The politics of history and historical memory in China-Japan relations

The current state of China-Japan relations is characterized by two seemingly contradictory developments adjacent to each other: while economic and cultural relations have experienced an unprecedented and continuous improvement since the 1980s, Chinese and Japanese public perceptions of each other have been deteriorating. This raises interesting questions. How do we explain this discrepancy and what are the sources of the increasing public animosity in China or Japan toward the other country? Can China and Japan maintain amicable relations and continue economic cooperation in spite of the enduring mistrust between their peoples? What is the role of public perception and memory of history in the foreign policies of East Asia? This paper addresses these questions, focusing especially on the last one — the role of history and collective historical memory in international relations and the interaction between public sentiment and government foreign policies. Through a detailed study of recent events and the issue of Japanese textbooks, the author argues that public perception of history can and should be guided toward more positive directions. Otherwise, it will be increasingly difficult to maintain amicable relations between the two countries, especially when new nationalism is on the rise in both counties.     

独联体国家法院系统比较研究

在独联体国家中,政治体制不同的国家宪法文本中规定的内容则有很大的区别。对独联体国家中的政治体制不同的几个国家的法院系统在宪法文本规定层面上作一比较研究,通过对各国法院系统的结构、职权,法官的职责、权利、地位以及司法权和其他与司法相关的权利方面等方面进行的比较可发现这些比较研究对我国当今的司法制度有多方面的启示。     

论帮助犯罪分子逃避处罚罪之应然主体

对帮助犯罪分子逃避处罚罪主体范围的理解和适用,见仁见智。以罪刑法定为指导对本罪主体进行法条解析：本罪之应然主体以“身份说”为主,兼采“职权说”,皆以负有查禁犯罪的职责为前提。查禁犯罪活动是从调查、发现犯罪人或犯罪事实开始,到立案侦查、审查起诉这一过程的活动。负有查禁犯罪活动职责的各级党委机关中的政法委工作人员,不能成为本罪之主体。     

论重构国有企业的激励约束机制

国有企业激励约束机制的重建关系到国有企业的生存与发展 ,重建国有企业激励约束机制是一项复杂的系统工程 ,只有从所有权、委托代理及会计人和经营人员等方面去进行改革 ,进行公司治理 ,才能建立起有效的国有企业激励约束机制     

论依法治国进程中的法律文化建设

在推进依法治国 ,建设社会主义法治国家的进程中 ,应当把法律文化的建设放在与制度变革同等重要的地位。文章分析了中国法律文化缺乏法治因素的原因 ;中国传统法律文化对依法治国进程的负面影响 ;并对如何建设顺应建设法治国家目标的法律文化进行了探讨     

经济全球化与国家主权

经济全球化是21世纪世界经济发展的大趋势。经济全球化的不断发展,对现代主权国家在国际体系中的地位作用、对国家主权的范围等产生了强烈的冲击和影响。“历史终结论”、“民族国家终结论”、“主权终结论”、“超国家主义”等观点是站不住脚的。主权观念没有过时。面对经济全球化给国家主权带来的挑战,包括中国在内的广大发展中国家,应积极寻求维护国家主权的基本对策。     

Adivasiness as Caste Expression and Land Rights Claim-Making in Central-Eastern India

ABSTRACT

The adivasi population represents a special case in India’s new land wars. Strong individual and community rights to agricultural and forest lands have been enacted for this group based on notions of adivasi identities as primeval, but without linking these to economic and political influence. This article interrogates the adivasi land question seen through a caste lens. It does so via case studies in two states to understand the ways in which adivasi identity can be mobilised for its instrumental value and used to demand land rights. In Andhra Pradesh, the Supreme Court’s Samatha Judgement has prevented virtually all private mining activities. In Jharkhand, however, similar legislation is seen to be trumped by the national Coal Bearing Areas Act, as well as by former and current land acquisition acts that allow industrial land claims to take precedence over identity-based ones. Available evidence indicates the challenges involved in bringing support for land rights that are premised on a supposedly unchanging adivasi identity when these rights go against dominant interests. This circumstance serves to highlight the possibilities present in caste analysis to understand the plight of adivasis, despite their usually distinct treatment in scholarly analyses.     

Big dreams and small steps: comparative perspectives on the social movement struggle for democracy in Serbia and North Macedonia

ABSTRACT

This paper provides a comparative analysis of social movements’ characteristics and capacities to struggle against illiberal tendencies and incite political change in Serbia and North Macedonia. First, we discuss the illiberal elements of political regimes in the countries in question, Serbia and North Macedonia. Then, we provide a comprehensive overview of progressive social movements in the two countries, formed and organized as a response to different authoritarian and non-democratic tendencies. Finally, we point to some differences in their organizing, coalition-forging and issue-defining principles, which, we believe, may help to explain the relative success of social movements in North Macedonia in producing relevant political outcomes, compared to the weak political impact of social movements in Serbia. Empirical data were collected during the summer of 2018 through in-depth interviews with members of social movements in North Macedonia and Serbia.     

Moving towards EU membership and away from liberal democracy

ABSTRACT

The article concludes the Special Issue, Illiberal Politics in Southeast Europe, on the retreat of liberal democracy in the region. It focuses on the central themes that link all the papers together: free and fair elections, media freedom, judicial independence, privileged access to public resources and the role of civil society. It seeks to disentangle the causes and consequences of illiberal politics in the region and explores the similarities in the illiberal practices and strategies incumbents use with the aim of staying in power indefinitely. The main argument is that democratic backsliding in Southeast Europe is deeply rooted in the unfinished transitions of the 1990s, which gave rise to new political and economic elites and that blending those two into one resulted in the dominance of the executive over the judiciary and legislature. These new elites became entrenched during the wars and conflicts that affected the region. The enabling factors were of societal origin – clientelist practices, corruption, nepotism and mistrust in politics accompanied by external factors – as well as international pull and push factors (from the EU and Russia) along with a domino effect of democratic backsliding in the region.     

Subnational competitive authoritarianism and power-sharing in Bosnia and Herzegovina

ABSTRACT

Incremental democratic decline is evident in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), but measures of democracy conceal an uneven subnational distribution of autocratization. So far there has been limited research on the drivers and constraints to subnational autocratization. This paper aims to contribute to the literature on power-sharing by exploring instances of illiberal politics enacted by parties in government at the subnational level in BiH. Evidence is gathered through semi-structured interviews and analysis of three specific cases of illiberal politics. We find that the political contest in BiH is purposefully contained within ethnic and subnational boundaries and constrained through several layers of institutionalized multilevel and ethnic checks and balances. The main drivers of subnational autocratization are opportunities that arise from the institutional framework established during early democratization and postwar structures that blend executive dominance with economic power and informal party networks, and occasionally from an individual actor’s perceptions of threat. Democratization in BiH will need to address subnational politics and deep-rooted power structures if it is to be successful.