Morality and Competence in Shaping the Images of Political Leaders

Psychological models of forming impressions about other people assume that this process is strictly connected with social categorization. Therefore, it is clear that the results of many studies show that the evaluations of other people are based on two crucial and separable criteria: morality and competence. Obviously morality and competence are two fundamental and distinct dimensions of the perception of politicians. These dimensions substantially influence voters’ behavior toward politicians and are clearly visible both in the preelection polls as well as in the scientific analyses concerning forming the images of politicians. The evaluations of politicians on the morality and competence dimensions are central in forming the interpersonal attitudes in which the dominant elements are affect and respect toward the evaluated person. Consequently, affect and respect are crucial factors in establishing the support of candidates for political offices. The morality and competence dimensions trigger the causal structures in the voter's mind in which formed attitude creates affect and respect, which determine voting behavior.     

An analysis of corporate social responsibility communication on the websites of banks operating in Ghana

CSR communication has received increased attention from researchers in recent times. The extant literature indicates that philanthropy dominates the CSR communications of most firms in Africa. Furthermore, the existing literature shows that state-owned firms’ CSR communication focuses more on environmental and community issues. Thus, this study examines the differences between local and foreign banks with regard to their CSR communications. It also examines which stakeholder groups banks pay great attention to, in their CSR communication. Data were collected from the websites of 26 banks operating in Ghana. using quantitative content analysis as analytical technique, it was found that foreign banks are better at communicating customer and employee CSR information than local banks. In addition, the findings show that state-owned banks report more information on donations and philanthropy.     

The Effects of Attribution of Responsibility and Work History on Perceptions of Reasonable Accommodations

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers must provide employees with disabilities reasonable accommodations that will enable them to perform job duties, as long as the accommodations do not financially burden the organization. Two studies were conducted to investigate whether disability origin and/or prior work history impermissibly influence the granting of reasonable accommodations under the ADA. In both studies, participants granted more accommodations for employees whose disability was caused by some external factor than for those whose disability was caused by the employee's own behavior. In Study Two, participants also granted more and costlier accommodations for an employee with an excellent work history than for an employee with an average work history. Implications of the use of extralegal factors in accommodation decisions are discussed.     

An Investigation of the Construct of Competence: A Comparison of the FIT,the MacCAT-CA,and the MacCAT-T

The 1990s witnessed Supreme Court decisions in both Canada and the United States on issues of competence that went against longstanding case law, psychological research, and common sense. These decisions held that there is to be one standard for all types of criminal competencies. The present research attempts to investigate whether this is an appropriate assumption and thus tests whether there are one or more constructs that underlie different types of competence. Two divergent types of competence were examined, competence to stand trial (both Canadian and American conceptualizations) and competence to consent to treatment, to determine if these different types of competence share a common underlying construct. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test this question and results indicate that there is a common construct that underlies different types of competence.     

治理信用缺失的法律责任制度设计

导致我国信用缺失的最根本原因是法律责任制度的不完善.健康的市场经济必须要有完善合理的信用法律责任制度来维系.我国现行的信用法律责任制度的缺陷表现为设定缺乏、设置非适度和规定的缺位.只有从多角度综合运用各种责任形式,进行完善的信用责任制度设计才能最终为市场经济的发展保驾护航.     

浅析仲裁员之责任制度(上)

“仲裁员责任制度”的构建是现代仲裁制度发展过程中一个不可或缺的问题。本文将仲裁性质的基本理论作为确定仲裁员责任制度的出发点,通过对仲裁员责任的性质、豁免以及其与仲裁机构的责任分配的分析,试图在阐明其必要性的基础上,结合我国之现状,对仲裁员责任制度加以初步地剖析与框架的构建。     

公司的社会责任及立法规制

公司社会责任问题在西方学界一直存在意见相左的争论,但却没有影响公司社会责任立法化的趋势。同时,肯定公司社会责任的观点也与社会法学派的社会公共利益观念相契合。在完善和发展我国公司制度,落实公司社会责任的实践中非常迫切地需要引进国外相关制度或法理:以非强制性规范为主,授权公司经营者履行社会责任,“公司法人格否认法理”是落实公司社会责任的一项主要保障措施,倡导公司对社会负责必须有多方面法律机制配合公司社会责任的落实。     

遏止刑讯逼供的刑事实体法责任

从根本上遏止刑讯逼供,有赖于决策层、立法、司法界及理论界直至广大国民树立反刑讯逼供、反酷刑的人权保障理念和保护人身权利的价值永远高于查明案件事实的价值观。决不能将刑讯逼供的目的、动机的“善良”作为为刑讯逼供辩护的理由,也不能使其成为刑讯逼供与相关犯罪法定刑存在不适当差距的“合理”依据。我国刑讯逼供罪的法定刑应当重新设计。     

不当得利法上获利返还责任之探讨--兼评最高人民法院相关司法解释

获利返还责任是不当得利法上最具争论的问题之一.传统民法对此有两种完全不同的学说,即获利应返还说与获利不返还说.最高人民法院的有关司法解释主张对受益人获取的利润应予收缴,其主张违背了民法的本质和基本理念以及经济规律的要求,<民法通则>的有关规定也过于原则性,而不具有可操作性.     

和谐社会与政府德性——以政府与社会伦理关系为视角

多年来,我国学界关于政府与社会关系的研究,均在三维视野下展开,其核心内容是探讨政府与社会之间外在的权力配置关系。这一研究应该深化到政府与社会内在的伦理关系的建构上。基于这一思考角度,并结合我国政府与社会的现实关系,文章对“和谐社会”的发展战略进行了新的解读, 并认为政府的德性就在于培育和谐的社会,同时也探讨了政府在培育和谐社会中的两大责任指向。