Suchergebnisse

Democracy, Charles Tilly, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. xi, 227.The ideal of democracy is rarely challenged openly in the contemporary world, yet it remains one of the social science's essentially contested concepts. Despite a large and growing literature on the topic, there is little consensus on how we are to decide when a particular regime qualifies as a democracy or not. In his ambitious and forceful new book, Charles Tilly argues that this lack of a clear and accurate definition of democracy is of considerable consequence. Lucid explanations of democratization, political standing of regimes, related foreign policy decisions and the quality of people's lives are all at stake. Tilly devotes his first chapter to building a working definition of democracy before putting forward a cogent explanatory framework for understanding how and why democracies emerge and why they sometimes disappear and to demonstrate what difference it makes.

Explores political culture and the meaning of citizenship among private business owners; uses Q methodology.

The "Wenzhou model" is a controversial one in China. Wenzhou, situated in south-eastern Zhejiang Province, is characterized by its lively private or unofficial economy. This pattern of development caused Wenzhou to be pulled into the vortex of national politics, policy-making and reform in the 1980s. As a result, policy implementation and development in Wenzhou has a wider significance than just as an example of local variation.

The "Wenzhou model" is a controversial one in China. Wenzhou is characterized by its lively private or unofficial economy. This pattern of development caused Wenzhou to be pulled into the vortex of national politics, policy-making and reform in the 1980s. After a look at ecological, economic and cultural issues in Wenzhou prefecture, the author explores the distinguishing characteristics of the Wenzhou model and development under this model. (DÜI-Sen)

Abstract
Studies of social organizations in the People's Republic of China during the reform period emphasized their limited power and dependent nature, particularly when compared to the US, where associational life is generally understood as relatively independent from the state. More recently China scholars have found greater variation and complexity among social organizations in China and while others increasingly recognize hybridity in American and European organizations. There are, however, few studies comparing the NPO sector and its relationship with the state across regime types. Using resource dependence theory as a lens through which to examine the behaviors and development of two environmental protection organizations, one from China and one from the US, we identify similarities among social organizations operating in very different political and social contexts. Highly specialized organizations, with access to alternative resources can maintain an unexpected level of autonomy, even when the larger institutional context limits and controls associational life.