Preferences and agreement in legislative parties: testing the causal chain

This research note focuses on two specific dimensions of legislative cohesion: the homogeneity of preferences within a party and party agreement. Although these two dimensions have often been considered as synonyms, it is argued that these two concepts refer to different realities. The authors therefore develop distinct measurements for these two concepts. The authors then examine their statistical relationship, putting to the test the widespread assumption that heterogeneous preferences increase the probability of disagreement. The authors do so by testing the effect of different measures of a member of parliament’s ideological distance to her/his party on her/his self-reported frequency of disagreement with her/his party. It is demonstrated that the causal chain linking both concepts is only verified in the case of a conscious ideological distance. The results have crucial theoretical and methodological implications for future research on party cohesion and party unity.     

Recurring bills and the legislative process in the US congress

Recurring bills may be interpreted in two very different ways. First, there is the ‘legislative loser’ perspective, which posits that legislators introduce bills repeatedly for symbolic reasons, not intending or expecting them to go very far. Alternatively, there is the ‘softening up’ perspective, which assumes that legislators introduce bills more than once for policy reasons. They first test the waters, making a second attempt more successful. In this research article, we test these assumptions by examining the legislative impact of recurring bill status at various stages in the US House and Senate: initial committee attention, committee passage, attachment to an omnibus package and enactment. The evidence is mixed for the first stage of the process, while the findings for subsequent stages support the softening up interpretation. We discuss the implications for representation and future research.     

Institutional change in the European Parliament: balancing legislative ethics and parliamentary independence

Research on legislative ethics has shown how scandals often trigger ethics reform; yet, the content of the reform often differs from that of the scandal. Why is this the case? And if scandals don't explain legislative ethics reform outcomes, then what does? If not this kind of external shock, then what factor(s) shape legislative reform outcomes? These questions provide the point of departure for a case study of the European Parliament's 2011 ethics reform. Drawing from the legislative ethics literature and from recent theories of institutional change, the article examines the impact of the scandal that initiated the reform, the interests and strategies of reform agents who wanted a quick reform process that would not undermine the EP's independence; and the institutional order in which those actors were embedded. It argues that an institutional logics perspective offers a convincing and comprehensive account of EP ethics reform, and suggests a new analytical framework that might be used by researchers in future research on legislative ethics.     

Integrating the view of the public into the formal legislative process: public reading stage in the UK House of Commons

Recent years have seen increasing calls to integrate the public's voice into the parliamentary process. This article examines the impact of public reading stage (PRS) on the UK Parliament's scrutiny of a bill. A new stage of the legislative process piloted by the House of Commons in February 2013, PRS invited the public to comment on a bill undergoing parliamentary scrutiny (the Children and Families Bill). The PRS was designed to encourage members of the public to participate in the scrutiny of legislation through a specially designed forum on parliament's website. Over 1000 comments were submitted. Drawing on a content analysis of the comments given by the public to the bill, complemented by interviews with members of parliament, key officials and PRS participants, it was found that although the public reading stage had an impressive response, it failed to make much of a tangible impact on the parliamentary scrutiny of the bill. This was largely due to the choice of bill being used for the pilot and its lack of appropriate integration into the formal legislative process.     

The role of symbolic politics in exceptional crime policy debate: a study of the 2014 Swedish general election

Symbolic politics are often considered to be closely linked to an alarmist rhetoric, as well as to punitive crime policy initiatives. This article explores the symbolic dimension of the Swedish crime policy debate. Since Sweden is frequently depicted as an antithesis to punitive Anglophone societies, exploring symbolic politics in this setting might expand our understanding of what symbolic statements may consist of. The article analyses the electoral campaign preceding the Swedish general election of 2014, with the aim of identifying which symbolic statements occupy a central position in the debate through the use of a qualitative content analysis. This analysis reveals an ambiguous political rhetoric, comprising morally and emotionally charged condemnatory statements about getting tough on crime, as well as reformist and restrained references to expert knowledge and long-term solutions. On the one hand, these reformist statements strengthen the image of Swedish crime policy as being based on ideals such as rationality and humanity. On the other, they also serve to legitimize and obscure penal expansion.     

The power of legislative hot air: Informal rules and the enlargement debate in the European parliament

Integration theorists disagree over the extent to which the European Parliament can substantially influence policy‐making processes in the absence of formal agenda‐setting power. This article discusses the impact the European Parliament had on the current enlargement negotiations. Although the legislature does not yet possess the means to alter the stance of the European Council, it has tried to reverse the status quo through the use of its informal bargaining power. We argue based on a principal‐agent framework of analysis that the effectiveness of this strategy is largely a consequence of the ability to speak with one voice. The article evaluates various mechanisms to help the European Parliament build a unified position. It refutes socialisation and specialisation theories, showing that party group pressure towards a unified position overrode national concerns and constituted a necessary precondition in the development of an integrationist attitude. A statistical analysis of the pre‐bargaining positions inside the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee largely confirms the insights from qualitative interviews with participants and observers.     

