Rational Choice Theory and the Evaluation of Public Policy

The dominance of rational choice-inspired models of policy development, implementation, and evaluation has grown dramatically over the years as a challenge to traditional, pluralist politics. In this article, we analyze the theoretical foundations of the rational choice perspective and its criticism of pluralist politics. We explore the values inherent in the rational choice perspective and suggest that they feed into growing public cynicism about government and lead to a conservative policy agenda of less government. We then develop an unusual argument that the very tools of rational choice analysis and its values actually produce far more government involvement than expected. by examining school voucher programs. We conclude by making a case for pluralist politics as a more appropriate means for addressing the concerns of classical liberals and others about excessive government intrusion.     

The Tasks of Rational Utilization of Land Resources

A review of the use of energy and mass budget studies of natural landscapes discusses some limitations of the approach, related partly to a lack of detailed knowledge about the structure of landscape and the inadequacy of the balance technique for describing indirect linkages within the landscape and the impact of outside regulatory influences. The various balance equations for describing the mass and energy exchange in landscape are described and systematized. The use of heat-balance and plant-mass balance relationships for a classification of natural areal complexes is illustrated with reference to the north-facing and south-facing sides of a gully, the gully bottom and the surrounding watershed area in a meadow-steppe landscape of the Central Chenozem Region. Other possible applications of the balance technique in mass and energy research are suggested. (For background, see A Survey Course: The Energy and Mass Budget at the Surface of the Earth, by David H. Miller. Association of American Geographers, Commission on College Geography, Publication No. 7, 1968.)     

The Baelo Claudia Paradigm: The Exploitation of Marine Resources in Roman Cetariae

The Roman city of Baelo Claudia (Baetica, Hispania) is one of the best known halieutic sites of the Mare Nostrum, dating from between the 2nd century BC and the 5th century AD. Recent archaeological investigations have included the discovery, excavation and interdisciplinary study of two new fish-salting factories (so-called “Conjuntos Industriales” XI and XII), providing valuable new information on the exploitation of marine resources. This paper provides the first synthesis of all of the available archaeological evidence for the first three phases of the fishing-product cycle (marine resources/fishing equipment/processing facilities and food products) at this unique site on the Strait of Gibraltar.     

Managing Water for Athens: From the Hydraulic to the Rational Growth Paradigm

Water management in Athens is at a turning point, since the relatively stable mode of State-organized and subsidized supply expansion has faced its limits in the drought-related crisis of 1989-1993. A shift in emphasis to the improvement of drinking water production and delivery efficiency is paralleled by an unimpeded and unquestioned growth in the scale of water use. In this article, we examine the intricacies of the evolving water management regime and argue that its contradictions will most likely reproduce the problems of the past, unless a more fundamental institutional change is worked out.     

西北地区经济发展的理性选择:发展文化、旅游产业

西北地区生态脆弱,自然环境恶劣,沙漠面积较大,水土流失严重,不宜进行大规模的工业开发。同时,西北地区是中华民族发祥地之一,蕴含着灿烂的民族文化,旅游资源非常丰富。丝绸之路跨国申报世界遗产将提高西北地区文化、旅游品牌,除了一条"文化线路",沿线有48个遗产点之外,大量可移动遗产和非物质文化遗产进入文化旅游整体领域。西北地区文化旅游产业发展滞后,文化旅游产业发展潜力和空间巨大。按照科学发展观的要求、全国主体功能区规划和西部大开发的部署,以丝绸之路申报世界遗产为契机,加快产业结构调整,促进西北地区文化、旅游产业的发展。     

世界农业制度的历史变迁与功效

本文研究人类上万年历史中的农业制度变迁,分析这一变迁对人类社会的影响.作者认为,世界人口在本世纪中叶将达90亿人,从现在起不断提高农业生产力水平与粮食产量是应对世界人口增长的当务之急.进化主义生物学家贾热德·戴蒙德认为农业的发明为人类社会带来了过大的负面结果,是人类史上最大的失误.作者对此进行了反驳,并指出,不仅历史上的农业发明和农业革命导致了人类社会的重大发展,并且20世纪以遗传学和基因技术为基础的农业发展将是人类解决自身生存困境的最佳和惟一的选择.     

