How is it Possible for Democracies to Effectively Tackle Long-Term Problems?

ABSTRACT

The aim of this essay is to examine if and how it is possible for the political system of democracy to effectively tackle long-term public problems that are wicked in nature, taking climate crisis as an example. It consists of four sections. The first section is devoted to a brief historical overview of the conflict between eco-authoritarianism and ecological democracy. The following section examines if and to what extent “environmental pessimism” – disillusionment with the ability of liberal/capitalist democracies to effectively tackle long-term environmental problems – which has made a remarkable comeback since late 1980s, is empirically grounded, on the basis of performance evaluation of the contracting parties to the Kyoto Protocol (adopted on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005), and the Climate Change Performance Index that evaluates and ranks the climate mitigation performance of 58 countries responsible for over 90 per cent of global energy-related CO₂ emissions, released every year by Germanwatch and Climate Action Network Europe. The third section focuses on more theoretical/normative issues, critically examining the cogency of a claim, made by no small number of environmental pessimists, that democratic institutions, due to their myopic tendencies, usually work systematically to the disadvantage of future generations. The last section is devoted to the examination of measures thus far advocated and partly put into practice for correcting the myopic tendencies of democracy, emphasizing the vital need for non-representative measures, or self-restraint mechanisms built into democracy itself, whose primary function lies in preventing democracy from degenerating due to the influence of the myopic majority, thereby protecting ecological sustainability and the well-being of future generations.     

America First? Trump,Crime, and Justice Internationally

ABSTRACT

“America First,” as presented by President Trump, argues for an international strategy that persistently places America’s interests above those of anyone or anything else. Consequently, Trump has reshaped the international perceptions of the United States and has created more difficulties for the U.S. in coordinating of global leaders in resolving complex issues in the world. This essay reflects on how Trump and the United States are viewed internationally, the impacts of Trump’s anti-immigrant and pro-White nationalist rhetoric, Trump’s responses to humanitarian crises around the globe, and the potential impact of Trump’s stance on global climate change. Given these considerations, it is questionable whether “America First” policy has made “America Great Again” in the eyes of the world.     

Understanding rural resistance: contemporary mobilization in the Brazilian countryside

Contradictions between impressive levels of economic growth and the persistence of poverty and inequality are perhaps nowhere more evident than in rural Brazil. While Brazil might appear to be an example of the potential harmony between large-scale, export-oriented agribusiness and small-scale family farming, high levels of rural resistance contradict this vision. In this introductory paper, we synthesize the literature on agrarian resistance in Brazil and situate recent struggles in Brazil within the Latin American context more broadly. We highlight seven key characteristics of contemporary Latin American resistance, which include: the growth of international networks, the changing structure of state–society collaboration, the deepening of territorial claims, the importance of autonomy, the development of alternative economies, continued opposition to dispossession, and struggles over the meaning of nature. We argue that by analyzing rural mobilization in Brazil, this collection offers a range of insights relevant to rural contention globally. Each contribution in this collection increases our understanding of alternative agricultural production, large-scale development projects, education, race and political parties in the contemporary agrarian context.     

21世纪初国际能源格局及今后的中长期变化 ——兼论日本能源安全的出路与困境

为了应对全球气候变化，需对能源安全概念进行“范式转换”，即能源安全不仅要包括能源供需矛盾、能源供需网络的脆弱性和潜在风险，而且要与环境安全、水安全相结合，形成“广义的能源安全”概念。当前，一系列新因素正在使国际能源格局和能源范式发生重大变化：福岛核电站特大事故严重影响了全球公众对核安全的信心，今后世界各国发展核电会更加谨慎；可再生能源日益发展与普及；气候变暖正在改变能源资源与环境资源相加的自然资源“总格局”；非常规油气资源日益开发、天然气地位上升以及美洲能源供给新轴心崛起；“可燃冰革命”及海洋能源进一步开发。在福岛核事故后，日本能源安全既面临风险，又面临机遇。今后日本能源安全战略的动向主要是：坚持发展核电，但会更加谨慎稳健；积极开展能源外交，实现能源来源多元化；在一次能源结构中增大天然气的比重；大力发展可再生能源和节能；大力开发可燃冰等海洋能源资源。此外，当前日本政府错误的周边外交政策将成为日本能源安全最大的潜在风险，可望长期执政的自民党政权采取的鹰派民族主义政策，终将给日本惹祸，首当其冲的祸害对象就是日本的能源安全。     

