The Public Policy Process among Southeastern States: Elaborating Theories of Regional Adoption and Hold‐Out Behavior

Having been adopted by legislatures in over a dozen states, postsecondary merit aid programs are largely concentrated in the southeastern United States. The observed clustering pattern seems to support previous evidence that policies spread between proximate states, a phenomenon referred to by political scientists as policy diffusion. Often, however, policy diffusion is not complete, and one or more states in a region fail to adopt. By interviewing policymakers throughout the southeastern United States—including actors in the three states in the region without merit aid—the study addresses the following question: Why do diffusion pressures lead to adoption in some states but not in others? Studying state “hold‐outs” promises not only to uncover the reasons for failed legislation in specific state contexts but also to better our understanding of the limits of diffusion theory.     

新时期我国法制建设的历史进程与基本经验

以1982年宪法的公布实施和1997年依法治国基本方略的确立为标志,新时期我国法制建设的历史进程可分为三个阶段:从1978年到1982年为恢复阶段;从1982年到1997年为全面发展阶段;1997年以来为全新发展阶段。新时期我国法制建设的基本经验主要有:必须正确处理党的领导与法制建设的关系;必须正确处理法制建设与经济建设的关系;必须把民主建设与法制建设结合起来;必须把立足中国国情与借鉴外国经验结合起来;必须不断完善法律监督体系。     

《金史·地理志》抉原

《金史·地理志》的编纂并无国史旧文可资参考,元初由王鹗奠定规模,至元末修史终有所成。志文大致以辽、宋旧疆为界,材料来源犁然可分。具体来说,契丹地面以陈大任《辽史·地理志》为底本略加删削,北宋旧境则依据政和重修《九域志》确立规模,又参核宋朝国史略作补苴。其本朝建制沿革则杂抄《大定职方志》《正隆郡志》一类文献而成。     

Tracing Process to Performance of Collaborative Governance: A Comparative Case Study of Federal Hydropower Licensing

Despite collaborative governance's popularity, whether collaboration improves policy performance remains uncertain. This study assesses the link between collaborative decision making and licensed environmental management protocols in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) process for licensing hydropower facilities in the United States. Using results from a previous study of FERC relicensing (Ulibarri, forthcoming), one high‐, one medium‐, and one low‐collaboration case were selected. Using documents including meeting minutes, public comments, and issued licenses, I assessed collaboration and license outputs, then conducted process tracing to examine whether and how differences in collaboration produced differences in license quality. High collaboration resulted in jointly developed and highly implementable operating regimes designed to improve numerous resources, while low collaboration resulted in operating requirements that ignored environmental concerns raised by stakeholders and lacked implementation provisions. These results support the hypothesis that collaboration can improve environmental outcomes, revealing the pragmatic value of collaboration. [Correction added on 13 January 2015, after first online publication: the occurrences of ‘0’ in the abstract were erroneous and have now been corrected.]     

Sharpening Advocacy Coalitions

The concept of “advocacy coalitions” is the bedrock of the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), one of the most established and successful approaches for understanding policy processes across the globe. This article revisits and sharpens the conceptual definition of advocacy coalitions. We summarize the lessons from its theoretical emphases under the ACF and specify its five attributes (policy actors, shared beliefs, coordination, resources, and stability). Through this specification, we identify the ideal coalition type and several coalition subtypes. We then clarify and make a distinction between how we think about coalitions as a concept and how we approach coalitions empirically. This article sharpens the lens for describing and explaining coalitions toward better observations, theorizing, and measurements. It ends with next steps for further deepening and broadening knowledge about advocacy coalitions.     

基于电阻率成像法的莫高108窟墙体内水盐运移过程分析

非均质的砂砾石层是莫高窟壁画的主要墙体,但砂砾石层的非均质性如何在水盐运移过程中发挥作用却还不清楚。为此,通过在108窟西壁面上1 m×1 m和2 m×2 m范围的三维高密度电阻率成像监测,发现在这些区域上,墙体电阻率的空间分布都是非均匀的,低阻值区域在空间位置、大小和形状上都会随时间而变化。这明确说明在构成墙体的非均质砂砾石层内存在着重要的水分饱和与非饱和过程(再分配过程),正是这一不断重复的饱和与非饱和过程促进了墙体内水分的运移和盐分在一些特定区域的聚集。研究成果对全面认识莫高窟墙体内的水盐运移机理,减轻和防治壁画盐害都具有重要意义。     

The Calibanisation of the South in the German public ‘Euro crisis’ discourse

This article highlights the renaissance of the essentialist topos of the ‘lazy and irrational’ ‘Südländer’ (Southerner, Southern countries, South) in the German political and media discourses during the ‘Euro crisis’. It argues that it served to legitimate the political and economic measures taken in Southern European countries that pushed them into still more peripheral positions within the European Union (EU) and deepened the cleavage between North and South. Culture, or better culturalism and racism as its political ideological version, thus were used as a trap, as an intellectual battleground for justifying extremely complex economic and political decisions in a simplistic fashion throughout a crucial period of European history. The article furthermore demonstrates how a postcolonial reading may productively decode the processes of Othering taking place within Europe itself, especially between the so-called core and peripheral countries.     

A connectivity model as a potential tool for smart specialization strategies

The article contributes to the smart specialization literature by presenting a new approach, connectivity analysis, where Triple Helix (TH) relations (involving universities, companies and government) are at the centre of the entrepreneurial discovery process. Relations between helices may be seen, from the point of departure of proximity, as preconditions of connectivity, or interaction, measured through expectations and experiences. This offers potential solution to two limitations of proximity approach: its static nature and narrow focus on dyadic relationships. The connectivity analysis reveals the extent of mutual expectations, as well as tensions, or gaps. Based on this analysis, the article presents a policy model that is used to map structures of networks and gaps between TH actors. It may also identify strengths, weaknesses and problems. This analysis is used as input to structured dialogues between actors in leading positions in the TH and in smart specialization policy-making and implementation. This approach may lead to policy interventions supporting entrepreneurial discoveries. The model has been developed in partnership with researchers and the Regional Council of Ostrobothnia. The article also presents this case study and demonstrates the use of the connectivity model in practice.     

In/visible: the inside story of the making of Arts at CERN

ABSTRACT

This is a personal account of the setting up and first five years of CERN's first institutionalized arts programme, in which artists from different art forms were invited to engage with scientists with no requirements for any outputs. The focus instead was on the creative process, the exchanges between the artists and scientists and their shared knowledge-making. Paradoxically, given this freedom, even by the end of the initial phase of the programme they had produced a range of artworks and performances, some of which were to go on to attract international acclaim. The paper identifies some of the key issues and challenges faced when undertaking an arts programme within a science institution. These issues are rarely openly discussed and written about, yet they are vital for shared cultural learning in this rapidly evolving and increasingly popular field.