Do parties matter in delegation? Partisan preferences and the creation of regulatory agencies in Europe

The ideological orientation of parties in government has not been prominently featured in explaining the rise of regulatory agencies. This paper argues that theories based on political uncertainty and credible commitment can yield meaningful predictions regarding the relationship between government preferences and the establishment of regulatory agencies, when ideological orientation is linked with notions of party competence and issue ownership. The empirical section tests three such hypotheses with data on the establishment of 110 regulatory agencies in 20 European democracies between 1980 and 2009, thus providing one of the most comprehensive cross‐national analyses of agency creation to date. The results show that ideologically extreme cabinets are more likely to establish regulatory agencies and that right‐wing governments create more agencies in the economic than in the social domain. These findings partly qualify the view on the scarce relevance of government preferences in explaining the rise of the agency model in regulation and that the emulation mechanism of the diffusion process is the dominant force behind agencification.     

Islamism and the state after the Arab uprisings: Between people power and state power

This paper examines the trajectories of different Islamist trends in the light of the Arab uprisings. It proposes a distinction between statist and non-statist Islamism to help understand the multiplicity of interactions between Islamists and the state, particularly after 2011. It is outlined how statist Islamists (Islamist parties principally) can contribute to the stabilization and democratization of the state when their interactions with other social and political actors facilitate consensus building in national politics. By contrast when these interactions are conflictual, it has a detrimental impact on both the statist Islamists, and the possibility of democratic politics at the national level. Non statist-Islamists (from quietist salafi to armed jihadi) who prioritize the religious community over national politics are directly impacted by the interactions between statist Islamists and the state, and generally tend to benefit from the failure to build a consensus over democratic national politics. Far more than nationally-grounded statist Islamists, non-statist Islamists shape and are shaped by the regional dynamics on the Arab uprisings and the international and transnational relations between the different countries and conflict areas of the Middle East. The Arab uprisings and their aftermath reshaped pre-existing national and international dynamics of confrontation and collaboration between Islamists and the state, and between statist and non-statists Islamists, for better (Tunisia) and for worse (Egypt).     

Ideological dimensions of the “Balkan Family Pattern” in the first half of the 20th century

This article deals with family ideology and family ritual processes in the Central part of the Balkans, in the mountainous part of the Bulgarian–Serbian border areas, during the second half of the nineteenth and the early twentieth century. Celebration rituals, dedicated to the patron saints of family-kin households (Serbian slava and Bulgarian sluzhba), have been described as an “ideology of patriarchalism” in ethnological and historical literature, based on the cult of predecessors. Ethnographical research in this region has shown the prominent social functions of the ritual cycle that built cohesion in the family-kin community, rather than archaism. Based on historical and ethnological data, and on ethnographic fieldwork in Western Bulgaria and Eastern Serbia, this contribution shows how the Orthodox cycle of celebrations and rituals was practiced in a family-kin environment during the first half of the twentieth century. The analysis focuses on how family rituals built family ideology, which kept its integrative functions even during the decades of socialism.     

习近平宣传教育思想浅析

宣传教育工作事关党和国家工作全局。十八大以来习近平总书记围绕宣传教育发表了一系列重要讲话,特别是2013年8月19日在全国宣传思想工作会议上的重要讲话,深刻阐述了事关宣传思想工作长远发展的一系列重大理论和现实问题,成为新时期指导宣传教育工作的纲领性文件。新时期做好宣传教育工作应认真落实习近平系列讲话精神,树立大局观念,牢牢巩固马克思主义主流意识形态的根本地位;与时俱进,推进中华民族伟大复兴中国梦的宣传教育;不断改革创新,实现宣传教育工作的新突破;全党动手、做好表率,凝聚起推动宣传教育工作的强大合力。     

论我国贪污贿赂犯罪刑法治理的国际化——基于《联合国反腐败公约》与中国反腐败的现实考察

反腐败是我国当下重大的现实问题,与《联合国反腐败公约》相关要求相比,我国贪污贿赂犯罪的罪名设置较为狭窄,犯罪对象规定不合理,主观方面设置不科学,法定刑的设定不完善。基于进一步完善贪污贿赂犯罪的刑事法治以及立足于当下反腐败的现实考察,有必要进一步完善罪名体系的设置,适时增设"外国公职人员、国际公共组织官员受贿罪"和"利用影响力行贿罪";减少犯罪主观要素的限制;扩大贪污贿赂犯罪的行为对象的范围;完善罚金刑,合理设置资格刑,进一步促进贪污贿赂犯罪刑罚配置的科学化。     

网络暴力视角下意识形态的法治建设

网络暴力最深层次的原因在于我国网民的意识形态混乱扭曲,要认清网络暴力的本质并有效预防和治理网络暴力问题,必须厘清网络暴力与公民意识形态的关系。当前,互联网已经成为意识形态斗争的主战场,加强意识形态的法治建设对于治理网络暴力问题显得尤为重要。     

从社会主义核心价值体系到中国梦的内在逻辑

社会主义核心价值体系以中国特色社会主义共同理想为核心,其他三者为共同理想的实现提供指导思想、精神动力和实践人格作用。社会主义核心价值观的三个层次中,以第一层次为核心,第二和第三层次分别提供了科学性和理想人格保证。中国梦是对社会主义核心价值体系、社会主义核心价值观的继承与深化,它将前两者隐含的主题凸显出来,发挥强大的动员作用。     

意识形态范畴的嬗变以及中国共产党人的独特诠释

中国共产党成立90年来的历史,就是对意识形态问题不断求解的历史,也是对意识形态范畴不断进行诠释和建构的历史。中国共产党人为代表的马克思主义者,在漫长的革命和建设的历史过程中,结合本国具体实际,逐步建立了一套适合自身发展的意识形态理论,使得意识形态范畴在新时期具有了更加丰富的内涵。     

理性与经验：死刑立法改革的一个视角——兼评《刑法修正案（八）》中限制死刑的相关规定

《刑法修正案（八）》的面世,标志着我国正式开始废止死刑的立法实践。死刑渐废论的观点为我们提供了分析死刑立法改革的一个视角：理性引导与经验支持。死刑缺乏其存在的道德合法性的基础,其废除符合理性的要求;作为一项立法改革,死刑的废止又离不开现实经验的支持。因此,推行死刑的立法改革,需要立法者通过理性的立法引导死刑民意的走向,并通过经验行为体现立法理性,在死刑废止的进程中实现理性与经验的统一。     

从劳动精神到劳模精神：基于国家建设的视角

劳动模范是社会主义劳动竞赛中的胜出者,劳模精神是劳动模范群体崇高精神和优秀品质的人 格化,是中国特色社会主义意识形态谱系中的重要构成。劳模精神作为一种社会意识形态,归根到底由社会历 史条件所规定,但国家力量在劳模精神建构中的作用不容忽视。劳模精神与国家建设主题高度契合,劳模精神 评选 - 反馈、建构 - 激励、吸纳 - 教育构成劳动精神生命运动的完整路径。在现代国家建设视野下研究劳模精神, 有助于丰富社会意识形态问题的解释路径,使建构中国特色社会主义劳模政治话语成为可能。