Is referendum voting distinctive? Evidence from three UK cases

The study of referendum voting follows much the same format as for general election voting. Influences on vote, however, are likely to differ significantly. Referendums decide issues, while general elections determine which party or parties will form the government. Parties are often divided on referendum issues and these issues tend to be of low salience. General elections, however, are contested by long-established parties on highly salient issues. Using panel data from the British Election Study and the 2011 Alternative Vote Referendum Study, we find that voters place different weights on party identification, issue positions, government and leader evaluations when voting in general elections and referendums, but the evidence for differential campaign effects is limited.     

Agile small state agency: heuristic plays and flexible national identity markers in Finnish foreign policy

Studies of small state foreign policy tend to draw relatively bleak conclusions when it comes to small state agency. However, I will examine alternative and more positive modalities of small state agency. One such modality is agility, the strategic maneuverability to take advantage of a chancy environment. Besides leading to dangerous rigidities and biases, particular types of foreign policy imageries and heuristics may also facilitate experimental and agile agency. In studying this possibility, Finland is chosen as an illustrative case because historically Finland has faced a particularly constraining geopolitical context and because it has managed to adapt to multiple upheavals and to different geopolitical contexts. The emphasis is on the heuristic dynamics inherent in Finnish foreign policy culture that have allowed it to actively meet the emerging challenges. Instead of taking a detailed historical approach, I seek to understand the role of the relatively flexible and combinable embodied cultural models, i.e. thick images. They allow for agency-related experimentation that may bring added value that allows Finland to exceed the constraints of the brute geopolitical position. After reviewing multiple embodied foreign policy images, I will use them to analyse New Year's speeches by the Finnish Presidents Ahtisaari and Halonen in order to see how the fickle present is made to resonate innovatively with the known, commonplace, and mythical.     

Multi-Agency Protocols as a Mechanism to Improve Partnerships in Public Services

This paper discusses and tries to explain the paradoxical observation that a local government reform aimed at reducing or even removing bureaucracy actually leads to more formalisation, not less. During the last 10–15 years more than 40 per cent of Norwegian municipalities have adopted an organisational model that makes the administration more disaggregated, decentralised and flat. The reform has been promoted by strong post- or even anti-bureaucratic rhetoric, arguing for increased managerial autonomy at the operational level. The basic idea is that greater autonomy will create better performance. The paradox of increased formalisation is discussed on the basis of rhetoric, unintended consequences, diagnostic problems and linguistic problems. The paper concludes by pointing out the need for a more nuanced conception of bureaucracy than the dichotomous approach of post-bureaucracy can offer. It also outlines a couple of supplementing explanations for increased formalisation.     

Democratic agency in the local political sphere. Reflections on inclusion in Bolivia

Numerous arguments have been advanced in the academic and policy literature as concerns the democratizing potential of decentralization reforms in third-wave developing and transition countries; numerous also have been the case studies signalling the short-comings of these reforms. In addition, analysis of local political participation has become an important dimension of studies of democratization. Taking the case of Bolivia as an example, this article addresses an issue which has been generally overlooked in this literature, that is the process of constitution of local political agents. Where do political agents come from in the context of democratization of local politics? Additionally, this article raises questions regarding the relationship between greater inclusion and deepening democracy in the local political sphere.     

发展和规范社会组织——以广东省为例

2000年以来,广东省社会组织发展迅速,社会作用不断增强,逐步成为促进经济社会发展的一支重要力量,但仍处于初级发展阶段,在思想观念、体制机制、配套政策、法制建设以及人员素质等方面还存在许多亟待解决的问题。本文通过深入调研,全面回顾了近年来广东省社会组织发展情况,客观分析了其存在问题,在此基础上对发展和规范广东省社会组织的目标模式进行了探索。     

关于行业治安管理中身份验证登记制度的探讨--以福建省为例

行政许可制度的改革,使行业治安管理工作出现一些新情况、新问题。如何执行好身份验证登记制度,是治安管理部门面临的一项课题。公民维权意识的增强,企业在市场经济中追求利益最大化,行业治安管理所依据的法律制度不健全,行政部门条块化管理的沟壑,以及当前警力紧张的压力等,使得治安管理部门在执行特种行业以及某些存在治安风险的行业身份验证登记制度中力不从心。当前应通过健全相关法律、创新管理方式,以推进制度的执行,扎实做好治安基础工作。     

眼动追踪技术及其在侦查辨认中的应用

辨认,从心理学角度来讲,是感知、记忆、再认的过程。通过眼动追踪技术可以实时采集辨认人在辨认过程中的眼动数据,了解其在辨认中是如何思考及做出辨认结果的心理认知过程。利用眼动追踪技术,分析证人、犯罪嫌疑人辨认过程中的眼动模式,有助于研究证人辨认的准确率、识别犯罪嫌疑人、辅助发现破案线索等问题。眼动追踪技术在侦查辨认领域有广阔的应用前景。     

简析赌博机犯罪之司法认定——以“两高一部”《意见》为视角

设置赌博机组织赌博活动构成开设赌场罪即所谓的赌博机犯罪。根据《意见》赌博机犯霏的司法认定,应该包括对利用赌博机组织赌饵行为的性质认定、定罪标准、罪与非罪的界定和共犯、赌资、赌博机的认定等方面内容的考量。     

“切开法”快速鉴定朱墨时序

朱墨时序是指印文与字迹形成的先后顺序。"朱"代表印文,"墨"指与印文形成交叠的字迹笔画。用"切开法"进行光敏印油、印泥印文和喷墨打印字迹、激光打印字迹、复印字迹的朱墨时序鉴定实验,取得了令人满意的效果。实验证明,"切开法",所需器材简单,操作简便,准确率高,对鉴定人从业经验也没有很高要求,非常适合基层一线单位使用。     

Beyond Identities: Political Determinants of Support for Decentralization in Contemporary Spain

Support for decentralization has generally been considered an outcome derived from the existence of regional or subnational identities. A recent complementary explanation has highlighted the role of politics to create regionally orientated support. We combine these two explanations by studying what determines the support for decentralization in Spain, an almost unique case where these two approaches can be tested. Using a hierarchical model, we show that in those regions without a different subnational identity, some citizens develop regionally orientated support because of their wish to bring the administration closer to the citizens and because their preferred party is pushing for further decentralization. In addition, we highlight the importance of considering decentralization as an outcome derived from party dynamics, which are able to shape political attitudes towards decentralization.