Giving credit when credit is due: credit giving to the president in the United States Congress

How do members of the US Congress give credit when credit is due for political achievements? Focusing on an important credit giving scenario – credit giving to the president of the United States – this research suggests that credit giving is a form of non-roll call position taking and members give credit in a way that is reflective of individual, institutional, and constituency factors. Using an original data set composed of the official congressional statements concerning the death of Osama bin Laden, findings suggest the proximate decision to issue a statement is related to individual and institutional factors. Within the issued statements, however, credit giving is primarily driven by presidential popularity in the constituency. In addition to being less predictable in their credit giving behaviour, members of the Senate are less likely to give credit than their colleagues in the House of Representatives. Finally, Republican women in the House of Representatives are less likely to give the president credit than other members.     

政治学内在价值与研究方法探析

政治学具有治国兴邦的价值。在当代中国,研究政治学,能够促进社会主义民主政治建设;培养造就大批精于治党治国的专门人才;推动社会主义市场经济体制的改革和发展;指导我们改革和完善具有中国特色的社会主义政治制度。文章回顾了中外政治学特别是西方政治学研究方法的历吏演进过程,考察和总结了西方政治学几千年来在其研究方法上的得与失,并提出了今天研究中国特色的马克思主义政治学所应遵循的基本思路。     

Legislative voting in the pork-dominant parliament: evidence from the Philippine House of Representatives

In this paper I investigate how legislators behave in extremely pork-oriented, or pork-dominant, systems where virtually no party-line voting takes place and politicians strive to deliver individual/local benefits instead of national public policies. I argue that, in the pork-dominant context, most legislators vote with the president, who controls access to the pork pipeline, irrespective of their party affiliations. Thus, the president’s party legislators should have little incentive to vote against the president, regardless of voter demands for pork or policy; however, sometimes opposition-party legislators elected particularly from more-developed districts (where voters often desire policy over pork) should have strong incentives to vote against the president. These arguments are supported with quantitative studies of the post-authoritarian Philippine House of Representatives. It is found that, in the highly homogeneous legislature dominated by pork-seeking politicians, (1) most bills are passed with unanimous or near-unanimous consent, (2) governing-party legislators almost always vote with the majority of the members of the parliament, regardless of voters’ socio-economic conditions, and (3) opposition-party legislators, especially in more-developed areas, tend to vote against the parliamentary majority. These findings indicate that voters’ high socio-economic status promotes programmatic accountability, leading their representatives to undermine voting unity within the extremely cohesive pork-dominant legislature.     

法官判决的制度表达与实践——从制度经济学角度看法官判决时的非正式制度倾向

笔者通过一个案例,运用制度经济学的方法,分析了中国背景下法官判决时存在的非正式制度倾向问题。尽管制度表达上法官应以法律规则作为判案依据,但在实践上,法官基于成本收益的衡量,会发展出另外一套“行动规则”。国家、法官和当事人之间的博弈以及非正式制度的比较优势是造成目前现状的主要原因。     

我国当前民间借贷的特点、问题及其法律对策

我国当前民间借贷市场已经进入高级阶段,资金供需两旺,并具有迅速走红网络经济的发展趋势。然而,民间借贷相关立法滞后,市场监管缺位,司法主导突出,整个市场呈现出产生发展的内生化、投资主体的多元化、交易形式的电子化、法律规则的零散化、法律地位的尴尬化以及裁判结果依赖指导性解释等特征。民间借贷组织的主体地位问题、民间借贷合同的效力认定问题、民间借贷利率的法律管制问题、网络借贷平台的风险控制问题以及民间借贷交易的信息监测问题等日益突出,加强监管立法和监管机构主动执法,依法规范民间借贷行为,严厉打击高利贷,已成为金融生态建设中民间借贷法律规制的必然选择。     

