How democratic decentralisation facilitates,sustains, and interrupts market-driven development in India

Democratic decentralisation has emerged as an instrument to implement market-driven development, and elected bodies now extend commercial inputs for commodity production and link households to firms. However, the nature of market-driven development under this condition is understudied. This article focuses on an Indian case where, while access to market inputs was shaped by political capital with elected leaders, narrowing market participation, leaders – now market intermediaries – fostered trust in firms, helping sustain market participation. Conflicts over electoral politics interrupted market production. Markets rely on state institutions and are intertwined with politics, contrary to market proponents’ claims that markets stand above society and are unmediated spaces of exchange.     

Women,work, and wage equity in agricultural labour in Saiss,Morocco

This article documents wages and working conditions for landless female and male agricultural labourers in Morocco. We found that higher-paid, equipment-intensive tasks were predominantly assigned to men, whereas women often performed lower-paid, time-intensive tasks. Women were systematically paid less than men even when they performed the same tasks. Enforcing existing legislation in Morocco to ensure equal pay for women is an essential first step towards enabling women to benefit equitably with men from their agricultural labour contributions. A revalorisation of the importance of agriculture is also necessary so that agricultural labour is not perceived as an occupation of last resort.     

Access to infrastructure and human well-being: evidence from rural Nepal

This article documents the level of access to infrastructure and assesses its perceived impacts on human well-being in rural Nepal. The study found a more varied level of well-being in less remote communities and determined that the perceived impacts of access to infrastructure on human well-being is higher in more remote areas. Notably, access to roads received the highest priority among respondents, followed by drinking water and irrigation. The methodology and findings of this study have practical implications for rural development in hills and mountains where human settlements are highly dispersed and access is key to human well-being.     

Institutions and abused women: an interactional model to access justice in India

The discourse on domestic violence has steadily moved from solely the realm of private family affairs into the institutional domain, through changing perceptions and the enactment and enforcement of laws. This article aims to understand how women approach institutions and how institutions perceive, translate, and respond to complaints within human rights discourses. The study analysed all cases registered in a family counselling centre in Rajasthan, India, with ten cases then randomly selected for in-depth interviews. The institutions are a catalyst of social change; however, they need to partner with specialists for medical interventions, and network with line departments more effectively to improve social resilience.     

Spotlights on certification and farmers’ welfare: crossing boundaries in social scientific research

Social scientists have the freedom to adopt different methodological approaches when researching development. This article illustrates how four common social scientific methodologies (positivism, social constructivism, action research, and normative political theory) differently conceptualise the effects of sustainability certification on Indonesian smallholder farmers. It shows that each approach results in different insights, offering a web of information to practitioners. Better understanding the different methodologies may help practitioners to take position in dilemmas, not in a linear process of knowledge accumulation, but in an iterative process of research consultation and practices.     

以色列的网络安全问题及其治理

网络安全威胁是当今国际社会普遍面临的主要威胁之一。受地缘政治与国际局势的影响,以色列成为遭受网络攻击最为频繁的国家之一。由于长期遭受网络攻击的威胁,以色列在国际社会中较早重视网络安全问题,建立了一系列网络安全应对机制。2010-2011年是以色列加强国家网络安全建设的重要时间节点,以《2010国家网络倡议》和以色列政府第3611号决议两个具有里程碑意义的文件为代表,以色列政府将制定国家网络战略提上议事日程。在国家网络局的统筹规划下,通过政府机构、军情部门、学术界、产业界等之间的密切合作,以色列构建了一整套较为健全的网络安全维护机制,不仅有效治理了网络安全问题,而且通过与技术研发相结合形成了科学合理的网络安全生态系统,蓬勃发展的网络安全产业也带来了可观的经济效益。作为全球网络安全领域的引领者之一,以色列在网络安全治理上积累了较为丰富的经验,并具备一定的网络战实战能力,值得其他相关国家学习和借鉴。     

Artificial Intelligence,Forward‐Looking Governance and the Future of Security

Over the last years, AI applications have come to play a role in many security‐related fields. In this paper, we show that scholars who want to study AI’s link to power and security should widen their perspective to include conceptual approaches from science and technology studies (STS). This way, scholars can pay attention to critical dynamics, processes, practices, and non‐traditional actors in AI politics and governance. We introduce two STS‐inspired concepts – the micro‐politics of design and development and co‐production – and show how the study of AI and security could benefit from them. In the final section, we turn to the study of AI in the context of Switzerland to underscore what aspects the two previously introduced concepts help to highlight that remain invisible for traditional approaches.     

混混、乡村组织与基层治理内卷化——乡村混混的力量表达及后果

混混与乡村组织的交互作用,以及由此带来的一系列政治社会现象,成为我们理解基层治理样态和困境的新视域。改革开放后三十年,乡村混混逐渐实现从乡村社会边缘人向经济精英的转型,而这种转型与乡村组织援引混混等灰色势力参与基层治理存在高度关联。后税费时期,乡村混混与乡村治理组织形成利益同盟,共同占有国家自上而下的惠农政策资源和地方发展成果,导致的后果是混混的实力与国家政策倾斜力度和地方社会发展同步增长,基层治理合法性丧失,税费改革之后国家资源下乡并没有实现预期的政治效果,基层治理出现内卷化困境④。     

论管制征收构成标准——以美国联邦最高法院判例为中心

美国联邦最高法院在审理33个管制征收案件时主要采用是否属于物理性侵占、是否属于经济利益互惠、财产权行使是否构成对公共或他人的妨碍、是否符合公共利益、对财产价值的影响程度五类标准。管制征收构成标准的体系构建,需通过对五类标准进行形式与实质递进式的双阶层划分来实现:是否属于物理性侵占、是否属于经济利益互惠以及财产权行使是否构成公共妨碍为第一阶层的形式标准。一项管制行为属于物理性侵占即构成管制征收;管制行为属于经济利益互惠或者财产权行使构成对公共或他人的妨碍,则不构成管制征收。在不属于物理性侵占、经济利益互惠或者财产权行使构成公共妨碍的情况下,对是否符合公共利益和对财产价值的影响程度作第二阶层的实质判断。不符合公共利益标准或者对财产价值造成过度影响的管制行为构成应于补偿的管制征收。     

人民代表大会制度的复合优势与合力效能

人民代表大会制度是我国的根本治制度,是国家治理体系的重要组成部分。我国的人民代表大会制度具有一系列显著的制度优势。在国家治理实践中,人民代表大会制度逐渐形成了党的领导、人民当家作主、依法治国"三者统一"的复合治理结构,从而形成了治理主体的合力效应,能够将制度优势转化为治理效能。同时,我们也应该看到,人民代表大会制度的治理效能发挥还需要在实践中不断发展。其中,选举制度改革、会议制度改革、人大预算监督职能、发挥联系制度的作用等都是很好的思路。