The Development of Comparative Judicial Politics

Abstract

Much of the scholarly debate over the Heidegger controversy has endeavored to either connect or free his philosophy from fascism. Against both these tendencies, I argue that the central concepts of Heidegger's philosophy are politically underdetermined. Throughout both his late and early periods, Heidegger's primary ambition remained the illumination of the question of being, a project that I argue made his ontological framework inherently relativistic.     

环境解说评估研究综述

环境解说评估具有导向、鉴定、改进、管理、调控以及服务功能。国外的环境解说评估注重运用定性与定量分析结合的方式,研究内容包括：游客对解说媒体满意度和偏好、环境解说评估的方法和效果、环境解说的综合评估、环境解说评估标准等。国内相关研究起步比较晚,研究内容多为探讨解说效果和游客满意度,也有少量关于环境解说评估的理论思考以及评估方式探讨。本文认为,需要进一步扩展环境解说评估的对象,丰富环境解说评估的方法,加强前期评估和阶段评估的研究,并建立起环境解说标准。     

Debating Belarus: An Economy in Comparative Perspective

A U.S.-based geographer and Belarusian political scientist assess the current economic crisis in Belarus. Although the country's financial situation is serious in the short term, they argue that analysis of basic social and economic indicators provides some evidence of underlying strength and stability, recently bolstered by a number of trade agreements concluded with Russia in late 2011. The authors argue that the most natural and meaningful basis for ascertaining the health of the country's economy is to compare it with those of its two Slavic neighbors, Russia and Ukraine. That comparison reveals that although Belarus ranks lower on most indices of economic reform, it has outperformed them during the post-Soviet period in several important categories (GDP growth, income equality, agricultural productivity, expenditures on education and health care, life expectancy, and per capita agricultural output) and occupied an intermediate position (below Russia but above Ukraine) in others (e.g., GDP per capita, wages and pensions, and labor productivity). The paper's final section discusses the nature of the relationship between Belarus and Russia (dependence vs. complementarity) and that between the Lukashenka regime and the Belarusian people.     

High Court Review 2004: Limits on the Judicial Protection of Rights

The High Court's role of judicial review has often been examined for its impact on rights protection, an area of particular interest in Australia due to the historical lack of an explicit bill of rights in either statutory or constitutional form. In 2004 rights issues were presented in particularly stark relief in several key cases, demonstrating the difficulties of the role of judicial review in the Australian constitutional framework. The cases analysed here produce compelling evidence of the limitations of relying on judicial review for rights protection within the Australian system of government. They demonstrate that in the absence of a clearer framework for the protection of rights the judiciary can uphold unambiguous decisions of the legislature enshrined in statute, even where and when those provisions are considered to override the rule of law, international standards and human rights principles.     

西欧都市旅游免费信息的观察与思考——以德国、奥地利和荷兰若干城市为例

作者借助公务考察之机,对所访问的若干欧洲城市在机场、车站、酒店、游客中心等场所提供的纸质免费信息进行了有意识的观察和搜集。本文详细分析了这些纸质免费信息的类型、内容和特点;针对我国快速发展的都市旅游业中如何满足游客对信息的新需求,提出了其启示和借鉴意义。     

国内旅游研究方法的方向：从理念阐释到理论实证

旅游能否成为一门独立学科，关键取决于能否形成一套完善的学科基础理论和方法论。本文分析了中外旅游研究方法的进展情况，对理论实证方法的优越性进行了阐释，将其在国内外旅游研究中不同应用程度作以比较，进而总结出国内旅游研究方法的方向。     

Constitutional Design of the Executive: Vice Presidencies in Comparative Perspective

Given the history of the institution in the U.S., it is perhaps not surprising that few democracies have adopted a vice presidency. But, why do any countries have vice presidencies? What, if any, functions do they fulfill? In this paper we examine constitutional provisions for vice presidencies in 29 presidential democracies throughout the world. Specifically, we examine the extent to which the office of the vice presidency fulfills three possible institutional purposes: succession, legislative, or executive functions. Almost all vice presidencies included in our analysis fulfill the role of successor in the event of a presidential vacancy. Of those that have additional duties, most are assigned executive functions, while a few are assigned legislative functions. On the whole, the paper provides empirical evidence that vice presidencies seem to be marginal institutions.     

Metropolitan Housing Subsystems: A Comparative Review

Population, household, and housing data of twelve cities in industrialized countries are compared with respect to different rates of growth or decline in the inner and outer parts of the urban area. The study shows that in nearly all metropolitan areas the core declines in terms of population, but less in terms of households, and is stable or grows in terms of dwellings. This phenomenon can be characterized as a process of “spatial substitution” from core to periphery which is fast in terms of population, but slow in terms of dwellings because of the inherent inertia of the physical stock of the city. Following Batten (1985), a logistic substitution model is used to compare the speed and duration of spatial substitution in the urban areas studied. It is found that the process is similar in most urban areas, but that the cities have reached different points along its course. The conclusion is that the residential deconcentration observed in most urban areas in industrial countries is mainly a consequence of overall population growth or decline, decreasing household size, increasing per capita consumption of floor space, and lack of land in the core.     

Women and War in Comparative Perspective

Books reviewed in this article: Harriet Hyman Alonso, The Women's Peace Union and the Outlawry of War 1921–1942 Joy Damousi, The Labour of Loss: Mourning: Memory and Wartime Bereavement in Australia Belinda J. Davis, Home Fires Burning: Food, Politics, and Everyday Life in World War I Berlin Jean Gallagher, The World Wars Through the Female Gaze Susan R. Grayzel, Women's Identities at War: Gender, Motherhood, and Politics in Britain and France During the First World War