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.     

简论以法治腐--学习邓小平反腐倡廉思想

邓小平反腐败思想的一个重要特点就是把治理腐败与民主法制建设紧密地结合起来,这不仅为我们指出了防治腐败的根本方法,也为我国政治现代化建设提供了一个整体思路.     

浅议邓小平的民主法治思想与人本发展观

崇尚法治,反对人治是邓小平法治思想的基础和核心,民主法治思想与人本发展观的完善是邓小平理论的结晶,它的立法、执法、守法等基本思路对维护社会主义市场经济的新秩序,具有广泛深远的意义。     

民主生活会上怎样才能"讲真话"

完善民主生活会制度,充分发挥其在发展党内民主、加强党内监督中的作用,是以党内和谐促进社会和谐的迫切需要。民主生活会上不讲真话风气的蔓延,严重影响了民主生活会的质量。因此,坚持“讲真话”的要求不能放松,保护“讲真话”的措施亟待强化,督促“讲真话”的力度必须加大,回应“讲真话”的整改务必到位。     

Democracy, rule of law and human rights protection under gradually developed constitutionalism

With the shifting of the economic pattern and the developing of administrative law, the modern constitutionalism of China has adopted a progressive development process. Over 20 years, the development of democracy, the rule of law and the human rights protection clearly illustrate this point. For the gradually developing constitutionalism, the theory of limited rational is a theoretical basis, the stability of society is a social basis, the changing economic system is a economic basis, and Confucianism is a cultural basis. Constitutionalism of China should continue to go in such an active, steady and gradual way. Wang Zhuojun, Professor and Director of Administrative Affairs of Soochow University (till now) and as a visiting scholar in the Department of Government & Politics, University of Maryland, USA (1996.1–1997.1), whose research focuses on culture, politics and science of law. So far, his publications are “The Political System in the Perspective of Culture”, “A History of Epistemology”, “A Study of the External Economy of China’s Universities”, and his translations include “Introduction to Culture and Anthropology”, “Challenge to Culture from Science and Technology”, etc. Moreover, He has presided several research projects sponsored by The Ministry of Science and Technology of China and the Education Department of Jiangsu Province, China.     

科学发展观:中国特色社会主义的发展理论

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现代化与近代以来中国政治发展的相关理论问题

现代文明是一种独特的文明模式,其历史渊源是欧洲传统文明。中国传统文明具有独特性,它采取的是政教合一的秩序实现模式,有自身的演进逻辑。中国传统文明与现代文明本是两个不相干的系统。从政治发展的角度看,中国现代化实质上是一场秩序模式革命,包括传统政治整合模式的解构和现代秩序模式的创建。与欧洲特别是英国“顺势现代化”模式相比,中国的现代化属于“逆势现代化”,其过程的复杂性和艰巨性主要在于,在现代化的启动初期,就必须在共同体的宏观层面展开对传统秩序模式的解构。     

日本的教育与经济发展反思

综观日本的近现代经济发展史 ,每一次经济发展与起飞都与教育的改革和发展密切相关。但是近年来 ,日本经济的低迷与教育的发展出现错位 ,这一现象值得我们深入思考。     

深刻理解和努力践行科学发展观的世界观和方法论

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日本对外直接投资的新发展与海外经营的新动向

从2005年开始,日本对外直接投资迅速增加,2006年终于超过了1990年的投资规模。在日本对外直接投资迅速增加的同时,其投资对象和投资内容都发生了新的变化,出现了新的特点。由此,日本企业的海外经营规模进一步扩大,今后将继续扩大投资。