社科类学术期刊科学发展的路经选择

本文从社科类学术期刊的勃兴与发展危机、社科类学术期刊遭遇发展危机之实质、社科类学术期刊科学发展的路径三个方面,对社科类学术期刊科学发展问题进行探讨。文章指出,社科类学术期刊在市场化背景下遭遇危机的实质绝非只是发行量的问题,而是在市场中如何与学术最佳结合的问题。因此,社科类学术期刊要顺势而为,以人为本,锁定目标读者和作者群;统筹兼顾,处理好学术性市场和经营性市场的关系;与时俱进,提升社科期刊“核心竞争力”。从而充分发挥社科期刊作为学术传承和学术积累的载体作用,让自身的社会价值在市场中得以最大化,创造更多的精神财富,促进社会和谐,实现自身科学发展。     

旅游人力资源发展——21世纪的一项艰巨任务

重视旅游人力资源的规划,发展旅游业生力军,将是我国旅游业迈入新世纪的一项,艮巨任务。本就此分析了旅游人力资源发展的动因并提出对策。     

抗战时期新四军发展方向的选择与调整

抗战时期新四军的发展方向经历多次选择与调整。改编之初,新四军主要立足江南寻求东向发展。在发展华中过程中,中共中央、中原局和东南局对新四军发展方向出现分歧,在实际斗争中形成以苏北为重点的发展格局。1941年2月,中共中央和华中局准备西向发展河南,但因敌情变化被迫终止。8月,华中局再次提出西向发展,中共中央考虑到国共关系没有批准。1942年基于抗战胜利的预期和掌握山东的需要,刘少奇要求新四军向山东发展,但因华中形势困难未能实现。1944年为配合美军登陆杭州湾计划以及争取战后政局先机,中共中央布置新四军向西、南两个方向发展,由于兵力不足又改为以东南为主。     

饭店人力资源配置中的实习生现象研究

当前饭店业在人力资源配置过程中存在大量使月实习生这一普遍现象。本就这种现象对饭店经营的利弊进行了客观的分析,在饭店人才培养与饭店人力资源配置有效结合方面提出了全新思路。     

Cultural Resources and Regional Development: The Case of the Cultural Legacy of Watchmaking

Cultural resources are today the object of considerable attention in regional economics. Ground for new forms of innovation these resources have given rise to numerous works aiming at understanding the emergence and organisation of culture based economic activities and at identifying the role of these activities in regional development and urban planning. The objective of this article is to explore the way in which resources, and in particular cultural resources, are incorporated into production processes on the one hand, and the consequences on the resources of doing so on the other hand. Becoming an economic resource, a cultural “object” (symbol, image, cultural heritage, traditional know-how, etc.) becomes embedded within commercial relationships. The question we address here is what are the causes and consequences of this commodification of culture for the production systems, the customers and for the local communities which put a certain number of their constitutive elements into play.     

发展农业旅游,缓解“三农”问题——兼论农业旅游的经济社会影响

农业旅游既是一种新兴的旅游方式,又是一种新型的农业生产经营形式。发展农业旅游可以调整农业经济结构,培育农村新的经济增长点,安置农村剩余劳动力,促进农民增收,改变农村整体面貌,从而缓解三农业问题。     

Local Water Supplies in the Desert and Agricultural Development

The water supply of range lands involves two Important problems: the availability of mineralized groundwater and the need for providing water to a large area with limited consumption at each watering point. Although the practice was long discouraged, herders have successfully supplied animals with water having a salt content of up to about 15 grams per liter, other water-supply possibilities, aside from the freezing method, Include the collection of rainwater in natural underground reservoirs and the tapping of lenticular freshwater strata discovered in sandy deserts.