MP Transparency,Communication Links and Social Media: A Comparative Assessment of 184 Parliamentary Websites

Parliamentary websites (PWs) can potentially enhance the quality of government by providing information and communication links that stimulate political awareness, deliberation and participation. This article focuses on two particular uses of PWs that can facilitate communication between constituents and their Members of Parliament: provision of MP contact and background information; and links to social media. Through a seminal empirical examination of all 184 functioning lower house and unicameral PWs around the world, this study found that although PWs in wealthy democracies generally provide more MP information, the majority of PWs are deficient in providing basic MP information to citizens and utilizing linkages to social media. By contrast, some non-democratic states and newly democratized countries, especially those with compulsory voting, display a relatively high level of MP transparency and social media connectivity.     

The Benevolent Prince in Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff’s <Emphasis Type="Italic">Teutscher Fürsten Stat</Emphasis> with Special Consideration of the Prince’s Revenues,Regalia and Taxes: Comment

The comment considers Seckendorff’s Teutscher Fürsten Stat as an ambitious outline of a developmental strategy, in which predominant role is played by education. On the assumption of this perspective Helge Peukert’s contribution is evaluated and criticised. Alternative interpretations and categorisations pertaining to Seckendorff’s ideas on social and economic policies are offered. Questions of further research regarding the principles of ideal government and guidelines for fiscal policies as propounded by Teutscher Fürsten Statare delineated.     

关于宏观调控若干问题的思考

宏观调控既不等同于扩张,也不等同于紧缩,而是一个具有双重性的中性概念.宏观调控的立足点是为了发展,为了更好的发展.宏观调控也没有停止和结束的时候,只有依据治理波动情况之不同而有阶段性之分,有采取不同的措施和不同力度之分.1993年到2003年,中国经济进行过两轮正相反的宏观调控,都成功地对经济过热和经济偏冷进行了治理.自2003年下半年,中央开始实施新一轮宏观调控措施,2004年中央经济工作会议又明确提出了"双稳健"的宏观经济政策--稳健的财政政策和稳健的货币政策,表明我国的宏观调控全面转向"中性"政策.这是一种有保有压、有紧有缩、上下微调、松紧适度的政策,是松紧结合的组合式的宏观调控.我国目前经济增长率和物价上涨率都在正常区间,不存在什么"软着陆"的问题.     

Process matters: petitions systems in Britain’s legislatures

Over the past 15 years petitions systems have become embedded in the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales, and more recently the House of Commons. This article uses the concept of procedural justice, with its emphasis on the fairness of the process by which decisions are made, as an analytical tool to explore four case studies of petitions systems in British legislatures, considering, in particular, the extent to which they enable voice, decision-making and transparency. It illustrates that the application of ideas of procedural justice not only provides us with a useful tool for analysing petitions systems in representative political institutions, but also potentially provides a framework of ideas from which petitions systems, and perhaps other participatory initiatives, may learn.     

Public Financial Management Reform in South African Provincial Basic Education Departments

Since the transition to democracy in 1994, the South African government has engaged in a sustained programme of public financial management (PFM) reform across the national, provincial and local spheres of government. This study evaluates the progress of the nine provincial education departments (PEDs) in implementing the Public Finance Management Act of 1999 and explores the factors that facilitated or impeded reform. A PFM progress (PFMP) index is constructed to track each PED's performance from 1997/1998 to 2013/2014 and then used to benchmark its progress over time and relative to the education sector as a whole. The indicators comprising the PFMP index assess key PFM functions (budgeting, accounting, financial auditing and audits of performance information), financial leadership and the effectiveness of governance institutions such as audit committees. While there has been considerable progress in PFM, distinct differences in the quality and effectiveness of PFM practices across the nine PEDs remain. Stable top administrative leadership, availability of PFM skills, varying degrees of accountability and departmental capacity to establish PFM systems that conform to new accounting standards drive variances in reform outcomes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Eurozone crisis and the European corporate elite: bringing corporate actors into focus

This paper uses a framework referred to as the ‘corporate reconstruction of European capitalism theory of integration’ to analyse the European Union’s response to the Eurozone crisis. Most political economy analyses of the Eurozone crisis have focused on political leaders, clashes between creditor and debtor member states and public opinions in analysing the handling of the crisis. This paper focuses instead on the input of corporate actors. It is argued that both the setting up of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and the handling of its crisis were congenial to corporate preferences. Europe’s nascent corporate elite was concerned with eliminating currency risk when the EMU was set up and therefore did not push for fiscal federalism. When the flawed architecture of the Eurozone transformed that currency risk into sovereign credit risk, corporate preferences adapted and now favoured fiscal liability pooling and ultimately the setting up of a fiscal union.     

论新时代涉法信访的公众参与

新时代涉法信访处于攻坚阶段,公众参与可以消除不必要的臆测和疑虑,增强信访制度透明度。发挥党群制度优势,拓宽公众参与范围,创新公众参与方式,把信访处理结果和信访人诉求交付公众评判。让公众参与之声取代纠缠闹访杂音,成为涉法信访过程中化解难题的溶解剂。     

整体观视野下社会主要矛盾的化解与财税法治的回应

中国传统的整体思想中蕴含的求同存异、相克相生、追求和谐之美的整体哲学与西方注重清晰差异、非此即彼,寻求原子之真的整体观念迥然不同。它对于解释和解决新时代中国的各种问题仍然有着现实意义和践行价值。在中国,财政概念的内涵已经扩大,财政的功能已经拓展,财政已经升级为国家治理的基础和重要支柱,财税法治建设也将与国家治理的现代化进程紧密相联。越来多的学者不再囿于将财税法视为宏观调控法的组成部分,开始以更广袤的视野重新检视财税法。因此,在新时代,以整体观来解释和化解社会主要矛盾,财税法必然有担当。在整体观视野下完善财税法律制度,应从全面落实税收法定原则和全面布局财税制度改革着手。此外,面对全球减税浪潮,财税法治改革也需要高度关注全球财税动态并适时调整和回应。     

Application of three dental methods of adult age estimation from intact single rooted teeth to a Peruvian sample

Methods of estimating adult age at death from such dental features as root translucency, root length, and the extent of periodontosis in intact single rooted teeth have proven useful in studies of modern individuals, especially in estimating age in older adults. Questions remain however, concerning the impact of regional and population variation on accuracy. To examine this issue, three approaches to age estimation were applied to a diverse sample of 100 individuals from Peru. Mean errors of estimation for all three approaches were similar to those originally reported, suggesting minimal impact of population variation of the features measured. A new regression equation, specifically for Peruvian samples, is provided.