The Article 9 Association,Leftist Elites,and the Movement to Save Article 9 of Japan’s Postwar Constitution

Leftist political parties and labor unions that had stood at the forefront of the collective effort to protect Article 9 until the early 1990s have stepped back to some extent as they have shrunk and fragmented. Instead, advocacy groups whose influence is often enhanced by ‘leftist elites’ have now seemed to come more to the fore, thereby raising certain questions: What roles do the leftist elites play in those groups? How are such groups organized? Who exactly are the leftist elites? This article intends to address questions regarding the leftist elites, as well as the organization and development of these advocacy groups, in particular the Article 9 Association.     

对通奸进行规制的法律进路

现代婚姻关系中男女平权主义得到伸张,夫妻有平等的贞操义务和权利。我国2001婚姻法及其司法解释规定了"夫妻应当相互忠实",并且对重婚和姘居两种婚外性行为规定了相应的法律后果,而唯独对通奸异常宽容。通奸与重婚、姘居一样属于严重违反一夫一妻制原则的婚外性行为,对合法婚姻有很强的杀伤力。宽容通奸不利于婚姻诚信的彰显。重塑社会公众对婚姻的信心必须对通奸进行适当的法律规制。     

新动能视角下中国省域科技创新能力评价

当前我国经济发展总体上呈现出科技创新引领作用凸显、新旧动能加速转换的显著特征。提升科技创新能力,培育和形成更多的发展新动能是新时代我国经济实现高质量发展的根本支撑。围绕新动能视角下科技创新所呈现出的重要特征,尝试构建科技创新能力评价指标体系,并运用因子分析法和聚类分析法,对我国31个省区市科技创新能力进行实证评估。研究发现,目前我国省域科技创新能力发展水平呈现明显的区域特征,科技创新实力、潜力、影响力和活跃度存在较强的不平衡性。需要进一步加大创新供给,探索产学研用合作新模式,优化产业发展布局,强化企业创新主体地位,加强落后地区政策支持力度,从根本上促进我国科技创新协调发展。     

Same same but different. Die Feldtheorien Fligsteins und Bourdieus und das Potenzial einer wechselseitig informierten Perspektive für die Wirtschaftssoziologie

Field theoretical approaches have become popular within economic sociology. Many even consider the notion of ?field“ a suitable alternative to the hegemonic paradigm of ?embeddedness“. This article outlines the epistemological potential of a field theoretical perspective by systematically comparing the approaches of Neil Fligstein and Pierre Bourdieu. By examining their respective contexts of emergence, their theoretical and methodological references, their research interests and their central concepts, both similarities and differences between the two approaches become visible. The resulting insights allow for a field theoretical and profoundly relational perspective on economic phenomena that might stimulate ongoing debates within economic sociology.     

Rehumanizing Birth and Death in America

THESIS: Despite spending more on medical care than any other country in the world, the United States still boasts some of the worst patient outcomes of any developed nation. This disparity is especially true of how Americans give birth and die.  These natural human transitions have become catastrophically expensive and leave patients and their families traumatized from unnecessary interventions. This article examines the costs and outcomes associated with the medicalization of birth and death and argues that alternatives exist that improve patient outcomes while lowering costs. Access to these alternatives will require changing current regulatory and reimbursement structures and providing trained support staff to help families navigate beginning- and end-of life decisions.     

Treaty Commitment as a Signaling Device: Explaining the Ratification of the International Covenant on Economic,Social, and Cultural Rights

This study investigates the determinants of the ratification of International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). To do so, it proposes an explanation that postulates that states employ treaty ratification as a device to signal their resolve to implement polices required by the treaty at issue in order to appease demanding domestic constituencies, predicting that states with lower compliance capacity tend to commit faster than states with higher compliance capacity. Applying this explanation to the ICESCR leads to two expectations. First, the larger government spending a proxy of high compliance capacity is hypothesized to delay the ratification process. Second, states with the unitary system are expected to ratify the ICESCR more promptly because the centralized power structure in unitary states significantly restricts the pursuit of the policy autonomy by minorities at local level that the right to self-determination entails. The Cox proportional hazard analysis lends support to both hypotheses.