Counterterrorism and expert regimes: some human rights concerns

The recently retired Homeland Security Advisory System constituted a main means by which the intensity of the terrorist threat was communicated to the United States' public. An examination of its inner workings and its social impact shows the System as part of a modality of government: an encapsulation of intelligence-led governmentality. Informed by the political philosophy of Cornelius Castoriadis, I contextualise this modality as a settling of fundamental tensions inherent in modern sociopolitical culture, those between the principle of social and personal autonomy, and that of rational mastery of people and nature. These principles are strongly connected to democratic and oligarchic political organisation, respectively, and they give rise to different justifications of state authority. In turn, they pertain to the fundamental question of whether scientific expertise on politics is possible.     

Measuring Military Effectiveness: Calculating Casualty Loss-Exchange Ratios for Multilateral Wars, 1816–1990

In this article, we introduce and utilize a new dataset that provides battle- and war- level Loss Exchange Ratios (LERs) for combatant states involved in multilateral wars between 1816 and 1990.The battle-level data provide an alternative to the widely used, but problematic, HERO/CDB-90 data set on battle outcomes. To demonstrate the utility of the new data, we weigh in on the debate over democratic military effectiveness arguments by replicating models by Reiter and Stam (2002, 2009) and Downes (2009), finding that, when effectiveness is measured using LERs, democracies do not have an edge over their non-democratic counterparts.     

The Right to a Healthy Environment,Human Rights andSustainable Development

The concept of sustainable development is presented as a solution able to cope with development needs and the preservation of the environment, protecting it for present and future generations. The right to a healthy environment may be part of existing international law being implemented through human rights instruments. The procedural aspect of the right to a healthy environment embodies the right to information, the right to participate and the right to effective remedies. Participation in the decision-making process and available and effective means of redress are essential features of the right to a healthy environment. Expressed in the field of human rights law, these principles convey the notions that citizens are entitle to participate. The Aarhus Convention links environmental protection and human rights norms and is the first international legally binding instrument elaborating on Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration and recognizing the right to a healthy environment.     

布坎南宪政规则理论研究

立宪民主是宪法性规则约束下的一种有限民主,立宪规则理论是布坎南宪政民主理论的核心内容.布坎南相信一套政治和经济活动的宪法性规则可以有效约束政府行为.但是由于布坎南的规则理论太过理想化而招致很多批评,使得布坎南不得不对其规则理论进行不断修正,其规则理论经过了一致同意规则、超多数裁定规则、普遍性原则等几种形式流变.通过对布坎南的规则内容及规则形式流变的研究,有利于我们进一步看清布坎南规则理论的困境和乌托邦色彩,有助于我们深入地把握其立宪民主理论的内容实质.     

公民、权利、道德及范式转换

“公民”曾与古希腊城邦文明联系在一起,是西方政治文明的核心概念之一,其本质规定在于公民个体的社会主体权利,包括平等自由在内的公民权利是民主存在的前提,也是公民道德人格养成的必要构件。中国公民权利时代的到来是与公民社会相关联的,正在成长的公民社会与社会主义市场经济和民主法制以及道德范式转换相互联系,互为条件,是现代化的社会转型的四位一体的任务。     

“督晋督”警衔培训信息化课程改革的探索与实践

警衔晋升培训是提高在职民警素质与能力的重要途径,是公安队伍建设的重要内容。为了做好辽宁公安＂督晋督＂警衔培训信息化课程的教学工作,我们不断研究辽宁公安＂督晋督＂警衔晋升信息化培训工作的现状,并针对培训学员进行了调查问卷,在了解学员的计算机掌握的基本情况后,在教学内容、教学方法、教学组织形式等方面深入进行信息化课程的改革,不断积累信息化培训实践经验,全力做好警衔晋升培训工作。     

宽容:和谐社会的宪政之道

宽容是和谐社会的基本精神。和谐社会的宪政之道首先是宽容之道。宽容的宪政建设要求我们勘正忽视公民基本权利“基本”属性的错误认识,确立宪政民主观的民主思维。     

关于当代中国社会矛盾的几点认识

当代中国社会基本矛盾的具体表现形式是效率与公平、"市场"与"计划"的矛盾。矛盾的产生是不可避免的,因此对待矛盾的正确态度不是试图一劳永逸地消除它们,而是在具体的历史情境中不断地解决它们。解决矛盾需要有正确的方式,正确方式的选择取决于对当代中国社会矛盾特点的把握,效率、公平、市场、计划分别来看, 都是社会发展追求的目标,联系在一起却相互矛盾,这就是当代中国社会矛盾的基本特点。对这样的矛盾,正确的解决方式不是一方克服"吃掉"另一方或矛盾双方"同归于尽",而是"矛盾双方并存"或"矛盾双方在相互博弈过程中融合成一个新事物"。这种方式在当代社会生活中的对象化形式即是民主和法治。     

当代大学生思想政治工作必须与时俱进

当代大学生思想政治工作必须与时俱进。“时”就是科学认识大学生思想政治工作的新形势、新情况、新特点;“进”就是积极探求大学生思想政治工作的新理念、新思路、新方法和新机制。与时俱进才能不断提高大学生思想政治工作的整体效益。     

The ‘science’ of superiority: Africa and scholarly colonial assumptions

ABSTRACT

The use of ‘neopatrimonialism’ as a category in mainstream scholarship on African polities and economies is ubiquitous. A critique by Thandika Mkandawire has shown that the ‘neopatrimonial school’ is devoid of conceptual coherence and analytical power – it is an expression of a prejudice, not a useful tool for research and analysis. The article endorses Mkandawire's view but points out that this is by no means the only example of its kind. On the contrary, the use of categories which assume the superiority of societies in the global North over those in Africa is widespread. The article illustrates this by discussing and criticising two others, the ‘democratic consolidation’ paradigm and the ‘failed state’ framework. It argues that all three shape assumptions by scholars in Africa as well as outside it which obstruct concrete analysis. A critique of these paradigms is thus essential to the development of scholarship on and about Africa.