Theoretically,yes, but also empirically? How the corruption-turnout link is marginally explained by civic duty to vote

Corruption is generally associated with low electoral participation. A recurrent explanation of the negative correlation between corruption and electoral turnout involves the rational calculus of the costs and benefits of voting. More specifically, in a context of high corruption, citizens do not vote because they think that doing so will hardly affect policy decisions. A number of influential studies has argued that corruption affects citizens' electoral engagement in a different and more fundamental way as well: It erodes their sense of civic duty to vote in elections. Yet, a relation between corruption and civic duty and a mediation effect of the attitude remains empirically untested. This article examines empirically whether perceived corruption and sense of civic duty are correlated, as well as whether civic duty mediates the relation between perceived corruption and turnout. It does so with the pooled Making Electoral Democracy Work data, as these data contain measures on individuals’ sense of civic duty to vote in four election levels, namely, national, regional, European, and municipal elections, as well as on their perception of corruption in each of these government levels, and on their participation in these four election levels as well. I find a weak relation between perceived corruption and civic duty, and a low mediation effect of the attitude (compared with rational factors), irrespective of the election level.     

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

This article considers the immediate forces influencing China’s food system and food security. By immediate is meant events of the reform period, from the late 1970s to 2008. It begins by asking the question that has preoccupied specialists since the publication of Lester Brown’s Who Will Feed China? in 1995: How much arable land does China have? Is that land area sufficient to insure grain sufficiency? To insure food security? The article focuses on the human pressures on the food production environment, and then treats the effects of socioeconomic change: land, air, and water degradation. The core of the article examines six responses of the state to both perceived and actual environmental stressors: policy restricting arable land conversion, China’s one-child policy, investment in irrigation systems, the South–North Water Diversion Project, large-scale afforestation and reforestation campaigns, and the program to convert marginal agricultural lands to forests and grasslands.     

试论日本据台与闽粤移民之中挫——以《清国人入境台湾条例》为中心

1895年台湾沦为日本的殖民地,海峡两岸关系发生了重大变化,台湾住民被认定为所谓“日本国民”。随着《清国人入境台湾条例》的颁布实施,传统闽粤移民渡台历史进程遭致中挫。日据后迁徙台湾的闽粤民众被称做“华侨”,成为侨居者。此后,台湾社会历史进入以内生性发展为主的新阶段。     

马英九“软实力”思想评析

在马英九以大陆为主要对象的“国家安全政策”中,“软实力”是一个十分重要的概念。他企图以政治价值观的漫洇,推动大陆民主化;以文化、教育理念的扩散,输出价值观;以“活路外交”塑造“民主台湾”、“文化台湾”的形象,最终达到对大陆实施“软制约”、“软制衡”的目标。虽然,由于岛内外种种原因的限制,马英九的“软实力”思想尚未对大陆产生明显的影响力,但这一切是在“没有硝烟的战场”上实施的,应引起我们足够的重视。     

“男权王国的叛逆者”——为英国妇女选举权而战的男性知识分子

本文着重考察男性女权主义知识分子对英国妇女选举权运动所起到的推动作用。男性女权主义先锋,顶住重重压力,"背叛"了男权王国。他们成为妇女选举权运动的发起人与推动者,并为之做出巨大贡献。从19世纪上半叶至20世纪初,男性妇女参政论者支持妇女选举权运动的活动经历了由分散到集中,由"宪政"至"战斗"的历程,其指导思想也由自由主义转向社会主义。1928年英国妇女最终获得平等选举权,这一辉煌成果中包含着几代男性妇女参政论者的不懈努力。     

博弈视角下农地流转与农民利益保障机制探析

农地流转制度在巩固存量利益的同时,也带来了可观的增量利益,各个利益主体为分配新增利益势必会展开激烈的竞争和角逐.运用博弈论系统分析利益主体之间的博弈关系,透视现实制度实行中其他利益主体对农民利益的侵害.在策略选择上从宏观、中观和微观角度着力构建三位一体利益保障机制,矫正农地流转利益博弈中的力量失衡状态,促使农民的存量利益能够得到对价支付,确保农民能够公平参与增量利益的分配.     

论农村妇女土地产权的安全性

安全地权由相对权利强度、权利持有持续时间和权利保证性几方面所决定。农民地权常常是不安全的,与农村男性相比,妇女地权更不安全。妇女的土地产权不安全体现在家庭继承、村集体分配和市场交易等三种获得土地途径中。妇女土地产权的安全性一般意义上取决于,在土地产权交易不发达的情况下土地资源位置的固定性和妇女的婚姻流动性、集体土地产权拥挤性与妇女群体的弱势地位、以及影响村社土地制度安排的宏观因素及村社集体特征。     

公安行政执法存在的问题及解决途径探析

严格公正执法是公安工作的灵魂、是依法治国的基本要求。当前公安行政执法存在部分执法人员综合素质偏低、法治意识淡薄,滥用职权、行政执法利益化倾向依然存在,行政执法程序不规范,公安执法监督机制弱化、执法监督力度不大等问题。对此,文章分析、探讨了进一步强化社会主义法治理念教育,不断强化依法行政观念,深化执法责任制、强化执法过程监督,重视公安行政执法的基层基础工作建设等解决问题的途径。     

沉默权：一个无法沉默的话题——从我国刑诉法“应当如实回答”谈起

我国刑诉法规定了犯罪嫌疑人面对审讯人员的审讯：“应当如实回答”的义务,使其在刑事诉讼中处于不利的地位。是否赋予犯罪嫌疑人沉默权,由“口供本位”转向“物证本位”,彻底改变目前的侦查模式,是我国刑事诉讼法修改的一个不容忽视的重要问题。     

Revisiting the 'Responsibility to Protect'

The Declaration on 'the responsibility to protect' (R2P), unanimously endorsed by the Security Council in April 2006, identified both national and international responsibilities in relation to genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity. This was highly significant in appearing to accept that the prevention of mass atrocities was a legitimate international concern. Subsequently, there has been some disappointment about the limited practical impact of R2P, and also anxiety that its progress may be impeded by the fear that it is designed to legitimise military intervention. However, this article concentrates on a different concern. Arguing that an earlier version of R2P (in the International Commission on Intervention and Sovereignty of 2001) linked the issues with those of human security and development, it suggests that the contemporary focus is far narrower, undermining its critical potential with regard to the policies of the global North and reducing its appeal to developing countries.