Press content as a key to a country's alignment: The case of Ethiopia

This article examines the news content of an Ethiopian government‐run newspaper over a period of 20 years to determine how closely the present government is aligned with the Soviet Union. There are two schools of though among foreign policy scholars. Regionalists believe Ethiopia is nonaligned. They argue that since the country follows the tenants of African socialism, its international politics are shaped by indigenous factors such as nationalism and local economic and security needs, rather than by Soviet or U.S. influence. Globalists, on the other hand, believe Ethiopia belongs to the Soviet camp and is dependent on the Soviet Union. A review of a government‐run newspaper in two ten‐year periods before and after the takeover by Mengistu Haile Mariam found a dramatic shift in the nature of coverage. Under Emperor Haile Selassie before the ovethrow, the paper printed predominantly pro‐United States and anti‐Soviet news. But under Mengistu, the same paper printed vastly pro‐Soviet and anti‐United States news, and absolutely no anti‐Soviet news. These findings support the globalist view.     

全面贯彻落实党的十七大精神 开拓乡镇工作新局面——在全区乡镇党委书记十七大精神学习班结业典礼上的讲话(节选)

认真学习十七大精神,加强和改进党的基层组织建设,是当前党建工作的主要内容。要用十七大精神指导工作,切实提高驾驭全局和应对复杂局面的能力,不断开创我区乡镇工作新局面。     

论美国总统与国会外交权力的博弈

总统与国会外交权力的角逐有着制度、法律、权力制衡规律和总统个人因素等方面的原因,这种权力之争表现在总统外交权力的扩张与美国国家利益的扩展相伴随、两者的外交权力在不同的时期作用力有所不同、两者外交权力的分布呈现不均衡性、外交权力在两者之间摆动不会偏离权力制衡这条主线以及两者的外交权力要受美国政党政治的影响五个方面.虽然总统与国会在外交权力上有竞争的一面,但是两者相互支持与合作的一面也不容忽视,这一趋势在美国新政府中将表现得更加突出.     

论全面落实依法治国基本方略的途径

依法治国是社会主义民主政治的基本要求，是全面建设小康社会的重要目标。全面落实依法治国基本方略是新时期的一项重大战略任务，必须完善立法，加强宪法和法律实施，深化司法体制改革，弘扬法治精神。     

论地方人大及其常委会行使监督权存在的主要问题与对策

目前各级地方人大及其常委会在监督工作中所遇到的问题主要有人员认识、党政关系、法制建设、自身素质等四个方面,对这些问题必须通过加强教育、理顺关系、抓紧立法、明确原则、建设自身等措施来解决.     

党的十八大以来意识形态建设的伟大创新和基本经验研究

党的十八大以来,以习近平同志为核心的党中央把建设具有强大凝聚力和引领力的社会主义意识形态摆在全局工作的重要位置,作出一系列重大决策,实施一系列重大举措,既进行了彪炳史册的创新创造,取得了极其伟大的成就,也积累了丰富的宝贵的历史经验,在实践中不断深化对意识形态建设的规律性认识,为开启全面建设社会主义现代化强国新征程提供了坚强思想保证和强大精神力量。     

The post-Lisbon high representatives: an introduction

ABSTRACT

The Lisbon Treaty recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. The 2009 legal text was an attempt to enhance the unity, consistency and effectiveness of the EU’s action in an increasingly volatile world. And yet, the post-Lisbon time period has been characterised by multiple crises coming from the West, the East, the South, and even from within the EU. Against this backdrop, our Special Issue makes a systematic assessment of the EU's foreign policy post-Lisbon and of its evolution by focusing on the role of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP). Assessing the post-Lisbon HR/VPs provides important insights on EU foreign policy processes over the past decade. In this introduction, we discuss the three research questions that guide our collection of articles, as well as our theoretical and empirical contribution to existing scholarly literature.     

The Unscientific Determinants of Voting on a Controversial Scientific Issue: An Evaluation of Biofuels Policy in the U.S. Congress

Whether allegiance to party or the preferences of constituents are most important in an elected representative's voting decision has been a long‐running question in political science. This study contributes to this debate through an evaluation of biofuels policy in the U.S. Congress. Results indicate that in this policy area the House and Senate balance these influences differently, with partisanship playing a significant role in the House but not in the Senate. Analysis of voting on this issue indicates that there are important distinctions between how a legislator views the overall partisan preferences of constituents in their district or state versus how they view the interests of particular groups of constituents; when the concentration of agricultural interests in a legislator's district or state is great enough, it can override the effects of party for this issue, which suggests that legislators are especially concerned with specific constituency groups in their district or state that would stand to gain or lose from a policy. The proposition that a legislator is most likely to do that which benefits him or her most regardless of the available science relevant to a policy is a useful starting point for understanding what has been found in this research project.     

Partisan Discourse,Polarization, and the Politics of Military Fatalities in Iraq

Public deliberation on the costs of war is important to democratic decision-making. This article explores congressional rhetoric about military fatalities within the U.S. House of Representatives and in television news media interviews from 2004 to 2006. In the House, the results are consistent with the “ideological opportunism” model of congressional rhetoric, which suggests that politicians–particularly the president’s partisan opponents–will be highly communicative about combat deaths in an effort to express ideological perspectives on war and criticize opponents’ positions. The results also show that as local combat fatalities accumulate, the president’s partisan opponents tend to become increasingly vocal about these deaths. The results do not support the “newsworthiness” model of congressional rhetoric in TV media interviews, which expects opposition party support and presidential party criticism of the president. Politicians on the far ends of the ideological spectrum dominate discussions about the loss of troops in the House, and politicians in both the House and TV news interviews advance largely unwavering partisan positions on the conduct of war. The findings suggest members of Congress reinforce political polarization in debates over the use of force.     

戈尔巴乔夫的民主化改革及其教训——苏联人民代表大会体制的确立与影响

苏联问题的根子在政治体制,进行政治体制改革是苏联改革的题中应有之义。苏联改革政治体制的核心是解决公民与政权分离的问题,消除经济改革的障碍机制,为此,戈尔巴乔夫以列宁提出的＂一切权力归苏维埃＂为目标,试图通过全民选举苏维埃代表来实现公民与政权的结合,但实践的结果证明此路不通。本文分析了＂一切权力归苏维埃＂行不通的原因和造成的严重后果,总结了苏联政治体制改革的教训。