Significant Achievements in Protection and Restoration of Alpine Grassland Ecosystem in Northern Tibet, China

Alpine grassland is a fragile ecosystem, and a large area of this grassland type has been severely degraded in Northern Tibet, to the extent that it has become the primary ecological problem in the region. Various levels of government, including the national central government, the Tibetan Autonomous Region government, and the Nagqu Prefecture government have worked together to achieve alpine grassland ecosystem protection and prevent grassland degradation. These efforts have resulted in significant ecological, social, and economic benefits in Northern Tibet.     

跨区域森林生态补偿的演化博弈分析——基于主体功能区的视角

新常态下,我国的森林生态环境承载力已经达到或接近上限,森林资源存在乱砍乱伐现象和林区政府监管乏力问题,究其根源是缺乏森林保护和补偿的驱动机制。在中央政府投入大量物力和财力的同时,其他利益相关主体却存在不同利益诉求和行为导向冲突,跨区域森林生态补偿难以实现,因此利用演化博弈模型厘清森林生态环境保护与补偿行动中保护主体、受益主体和中央政府的关系,有助于突破跨区域森林生态保护补偿困境,形成良好的行动机制。分析主体功能区利益群体逻辑关系的基础上,构建保护地区政府和受益地区政府的演化博弈模型,分别研究未引入"约束-激励"机制和引入"约束-激励"机制下的主体行为特征及其影响因素,剖析不同情形地方政府间的博弈决策行为。研究结果表明,在未引入中央政府"约束-激励"机制的情况下,跨区域生态补偿无法实现,保护地区政府会通过权衡保护森林资源收益和机会成本进行策略选择,当保护森林资源的净收益为正时,即使没有受益地区生态补偿,保护地区政府仍然有足够的激励保护森林资源,当保护森林资源的净收益为负时,两类政府群体容易陷入森林生态治理的"囚徒困境",而"约束-激励"机制的引入可以实现森林生态保护补偿的帕累托改进,通过中央政府惩罚、奖励金额的限制能够实现最优稳定均衡策略。     

THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN MEDICINE

On the fundamental question of how far a government should be involved in health services, the author believes these things can appropriately be said: The government should continue to assume complete control over public health measures, and public health officials could well be permitted to invade medical services insofar as is necessary to achieve public health ends.To assist in the production of medical personnel, it is also fitting for the government to provide for increased teaching facilities, higher salaries for teachers in the medical field and scholarships for worthy students.In the area of insurance and prepayment plans, a really intelligent supervision of such devices, with the exercise of no more arbitrary governmental power than is now used by the various other regulatory commissions, is a suitable governmental function. The government''s buying policies for its wards, rather than providing direct medical services for them, should be encouraged. This would give the private practice of medicine a boost and would improve the quality of medical care. Government should encourage the regionalization of medical services with as much of the actual controls exercised at the local level as can be achieved. Private means should be utilized for the provision of these services and public means should be used for their payment when this is an obligation of the government.The problem of mass education in health matters should be tackled by government. It would be a fine thing if the medical profession and governmental agencies could agree upon delineation of their respective roles in the health field.Because further experimentation is needed before the ideal solution is found, both government and organized medicine should encourage the exploration of new approaches.     

公立医院公益性淡化的政府规制俘获因素分析与对策机制

在市场经济背景下,公立医院公益性日益淡化,其原因是多方面的,而政府规制俘获是其中最根本的原因之一。政府规制俘获是政府失灵的表现,政府规制部门与公立医院之间信息不对称是政府规制俘获产生的前提,政府多重委托代理所造成的规制主体多元化是政府规制俘获产生的条件,规制主体的自身利益诉求且缺乏公益性是规制俘获产生的必然。针对政府规制俘获产生的现实,应建立信息披露机制,组建卫生大部制,增加规制者的俘获成本,促进规制政策制定的科学性,从制度层面阻止政府规制俘获的产生,保证公立医院的公益性。     

英国生物技术成果转化经验及若干启示

英国是生物技术产业发展强国,综合实力仅次于美国.英国生物技术行业今天的繁荣,是与英国几十年对生物技术成果转化的政策扶持和一系列配套措施分不开的.本文回顾了自20世纪50年代起,英国政府在生物技术成果转化方面的政策和经验、政府的引领和投入以及一系列的孵化政策,促成了英国生物技术产业当今的成就.关注英国在生物技术产业成果方面的经验,旨在为我国发展生物技术产业健康、迅速发展提供参考.     

Government regulation and public opposition create high additional costs for field trials with GM crops in Switzerland

Field trials with GM crops are not only plant science experiments. They are also social experiments concerning the implications of government imposed regulatory constraints and public opposition for scientific activity. We assess these implications by estimating additional costs due to government regulation and public opposition in a recent set of field trials in Switzerland. We find that for every Euro spent on research, an additional 78 cents were spent on security, an additional 31 cents on biosafety, and an additional 17 cents on government regulatory supervision. Hence the total additional spending due to government regulation and public opposition was around 1.26 Euros for every Euro spent on the research per se. These estimates are conservative; they do not include additional costs that are hard to monetize (e.g. stakeholder information and dialogue activities, involvement of various government agencies). We conclude that further field experiments with GM crops in Switzerland are unlikely unless protected sites are set up to reduce these additional costs.     

