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Articles 1 - 14 of 14

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Tea Leaves Of The Economy: General Elections In 2010?, Tan K. B. Eugene Dec 2009

Tea Leaves Of The Economy: General Elections In 2010?, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Incumbent governments with good economic track records would typically capitalise on economic downturns to seize a political advantage by calling for early elections. Will the ruling People's Action Party do so nect year in view of the strong economic perormances in recent months?


Who Governs Energy? The Challenges Facing Global Energy Governance, Ann Florini, Benjamin K. Sovacool Dec 2009

Who Governs Energy? The Challenges Facing Global Energy Governance, Ann Florini, Benjamin K. Sovacool

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article conceptualizes the energy problems facing society from a global governance perspective. It argues that a notion of "global energy governance," taken to mean international collective action efforts undertaken to manage and distribute energy resources and provide energy services, offers a meaningful and useful framework for assessing energy-related challenges. The article begins by exploring the concepts of governance, global governance, and global energy governance. It then examines some of the existing institutions in place to establish and carry out rules and norms governing global energy problems and describes the range of institutional design options available to policymakers. It briefly …


Dialogic Cosmopolitanism And Global Justice, Eduard Christiaan Jordaan Dec 2009

Dialogic Cosmopolitanism And Global Justice, Eduard Christiaan Jordaan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Although the term “cosmopolitan-communitarian debate” never really caught on, a national-global fault line remains prominent in debates about global justice. “Dialogic cosmopolitanism” holds the promise of bridging this alleged fault line by accepting many of the communitarian criticisms against cosmopolitanism and following what can be described as a communitarian path to cosmopolitanism. This article identifies and describes four key elements that distinguish dialogic cosmopolitanism: a respect for difference; a commitment to genuine dialogue; an open, hesitant and self-problematising attitude on the part of the moral subject; and an undertaking to expand the boundaries of moral concern to the point of …


Dialogic Cosmopolitanism And Global Justice, Eduard Jordaan Dec 2009

Dialogic Cosmopolitanism And Global Justice, Eduard Jordaan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Although the term “cosmopolitan-communitarian debate” never really caught on, a national-global fault line remains prominent in debates about global justice. “Dialogic cosmopolitanism” holds the promise of bridging this alleged fault line by accepting many of the communitarian criticisms against cosmopolitanism and following what can be described as a communitarian path to cosmopolitanism. This article identifies and describes four key elements that distinguish dialogic cosmopolitanism: a respect for difference; a commitment to genuine dialogue; an open, hesitant and self-problematising attitude on the part of the moral subject; and an undertaking to expand the boundaries of moral concern to the point of …


Managing A Nation's Image During Crisis: A Study Of The Chinese Government's Image Repair Efforts In The “Made In China” Controversy, Peijuan Cai, Lee Pei Ting, Augustine Pang Sep 2009

Managing A Nation's Image During Crisis: A Study Of The Chinese Government's Image Repair Efforts In The “Made In China” Controversy, Peijuan Cai, Lee Pei Ting, Augustine Pang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The image of a nation is crucial in the conduct of international relations (Wang, J. (2006). Managing national reputation and international relations in the global era: Public diplomacy revisited. Public Relations Review, 32, 91–96). A favorable image plays a critical role in asserting one's influence (Benoit, W. L., & Brinson, S. L. (1994). AT&T: “Apologies are not enough”. Communication Quarterly, 42, 75–88; Wang, J. (2006). Managing national reputation and international relations in the global era: Public diplomacy revisited. Public Relations Review, 32, 91–96). Often, strategic communication tools like public relations and media diplomacy are used to enhance a nation's image …


One Cheer For Constantinople: A Comment On Pettit And Skinner On Hobbes And Freedom, Chandran Kukathas Sep 2009

One Cheer For Constantinople: A Comment On Pettit And Skinner On Hobbes And Freedom, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Philip Pettit and Quentin Skinner find Hobbes's understanding of freedom as non-interference inadequate because it fails to appreciate what is wrong with a life lived as a slave. Though their critiques have some force, however, Hobbes's view of freedom has virtues of its own. It is highly sensitive to the fact that freedom is a matter of degree. It is also unlikely to mistake freedom for something else, like security or dignity. Moreover, Hobbes is not as unmindful of the dangers of servility as many think.


Radical Politics In Hong Kong: Can Business Make A Difference?, James T. H. Tang Jul 2009

Radical Politics In Hong Kong: Can Business Make A Difference?, James T. H. Tang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

As Hong Kong in 2009 retained its title as the world’s freest economy for the fifteenth consecutive year, radicalism seemed to have gained wider support in local politics at a time of economic turbulence—even though a timetable for universal suffrage has been set.


