Local Renewable Energy Initiatives in Germany and Japan in a Changing National Policy Environment

Our article explores the contribution of local initiatives to the creation of path dependencies for energy transition in Germany and Japan in the face of resistance from entrenched incumbents at the national level. We use a process‐tracing methodology based partly on interviews with local participants. In particular, we explore the role of local initiatives in securing “socio‐political space” for the expansion of renewable energy (RE) and in embedding themselves in “ecosystems” of public and private institutions. German energy activists were more successful than their Japanese counterparts in expanding this space and creating positive feedback in part because they were able to build horizontal networks that anchored the energy transition firmly in local communities. Although problems with grid technology have led to retrenchment in both cases, Japanese activists' reliance on vertical networks has limited their ability to weather a backlash from national government and utility actors. Our study demonstrates the interaction of political, economic/technological, and legitimation paths to energy transition and highlights the importance of the latter two.     

Open Immigration Policies and Liberal Discomfort

Consequentialist cosmopolitanism, Peter Higgins argues, enables closed border liberals to evade charges of moral hypocrisy despite their commitment to moral equality of individuals, once we recognize that open border arguments rely on cosmopolitanism’s individualism requirement, which ignores social realities relevant to a realistic assessment of the social consequences of an open immigration policy. Higgins is mistaken, however, in contending that cosmopolitan individualism entails attention to people only in their capacity as the abstract atomic individuals populating Charles Mills’ idealized social ontologies. Conversely, if cosmopolitan individualism does compel us to think of people as abstract atomic individuals, we are not obliged to think of them as relatively privileged. Under liberal cosmopolitanism, however, which prohibits state discrimination between citizens and non-citizens, open border policies are subject to no such consequentialist objections.

Institutions and Morality Policy in Western Democracies

This article investigates whether different political institutions such as executives, legislatures, parties, party systems, judiciaries, decentralization, constitutionalism, and referendums across 24 Western democracies are venues for debate across five individual morality policies. Using data since 1945, the article compares three theories of morality policy—(1) Policy Type leading to different institutional venues; (2) Two Worlds of religious/secular party systems; and (3) U.S./European exceptionalism. In order, the most frequently debated issues are abortion, same sex marriage, euthanasia, stem cells/assisted reproductive technology (ART), and capital punishment. There is considerable variation in the institutions and country groups that debate them although fewer differences in the Two Worlds model. Abortion, euthanasia, and same sex marriage are the most convergent issues across institutions, party systems, and country groupings while capital punishment and stem cells/ART show the most diverse patterns of deliberation. The general Policy Type model of morality policy is upheld, but varies institutionally by specific issues. The Two Worlds model is of some importance, but only on three issues. There also are regional differences between the United States, Europe, and non‐European democracies.     

Spatial and individual resistance(s) in depopulated and remote rural areas

The concept of resistance is multidimensional in political and rural geography. It is mainly used to classify communities’ strategies in response to the actions of extra-local public and private agents. In this approach, the community is usually studied homogeneously. However, some interpretations consider that resistance creates differentiation processes within the rural community. From this perspective, individual resistance strategies can be analysed, which join forces in times of community resistance. In depopulated regions, the purpose of resistance is to remain in a place. This paper studies several cases of resistance in small populations affected by depopulation in a region of Spain.     

New localism or fuzzy centralism: policymakers’ perceptions of public education and involvement in education

This research examines local authority involvement in education as a function of local policymakers’ perceptions of education as a public service – namely, whether public education is for the benefit of society as a whole, or for individual students and parents. Perceptions of education and involvement in education were assessed through 107 questionnaires returned by mayors and heads of local education departments in Israel. The results show that (1) local policymakers tend to perceive public education as a general public service, and (2) the relationship between this perception and involvement in education varies with the locality’s centre-periphery status. In peripheral localities, perceiving education as a general public service and an understanding of ‘society’ as the local community leads to greater involvement in education. In central localities, involvement rose with a more individualised perception. Implications of the findings are discussed in line with viewing education in the spirit of new localism.     

论个体生命和谐与社会和谐

和谐社会必然是一个以人为本的社会,社会和谐的基础是一个个自身和谐的生命体。离开对尘世飘泊灵魂的安顿和终极关怀．离开对现实个体生存价值的卫护和关爱,离开对个体生命精神的激发和张扬,构建和谐社会就失去了目标和动力。     

如何向集团赔偿——以集团诉讼中的赔偿估算和分配为中心

普通法系集团诉讼制度中，面向集团的赔偿机制由赔偿金的估算和分配两个程序组成。赔偿金的估算包括个别性估算方法和整体性估算方法。在现代集团诉讼背景下，个别性估算方法不能解决所有集团诉讼的赔偿问题，须由整体性估算方法来弥补缺陷。在整体上确定赔偿总额后，还要按照直接分配、间接分配等方式将赔偿金分配给集团成员。普通法集团诉讼中的“以个别损害赔偿方法为原则，以整体性估算为例外；以直接分配为主，以间接分配为辅”的理念，对于我们克服代表入诉讼制度的体制阻碍具有借鉴价值。     

用非放射性标记MYO探针进行DNA指纹分析

用非放射性标记ＭＹＯ探针进行人的ＤＮＡ指纹分析，获得了清晰易读的ＤＮＡ指纹图，并用该方法调查了云南省的７８名无关个体，经统计学分析，计算出无关个体的相关几率是３．４×１０－１０，高于３２Ｐ标记的Ｍｙｏ探针。研究结果表明该方法是一种简便、快速、灵敏、可靠、经济的ＤＮＡ指纹图检测技术，可在法医鉴定及其它领域里得到更广泛的应用。     

个人全面发展与教育

在马克思和恩格斯的著作中认为，个人全面发展“就是全面地发展自己的一切能力”。个人从片面发展到全面发展是一个历史过程，而教育是实现这一过程的重要途径，并且以人的闲暇时间及其支配作为个人全面发展的直接尺度和标志。     

经济不发达国家推进民主进程应注意的问题

目前经济不发达国家推进民主进程应注意 :经济进程与民主进程要协调发展 ,既不因经济落后而放弃推进民主的努力 ,也不要盲目脱离经济现状提出不切实际的民主要求 ;推进民主进程应先后有序 ,从低到高 ,注意协调好推进民主进程与保持政治稳定的关系 ;经济不发达国家的民主进程必须有领导地进行 ,要加强民主秩序化。