An editorial overview： HIV/AIDS in China

China has come a long way in fighting against HIV/AIDS epidemic. The Chinese government has taken an active role in combating this detrimental disease and such a welcome attitude by the Chinese government will certainly provide a positive spin on its effort in reducing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in China.     

'Common sense' and 'governmentality': local government in southeastern Ireland, 1850-1922

Early paradigms in political anthropology identified formal government councils as a subject for cross-cultural comparison (structural functionalism) or as a political resource for goal-orientated actors (transactionalism). Recent concerns with power and regulation can also profit from a focus on local-level government councils by using them to explore the conceptual and empirical linkages between 'common sense' and 'governmentality'. In this article, as a point of entry, we highlight a key moment in the history of Britain's colonial and hegemonic project in Ireland, namely the orderly administrative transition from colony to state which occurred in Ireland after 1919. By constructing a historical narrative of a local government council in the southeast after 1850, and of its material and discursive bases, we show how the actions and ideologies of elite farmers were implicated in this orderly administrative transition and, therefore, how the concepts of governmentality, hegemony, and common sense might be linked.     

Confidence in crisis? Understanding trust in government and public attitudes toward mandatory state health powers

In response to the possibility of a bioterror attack using smallpox, many states have updated and revised their current public health laws in line with the Model Act, which would effectively give states the right to invoke mandatory state health powers, such as quarantine or vaccine. Previous studies have supported the importance of allying with the public in creating and implementing effective bioterror response policies. Historical case studies and recent research suggest that when the public is not supportive of government health policies, they may be less willing to comply. In this study we analyze a recent survey to determine the effects of a set of variables, including aspects of trust in government that have been found in previous studies to influence public opposition to compulsory government health policies, on opinions about compulsory vaccination and quarantine.     

Voting Behavior,Coalitions and Government Strength through a Complex Network Analysis

We analyze the network of relations between parliament members according to their voting behavior. In particular, we examine the emergent community structure with respect to political coalitions and government alliances. We rely on tools developed in the Complex Network literature to explore the core of these communities and use their topological features to develop new metrics for party polarization, internal coalition cohesiveness and government strength. As a case study, we focus on the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament, for which we are able to characterize the heterogeneity of the ruling coalition as well as parties specific contributions to the stability of the government over time. We find sharp contrast in the political debate which surprisingly does not imply a relevant structure based on established parties. We take a closer look to changes in the community structure after parties split up and their effect on the position of single deputies within communities. Finally, we introduce a way to track the stability of the government coalition over time that is able to discern the contribution of each member along with the impact of its possible defection. While our case study relies on the Italian parliament, whose relevance has come into the international spotlight in the present economic downturn, the methods developed here are entirely general and can therefore be applied to a multitude of other scenarios.     

The Covid-19 pandemic in Denmark: Big lessons from a small country

Denmark, a Scandinavian country of 5.8 million people has weathered the Covid-19 crisis with a relatively low rate of infection and death. Denmark has also become one of the first European countries to partially re-open its society. We offer the perspective that the combination of rapid response from the government, trust and a high level of confidence in government by Danish citizens, and the importance of social heritage contributed to the effective management of the coronavirus crisis.     

Anti-Semitism and opposition to Israeli government policies: the roles of prejudice and information

Past research on the link between anti-Semitism and criticism of the Israeli government has revealed a partial correlation between the two. However, among the political arguments that have inspired such research, one has gone unaddressed: that criticism of the Israeli government along with silence about more egregious human rights abuses committed elsewhere can only arise from anti-Semitism. This article investigates the link between knowledge of conflicts around the world, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and criticism of the Israeli and Saudi governments, among US participants. Using a deeper index of anti-Israel opinions than prior research, the results indicate that some criticisms of the Israeli government are more reliable indicators of anti-Semitic sentiment than others. The findings are discussed with regard to how legitimate political criticism can be distinguished from prejudice in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.     

Native American Sovereignty and Natural Resource Management

The relationship between Native Americans and the Euro-American settlers has evolved from the latter seeking to end the separate identity of the former to one in which the U.S. government uses Native rights to control large-scale resource problems. This new relationship arose out of a need to control water in Western states for irrigation, but has expanded into other areas. The Navajo sheep reductions of the 1930s and 1940s may be seen as an instance of this relationship. Concerns about siltation behind the Hoover Dam justified a program that dramatically transformed the Navajo economy. A second case concerns conflict over a caribou herd in northwestern Alaska. The conflict eventually led to the Federal government taking management of fish and game on Federal lands back from the state government. Both these cases show the development of a technocracy, based on Federal trusteeship over Native resources, concerned with the control of nature similar to that observed in Wittfogel's writings on Chinese irrigation.     

