BRINGING CHILDREN TO THE MEDIATION TABLE:

With the rise of divorce mediation as an effective means of resolving divorce and custody disputes, a question that arises is whether a child should actively participate in the mediation process to make his or her voice heard. This article discusses the costs and benefits of involvement, focusing on four specific approaches to the inclusion of children in divorce mediation. This article comes to the conclusion that the integration of children in mediation ought to be considered on a case-by-case basis, and further proposes that a child be included in divorce mediation in circumstances where the child's input is needed to help parents resolve an issue of dispute that concerns their child's interests.     

雅典城邦的公民意识

任何制度都离不开其背后的社会意识的支持 ,否则 ,好的制度只能空有其表。雅典城邦民主制成为古代民主制的典范 ,是与雅城邦的公民意识分不开的。我国具有悠久历史文化传统 ,建设具有中国特色的民主法治国家更应注意这一点。     

“阵地战”与社会主义文化建设——文化领导权理论对我们的启示

依据对市民社会的全新理解,葛兰西提出了文化领导权理论,解释了革命在俄国成功和发达资本主义国家遭到失败的深层次的文化原因,代表了20世纪以来马克思主义的发展中一股最富有创新性的潮流。这一理论对社会主义文化建设具有重大的借鉴意义,我们必须高度重视文化建设,创新文化、意识形态工作的方法并大力培养属于无产阶级的“有机知识分子”。     

试论政府治理模式转变下公民参与机制建设

20世纪80年代以来,随着全球化时代、信息时代的来临,政府治理变革运动正在不断地走强,在这种政府治理理念的倡导下,当代公共行政越来越关注“公民导向,”重视公共问题解决过程中的公民参与。但在公共管理中公民参与的实际操作过程中,存在着“效率”与“回应”的两难处境。如何走出“效率”与“回应”的两难处境,构建政府治理模式转变下的公民参与机制,是本文探讨的主要内容。     

台湾地区女性权力参与的现状及原因分析

台湾地区女性权力参与起步于20世纪五六十年代,随着台湾威权体制的瓦解及西方女性主义思潮的传入,女性日渐成为台湾政治运作过程中不容忽视的因素。一方面,得益于政治民主化的推进及台湾民众深厚的“悲情意识”,女性参政情况得到有效改善,越来越多的女性开始进入政治生活,甚至进入政治决策核心。女性特有的政治魅力对于政治斗争的降温、政治僵局的化解起到特殊的积极作用,从而推动了台湾政治的良性发展。另一方面,由于受到社会经济制度、传统文化观念、大众传媒等不利因素的影响,台湾地区女性权力参与的发展并非一帆风顺,仍存在参政比例偏低、参政代价较大等不足,对女性切实发挥参政议政作用造成严重制约。     

Behind a veil of secrecy: animal abuse,factory farms,and Ag-Gag legislation

Abstract

For years, animal rights organizations have sought to expose animal cruelty on America’s factory farms. With the meat and dairy industry inaccessible to the public, animal advocates rely on undercover investigators who gain access to farms by becoming employees. Working from the inside, these investigators become whistleblowers when they reveal animal cruelty unrelated to the already inhumane conditions of animal husbandry. An effective strategy that has exposed animal abuse as well as conditions threatening to public health, in recent years the agriculture industry has pressured legislatures to enact laws that criminalize photography at factory farms. Dubbed ‘Ag-Gag’ laws by critics, the emergence of legislation targeting animal rights advocates raises important questions relevant to animal welfare, animal rights activism, and freedom of speech. This paper exposes the failure of government institutions to protect animals on factory farms while simultaneously silencing what is currently the only available mechanism for Americans to learn about abuse on factory farms. It also explores the Constitutional implications of Ag-Gag laws. Not only are Ag-Gag laws presumptively unconstitutional, but with their enactment – animal welfare remains unchanged, the American consumer remains uninformed, and America’s factory farms are free to abuse animals behind a legal veil of secrecy.     

The effects of protracted conflict and displacement on citizen engagement in Northern Uganda

The Acholi region of Uganda was deeply affected by the war between the Lord’s Resistance Army and the Government of Uganda from the late 1980s to 2006. This article presents qualitative case-study research of how citizen engagement evolved during the conflict and period of internal displacement, analysing the mechanisms through which violent conflict affected the sense and practice of citizenship. The findings show that the securitisation of local institutions and the militarisation of the public sphere limited the opportunity for learning the practice of citizenship. In the post-conflict situation, perceptions and behaviours that developed during the conflict period persist among the Acholi. Finally, the experience of protracted conflict has a negative impact on a sense of citizenship, which weakens the confidence of the Acholi people to engage with the state. With practices of citizenship limited by inexperience and a sense of citizenship that is characterised by alienation, the Acholi find it difficult to hold state actors to account. This demonstrates the need for a clear understanding of the continued fragility of citizenship after violent conflict.     

农民生命权面临的几个问题

生命权是首要人权。改革以来,死刑、劳教、收容、刑讯逼供、计生暴力等是与农民的生命权密切相关的几个重要方面。     

宪政视野中的公民政治参与

宪政是以民主为基础,以法治为保障,以人权为终极目标的政治过程与政治状态。政治参与是公民通过一定途径与方式介入政治过程从而影响政治决策的政治行为。公民的政治参与是宪政实践的一项重要内容,对于建设社会主义法治国家,推动社会主义民主进程,最终促成社会主义政治文明有着深远的意义。     

Citizens policing citizens: are citizen watches manifestations of contemporary responsible citizenship?

During the last decade, the phenomenon of citizen watches has become a common and meaningful element in citizen participation that aims to improve local public safety. This paper discusses citizen watches as a manifestation of the way citizens and state agencies are redefining and transforming their relationships. It examines the question of the extent to which citizen watches can be seen as examples of good citizenship. The Dutch government is currently appealing strongly for more citizen involvement in public matters, but is unclear about the kind of involvement it expects. The paper argues that citizen watches are mainly considered manifestations of ‘good citizenship’ by the government if they are set up in line with state objectives and are willing to serve as an auxiliary of the formal authorities in the neighborhood. Many citizen watches are therefore products of self-responsibilization processes, which have not yet received much academic attention.