Shaking off the neoliberal shackles: “democratic emergence” and the negotiation of democratic knowledge in the Middle East North Africa context

ABSTRACT

There is a general assumption in democracy promotion that liberal democracy is the panacea that will solve all political and economic problems faced by developing countries. Using the concept of “good society” as analytical prism, the analysis shows that while there is a rhetorical agreement as to what the “good society” entails, democracy promotion practices fail to allow for recipients’ inclusion in the negotiation and delivery of the “good society”. Contrasting US and Tunisian discourses on the “good society”, the article argues that democracy promotion practices are underpinned by neoliberal parameters borne out from a reliance on the transition paradigm, which in turn leave little room to democracy promotion recipients to formulate knowledge claims supporting the emergence of alternative conceptions of the “good society”. In contrast, the article opens up a reflective pathway to a negotiated democratic knowledge, which would reside in a paradigmatic change that consists in the abandonment of the transition paradigm in favour of a “democratic emergence” paradigm.     

What do forensic analysts consider relevant to their decision making?

In response to research demonstrating that irrelevant contextual information can bias forensic science analyses, authorities have increasingly urged laboratories to limit analysts' access to irrelevant and potentially biasing information (Dror and Cole (2010) [3]; National Academy of Sciences (2009) [18]; President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (2016) [22]; UK Forensic Science Regulator (2015) [26]). However, a great challenge in implementing this reform is determining which information is task-relevant and which is task-irrelevant. In the current study, we surveyed 183 forensic analysts to examine what they consider relevant versus irrelevant in their forensic analyses. Results revealed that analysts generally do not regard information regarding the suspect or victim as essential to their analytic tasks. However, there was significant variability among analysts within and between disciplines. Findings suggest that forensic science disciplines need to agree on what they regard as task-relevant before context management procedures can be properly implemented. The lack of consensus about what is relevant information not only leaves room for biasing information, but also reveals foundational gaps in what analysts consider crucial in forensic decision making.     

美国的公共服务改革及其启示

公共服务民营化是美国近年来公共服务改革的核心措施。从美国的经验来看,能否处理好民营化与竞争、民营化与社会公正、民营化与公众安全的关系,以及民营化与政府监管的关系直接关系到公共服务改革的成效。     

Beliefs About Wife Beating Among Arab Men from Israel: The Influence of Their Patriarchal Ideology

Despite the recent increase in public and professional interest in the problem of wife beating in Arab society, in Israel, and in the rest of the Arab world, there is a serious lack of empirical research on different dimensions of the problem in those societies. This paper presents the results of a survey conducted among a systematic random sample of 362 Arab husbands from Israel, in an attempt to examine the contribution of patriarchal ideology toward explaining their beliefs about wife beating. Although about 58% of the participants indicated that there is no excuse for a man to beat his wife, 15–62% still justified wife beating on certain occasions (e.g., adultery, failure to obey husbands, disrespect for parents and relatives). In addition, although the participants tended to perceive abusive and violent husbands as responsible for their behavior, 52% still expressed understanding of that behavior and, on some occasions, 23–43% even blamed the wife for violence against her. Regression and multiple regression analyses revealed that over and above the participants' age and level of education, their masculine sex-role stereotypes, negative and traditional attitudes toward women, nonegalitarian marital role expectations, and familial patriarchal beliefs were the most significant predictors of beliefs about wife beating. Implications of the results and limitations of the study are also discussed.     

美国国家情报战略的特征与演变趋势

美国拥有世界上最庞大的情报部门。2005年,美国情报部门实现了自1947年以来最大规模的跨机构整合,设立国家情报局长办公室,每4年出台新的情报战略报告。这一整合反映了美国情报战略的特征及变化。美国情报战略的演变不仅是其情报系统自身的变革,也是美国国内政治变化的一个缩影,体现了美国对权力分散化、网络化的新认识及战略目标与理念的变化。剖析美国情报战略报告,有助于深层把握美国情报战略思维及未来走向。     

美国保安业的职业化途径及对中国保安业发展的启示

美国保安业发展的主要标志之一是基本实现了职业化 ,体现在规范管理、持照经营、教育训练等几个方面。在社会各界的关注下 ,不仅政府有关管理部门认识到职业化的重要性 ,而且保安业内部也认识到了职业化的重要。中国保安业正处在发展壮大的重要阶段 ,职业化的水平还较低 ,了解美国保安业的职业化途径对中国保安业的发展具有重要的参考价值和借鉴意义。     

美国公共安全危机事件应急管理研究

从应急管理的角度来看,凡涉及危及国家安全,危害公共安全和社会秩序,威胁公民生命财产安全,需要各级应急管理机构做出反应的,均属于公共安全危机事件。在美国,由于公共安全危机事件的规模与所要求的应急资源级别不同,因而联邦、州和地方政府也对其具有不同的界定标准。美国联邦政府的第一个应急管理计划是针对洪水与民防事务的处置。20世纪70年代,FEMA被指定承担协调联邦、州和地方当局应对危机的职责,而且成为全国对紧急事件管理的领导机构。美国的国家应急管理体系为:地方政府的应急反应机构是各种公共安全危机事件的第一反应者;州的应急反应机构对包括缩减、准备、反应和恢复在内的所有危机管理负责以及当州政府的应急能力不足时呼吁联邦政府给予支持。对公共安全危机事件的应急过程不仅需要政府的应急机构进行组织,而且需要许多社会组织参与。     

全球化语境下主权和法治的关系

通过分析民族国家兴起过程中主权和法治的复杂关系,本文提出民族国家主权是导致法治被限定为一种国家治理模式的重要因素。在全球化时代,主权和法治的关系发生了一些变化,其中最重要的是法治和全球治理联系起来。本文认为,由于全球化时代主权形式发展趋向的不确定性,全球治理并不必然选择法治作为其治理模式。但是,法治却是保障全球治理成为“善治”的必要条件。     

基于中阿经贸论坛视角下的宁夏形象塑造战略研究

实现宁夏跨越发展不仅需要调整经济结构,转变经济发展方式,创新体制机制,还需充分借助良好的区域形象这一无形资产通过阐释中阿经贸论坛背景下宁夏区域形象塑造的必要性,全面分析目前宁夏区域形象现状,从加强对外宣传、发展优势产业、加强文化交流、拓展旅游市场、注重研究设计等五个方面塑造宁夏新形象的战略理路。     

How foreign policy recommendations are put together: A computational model with empirical applications

This paper presents and applies empirically a computational model of the way in which bona fide high level foreign policy recommendations by U.S. policy makers are assembled. We begin by pointing out that policy making can be seen as the connection of certain strings of words to other strings. We then discuss how these connections constitute certain types of foreign policy making phenomena as such. To theorize about such connections, one first needs to specify essential features of these phenomena, and we do so for one phenomenon: bona fide recommendations. We next turn to a discussion of the theory that links together the categories by which these features are represented. That theory explains how certain strings of words are assembled into new proximate goals, missions, and tools. The theory can be modeled computationally using the programming language Scheme, and we next present that model. We conclude by presenting a run of the model, showing the close fit between actual and generated strings.