The Politics of the Third Person

Abstract

Against the enthusiasm for dialogue and deliberation in recent democratic theory, the Italian philosopher Roberto Esposito and French philosopher Jacques Rancière construct their political philosophies around the nondialogical figure of the third person. The strikingly different deployments of the figure of the third person offered by Esposito and Rancière present a crystallization of their respective approaches to political philosophy. In this essay, the divergent analyses of the third person offered by these two thinkers are considered in terms of the critical strategies they employ. Contrasting Esposito’s strategy of “ethical dissensus” with Rancière’s strategy of “aesthetic dissensus,” it is argued that Esposito’s attempts to recruit the figure of the third person to dismantle the dispositif of the person are politically (if not philosophically) problematic, while Rancière’s alternative account of the third person is more promising for political theory and practice.     

治安管理处罚的民主精神简论

治安管理处罚法在立法宗旨、立法原则及处罚程序的设定等法律条文中,处处体现出社会主义民主精神,是对以往公安行政立法的发展和完善。治安管理处罚法的通过和实施,对规范和保障公安机关在治安管理处罚活动中严格执法、尊重和保障人权,构建和谐社会,都具有重要意义。     

发展党内民主势在必行

党内民主既是时代的要求也是社会主义民主政治发展的需要;党内民主可以有效地防止党内权力过分集中和腐败滋生;党内民主是党永葆先进性的根本保证。应发展保障党员各项民主权利的党内民主;发展党务充分公开、党员能自由和舒畅地表达真实想法的党内民主。为了更好地发展党内民主,应健全和完善党的代表大会制度;改革完善党内选举制度;建立健全党内监督机制。     

民主决策:新世纪条件下的战略选择

民主决策是新世纪条件下领导方式的一个战略选择。要实现决策民主,不仅领导者必须具有较高的民主素养,而且要完善和发展民主集中制,加强法律控制,改革决策机制,健全群众监督制度。在实行民主决策过程中,还应处理好集体决策与个人拍板、民主与集中先后顺序、连续性与创造性、抓大与放小的关系。     

Worker Democracy and Worker Productivity

A major source of oppression in industrial and post-industrial society is the restrictive and highly authoritarian nature of the workplace. One response is to democratize the workplace by increasing the participation of workers in making decisions and in choosing and evaluating managers as well as sharing in the ownership of the firm. These are not new ideas, and there are many examples of organizations pursuing various forms of democratic practices. However, a major objection is that such participation would compromise economic and other types of organizational productivity. This article examines the empirical support for that argument over a wide range of types of organizations in which workers participate in important decisions affecting their welfare. The overall results of this survey across many different forms of work organization suggest that the evidence supports the opposite conclusion, that worker participation increases productivity, particularly when workers share the benefits of higher productivity. The challenge is to ascertain ways of spreading these practices more widely.     

论"三个代表"与人民民主专政

当前,坚持人民民主专政要求我们认真贯彻“三个代表”重要思想。要充分认识坚持人民民主专政与加强党的建设的统一性,积极推进党的思想、政治、组织、作风、制度建设。     

论宪法与政治文明

在政治文明史上 ,宪法的产生具有里程碑的意义。宪法是权利的保障书 ,人权是政治文明的终极关怀 ;宪法是民主政治的法律化 ,民主政治是政治文明的保障 ;宪法是治国之法 ,法治是政治文明的基本运作方式 ;宪法是宪政的前提 ,宪政是政治文明的核心。宪法与政治文明相辅相成、不可分离     

Strengthening Citizenship in Brazil's Democracy: Local Participatory Governance in Porto Alegre

In Latin America, and particularly Brazil, inequality and social exclusion continue to plague the quality of democracy despite two decades of transition and consolidation. Still, in Brazil, the Workers' Party has been remarkably successful over the past decade, explicitly addressing the problem of social exclusion and 'incomplete citizenship'. This paper provides an analysis of the case of Porto Alegre covering the four Workers' Party municipal administrations from 1989 to the present in order to assess the significance of social incorporation and citizenship for the quality of democracy in Brazil. The paper discusses some conceptual notions that are relevant for the question of democracy in Brazil, particularly the role of citizenship and civil society in 'deepening' democracy. Then the paper goes into the evolution and dynamics of Porto Alegre's system of 'participatory budgeting'. The paper's assessment of this experience with respect to its performance, depth and robustness shows that 'participatory budgeting' has had positive effects with respect to the provision of public goods services, the quality of governance, and citizens' participation in what is seen as a new 'public space' shared by the local state and grass roots organisations. The paper concludes by relating the case experience to the question of citizenship, civil society and democracy and by reflecting upon its wider implications for the current and future quality of democracy in Brazil.     

真知与偏见：亨廷顿眼中的台湾民主

在《第三波——20世纪后期民主化浪潮》一书中,亨廷顿论及台湾的民主化进程,提出了民主化的基本含义、诱因、过程、特征和前景。亨廷顿对台湾民主的分析充满着真知灼见,其预测也为后来的台湾政治民主实践所证实。但是,必须指出的是,亨廷顿从西方的价值体系出发来对全球的民主化进程进行分析,不可避免地带有一定的偏见性。     

行政听证制度之法理思考

行政听证制度是行政程序法的重要组成部分。作者从听证制度的概念比较分析入手,探讨了行政听证制度的法理基础,阐述了行政听证制度与行政法治化、民主行政和行政效率之间的关系,从法理层面上揭示了听证制度存在的价值,以期对我国行政听证立法做些理性思考。