宪法泛政治化的逻辑归谬与历史反思

马伯里诉麦迪逊案创立的“政治问题不审查”之宪法惯例及与美国宪法传统相契合的政治观,将对宪法正当性的逻辑判断转读为对于主体的道德依赖,其生成的逻辑结构未免带有强迫性,导致宪法的泛政治化。近代旧中国立宪的逻辑怪圈亦然:宪法“移植”使得“应然宪法”性状无法获得“实然宪法”有效地证明,则悖论产生;“自上而下”的立宪路径和权力本位,使得宪法缺少正当性基础;明显的“工具性”特征,造成“政治”与“宪法”的“目标冲突”,形成“体”和“用”的二律背反。事实就是:宪法的泛政治化是一个世界现象,防止宪法泛政治化,宪法司法化具有价值上的合理性,但以司法化为导向的中国宪政目标之实现尚需经历一个长期的准备阶段,要防止两种极端倾向:悲观主义和冒进主义。     

试论人大制度作用在法律文本与政治现实上的不对称

政治文明的精髓是关键在于制度建设.作为我国根本政治制度和民主政治建设重要载体的人大制度,在社会主义政治文明建设中具有无可替代的重要作用,但其作用在法律文本与政治现实上存在明显的不对称,需要通过优化人大工作环境、完善根本政治制度、扩大公民政治参与等途径,使人大制度作用得以充分发挥,从而推进社会主义政治文明建设.     

Procedural justice policing and citizen compliance behaviour: the importance of emotion

Research consistently finds that if authorities use procedural justice in encounters with the public then this will promote citizen cooperation and compliance with the law. Recently, the importance of people's emotional reactions in response to procedural justice and injustice, and the subsequent effect this has on behaviour have been examined. This paper utilises a multi-method approach to examine the mediating role that negative affect plays in the effect of procedural justice policing on citizen compliance behaviour. Study 1 utilises both cross-sectional and longitudinal field survey data collected from Australian citizens who have had a recent contact with a police officer. Study 2 utilises an experimental vignette study designed to assess the causal mechanisms involved in the procedural justice–emotion–compliance relationship. Both studies find that procedural justice is linked to people's self-reported propensity to comply with police. Study 1 and 2 also find that negative affect mediates this relationship. These findings have important implications for training police to interact with the public in a manner that reduces negative emotions and ensures the highest level of compliance from the public.     

Sexually abusive behaviour in juveniles: Deviant and non-deviant pathways

Abstract

In this paper a theoretical framework is presented in an attempt to find an answer to the question of why some juveniles display sexually abusive behaviour and others do not. Until recently, this question has been approached mainly in terms of the presence of psychiatric illness, deviant sexual interests and/or impaired psychosocial development. Empirical research has as yet generally failed to demonstrate this approach to be adequate. It is estimated that only about 40% of juvenile sex offenders appear to show some kind of psychological or developmental deviance. The theoretical framework that is presented here approaches sexual abuse committed by juveniles in terms of normal developmental processes, next to deviant processes. It describes this behaviour, and its presence or absence, as a result of the interaction of biological, psychological and situational factors.     

关于新时期高校学生思想政治工作的思考

以党的十六大精神为指导,剖析在新时期高校学生思想政治工作领域呈现的新问题、新形势,提出加强高校 学生思想政治教育工作的新思路、新方法;按照党建新理论的要求,努力把"三个代表"落实到高校学生思想政治工 作的实处。     

American politics,British policy: whole of life imprisonment and transatlantic influence

Since the abolition of the death penalty, life imprisonment in England and Wales has had a literal meaning with exceptional rarity. Now though, in the rejection of perceived interference by the European Court of Human Rights in domestic sentencing, the politics of whole of life imprisonment have become exposed, specifically, in the widening applicability of the tariff to those who kill police officers or prison guards. Borrowing from the politics of capital punishment in the United States, in both “acting out” after a particular crime, and the prioritising of victim groups, the most severe penalty in England and Wales is increasingly beginning to mirror how the most severe punishment across the Atlantic is used, represented, and politicised.     

Protective processes: the function of young people's implicit theories of crime in offending behaviour

Abstract

Despite development in high-risk environments, many youths are resilient and do not engage in antisocial behaviour and crime. Research on human traits such as intelligence and morality, suggest that the implicit theories (ITs) people have about the controllability of their behaviour, as either fixed (entity beliefs) or malleable (incremental beliefs) may play a part in successful behavioural outcomes. Using this as a framework, the function of ITs about crime in successful adolescent development was investigated among 422 ‘at-risk’ youths. Incremental ITs of criminality were found to significantly predict less self-reported involvement in youth offending, controlling for academic attainment. Entity ITs, conversely, were associated with an increased rate of participation in deviant behaviour. Further analysis revealed that incremental ITs of criminality moderated the negative effects of associating with delinquent peers on adolescent behaviour. The results demonstrate the direct and indirect protective function of incremental ITs of criminality for youths at risk and highlight the value of investigating further the protective processes that are involved in preventing youth crime.