Mapping the production of political communications: a model to assist in understanding the relationships between the production and consumption of political messages

High public interest today in political communications such as ‘spin’ and in political participation such as electoral turnout suggests that there may be value in exploring the processes by which political messages are produced and consumed, and their inter‐relationship with participation. It may be that what citizen‐voters think of message production influences how they consume political news and publicity (through observing and evaluating), and that the propensity to political participation is subsequently affected. This paper offers a model which traces the production of political communications, starting at their origins in the political class, and flowing via traditional political journalism or controlled media and new media to citizen‐voters who both observe and evaluate them (ie consume them) before, during and after making any political choices. It is hypothesised that the observation and evaluation of message production and content by political consumers influences both their types and levels of participation. Research of this nature into political organisations is relatively rare. Similarly, there is little evidence of investigations into other aspects highlighted in the model: attitudes of the political class towards political communications, the production of political communications before they reach the media and how they are received by the media, and their consumption by citizen‐voters in relation to the propensity to participate in politics. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications     

广州公民政治参与状况调查

公民政治参与是衡量政治文明发展程度的重要标志。调查显示当前广州公民政治参与呈现引人关注的若干基本特点 :党和政府的基层组织、职能部门以及领导人是党群、政群沟通的第一线力量 ;报纸、电视等成为公民政治参与的主流渠道 ,互联网在参与中的作用加强 ;国有和三资企业中的中高级管理人员、个体经营者成为政治生活的一支重要力量 ;选举机制的不完善和沟通渠道的不畅通阻碍公民政治参与的热情 ;多数公民倾向于以正式途径和理智行动解决纠纷 ,但对激烈手段的认同率有所上升 ;必须重视由利益受损、失业压力及腐败问题造成的群众性事件     

从韶关市村委会的构成看农村妇女政治参与

对韶关市村委会构成的抽样调查表明 :村委会构成中妇女比例小且处于配角地位 ,农村妇女政治参与意识弱且与当地经济发展水平无明显因果关系 ;妇女的传统角色定位、指派荐举方式、文化素质、农户独立耕作制度是农村妇女政治参与的障碍。应通过鼓励、政策倾斜及妇联组织介入提高妇女在村委会中的比例 ,调动农村妇女的政治参与热情     

行政听证制度：公民参与公共行政的重要制度

现代民主宪政的运作和发展关键在于政治参与 ,参与是民主法制的基石。听证作为公民参与公共行政的重要制度已成为当今世界各国行政程序法的核心内容。尽管在不同的国家 ,听证制度有其不同但同样深厚的理论基础 ,从行政程序的角度看 ,其所要求和体现的价值和功能却是一致的。分析我国行政听证制度的现状和价值目标 ,并从公民参与公共行政的理念及其双赢思维的角度来进行阐述 ,旨在促进我国行政听证制度在行政程序和行政法治中良性地发展。     

仲裁中应设立第三人制度

社会关系的复杂性使仲裁活动涉及签订仲裁协议的当事人以外的第三人的情况客观存在。学术界对于仲裁中应否设立第三人制度意见不一。仲裁的实践、仲裁的法律性质和仲裁的价值目标决定了仲裁中设立第三人制度的必要性、合理性和必然性。仲裁第三人制度应从第三人参加仲裁的方式、时间 ,第三人的权利及其限制等方面加以规定。     

中国行政诉讼调解制度的现状与课题

对制度的设计者来说 ,建立完备的行政纠纷解决方式的体系 ,是保障行政相对人的合法权益 ,促进行政机关依法行政的必然要求。为制度的使用者考量 ,也应建立多种纠纷解决方式 ,从而落实当事人的程序选择权。面对行政诉讼调解制度出现的困境 ,中国行政诉讼制度的重构需要解决一些重要的课题 ,如在调解中怎样实现自愿与平等协商 ,如何实现调解与审判的协调 ,如何保障当事人的反悔权利以及和解契约的拘束力问题等等     

论刑事诉讼中的社会参与

社会参与原则应当包括辩护和代理制度、非职业法官参与诉讼、社会组织对司法活动的制约以及社会公众对司法运作情况的知情权等内容。我国应当从陪审制度、辩护和代理制度、公开审判制度等方面完善社会参与原则。     

行政诉讼中的平等保护研究

在我国宪法诉讼与违宪审查机制尚未建立的情况下 ,要解决行政权行使过程中的“歧视”、“不公平对待”的问题 ,有效途径是在行政诉讼中建立平等保护机制。行政诉讼的平等保护机制既包含公民平等保护请求权又包括法院的平等保护审查权。通过这一对互动的权利 (权力 )来实现司法权对行政权的监督 ,保障受到行政权侵犯的公民权利受到平等保护的救济。     

Acts of Faith: Churches and Political Engagement

Many observers suggest that white evangelical Protestant churches serve to mobilize their members into politics, while others argue that they encourage withdrawal from political life. This paper reconciles these two claims. I hypothesize that the time members of evangelical Protestant denominations spend in service to their church comes at the expense of participation in the wider community, contrary to the way mainline Protestant and Catholic churches foster civic activity among their members. However, I further hypothesize that the tight social networks formed through this intensive church activity can at times facilitate rapid and intense political mobilization. Data from the Citizen Participation Study supports the first hypothesis, while applying King's method of ecological inference to two elections in Alabama supports the second.     

社区治理框架中的居民参与问题：一项反思性的考察

本文以治理模式与公民社会的依存性作为分析的理论依据,提出考察中国城市社区居民参与的另一路径。一方面,居民参与意愿和参与程度制约着社区选择何种治理模式;另一方面,选择何种社区治理模式对于促进或制约居民参与程度具有重要影响。通过对二者互动过程的考察,从中国城市社区建设的基本哲学假设、居民—社区关系的理念预设、动员居民参与的理想目标等方面对中国城市社区居民参与动员的策略做了若干反思。