Private Power, Public Interest: An Examination of Search Engine Accountability

As information becomes a critical commodity in modern society,the issue is raised whether the entities that manage accessto information, that are tools for public discourse and democracy,should be accountable to the public. The Internet has transformedhow we communicate, and search engines have emerged as managersof information, organizing and categorizing content in a coherent,accessible manner thereby shaping the Internet user's experience.This article examines whether search engines should have publicinterest obligations. In order to answer this question, thisarticle first examines comparative public interest regulatorystructures, and the growing importance of the Internet to publicdiscourse. Then examined is how the algorithmic designs andmanual manipulation of rankings by search engines affects thepublic interest without a sufficient accountability structure.Finally, the values necessary to a public interest frameworkare suggested.     

Transparency Mechanisms: Building Publicness into Public Services

Recent changes in patterns of public service provision, sometimes associated with the 'regulatory state', have been said to have eroded citizenship and diminished accountability. This paper responds to these challenges by outlining a toolbox of four transparency mechanisms – information, choice, representation, and voice – as alternative devices that can be built into the architecture of public service regimes, to increase responsiveness and answerability. Using insights drawn from cybernetics and transaction cost analysis, this paper looks at the consequences of different choices of combinations of mechanisms in allocating authority in line with competing administrative doctrines of fiduciary trusteeship and consumer sovereignty. Attention is drawn to differences in 'cost profiles' between different public services that can facilitate or inhibit consumer choice as a basis for understanding the suitability of different combinations of mechanisms to specific public services. A contingency model determining the suitability of particular mechanisms to particular services of different 'cost-profiles' is presented. Given the variety of public services and among different public service architectures in the regulatory state, it is argued that this differentiated approach to transparency and accountability provides a more effective response to holding public services accountable than narrower traditional notions of political accountability.     

Making the movies real: The death penalty & local TV news

Media organizations, particularly the broadcast media, have become extremely important actors on the public stage over the last three decades. As a result, what the media chose to cover and how they chose to cover it is an important question. That is magnified when the media turn their attention to a public policy issue like the death penalty that already possesses profound social significance. In no other area of public policy can the state impose its will so completely and finally on an individual citizen. Therefore, the public should understand the issues that surround capital punishment. That understanding is virtually always communicated through media organizations because very few of us have first-hand knowledge of the death penalty. In this paper, I explore how television broadcast organizations cover the imposition of the death penalty. How did they carry it out? What themes did they convey? What did the public learn?     

论环境损害赔偿立法中的环境公益保护 --从环境民事公益诉讼的角度

环境民事公益诉讼制度,可以规定社会团体提起环境民事公益诉讼必须以其成员主张环境公益受损为先决条件;可以明确公权机关的诉权优先于公民或社会团体的诉权;可以将环境保护行政主管部门或者其他依照法律规定行使环境监督管理权的部门规定为法定提起环境民事公益诉讼的公权机关,将检察机关定位为监督和支持有关主体提起环境民事公益诉讼,对救济是否充分及时进行法律监督的机关.环境公益的民事救济应当采取以恢复原状、消除危险为主,以赔偿、停止侵害、排除危害为辅的方式,同时探索新的民事救济方式.环境民事公益诉讼中的赔偿对象可以确定为某种环境公益基金,该基金独立于政府,负责对环境公益的维护,并不限于受损的环境公益范围填补或增进环境公益.     

Legal Accountability in the Service-Based Welfare State: Lessons from Child Welfare Reform

Current trends intensify the longstanding problem of how the rule of law should be institutionalized in the welfare state. Welfare programs are being redesigned to increase their capacities to adapt to rapidly changing conditions and to tailor their responses to diverse clienteles. These developments challenge the understanding of legal accountability developed in the Warren Court era. This article reports on an emerging model of accountable administration that strives to reconcile programmatic flexibility with rule-of-law values. The model has been developed in the reform of state child protective services systems, but it has potentially broad application to public law. It also has novel implications for such basic rule-of-law issues as the choice between rules and standards, the relation of bureaucratic and judicial control, the proper scope of judicial intervention into dysfunctional public agencies, and the justiciability of "positive" (or social and economic) rights.     

Police informers and agents provocateurs: Accomplices or handmaidens of the law? Perspectives from the courts of eastern and southern africa

7. Conclusion The use of traps as an investigative technique has a long history. Today the police in many jurisdictions are resorting to them more and more to detect particularly complex crimes of an organized nature and, often, of a transnational character. Note should, however, be taken of the fact that the use of traps is not specifically provided for by statute and that it invariably involves violations of the law by those whose function it is to uphold and enforce the law. Moreover, as some of the cases discussed in this essay reveal, the use of traps may be very unfair to the accused to the extent of violating his or her constitutionally protected human rights. The courts have a bounden duty as watchdogs of those rights to be vigilant and to ensure that the police in their fight against crime do not turn into monsters. Professor of Law, University of Botswana, Gabarone, Botswana; LL.B., University of East Africa 1968; M.C.J., Howard University 1970; LL.M., New York University 1971; J.S.D., New York University 1975.     

