Revisiting the Paris Declaration Agenda – an inclusive,realistic orientation for aid effectiveness

The progress in endeavours to achieve the commitments of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness has been slow. This paper explains the challenges faced by the aid effectiveness agenda and discusses why and how it needs to be revisited. In order to elucidate the differences in donors' approaches to aid effectiveness, a comparison is made between the UK and Japan, which leads to two suggestions. The main messages are that it is important to be inclusive of different donors, and to link the policy dialogue with reality on the ground.

Remanier l'ordre de jour de la Déclaration de Paris – une orientation inclusive et réaliste pour l'efficacité de l'aide

Le progrès des initiatives visant à atteindre les engagements de la Déclaration de Paris sur l'efficacité de l'aide a été lent. Ce document explique les défis auxquels se heurte l'ordre du jour de l'efficacité de l'aide et traite des raisons et des manières de le remanier. Afin de clarifier les différences d'approche de la part des bailleurs de fonds en matière d'efficacité de l'aide, une comparaison est faite entre le Royaume-Uni et le Japon qui aboutit à deux suggestions. Les principaux messages sont qu'il est important d'inclure différents bailleurs de fonds et de relier le dialogue au niveau des politiques générales avec la réalité sur le terrain.

Reexaminando a Agenda da Declaração de Paris – uma Orientação Inclusiva e Realista para a Efetividade da Ajuda

O avanço dos esforços para se chegar nos compromissos da Declaração de Paris sobre a Efetividade da Ajuda tem sido lento. Este artigo explica os desafios enfrentados pela agenda da efetividade da ajuda e discute por que e como isto precisa ser reexaminado. Para elucidar as diferenças nas abordagens dos doadores em relação é efetividade da ajuda, uma comparação é feita entre o Reino Unido e Japão, que leva a duas sugestões. As principais mensagens são que é importante ser inclusivo para atrair diferentes doadores e fazer a ligação entre o di´logo da polÚtica e a realidade na base.

Analizando de nuevo la Agenda de la Declaración de París – Una orientación incluyente y realista para la eficacia de la ayuda

Los avances en el cumplimiento de los compromisos asumidos en la Declaración de París sobre la Eficacia de la Ayuda han sido lentos. Este ensayo expone los retos que surgen de los compromisos relacionados con la eficacia de la ayuda y porqué y cómo deben replantearse. A fin de aclarar las diferencias que existen entre los donantes sobre la eficacia de la ayuda, el ensayo compara los casos de Reino Unido y Japón dando pie a dos sugerencias. Éstas tienen que ver con la importancia de incluir a distintos donantes y de vincular los diálogos sobre políticas con la realidad existente.     

Soviet conspiracy theories and political culture in Ukraine: Understanding Viktor Yanukovych and the Party of Regions

Conspiracy theories in Ukraine draw on inherited Soviet political culture and political technology imported from Russia where such ideas had gained ascendancy under President Vladimir Putin. Eastern Ukrainian and Russian elites believed that the US was behind the 2000 Serbian Bulldozer, 2003 Georgian Rose and 2004 Orange democratic revolutions. The Kuchmagate crisis, impending succession crisis, 2004 presidential elections and Orange Revolution – all of which took up most of Leonid Kuchma’s second term in office – were the first significant domestic threats to Ukraine’s new, post-communist ruling elites and in response Ukraine’s elites revived Soviet style theories of conspiracies and ideological tirades against the US and Ukrainian nationalism. Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko became the focal point against which the conspiracies and tirades were launched because his support base lay in ‘nationalist’ Western Ukraine and he has a Ukrainian-American spouse. The revival of Soviet style conspiracy theories has become important since Viktor Yanukovyc’s election as Ukrainian president in 2010 because this political culture permeates his administration, government and Party of Regions determining their worldview and influencing their domestic and foreign policies.     

政治和技术的二分与互动——引证于“万人评议政府”绩效评估模式分析

政府绩效评估是一个由政治和技术构成的有机整体,在政治和技术二分的基础上把握两者的互动规律有助于我们更好地认识政府绩效评估的运行原理,探索提高其认同度和使用价值的方法。运用文本分析和深入访谈方法对珠海市“万人评议政府”这一个案进行了历史性分析,不仅发现了政治主导技术、技术约束政治的互动规律,而且发现了这种互动在流程上的非均衡性。基于上述发现提出的实践策略包括坚持评估目的与评估模式相匹配,选择合适的评估主体并合理分配评估权力,根据事前承诺运用评估结果。笔者基于上述理论反思和探索性分析认为,政治与技术的视角比较切合中国的政治制度,因为政治与技术的视角关注的是行政过程中的政治与技术之间的关系。     

