Four worlds of morality politics: the impact of institutional venues and party cleavages

The most prominent theory accounting for variation of morality politics across Western Europe is the so-called Two Worlds framework. According to this approach, the presence or absence of a secular?religious cleavage in national party systems strongly affects the degree of conflict intensity and the framing of morality policy issues. This article shows that the explanatory power of the Two Worlds model could be enhanced significantly by introducing a second analytical dimension that captures the institutional venue (party politics vs. parliamentary politics), in which moral conflicts take place. This is useful because there are instances in which a religious cleavage is lacking, but moral conflicts are nonetheless highly intense and party-based (the traditionalist world), and there are cases in which the religious cleavage formally exists, but moral conflicts are nonetheless resolved in the parliamentary arena (the unsecular world).     

Not unlearning to care – positive moral development as a cornerstone of nonkilling

ABSTRACT

In this theoretical paper, selected areas of moral development as well as some of the respective theories and models are used to characterise positive, healthy moral development. Such moral development is seen as one prerequisite of nonkilling. From a lifespan perspective, core concepts such as moral motivation and moral agency are combined into an understanding of moral development, as based on the making meaning of experience in the context of social interaction and co-construction. The aim of (socio)moral development is seen in moral maturity, that is, the genuine understanding of the way our own actions or nonactions affect the welfare of others, including the motivation, the sense of personal responsibility, and the will to act in such ways as not to harm or to protect or re-establish others’ welfare. Reaching this aim can be seen as the outcome of healthy moral development.     

From parish register to the “historical table”: The Prussian population statistics in the 17th and 18th centuries

This overview deals with the development of population statistics in Germany and Prussia, where different streams and trends in the field of statistics can be observed until the end of the 18th century: (1) the so-called university statistics (Staatenkunde); (2) political arithmetic; (3) table statistics; (4) “German Kameralia;” and (5) Prussian financial science. The most important sources for historical demographic research are the parish registers. In Germany, they start in the early or high Middle Ages as baptismal lists. In Prussia in the 16th century, parish registers consisted of entries and items of baptisms (births), marriages, and funerals (deaths). Based upon these parish registers at the end of 17th century in the Brandenburg Electorate, population lists were set up as registers or tables of population movement, as “general registers of the born, the married, the deceased, and the communicants.” Physicians and such Prussian medical authorities as the Collegium medicum and the Collegium sanitatis collected data about the causes of death and the longevity of human life (people more than 90 years old). In the course of 120 years during the 17th and 18th centuries, about 350,000 immigrants came to Brandenburg-Prussia. The Prussians developed excellent migration and census statistics in the form of historical tables. From the founding of the Prussian Office of Statistics in 1805 until its reorganization in 1809–1810, historical tables were set up using population statistics.     

宪法社会公德条款的规范阐释

社会公德是人们在社会交往和公共生活中应当遵循的基本行为准则。传统社会公德要求人们相善其群,现代社会公德指向一种整合性的功能要求,在多元的个体道德取向和社会共同道德要求之间保持适度张力。宪法作为共同体的组织规则,需要在“个体—社会—国家”的整体框架中进行持续性整合。基于社会公德的整合作用,宪法将其纳入规范体系,促进其整合功能实现。宪法社会公德条款承载着个体实现社会化、维系社会共同体、作为个体与国家的联结中介等理想功能。然而,由于相关文本的规范品格未获充分确认,文本表述不够清晰,实施动力略显不足,导致其功能受到一定阻滞。应当在规范目标的导引下,依托宪法解释,确认宪法社会公德条款的规范品格,阐明其规范内涵,并夯实规范实施的社会基础,促进其理想功能的实现。     

党性原则和市场经济道德的区分与联系

市场经济内生的思想道德有着和其他方面进步思想结合的天然倾向，中国共产党要通过建立和发展社会主义市场经济发展中国的社会主义，其党性原则就要积极汲取市场经济道德的精华。经济转型中的党性原则正在逐渐汲取自主、平等、诚实、信用、公正等市场经济道德的内容，这个过程远远没有结束。发展市场经济条件下党性原则的重大创新，以及广大党的干部和党员在以德治国中切实发挥表率作用，最终要靠正确认识和处理党性原则与市场经济道德关系的决定性突破。     

加强道德建设应从"道德底线"抓起——学习十六大报告的体会

加强道德建设从“道德底线”抓起是人类社会生存发展的需要 ,是实施以德治国战略方针的需要 ,是市场经济健康发展的需要 ,是提高全民素质的需要 ,也是加强公安队伍建设的需要。因此 ,综合运用多种有效措施 ,强化“道德底线”对人们行为的约束作用是非常必要的     

学习十七大精神 全面加强新时期思想道德建设

胡锦涛同志在十七大报告中明确提出：要“加强社会公德、职业道德、家庭美德、个人品德建设。”这为我们全面加强新时期思想道德建设指出了应遵循的原则，提出了明确的要求。我们要认真学习十七大精神，适应全面建设小康社会的需要，全面加强新时期社会公德、职业道德、家庭美德和个人品德建设。     

宪法学视角下的"范跑跑事件"评析

"范跑跑事件"的评价角度是多元的,各有其独特意义,但从平等对话,理性分析,将问题引向深入方面看,宪法学视角不应缺位.基于该视角,事件中当事人范美中虽受到网民的道德谴责,但并未遭遇不民主或因"多数人的暴政"需要救济的问题,其言论自由没有也不能被限制,相反,却在现代媒体的作用下得到了充分实现;作为一名教师,其人身自主权依法本该受到限制,但遗憾的是,至今媒体所披露的其可能被解聘的理由却只是"没有教师资格证".从技术角度看,这是稳妥可行的,但该事件的宪法学意义却被消弭掉了.     

论“泛德化”与中国的法治化

受传统文化消极影响，中国现代法治化进程中出现“泛德化”倾向。中国传统道德成为中国法治化培育环境的“温情杀手”，传统道德的残余使中国法治化进展大打折扣，法律的价值和权威一直没有得到根本的确立，因此，清除“泛德化”对中国法治化进程的影响实属当务之急。     

从人性恶角度探析法律对道德教育的强化功能——兼谈对“八荣八耻”教育的启示

道德与法律都是对人们“恶”的行为的规范,只是两者沿着不同的路径:法律注重外在强制和不侵犯他人,对人性的约束力强;道德强调内省和利他,对人性的约束力弱。因而,法律与道德相通相融,相互作用,相互影响,但依其各自特点决定了法律对道德教育具有强化功能。所以,人类所追求的自由和谐的社会状态的实现,需要从法律规范的外在强制逐渐过渡到公民道德内省的自觉行为。贯彻落实我国当前的社会主义荣辱观教育时,要把道德的教化与法律的强制结合起来,发挥法律对道德教育的强化功能,通过加强法治建设引导我国公民践行“八荣八耻”的道德要求,以实现社会的和谐健康发展。