试论当代中国社会阶层构成新变化的原因及其走向

自1978年以来,当代中国社会阶层构成发生了重大变化,市场化改革和知识经济化是其变化的深层原因。与西方发达国家相比较,当代中国急需构建橄榄型的社会结构形态,这是今后20年我国全面建设小康社会的目标之一。     

论当代西方国家阶级结构的新变化及中间阶层的作用

西方国家生产关系的调整引起了阶级结构的新变化。在传统的两大对立阶级中各自都出现了具有特殊性的阶层,尤其是在两大对立的阶级之间,除了传统的中间阶层依然存在外,又产生了许多新的中间阶层。西方国家社会阶级结构日益呈现出“两头小,中间大”的中型分布。中间阶层不仅数量越来越多,而且对生产力的推动作用越来越大,对社会政治的影响力越来越强,对社会秩序的稳定作用越来越明显。     

认识阶层 构建和谐——培育高校学生关注社会下层群体的理念

近年来,我国社会阶层问题常常成为关注的热点,社会阶层的分化,以及阶层之间矛盾的显现,都需要人们去正确面对。对于高校青年学生来讲,引导他们正确认识我国社会阶层现状,特别是培育他们关注社会下层群体的良好理念,非常有必要。在指导青年学生对我国社会阶层状况有基本了解的前提下,教导他们学会关注关爱社会弱势群体,学习做一个有包容心、有爱心、有社会责任感的公民。     

How people organise cultural attitudes: cultural belief systems and the populist radical right

Political scientists generally agree that all individuals structure their cultural attitudes in the same unidimensional fashion. However, various populist radical right parties remarkably combine moral progressiveness with conservatism regarding immigration-related issues. This suggests that the structuring of cultural attitudes among the electorate may also be more complex than typically assumed. Applying Correlational Class Analysis to representative survey data, the study uncovers three cultural belief systems. For individuals adhering to an integrated one, all cultural attitudes are interdependent, as typically assumed. However, two alternative belief systems are also uncovered: intermediate and partitioned. In the latter, positions on one cultural attitude (e.g. ethnocentrism) are barely related to positions on others (e.g. rejecting Islam or opposing homosexuality). The existence of multiple cultural belief systems challenges the widely held assumption that all people organise their cultural attitudes similarly. Both political party agendas and individuals’ education level and religion appear key to understanding variation in belief systems.     

Economic crisis, party system change, and the dynamics of class voting in Venezuela, 1973–2003

The breakdown of the old catch-all party system in Venezuela, and the sudden rise to power of leftist former coup leader Hugo Chávez provides an instructive case study to examine the sources of party system change, the rise of populism and the politicisation of class. Using nationally representative survey data this paper analyses different models of voting behaviour over time, and examines the extent to which the determinants of electoral choice have changed. It argues that although economic crises during the 1990s undermined support for the existing parties, it did not create a politically salient class-based response. Rather, it created the electoral space for new actors to enter the political stage and articulate new populist issue dimensions. Explanations for the politicisation of social cleavages in Venezuela can therefore best be understood in terms of ‘top-down’ approaches which emphasises the role of political agency in reshaping and re-crafting political identities, rather than more ‘bottom-up’ factors which emphasise the demands that originate within the electorate.     

The Attitudes of the Chinese Middle Class Towards Democracy

Little has been done to quantitatively establish the connection between the middle class and a specific regime type. In an effort to fill in the gap, this study uses Asian Barometer survey dataset to examine the attitudes and orientation of China’s rising middle class. We find that the Chinese middle class does show higher democratic orientation than those we categorize as lower class, but only if class is defined by occupation or by self-identification, and not by income level. We interpret this result to mean that economic development offers new life experiences with the creation of new types of professions and enhances people’s agreement with modern democratic values by arousing people’s consciousness of their new social class status.

邓小平理论与当代中国的社会分层

党的十一届三中全会以来,我国社会阶级阶层结构发生了巨大的变化,这一变化与邓小平的理论创新和实践探索是密不可分的:首先,邓小平关于知识分子和阶级斗争的新理论,突破了传统的阶级阶层分析方法,确立了社会主义现代化建设的三大基本依靠力量;其次,邓小平的改革开放理论与实践,促进了当代中国的社会分层和流动,大大增加了我国社会结构的弹性和社会活力;再次,邓小平的共同富裕理论和统一战线理论,为协调各阶级阶层之间的经济和政治利益矛盾提供了科学指导,有力地维护了安定团结的政治局面。     

警力资源分类管理机制建设的探索与思考

在警力资源配置中引入分类管理机制,对进一步优化警力资源配置及实现其无增长改善,具有十分重要的意义。为此,必须探索和完善岗位分类制度、警力资源配置和流动机制、警力绩效考评机制、激励保障机制和警力辅助机制。     

国家的现代化路径与中产阶级的类型

中产阶级不仅是一种财产状况和财产关系,也是一种文化现象,不仅是一个现实问题,也是一种历史现象。离开对中产阶级形成和发展的历史条件的观察,就无法正确认识中产阶级的作用。中产阶级的作用是由其产生和发展的历史环境决定的,对中产阶级类型进行研究,只能从中产阶级产生的历史环境入手。由于各个国家历史环境的巨大差别,中产阶级在各个国家的作用并不完全相同。     

精英阶层再生产与阶层固化程度——以青年的职业地位获得为例

市场转型期,精英阶层的更替过程越来越强调个人能力和高等学历的作用。但这种机制并不排除精英再生产逻辑的运作,政治精英和技术精英都可以将自己的阶层优势传递给下一代。只是精英阶层的再生产规模和阶层固化的程度都是有限的,家庭背景等因素对青年成为精英的作用是基础性的,而不是无限制扩大的。较高学历、中高级职称与高行政级别等阶层身份特征在很大程度上都不具有代际再生产的特性。数据分析表明,在市场转型的头20年里,精英阶层的固化程度还不足以影响社会流动机制的正常运行。