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.     

地方科技进步立法与科技创新规律的协调研究

科技创新对社会的发展起着巨大的促进作用,地方科技立法要促进科技创新的发展必须遵循科技创新规律,符合科技进步的内在要求。但目前地方科技立法与科技创新规律不协调的状况依旧存在,地方科技进步立法须作进一步完善,须充分发挥科技人员的积极性,加大投入,促进科技成果的转化,鼓励可持续创新。     

公安刑侦工作可持续发展的思考

长期以来,公安刑侦干警以超负荷的状态与各类刑事犯罪活动作斗争,取得了驾驭治安局势的主动权、制胜权。在当前日趋严峻复杂的刑事犯罪形势下,如何加强公安刑侦工作的可持续发展、深化刑侦工作改革是实现侦查破案方式转变、提高侦查破案率、牢牢掌握打击犯罪主动权的有效途径。本文通过对目前刑侦工作中存在的问题和产生的原因进行了分析,提出了公安刑侦工作可持续发展的构想。     

陕西文化旅游产业可持续发展研究

陕西是我国文化旅游资源最富集的省份之一,但文化旅游产业对陕西GDP的贡献并不高,与其他经济发达的兄弟省份还存在着较大的差距。陕西文化旅游产业开发经营过程中暴露出文化内涵挖掘不足、体制建设不到位、创新后劲不足、缺乏长效机制等问题。要实现陕西文化旅游产业的可持续发展,必须加强文化与旅游的深度融合,在创新中延长产业链,使沉寂的历史活过来。     

贵州农民可持续增收的总体思路与路径

农民实现可持续增收是解决“三农”问题的关键,选择实现农民可持续增收的有效途径更为紧迫。文章分析探讨了促进贵州农民可持续增收的总体思路与实现路径。     

我国养老保险基金保值增值的途径与制度设计

文章基于我国人口老龄化趋势日益加深,社会养老保险面临严峻挑战的社会背景,考察我国养老保险制度发展完善的历程,分析了现行养老保险基金运营管理中存在的问题和缺陷,以养老保险基金保值增值的途径与制度设计为线索进行研,艺,指出通过资本化运作可以实现养老基金的可持续发展。     

Peak Oil as a stimulus for a green economy transition in South Africa: Alternative liquid fuel and transport options

Abstract

While the arguments in favour of a green economy often rest on the need to reduce environmental damage, mitigate climate change and create environmentally friendly jobs, this article argues that the inevitable and possibly imminent peak and decline in world oil production provides another strong rationale for green economy policies and investments in South Africa. The South African economy has a high degree of reliance on imported petroleum fuels and evidence suggests that oil price and supply shocks – resulting from diminishing world oil exports and a decline in the energy return on investment for oil globally – are likely to have a debilitating socioeconomic impact under business-as-usual policies and behaviour patterns. Two broad strategies for mitigating the impact of increasing world oil scarcity and oil price shocks are considered. The first evaluates the prospects for developing indigenous sources of liquid fuels, including coal-to-liquids, gas-to-liquids and biofuels, and finds that there are significant resource and environmental risks associated with these options. The second strategy involves short-term measures to reduce demand for liquid transport fuels together with a long-term shift toward electrified mass transport, supported by accelerated investments in renewable energy. The latter strategy is argued to be compatible with and necessary for a societal transition towards a green economy.     

African indigenous ecology control and sustainable community livelihood in southern African history

Abstract

Based on sources for African Indigenous Ecology Control and Sustainable Community Livelihood in Southern African history this article argues that political independence in the Southern African region has altered the historiography of the region and the African continent as a whole. Black Africans are now looking to the past for inspiration to constitute the foundations of sustainable livelihoods using their own indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) and resources. The indicatives of the African Renaissance also demand that we draw on the significance of the control by pre-colonial African communities of their ecosystems. Existing testimonies show prosperity among pre-colonial African communities in the region. The argument is that, in order to restore the historical achievements of Africans in the region, IKS should form a constitutive part of education.     

The Quality of Life in English Local Authority Areas

Abstract

Since the enactment of New Labour's sustainable development agenda in 1999, English local authorities have been placed at the helm of a variety of devolved localism initiatives designed to foster sustainable communities that contribute to a high quality of life for existing and future generations. This paper considers the scale of the challenge that confronts local authorities in terms of attaining these outcomes, by drawing attention to their current quality of life situation. The baseline conditions in question are measured by reference to the Audit Commission's local quality of life indicators dataset, which it compiled in 2005 from a range of existing local government performance indicators. The dataset is subjected to k-means clustering and principal components analysis to assess how far English local authorities measure up to Labour's sustainable communities ideal and to highlight the type and degree of quality of life disparity that exists between them. The results from the analysis are used to evaluate the feasibility of Labour's devolved localism approach to sustainable community formation and to provide important insights to local policy makers responsible for fostering sustainable communities. The implications of the findings for future research are also considered.     

Media-usage patterns and political knowledge of NWU students: The 2009 election

Abstract

One of the central elements in a sustainable democracy is an informed and independent voters’ corps who is knowledgeable regarding democratic values and the policies of different parties, and who participates in democracy. The literature suggests that voters who are more heavy media users are also more politically knowledgeable. It follows that the media have an important informational role in a democracy. Against this background, the media usage patterns, media usage perceptions and political knowledge of the students of the North-West University on the Potchefstroom, Mafikeng and Vaal Triangle campuses were investigated during May 2009. This was done in the form of a quantitative survey that allowed students to report their real perceptions, experiences and knowledge levels. Questionnaires were administered in a self-administered style to avoid interviewer bias and to increase truthful self-reporting. Trained field workers used certain guidelines to ensure that the sample was representative of NWU students. The study found that students on all three campuses had poor levels of political knowledge. It was furthermore established that they were light users of media and did not often engage in political discussions with peers. On all three campuses, for political information television was the preferred medium, followed by radio. Although there were only weak correlations, it would seem that the students who were heavier users of media, were also more politically knowledgeable.