非政府组织发展与我国人民代表大会制度的完善

完善和发展人民代表大会制度必须充分认识我国社会业已发生的深刻变革,即社会的多元化发展已经对我国民主政治的实现形式提出了新的要求和新的挑战。作为现代公民社会基本组织形式的非政府组织,在社会动员与社会参与、监督人大行使职权、实现人民当家作主与建立公民社会等方面,对完善人大制度起着不可替代的作用。     

中共八大：从革命党向执政党转变的起点

八大是中国共产党执政后召开的第一次全国代表大会,是中国共产党的历史上一次里程碑式的会议。从历史的进程看,八大在党从革命党向执政党转变的过程中,具有重要的历史地位。八大是党从革命党向执政党转变的历史起点;八大是党的执政意识形成的起点;是执政目标制定的起点;是党的功能转型的起点。     

香港特区终审法院判决与"人大释法"不一致所引发的内地孕妇来港产子潮问题探讨

香港特区终审法院在庄礼源案的裁决对香港产生了深远重大的影响。该案的判决与全国人大常委会在1999年6月26日对香港基本法有关条款作出的解释不尽一致。若终审法院在裁决庄丰源案时能考虑到"人大释法"就有关筹委会的意见已反映在《基本法》第24条第2款其他各项的立法原意这一决议中,则有相当充分的法律理据来裁定庄丰源败诉。这样非法入境、逾期居留或在香港临时居留的人在香港逗留期间所生的中国籍子女,并不能享有香港居留权。同时,内地孕妇亦不会因为希望其子女获得香港居留权而引发争相到香港产子的情况。     

Magnitude and durability of electoral change: Identifying critical elections in the U.S. Congress 1854–2010

The two hallmarks of a critical election and, hence, of a critical realignment are the magnitude of the observed change and the durability of that change. In addition to offering a new approach to measuring durable change in national party dominance, and providing a non-parametric criterion to identify unusual changes in seat/vote shares, we provide fresh insights via a unifying statistical approach that reflects both of these factors simultaneously. Furthermore, we assess the robustness of critical election determinations in two ways. First, we compare the magnitude of inter-election shifts with both average volatility over the entire time period and volatility relative to a particular time period. Second, as an alternative to the usual perspective, we consider critical elections not as a one-time cataclysm, but rather as a pair (or perhaps even triple) of consecutive substantial shifts, generated by the same underlying factors. Overall, we distinguish six elections that marginally or provisionally meet our criteria to be critical elections. But focusing on pairs of elections, 1858–60 and 1930–32 stand out as critical among all elections since the 1850s.     

完善人民代表大会制度的八条建议

完善人民代表大会制度,是我国政治体制改革的重要组成部分。完善人民代表大会制度的举措包括完善人大选举制度,精简人大代表人数、提高人大代表素质,逐步实行人大代表专职化,建立人大会议辩论制度,健全对人大代表的监督机制,完善人大监督制度、理顺人大与党,"一府两院"的关系以及密切人大与人民群众的关系八个方面。     

深化执政兴国规律认识的历史性飞跃——党的十六大以来执政理念的创新和发展

执政理念是贯穿党的执政活动的灵魂和精髓。党的十六大以来,以胡锦涛同志为总书记的中央领导集体,在坚持和发展中国特色社会主义的实践进程中,认真总结党的执政经验,逐步确立和形成了以科学发展观为核心,以坚持以人为本、执政为民为本质特征,以坚持“三统一”原则和“三执政”方式为主要内容,以构建社会主义和谐社会为目标取向,以提高党的建设科学化水平为内在动力的执政理念体系,把中国共产党对执政本质和执政规律的认识提升到新境界,对于在新的历史起点上指导党执政兴国的实践,具有重大的现实意义和深远的历史意义。     

Third time lucky? Establishing diplomatic relations between Russia and South Africa

Diplomatic relations between Russia and South Africa were established in 1992, before South Africa's transition to democracy was completed. This move was perceived as a betrayal by many in both countries and beyond. For many decades the Soviet Union supported the African National Congress in its fight against the apartheid regime. South Africa's National Party government, in its turn, presented the USSR as the main force behind the ‘total onslaught’ – an all-out war purportedly waged against South Africa by international communism. Yet it was with the National Party government that the Russians established diplomatic relations. This article looks into the reasons for this change of heart in Moscow and Pretoria, discusses the political forces behind the decision to establish diplomatic relations, and analyses the process that led to this event and the results of establishing diplomatic relations the way it happened and at the time it happened for both countries.     

The High Representative and directoires in European foreign policy: the case of the nuclear negotiations with Iran

ABSTRACT

The negotiations with Iran about its nuclear programme have seen the most protracted involvement of the High Representatives of the European Union in a high-profile policy case. This article traces the evolution of the High Representatives’ participation in the negotiations, from the first contacts with the E3 (Germany, France and the United Kingdom) in 2003 to the adoption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015. It focuses on the institutional role the High Representatives played in relation with the directoires leading the talks with Iran – first the E3 and, since 2006, E3/EU. In this context, it examines the personal and organisational factors that affected the influence each of the three High Representatives (Javier Solana, Catherine Ashton and Federica Mogherini) had in regard to the directoires. The analysis distinguishes specifically between the phases before and after the 2009 Lisbon Treaty. The article shows how similar personal qualities of the three High Representatives in terms of problem-solving and trust-building gave them political capital that enabled them to adopt a fairly constant role as bridge-builders within the directoires and between the directoires and other actors. The reforms of the Lisbon Treaty had only a minor impact.     

The changing political culture of the African National Congress

The early elite of the African National Congress (ANC) embraced values of moral improvement, individual responsibility and a sense of social consciousness. The ANC now governs South Africa, but with what appears to be a different set of principles. The current scourge of corruption, increasing state control, coupled with a general lack of service delivery point to behaviour of the ruling party which is inward-looking, self-seeking and self-preserving. Arguing that political culture and its accompanying values and attitudes is a prime motivator of behaviour, the paper seeks to understand the changing political culture of the dominant party. To understand the political culture of the ANC we use interviews with ANC parliamentarians and ANC supporters conducted in 2006–2007 and 2013 as well as an analysis of the ANC's Strategy and Tactics policy documents. We contend that the liberal values of the early elites were never fully embedded, but in their stead is a liberationist culture, where the state is normatively understood to be extensive and embodying the will of the people. We argue, that through the resulting centralized determination of the interests of the people, patronage networks, and diminishing of accountability, a system conducive to corruption and the pursuit of personal interest is created.     

The State of the Art of Child Hearings in Germany. Results of a Nationwide Representative Study in German Courts

According to German family law, in family court proceedings that deal with custody or access rights, family judges are obligated to personally hear the child if the feelings, ties, or will of the child are significant for the decision. In a research study commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Justice, a nationwide representative survey of all judges compiled their personal information and their attitudes and expectations as well as various parameters regarding the concrete practice of hearing children. Also, with a very complex methodological design, over 50 children and their parents were studied one week in advance of the hearing, directly before and after the hearing, and four weeks following the hearing. The results of the study are presented, particularly those pertaining to the burden and relief for the children and the expectations of judges. The practical experiences of family judges in personally hearing children are included as well.