Suchergebnisse

Initial models of Japanese local-central government relationships revolved around notions of vertical administration and central control. Over time, as local governments took the initiative in various policy areas, political scientists adopted approaches that emphasized local autonomy. Using three case studies from recent history (post-earthquake Kobe, US military bases in Okinawa, and the village of Kito), the author argues instead that localities have utilized "negative" pressure to keep the state from forcing through its plans but have been unable to utilize "positive" pressure to force the central government to act on their behalf. Localities have been hampered by their reliance on funding from Tokyo, either in the form of public works projects and contracts or in the form of area-specific subsidies. Despite the promises from politicians for major reforms, and the writings of revisionists who argue that localities maintain spheres of autonomy, localities currently only have the ability to say "no". (AJPS/DÜI)

The author describes the basic features of work in the Journalistic Workshop as a specific format of promoting journalistic knowledge & skills. After the two-year collaboration of three generations of young journalists with a group of Croatian & foreign media experts, a survey was conducted about the usefulness of this Workshop. The central conclusion is that a large majority of the participating journalists highly appreciated the knowledge gained through it. Particularly encouraging is the fact that most respondents have been able to use this knowledge regardless of the type of media they are working for (whether state-controlled or opposition-controlled). The participants think that responsibility for not following professional standards in journalism lies with "editors afraid of any changes" or "owners weary of any changes." After the three-month journalistic training, eight of the participants enrolled at the Faculty of Political Science, Dept of Journalism. 4 References. Adapted from the source document.

AbstractThis research examines state coalitions' negotiation processes during four sessions of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). It asks whether coalition type affects the negotiation process and whether process affects the negotiated outcome. Negotiation analysts expect convergent bargaining behaviors to lead to compromises between negotiators' positions and problem solving behaviors to lead to the integration of these positions, with the latter assumed to be the superior outcome. The CSD negotiations offer an empirical test of these hypotheses, as well as hypotheses regarding expected negotiation processes for different coalition types. The study uses data gathered by the author at CSD sessions in 1994, 1996, 1997, and 1998 and finds support for the process-outcome hypotheses. The examination also provides a basis from which to offer lessons for future CSD sessions. I explore how changes in process timing, third party roles, and issue framing could encourage a problem solving process and integrative decisions at the CSD.

Cameron, Charles; Epstein, David; O'Halloran, Sharyn: Do majority-minority districts maximize substantive black representation in Congress? In: American Political Science Review (Washington/D.C.), 90 (December 1996) 4, S. 794-812

Before asking what a student movement is, one must understand the nature of the institution in which such movements are born: the university. Ever since the High Middle Ages, the university has been characterized by its corporate structure. This implies a certain amount of isolation with the outside. Moreover, as a corporation, a university means hierarchy & privilege. These two elements may be dangerous when the institution is penetrated by politicians. In fact, the political invasion of scientific spheres terribly deforms the notion of autonomy. Thus, hierarchy, privilege, & isolation produce an explosive mixture: the university looses its nature as a source of knowledge & turns into a parcel of corruption. Certainly, a free university must not divorce itself from reality; however, social interaction & feedback must evolve, meaning mature ideas & not utopian anachronism. In short, the author concludes, a university must generate social confidence, starting with itself. Adapted from the source document.

Bonn and Paris's Relations With Beijing (1989-1997): Towards a Common Strategy?, by Christoph Nesshöver
The article compares the policies of Germany and France towards the People's Republic of China since the repression of the Chinese students' movement in Tiananmen Square in 1989. The author examines the changing relationship between economic and commercial interests on the one hand and human rights concerns on the other. In the case of both Germany and France, a continuous and substantial shift from value-oriented policy focussing on human rights towards a mainly economically driven China policy can be detected in the 1990s with France gradually copying German's political reserve towards Beijing for the sake of securing major business deals. Taking China as an example, the widespread criticism of ageneral "mercantilisation" of Western foreign policy appears to be justified. The prospect of a more coordinated Franco-German (and thus European) China policy appears rather remote in the near future.

Matthew E. Lenoe. Letter-writing and the state: Reader correspondence with newspapers as a source for early Soviet history. This article locates major central archives of reader letters to early Soviet newspapers ( 1924-1933), describes the practice of letter-writing to state authorities, and analyses the potential uses of letters to the press as historical sources. The author argues that the practice of writing letters to newspapers and other public institutions in the U.S.S.R. was shaped by state authorities for their own purposes, including gathering intelligence on popular moods, monitoring lower levels of the bureaucracy, and facilitating the distribution of goods and privileges. Because the practice of letter-writing to authority occurred within a framework of state control, letters to the newspaper are excellent sources on the interaction between the Soviet state and its subjects. They do not, however, provide a clear window on the private opinions and beliefs of Soviet subjects.

