The transition from limited access orders to open access orders in the post-communist Europe

This paper attempts to explain the process of institutional transition of post-communist countries applying conceptual framework proposed by D.C. North, J. J. Wallis, and B. R. Weingast. The first part of the article is devoted to outline the theory of North, Weingast, and Wallis. The second part the theory is used to analyze transformation processes in post-communist countries. An important conclusion of this paper is that cultural, religious and historical factors have crucial impact on formation of new coalitions of elites in the transitions countries. In the countries where Western values were present the transfer of the market and democratic formal institutions was easier. Also, the process of transformation was strongly influenced by external factors, especially the prospect of integration with the European Union, which encouraged elites to take action that benefited the opening of both political and economic markets. These observations suggest that, in general, the success of transformation in transition countries did not depend on the intentional actions of ruling elites.     

The foreign policy and intervention behaviour of Nigeria and South Africa in Africa: A structural realist analysis

This article assesses the foreign policy and intervention roles of Nigeria and South Africa in Africa, given their status as regional powers, and the regional complexes within which they operate. Drawing references from a plethora of conflicts in which these two states have intervened, this article argues that structural realism, given its emphasis on the material structure of power and the pursuit of relative gains, is useful as a theoretical framework in this assessment. The article makes a contribution to the literature by illustrating the value of structural realism as an international relations (IR) approach within which the intervention behaviour of these two African states can be analysed. The author acknowledges that while structural realism points to the fact that the pursuit of relative gains may be behind the normatively-clad role conceptions of states, foreign policy cannot be reduced to the pursuit of relative power alone.     

Vote Blue,Go Green? Cameron's Conservatives and the Environment

How genuine is the Conservative party's rediscovery of the environment? Would a Conservative government led by David Cameron implement a wide‐ranging and progressive environmental policy? This article explores why Cameron has embraced the environment so enthusiastically when Conservative governments have had a poor record of environmental protection and the Conservative party has traditionally shown little interest in the issue. It assesses the impact of Cameron's strategy both on his own party and on the wider world of environmental politics and it evaluates the continuing commitment of the Conservatives to the issue by assessing what kind of policies a future Conservative government might implement. Although Cameron remains committed to the issue and he has already had a positive impact on Labour government policy, he has not yet convinced his party or its supporters, so a future Conservative government would probably represent continuity rather than significant change in environmental policy.     

Climate Change Policy Implementation: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Why would countries invest resources to protect the global atmosphere, a global common‐pool resource? After all, this is an open‐access resource with no restrictions on appropriating its benefits. Furthermore, why would they do so under the aegis of a weak global regime (the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC) that has virtually no provisions for sanctioning noncompliance and when the largest contributor to the problem is not participating in the regime? This article examines why a number of countries have implemented the UNFCCC. I hypothesize that countries implement UNFCCC because they corner domestic environmental benefits, namely reduction in local pollution. In my empirical analysis of 127 countries, employing an ordinal logistic regression model, I find that local air pollution is associated with higher levels of implementation of the UNFCCC. Thus, I conclude that the incentives to implement a relatively weak global regime can be found in the domestic political economy.     

非典危机与政府治道变革

非典危机是对我国政府的施政理念、管理体制、管理手段和管理方式等方面的一次全面挑战,既暴露了以往存在的一系列问题,也促成了政府在治道方面的一系列变化。我国政府必须通过施政理念、利益关系、管理模式等的全面变革,实现政府再造,建设一个更适应现代化发展要求的服务型的政府,一个专业化的高效率的高度负责的现代政府。     

离异父母擅自变更未成年子女姓名的法律思考

通过对两个矛盾案例的分析 ,说明如何理解“子女可以随父姓 ,也可以随母姓”,认为父母离异并没有改变父母子女之间的关系 ,一方无权擅自变更未成年子女姓名。同时 ,对公安部公户政 ( 1995年 ) 0 74号《关于抚养人申请变更子女姓名问题的批复》提出了不同看法。     

租:公共政策的意蕴

本文从布坎南关于"租"的论述出发,运用新制度主义方法重新审视"租"的公共政策意蕴,认为公共政策是一种正式制度安排,本质上是关于规定个体和集体选择集的制度安排结构;在制度变迁中,由于不同体制、权利和组织设置而获得的额外收益就是"租",这是公共政策存在的理由;寻租是有成本的,表现为政治交易费用,政府创租和利益集团寻租是不同的两种政治交易过程,表现为公共政策议程;有效率的公共政策选择依赖于制度结构,是制度结构赋予成本和收益以意义。     

Globalization and institutional competitiveness

Only dead institutions do not change and only rarely do institutions change by themselves. To maintain performing institutions takes institutional entrepreneurs who are willing to take risks and who possess the capacity and the talent to innovate. A regulation discourse, in contrast to a marketization discourse, would not picture the relationship between globalization and institutional change as a deterministic one. Rather, it would expect that all kinds of actors play a large number of different roles in the course of ongoing institutional change. The result of such complex institutional change, at the level of welfare states, multinational businesses, public administration, and training systems, to mention just a few of the empirical areas covered in this special issue, cannot be fully understood by applying an overly rigid, static, and dualistic approach to modern capitalist economies. The concept of institutional competitiveness, on the contrary, allows for institutional entrepreneurship and institutional hybrids constituting pulsating polities.     

新中国成立初期知识分子政策出现反复的原因探析

知识分子政策是党的政策的重要组成部分。20世纪50年代我国知识分子政策出现失误的主要原因有：一是知识分子问题上的“左倾”思想根源，二是没有制定科学的知识分子政策，三是在全社会没有形成尊重知识、尊重人才的良好风气。因此，制定正确的知识分子政策，重视和发挥广大知识分子的聪明才智和作用，关系到中国社会主义现代化建设的进程和改革开放事业的成败，也关系到中华民族的盛衰。     

关于工会院校图书馆发展的研究

为适应国家教育改革和发展的要求,改变工会图书馆的单一模式,工会院校图书馆应走"双向联合"的道路。这种"联合"一方面要立足于工会,另一方面要走向社会。同时,要在转变观念、完善管理体制、加强资源建设等方面下功夫。