The Scottish Liberal Democrats

As the junior members of the two Scottish coalition or partnership governments (1999–2003 and 2003–7), the Liberal Democrats have had a major impact on post-devolution public policy in Scotland. Contrary to expectations, their participation as junior partners in a coalition government has enhanced rather than damaged their electoral prospects. The party's success in coalition reflects the electoral and policy compatibilities between them and Labour, the availability of increased public spending to fund their demands, their use of specific policy agreements and effective election campaign tactics. Under their new leader, Nicol Stephen, they have sought greater distance from Labour and located themselves between Labour and the Scottish Nationalist Party. Looking forward to the 2007 election, the declining Labour vote and probable SNP gains mean that the Liberal Democrats are likely this time to have a choice between joining a Labour-led or forming a non-Labour coalition.     

构建中国特色的和谐政党关系

和谐的政党关系是和谐政治、和谐国家的根基,需要从多方面多层次加以研究。本文分析了和谐政党关系的基本内涵,对当代和谐政党关系的要求做了分析,并对实现和谐政党关系的途径做了一番探讨。     

论高校学生的参与评教权

上海交大教师晏才宏这样的教学型教师因为没有论文评不上教授，可见，现行的教师职称考核机制对学生参与评教没有引起重视。教学和科研都是高校的功能，偏重任何一方都有违高校的本义。美国教师激励机制中的学生评价的做法值得借鉴与反思，我国高校应该建立两套侧重点不同的评价体系，重视学生参与评教，确立一套科学的、合理的、公正的教师评价体系。     

跨国公司转移定价及我国的税制对策

在我国的许多跨国公司滥用转移定价,以实现其市场目标。这不仅给我国带来了巨大的税收损失,而且也破坏了公平的税收环境,给中国的正常经济活动造成了很大的利益损失。这就要求中国政府必须有效地防范外方投资者利用转移定价避税。     

国外政党执政能力建设的经验教训探析

执政能力建设是所有执政党所面临的一个共同问题。世界范围内一些长期保持执政地位的执政党为我们党的执政能力建设提供了成功的经验,而部分曾取得过辉煌成就的国外政党执政地位的丧失,又给我们党的执政能力建设提供了深刻的教训。     

Transaction costs in electoral coordination: How turnout shapes changes in the number of parties*

This article examines the forces shaping changes in the number of parties between consecutive elections. We argue that the transaction costs in electoral coordination depend on the turnout level in the previous election. The greater the number of peripheral voters entering the electorate, the less likely a substantial change in the distribution of partisan support in the subsequent election. The argument is tested using data for 313 parliamentary elections in 63 countries from 1990 to 2011, and two cases studies of countries using compulsory voting (the Netherlands and Australia).     

Competition and interaction: Party ties to interest groups in a multidimensional policy space

Political parties and interest groups play a vital role in incorporating societal interests into democratic decision-making. Therefore, explaining the nature and variation in the relationship between them will advance our understanding of democratic governance. Existing research has primarily drawn attention to how exchange of resources shapes these relationships largely neglecting the role of contextual conditions. Our contribution is to examine whether parties’ structured interactions with different categories of interest groups vary systematically with the pattern of party competition at the level of policy dimensions. First, we argue that higher party fragmentation in a policy space makes organisational ties to interest groups more likely, due to fears of voter loss and splinter groups. Second, we expect higher polarisation between parties on a policy dimension to make ties to relevant groups less likely due to increased electoral costs. We find support for both expectations when analysing new data on 116 party units in 13 mature democracies along nine different policy dimensions. Our findings underline the value of considering the strategic context in which parties and interest groups interact to understand their relationship. The study sheds new light on parties and interest groups as intermediaries in democracy and contributes to a new research agenda connecting interest group research with studies of parties’ policy positions and responsiveness.     

Appealing broadly while appearing unified: Resolving an electoral dilemma

Political parties have an electoral incentive to appear ideologically unified, but also to appeal broadly to different groups of voters with diverse preferences. This paper suggests that parties respond to both incentives through the distribution of candidate issue positions. Members of Parliament (MPs) are responsible for their party's national reputation and thus rarely take positions that diverge from those of their party. Non-incumbent candidates, on the other hand, are mostly visible within their electoral district and thus more likely to diverge from party positions that are unpopular among their constituents. These possibilities are tested with candidate position taking data from nine voting advice applications in Denmark, Finland, Ireland and Switzerland. The results are consistent with the theoretical expectations and have important implications for the way representation works in parliamentary democracies as well as for the broader literature on the topic.     

试论法官释明权

释明权是我国民事诉讼中一项新的法律制度 ,该制度对于司法公正与效率价值目标的实现有着重要意义。但目前对释明权制度的理论研究比较落后 ,对释明权如何行使又缺乏具体规定。因此 ,有必要对释明权的内涵、性质、诉讼价值以及行使中的相关问题作一探讨     

Going Local. Voting for independent local Parties in the Netherlands 1986-2010

ABSTRACT

This paper examines why the support of independent local parties has grown substantially in the Netherlands. These are parties that run in municipal council elections, but do not run in elections at higher levels, specifically the national level. Such parties saw their support double in the Netherlands between 1986 and 2010. Parties of this type have also grown in other Western European states. This paper examines two possible explanations: declining political trust on the level of voters and, on the supply side, the rise of parties that are not rooted at the local level. The evidence shows that the rise of independent local parties reflects the rise of national political parties that do not run in many municipal elections. This article examines the case of the Netherlands, pooling five surveys from the 1986–2010 period.