Grassierende Gedächtnisschwächen
Im Oktober 1913 trafen sich einige Tausend junge Leute auf einem Bergmassiv im Nordhessischen, dem Meißner, den sie den „Hohen“ nannten, was danach üblich geworden ist. Ju…
Archiv für September 2013
Der Tod des Kritikers
Dass der Tod Marcel Reich-Ranickis eine Lücke reißt, die nicht mehr zu schließen ist, wurde allen schlagartig bewusst, als am 18. September die Mitteilung über die Ticker u…
Geistige Verwandtschaft: Jean Paul und Georg Büchner
Die beiden großen literarischen Jubilare dieses Jahres – Jean Paul Friedrich Richter und Georg Büchner – scheint auf den ersten Blick mehr als 50 Jahre zu trennen.Weiterlesen
Literatur und Politik: Die brasilianische Melange
Die Brasilianer sind da! 70 Autorinnen und Autoren sowie eine Hundertschaft von Verlegern, Journalisten, Lektoren und Übersetzern stürmen diesmal die Frankfurter Buchmesse, selbstbewus…
Das Beil überlebt seinen Herrn
Wenn am 13. Oktober in der Frankfurter Paulskirche der diesjährige „Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels“ verliehen wird, ehrt man mit ihm eine wichtige Chronistin der Sowjet…
Chronik des Monats August 2013
1.8. – Russland/USA. Der ehemalige US-Geheimdienstler Edward Snowden erhält Papiere für einen einjährigen Aufenthalt in der Russischen Föderation und kann den Transitbereich des Moskauer Flughafens Scheremetjewo verlassen (vgl. „Blätter“, 9/2013, S. 125).
The Political Contexts of Religious Exchanges: A Study on Chinese Protestants’ International Relations
This article surveys the complex ecumenical, missionary and international church relations of Chinese Protestant Christians. It argues that the inter-church relations to other parts of Asia are overshadowed by relations to Christians in the West, thus reflecting a political preoccupation with relationships to the West. This is evidenced by an analysis of worldwide and Asian ecumenism as well as bilateral church and missionary relationships. The dominance of contacts with the West not only contradicts the idea of a multipolar world and increased South-South contacts, it also stands in contrast to the reality of growing and increasingly important Christianity in Asia. Methodologically, this paper analyses different kinds of international relations (multilateral and bilateral, inter-church and missionary) and develops a typology of different inter-church and inter-state relations to assess international church relations in Asia today. The typology shows how China’s international church relations support its political relationships with its neighbours and beyond.
Altering the Rules: Chinese Homeowners’ Participation in Policymaking
This study looks at Chinese homeowners’ participation in policymaking. Drawing on evidence from Guangzhou and Beijing, it shows that various organised homeowner activists have moved upstream in the policy process and have begun to push beyond policy implementation into the domain of agenda setting and “rule-making”. These advocates display rights-conscious patterns of behaviour that are closer to that of interest or lobby groups than to the typical repertoire of Chinese contentious citizens. The study suggests that this kind of political participation is on the rise amongst Chinese homeowner activists. This result complements and extends other recent findings that suggest the Chinese policy process is gradually opening up. Such a trend could have significant implications and calls for more research in different domains of state-society relations.
Online Consultation and Citizen Feedback in Chinese Policymaking
In recent years, the Chinese government has increasingly utilised online consultation as a means of providing citizens with opportunities to offer feedback on draft laws and regulations. As little is known about the operation of online consultation, this article analyses the content of citizen feedback submitted on a revision to China’s health system proposed by the National Development and Reform Commission. Citizen engagement with the political and substantive issues under consideration is crucial if online consultation is to impact government decision-making and enhance the performance of laws and regulations. This paper’s main findings are that it was common for comments to address substantive issues in great depth, as well as express negative assessments of government decisions. This suggests that online consultation holds promise as an instrument of governance reform, which the Chinese Communist Party has embraced as a means of cultivating popular support.
A Comparative Analysis of the Cash Handout Policy of Hong Kong and Macau
In 2011, Hong Kong SAR government announced an unprecedented policy of cash handouts of 6,000 HKD to all permanent residents at the age of 18 or above as a means of defusing public discontent with economic policy and poor governance. Macau SAR has also…