Conservation information: a market incentive to promote environmental quality

The land market in part of New South Wales, Australia, has been shown to conserve the soil and promote sustainable agriculture. The market incentive at work is the availability of information on the erosion status of the land. This paper explores the general possibility that provision of market information on environmental characteristics will lead to improvements in environmental quality. In this way the market would encourage landowners to conserve their land, retain native vegetation, improve biodiversity and pursue sustainable agriculture. They would do all this automatically, without government regulations, bans or moratoria, and without a new government agency or new act to implement the policy. The government officers would merely show buyers and sellers in the land market where to obtain, and how to use, the relevant information.     

Should Consensus Be ‘The Commission Method’ in the US? The Perspective of the Federal Advisory Committee Act,Regulations, and Case Law

This paper examines the drive for consensus from the perspective of the good government framework for federal advisory commissions in the United States. Specifically, the paper examines the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA)--the statute, its regulations, and case law. It shows that the FACA was intended to be an antidote to abuses in consensus-making processes, including the failure to fully include competing views on commissions. The index of suspicion in the FACA scheme rises when a group work product--including a consensus report--is to be the basis of recommendations to federal officials. Once FACA's requirements regarding committee composition are satisfied, the index of suspicion drops and FACA is indifferent to consensus-making; but the conditions for informed, meaningful participation apply to members who dissent from, as well as those who participate in, consensus. In negotiated rulemaking, the push for consensus and closure creates unacceptable tension with the good government goals of openness and accountability. Proponents of consensus-only bioethics commissions can learn from FACA-related legislative, agency, and judicial insights that consensus-seeking is not always desired by government officials; is rarely cost free; and that diversity and dissent enhance openness, accountability, and fairness. The burden of proof is therefore on proponents of a consensus-only standard for bioethics commissions to demonstrate that a drive for consensus furthers sound decision-making by government officials more than it sets back openness and accountability to a diverse public.     

APEC at the Museum of Anthropology: The Politics of Site and the Poetics of Sight Bite

This paper examines the light shed on processes of globalization and local empowerment by the contestatory events that ensued when the Canadian government appropriated the University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology to be the site of the 1997 prime ministerial meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Community. In its determination to assert its traditional ownership of the museum's site the local Musqueam band came into conflict with government officials, intent on presenting a settler narrative of Canadian nationhood to its trading partners. The official spectacle that was staged in the museum by the government is compared with Musqueam's self-presentation to reveal the persistence of stereotypes and the existence of competing historical narratives that accompany and compromise projects of decolonization within the museum community.     

Presidents,priests, and prophets: covenantal Christian nationalism and the challenge of biblical analogy

This article explores the elaboration and application of the Old Testament idea of ‘covenant’ among Zambian church leaders who are Christian nationalist activists. In this framework, Zambia serves as an analogue of biblical Israel, while contemporary government and church leaders are the analogues of Old Testament kings, priests, and prophets. This covenantal approach presents challenges. On the one hand, government support for Christian nationalism encourages the compliance of church leaders with state-led religious projects; on the other hand, however, the analogical reading of the biblical text on which this support depends casts the church in a prophetic role, which in turn opens the door for criticism of the government. Christian nationalist activists in Zambia therefore find themselves caught in a double-bind that simultaneously encourages submission and critique. An analysis of this process contributes an important non-Western perspective to contemporary discussions of Christian nationalism. It also complicates easy interpretations of Christian nationalism as abetting state power by demonstrating its critical possibilities.     

Malaria eradication: the Taiwan experience

In November 1965, the World Health Organization (WHO) certified Taiwan as an area where malaria had been eradicated. Malaria eradication in Taiwan resulted from government initiatives and involvement, careful planning and organization, the development of basic health structure and community support, as well as the cooperation and assistance of international agencies. The Japanese colonial government of Taiwan had contributed to the antimalarial efforts through the establishment of a rudimentary health infrastructure and introduction of measures to combat malaria and other diseases during their occupation of the island from 1895 to 1945. The Chinese government regained control of the island after Japan's surrender in 1945, and with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation, established a research institute to investigate the malaria problem. Political instability in 1949, however, caused the Foundation to end its support. After the Nationalist government moved to Taiwan, it continued antimalarial efforts which received the support of WHO and other international agencies. While Taiwan followed closely WHO's guidelines and plan of attack, the development of the program illustrates the importance of local factors in shaping its actual implementation and eventual success. Malaria eradication in Taiwan went through the following phases: preparatory (1946-1951); attack (1952-1957); consolidation (1958-1964); and maintenance (after 1965).     

中国粮食和农业植物遗传资源状况报告(Ⅱ)

10多年来,中国政府十分重视粮食和农业植物遗传资源的保护和可持续利用,并根据《粮食和农业植物遗传资源全球行动计划》20项优先领域,通过制定和完善相关的法律法规,加强了粮食和农业植物遗传资源的管理;通过培训和科普宣传,提高了公众意识;通过国际合作和协作网建设,实现了信息、人员和植物遗传资源的交流与交换;通过各种国家计划和项目的实施,建立和完善了植物遗传资源保护体系,实现了植物遗传资源的安全保存和可持续利用,为中国乃至世界植物育种和粮食安全发挥了较大作用。