Comparative Politics and the Synthetic Control Method

In recent years, a widespread consensus has emerged about the necessity of establishing bridges between quantitative and qualitative approaches to empirical research in political science. In this article, we discuss the use of the synthetic control method as a way to bridge the quantitative/qualitative divide in comparative politics. The synthetic control method provides a systematic way to choose comparison units in comparative case studies. This systematization opens the door to precise quantitative inference in small‐sample comparative studies, without precluding the application of qualitative approaches. Borrowing the expression from Sidney Tarrow, the synthetic control method allows researchers to put “qualitative flesh on quantitative bones.” We illustrate the main ideas behind the synthetic control method by estimating the economic impact of the 1990 German reunification on West Germany.     

行业协会腐败治理及其刑事责任追究

行业协会有一定的行政管理和服务职能,也有经费来源,故有腐败的条件。行业协会腐败形式多样,对行业协会腐败的治理措施主要是政社分开、加强监管以及对腐败活动追究行政和刑事责任。其中,《刑法》对以个人名义进行的腐败活动有相应的罪名惩处,而很多腐败活动以协会名义进行,《刑法》缺乏对这类腐败的罪名规定。要提高对行业协会腐败治理的效果,应在《刑法》中增设相应的行业协会单位犯罪的罪名。     

Disability,right to culture and copyright: which regulatory option?

Access to knowledge and participation in cultural life for persons with disabilities has always constituted a tough challenge. Recent studies show that only 5% of published works are available in accessible format, and the number plummets to 1% in developing countries. Coupled with the high costs of production and distribution, and the full reliance on public funds and intervention of public or non-profit organizations, copyright has traditionally represented an additional obstacle on the path for a broader availability of accessible works. Recently, the situation has worsened with the tilting in the balance between rights and exceptions caused by the legislative response to digital threats, when the unprecedented opportunities offered by new technologies to foster accessibility have been largely trumped by copyright law. Still, the last decades have witnessed the beginning of a paradigm shift, originating from the human rights arena, and moving towards a new definition of the interplay between authors’ rights and the right to take part in cultural life, both at a general level and with particular regards to persons with disabilities. This article offers a diachronic overview of the path that, from the rediscovery of Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights through its General Comments to Article 30 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, has led to the adoption of the Marrakesh Treaty. It then analyses, with a focus on the European Union and its Member States, the national and regional responses to the new human rights obligations, looking at the relations between legislative exceptions and model or collective license agreements. The assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the two main regulatory options lays the groundwork for proposals of further areas of intervention, necessary to fully comply with the international human rights obligations and to achieve the fullest access to and participation in culture possible for persons with disabilities, by using the tools offered by international and national copyright law.     

对创新公安教育培训工作的再思考

公安部发布了修订后的《公安机关人民警察训练条令》,对公安培训工作提出了新要求。面对公安培训工作存在问题,紧紧围绕“四项建设”,创新教育培训理念、创新培训训练形式、创新培训教官团队建设、创新培训激励机制和考试考核体系、创新教育培训实战成果转化就成为提高培训质量的必由之路。     

本质上政府的职能

在政府职能的外包中,关于什么职能可以外包,而什么职能应该由政府履行,一直争论不休。美国行政法上提出了"本质上政府的职能"作为外包的限制。本文梳理了美国法律和政策上关于"本质上政府的职能"的界定。不过,随着时间、思想观念等不同,该职能的界定也不相同,而是需要综合考虑语境才能决定。同时,政府职能的外包也意味着公法价值的在某种程度上的外包。     

日本知识产权高等法院研究

知识产权高等法院的设立是日本“知识产权立国”政策最大的亮点,其主要目的是建立技术类知识产权案件二审的专门法院,并设立了大合议、法院调查员和专门委员制度。由于特许厅在专利的数量控制上占优势,故特许厅的审判前置在确保专门性这一点上仍具有独立的价值。另一方面,知识产权高等法院为实现多元集中化进行了各种尝试,然而该尝试时常受到大合议的干扰,因此需要避免大合议过早干预,同时须处理好知识产权高等法院与最高法院的关系,形成良好的运行机制。     

This land is my land: the Ethio-Sudan boundary and the need to rectify arbitrary colonial boundaries

Ethiopia and Sudan share a common boundary of over 1600 km which was drawn through a series of treaties between Ethiopia and the colonial powers of Britain and Italy. To date, this boundary has not been clearly demarcated. In 2007, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, the current ruling government, entered into a secret agreement with the Sudan to make adjustments on the border. This paper identifies the major factors that have frustrated efforts to address the Ethio-Sudan boundary problem and also proposes solutions on how Ethiopia and Sudan could resolve their differences. The analysis reveals that political, social and cultural factors; the decision to adopt the western concept of the boundary; and the failure to recognise the historic and cultural constructs have contributed to the frustration of negotiations on the border. The paper proposes that Ethiopia and Sudan embrace the African Union Border Program, which encourages mutual cooperation, regional integration and the building of communities with strong economic and cultural ties.     

Consent in escrow

Disasters such as flash flooding, mass shootings, and train and airplane accidents involving large numbers of victims produce significant opportunity for research in the biosciences. This opportunity exists in the extreme tails of life events, however, during which decisions about life and death, valuing and foregoing, speed and patience, trust and distrust, are tested simultaneously and abundantly. The press and urgency of these scenarios may also challenge the ability of researchers to comprehensively deliver information about the purposes of a study, risks, benefits, and alternatives. Under these circumstances, we argue that acquiring consent for the immediate use of data that are not time sensitive represents a gap in the protection of human study participants. In response, we offer a two-tiered model of consent that allows for data collected in real-time to be held in escrow until the acute post-disaster window has closed. Such a model not only respects the fundamental tenet of consent in research, but also enables such research to take place in an ethically defensible manner.     

布拉格之春述评

布拉格之春是捷克斯洛伐克从本国的实际条件出发,致力于建设一个新的、民主的、符合捷克斯洛伐克条件的社会主义改革之路。它标志着社会主义国家第二次改革高潮达到顶峰;但却在苏联的武力下夭折了。尽管如此,"布拉格之春"还是顺应了历史发展的潮流,对我国的社会主义建设具有重要的启示。     

关于在高职高专大班英语教学中了解学生的思考

由于高职高专实行大班英语教学,教师对学生缺乏了解,导致师生关系疏远、课堂管理难度大等不足。分析了大班英语教学中了解学生的内容以及几种了解学生的途径和方法。