Reversing the ‘Tragedy’ of the Commons? Sustainable Management and the Commons Act 2006

The Commons Act 2006 is the first statute since the Commons Registration Act 1965 to address the problems associated with the management of common land in England and Wales. A key focus for the 2006 Act is the introduction of mechanisms for the sustainable management of common land, including self‐regulatory commons councils. This article examines the ‘sustainable’ management of common land in historical and contemporary perspective. It sets the 2006 Act, and the sustainable management of common land, in the wider context of the ongoing debate triggered by Hardin's ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ and subsequent institutional and post‐institutional scholarship on common pool resource management. It uses historical and qualitative research data drawn from three case studies to demonstrate the irrelevance of Hardin's thesis in an English context, and identifies the Commons Registration Act of 1965 as the true ‘tragedy’ of the English and Welsh commons. The case studies also illustrate the challenges posed by the introduction of legal mechanisms to promote the ecologically sustainable management of the modern commons, and inform the critique of the Commons Act 2006 developed in the article.     

基础教育资源不正当竞争探析

基础教育,涉及到每个公民的基本素养和生活品质,关系着国家的发展和民族的命运。基础教育的盛衰,取决于教育资源配置的状况。教育资源既包括教育资金、设施等硬件部分,也包括教育政策、师资、校园文化等软件部分。一般来说,物质决定精神,硬件资源决定软件资源。而教育资源则不然,教育政策决定着资金的投向、教学设施和师资力量的配置。教育政策的不当,导致教育资源配置的不正当竞争,造成了地域之间、城乡之间教育资源配置的巨大差异。严重影响了基础教育的健康发展。要实现教育的公平,必须强化国家对基础教育投资的责任、加大投资力度、创立公平公正的教育资源配置机制、改革教育模式、规范资源配置行为、杜绝教育腐败,建立科学、和谐的基础教育资源配置新体系。     

浅析当前我国法律援助制度的完善

我国处于社会转型期,由于社会法制化逐渐加强,人民群众对法律服务的需求也越来越迫切。以政府责任为基点提供法律援助很难满足社会的需求,所以在当前需要国家与社会加以互动,充分地整合社会资源,如此既可以补充政府法律援助力量的不足,拓宽提供法律援助渠道,又可以使法律援助能够更多地向潜在的受援人延伸,发挥法律援助预防冲突的功能,扩展法律援助的延伸力。     

自然资源是俄罗斯的诅咒还是福祉?

目前俄罗斯不存在明显的资源诅咒现象。从经济增长、人力资本积累和收入差距、社会秩序等方面看,无法找到确切的证据表明在俄罗斯存在明显的"资源诅咒"现象。至少到目前为止,俄罗斯无法摆脱对能源原材料部门的依赖,是资源诅咒发生的重要表现。而且,俄罗斯政府对社会领域的投资,对稳定基金、主权养老基金的重视,在很大程度上帮助俄罗斯人更加有效地解决了自然资源的使用效率问题。俄罗斯的经验说明,丰裕的自然资源到底会成为经济长期发展的福祉还是诅咒,最终还是取决于政策,或者说是取决于"人"的因素。     

发挥桂林统战文化资源优势 促进文化繁荣发展

党的十八大报告旗帜鲜明地提出了建设社会主义文化强国的发展战略。统一战线在社会主义文化建设中有着独特优势和作用。桂林应该充分发挥统战文化资源优势,为推动社会主义文化大发展大繁荣作出应有贡献。     

Examining the Use of Informal Networks by NGOs in Azerbaijan and Georgia

Abstract

The aim of this article is to investigate whether and to what extent changes in the structural preconditions for volunteering have had an effect on the relative importance of ‘classic predictors’ of volunteering within two areas: (1) socio-economic and status variables that function as resources for civic engagement and (2) value orientations that guide volunteering. Arguably, upward changes in the level of human capital, such as education, or changes in values that put more emphasis on, for example, social responsibility, could be expected to lead to an increase in the relative importance of these variables because the groups who possess such resources or express such attitudes would be more likely to enter into the volunteer labour force. If this is the case, then we would expect to see increasing differences in the likelihood of volunteering between high- and low-status groups. On the other hand, it could be argued that it is the distribution and diffusion of such resources and values that matter. If, for instance, education has become more widespread and covers larger proportions of the population, it is also possible that the relative importance of education has diminished. In this case, we would see a mainstreaming effect on volunteering because this activity becomes more normal, independent of class and status. Finally, it is also possible that volunteering is relatively resistant to wider structural changes in society or at least experience a time lag in the effect of such changes. Based on an empirical analysis of Danish survey data from 1990 to 2008, we argue that the idea of a mainstreaming effect should be taken seriously.     

From the Balconies to the Barricades,and Back? Trajectories of Participation in Contentious Politics

Scholars have long been interested in explaining why some individuals engage in civil society through acts of protest while others do not. However, what happens after individuals are involved? Using a nationally representative panel data set that follows Americans from 1965 until 1997, I show that almost half of participants either engage in ‘individual abeyance’, moving in and out of engagement over time, or disengage. I examine the role of socio-political orientations, resources, biography or life-course factors, and group affiliation in predicting patterns of civil society participation over time. Past work suggests that persistent activists differ from those who disengage due to the formers’ particular socio-political orientations. However, I show that there are no significant differences in these orientations between those who persist and those who do not. Instead, biographical changes and engagement in political groups are the most important factors predicting persistent participation over time.     

当前我国教育资源配置的公平与效率

我国现阶段教育资源配置之所以作为问题而存在,主要原因是教育资源的有限性与稀缺性,其不能够为社会所有成员提供有效的供给,由此引发需求与供给之间的矛盾。这些问题主要是存在以下几个方面：教育资源配置过程中存在的公平与效率对比不均问题;教育资源配置结果中存在的公平与效率对比不均问题。要解决这些问题,就需要多方面地思考,教育资源配置中公平与效率的基本含义及其关系首先要搞清楚,在此基础上,作为制度供给主体的政府要在法律、教师待遇、学生待遇等各个方面予以支持。我国教育资源配置的公平与效率合理比例不仅是教育发展的要求,更是和谐社会发展的要求。     

The spatial division of labour in Nepal

This article examines how economic activity and market participation are distributed across space. Applying a nonparametric von Thünen model to Nepalese data, we uncover a strong spatial division of labour. Non-farm employment is concentrated in and around cities while agricultural wage employment dominates villages located further away. Vegetables are produced near urban centres; paddy and commercial crops are more important at intermediate distances. Isolated villages revert to self-subsistence. Findings are consistent with the von Thünen model of concentric specialisation, corrected to account for city size. Spatial division of labour is closely related to factor endowments and household characteristics, especially at the local level.     

Curbing ‘Anti-Systemic’ Tendencies in Peru: democracy promotion and the US contribution to producing neoliberal hegemony

Critical scholars and investigative journalists have developed a significant body of evidence demonstrating how US democracy assistance programmes undermine left and centre-left governments in Latin America. This article draws upon original research to examine how democracy promotion has sought to stabilise neoliberal polyarchy in Peru, a longtime regional ally of the US. It contributes to a neo-Gramsican theorisation of democracy programmes by examining how ‘soft’ tactics have contributed to the state's efforts at creating an inclusive neoliberal social order, a project which has ultimately failed. Particular attention is paid to the way in which US programmes were configured and carried out to respond to the rise of the ‘anti-systemic’ Peruvian nationalist party of Ollanta Humala, who won the recent presidential elections in June 2011.