The Civil Society,the Uncivil Society,and the Difficulty Israel Has Making Peace with the Palestinians

Abstract

The difficulty Israel has making peace with the Palestinians, which became evident with the failure of the 1993 Oslo Agreements, can be explained through the internal relationships and historical dynamics within the Israeli public sphere, and the relations between the public sphere and the state. Using the terms ‘civil society’ and ‘uncivil society’ as a theoretical framework, the article examines both the relations between these two binary representations within the public sphere and the ability of each of them to influence state policy through two analytical tools: cultural politics and instrumental politics. The contention is that the Oslo Agreements failed in part because while both the civil and uncivil societies arose as a cultural innovation and alternative collective identities in neo-liberal Israel, the uncivil society succeeded in translating its collective representations into effective instrumental politics that influenced the Israeli state, while the civil society failed to do so.     

Does the Government Selection Process Promote or Hinder Pluralism? Exploring the Characteristics of Voluntary Organizations Invited to Public Consultations

To what extent does the government selection process practised in public consultations promote or hinder pluralism in the policy-making process? This article addresses this question by exploring and analysing the characteristics of voluntary organizations invited to public consultations. Evidence is drawn from the formerly corporatist Scandinavian country of Sweden and the policy-making process referred to as the ‘remiss procedure’. The article shows that the government selection process encourages a multitude of organizations to participate. Consistent with recent studies on Scandinavian corporatism, this study provides weak support of corporatist practices in the Swedish policy process. However, and without challenging the seemingly pluralistic nature of the remiss procedure, voluntary organizations with ‘insider status’ in the policy process are more frequently invited to formal decision-making arenas such as the remiss procedure. It is argued that the policy network literature and the theory of political opportunity structures may further the understanding of the government selection process practised in public consultations.     

上海高校校园治安防控体系建设的实践与思考

高校校园政治稳定、治安稳定事关高等教育改革、发展和稳定的大局,是社会稳定的晴雨表.在新的历史时期,随着高等教育进一步发展和校园进一步开放,高校校园治安情况日益复杂,校园安全形势趋于严峻,由校园治安问题引发社会热点的风险凸显.因此,以创建平安校园活动为抓手,建立以高校为校园安全责任主体,公安机关、高校教育行政主管部门为监督主体,公安机关与高校紧密合作、联动的校园治安防控体系,具有十分重要的现实意义.     

能动司法与司法判决的公众认同——兼论司法公信力的提高

面对纷繁复杂的矛盾纠纷,法官应该能动司法,追求民意和司法判决的平衡,以提升司法的公信力,实现司法的政治效果、社会效果和法律效果的统一。能动司法有利于提升司法判决的公众认同度和实现法律价值。为进一步促进司法判决的公众认同,在实践中,应推崇走下＂神台＂的法官——倡导亲民式审判;了解道德习惯——探寻民意和司法判决的平衡;注重合理引导——恰当地行使释明权;打开判决过程中的＂暗箱＂——对判决理由据理说明,进而不断提高司法的公信力。     

美国政府向非营利组织购买公共服务模式分析及启示

早在19世纪,美国政府就有向非营利组织购买公共服务的实践。经过一个多世纪的发展,美国政府向非营利组织购买公共服务在法律与物质保障、购买方式与内容以及购买流程和监管体系方面都取得了明显成绩,基本上形成了一套具有美国特色的购买体系。美国政府向非营利组织购买公共服务模式对我国的启示是,加强政府购买非营利组织公共服务的制度化保障,创新购买模式,扩大购买服务的范围,建立规范的购买程序,完善评估监督机制。     

论《治安管理处罚法》的域外效力

法无明文规定、没有上位法根据、举重以明轻、人权保护和尊重行为地国法律是《治安管理处罚法》没有域外效力的主要根据。《治安管理处罚法》没有域外效力会导致相关刑事案件侦破困难、规避《治安管理处罚法》行为多发、同样的违法行为不能同样对待和对违法行为地扩大解释牵强等问题。《刑法》与《治安管理处罚法》的衔接、属人主义和保护主义的双重优先性、尊重受害人意志和对"举重以明轻"的正确理解是《治安管理处罚法》应该有域外效力的根据。通过增加规避《治安管理处罚法》行为是治安违法行为、司法解释明确、实现《治安管理处罚法》与《刑法》的全面衔接和公安部解释等途径,可以具体实现《治安管理处罚法》的域外效力。     

网络舆论监督的新系统分析

网络舆论监督是舆论监督的特殊形式,网络舆论监督包括舆论生成和政治影响两个环节,经典的系统论只能解释网络舆论的输入为什么能够引起政府相应的回应,不能回答充当系统输入的网络舆论是如何生成的和影响程度如何;而网络监督的新政治系统论的分析框架有助于全面解析网络舆论监督的全过程,诠释网络舆论的生成条件和逻辑。     

Aid Illusion and Public Sector Behaviour

Conventional treatments of fungibility, such as in Assessing Aid, are concerned with evidence that aid recipients do not increase sufficiently (that is, by the amount of aid) expenditure on specific areas favoured by donors. In other words, fungibility implies that recipients divert aid to expenditure on areas donors do not wish to fund. However, there is evidence that aggregate expenditure, and even spending on donor-supported areas, rises by more than the value of the aid inflow. This contribution, using insights from the public choice research on fiscal illusion, provides a range of theoretical scenarios to explain this outcome. Included are scenarios where, even where all the features of fungibility are present, expenditure on areas favoured by the donor can increase by more than the value of the aid inflow. The study concludes by suggesting new directions for research on aid policy and the impact of aid on the public sector in developing countries.     

Presupuesto público sin participación ciudadana. La necesidad de un cambio institucional en México para la consolidación democrática

Over the last thirty years, Mexico has undergone an important consolidation of its institutional framework, focused primarily on the electoral and political system. This process of political change was accompanied by a significant transformation and liberalization of the financial and economic system. Mexico’s current situation proves that both processes do not yield satisfactory results when social problems are left unattended. In fact, the transition from a noncompetitive political system to a more democratic one, has not guaranteed better living conditions for most of the population, in part because there is practically no participation in public life on behalf of most of the citizenry. This article reflects on the fundamental importance of citizens’ participation in democracy. Particular attention is paid to public participative budgets as factors which may contribute to democracy’s consolidation and quality, but which have had negligible impacts thus far as is illustrated by public participative budgets initiatives that have been held in Mexico City.     

Establishing a health promoting setting: an experience in an albanian polyclinic

A “health promoting polyclinic” based on the “health promoting setting concept” has been developed in Tirana, the capital of Albania. This paper discusses the implementation and intervention of the project, whereas the final evaluation results will be presented in another article. An important aspect of the whole program is the training of the administrators and staff members in the necessary skills relating to their allocated roles, such as creating a healthy environment, health education, outreach activities and total quality management. In this approach the International Relief Organization (IRO) acting as an external agent took the initiative of enabling, mediating and advocating, as well as providing support for the polyclinic's staff and its clients. The model appears to be effective in promoting health at the secondary health care level (the polyclinic). This may encourage health planners to adopt a similar concept at other settings i.e. general or specialized hospitals.