Examines the legal & philosophical grounds used by the nation-state of Canada to dispossess aboriginal people who have not ceded land through treaties. Using the Innu people of the Labrador-Quebec peninsula as an example, it is hypothesized that, far from being a neutral doctrine of rights & citizenship, liberalism functions as a magical, yet ethnocidal, instrument of colonial domination & land usurpation. Discussed is how policies, eg, the Comprehensive Land Claims & Environmental Impact Assessment, ostensibly for the protection of the Innu & other aboriginal peoples, predetermine that land will be legally ceded & ways of life based on it exterminated. The roots of this approach are traced through an examination of the imposition of sovereignty in colonial policy & its continued assertion in Canadian court cases, including the recent Delgamuukw decision. Attention is drawn to the affinities between the ideas of contemporary liberal theorists of citizenship & the rhetoric & policies of the Canadian state. As a positive proposal, it is suggested that outstanding aboriginal land claims in Canada should be treated as the "Canada claim," & that new processes for their resolution that do not presume Canadian sovereignty be established. 35 References. Adapted from the source document.

Intercultural mediation : a transdisciplinary concept
After taking an inventory of the reasons which have made the notion of mediation an up-to-date one in France and more widely in Europe, the author of this article goes through the different practices related to them. Then, behind the diversity of practices, he endeavours to find a common core of ideas, intentions and social representations on one hand and on the other the specific aspects which characterize intercultural mediation in relation to the other forms of mediation. This idea is closely akin to the preoccupations of some European Community authorities urging associated universities within the European Union to create courses and diplomas adapted to these new needs of our societies.
Moreover, this is an introduction to the series of articles which follow, underlining the fact that they are complementary and each one, according to their register, dealing with the central theme of this special issue.

AbstractThis work challenges the widely accepted notion that eighteenth-century Central Asia was economically isolated and culturally stagnant. The author augments recent scholarly achievements with research in primary sources to demonstrate that, throughout the eighteenth century, Central Asia continued to function as an important conduit for overland Eurasian commerce. Available evidence suggests that Central Asia's role in Eurasian commerce during this period was, indeed, transformed by changing Eurasian commercial dynamics. This work argues, however, that rather than being a product of the European Companies' domination of commercial activities in the Indian Ocean, these transformations stemmed from Russia's emergence as an important economic and military power in the region and a corresponding increase in Russian demand for Indian cotton and textiles, largely acquired through the mediation of Central Asian caravan merchants. Whereas these transformations may have resulted in economic decline for some parts of Central Asia, they may also be attributed with intensifying economic activity in other, previously peripheral areas.

The strength of a profession derives from its knowledge base. Researchers in medicine, engineering, and business have amassed a critical body of empirically tested knowledge that empowers their practitioners. The development of a knowledge base requires social institutions that encourage and reward research. One of the most critical institutions for the development of knowledge is a profession's peer review journals. The journals allow the profession to accurately and fairly assess the quality and importance of research occurring within the profession. The concept of peer review ensures researchers that editorial board members who have demonstrated the knowledge and background necessary to understand the complexities of submitted work are judging their work. Pardeck and Meinert's findings raise doubts about the adequacy of the peer-review process for the profession's main journal, Social Work. The author argues that the problem is even wider, affecting appointments to the Encyclopedia, endowed chairs, and more.

AbstractThe State's resistance to making prison law agree with the Charter of Rights and bring women's carceral conditions closer to the male norm is illustrated in a recent comparative research on 24 prisons for women in eight advanced countries. If that conclusion was not unexpected, despite the fact that the countries and establishments had been selected for being progressive and very 'humane' ones, and notwithstanding the relentless claims presented by feminist groups and human rights advocates, what came as a surprise was that avant-garde initiatives like mixed prisons, mother-and-child units, well-equipped modern programs in women's prisons proved to be, if possible, more gendering in their actual effect than old traditional male arrangements. Using materialist feminism and discourse analysis to interpret her data, the author concludes that women's incarceration is a powerful gendering strategy and a form of appropriation of women by State's apparatuses to men's advantage.

AbstractThis paper enlarges the discussion of normative systems by arguing that the professional domain is just as normatively "gendered" as any such systems at the societal level. Taking off from recent media discussion, the author underlines the extent to which the implicit normative systems of the work world are overwhelmingly male and she demonstrates how the currently accepted definitions distort our understanding not only of women's work but also of men's. She employs her recent research on women professionals (particularly architects and engineers) to argue that a variety of definitional norms of the professions are credible, but that these are differentially exclusive of women. She ends with a wide-ranging discussion of definitional criteria for feminists which would serve to ensure that women's modal experience within professional arenas is included to the same extent as men's, for women's contributions to the workplace can only be grasped if male normative approaches are abandoned.