现代化视角下的大学生之公民教育——对党的十七大报告的解读

胡锦涛总书记在党的十七大报告中提出:加强公民意识教育,树立社会主义民主法治、自由平等、公平正义理念。这既为加强公民教育指明了方向,也界定了公民教育的内涵。大学生公民教育是公民教育的重要一环。大学生公民教育的价值寓于人性、市场经济、人民主权、法治国家以及社会自治的必然要求中。大学生公民教育的内容包括公民道德的养成与公民价值观的塑造、公民知识的传播与公民参与技能的训练这两大方面。当前,应以《思想道德修养与法律基础》为蓝本践行大学生公民教育,造就现代公民。     

完善对人大代表权力的制约机制

对人大代表的权力缺乏有效的制约,是导致人大代表"不作为"甚至利用代表身份违法犯罪的重要原因。因此,通过深化人大代表的选举制度改革,明确人大代表权责,细化罢免人大代表的条件和程序,从而加强对人大代表权力的制约。只有将人大代表的权力置于原选区的选民或原选举单位的严格监督和控制之下,才能使人大代表真正代表广大选民的切身利益和真实意志。     

略论党的十七大提出的防治腐败新策略

腐败问题是当前各国都存在的通病。腐败现象既破坏了法律的权威性及法律的有效实施,又破坏了我国社会主义的经济基础,动摇着我国社会的政治基础。腐败问题已经对党、国家和社会构成了潜在的威胁。对此,党的十七大提出了一系列的防治新策略。     

论国家征收中公共利益的界定

公共利益是启动国家征收的前提也是国家征收制度的核心内容。我国的公共利益法律界定模式应根据我国的实际情况,采取不完全的列举模式。实践中,具体的公共利益的界定应由行政机关在法律规定的框架内,依法定的符合公共决策规律的程序行使。人大可以通过对土地出让金、财政预算的监督,以及行使《监督法》赋予的对社会重大事项的监督权等方式间接控制行政机关“公共利益”的界定权。司法机关作为公共利益界定的最后一道防线是法治国家必不可少的,应在体制上保障其中立地裁决行政机关与行政相对人的征收纠纷。     

深入认识和把握构建和谐社会的三个重大问题

构建社会主义和谐社会是党中央提出的社会主义现代化建设的战略目标和任务。怎样正确认识和把握和谐社会的理论和实践,科学地判断和认识当前我国出现的不和谐因素并采取积极的措施加以解决,具有重大现实意义。     

Constituent Communication Through Telephone Town Halls: A Field Experiment Involving Members of Congress

Telephone town halls are an increasingly prevalent method for members of Congress (MCs) to communicate with constituents, even while garnering popular criticism for failing to facilitate engagement and accountability. Yet scholars have paid little attention to the events and their effects, and even less to how they might be improved. To remedy this problem, we report on a field experiment in which four MCs joined their constituents in telephone town halls. Overall, participation in an event improved constituents’ evaluations of the format in general, and of the MC in particular. Furthermore, we studied how these events might be improved by evaluating a reform—a single‐topic focus with predistributed briefing materials—designed to enhance deliberative interaction. This reform enhanced effects on opinions of the format without significantly altering effects on attitudes toward the MC. Our results suggest that telephone town halls hold promise for constituents, officeholders, and democratic practice.     

Knowledge,Expertise, and Committee Power in the Contemporary Congress

Scholars, practitioners, and observers typically portray committee influence as rooted in traditional congressional processes and practices, which are thought to provide committees with powerful opportunities to block and shape legislative proposals. The erosion of regular order processes suggests these traditional processes cannot underlie committee power in the contemporary Congress. Drawing on a mixed‐methods approach of interviews with congressional staff and an original data set of every amendment offered on the floor of the House of Representatives from 2005 to 2008, I find that absent these traditional process norms, committees in the contemporary Congress can rely on their specialized knowledge and expertise to influence the behavior of their colleagues and shape the legislation that passes.     

Understanding the political goals of non-binding resolutions: evidence from the Mexican Chamber of Deputies

By primarily focusing on bill initiatives, the literature on legislatures and parliaments has understudied other important legislative instruments -such as non-binding resolutions, minutes or speeches- which might help parties and legislators achieve their electoral and policy goals. Non-binding resolutions (NBRs) do not carry the force of law and are primarily used for parties or legislators’ position taking and the request of government actions. This article examines the political goals of NBRs by examining these tools in the lower chamber of the Mexican Congress. Employing a novel dataset, we claim that legislators strategically utilise NBRs to strengthen their relationship with their political principals. We find differences on the use of these instruments across political parties, based on the types of policy areas they choose to target. The analysis also indicates that SMD legislators tend to introduce more particularistic NBRs that might further their political careers at the subnational level.     

拓宽学习视野 改善学习方法——对学习型党组织学习路径的思考

党的十七届四中全会在总结历史经验的基础上,提出"积极向书本学习、向实践学习、向群众学习"的要求,指明了建设学习型党组织的正确方向。建设学习型党组织,需要创新学习方法,把握全会提出的三种学习方式:一是向书本学习,坚定信念,立德储能;二是向实践学习,增长才干,历练作风;三是向群众学习,收获智慧,增进感情。     

So Close and Yet So Far: Strategies in the 13th Malaysian Elections

Abstract

This article examines the strategies employed by the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional (or National Front), and the opposition alliance, Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Alliance), in the 13th general election held in Malaysia in May 2013. It argues that while the opposition used the right strategy for the 2013 campaign, it lost because it could not overcome the three biggest hurdles for opposition politics in Malaysia: East Malaysia, the rural Malay votes and a biased electoral system.