Do We Have A Winner? What The China-India Paradox May Reveal About Regime Type And Human Security, Devin K. Joshi Jun 2009

Do We Have A Winner? What The China-India Paradox May Reveal About Regime Type And Human Security, Devin K. Joshi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

As the concept of human security spreads in the pose-Cold War period it is often presumed chat non-democracies have worse human security than democracies. But the national human security (NHS) siruation in weak or failed democracies can be even worse than in some non-democracies. So how exactly do the NHS records of stares with different regime types like non-democratic China and democratic India compare? To address this question the paper assesses and compares NH S in terms of "freedom from want" (anti-poverty security) and "freedom from fear" (anti-violence securiry). Ir develops a theory of how different regime types might impact …


(In-)Coherence In Eu Foreign Policy: Exploring Sources And Remedies, Clara Portela, Kolja Raube Apr 2009

(In-)Coherence In Eu Foreign Policy: Exploring Sources And Remedies, Clara Portela, Kolja Raube

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

How does the EU deal with incoherence and coherence? In this paper we try to answer this research question in order to draw conclusions on the specific nature of the EU as a foreign policy actor. We define coherence and incoherence in EU foreign policy as our dependent variable in a first step. Coherence is understood as a principle guiding foreign policies in the EU as well as other international actors. Effectiveness is crucially linked to the principle of coherence, not only in the EU. However, the way in which the principle of coherence is implemented differs in ideal type …


Proclaiming Trade Policy: 'Delegated Unilateral Powers' And The Limits On Presidential Unilateral Enactment Of Trade Policy, Brandon Rottinghaus, Elvin T. Lim Feb 2009

Proclaiming Trade Policy: 'Delegated Unilateral Powers' And The Limits On Presidential Unilateral Enactment Of Trade Policy, Brandon Rottinghaus, Elvin T. Lim

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article examines presidential proclamations on trade policy, a category of presidential unilateral power that we call delegated unilateral power that is used frequently in creating or modifying trade policy, between the period1974 and 2006 and tests the boundaries of the explanations predicted by the unilateral powers literature. We also find that the use of proclamations on trade policy is independent of the partisan balance in Congress. The use of proclamations modifying policies was the only tactic that comported with predicted actions from the unilateral presidency. Therefore, contrary to the expectations of the unilateral presidency, presidents are not unrestrained political …


Update Mental Pictures Of Rural China, Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson Jan 2009

Update Mental Pictures Of Rural China, Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Women in straw hats stoop over water-logged plots, working together to plant rice seedlings. A weather-worn man trudges behind an ox ploughing his family's field. Farmers throw newly harvested grain in the air so the wind can carry off the chaff. Tour buses navigate past grain carefully laid out on the black-topped road to dry. Though picturesque, these images of rural China perpetuate stereotypes of a conservative culture resistant to change - and affect public policy.


Of Government, Innovation And The Social Sector: An Interview With Ngiam Tong Dow, Tong Dow Ngiam Jan 2009

Of Government, Innovation And The Social Sector: An Interview With Ngiam Tong Dow, Tong Dow Ngiam

Social Space

With homelessness and unemployment looming large in the 1960s, the pioneer public service team turned the situation around within a span of 10 years. Veteran civil servant Ngiam Tong Dow shares his insights from the days of coming nose-to-nose with social breakdown – a time when creative resourcefulness was the only option. Retired and with the benefit of hindsight, he shares with Social Space his thoughts on innovation, government and the way forward for the social sector.


More Than A Cultural Celebration: The Politics Of Chinese New Year In Post-Suharto Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon Jan 2009

More Than A Cultural Celebration: The Politics Of Chinese New Year In Post-Suharto Indonesia, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In the aftermath of the May 1998 riots that forced President Suharto to step down, ethnic Chinese received unprecedented freedom to assert their long suppressed cultural and religious identity. Following the transition from assimilation to multiculturalism, for the first time in over three decades Chinese culture became more visible and ethnic Chinese could finally enjoy the freedom to celebrate Chinese New Year (Imlek) publicly. This article focuses on the politics of the re-emergent Chinese New Year celebration in the Indonesian public sphere. It demonstrates the significance of Imlek as an ethnic symbol to Chinese-Indonesians. Borrowing Hobsbawm’s concept of “invented tradition”, …


Traditions Of Philanthropic Order, Christine Dunn Henderson Jan 2009

Traditions Of Philanthropic Order, Christine Dunn Henderson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Individuals act more or less simultaneously as economic agents, citizens, and participants in civil society. Their interactions and their ways of fulfilling these roles take many forms. Not all of them can be said to be self-organizing, yet in several instances patterns of organization emerge spontaneously without being deliberately designed. Of course, the market economy—or “catallaxy,” as F. A. Hayek called it—remains the best example of such “spontaneous orders.” But there are others. Gus diZerega (2000), for example, has identified science and democracy as being similarly constituted by self-referential, self-organizing (some authors prefer the term autopoietic) processes. In this paper …