future steel policy. I argue that stock prices can serve as an important tool in answering these questions. In an empirical analysis using daily steel stock prices, I find that during the 2002 WTO steel case, the WTO dispute mechanism helped market actors stabilize expectations of future trade policy.

中国足球体制改革与监管体系建设--概念、问题与方向

2004年的俱乐部罢赛和国足冲击世界杯失利风波已经过去,足协领导也进行了调整,联赛也在正常地开展。这一切似乎表明,我们的足球事业在经历一番挫折后又步入正常发展的轨道。但我们对此却心存疑虑,原因就在于中国足球事业的体制仍然没有进行根本性调整,对足球与市场、政府的关系问题,有关方面似乎还没有非常清晰合理的认识。从足球是一种公共服务的角度论述了政府干预的必要性和干预的方式。文章认为,我国的足球产业正在经历结构性变革和制度转型,在产权私有化和收入市场化的同时,足球的管理方式没有转变或跟进。因此,如果不在适当的时机提出与足球本身特征和市场经济发展相符监管框架的话,在强烈的逐利动机驱使下,黑哨、假球、赌球、骚乱等不良行为很可能会再次成为争论的焦点。     

德国近五十年刑事立法述评

自1969年德国刑法大改革至今的五十年间,德国的刑事立法活动非常频繁。在此期间,德国立法机关不但对《刑法典》总则犯罪论部分的规定进行了彻底的修订,而且针对犯罪的法律后果以及刑法分则乃至附属刑法中的诸多罪名进行了持续的改革,在恐怖主义犯罪、妨害公务犯罪、毒品犯罪以及保安监禁等领域尤其如此。整体而言,德国立法者在过往半个世纪中日趋侧重功能主义的积极刑事立法观,导致德国刑法逐步从传统法治国背景下的法益保护法和市民防御法转向以社会控制为主导的国家干预法和社会防卫法,造成了诸多难以与现有法律体系和学说理论相协调的象征性立法。我国应当从德国近五十年的刑事立法中吸收其先进经验,对其中的弊端也要引以为戒。     

The Governance of Cross-Border Data Flows in Trade Agreements: Is the Cptpp Framework an Ideal Way Out?

The regulations of cross-border data flows is a growing challenge for the international community. International trade agreements, however, appear to be pioneering legal methods to cope, as they have grappled with this issue since the 1990s. The World Trade Organization (WTO) rules system offers a partial solution under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), which covers aspects related to cross-border data flows. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) have also been perceived to provide forward-looking resolutions. In this context, this article analyzes why a resolution to this issue may be illusory. While they regulate cross-border data flows in various ways, the structure and wording of exception articles of both the CPTPP and USMCA have the potential to pose significant challenges to the international legal system. The new system, attempting to weigh societal values and economic development, is imbalanced, often valuing free trade more than individual online privacy and cybersecurity. Furthermore, the inclusion of poison-pill clauses is, by nature, antithetical to cooperation. Thus, for the international community generally, and China in particular, cross-border data flows would best be regulated under the WTO-centered multilateral trade law system.     

“放管服”改革的行政法意义及其完善

与先前行政审批制度改革相比,党的十八大以来大力推进的"放管服"改革更加强调权力调整的动态性、整体性、系统性,其对于优化政府职责、转变监管方式、深入推进国家治理体系和能力现代化具有明显的积极意义。但此轮"放管服"改革依然沿袭了行政审批制度改革的运动化、政策化思路,并不完全符合法治政府建设的基本要求。从职权法定、监管工具的动态调整、优化公共服务的基本法则三个方面,"放管服"改革的行政法意义和合法性风险可以得到更加清晰的呈现。要提升"放管服"改革的法治品性,需要以《行政许可法》的有效实施为核心,通过设立专门的社会化的"放管服"改革委员会、激活行政许可评价制度、引入更广泛的专家和社会参与、完善试验改革的授权制度、优化规制工具分析评价制度几个方面来实现。     

价值共创:公共服务合作生产的新趋势

合作生产是一种重要的公共服务生产模式,在提高公共部门回应性和推动公共服务创新方面发挥了重要作用。面对解决"棘手问题"的挑战,复杂的外部治理环境催生了对公共行政价值问题的反思,合作生产不仅要关注行政效率的提升,也要重视以公民为中心的多元价值创造。在此情境下,公共服务合作生产向价值共创转变。本文梳理了不同时期的公共行政理论对合作生产的影响,对合作生产概念的演变与发展进行了探讨,阐释了从合作生产发展为价值共创的内在逻辑。在此基础上,本文分析了理解价值共创的三种理论路径,并结合我国公共服务发展的现实背景,讨论了公共服务价值共创的启示。