Public Perceptions of Benefits from and Worries over Plant‐Made Industrial Products and Plant‐Made Pharmaceuticals: The Influence of Institutional Trust

Although agricultural biotechnology has been a seminal reference point in risk perception studies, public awareness of their exposure to risk deriving from this new technology has been minimal at best. However, recent events indicate there may be growing public concern as new variations of this technology appear. Understanding what drives perceptions of benefits from the third generation of the agricultural biotechnology and what determines public worries are keys for the future of this technology. To this end, this study analyzes survey data from the midsouth region of the United States to construct four separate regression models of perceived benefits from and worries over plant‐made industrial products and plant‐made pharmaceuticals. Findings suggest that while prior experience with and knowledge about agricultural biotechnology has an impact on perceptions of benefits and worries, trust in farmers plays a highly important role in determining perceptions.     

An overview: A new era of tax enforcement – from “big stick” to responsive regulation

Recent developments in regulation and tax administration in Australia inspired this article on tax compliance and responsive regulation. This article analyzes the economics of crime and compliance as the dominant approach to tax enforcement of the past three and a half decades. It evaluates the key advantages and disadvantages of the economic approach as well as its application to tax. The article then explores responsive regulation as an alternative method that draws on the economic paradigm but also supplements this approach with other theories, particularly those involving identity, conflict escalation, and procedural justice. Building on this analysis and a case study of Australian investors in mass marketed tax schemes, the article suggests that the broader, more balanced, and closely tailored method of regulating responsively may enable regulators to draw on the advantages of the economic model while alleviating some of its drawbacks. Responsive regulation may therefore constitute a superior method for regulating compliance.     

Two hypotheses about the emergence of a post-national European model of citizenship

Citizenship is not just a status (defined by a set of rights and obligations), it is also an identity that expresses membership in a political community. It also has a substantive political dimension of active participation in the public sphere. Traditionally, collective identity and the membership dimensions of citizenship have been seen as intrinsic to the nation-state. The processes of globalization that have undermined the sovereignty of the nation-state make it necessary to reconceptualize citizenship in light of a ‘post-national’ framework. At the same time, however, the ‘culturalization’ of the social and the ‘multiculturalization’ of societies are putting into question the homogeneity of a collective identity. According to a recent hypothesis, a new post-national model of citizenship is emerging, one of European construction. In seeking to explore this position, the paper advances two additional hypotheses: (i) EU policy-making and governance are likely to foster a post-national European civil society with multi-level citizenship participation; and (ii) European anti-discrimination regulations are likely to accelerate the emergence of an alternative model to multiculturalism that can address differences within a universal framework of rights.     

论农村全面建设小康社会指标体系的构建

农村全面建设小康社会指标体系的构建是全面建设小康社会实践不可回避的问题,对于农村小康社会这样的复杂的复合系统,目前还不可能用几个指标来描述系统的状态和变化,因而需通过建立指标体系来描述系统的发展状况。根据对全面建设小康社会内涵、目标、任务的理解,指标体系分为总系统、子系统和个体指标三个层次。农村全面建设小康社会总目标是总系统;第二层次分别由经济发展、社会进步、政治民主、生活质量、生态环境五个子系统组成;对应子系统五个截面选择设立22项个体指标为第三个层次。子系统间的相互联系构成了体系结构。通过定性与定量相结合的研究与分析确定指标权重,可以初步构建起农村全面建设小康社会指标体系。     

公共财政体制改革与和谐社会建设

财政体制的完善程度直接决定着政府化解冲突、稳定社会的能力。当前我国所面临的各种突出的社会矛盾,其背后往往都能找到财政体制缺陷的影子。从财政收入和财政支出等方面完善公共财政体制,是缓解社会矛盾与冲突、构建社会主义和谐社会的重要制度条件。     

加强廉政文化建设促进和谐社会发展

廉政文化建设对于贯彻“三个代表”重要思想,发展中国特色社会主义先进文化,加强党的执政能力建设,保持党的先进性,促进和谐社会的发展都具有重要作用。     

发挥宗教在构建社会主义和谐社会中的积极作用

宗教是客观存在的社会现象,并具有独特的社会功能。充分发挥宗教的积极因素,限制其消极因素,对构建社会主义和谐社会具有十分重要的意义。     

构建社会主义和谐社会是一项战略任务

构建社会主义和谐社会,对于积极推进中国特色社会主义伟大事业,全面建设小康社会具有重要的理论和实践意义。必须把构建社会主义和谐社会作为一项重要的战略任务来落实,集中全社会之力,多方协调共同建设,形成促进社会和谐的强大合力。     

统筹城乡发展构建和谐社会

对于农业人口占大多数而农村经济又相对滞后的地区来说,发展的重点在农村,难点也在农村,广西平果县在发展县域经济中,统筹城乡发展,为构建和谐社会积累了宝贵经验。     

和谐社会利益诉求机制的路径思考

在我国利益格局深刻调整时期,利益诉求特别是弱势群体利益诉求问题,在建构和谐社会中已经是一个无法回避的重要环节。通过提高认识、转变政府职能、搭建制度平台、培育扶持民间组织等路径,协调好各阶层尤其保护、保障好弱势群体的利益,建立自由、平等的利益表达和诉求渠道与机制,对于促进和谐社会的构建有着重要意义。