新时期多党合作事业发展的新建树--学习《中共中央关于进一步加强中国共产党领导的多党合作和政治协商制度建设的意见》

今年年初颁发的《中共中央关于进一步加强中国共产党领导的多党合作和政治协商制度建设的意见》提出了诸多新理论新政策,它是我们党统一战线理论的新发展。认真学习和贯彻《意见》精神,对于我们全面落实科学发展观以及构建社会主义和谐社会具有重要的意义。     

We Finished the Plan,So Now What? Impacts of Collaborative Stakeholder Participation on Land Use Policy

There is a growing movement toward collaborative stakeholder participation in environmental policy. Rather than calling for a reliance on government officials to solve environmental problems, this approach calls for empowering a community of stakeholders to contribute meaningfully. Scholars examining citizen participation have investigated the performance of such efforts. This study examines one important aspect of performance, the impact of stakeholder participation on policymaking at the local level. A multiple‐case analysis of county‐level, community‐based task forces working on farmland preservation planning in Ohio, U.S., reveals patterns of policymaking processes and the near‐term impacts of collaborative planning. These patterns are linked to scholarship using prior empirical studies as well as the Institutional Analysis and Development framework, which integrates physical, social, and institutional variables to examine collective decision‐making related to natural resources. Results indicate that the degree of policy change is associated closely with local contextual factors, rather than internal group factors often emphasized in studies of citizen advisory committees and collaborative groups.     

“80／20促进会”与美国华人参政新策略

“8 0/2 0促进会”是以华人为主导的一个美国亚裔参政组织 ,它是针对 2 0 0 0年美国总统大选而成立的。本文拟就该组织成立的原因、目的和宗旨 ,总统候选人的确定、行动与争议 ,在大选中的影响力及其发展前景作一简单介绍 ,并对当代美国华人及亚裔参政这一新策略作一评价和深入思考。     

How Electoral Systems Can Influence Policy Innovation

This paper argues that in certain areas of policy, electoral systems can influence policy innovation (how early countries will adopt certain policies). Electoral systems influence the number of parties that win representation and thereby influence the diversity of perspectives included in the policymaking process. It is argued here that this diversity facilitates elite and public consideration of new issues and ideas, and consequently, it leads to earlier debate and action on these issues and ideas. This dynamic is particularly relevant to controversial issues and ideas that major parties may be hesitant to address and that minor parties may be more incentivized to promote. In this paper, two issues/ideas are considered: extending rights to same‐sex couples and making material sacrifices to protect the environment. I show that countries with more proportional electoral systems tend to act earlier to protect the environment and that they tend to be early adopters of civil union legislation. These results are also supported by World Values Survey data showing public preference patterns that support these policy outcomes.     

公众参与和执政党政策的合法性

执政党依靠的是制定和实施公共政策来实现对社会的治理,执政党的政策能否得到广泛的认同和支持,直接影响到执政党自身的合法性。因此,执政党必然通过各种渠道和方式强化其与民众的联系。改革开放以来,中国共产党通过一系列制度和机制的创新,特别是倡导和鼓励公众参与,使执政党政策的合法性途径更为多元,这不仅实质性地提高了执政党的执政能力,有效地降低了执政成本,也为建构社会主义和谐社会提供了重要的制度平台。     

The social dynamics of attracting talent in Halifax

The paper reports a case study of factors attracting and retaining talented and creative workers in Halifax, Nova Scotia. All categories of workers interviewed mentioned quality of place and amenities in discussing their location preferences, but that could not fully explain their choices. For some occupations (like health research), talented people followed jobs; in other sectors (like music), talented workers migrated to a sympathetic locale with the right conditions for creative engagement; creative workers in some occupations (like those in architectural, engineering or planning consulting) were more rooted in place. The social dynamics—that is, positive and collaborative social networks within key sectors and a wider community perceived as welcoming and interesting—make this mid‐sized city attractive to talented workers. Local universities and a vibrant music scene generate a mutually reinforcing context that attracted mobile talented and creative workers to the city. Respondents noted Halifax's limited cultural diversity but did not report a perceived lack of tolerance as affecting their choices. In smaller cities, the social dynamics of place and workplace and the quality of life available may play more significant roles than tolerance in attracting and retaining talented workers, challenging a basic assumption of creative cities discourse.     

Councils,consultations and community: rethinking the spaces for children and young people's participation1

The participation of children and young people in decisions that affect them is now mainstream in social and public policy in the UK. Yet for many young people formal participation opportunities are abstracted from everyday lives and concerns. Children may not feel empowered despite the existence of formal structures for participation. This raises questions about how ‘spaces’ for participation are constructed. This paper critiques prevailing models of participation in formal structures and instead, argues for the need to rethink children's participation as a more diverse set of social processes rooted in everyday environments and interactions.     

Digging Deep for Justice: A Radical Re-imagination of the Artisanal Gold Mining Sector in Ghana

Abstract:  This article explores the concept of "contact zones" to counteract misrecognition and exclusion in the artisanal gold mining sector of Ghana. The large majority of the 300,000–500,000 Ghanaian artisanal miners work without an official license, illegally. Due to their encroachment on corporate concession lands, the use of toxic mercury in the gold extraction process, and the social disruption caused by their migratory activities, these miners are often marginalized and criminalized. Yet, devaluation and misrecognition hamper environmental stewardship and participation in political decision-making. Through parity-fostering participatory research, I propose a radical re-imagination of the sector that encourages agency and flourishing among these ostracized men and women diggers.