Income inequality,development and electoral turnout – New evidence on a burgeoning debate

In this article, we comprehensively analyze the macro-level link between income inequality and electoral turnout. First, we re-examine prior studies which affirm that higher inequality puts a drain on electoral turnout in wealthy industrialized Western countries. Second, we evaluate whether there is an association between the two concepts in a larger, more representative sample of democratic elections around the world. Third, we analyze if income inequality has a different influence on participation in the Western and non-Western countries. Controlling for nine theoretically informed covariates, we assess these claims in a multilevel framework with evidence from more than 550 democratic elections between 1970 and 2010. We find little evidence that electoral turnout is affected by income inequality. Our results also indicate that this “null” effect does not differ between the Western- and the non-Western world. However, we do find evidence that mandatory voting laws and more decisive elections boost turnout considerably.     

严复对中国近现代教育的贡献和启示

严复在我国近现代教育史上开创了教育救国的道路,最早制定了德、智、体全面育人的方针,在文化上他突破"中体西用"的模式,主张从体用一致上全面学习西方的长处,达到救国图强的目的。严复是北京大学首任校长,在艰难条件下对维护北大生存和开创学科改革有过重大贡献。严复的教育思想和行为品格,对我国当代教育也有诸多启发。     

海西路面治安问题与管理创新

路面治安是指街头或路面的治安状况,主要体现是发生在街头或路面与社会治安有关的刑事犯罪案件和治安案件。近5年来,海西路面刑事犯罪案件和治安案件呈上升趋势,并出现发生时空的集中性、涉案人员的地缘性和团伙性、作案手段的多样性等特点。当前路面治安管理中还存在群众自防意识差、防范力量未能形成合力、硬件设施利用率不高、视频监控装置存有缺陷等问题,需要在组织机制、执行机制、权责模式、监督机制和管理模式加以创新管理,实行"多警合一",开展"网格化巡逻",实现"综合执法",平衡"激励与问责",加强"人技联防"。     

西部民族地区毒品犯罪之宗教防治功能

西部民族地区毒品犯罪防治具有特殊性,其中宗教因素能够发挥其防治毒品犯罪的社会控制功能。宗教对有关毒品违法犯罪问题持有否定性态度,这对西部民族地区防治毒品犯罪宣传教育等工作具有重要作用,并且对法律规范起到一定的补充作用。     

优化我国西部欠发达地区基层政府绩效评估的路径——美国政府绩效评估的启示

西部欠发达地区由于受到资金、技术、人才等多种因素的制约和限制,完善的基层政府绩效评估体系几乎还是一片空白。我国政府绩效评估起步较晚,在相对落后的西部地区建立完善的政府绩效评估体系,需要借鉴国外的成功经验。因此,本文结合我国西部欠发达地区的特点以及经济社会发展的现状,从考察美国政府绩效评估的经验入手,探索完善我国西部欠发达地区基层政府绩效评估体系的路径。     

Baltic Studies in North America: A Survey of Academic Dissertations 1911–2006

ABSTRACT

The article argues for an extended delineation of increasing Western cultural hegemony in the reconstituted Baltic states. An initial idiom of postcolonial studies is revisited in order to complement their dominant scope in the Baltics, focused primarily on a retrospective cultural study of Baltic/Soviet relationships. The argument elaborates on the urgency of the expanding research agenda regarding the Baltic/European research framework. By pointing out the frequent occurrence of the superiority or inferiority value scale in cross-cultural references sampled from press releases of the Art Museum of Estonia, the article concludes that mainstream cultural self-reflection in Estonia is nowadays subjected to the supremacy of the imagined West European viewpoint.     

Efficacy of Several Candidate Protein Biomarkers in the Differentiation of Vaginal from Buccal Epithelial Cells*

Abstract: Currently, there is no accurate method to differentiate vaginal epithelial cells from buccal epithelial cells in biological samples typically encountered in forensic casework. This study tested the expression of a selection of candidate proteins in buccal and vaginal epithelial cells. We investigated six candidate biomarkers, such as loricrin, vimentin, stratifin, cytokeratin 4, cytokeratin 13, small proline‐rich protein 2, and involucrin, using Western blot analysis on whole protein extracts and immunohistochemistry (IHC) on intact cells in an attempt to identify cell‐specific markers that would differentiate these cells by microscopy. Involucrin, loricrin, and stratifin showed differential expression during Western blot analysis and were carried through to IHC. Although proteins unique to vaginal epithelial cells and buccal epithelial cells were not identified from among the proteins tested, the increased expression levels of two proteins, loricrin and stratifin in vaginal cells, when compared to buccal cells, do provide encouraging results in the search for epithelial cell‐specific markers.