New laws but few cases: understanding the challenges to the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases

All fifty states and the federal government have passed laws to combat human trafficking, but we know little about their effectiveness. Using data from investigative case records and court files for 140 human trafficking cases in 12 U.S. counties and qualitative interviews with law enforcement, prosecutors, and victim service providers, we examined the characteristics of and challenges to investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases under new state and federal laws. We found that few human trafficking cases are identified by local law enforcement, most cases forwarded to state prosecution are sex trafficking cases involving U.S. citizens, and state prosecutors overwhelmingly charge human trafficking offenders with other, lesser crimes. The legal, institutional, and attitudinal challenges that constrain prosecution of human trafficking are similar across study sites despite varying types of state antitrafficking legislation. Study results suggest prosecution of human trafficking cases is challenging. If new laws are to be effective, then local law enforcement and prosecutors should work collaboratively and adopt proactive human trafficking investigative strategies to identify both labor and sex trafficking cases. There is social benefit to holding traffickers accountable, but more emphasis should be placed on policies that identify and serve victims.     

论中央与地方立法权限的划分标准——基于公共服务理论的研究

实定法所确立的中央与地方立法权限的划分标准尚有缺陷,不能适应各地方因地制宜的治理需求。已有学理研究成果过于"重技术"而"轻理论",缺乏深层次的价值指引,难以回应以上现实困境。公共服务理论为解决央地立法权限的划分问题提供了全新视角。在公共服务理论下,国家长久执政的正当性前提在于向人民提供良好的公共服务,国家行使立法权的目的在于组织公共服务,央地立法权限的划分同样应以公共服务为中心。中央立法的定位系制定为提供公共服务所设置国家机构、组织、制度等内容的框架性法律和部分直接规范公共服务的组织、运行的细则性法律,地方立法则系制定细则性法律。央地之间细则性立法事项的权限划分应当以"便利服务"为标准。     

Promoting and safeguarding media pluralism in Botswana: an assessment of legal risks

Democracy is said to thrive on media pluralism. A pluralistic media promotes free debate of diverse political views and opinions in a democratic political system. While media pluralism is an indispensable element of a democratic society, measuring it is a contentious issue. Different methods can be used to measure media pluralism depending on the focus and objectives of the study. One approach is not to measure media pluralism but focus on monitoring it so that appropriate remedial action can be taken where media pluralism is under threat. This risk-based approach detects risks to media pluralism and shows the underlying causes so that policy-makers may take informed decisions when setting priority areas and shaping policies. This paper adopts a risk-based approach to monitoring media pluralism in Botswana and focuses on legal risks.     

论刑法中的“公务”

关于刑法意义上的公务,要分别从内涵与外延上予以把握。根据公务的统治性、管理性、服务性特征,可以从内涵上将公务划分为"政府公务"与"社会公务",其中,国家机关工作人员所从事的公务仅指政府公务而不包括社会公务。关于公务的外延,则须根据公权力特征和公共性特点来分析,基于"反面说"理论的要求和公务执行依据的内容,刑法中的公务仅限于国家公务而不包括集体公务。     

面向政府公共服务的政务微博框架研究

政务微博融合了网络社交媒体和公共管理官方媒体的双重特性,使用便捷、管理简单、影响广泛、信息权威,能弥补传统电子政务的不足,是政府提高公共服务效能的新利器。本文从政务微博的公共服务职能出发,针对当前我国政务微博应用存在的“服务功能破碎”和“服务流程混乱”等问题,对政府公共服务流程重构、政务微博理论模型和政务微博模型的实践路径进行了分析和阐释。在此基础上设计出面向政府公共服务的政务微博框架。     

Inmate sues the Correctional Service of Canada

This article summarizes a lawsuit commenced recently in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice by an HIV-positive inmate in the federal penitentiary system against the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). This action is an important part of the ongoing struggle to hold government and public officials accountable for failing to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in prisons. The suit contends that CSC must be held liable for the seroconversion of an inmate while in CSC's care and custody, and that it must also be held liable for the alleged negligent provision of medical care to HIV-positive inmates.     

The Empire Strikes Back: Press Judges and Communication Advisers in Dutch Courts

Judges in many jurisdictions are today prepared to utilize the media to promote a better public understanding of their role. Understandably, they wish not to be perceived as 'spin doctors' intent on a cynical manipulation of public opinion. Judges' professional reputation, their public image, and public confidence in their role hinge on a belief in their neutrality and impartiality. Court communicators are also aware that their success in the media arena depends on a degree of skill and strategizing to ensure that the integrity and complexity of their message are preserved in media reports. This paper discusses how press judges (judges who also act as media spokesperson) and communication advisers in Dutch courts address this. It is argued that the media liaison function embraced by Dutch courts may be an expansion of law's empire or, at least, a possible attempt by law's empire to strike back against the pressures of an increasingly inquisitive media.     

