Ideology in the Era of Xi Jinping

Journal of Chinese Political Science - After 1978, Maoism as a living mass ideological and social force in the People’s Republic of China largely died away. The Party state’s legitimacy...     

Like a tree

The contemporary mediascape has been marked by a proliferation of popular TV genres in which the public appear as central protagonists. These genres are part of a broader shift in the relationship between media and audiences which challenges traditional conceptions of public service broadcasting and appear to represent a shift from media as public knowledge to media as constituting a space for diffuse popular engagement. A central feature of this shift has been the growing role of popular forms of expertise on television. This paper maps the main critical debates around participatory television and the role of the expert, from earlier work on talk shows to more recent discussions of reality and makeover TV. It notes a transition within the critical media and cultural studies literature from a focus on public sphere theory and questions of democratization to a growing concern with the role played by popular media culture in supporting new modes of governance based on the expert mediation of normative self-control. In this paper we analyze the role of experts on Oprah Winfrey's popular website Oprah.com, noting both the utility and limitations of a governmental perspective. Extending upon Foucault's notion of the productive nature of liberal subjecthood, the paper suggests the more positive role played by popular expertise in contributing to a media–civic culture articulated to a politics of recognition.     

Why Performance Information Use Varies Among Public Managers: Testing Manager-Related Explanations

ABSTRACT

This article examines the use of performance information by public managers. It begins with a systematic review of the literature which concludes that we know relatively little about the individual characteristics of managers who report a frequent use of these data. Studies that have focused on people-related explanations have mostly tested socio-demographic variables but have only found inconclusive evidence. This article suggests theorizing more complex individual explanations. Drawing from other fields' middle-range theories, the article speculates about the effects of thus far disregarded manager-related factors. An empirical test based on survey data from German cities reveals the following preliminary findings: performance information use is explained by a high level of data ownership, creative cognitive learning preferences, the absence of cynicism, and a distinct public service motivation. Identity and emotional intelligence were found to be insignificant along with the managers' socio-demographic characteristics.     

Monopoly and Transition to the Market

An American economist describes recent Soviet thinking on monopoly and traces its impact on the reform process up until 1991. After an overview of industrial concentration in the Soviet economy, the study proceeds to examine the content of Gorbachev's antimonopoly policy, focusing on policy toward dominant firms, mergers, and entry of firms. Drawing on this background and antitrust experience in Western countries, it concludes by analyzing the role of antitrust policy and import competition in the transition to the market. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: P20, L40.     

Reform and Damages for Breach of Contract in the Soviet Economy

Reforms in remedies for breach of contract emerging under perestroyka have as a main goal a reduction in the use of penalties in favor of compensation for damages. As background to these reforms, the basic principles of the Soviet law of contract damages are outlined, and the law's operation in practice under the traditional planning system is examined. Western economic theories of the choice of contract remedy are used to analyze the underlying causes of the difficulty of measuring and proving damages in the pre-reform system. Emerging reforms in contract remedies are described and evaluated in light of this analysis. journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 124.     

Managerial Strategies for Spontaneous Privatization

Two Western economists examine the rapid changes in property and business forms of enterprises in the former Soviet Union using evidence from intensive interviews conducted through December 1991 and involving 80 industrial and commercial organizations. After reviewing the reforms that provided the legal basis for the process, they describe different managerial strategies employed in spontaneous privatization and examine the ensuing changes in contractual relations of firms with other entities such as ministries or banks. The authors also interpret spontaneous privatization on the basis of literature covering property rights and identify several groups that lose or derive benefits from the transformation. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: P20, L2.