Local racial context,campaign messaging,and public political behavior: A congressional campaign field experiment

Local racial contexts influence public opinion and voting behaviors. This paper argues that differences in community racial demographics also change public political behavior and influence the effectiveness of different campaign appeals to change public political behaviors of white Americans. Using data from an experiment run by a congressional primary campaign, I examine the responses of white Republicans to display a yard sign of a white Republican running against a Latino Republican. Consistent with theories of racial threat, whites in Latino neighborhoods were more likely to be willing to post yard signs. Moreover, the results also show that the effectiveness of different campaign appeals varies by neighborhood racial context. These findings show that racial diversity affects the public political behaviors of white Americans and, more importantly, changes the effectiveness of different campaign appeals.     

地方财政自主的法治保障

地方财政自主权力的外延包括财政预算自主、财政收入自主、财政支出自主和财政监督自主四个方面,其理论基础源于地方分权自治、财政联邦主义和辅助原则。中国地方财政自主法治保障的制度构建,在财政预算自主方面,需要在对地方政府预算权进行法治化控制的同时,保障地方政府的预算编制独立性;在财政收入自主方面,必须对税种进行合理划分,追求税收共享的法定化,并在强化预算约束的前提下,赋予地方政府一定的公债发行权;在财政支出自主方面,应当在财政收支划分明确化和规范化的前提下,重视财政转移支付对财政自主的影响,关注财政支出自主可能引发的政府间财政竞争,通过法律制度来引导良性竞争,制止恶性竞争。     

我国区域协调发展中的地方立法协调:样本探索及发展空间

区域协调发展是我国的国家战略。近年来,在党的领导下,我国区域协调发展中的地方立法协调实践探索,呈现出京津冀、珠三角、长三角等几种典型样本,并各具特色及示范价值。进入新时代后,区域地方立法协调面临诸多国内无先例可循的新问题。根据党的十九届四中全会提出的“构建区域协调发展新机制”等时代新要求,需要重点思考我国区域立法协调的发展空间、聚焦领域和可能的溢出效应等理论难点。从已有的样本探索和发展趋势看,区域内跨省市的大气、水流等生态环境共保共治问题,区域市场一体化及区域营商环境共建问题,区域一体化示范区共建问题等,将是今后我国区域地方立法协调的侧重点和聚焦点。     

现实已经发生——论我国地方性刑事证据规则

地方性刑事证据规则与全国性刑事证据立法相对应,我国各地广泛开展了制定和实施刑事证据规则的试点,具有一定的进步性,但又存在广泛的问题,其产生的动因主要是防止冤假错案,保持司法公正和增强法律的可操作性,今后我国应该走全国统一刑事证据规则的道路。     

Municipality size,political efficacy and political participation: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

It is an old adage that local government is a training ground for democracy. Its human scale means that political amateurs can contribute effectively and meaningfully to the politics of a state. But in a political climate seemingly driven to consolidate local government into ever larger units, can a not so local local government still elicit an efficacious and participatory citizenry? This paper explores the effect of municipality population size on two important aspects of democratic culture: political efficacy and political participation. Via a two-part systematic review, the paper examines how extant empirical literature bears on the relationship between size and both of these aspects, hypothesising that political efficacy plays a mediating role between size and participation. The findings are unequivocal: citizens of smaller municipalities feel a greater sense of political efficacy and participate to a greater degree in local politics.     

The role of epistemic communities: local think tanks,international practitioners and security sector reform in Kosovo

ABSTRACT

Security sector reform (SSR) in Kosovo remains complex and challenging. The existing approach is heavily driven by international agencies. This article addresses the question: What role is played by local research in Kosovo’s SSR? This study focuses on the challenges that local research poses to internationally led SSR in Kosovo, and the contribution that local researchers make to the decision-making of international practitioners. In Kosovo, local research organizations produce research analysing and critiquing international SSR and offering alternative approaches. The study builds on existing studies of epistemic communities and research use in policy-making and new evidence based on the author’s interview survey of researchers and policy-makers in Kosovo. The article argues that focusing on the interaction between local researchers and international policy practitioners provides valuable insight into the construction of Kosovo’s SSR. The study deconstructs the structures, processes and agencies at the heart of the local/international relationship. It explains how local research on topics of security, justice and rule of law, and its interaction with international practitioners, challenges international SSR and contributes to international SSR decision-making.     

‘Soft’ forms of direct democracy: Explaining the occurrence of referendum motions and advisory referendums in Finnish local government

This study investigates ‘soft’ forms of direct democracy and identifies factors that explain their occurrence. Soft direct democracy refers to non‐binding referendum motions and advisory referendums, which the literature on direct democracy has largely ignored. Strategic motives have dominated previous explanations of the occurrence of initiatives and referendums, but are less useful in exploring non‐binding procedures of direct democracy. The article distinguishes four types of factors – socio‐structural, party system, political support and learning – and tests hypotheses on their effects with sub‐national data from Finland. The data enable us to compare two different types of instruments – non‐binding referendum motions and advisory referendums – while controlling for many unobserved factors. The findings show that erosion of political support, participatory traditions and policy diffusion explain the occurrence of bottom‐up referendum motions, while the last two together with small population and party system factors predict the occurrence of advisory government‐initiated referendums.     

近代中国的政治发展——以中央和地方关系的演变为维度

由外族入侵带来的民族压力促使近代中国开始了自救。在独立民族国家地位丧失的背景之下,近代中国政治发展艰难起步。为了谋求改变,政界和学界引入了大量迥异于传统中国的思想观念和制度模式。中央和地方关系的演变就是这一政治环境下的产物。通过中央和地方关系的演变历程,我们不难发现近代中国政治发展的基本特点：其开启来自外部挑战;其应对过程充满纠结;其发展主题随着社会环境的变化而变化;其总趋势是为了国家统一;其本身对政治现代化起到了推动作用。     

地方政府如何推动农业发展：日本Oita市的政策及经验解读

日本是通过宏观政策的引导使农业迅速实现现代化的典型国家。以往对日本农业政策的研究多集中于中央政策方面,本文以日本Oita市为个案,详细解读发达国家地方政府推动现代农业发展的政策举措及发展绩效,并在总结Oita市农业政策成功做法的基础上,得出发达国家成功经验对我国地方政府推动现代农业发展的借鉴意义。     

制定《河南省艾滋病防治条例》的设想(下)

河南省日益严峻的艾滋病形势要求必须尽快制定艾滋病防治条例。条例的主要内容应包括立法目的、适用范围、主管部门、预防与控制、监测与疫情报告、治疗与救助、权利与义务、法律责任等。在制定条例时,应注意突出地方特色和提高立法质量。