Putting Local Associations Into their Context. Preliminary Results from a Swiss Study of Local Associations

The paper presents results from the Swiss case of the European comparative project CID (Citizenship, Involvement, Democracy). This project examines the relationship between political institutional assets and civic and political engagement in several Western and Eastern European countries. The paper seeks to investigate how civic engagement can be generated and shaped by a given institutional and political context as well as by a peculiar community size. The central hypothesis is that the context affects the character of local participation. To verify this, the papers examines two different Swiss cantons: the German speaking Canton of Bern and the French speaking Canton of Vaud. Moreover, for each canton, four local communities of different size have been selected. This research design discusses how participation is fostered by a more open political opportunity structure (the German canton), and how this combines with the size of the community.     

地方政府制度创新与民营经济发展——温州制度变迁的轨迹与分析

地方政府作为制度创新的主体之一 ,在推进民营企业的制度创新过程中起着特殊的重要作用。本文以温州民营经济发展为背景 ,分析了温州地方政府在与民营经济发展的互动中制度创新的背景和方式。温州地方政府积极响应民间的制度创新活动 ,对民间的制度创新活动进行保护、协调和组织 ,为民营经济发展提供了一个相对开放、自由和合法的制度环境。地方政府的制度创新极大地促进了温州民营经济的发展。     

IPO effects: corporate restructuring when a firm goes public

The public affairs of a firm issuing an initial public offering (IPO) are a critical part of the corporate restructuring efforts which firms face during the process of going public. In this paper, Bowman and Singh's (1993) definition is used to illustrate how issuing an IPO is a significant form of corporate restructuring. Public affairs are critical during both the pre‐IPO phase and during the period leading up to the IPO, as the firm must negotiate a heavily institutionalised process to successfully complete the issue. Here, the six‐year life of ‘Deja News’ is used as a way to illustrate and explain the public affairs during the process of preparing for and issuing an IPO. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications     

Of change,training and public affairs in Europe

European public affairs practitioners need to be increasingly professional in their reactions to an EU undergoing transformational change. The paper offers a comprehensive summary of the subtleties of institutional change in Commission, Parliament and Council in 2004. In particular, the author argues that expansion from 15 member states to 25 has fundamentally changed the nature of the Union's politics and the skills required to influence it. This new EU requires more of practitioners than experience and amateur instinct: to achieve results and avoid restrictive regulation, the public affairs community must adopt effective training strategies, challenging competence targets and regular self‐assessment of its performance and ethics. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications     

开放性厦-金自由经济区：两岸经济一体化的一个现实选择

两岸经济制度性一体化是当前两岸经济发展形势的呼唤,但受到当前两岸政治关 系的严重约束。两岸应在遵守WTO规则基础上积极探索能够突破政治僵局约束的一体化路径。 借鉴近年来国际上次区域经济合作的成功经验,在“小三通”等现实基础条件上,两岸先行共 建开放性厦-金自由经济区,既可顺应经济全球化与一体化深化发展的趋势与要求,更是当前 两岸经济制度性一体化的一个现实选择。     

后现代质疑现代性对实践科学发展观的借鉴作用

现代性是现代资本主义社会的经济秩序、政治体制、文化状况的统称.质疑现代性、批判现代性是后现代主义的根本特征与价值取向.后现代主义对现代性的质疑,主要有:以"微观权力论"质疑批判了西方所谓的建立在理性主义基础上的自由民主制度;以"工具理性"概念揭露了资本主义制度下科学技术异化为统治人的力量,对自然界和人类社会造成的危害;以"非中心化"思想,质疑现代化中出现的形形色色的中心主义,诸如,人类中心主义、个人中心主义、欧洲中心主义等等,同时表达了对处于社会边缘的弱势群体的价值和利益的关注.这些质疑对实践科学发展观的主要启迪是:首先要明确我们搞的现代化不是西方化,只有坚持社会主义方向,走社会主义道路,促进生产力发展,才能避免西方现代化中出现的一些弊端;在现代化进程中,要注意从产生异化的原因入手,创造条件防止科学技术异化为统治人的力量;在处理人与自然的关系上,要拒斥狭隘的人类中心主义,正确认识、处理经济系统与生态系统的矛盾,求得经济与社会的协调的可持续发展.     

保险人明确说明义务批判

保险合同法可以体系化地解读为意思自治、给付均衡与合理期待三个核心原则的组合。立法者希望籍说明义务来消减信息不对称,贯彻意思自治。但在建构制度规范时,并未考虑信息传送方的履行成本,对信息接收方的识别成本与关注焦点也存在认识误区。这种过度理想化的设计已被实践证明是失败的。立法应废止实质性的明确说明义务,代之以形式化的信息提供义务。对于意思自治的不足,可以通过提升给付均衡度和更有效保障被保险人对获取保险产品的合理期待加以填补。     

产权社会学：社会学与经济学融合的一种新趋向

既往关于社会学与经济学视角融合的讨论多集中在历史脉络和经典文本之上，从转型中的“产权问题”出发，透过产权分析的社会维度来探究社会学和经济学融合的路径和方向。中国改革以来产权变迁的整体进程呈现为一种“产权连续谱”，在同一体制，甚至同一组织框架内，国有产权、集体产权、个体产权等多重产权形态的并存互融构成中国产权实践的重要特征。产权社会学强调产权是对资源占有的社会认可。产权界定的社会合约性以及多维度性，为解释以公有产权制度为原点的中国产权变革进程提供了一种有说服力的分析框架，也是对产权经济学视角的一种重要补充。     

论民主的经济价值

民主不是权利，而是内在于民众的权力；所以，民主是民众群体的存在方式和民众个体的生活样式。近代以来的历史经验表明。民主的发展层次与国家经济的发展状况呈现正向的关系，同时，民主更是确保国家经济可持续发展的制度保障。