The gender agenda: NGOs and capitalist relations in highland Cambodia

Cambodia’s mountainous northeastern province of Ratanakiri, which only twenty years ago was home to mainly indigenous minority groups largely focused on subsistence production, has undergone rapid ecological, social, and economic transformation. Deforestation and land alienation in the context of large-scale plantation agriculture, land speculation, and smallholder cash cropping have led to concerns that indigenous communities are being alienated from their land and not benefitting from economic changes. This has resulted in a significant number of NGO and government programs that attempt to protect and “empower” indigenous people, particularly women. This article examines a one-year research project which explored the relationship between indigenous women and land change in two indigenous villages. It discusses how indigenous women as well as Khmer and landless Cham immigrants have dealt with the commoditization of land and labor. It focuses on the differentiated way capitalist relations have pushed men, women, landless laborers, and increasingly wealthy landowners on increasingly divergent life trajectories. Compelled by donors to focus on gender and indigenous women as an object of governance, the NGO that directed this project struggled to keep up with the realities of capitalist relations on the ground.     

Administrative Innovations and Accountability Failures: The Termination of the Spanish Telecommunications Agency

We discuss how far accountability practices may be relevant to the success of independent regulators in countries without a tradition of administrative autonomy. We develop a conceptualisation of agency accountability failures and develop an analytical framework to examine the life and termination of the Spanish regulatory agency for telecommunications, CMT (Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones - Telecommunications Market Commission). We argue that the CMT’s termination was related, among other reasons, to accountability failures in its institutional design. The paper relies on a variety of sources, including legislation, literature, media coverage, and semistructured interviews with agency officials and several stakeholders.     

论当代西方国家的宪法变迁

西方国家从20世纪80年代开始所推行的行政改革导致这些国家的宪法在未经修改的情况下发生了巨大变迁。在民主制度方面,代议民主制转变为代议制民主、行政民主、社会民主并存的多重民主制。在人权制度方面,人权的核心内容由生存权演变为发展权,人权的义务主体从国家扩展到自治的社团。在权力制衡制度方面,国家层面的权力制衡转变为国家层面的权力制衡和国家与社会之间的权力制衡相结合的双重权力制衡机制。     

变更罪名实证研究

以最高法院示范性案例中的全部变更罪名案例为样本进行实证研究,可以发现其中存在几对实然关系。变更罪名未必都有失公正也不必然体现实体公正,择轻变更未必都有利于被告,合法的变更未必是合理的变更,变更罪名给法律适用带来的不确定性根植于现行法律和法理之中。对其进行法律解释学和犯罪定义学分析,将有助于对变更罪名现象的解读和限制。     

全面建成小康社会的“制度密码”——庆祝中国共产党成立100周年

2020年是实现全面精准脱贫和全面建成小康社会的收官之年,是中国共产党实现第一个百年奋斗目标的关键之年,也是执政党兑现向人民做出的庄严承诺之年。脱贫攻坚是执政党治国理政的头等大事,民生发展彰显制度体系和治理体系的强劲优势,全面建成小康社会是实现中华民族伟大复兴的坚实基础。制度体系是全面建成小康社会的根本支撑,需要构建精...     

实证主义经济宪法学的基本结构——一个基于文献综述的研究

实证主义经济宪法学的研究包括了对制宪程序及其影响因素的经济研究和对宪法规则产生的经济影响的研究两个部分。前者包括:第一,静态经济研究,主要是对影响制宪程序的因素的研究,在制宪的经济背景,个体的利益衡量、偏好、价值观、意识形态,社会的风俗、习惯、社会规范和诸如利益集团、社会组织、供以参考的其他国家的宪政制度等。第二,动态经济研究,主要包括对显性宪法变迁的经济研究和对隐性宪法变迁的经济研究。后者包括研究宪法权利的经济影响和研究统治结构的经济影响。