企业对食品安全的组织化保障义务

企业依法对食品安全负有组织化保障的义务。食品安全管理员就是这种特定的组织之一。食品安全管理员的资格取得、与企业乃至国家之间的关系、安全管理的职责和地位,是组织化安全管理制度的重要内容。在制度设计时,国家应在确保食品安全的同时,既在一定程度上保证食品安全管理员的管理和建议得到尊重,另一方面也要维护企业的经营自由。     

孟子“浩然之气”思想浅谈

孟子是继孔子之后战国时期儒家杰出的代表人物,"浩然之气"是他道德意志和道德目标修养的最高境界。简要概述了孟子"养浩然之气"思想的形成,对其内容性质、修养方法以及西方文化中的有关现象进行了大致讨论,最终回归中国哲学史,对其意义进行了阐发。     

论王阳明美育思想和现代教育

王阳明的心学理论虽然不是直接谈美,但蕴含着丰富的美育思想。王阳明一生从事教育,其目标就是教人"致良知",体认自有本心,成就完满人格。明确人人具有成圣的潜质,树立成圣的理想为当代大学生树立了崇高的人生目标。王阳明"心外无物"的审美本质论,极大地提升了主体的地位,万物的本质向人开放,万物的意义向人生成。启示青年学子投身世界,拥抱世界,并具有为世界揭示意义的广阔胸怀和宏大气魄。王阳明以身心的体悟和实践为"致良知"的工夫,重视通过情感的力量来化育人心。寓教于乐启示我们把德育和美育结合起来,通过"乐"的工夫来潜移默化地激发本心"良知",应高度重视学生的实践活动,让他们乐在其中也学在其中。王阳明"至善至美"的最高境界引领学生超越有限的生命存在和有限的意义,获得精神的自由,去追求"万物一体"的最高审美境界亦是"天人合一"的最高人生境界。     

Employer-centered training for international competitiveness: Lessons from state programs

There has been a surge of new interest in federal training policy. This momentum has been fueled by concerns with productivity and competitiveness, whereas past federal policy has been more focused upon distributional issues. A wide range of new proposals have been put forth, and high on the list are initiatives to work directly with firms. As making employers the clients of training programs is a relatively new idea, there is very little past federal experience to draw upon. However, in recent years states have experimented with similar efforts, and these experiments provide an underused data source for assessing the traps and opportunities inherent in any national program. This paper reports the results of case studies in four states, two of which based employer-centered training in new state agencies and two of which housed the programs in community colleges. We identify issues of concern that arise in employer-based training programs and also suggest some possible solutions.     

Voluntary environmental programs: A comparative perspective

Voluntary environmental programs (VEPs) are institutions for inducing firms to produce environmental goods beyond legal requirements. A comparative perspective on VEPs shows how incentives to sponsor and participate in VEPs vary across countries in ways that reveal their potential and limitations. Our brief survey examines conditions under which VEPs emerge, attract participants, and improve participants' environmental performance. We focus on the costs and bene‐fits for actors seeking to supply (or sponsor) these governance mechanisms as well as the costs and benefits for firms who are considering joining VEPs and adhering to their program obligations. © 2011 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Food Brexit and Chlorinated Chicken: A Microcosm of Wider Food Problems

This paper situates food safety concerns raised in the Brexit debate since the referendum and suggests that, although the issue of chlorinated chicken entered public discourse, it represents wider concerns about food safety standards. Food safety has had high resonance in the UK since the 1980s, but Brexit shows how it connects to wider concerns also raised about Brexit, such as impacts on healthcare, the effects of austerity on food poverty, the limitations of low waged employment, concerns about migration and labour markets, and regional economic disparities. Brexit’s impact on the UK food system is immense because food has been highly integrated into EU governance. While food standards can be portrayed as a single narrow issue, the paper suggests it provides a useful lens with which to examine, interrogate and comprehend these wider Brexit politics. The complex realities of food politics and wider food system dynamics undermine any simplistic political narrative of ‘taking back control’.     

Hungry for Information: Public Attitudes Toward Food Nanotechnology and Labeling

What people think about food nanotechnology (nanofood) is under‐explored in the United States, especially outside of quantitative surveys. As such, we set out to examine public attitudes toward food nanotechnology in conversational, focus group settings in order to identify policy options for nanofood governance, and in particular, options for labeling. Through analysis of focus groups in six U.S. locations, we found that the vast majority of the participants wanted nanotechnology labels for all types of food products, and most were willing to pay a premium for labeling. Participants cited abilities to choose and avoid potential risk as the main purposes of nanofood labels. However, they recognized that labels alone do not provide much meaning and that information concerning food nanotechnology products needs to be sought and supplied beyond the label to enable informed choices. Additionally, willingness‐to‐use and risk–benefit perceptions varied according to the position and intended functions of the nanomaterials in food products.     

Beneficiaries of federal housing programs: A data reconnaissance

Abstract

This article reports on a reconnaissance of information systems containing data on the beneficiaries of direct and indirect federal housing expenditures. It covers data in the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, and the Treasury; the Resolution Trust Corporation; financial regulatory agencies; and secondary mortgage market actors.

Data varied widely across agencies in availability, accessibility, and quality. Data are more systematically collected for low‐income beneficiaries of housing programs than for the more affluent beneficiaries of indirect housing expenditures. The systems need improvements in data quality and coverage and database format, though they have improved recently. Many research topics can be explored with new and underused data systems: the characteristics of beneficiaries of rural housing programs, urban rental housing programs, low‐income homeownership programs, and mortgage guarantee and insurance programs. But the lack of information on the systems themselves makes data difficult to locate and access.     

《民法总则》人文关怀的三维再考量

在时代和民意的呼声中,《民法总则》应运而生,且载满浓浓的人文关怀的价值理念。从民情与民意、财权与物权、环保与社会三个维度再考量,期待能够有益于广大人民群众深入系统理解《民法总则》的内容,提高自己的法治素养,并用它维护自己的合法权益,更有益于促进民法典的编撰工作。     

Gnats and camels: Congressional oversight of population programs

She is author of Change and Choice: An Overview of Economicsand The War against Population: The Economics and Ideology of World Population Control.     

Signaling virtue: voluntary accountability programs among nonprofit organizations

This article examines the structure of nonprofit voluntary accountability and standard-setting programs, arguing that these programs can be understood as collective action institutions designed to address information asymmetries between nonprofits and their stakeholders. Club theory and the economics of certification suggest that such programs have the potential to provide a signal of quality by setting high standards and fees and rigorously verifying compliance. Such mechanisms can signal quality because higher participation costs may allow only high-quality organizations to join. The article examines the implications of signaling theory using an original dataset on the structure of 32 nonprofit accountability programs across the globe. While many programs set high standards for compliance, the key distinction between strong and weak programs is the use of disclosure or verification mechanisms to enforce compliance. Contrary to theoretical expectations, compliance standards and verification do not appear to be substitutes in creating stronger voluntary programs.

Thinking about order without thought: the lifetime contributions of Gordon Tullock

Philosophers tend to think of them as “conventions.” Economists and some biologists conceive of them as “spontaneous orders,” a concept discussed at some length in other papers in this issue. Perhaps the most general conception is “systems” theory, with roots in many disciplines. Many scholars in the sciences have tried to advance their research agendas by bringing systems theory to the study of human civilization. Gordon Tullock, a scholar who in the future will be recognized as someone well ahead of his own time, traveled the reverse path, in many cases being the first to suggest that the path even exists.