浅谈领导者危机公关中的媒体应对

领导者在危机公关中能否更好地应对媒体,是妥善处理突发公共事件系统工程中的重要环节。本文从提高领导者危机公关中媒体应对能力的重要性入手,分析了领导者危机公关中媒体应对的原则,指出了领导者媒体应对容易产生的误区。提出了领导者危机公关中媒体应对的策略,旨在提高领导者在危机公关中的媒体应对能力,把突发事件带来的危害降低到最低限度。     

行政法上的物权初探

有相当的国有财产是为公务便利或社会公益服务而存在的 ,国家作为行政主体行使行政权时在该财产上享有的物权不同于民法上的物权 ,不以盈利为目的 ,不应受一般私法规则的支配 ,而应受公法规则的支配。存在于该财产之上的物权便是行政法上的物权。法国行政法将公众用物和行政活动用物作为不同于私有财产的“公产” ,这一划分在现代国家体系及市场经济背景下有重要意义。借鉴相关理论 ,建立、健全我国行政法上的物权理论 ,将对我国行政法理论和实践大有裨益     

Powers and Accountability of Private Police

Substantial growth in private policing has been documented in countries throughout the world, and the division of responsibilities for policing between public and private authorities has become increasingly blurred and contested during the last three decades. Because private policing is so frequently assessed on the basis of criteria established with respect to the public police, substantial myths have developed about the powers and accountability of private police; specifically, it is commonly asserted that private police have no significant power(s), and are essentially not accountable, in comparison with the public police. The author argues that such assertions misrepresent the very substantial coercive power of private police as well as the variety of mechanisms through which they may be held accountable, and also commonly exaggerate the effective accountability of the public police. The author concludes that a greater appreciation of the actual power and accountability of private police will provide an improved basis for the development of sound public policy with respect to both private and public policing, and with respect to appropriate relationships between private and public policing organisations.     

公务员角色定位的困境分析及对策思考

对公务员角色的定位历来是公共行政学探讨的重要问题。传统的行政学及其继承者——新公共行政和新公共服务把公务员定位为"公共人";公共选择学派则将公务员定位为"经济人"。但各种研究范式的分离与竞争始终没有摆脱以技术理性为基础的"人性假设"和实证研究范式的限制。公务员角色在现实中发生错位,其背后所反映的是管理主义运动兴起过程中公共行政陷入的身份危机。社会建构主义重视社会群体互动和协商的结果,把公务员作为一个群体来看待,而不是将其作为抽象的个体加以定位。因此,通过自由式民主和协商民主的手段,形成一种自我认同、相互信任的组织文化,或许是走出公务员角色定位困境的新路径。     

An agenda for post-troubles policing in Northern Ireland — The South African precedent

Conclusion These proposals represent part of a much larger agenda for policing reform. Critically, it is now time in Northern Ireland, as it was in South Africa, for all sides to start “thinking the unthinkable” if the peace process is to gain momentum. In that process of creating an agenda, opinions will be sought from many quarters. South Africa, in certain limited ways, provides a model of how irreconcilable views about the nature of policing a divided society, can be given serious considerations, of a more peaceful society is to be created. But there is one other crucial lesson from South Africa. Police reform cannot be imposed from above, or according to the dictates of outside experts. It must be based on serious, continuing consultation between all parties — local communities, political parties, the central state, and the police service itself. The South African example demonstrates that existing hostile interests do not have to learn to love one another in making progress in police reform. There is a common interest which surmounts political opposition — local people need the security which an effective, non-partisan police service can provide. minuscule levels.     

新媒体视阈下公众参与社会管理研究

当前,新媒体日益成为公众获取知识、表达民意、了解社会、参与社会管理的有效平台.在新媒体视阈下,公众参与社会管理既是机遇也面临挑战.为此,我们应着重培养公众参与社会管理的意识,提高公众的媒介素养,在此基础上,依托新媒体进一步提高公众参与社会管理的有效性,加强网络参与社会管理的制度化建设,实现公众参与社会管理的经常化、制度化、法制化.     

论中国行政诉讼和解制度的建立

我国《行政诉讼法》明文规定了“行政诉讼不适用调解”原则,并且对行政机关与公民的和解也未作规定,然而实践中和解普遍存在。行政诉讼和解存在的有力依据为:现代公共行政已从权力中心走向服务中心和行政裁量权的广泛存在。和解是不同于判决和撤诉的一种独立的诉讼制度,与法治原则并不矛盾。它体现了当事人的主体性,并能够促使新的行政活动方式产生。在中国语境之下,未来《行政诉讼法》应建立和解而非调解制度才是最佳选择。