Polycentric Systems and Multiscale Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in the Built Environment

Addressing climate change requires consideration of mitigation and adaptation opportunities at multiple spatial scales. This is particularly true in the built environment, defined here to include individual buildings, neighborhoods, and the spaces between. The current U.S. political environment portends fewer resources and coordinating services for mitigation and adaptation at the federal level, however, reinforcing the relevance and necessity of actions at subnational levels. In this study, we evaluate the applicability of a polycentric model of governance to the implementation of mitigation and adaptation practices, as well as the presence of polycentric systems in the built environment. We assemble a database of practices with the potential to achieve both mitigation and adaptation objectives, as well as those that may be cross‐purposed or that may achieve one but not the other. We review practices to gauge the applicability of a polycentric model of governance to mitigation and adaptation practices in the built environment, and examine the attributes of three existing adaptation and/or mitigation programs to assess the extent to which they exhibit polycentric attributes. We conclude with recommendations for a broader research agenda, including efforts to develop more in‐depth examinations into individual programs and comparative analysis of performances of different governance attributes.     

Smokescreen Politics? Ratcheting Up EU Emissions Trading in 2017

The reform of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) adopted in November 2017 was surprisingly strong, given the previous opposition from central member‐states like Poland and key stakeholders like the energy‐intensive industries. The carbon price has also increased substantially since then. To explain why such major reform was possible, we present several findings with wider relevance. Importantly, all the actors pushing for a more ambitious reform benefitted from having a central, “second‐best” mechanism in place—the Market Stability Reserve (MSR)—which could be further tightened. By focusing cancelation on allowances in the MSR and taking place only after 2023, policy entrepreneurs managed to make the distribution of costs obscure and diffuse, whereas the benefits (a probable higher carbon price and related greater auctioning revenues for member‐states) were more specific and closer in time. That is what we call “smokescreen politics.”     

Political interference and regulatory resilience in Brazil

Governments face a fundamental tradeoff between regulatory independence and control. Attempts of interference have the effect of reducing the system's level of commitment and credibility. On the other hand, an administration runs the risk that the autonomy delegated to regulators might be used to pursue outcomes that may harm their interests. This tradeoff is particularly relevant when there is an alternation of power with the arrival of a new political elite with different preferences. This paper uses data from a 2016 survey on regulatory governance applied to Brazilian regulatory agencies. This data is compared to a similar survey performed in 2005. The new survey results turn out to be surprisingly similar to those of a decade earlier, suggesting strong resilience of regulatory agencies despite significant attempts at political interference by powerful presidents. The factors explaining the resilience of regulatory governance in Brazil lie in its broader institutional endowment, which moderates the effects of executive interference.     

Multiple Streams in Hawaii: How the Aloha State Adopted a 100% Renewable Portfolio Standard

Renewable portfolio standards (RPS) are an important policy tool for reducing carbon emissions and advancing the global shift toward renewable energy. As the U.S. federal government backs away from commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, subnational governments play an increasingly important role in mitigating climate change. In June 2015, Hawaii became the first state in the United States to adopt a 100% RPS. Through understanding the conditions that gave rise to Hawaii’s RPS, policy actors will be better informed as they navigate policy processes in other states and jurisdictions. This study uses Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) to explore the policy process that led to Hawaii’s 100% RPS. Data were collected during the summer of 2016 via interviews with 25 key policy actors and informants in Hawaii. Expectations based on the MSF are confirmed, and the results suggest factors that might be included or explored in future studies of RPS adoption.     

旅游影响下滇西北民族社区传统生态文化变迁机制研究

旅游对目的地文化变迁的影响已有较多研究,但由于案例地的特殊性,缺乏比较研究的基础。以滇西北三个民族社区为案例,对当地在旅游发展过程中呈现出的不同的生态文化变迁形态进行了比较性解读。研究发现,位处旅游地生命周期的不同阶段、面对不同的客源市场,以及不同的文化借用方式,是导致各社区生态文化变迁形态迥异的主要原因。研究将有助于在民族社区旅游发展与传统生态文化保护之间探索一条良性互动的发展路径。     

