Geographic Opportunity and Neomalthusian Willingness: Boundaries,Shared Rivers,and Conflict

International conflict has been analyzed extensively through the framework of opportunity and willingness. Opportunity has mainly been operationalized as physical proximity. Willingness has been measured in a number of ways, and remains a somewhat more elusive concept. Several scholars have called for boundary length to represent opportunity. Heeding such calls, Harvey Starr has used GIS methods to generate boundary length for 1993 and has found it to be associated with increased propensity to conflict. A number of his measures of willingness were not. Using a new and much more extensive dataset on boundary length for the entire Correlates of War period, this article finds very different results. We study the relationship with shared rivers and water scarcity as measures of neomalthusian factors in willingness over a 110-year period. The results indicate that the neomalthusian factors are significant although not dramatic in their effects. Boundary length, while associated with conflict in a bivariate analysis, fades into insignificance when the neomalthusian willingness measures are introduced.     

法官对专家辅助人意见的采信与心证形成的路径分析

2012年《民事诉讼法》规定了专家辅助人两种出庭情形:与鉴定人进行质证;对案件所涉专业问题发表意见。两种情形不仅在事实认定中承担着本证与反证的不同功能,其意见效力、法官采信的逻辑亦有差别。目前,专家辅助人意见在我国不属于法定证据,2015年《民事诉讼法司法解释》将其视为当事人陈述的规定,更加弱化其效力,导致实践中法官在采信专家意见时难以操作。因此,赋予专家辅助人合法的诉讼地位和法定证据效力,并对专家辅助人出庭的条件、资质要求、意见属性、法院审查标准等方面予以规定,不仅完善立法,也具有非常重要的实践意义。     

公平正义视域下的基本公共服务均等化

基本公共服务均等化是保障公平正义的基础,公平正义是基本公共服务均等化的本质要求。我国基本公共服务供给不足、发展失衡直接影响着社会公平正义的实现,需要深化行政改革,通过建立以民为先的责任体系、参与和监督体系、合理的考核体系等,提升政府服务意识,推进政务公开透明,建设服务型政府,从而促进基本公共服务均等化。     

文化传承创新视域下的高校思想政治教育

高校开展思想政治教育工作的重要目的是为了实现文化的传承创新,两者之间是辩证统一的关系。从高等教育的基本职能、大学生思想现状等来看,高校在开展思想政治教育工作时,需要通过以下三个方面加强文化传承创新：一是要增强思想政治教育的人文内涵和底蕴,不断加强校园文化建设;二是要坚持思想政治教育课程改革创新,以文化教育为载体,做到政治性与文化性兼具;三是要坚持以人为本,培养大学生文化自觉和自信,以实现思想政治教育、自我教育双赢。     

改革开放与中国特色社会主义道路的选择

改革开放的进程就是我国逐步融入全球化的进程。在这一过程中,我们成功开辟了中国特色社会主义发展道路。在新的历史条件下,只有坚定不移地推进改革开放,把坚持四项基本原则同坚持改革开放结合起来,把坚持独立自主同参与经济全球化结合起来,坚持党的领导,才能使中国特色社会主义道路越走越宽广。     

Societal openness during the urban crisis. Partner selection in the 19th-century Belgian textile cities Ghent and Verviers

This paper examines the partner selection of the lower classes during an urban crisis period in early industrial Belgian cities. It was found that in this period characterized by an economic transition, overpopulation, migration and a low standard of living, social heterogamy was high, whereas social homogamy increased, or was ‘restored’, in the subsequent period. The urban crisis effect on partner selection contradicts the claims of modernization theory that there was a gradual increase in societal openness and that societal openness was typically modern, but it fits the idea of the informalization of marriage, a process marked by an increase in unmarried cohabitation and illegitimacy.     

Legislative Dissent without Reprisal? An Alternative View of Speaker Selection

Very little research has been devoted to examining the nature of Speaker selection in legislatures. This article attempts to provide a new perspective in which future research could examine the election of Speakers. A collective action perspective is put forward, which sees three groups of actors execute separate strategies to reach their own ends: the backbench, the executive and the opposition. These factors are tested on the Speaker selection exercises in the Ontario legislature. In the case study, it was found that the executive rarely gets their choice of Speaker, and three factors identified in the legislative dissent literature are utilised to examine these private acts of dissent: party popularity, cabinet size and the percentage of new legislators entering the party at each legislative term. It was found that the Speaker selection process involves three groups, each with their own preference order in decision-making.     

Japan's policy on steel trade disputes with the United States: a comparative analysis

Abstract

This article examines interactions among the United States, Japan and the European Union over steel trade disputes with particular interest in Japan's reactions to the disputes. For this objective, this paper establishes an analytical framework that takes into account bilateral, international, and domestic factors in formulating a state's external policy and relations. It was found that the special relationship with the United States still impinged on Japan's reactions to steel trade disputes, but its influence has gradually declined. Moreover, growing familiarity with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and practices and collaboration with other countries enabled Tokyo to expand its policy options to handle steel trade conflicts with Washington. Significantly, Japan formally adopted seemingly bold measures to cope with the US steel safeguard action, but the measures’ substantial influence on the US government was limited compared with those adopted by the European Union. Weak policy coordination among ministries prevented Japan from formulating strategic and effective measures in managing steel trade disputes with the United States.     

解析道路自信、理论自信、制度自信

党的十八大报告首次提出全党要坚定中国特色社会主义道路自信、理论自信、制度自信。坚定“三个自信”对于党领导全国各族人民抵御风险、攻坚克难,推进社会主义现代化建设,实现中华民族伟大复兴具有深远影响。深入分析“三个自信”,准确把握中国特色社会主义道路、理论、制度的内涵,正确评价“三个自信”探索历程与成就经验,探索坚定道路自信、理论自信、制度自信的途径必将不断开创中国特色社会主义事业的新局面。     

The Personalization(s) of Politics: Israel, 1949–2003

The relationship between the United States and Iran has had an important influence on world affairs during the past two decades. Accordingly, the U.S. news media have an instrumental role in portraying U.S.‐Iran relations to the public. The Iranian Revolution and hostage crisis of 1979–1981, the TWA hijacking of 1985, the Irangate controversy of 1986–1987, and the Persian Gulf War of 1990–1991 are examples of important media events that have impacted public opinion regarding U.S. policy toward Iran. This research analyzes government and print media portrayals of the Reagan administration's U.S.‐Iran policy during Irangate. Results supported the prediction that the print media would fulfill their “watchdog” function by providing more critical portrayals of the United States' policy toward Iran than the Tower Commission Report, an investigative document published by President Reagan's Special Review Board. Among the three leading newspapers analyzed, there was significant diversity in the reporting of U.S.‐Iran relations. Results indicate the Reagan administration's attempt to “spin” its version of Irangate did not successfully pressure the media to neglect their watchdog role. Although the Tower Commission Report was less critical of U.S. policy toward Iran than the print media, all four print media sources portrayed the Reagan administration's policy as a flawed approach that degenerated into trading arms for hostages. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed.