Poverty reduction and democratization – new cross-country evidence

The rapid decrease in absolute poverty across the developing world has received much attention. However, there have been few systematic attempts to analyse the political consequences of these developments. This article builds on the improved availability of household income data from developing countries to document a small but statistically significant impact of lagged poverty rates on a range of democracy indicators. The results hold across a battery of sensitivity and robustness tests. I also show that poverty reduction has a stronger effect on democracy than alternative predictors that are more widely used in the democratic regime transition and consolidation literature, such as average income and relative inequality (the Gini index). However, I find weaker effects of poverty on indicators of government quality and a declining influence of poverty reduction on democracy over time. These results point to more structural obstacles to democratic consolidation in lower-income regions, such as a tendency by populist leaders to exploit the economic grievances of vulnerable lower-middle classes.     

Seeking Systemic Change: Risk and Protective Factors Affecting Low-Income Urban Youth

This themed issue presents five articles tackling the topic of risk and protective processes affecting children and adolescents living in urban poverty. Through their research, the authors seek understanding of the particular challenges that low-income urban youth face, with the ultimate goal of understanding how best to intervene at various levels of the ecological system. Within this broad theme, studies examine specific stressors, mediators, and moderators that impact the mental health of youth living in urban poverty. The final article presents a data-driven, community-based intervention for this population.     

Stressful Life Experiences and Peer Externalizing Behaviors Mediate the Relation Between Reduced Family Support and Externalizing Symptoms in Low-Income Urban Youth

Family support, urban stressors, and peer behavior were examined in relation to externalizing symptoms in 605 predominantly low-income urban sixth through eighth grade adolescents. Mother and father support were each associated with lower levels of externalizing symptoms in both males and females. For males, father absence was associated with increased peer externalizing behavior and heightened rates of youth externalizing symptoms. Stress (in the form of major life events, daily hassles, and exposure to violence) and peer externalizing behavior were examined as mediators of the relation between parent support and youth externalizing symptoms. Increased stress exposure mediated the relation between weak mother and father support and youth externalizing symptoms. Additionally, for females, peer externalizing behavior mediated the relation between weak mother support and youth externalizing symptoms.     

易扶安置区风险链:易地扶贫搬迁安置区社会稳定风险的一个解释框架

易地扶贫搬迁初期,政府和移民对贫困认知存在分歧,搬迁便意味着风险环境酝酿。生活过渡期,由于政府扶持政策的脱节,移民的生计存在可持续困境,加之被激活的发展渴求,风险便被移民感知,谨慎抵抗抑或自助便成常态。而在社会放大机制下,这些不稳定要素便有了酿成社会稳定风险的可能,表现出“风险环境—风险感知—风险行为—社会放大—社会稳定风险”的风险传导链特征,呈现出双向传递性、集聚性和扩散性。如此,为实现安置区的稳定发展,应加快构建易扶安置区社会稳定风险预警指标体系,做好风险评估,并有针对性地探索形成基于安置区特征的有效治理路径。     

ARE WE REALLY LOOKING OUT FOR THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD? APPLYING THE NEW ZEALAND MODEL OF FAMILY GROUP CONFERENCES TO CASES OF CHILD NEGLECT IN THE UNITED STATES

This Note advocates for state laws to be amended to implement family group conferencing (FGC) as the first step in cases of alleged child neglect. FGC was developed in New Zealand nearly twenty years ago and have since become a realistic method of balancing the best interests of the children, families, agencies, courts, and communities involved in the child welfare system. A FGC is a meeting among family members and professionals that is conducted in order to develop a plan for a child who is the victim of neglect. FGC places the family at the center of the welfare proceedings and empowers them to reach a solution without having to resort to the often lengthy and expensive adversarial court system. If FGC is incorporated into the child welfare systems throughout the United States, communication between the parents, social services, and the courts could increase, helping families adequately address the problem of neglect and getting the children out of the child welfare system quickly and more efficiently.     

城市弱势群体贫困的政策分析

城市弱势群体的贫困问题在世界各国都是普遍存在的。如由于农村人口涌入城市形成贫民窟、因为经济不景气导致大量失业等等。但我国城市贫困的形成原因却有所不同,我国城市贫困问题的主要原因是社会转型时期政策失误。具体表现为相关政策的缺位以及已有政策中存在的诸多不合理。     

城市化进程中的反贫困:制度创新与法律保障

面对日益严峻的城市贫困问题,国家初步建立了涵括基本养老保险制度、城市居民最低生活保障制度等在内的城市反贫困制度法律体系。但是这一制度法律体系还不够系统完善,还存在城市反贫困主体单一、社会参与有限的问题,尚未建立系统完备、保障全面的社会保障制度和全国统一的城市反贫困法律体系。城市化进程中的主体贫困、制度贫困和法律贫困是致使产生城市贫困问题的重要原因。这就需要建立政府主导、社会共同参与的城市反贫困工作管理机制,解决反贫困制度建设滞后和立法不规范的问题,科学规划、统筹规范反贫困工作,形成以宪法为基本依据、以《反贫困法》为核心、以《社会保障法》等相关社会保障法律法规为支撑的反贫困法律体系,强化城市反贫困权利救济和责任追究制度,不断提升城市反贫困制度化、法治化进程。     

乡村振兴战略下的乡村旅游与脱贫攻坚

"乡村振兴"已经成为新时代我国农村社会经济发展的主旋律,将统领乡村旅游发展和脱贫攻坚事业。乡村振兴、乡村旅游与脱贫攻坚之间的内在逻辑涉及因果逻辑、主体逻辑、实施逻辑三个方面,在实践中要强调农民的主体地位以及规范理念和产业思维。以乡村旅游产业发展为抓手,助推乡村振兴与脱贫攻坚,一是要精准规划乡村振兴方案和市场营销方案,创新利益分配机制;二是要精准识别客源市场和贫困农户,提升地方经济效益;三是要精准开发特色商品和"三农"人才,培育持续竞争优势。     

预防脱贫人口返贫的“三扶”路径研究——以中天金融帮扶团结村为例

贵州是西部地区脱贫攻坚的主战场,帮助贫困群众实现精准脱贫是一大根本任务,目前精准脱贫工作已取得了显著性的成效。预防脱贫人口返贫已成为2020年全面建成小康社会后一段时期的关键性任务。“扶智”“扶心”和“扶志”可以提升脱贫人口的生存与发展能力,增强脱贫人口致富的信心和主观能动性。因此,“三扶”能够有效地预防脱贫人口的返贫。通过总结中天金融帮扶团结村精准脱贫的实践经验,探索出可持续发展的“扶智”路径、消除顾虑的“扶心”路径以及融合“三变”的“扶志”路径。     

扶贫车间对农村妇女空间的再造——基于河南省的一个案例

改革开放四十多年来,伴随着经济的快速发展,中国的农村社会结构发生了剧烈变迁,其中较为显著的是大量农村家庭成员外出务工,从而带来了家庭社会关系的断裂和社会空间的分离。较男性而言,女性受到的影响更为突出。通过对河南一个扶贫车间的案例进行研究,本文发现:近几年由政府、企业和村庄社区所共建的扶贫车间,为农村妇女社会空间的再造提供了一种可能路径,但从社会保障和社会福利等角度看,扶贫车间仍然存在一些缺陷和提升空间。