The legislature and agenda politics of social welfare: a comparative analysis of authoritarian and democratic regimes in South Korea

The article mainly seeks to explain the legislature’s preferences in social welfare before and after democratization using South Korea as a case study. Based on an original dataset that consists of all executive and of legislative branch-submitted bills between 1948 and 2016 – roughly 60,000– legislative priority on social welfare is compared over time, and tested using logistic regressions. The key focus of analysis is whether and how the level of democracy affected the degree and universality of social welfare priority. The findings show that the promotion of social welfare is positively related to higher levels of democracy in a continuous fashion, which clearly points to the need to avoid applying a simple regime dichotomy – authoritarian or democratic – when seeking to understand social welfare development. Going further, the article examines the legislature's priority in welfare issues within a presidential structure and under majoritarian electoral rule, at different levels of democracy. The result shows that the higher levels of democracy are, the more the legislative branch contributes to the overall salience of social welfare legislative initiatives as compared to the executive branch. Moreover, the legislative branch itself prioritizes a social welfare agenda – alongside democratic deepening – over other issues.     

发挥民主党派对权力运行的监督作用

民主党派对共产党的权力运行进行监督既是民主党派的重要职能,也是多党合作的重要形式。针对民主党派对权力运行监督中存在的主要问题,我们要提高民主党派的政党意识,健全对权力运行的监督机制,增加民主党派担任实职的机会。只有充分发挥民主党派对权力运行的监督作用,才能让权力在阳光下运行,才能正确用好权力这把"双刃剑"。     

浅谈社会主义市场经济下的职工民主管理

职工民主管理是社会主义市场经济的内在要求和职工主人翁地位的体现。职工代表大会仍然是职工民主管理的基本形式,但需要在组织形式,职权范围、工作内容等方面进行调整和充实完善。     

公民权利与社会稳定关系初探

在近现代社会,公民权利的享有不仅仅体现在人身自由权利和社会经济文化权利,某种意义上更多地体 现在政治权利;社会稳定应是一种动态的稳定,相对的稳定。保障公民权利的享有是社会稳定的关键所在,社会稳定 意味着保障和进一步扩大公民权利的享有。     

The Italian Democratic Party from Merger to Personalism

Abstract

The Partito Democratico (PD) was born as an original Merger Party on the cusp of the economic crisis in October 2007. The party’s genesis and formative years were critical to the party’s failure to institutionalise around a new common ideology or vision, as a result of the persistence of two party souls which could not find unity. Rather than a genuinely ‘new’ reformist party, the PD resembled an organisational vehicle through which the two former parties could continue their struggle. This weakened the organisational nature of the PD and made it a candidate for takeover by a dominant, personal leader such as Matteo Renzi. He set about establishing a personal party whose existence has in many ways confirmed the failure, if not exhaustion, of the PD’s mission to become the reformist party of the majority.     

Whither peacebuilding? A reflection on post-conflict African experiences

Peacebuilding is a key concept in efforts to reconstruct African states emerging from conflicts. At heart, it captures the whole array of activities associated with state-and nation-building in addition to building the foundations for local ownership of these processes. Popularised by the UN Secretary-General Boutros-Boutros Ghali in the early 1990s, peacebuilding has evolved alongside peacemaking and peacekeeping in the reconstruction repertoire. This article suggests that while there is considerable scepticism about the utility of peacebuilding in contemporary conflict resolution efforts, African experiences have, since the 1990s, provided solid lessons to both local and international actors on how to rebuild states, societies, polities, and economies.     

农民工政治参与的程序主义建制化研究——从农民工讨薪事件谈起

农民工讨薪事件频发,特别是在年关岁末,作为社会弱势群体在诉求维护其经济利益权利过程中往往陷入一种无序的社会行为。本文运用哈贝马斯程序主义的模式,构建基于法治目标的农民工维权行为的程序主义模式,一方面,从程序主义民主模式中获取农民工与劳动单位之间合理及合法的规章制度达成共识;另一方面,从农民工自身出发,通过学习提高自身文化水平,进而促进构建合理合法实现自我维权意识的途径。     

从国民党“结构崩解”检视南台湾县市政府的两岸交流政策

2012年“大选”之后，国民党在南台湾的选举动员逐步进入一个“结构崩解”的阶段，影响所及，国民党不仅在南台湾各类选举中难以取胜，也因为其所掌握的社会支持网络更趋于弱化，国民党在南台湾绿营执政县市作为一个在野政党的监督力量也随之弱化。因之，即便在多数南台湾各县市议会中，国民党仍掌握较多正副议长席次，但由国民党掌握的县市议会，却对民进党县市政府的消极的两岸交流政策难有影响。检视国民党在南台湾“结构崩解”的情况、影响及民进党县市政府和县市首长的两岸交流政策，并研判其发展趋势，无疑对深入了解南台湾政治社会状况具有十分重要的意义。     

媒体与战后日本民主主义——以《朝日新闻》社论为中心

民主主义社会中的媒体,应当承担统合民意、引导舆论与监督政治权利并同其抗衡的双重责任。然而,综观战后日本民主主义发展轨迹,尽管不能否认新闻媒体对民主主义的发展起了某种程度推波助澜的积极作用,但也应该看到,作为民主主义旗手的新闻媒体,事实上从未真正反映民意,而是仅仅将国民视为"观众"。这不但加剧了政治与民意之间距离的扩大,而且也引发了民主主义的危机。文章以《朝日新闻》社论为中心,对战后日本民主主义发展过程中媒体的作用与局限进行探讨。     

民主如何实践——梅因的视角

本文以广为传播的卢梭的民主学说为对象,从历史与现实的角度分析了该学说存在的问题,首先是该学说的前提假设无法得到历史支持,然后是该学说在现实中引发的种种问题：有限的治理经验,政治操控了民主实践,公民沦为牵线木偶等.这些洞见在梅因的《大众政府》一书得到了详细的论证.尽管梅因所推崇的贵族制已经成为历史,但他批判民主的深刻洞见对当前民主转型的实践依然有效。