Popular perceptions of political regimes in East and Southeast Asia

Political regimes in East and Southeast Asia run the full spectrum from liberal democracy through various hybrid democratic-authoritarian types and on to full-blown authoritarianism and totalitarianism. While political scientists have invested much effort and ingenuity in creating typologies of regimes to better understand the empirical diversity of political structures and processes, much less attention has been paid to what the citizens think. How do people in East and Southeast Asian countries perceive their own institutions and performance of governance? This article uses public opinion data derived from the AsiaBarometer 2006 and 2007 Surveys of 12 East and Southeast Asian countries to map what citizens actually think about their structures, processes, and outcomes of governance and compare these with the regime classifications of political scientists. The results revealed universal commitment to elections but disillusionment with political practice, positive estimations of the institutions of governance in Southeast Asia but much less enthusiasm in East Asia, and a preference for moderate opinions. There is no clear overall correlation between regime type and popular perception.     

Linkages and the promotion of democracy: the EU's eastern neighbourhood

The EU's eastern neighbourhood with its considerable divergence in regime types is a more challenging testing ground for democracy promotion than Central and Eastern Europe. This article explores the diversity of the international linkages in the eastern neighbours (Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan) and the role these linkages play in domestic politics. International linkages are filtered and activated by domestic politics. If diverse linkages reinforce domestic political competition, they can contribute to the creation of democratic openings. Conversely, in the absence of domestic political competition, international linkages can insulate a regime from internal pressures for reform, in particular if the linkages are deep and undiversified. This article focuses on one causal mechanism, namely stateness issues acting as a filter for international linkages.     

Democracy,autocracy and the news: the impact of regime type on media freedom

Mass media is critical for the functioning of every contemporary political system. Thus, we can expect a variation in media freedom depending on the type of government since political regimes differ with regard to the political, legal and economic framework in which news coverage operates. This article investigates the effects of regime types, namely democracy and autocratic subtypes, on media freedom. It is argued that regime legitimation and governance are the driving forces behind diverging media policies in autocracies. From this theory, hypotheses regarding media freedom and regime type are derived and tested empirically, relying on statistical analyses that cover 149 countries over a period from 1993 to 2010. The empirical results demonstrate that democracies lead to significantly higher levels of media freedom than autocracies, with other things being equal. Within the autocratic spectrum, electoral autocracies, monarchies and military regimes have the freest media, whereas the most illiberal media can be found in communist ideocracies, where the ruling party holds a communication monopoly. Media freedom in personalist and non-ideological one-party regimes is on an intermediate level.     

The CBD at ten: The long road to effectiveness

Abstract

This article reviews progress and challenges in the implementation of the Convention on biological diversity since its adoption in 1992. Progress has been significant in many ways, although difficult to measure beyond procedural improvements (creation of new institutions, guidelines, national processes) and the development of new tools. Many challenges remain, both at the level of the operation of the regime and of national implementation, in part due to the nature of the convention and the complexity of its relationships with other regimes. Since knowledge about the state of biodiversity is scant and indicators poor, the argument is advanced that we should assess CBD's success and effectiveness by its ability to promote several of the preconditions of regime effectiveness. Accordingly, this article considers the record of the CBD in terms of learning, capacity‐building, network building, transparency, and the elaboration and diffusion of new norms.     

Defection of North Korea's ideologist a sign of regime crisis

Abstract

The defection of Hwang Jang‐yop, one of North Korea's major ideological authorities and a senior member of the leadership, is a clear indication of regime crisis in Pyongyang. Hwang's assessment of the nature of the Kim Jong‐il regime, which he regards as incapable of reform and committed to war with South Korea, will strengthen those in Seoul who argue for a tough approach to be taken in negotiations on security issues with North Korea. At the same time, his remarks on the extent of communist influence in South Korean politics may influence the outcome of the 1997 presidential elections.     

论择业自由视野下的竞业限制

择业自由是宪法赋予劳动者的基本权利,保护企业商业秘密是竞业限制设定的主要目的。在择业自由的视野下,竞业限制必须既合法又合理。判断竞业限制是否合法合理要考虑诸多因素,同时还要考虑商业秘密本身的性质。竞业限制在充分保护企业商业秘密,维护企业市场竞争力的同时,要兼顾人才的合理流动,体现对人权的尊重,对弱势群体的特殊保护,达到企业利益、劳动者利益以及社会公共利益的平衡。     

英美知情权保护制度对我国的借鉴

公民的知情权问题是目前理论界和实务界普遍关注的一个焦点问题。文章从界定知情权的内涵、性质、法律特征入手,介绍了英国和美国知情权的保护制度及其特点。通过分析我国知情权的现状,提出英美知情权制度对完善我国知情权保护制度的借鉴。     

钓鱼报道的真实性与合法性探究

钓鱼报道以其揭露黑幕的便捷而受一些新闻媒体推崇,发展势头方兴未艾,其弊端易被忽略.故从新闻传播学理论与法学理论两方面,以真实性与合法性为逻辑主线,深入分析钓鱼报道的弊端及消弭弊端的基本策略,主张钓鱼报道应以浅层诱惑的钓鱼报道为限、新闻媒体不应对被报道对象施加超出多数民众自制力的深层诱惑以致诱发被报道对象违反道德或法律的意图.     

旧货流通业阵地控制模式研究

近年来，全国各地涌现出大量二手手机市场、旧机动车交易市场等旧货流通市场。目前，其管理主要存在行业准入门槛降低、验证登记制度尚未落实、管理体制没有理顺、情报信息采集不全面、情报信息使用效率低和刑事特情作用发挥不充分等问题。刑侦部门应从实践出发，建立“以刑侦部门为主体，推行实名验证登记制度，建立联网信息查询数据库，合理使用秘密力量”的旧货流通业阵地控制模式。     

江西地方红军与东固革命根据地

东固建立了赣西最早的地方革命武装和第二块赤色区域。江西红军独立第二、四团是创建东固革命根据地的重要支柱,对救援红四军做出了突出贡献。东固“秘密割据”的形式,丰富了毛泽东“工农武装割据”思想。独立二、四团的发展,扩大和巩固了以东固为中心的赣西赤色割据区域。