Renzi: the government,the party,the future of Italian politics

On 22 February 2014 President Napolitano appointed Matteo Renzi to the office of President of the Council of Ministers (the correct title according to the Italian constitution). Since then the 39-year-old secretary of the Democratic Party has launched a series of institutional, economic, and social reforms. Claiming that it was of the utmost importance to scrap the old political class and to put Italy back to work, Renzi has already produced significant but, to say the least, controversial changes, as well as many clashes within his party and in the relationship between Italy and the European Union. This article will explore where the changes in his style of governing and in his party will lead the politics of Italy.     

当代西方领导价值观研究若干新理论综述

领导价值观理论是西方领导伦理学研究的重要方面,也是当代西方管理和领导学研究者讨论的一个具有理论价值和实践意义的热点问题。本文对当代西方领导价值观研究的若干新理论从价值观的内涵、分类,价值观怎样影响领导者,怎样把价值观原则落实到领导行动上等方面进行了梳理和评析。     

Owner parties and party institutionalisation in Italy: is the Northern League exceptional?

Studies on party institutionalisation commonly argue that parties with personalist leadership and weak organisation are unlikely to remain in power beyond leadership succession. In other words, these parties will rarely attain their own institutionalisation. From this perspective, the recent Italian political reality represents a conundrum. Three parties of this type – Northern League; Forza Italia; Italy of Values – confronted significant resignation issues concerning their leaders, but only the League, contrary to the theory, made a decisive step toward institutionalisation by removing its founding father and remaining an actor with national blackmail potential. This article addresses this challenge and provides a solution to this conundrum. In particular, the article demonstrates that an approach that considers both party factors and critical events is necessary to account fully for the variance of outcomes and, more generally, for party change.     

第三代中央领导集体国际战略初探

冷战结束以后 ,面对西方国家的联合制裁和苏东剧变 ,第三代中央领导集体坚持独立自主的外交立场 ,采取灵活多样的外交手段 ,打破西方国家的联合制裁 ;冷静分析苏联解体后的国际局势 ,积极实施全方位外交战略方针 ,为社会主义现代化建设营造良好的外部环境 ;全面改善和调整大国关系 ,谋求面向 2 1世纪的新型伙伴关系的建立 ;面对经济全球化的趋势 ,实施积极主动参与和趋利避害相结合的国际战略方针 ,积极倡导和推动国际政治经济新秩序 ,将一个生机勃勃、在国际上有着举足轻重作用的社会主义中国带进了新世界的门槛     

The Trump administration and outer space: promoting US leadership or heading towards isolation?

In a relatively short period of time, the Trump administration has been fairly active in the field of space. The reconstitution of the National Space Council, under the direction of Vice President Pence, the President’s signing of Space Policy Directive 1, that calls for the return of humans to the Moon, and the announcement of a National Space Strategy that calls for an ‘America first’ approach in space, have been the highlights of this process. A key component of the administration’s approach has been the promotion of commercial (private) space activities through an effort of regulatory reform intended to facilitate free enterprise and individual initiative in space.

Overall, it is evident that the Trump administration views a consolidated US leadership in space as instrumental to ‘Make America Great Again’. However, due to the lack of cohesion in the management of the US space program, the controversial interpretation of international principles and the US-centred view of space endorsed by the administration, doubts remain as to whether the space policy of the Trump administration will foster US leadership in space or lead to its progressive isolation.     

Why is it so difficult to reduce gender inequality in male-dominated higher educational organizations? A feminist institutional perspective

ABSTRACT

Using a Feminist Institutional perspective, and drawing on a wide range of evidence in different institutions and countries, this article identifies the specific aspects of the structure and culture of male-dominated higher educational organizations that perpetuate gender inequality. Gender inequality refers to the differential evaluation of women and men, and of areas of predominantly female and predominantly male employment. It is reflected at a structural level in the under-representation of women in senior positions and at a cultural level in the legitimacy of a wide range of practices to value men and to facilitate their access to such positions and to undervalue women and to inhibit their access. It shows that even potentially transformative institutional interventions such as Athena SWAN have had little success in reducing gender inequality. It highlights the need to recognize the part played by the ‘normal’ structures and culture in perpetuating gender inequality.