Issues,Coalitions, and Divided Government

Ryan J. Barilleaux, The Post-Modern Presidency. The Office After Ronald Reagan. New York: Praeger. 1988. Pp. x, 175. $35.95.

Richard Rose, The Postmodern President: The White House Meets the World. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House Publishers. 1988. Pp. x, 350. $17.95.     

The Heroic Presidency in the Era of Divided Government

Abstract

Contemporary democratic theorists focus on democratic processes to the exclusion of the substantive goods which motivated their predecessors. This undermines the legitimacy of democracy, especially in an era of emerging democracies. This article critiques underlying deficiencies in contemporary theory and prescribes revisiting early modern, natural-law-based democratic theory exemplified by John Locke. Locke argued that the ultimate legitimacy of democratic processes depends on their serving the good of the people, as distinct from the will of the people. The authors argue that this conclusion is unavoidable, because it is impossible for democratic legitimacy to rest ultimately on any kind of process at all, even a democratic process. Legitimacy must rest on a substantive norm used to govern (create or repair) processes. Contemporary democratic theory seems unwilling to revisit this important problem.     

Attitudes Towards Divided Government and Ticket-splitting in Australia and the United States

Divided party government has become a frequent occurrence in both the United States and Australia in recent years. In the United States, Morris Fiorina has argued that this result is intentional on the part of the voters, who do not fully trust either party to govern by itself. We test this theory in both the United States and Australia by comparing the voting patterns of those who prefer divided versus united party government. It is hypothesised that Fiorina's theory will actually work better in Australia than in the United States, due to the presence of a strong party system as well as a voting system for the Australian Senate that facilitates strategic voting on behalf of small parties. Indeed, near-identical logistic regression models demonstrate that Australians' attitudes about divided government are a very significant predictor of straight-ticket voting even when a host of other factors is controlled for, whereas in the United States such attitudes are insignificant.     

The Rise of Social Assistance in Brazil

The rise of social assistance in Brazil has been remarkable. The 1988 Constitution signalled a renewed ‘social contract’ leading to citizenship‐based social assistance providing guaranteed income to older and disabled people in poverty. Municipal activism in the 1990s extended the provision of direct transfers to all households in poverty through Bolsa Escola and other programmes later consolidated into Bolsa Família. This article studies the origins and evolution of social assistance institutions in Brazil, paying due attention to the role of ideas and politics.     

美英社会科学研究与国家调控初探

现代国家为调控社会发展而开发利用社会科学,已是应予研究的历史现象。     

Politics and Policy in the 103rd and 104th Congresses: Evaluating the Effects of Divided Government in the Postreform Era

The 1980 Reagan transition and the 1988 Bush transition offer important case studies for understanding the challenges of presidential transitions. Although not without its shortcomings, the 1980 transition was, at least comparably, the most successful of the transfers in power since the modern era of presidential transitions commenced with the Carter effort in 1976. 1988 offers useful lessons about "friendly takeovers": the passing of power from a president to a president-elect of the same party. The 1988 transition is also of interest because it offers the only instance of a sitting vice president elected to the presidency since Martin Van Buren in 1836. The 1988 transition, moreover, marked the ascendancy of President George W. Bush's father to the office, and it was a transition in which he and several members of this administration participated, Chief of Staff Andrew Card most notably.     

“社会改造”思潮的兴起与20世纪的中国历史学

随着近代资本主义在中国的发展,以市场为纽带的生产联系、产品交换日益加强。在此基础上形成的超出任何个人、家庭和个体生产单位的“社会”问题日益凸现,富国强兵、救亡图存不再是任何局部变革的问题,社会作为一个相互联系的有机整体,其全面改造和社会转型,成为挽救中华民族的惟一出路,“社会改造”思潮蓬勃兴起。社会思潮的转变必然导致学术思潮的呼应,     

德意志帝国时期妇女群体的崛起

在传统的前工业社会 ,德国妇女处于男性的支配之下 ,经济和政治地位相当低下。随着德意志帝国时期向工业社会的转型 ,妇女的传统社会角色发生变化 ,男性的绝对统治受到动摇。首先 ,由于社会劳动分工的细化 ,妇女开始进入社会生产领域并形成较大的职业群体 ,成为社会生产中的重要力量。其次 ,随着经济性的增强 ,宗教信仰和利益各异 ,德意志帝国时期的妇女运动形成了资产阶级的、社会主义的和天主教的妇女运动等不同派别。这些运动促进了妇女地位的改善 ,使德国的社会生活内容和面貌发生了变化。     