专题协商会应成为政协大会讨论“一府两院”工作报告的会议形式

现阶段政协大会以界别小组会的形式讨论“一府两院”工作报告,由于议题不集中、固定按照界别小组讨论、委员讨论协商不够充分,往往使政协大会讨论“一府两院”工作报告流于形式.从经验和实际情况看,如果以专题协商会形式来讨论协商“一府两院”工作报告,会议质量会得到显著提高,不仅有利于充分体现中国特色协商民主制度的精神实质,有利于人民政协协商民主的制度化、规范化、程序化,也有利于引导政协各界别进一步加强自身建设、更加有序和充分地参与民主协商,从而充分体现中国特色社会主义协商民主制度的特点和优越性.     

Reflective political reasoning: Political disagreement and empathy

As political polarization increases across many of the world's established democracies, many citizens are unwilling to appreciate and consider the viewpoints of those who disagree with them. Previous research shows that this lack of reflection can undermine democratic accountability. The purpose of this paper is to study whether empathy for the other can motivate people to reason reflectively about politics. Extant studies have largely studied trait-level differences in the ability and inclination of individuals to engage in reflection. Most of these studies focus on observational moderators, which makes it difficult to make strong claims about the effects of being in a reflective state on political decision making. We extend this research by using a survey experiment with a large and heterogeneous sample of UK citizens (N = 2014) to investigate whether a simple empathy intervention can induce people to consider opposing viewpoints and incorporate those views in their opinion about a pressing political issue. We find that actively imagining the feelings and thoughts of someone one disagrees with prompts more reflection in the way that people reason about political issues as well as elicits empathic feelings of concern towards those with opposing viewpoints. We further examine whether empathy facilitates openness to attitude change in the counter-attitudinal direction and find that exposure to an opposing perspective (without its empathy component) per se is enough to prompt attitude change. Our study paints a more nuanced picture of the relationship between empathy, reflection and policy attitudes.     

21世纪初国际能源格局及今后的中长期变化 ——兼论日本能源安全的出路与困境

为了应对全球气候变化,需对能源安全概念进行“范式转换”,即能源安全不仅要包括能源供需矛盾、能源供需网络的脆弱性和潜在风险,而且要与环境安全、水安全相结合,形成“广义的能源安全”概念。当前,一系列新因素正在使国际能源格局和能源范式发生重大变化：福岛核电站特大事故严重影响了全球公众对核安全的信心,今后世界各国发展核电会更加谨慎;可再生能源日益发展与普及;气候变暖正在改变能源资源与环境资源相加的自然资源“总格局”;非常规油气资源日益开发、天然气地位上升以及美洲能源供给新轴心崛起;“可燃冰革命”及海洋能源进一步开发。在福岛核事故后,日本能源安全既面临风险,又面临机遇。今后日本能源安全战略的动向主要是：坚持发展核电,但会更加谨慎稳健;积极开展能源外交,实现能源来源多元化;在一次能源结构中增大天然气的比重;大力发展可再生能源和节能;大力开发可燃冰等海洋能源资源。此外,当前日本政府错误的周边外交政策将成为日本能源安全最大的潜在风险,可望长期执政的自民党政权采取的鹰派民族主义政策,终将给日本惹祸,首当其冲的祸害对象就是日本的能源安全。     

功能认知视角下的英汉感官形容词

本文以英汉感官形容词中的典型代表“cold”和“冷”为例,从功能认知视角,对历时语料中两词用例进行对比,分析其语义特征的演变,进而探究其内在理据。研究发现,英汉感官形容词语义演变的路径具有单向性,以隐喻与转喻为内在机制。     

Analysis of off-farm work decisions among smallholder farm households in Burkina Faso

This article investigates off-farm work decisions by smallholder farm households. Using data on 1,101 households from Burkina Faso, it demonstrates that in addition to the usual household socio-demographic characteristics, remittances, access to information and beneficiary of specific training affect off-farm work decisions, as well as rainfall factors and idiosyncratic health shocks. Community characteristics such as accessibility and number of inhabitants are also key factors. While suggesting that off-farm work is less likely to be undertaken for accumulation purposes, these results have important policy implications. In particular, policy measures should consider each segment as a separate entity.