Loyalty,disloyalty, and semi-loyalty in Pakistan’s hybrid regime

The 2013 election in Pakistan was a significant point in a presumed transition from autocracy towards democracy, since for the first time an elected government completed a full term and was replaced by another freely elected government. Pakistan’s hybrid regime, however, continues to be threatened by a significant ‘disloyal opposition’, in the form of secessionists in Balochistan and jihadi Islamists of the Tehrik-e-Taliban (the so-called Pakistan Taliban). Drawing on the literature on hybrid regimes, and using Juan Linz’s framework that focused on both ‘disloyal’ and ‘semi-loyal’ oppositions to democratic rule, this article examines the threat to a continuing movement towards democracy posed by secessionists, Islamists, and the military.     

Changes in the menu of manipulation: Electoral fraud,ballot stuffing,and voter pressure in the 2011 Russian election

Vote-buying and voter intimidation are costly, complicated, and risky ways to manage elections. Why, then, do hybrid regimes utilize such tactics rather than ballot stuffing or election falsification? Such methods to mobilize voters require the construction of patronage networks that can be used to mobilize or demobilize clients beyond the election, and to display the incumbent's organizational strength. These networks are most valuable in places where opposition groups are active; consequently direct voter pressure should be more common in competitive areas. This paper uses data from Russia's 83 regions during the 2011 election to compare patterns of extra-legal mobilization with patterns of ballot stuffing and falsification. I conclude that local political competitiveness structures the mix of electoral manipulation tactics employed.     

E-government and moral citizenship: the case of Estonia

The present article concerns Estonian e-government, that is, the digitalization of government and public administration, and the way e-government produces a moral citizen. Although several case studies on e-government exist, they have seldom been sensitive to the local conditions shaping the functions and social meaning of digitalization. E-government involves producing knowledge, and the present article draws on a theoretical perspective that stresses the tight relationship between knowledge and power. In Estonia, the power–knowledge regime is characterized by centralization. Centralization is the condition for a firm national e-government policy, and within this policy, an image of the unique Estonian citizenry is produced. The Estonian moral citizen who emerges out of e-government is de-politicized and detached from a social context, on the one hand, and strongly politicized and attached to a specific ethno-national community, on the other.     

The Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding Ten Years on: Critical Reflections and Stimulating Ideas on an Evolving Scholarship

ABSTRACT

The Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. This special volume opens up with a selection of nine of the most influential articles published in the journal. JISB's editorial team has asked the authors for their reflections on their original articles, telling us more about the writing process at that time, what they would do differently (with hindsight), or how they see their articles contributing to current debates on intervention and statebuilding. We have selected one article per volume, and we have ordered the contribution starting from volume 1 (2007) to volume 9 (2015). The articles will be made open access for the year, and we highly recommend (re-)reading the original articles along with the comments from the authors.     

When are similar regimes more likely to form alliances? Institutions and ideologies in the post-communist world

Following the collapse of the old communist regimes, 28 post-communist countries chose from among three main foreign security arrangements: commonwealth of independent states (CIS)/collective security treaty organization (CSTO) membership, north atlantic treaty organization (NATO) membership, or neutrality. What explains these choices? We are most interested theoretically in the role played by regime type. The alliances literature typically uses a narrow institutional theory of the effects of regime type, which implies that more democratic regimes are more attractive alliance partners than more authoritarian regimes. Post-communist area specialists will be aware that this institutional theory fails to explain the apparent tendency of more authoritarian post-communist regimes to join the CIS/CSTO. We develop a broader ideological theory of how regime type affects alliances, in which political institutions are complemented by substantive ideological and policy goals. Applying the ideological approach to the post-communist world, we define and measure two main ideological regime types – liberal nationalist regimes and neo-communist authoritarian regimes. Multinomial logit regressions indicate that more democratic, liberal nationalist regimes are more likely to affiliate with NATO, whereas more authoritarian, neo-communist regimes are more likely to join the CIS/CSTO. Moreover, the desire of neo-communist authoritarianism regimes to affiliate with the CIS/CSTO is as strong or stronger than that of neo-liberal democracies to affiliate with NATO – largely because NATO is more reluctant than Russia to accept aspirants. We conclude that the ideological approach to regime type may offer significant explanatory value as a refinement of the institutional approach.     

