Treaty federalism as a model of policy making: Comparing Canada and the European Union

Systematic analyses of Canada and the EU as comparable federal systems have been neglected for a variety of methodological reasons. Most importantly, neither body fits the mould of the dominant model of the American federal state. A revised conceptual framework can show, however, that Canada and the EU both provide a similar institutional and procedural environment for policy making: powers are shared rather than divided; policy directions are determined by executive negotiation rather than parliamentary deliberation; unanimity takes precedence over majority rule; and inter‐regional competition is moderated by a commitment to equalization.     

All-pay-all aspects of political decision making

Decision-making processes are studied using non-standard all-pay structures. Our interest is motivated by regulatory, political, legal, military, and economic applications in which individual actions determine the consequences for a larger group or the general public. The common features of these examples are a competitive environment, a winner-takes-all reward structure, and some form of all-pay-all payment rule.     

On the reliability of Chinese economic data

China is no exception to the rule that economic data for developing countries suffer from substantial margins of error. R. P. Sinha, however, exaggerates the shortcomings of Chinese economic data. A brief review of evidence regarding statistical capacity and statistical veracity supports the view that economic data emanating from the People's Republic represent the fruits of Peking's increasingly effective efforts to monitor China's economy. For China, as for India, Meiji Japan or pre‐industrial Europe, careful empirical research can and does produce results which are not guesses, but estimates of actual economic magnitudes.     

International Law Book Facility Officially Launched

There has been growing international consensus on issues related to child labour – evident in various declarations, platforms, conventions, programmes of action etc. Child labour is the economic exploitation of children, or performance of any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. Poverty is the principal cause of child labour. Mostly the children work to support their families and also for their own survival. Paradoxically, however, child labour further aggravates the poverty syndrome as it usually deprives the children of education and opportunity to acquire skills for developing earning potentials. Other causes of child labour include family indebtedness, the lack or poor quality of schooling or non‐formal education, breakdown of extended family, uneducated parents, local cultural setting, and consumerism. It goes beyond economic exploitation or hazardous employment to include forced labour, trafficking, sexual exploitation and the use of children for the production and trafficking of illegal drugs. This article will ponder the socio‐legal situation of child labour and the large number of legislative enactments regarding labour in India, as well as their realities on the ground.     

Waldron on Law and Disagreement

Law and Philosophy -