Explaining the effective number of parties: Beyond the standard model

This study casts new light on the conditions determining the effective number of parties in elections. The state-of-the-art mostly considers the interaction between the permissiveness of the electoral system and social heterogeneity, labelled the standard model. This study argues that we should move beyond the standard model and also consider voters’ short term ideological preferences as well as the diversity of issues on the party system agenda. Moreover, the effects of these variables are expected to be conditioned by electoral system permissiveness. The hypotheses are examined on the basis of a longitudinal dataset containing information on 696 elections that took place in 79 countries between 1945 and 2011. Importantly, the hypotheses could only be confirmed on institutionalized party systems.     

关于民主党派民主监督的几个基本问题

民主监督是民主党派的一项基本职能.充分发挥民主党派的民主监督作用,必须明确民主监督的性质、内容、形式和原则等基本问题.要切实提高民主党派民主监督的有效性,就必须着眼于促进我国政党关系的长期和谐,进一步推进社会主义民主政治建设,落实民主监督的措施,完善民主监督的机制,提高民主监督的制度化水平.     

论行政代履行第三人

《行政强制法》第50条规定,当事人不履行行政决定时,行政机关可以委托无利害关系的第三人代为履行。代履行仅是行政事务的代实施,而非公权力的代行使,第三人与义务人都是行政决定的履行者。而第三人在代履行实施过程中,往往存在"机会性"、代履行费用难落实、代履行行为致损等问题,因此,必须依法规范代履行行为,切实保障代履行报酬,不断完善代履行行为的损害救济。     

略论被害人陈述的证据补强——以当事人证据和印证证明为起点

作为一种证据规则,证据补强是针对某种证明力薄弱之言词证据,须与其他证据合并提出.证据补强规则与我国“印证证明模式”在实质上具有相通性.作为一种当事人证据,被害人陈述具有极大的主观性,在一定程度上削减了被害人陈述的可信性或者证明力.在口供补强已经被我国刑事诉讼法移植确认的情况下,确立被害人陈述之补强规则也是合理的.具言之,在被害人陈述成为案件定罪的关键证据或者仅有的证据时,应当对该被害人陈述进行证据补强.     

以中国特色社会主义理论为指导 认真履行参政党职能——民建履行参政党职能的经验和规律刍议

要坚持和完善中国共产党领导的多党合作和政治协商制度,必须以中国特色社会主义理论为指导,建设好中国特色社会主义参政党,更好地发挥民主党派作用,履行好参政党职能。从民建作为参政党履行职能的实践入手,分析民建作为参政党提高履职能力的重要意义,履行参政党职能的基本经验,探索履行参政党职能的普遍规律,以进一步推进参政党建设和科学发展。     

中国共产党与民主党派合作的历史经验及其今后走向

中国共产党与民主党派七十多年合作共事的历史经验表明:中国革命和建设的胜利离不开中共与民主党派的团结合作;要防止“清一色”的“左”倾关门主义倾向;坚持与民主党派长期合作共事的方针不动摇;坚持和改善中国共产党对多党合作的领导;切实照顾同盟者的利益;加强民主党派对执政党的民主监督。关于多党合作的今后走向,笔者认为,把2005年中共中央颁布的《关于进一步加强中国共产党领导的多党合作和政治协商制度的意见》真正落到实处,实现多党合作的制度化、规范化以及程序化建设目标;将多党合作制度的完善和发展与我国政治体制改革的整体步伐相推进;同时,借鉴其他国家的好的经验和做法。     

Electoral-system change in Latvia and the elections of 2010

Latvia’s highly distinctive proportional electoral system owes its origins to Latvia’s 1922 Constitution and the new democracy’s electoral legislation of 1919 and 1922. Latvia’s unique feature lies in its preference system, offering the voters the opportunity to judge each candidate on their party’s list. Although the system appears to maximise responsiveness to voters’ preferences, in practice this promise remained unfulfilled and the representative quality of parliament was questionable. This was in large measure because of the capacity of candidates to stand in multiple constituencies. In 2009 amendments to the electoral law altered this key provision. This change clearly made a difference, but it could not resolve fundamental problems of Latvia’s political process in general and its political parties in particular.     

论共产党的执政经验对民主党派的示范和引领作用

中国实行的是中国共产党领导的多党合作和政治协商制度,中国共产党在思想建设、自身组织建设、制度建设、作风建设上,经过长期的革命和执政实践、积累了丰富的经验,为各民主党派起到了良好的示范作用。新阶段,中国共产党要以社会主义核心价值体系来引领各民主党派的各项工作,推动多党合作的深入发展;各民主党派要以党为师,努力构建学习型参政党,在稳定有序的环境中顺利地完成政治交接任务,不断提高民主党派参政能力。     

The impact of EU intervention on political parties’ politicisation of Europe following the financial crisis

Abstract

This article examines the effect of the financial crisis and economic intervention by the European Union on political parties’ politicisation of the EU within national elections. Data from the Manifesto Project for elections between 2002 and 2017 in 12 Eurozone countries is used to assess how the crisis and intervention altered the saliency, position and clarity of parties’ EU policies. The analysis shows that the crisis only led to an increase in EU saliency in those states not subjected to intervention whilst intervention is actually associated with a decrease in the saliency of the EU. In terms of increasing Euroscepticism, intervention appears to exhibit a greater effect than the crisis although the results display marked asymmetry between different parties on the left and right. The same is observed to be the case for the level of blurring that parties are engaged in to mask their EU positions. The implications of the findings suggest that economic intervention within the EU has negatively impacted democracy in intervened-in member states by reducing the manoeuvrability of parties to provide voters with clear choices on the direction of European integration.     

Religious fundamentalism and the extreme right-wing camp in Israel

Over the last ten years, a sizeable body of social science research has been devoted to two troubling phenomena—right-wing extremism and religious fundamentalism—both of which have seen a recrudescence in the last two decades. While the first is largely a secular phenomenon, the latter is, by definition, religious in orientation. Although most literature has treated these phenomena separately, in Israel the overlap between the two is so extensive that it could very well serve as the basis for a generating hypothesis. Utilizing features of both European right-wing extremism and characteristics of fundamentalism, Bermanis, Canetti-Nisim and Pedahzur attempt to demonstrate how the extreme right, with its secular underpinnings, has withdrawn from the larger picture, and how a new, complex and more extremist approach, based on fundamentalist ideals, has taken its place.