Grounds for self-government? Changes in land ownership and democratic participation in Chinese communities

Do variations in land ownership affect people’s democratic participation? Quantitative, cross-country research on this topic suffers from the non-comparability of regulatory systems and cultures, and the use of crude indicators to identify participation. This study attempts to overcome these methodological problems, by employing indicators of procedural and substantive participation in a structured, diachronic comparison of qualitative data from five sites in China – an authoritarian state, which, however, requires residents of urban communities and villages to participate in ‘self-government’. It examines whether and why changing land from collective ownership to state ownership, and residents’ compensated acquisition of cash and secure, fungible assets, strengthens or weakens participation in self-government. In the research sites, collective land ownership is found to stimulate participation in self-government. Transformation of the land to state ownership and people’s acquisition of private property weakens participation. The robust results of the study support the direction of a causal argument that collective land ownership is conducive to democratic participation. These findings imply that scholars and policymakers should consider the potentially adverse political consequences of changing land ownership. A further implication is that, absent substantial political reform, an urbanized China might be less rather than more democratic at the community level.     

公共服务供给机制转型中的公益性岗位研究

我国自2002年起开始施行公益性岗位的政策,这一政策对拓宽就业渠道、缓解失业压力起到了一定的作用。但目前依靠政府进一步开发和购买公益性岗位的难度很大。本文对国内外公共服务供给机制转型进行了比较分析,在此基础上提出以下建议:我国应进一步完善公共服务的供给机制,以社区为平台,通过推动购买服务的方式,调动社会组织服务社区和吸收就业的功能,以推动公益性岗位的增加。     

Evaluating Bioinformatic Pipeline Performance for Forensic Microbiome Analysis*,†,‡

Microbial communities have potential evidential utility for forensic applications. However, bioinformatic analysis of high-throughput sequencing data varies widely among laboratories. These differences can potentially affect microbial community composition and downstream analyses. To illustrate the importance of standardizing methodology, we compared analyses of postmortem microbiome samples using several bioinformatic pipelines, varying minimum library size or minimum number of sequences per sample, and sample size. Using the same input sequence data, we found that three open-source bioinformatic pipelines, MG-RAST, mothur, and QIIME2, had significant differences in relative abundance, alpha-diversity, and beta-diversity, despite the same input data. Increasing minimum library size and sample size increased the number of low-abundant and infrequent taxa detected. Our results show that bioinformatic pipeline and parameter choice affect results in important ways. Given the growing potential application of forensic microbiology to the criminal justice system, continued research on standardizing computational methodology will be important for downstream applications.     

Linking Public Housing to Education: A Comparative Case Study of HOPE VI

This research examines the federally funded HOPE VI urban revitalization program’s influence on neighborhood public school performance. A comparative case study was conducted in two HOPE VI neighborhood public schools, one that improved significantly (Philadelphia), and one that experienced a decline (Washington DC). The analysis revealed several insights into neighborhood factors that may influence school performance: the most vulnerable residents were least likely to gain reentry, mixed income housing residents often opt out of traditional public schools, and partnerships between public housing and education officials have been historically overlooked.     

Civil society knowledge networks: how international development institutions reshape the geography of knowledge

What role have the processes and institutions of international development played in creating and propagating ideas around the world? This paper demonstrates that networks of development-focused civil society institutions can form global epistemic bridges even where communication technology, global markets, infrastructure, or state services do not reach. Given the penetration of these ‘civil society knowledge networks’ throughout the world, it is crucial to understand how these networks form, and how they create and spread ideas, mediating between global discourses and local needs. This paper builds on a multi-sited case study of one such civil society knowledge network, which includes an international foundation, its partner non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Kenya, and one village where these NGOs run a forest conservation project. The case study provides a closely textured analysis of the mechanisms of knowledge production and consumption in the network, including personality politics, language, technology, political connections and the power dynamics of knowledge flows. It demonstrates the ways remoteness and disconnection are overcome through the epistemic reach of institutional networks involved in development interventions.     

丽江纳西族的社区资源管理传统

东巴文化“人与自然是兄弟”的传统观念对社区资源管理有着深刻的影响 ,丽江纳西族村寨社区资源管理有许多传统习俗 ,包括社区组织、管山员和乡规民约的种种社会功能 ,以及良好的社区资源使用与管理方式。只有充分发扬各民族传统文化中所存在的理性生态保护意识 ,调动民众的生态保护自觉性 ,完善传统的社区资源管理机制 ,才能保护好生态环境     

决议行为效力规则之构造

社团决议行为并非法律行为,无法直接适用法律行为规则.物权法、公司法虽设有特别规则,但二者关于决议行为效力类型及瑕疵事由的规定均不周延且相互冲突,无法满足司法需求.非公司法人等的决议行为更面临法律规制漏洞.未来民法典总则亟需增设决议行为规则.规制决议行为的伦理基础并非程序正义,而系社团自治,应围绕社团自治建构规则.应区分决议成立认定与效力判断,经有召集权者召集会议作出多数决,方形成决议.已成立的决议需满足有决议权限、真实性、合法性、合理性要件,方具有法律效力.与之对应,无决议权限、程序瑕疵、表决瑕疵、内容违法、违反规约及侵害成员合法权益将导致决议效力待定、可撤销或无效.     

我国城市社区民主治理的困境与出路

积极推进城市社区民主治理对我国的民主政治建设和法治进程具有重要而深远的影响,但宥于我国历史传统和民主法治国情,城市社区民主治理仍存在民主权利与民主需求、民主需求与民主实践、民主实践与民主权利之间不相协调的问题,使得社区民主治理陷入"权利-需求-实践"的困境,这严重阻碍着中国城市社区建设及基层民主政治的健康发展。当务之急是结合我国实际,完善民主权利,满足民主需求,深化民主实践,积极探索具有我国特色的城市社区民主治理之路。     

Linking Local Plants with Small Handicraft Enterprises among Indigenous Mapuche Communities: Towards a Combined Approach of Local Development and Enhancement of Ethnobotanical Knowledge?

There is a paucity of studies analysing the role of ethnobotanical knowledge for handicraft and local development. Thus, more work is required to expand the range of detailed case studies on which to draw. The objective of this article is to analyse an initiative promoted by a pioneering experience of its kind in the Araucaria region, Chile, which is centred on traditional knowledge of Mapuche communities. By identifying what lessons can be drawn from this experience, this study analyses the factors that can promote synergies between handicraft and conservation of local plants from which resources are derived for handicraft.     

以“三个代表”为指针 加强中心城区党建工作

加强中心城区党建工作必须以"三个代表”的思想为指针,紧密结合城区党建工作的实际情况,调查研究,总结经验,找出薄弱环节,查找深层次原因,切实解决存在的问题,探索并建立中心城区党建工作的新思路和新机制.