垄断行业管制体制再改革的战略重点

垄断行业管制体制的再改革是中国深化市场体制和行政体制改革的重要议题。政府管制是市场经济体制下政府的重要基本职能,但政府管制作为一种自由裁量权很容易被滥用,从而出现管制失灵的问题。因此,有效的政府管制必须以有效约束政府行为为核心,实现法治,消除利益集团的阻碍和行政体制运行的内耗,从而建立有效的管制治理制度体系。     

论中国股东权制度的立法完善——以公司契约理论为视角

公司契约理论的契约自由精神在我国新《公司法》中得到了一定程度的体现。《公司法》提高了授权性规范在条文中的比例,一定程度上扩大了股东及其他公司参与者的自由空间。然而,从公司契约理论的视角来看,我国股东权制度仍然存在一些问题,由此,建议《公司法》修订中应使用规范用语、正确区分强制性规范与任意性规范、进一步减少强制性规范、进一步完善股权转让权制度以及表决权制度。未来的股东权制度有待于建立《公司法》的动态适应机制,以保持《公司法》的高度适应性。     

CONFIDENTIAL GEODATA PROTECTION IN CHINA: CHALLENGES,LIABILITY CONCERNS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

In recent years, a growing number of foreign companies and individuals were involved in geodata violations in China. The Chinese government is facing greater pressure to protect confidential geodata within its territory. Geodata violations occurred in the course of illegal mapping and surveying, geographical and geological data collection and transactions. Although China has reformed laws and regulations to refine some aspects of confidential geodata management, existing rules remain ambiguous and controversial. This article aims to address the liability concerns raised among foreign companies from geodata violations. After defining the three most significant concepts, geological data, mapping and surveying, and state secrets, this article reviews the status quo, reasons for and impacts of geodata violations in China, to find out how big the problem is and why it matters. It then explores the legislative framework of state secrets protection in the context of geodata management; special focus is put on liability issues and problems of the current system. As a response to existing arguments, possible ways to improve confidential geodata protection and some practical tips for foreign businesses are offered.     

Convention Plus as a Norm-Setting Exercise

This article reflects upon UNHCR's Convention Plus initiative,a multi-lateral process established in order to contribute tothe development of a normative framework for global burden-sharing.Although the substantive achievements of the initiative havebeen limited, the article argues that Convention Plus has helpedto develop significant new ideas relating to UNHCR's potentialrole in norm-creation within the refugee regime. Based on aregime theoretical perspective, and drawing on the wider literaturerelating to the role of norms in the refugee regime, the paperexamines the procedural and conceptual innovations of ConventionPlus, and how these might be adapted in future in light of theinitiative's shortcomings. In particular, the article sets outtwo models for UNHCR's role in facilitating norm-creation, bothdeveloped in the context of the Convention Plus experience:firstly, a ‘top-down’ institutional bargaining modeland, secondly, a ‘bottom-up’ good practice model.The former model emerges from the interests–linkages–normsapproach implicit to the so-called ‘generic’ workof the initiative; the latter, from the situational work ofthe initiative, developed through the revival of ‘comprehensiveplans of action’ and the use of pilot projects. The modelsare argued to be mutually supportive. The paper suggests thatadapting these ideal-type models in light of the ConventionPlus experience has implications for UNHCR's role in norm-creation,with regard both to developing a normative framework for globalburden-sharing and also to developing other norms in responseto other emerging challenges.     

对秘密侦查措施的立法思考

为了打击犯罪和惩罚犯罪,维护社会秩序与安全,国家的侦查行为也要随着犯罪方式的发展变化而随之变化。针对刑事犯罪具有的隐蔽性和暴露性特点,各国都采取了秘密侦查和公开调查相结合的双重方式,我国也不例外。我国应该借鉴外国的经验,尽快制定有关法律,把秘密侦查纳入法治化的轨道。