Scientific Information, Elite Attitudes, and the Public Debate Over Food Safety

Why do consumers often react with alarm to food technologies (such as irradiation, genetic engineering, artificial hormones, and chemical pesticides) that scientists regard as essentially safe? We examine the attitudes toward food safety of three types of elites who serve as providers of scientific information regarding food safety to the United States public. Previous research suggests that journalists are likely to exaggerate risks associated with emerging food technologies, while minimizing risks associated with natural pathogens. This bias is hypothesized to be political in origin. By and large, our sample of newspaper editors was only slightly more concerned than were United States government policymakers and a sample of scientists. The expected pattern of alarm occurs clearly only in the case of irradiation. In addition, modest correlations of ideology to safety assessments were found for all three types of elites.     

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.     

Polish Historiography of the Holocaust--Between Silence and Public Debate

The story of Polish historiography of the Holocaust lends itselfto divisions when one analyses the number of publications, andthe questions asked by the scholars in the field. There wasa great deal of valuable activity in the period immediatelyfollowing the Second World War and, to a lesser extent, up to1968; the revitalization of the field at the end of the twentiethcentury has roots that go back to the late 1980s. Holocaustscholarship in Poland has changed in many respects since theend of the war. Within the last three years a number of importantpublications have appeared that challenge the long-held assumptionsof Polish historians about the fate of Polish Jewry under Nazioccupation. These works have transformed the field with respectboth to the key topics for investigation and the questions askedby historians researching these aspects of the Holocaust. JanT. Gross led the way with Neighbors, published in 2000. Thisbook opened a heated discussion, and became an important triggerin the process of changing Polish Holocaust historiography.     

马尔萨斯阴影下的人口争论

最近几年时间 ,人口问题成为历史研究领域中最热门的争论之一。问题几乎涉及到改革开放 (特别是近十年 )有关研究的所有方面 ,争论的双方不但有国内 ,也有国外的不少知名学者。作者并不属于其中哪一方 (也许可以算作第三方 ) ,仅就清代中国人口机制、人口增长率以及人口作用几个方面的问题提出了自己的见解。     

原工业化理论及其相关争论

自1970年代以来,“原工业化”这个术语在西方已广泛使用于学术作中,而且在学术界出现了有关这个论题的研究热潮,出版了多种研究成果。在国内,却仅有较少论中偶尔提及而没有较系统的论述和深入的探讨。本试就原工业化的理论,西方学术界对这一问题的争论及研究原工业化的意义诸问题,作一粗略的论述,供同行参考并求指教。     

浅论西方学术界关于全球化问题的争论

西方学术界在是否存在全球化问题上 ,分为“怀疑论”和“全球主义”两大对立阵营。“怀疑论者”认为 :目前所谓的“全球”经济是虚构的 ,由民族—国家为主体的国际政治体系也并没有因全球化而发生任何本质的变化 ,并且人类社会根本没有出现什么全球文明或全球文化。“全球主义者”则认为 :当代的世界经济已经从国际经济发展成为全球经济 ,同时全球化已经导致民族—国家独立自主地处理国内和国际事务能力的下降 ,某种全球政治体系已开始产生 ,并且不论愿意与否 ,全球化已经带来某种超越民族和传统文明集团的世界文化。我们不应将西方有关全球化的理论话语与自由主义、现实主义和马克思主义等理论相混淆。     

20世纪30年代“读经”的主张和争论

对于1930年代因"读经"而引发的争论,仅从政治思想斗争及国民党寻求统治的合法性而展开研究是不够的.争论的背景和相关论述表明,它更主要是立足于民族和文化的双重危机;立足于对传统文化与现实政治、社会生活、文化建设等相关联系的多种认识.     

论战后赴日华工归国及遗留问题

本在系统发掘与研究战后国民政府接收由日归国华工档案及相关劳工证词的基础上,首次系统论述了战后美日遣返与国民政府接收由日归国华工的政策及事件始末;并首次以国内的新史料对赴日华工战后的主要遗留问题,如被掳至日本的华工人数、美日战后遣返华工数、赴日华工死亡人数等重要数据,以及赴日华工的“工资”与赔偿问题等,作了进一步澄清和考证。     

强化公共服务——我国博物馆追求国际化与中国特色的双重呼唤

把强化公共服务明确定位为当前和今后中国博物馆学理论与实践的战略重点与发展方向,是关乎我国博物馆能否与时代和谐共进、可持续发展的一个重大而紧迫的问题.根据对博物馆功能演变历史与现实的回顾与考察,以及世界博物馆最新发展趋势乃至我国的有关国情研究,可知无论追求国际化还是中国特色,我国的博物馆都必须大力强化公共服务.     

Choice Flowers and Well-Ordered Tables: Struggling Over Gender in a Nineteenth-Century Household

Historical archaeologists have generally considered households as isolated,bounded entities, and not as sets of social relations. Consequently, the household has gone unrecognized as an arena of struggle. Analysis of documents associated with the household of nineteenth-century reformer Gerrit Smith challenges this approach. At his Peterboro, New York estate, a struggle ensued between family members because of conflicting ideologies of self-presentation, and between worker and employer on account of the period's shifting gender ideology. In order to access the meanings of objects excavated, the material remains associated with the Smith household must be considered in light of these struggles.     

Exploring The Basis For Parental Choice in Public Education

From the perspective of public choice theory, this article explores the relationship between student performance and certain aspects of school organization and operation. Employing multiple regression and analysis of variance techniques, we found that variation in comprehensive student assessment test scores can be explained best by variables such as income, district size, and the extent of classroom crowding. Student performance was lowest in the largest districts. Student performance tended to be better in those school districts with relatively higher incomes, fewer schools, and a lower proportion of oversized classes. These findings confirm the utility of readily available information about public schools as a basis for parental choice and lend support to public choice criticism of large, centralized, educational organizations.     

Welfare Theory,Public Goods,and Public Facility Location

The paper discusses a number of issues that are important to the development of a useful normative “welfare theory” of the public space economy. Attention is specifically focused on theoretical welfare economic models of public goods provided at facilities to which consumers must travel for consumption. The recent analysis of Bigman and ReVelle [2] is subjected to critical scrutiny and found wanting. An alternative, more complex but still very simple, analysis is provided.     

完善我国电子政务的路径选择

发展电子政务很有必要。电子政务有利于减少政务成本、改变粗放的行政管理模式,有利于转变政府职能、促进廉政建设。针对当前我国电子政务中存在的问题,应加强信息基础建设、提高社会化信息程度,建设一只高素质的公务员队伍,统一电子政务的标准,完善电子政务的安全系统。     

试析非殖民化理论

非殖民化运动是殖民地和其他附属地通过斗争迫使宗主国改变政策 ,从而使得殖民地和其他附属地获得独立导致欧洲殖民帝国全面崩溃的一场运动 ,是 2 0世纪世界现代化进程中的一个重要组成部分。有关非殖民化理论的研究 ,西方学术界已有大量研究成果问世 ,主要有 4个学派或观点 :世界经济学派说、国际政治学派说、新殖民主义论和主动撤退论。其中不少见解颇有启发性和一定的科学依据 ,对我们的研究具有借鉴意义。但它们大都恪守西方中心论的立场 ,强调西方殖民国家在这一历史进程中的主动性和主导性 ,忽视殖民地人民的反抗斗争和民族独立运动的作用和地位 ,这些我们都无法苟同。