Decentralization as a strategy of regime maintenance: The case of Yemen

Proponents of decentralization often argue that decentralization makes governments more accountable and responsive to the governed. This is perhaps why the decentralization literature tends to overlook Middle Eastern regimes as these are among the most authoritarian and most centralized regimes in the world. However, many of these regimes have included decentralization in their legal framework. This article shows how a weak regime can use decentralization as a regime maintenance strategy when formal decentralization reforms strengthens external and internal legitimacy. The articles main argument builds on the literature on decentralization and elite capture to show how weak regimes can use formal decentralization reform to undermine local autonomy. The article uses the case of Yemen to make this argument. Yemen has a long tradition for local bottom-up initiatives and there is widespread internal support for decentralization. Simultaneously, donors have seen decentralization as a way of strengthening the Yemeni state, leading to international support to the formulation of the Local Authority Law of 2000, Law 4/2000, an extensive legal decentralization framework.     

行政区划体制合宪性问题的国际比较与借鉴

对于我国出现的行政区划体制合宪性问题,国际上德国、法国及日本都有各自的宪法性案例及宪法性解释可供比较与借鉴。宪法对地方组织体制的规定不可能十分详细,我国地级市设置及市管县体制是合宪的。虽然国家立法者拥有广泛的裁量权,但行政区划相关法律制定应遵循一定的宪法性原则,行政区划实施也应有法律来规范以保证其严肃性。     

Mixing God's Work and the Public Business: A Framework for the Analysis of Faith‐Based Service Delivery

Over the past thirty years, there has been a dramatic transformation in the way the American political process operates. There has been a growing public perception that traditional political institutions lack the capacity to meet existing challenges. This has led many observers to call for a rethinking of how government does its work. Numerous alternatives, including the use of faith‐based organizations, have been suggested. The current popular debate on the appropriate role of faith‐based organizations in public service delivery has shed little light on a number of important issues raised by engaging such actors in governance issues. The impact of using faith‐based institutions to design and implement public policy must be considered not only in terms of traditional evaluation standards, but also regarding potential long‐term impacts on the political process itself. This article outlines a theoretical framework for the evaluation of faith‐based organizations as “alternatives” to conventional governance structures. It identifies key practical and theoretical issues raised by such substitution, in both short and long range systemic terms.     

Regulatory regimes and accountability

This research considers accountability issues for new forms of regulation that shift the emphasis from prescribing actions to regulating systems or regulating for results. Shortfalls at various levels of accountability are identified from experiences with these regimes in the regulation of building and fire safety, food safety and nuclear power plant safety. These experiences illustrate how accountability shortfalls can undermine regulatory performance and introduce a potential for subtle forms of regulatory capture. These concerns underscore the importance of finding the right fit between regulatory circumstances and the design of regulatory regimes.     

Institutional competitiveness,social investment,and welfare regimes

Are the rather generous welfare regimes found in most European countries sustainable; that is, are they competitive in a globalizing economy? Or will they, on the contrary, be crowded out by the more austere and less expensive regimes generally found in liberal Anglo‐Saxon countries? We first discuss this issue conceptually, focusing on the notions of institutional competitiveness, social investment, and short‐term and long‐term productivity. We then briefly present the results of an empirical study of 50 social indicators of policies and outcomes in 20 Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) countries during the early 2000s. We conclude that welfare regimes have not been forced to converge through a “race to the bottom.” There remain three distinct ways to face the “trilemma” of job growth, income inequality, and fiscal restraint: Nordic countries achieve high labor market participation through high social investment; Anglo‐Saxon countries attain the same objective through minimal public intervention; while Continental European countries experience fiscal pressures because their social protection schemes are not promoting participation to the same extent.     

Framing Andijon,narrating the nation: Islam Karimov's account of the events of 13 May 2005

Tashkent's handling of anti-government protests and violence in the city of Andijon on 13 May 2005 has generated enormous controversy and had significant political repercussions. However, there has been no detailed analysis of rival interpretations of what happened. This paper begins to redress this lacuna by analysing a book on the subject authored by the President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov. Using framing theory, it identifies four key themes deployed in the narrative to delegitimize the government's opponents: terrorism and criminality; inauthentic Uzbekness and deviant masculinity/religiosity; constitutional illegitimacy; and the subversion of the scientific laws of states. Significantly for an understanding of regime legitimization and nationalism in Uzbekistan, no recourse is made to the government's intellectual framework known as the ‘ideology of national independence’. The paper points to the need for further research to enable scholars to develop a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the contemporary politicization of national belonging in independent Uzbekistan.     

新兴市场经济体汇率制度的选择与实践：以越南为例

在实行管理浮动汇率制度的东亚新兴市场经济体中,越南的钉住美元的倾向最为明显。本文在回顾越南钉住汇率制实践的基础上,系统地分析了钉住美元制度的货币政策考量及汇率稳定机制。最后分析了越南钉住汇率制度在实践中面临的困境及可能的改革方向。     

我国环境税法律制度研究

环境税是解决环境问题的一种重要的经济手段。我国现行环境税费制度存在诸多弊端,未体现资源环境的稀缺性和价值性,难以达到预防污染、保护资源的目的。为有效发挥环境税的调节作用,需要以生态理念为基础,体现可持续发展的思想,以环境友好的方式来设计我国的环境税法律制度,依法确定环境税税种、税率、纳税人、征收征管规程和优惠政策等。     

论气候难民保护面临的国际法问题及其对策

全球变暖增加了酷热、飓风等极端天气出现的频率。而气候变化导致的海平面上升也将严重影响沿海地区居民的生活。大量因为气候原因而迁移的人由此催生了一个新的名词——气候难民。但是,无论是国际立法还是各国国内立法,由于缺乏明确、清晰的定义,使得国际、国内层面对于“气候难民”的保护迟迟未能落实。因此,应当给予“气候难民”一个明晰的定义,国际社会应当通力合作改善气候难民的生存现状,赋予其充分的生命权、健康权、财产权、土地权等,并积极促进其与当地社区的融合与交流,通过建立国际气候难民救助基金来保障气候难民的权利。     

Institutional reform and political party engagement: Challenges to democratic transformation in post-CPA Sudan

ABSTRACT

This article looks at the role of institutions and political parties as main agents of the democratisation process in the Sudan, following the signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). A review of the historic weaknesses of intermittent democratic rule in the Sudan, since its independence in 1956 and through to the signing of the CPA, is offered. Those elements of the CPA critical to institutional reform and democratisation are identified and their implementation assessed, including the results of the CPA-mandated elections held in April 2010. The four principal political parties and their capacities to contribute to democratic transformation are analysed.