Political Candidates and the Energy Issue: Nuclear Power Position and Electoral Success

Members of parliament are key actors for the implementation of energy transitions, such as phasing out nuclear power. Before legislators can cast their maybe decisive vote in parliament, they need to run for office and actively strive for election. This paper assesses what political candidates oppose renewable energy transitions and questions whether the energy issue matters in national elections, and thus has consequences for the implementation of new sustainable energy sources. We analyze these questions by first describing the specific characteristics of political candidates. The paper then evaluates the relevance of the energy issue for electoral success in three national elections in Switzerland (2007, 2012, and 2015). Based on candidate data from the voting advice application smartvote.ch, we find that female candidates support ETs more than men do; that especially the French‐speaking part of the country is more in favor of a nuclear phase‐out, and that younger candidates are also more open toward restructuring the energy system than older candidates are. Our models further show that the energy issue does not matter in elections, independently from its salience in the respective election campaigns. Candidates are thus relatively free to choose their position on the issue and do not have to fear consequences at the ballot. However, candidates of center parties, in contrast to the pole parties, are sensitive to the energy issue and reflect public mood in their positions.     

Making a Place for Alternative Technologies: The Case of Agricultural Bio‐Inputs in Argentina

This article characterizes the ways in which the actors in charge of designing and implementing public policies intervene to promote the emergence of alternatives to problematic technologies. It is based on a case study conducted in Argentina that focuses on initiatives to promote the development of biological agricultural inputs in the context of increasingly controversial chemical inputs. The study spotlights the political, institutional, and semantic efforts made by policy makers and public administrations to ensure these new inputs find their way into organizations and onto their agendas. Their work consists in attenuating the boundaries between chemical and biological inputs, and reducing opposition by creating categories and organizations that downplay potential dissension and highlight the possible coexistence of technological paradigms. Contrary to what the injunctions of technological substitution suggest, we show that putting alternative technologies on the public agenda depends largely on their inclusion in institutional and regulatory infrastructures originally designed for technologies that are likely to decline. More broadly, it relies on the construction of continuity between the two types of technologies.     

论科学发展观视野下环境行政决策之因应

科学发展观“以人为本、全面协调可持续发展”的要求与环境行政决策的合法化、科学化、民主化的诉求并行不悖、相互促进。环境行政决策应响应科学发展观的要求,进行体系上的重构,顺应环境法治的时代要求。具体因应对策为：环境行政决策应以“以人为本”为核心,进行必要的法律规制（实体规制与程序规制）和行政三分体制（决策、执行、监督）的创新,形成决策的合法、科学、民主与决策效率和谐互动的理想状态。     

精神文明建设与环境保护

环境保护的成败直接关系到社会主义现代化建设的成败.加强社会主义精神文明建设,是保护环境、实现可持续发展战略的根本途径.这不仅要充分认识精神文明建设对环境保护的重要作用,尤其应坚持以人为本,实现社会文明;还应从环境的角度,拓展精神文明建设的新思路,把道德建设放在突出位置.     

环境规划法律制度在生态城市建设中的作用

城市是一个自然-社会-经济复合生态系统。城市资源和环境容量是有限的,城市的发展必然受到资源与环境条件的制约。为实现可持续发展,对城市中的任何活动都必须考虑资源和环境的生态承载力,不破坏其稳定机制。要发挥环境规划法律制度在生态城市建设中的重要作用,促进城市经济、社会与环境的全面、协调、可持续发展。     

关于社会主义国家安全环境的前瞻性思考

随着世界多极化和经济全球化的不断推进和发展，由此引发我们对社会主义国家安全环境的关注和思考：一是关于社会主义国家安全环境的自我审视；二是关于社会主义国家安全环境的构建；三是关于构建社会主义国家安全环境对未来世界的进程的影响。     

我国全面建设小康社会面临的挑战与对策

全面建设小康社会,是全党和全国人民在21世纪头20年的奋斗目标,但是,这一宏伟目标的实现并非一帆风顺,现实的国际环境对我国的经济、科技、政治构成严峻挑战。因此,必须加快经济、科技、文化建设和党的建设,争取有利于我国发展的和平环境,才能把全面建设小康社会的事业稳步地推向前进。     

政府在优化社区服务业发展环境中的作用

优化社区服务业发展环境,是政府的一项义不容辞的责任。正确发挥政府在优化社区服务业发展环境中的导向作用和扶持作用,对于促进社区服务业的发展具有十分重要的意义。