An Economic Analysis of the American and the Continental Rule for Allocating Legal Costs

A well-known conclusion from the standard model of litigation is that a transition from the American to the Continental rule for the allocation of legal costs will lead to an increase in the number of trials. The standard model, however, neglects the fact that the rule for allocating legal costs may also influence whether or not a potential injurer engages in a harmful activity. When this choice is endogenized, the conclusion derived from the standard model does not appear to be generally valid. A transition from the American to the Continental rule may lead to a decrease in the number of trials. Furthermore, the transition may result in an improvement in efficiency.     

公民参与公共决策:协商民主的视角

晚近西方兴起的协商民主理论通常被看作是一种阐释公共决策合法性的理论,其目的是解决传统公共决策过程中缺乏公民参与和社会公正的弊端。通过对协商民主视角下公民参与公共决策的正当性、方式和困境的分析,可以更好地了解其理论与现实意义。     

The Romanticization of Charismatic Leadership in the Arts

ABSTRACT

This inter-disciplinary article focuses on the role, significance, and impact of charisma in cultural leadership. It brings together fresh empirical data with a critical review of the literature to investigate the role of charisma in the operation, reputation, and strategic success of arts organizations. For the first time, this article synthesizes a diverse range of literature from sociology, psychology, political science, management, and leadership studies and applies it critically to the context of the arts. This comprehensive review is compared against interviews with key stakeholders in the arts, which challenge the neo-charismatic literature on leadership and support a return to aspects of the original formulation of charisma, as envisaged by Max Weber. The article finds that charismatic leaders are seen as extraordinary individuals and are excessively romanticized by arts managers, policymakers, and audiences. It questions this normative bias and concludes that charismatic leaders should be treated with a degree of skepticism, even caution, to temper any negative impacts on "followers" and organizations.