THE CONCEPT OF PERSON AS AN EMERGENT PHENOMENON

The definition of person hasn＇t still been satisfactorily agreed upon in scientific studies or in those of a philosophical nature. In the field of law, the concept is even weaker. However, it appears that person is an elementary concept as well as one of great practical influences. In the field of Jurisprudence, one is able to reflect upon some of the repercussions that a renewed definition could lead to. Questions related to studies on embryos.     

SUPPORT FOR THE SUPREME COURT AS A NATIONAL POLICYMAKER

The most frequent explanations for the endurance of the Supreme Court's policies and of its power as a national policymaker assume public reverence for the Court, widespread support for it as an institution, or broad-based agreement with its policies. Public opinion studies refute most of these assumptions. Our research confirms those studies and shows, in addition, that the Court cannot claim strong support among occasional political activists. It does, however, have a strong constituency among liberal activists and liberal position-holders. We hypothesize, therefore, that the Court's endurance as a national policymaker is explained by special support from one wing of the dominant party coalition that, because of its strategic location in the complex national policy process, is able to obstruct broadly-based attacks on the Court's authority and policy. Such attacks gain force, however, when critical elections alter the dominant party coalition and therefore weaken the hold of the Court's ideological allies. Yet even then—or at least so far—the Court and its policies have prevailed against various court curbing efforts.     

SCHOOLS AS COMMUNITIES: THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG COMMUNAL SCHOOL ORGANIZATION,STUDENT BONDING,AND SCHOOL DISORDER*

Research has indicated that school factors such as communal school organization and student bonding are predictive of school disorder, with greater communal organization and greater student bonding leading to less delinquency and victimization. Data from a nationally representative sample of 254 public, nonalternative, secondary schools were used to examine structural equation models representing hypothesized relationships among communal school organization, student bonding, and school disorder. The hypothesis that communally organized schools would have less disorder held true for teacher victimization and student delinquency, but not for student victimization. In addition, the hypothesis that the relationship between communal school organization and school disorder would be mediated by student bonding was supported for student delinquency, but not for teacher victimization.     

THE LEGITIMACY OF RACE AS VARIABLE IN THE DELIBERATIONS OF INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARDS

This paper investigates the issue of race as a variable in research ethics and the extent to which it is morally appropriate to regard the race of research subjects as a relevant factor for research outcomes. The author analyses the challenges posed to deliberation in Institutional Review Boards （IRB ＇s） on this matter. The first part of the paper consists of a conceptual analysis of the notion of deliberation, drawing on the work of Elster, Habermas, Rawls, Gambetta and others. Special attention is paid to the dialogical structure of deliberation and the complexities attached to the notion of race, as a social construct. Arguments in favour and against the proposal that race is a valid variable in biomedical research are systematically distinguished. The author comes to the conclusion, based on an extensive literature review, that race sometimes has to be taken into consideration, subject to clearly stated qualifications. In conclusion it is argued that deliberation, especially about such a controversial notion such as race should not be expected to yield definitive truths. The most we can expect is a series of （hopefully） progressive settlements that represent provisional beacons of insight on which we can draw in future conversations. Race represents a field of tension and contestation that will inevitably continue to permeate interpersonal contact and social relations for the foreseeable future.     

THE MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL AS ARBITRATOR IN POST-DIVORCE CHILD-ORIENTED CONFLICT

This article explores arbitration as a viable method of dispute resolution that is infrequently used in divorce-related conflicts. The focus is on the use of mental health professionals, who have specific training and experience, to assess issues and make binding decisions in disputes that involve children. A case example highlights some of the issues in this form of arbitration. A discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of arbitration compared to adjudication follows. The use of arbitration would seem particularly helpful in instances of chronic post-divorce child-related conflicts.     

THE INTERPLAY OF THE STATE AND THE FIRMS: OVERSEAS LISTING AS A GOVERNANCE INSTITUTION FOR CHINESE SOES

There are both considerable horizontal and vertical governance problems with the Chinese state-owned-enterprises (SOEs), which mean the firm operators are basically unaccountable. Due to the SOEs’ privileged positions in the Chinese political economy, almost all kinds of traditional institutions of corporate governance are far from perfect. Thus the value of overseas listing as a governance mechanism is highlighted, and that could be well revealed by a deeper analysis of the cost-and-benefit balance done by the government, which controls the SOEs and makes the real decision of overseas listing. Such a listing would bring a variety of economic benefits to SOEs, but the major driver for the action is the government’s wishes to employ an effective mechanism to restructure and discipline the old SOEs, solve the problems such as manager slack and still keep things under control. A change of the main overseas listing place from New York to Hong Kong after the shock of a class action further testifies such considerations from the state. But interestingly, during this process, bound by the external rules, the powerful state itself has gradually been driven in a more market-oriented and rule-abiding direction. This implies the complexity of the interplay of the state and the firm and reflects a typical market-oriented reform and an institutional evolution story of China in the past decades.