南京国民政府盐税整理与改革述论

南京国民政府对盐税进行了一系列的整理和改革,在维护中央权威、增加税收等方面取得了显著成效.但由于南京国民政府过度追求增加盐税收入,对社会民生及国家的现代化进程造成了深刻的负面影响.本文试从历史背景、主要措施、实际效果及对社会民生的影响等几个方面对南京国民政府的盐税整理和改革及其利弊得失进行论述.     

Blood from the Moon: Gender Ideology and the Rise of Ancient Maya Social Complexity

Archaeological data suggests that there is a direct link between the rise of social complexity and the erosion of women's status. Through a look at the ways in which gendered practices and symbols may shift as men and women (and males and females) negotiate their relationships and interactions within shifting social contexts, this article sets out to explore this linkage between social complexity and gender equality in the ancient Maya region. Building from the notion that ‘gender’ is produced and reproduced through practice and symbol as a culture constitutes and bounds gender roles and expectations by symbolically associating certain activities and materials with each gender as iconic representations and ritual enactments of those normative gender roles then serve to naturalise a gender ideology, this article argues that the rising ancient Maya elite attempted to legitimise increasing social inequalities through the manipulation, ritualisation and abstraction of female symbols of power associated with pregnancy, menstruation and childbirth. This appropriation and contestation of symbols and performances of gender identity can be observed in wide variety of powerful representations and practices within the Maya cosmology such as genital piercing, the 260‐day calendar and the neutering of female sexuality in monumental art.     

President Clinton and the Republican Congress, 1995-2000: Political and Policy Dimensions of Veto Politics in Divided Government

This article melds alternative theoretical perspectives on veto threats to explain President Clinton's influence over legislative outcomes in the 104th-106th Congresses (1995-2000). Formal models of executive-legislative relations–in particular the "coordination model"–yield an incomplete understanding of veto politics and executivelegislative conflict from 1995-2000. Explaining Clinton's success through veto politics requires a recognition of the unique context of legislative conflict from 1995-96. Presidential- congressional relations in the 104th Congress turned on "blame-game" politics that Clinton manipulated to his advantage. Clinton's second term heralded a return to "normal politics" during which the Republican majority's response to his veto threats coincided better with the basic tenets of the coordination model. Quantitative analysis of Clinton's public threats and secondary analysis of bill histories are brought to bear to test the theoretical framework.     

清末中国现代社会调查肇兴刍论

自1902年底浙江留日学生同乡会成立调查部后,社会调查在清末形成了一股潮流。清末调查受日本的影响较大,与统计学关系较为密切,其内容涉及社会生活的方方面面,调查主体和目的均呈现出多样化的特征,调查的结果也表现出一定的客观性。这些足以说明,清末的社会调查已具有某种现代性了,现代社会调查已在清末萌发。     

英国新社会史思潮的兴起及其整体社会史研究的国际反响

“新社会史研究”作为一种史学新思潮,与西方史学的整体化趋势,几乎同时出现于现代国际史学舞台。英国新社会史思潮具有广泛和深刻的国内外史学渊源。英国新社会史学派宣扬的核心问题是坚持“自下而上”史学观念,它彰显了由此观念指导下的整体社会史取向和研究实践。从较广泛的分析角度看,在国际史学发展格局重新调整的现时背景下,英国马克思主义新社会史学派引起国内外史学界的广泛注意和效仿。它对国际史学发展的推动性作用是不可忽视的,这集中体现了该学派及其整体史学研究的国际反响。     

西方新中间阶级的兴起及其社会政治影响

当代西：方发达资本主义国家阶级结构最显著的变化是新中间阶级的兴起。企业规模的扩大、产业结构的升级、政府职能的扩大,都为新中间阶级的发展壮大提供着现实基础,而人们生产能力的提高则是其终极原因。随着新中间阶级逐渐成长为社会的多数群体,学术界对其关注程度在不断增加,但对于新中间阶级阶级属性和社会政治影响的认识却一直存在着激烈争论。本文将尝试对新中间阶级兴起的历史根由及其社会政治影响做出考察和解析。