The World Wide Web and the U.S. Political News Market

We propose a framework for understanding how the Internet has affected the U.S. political news market. The framework is driven by the lower cost of production for online news and consumers' tendency to seek out media that conform to their own beliefs. The framework predicts that consumers of Internet news sources should hold more extreme political views and be interested in more diverse political issues than those who solely consume mainstream television news. We test these predictions using two large datasets with questions about news exposure and political views. Generally speaking, we find that consumers of generally left‐of‐center (right‐of‐center) cable news sources who combine their cable news viewing with online sources are more liberal (conservative) than those who do not. We also find that those who use online news content are more likely than those who consume only television news content to be interested in niche political issues.     

The dynamics of candidate evaluations and vote choice in 2008: looking to the past or future?

In this paper, we leverage a 10-wave election panel to examine the relative and dynamic effects of voter evaluations of Bush, Palin, Biden, McCain, and Obama in the 2008 presidential election. We show that the effects of these political figures on vote choice evolves through the campaign, with the predictive effects of President Bush declining after the nominees are known, and the effects of the candidates (and Palin), increasing towards Election Day. In evaluating the relative effects of these political figures on individual-level changes in vote choice during the fall campaign, we also find that evaluations of the candidates and Sarah Palin dwarf that of President Bush. Our results suggest a Bayesian model of voter decision making in which retrospective evaluations of the previous administration might provide a starting point for assessing the candidates, but prospective evaluations based on information learned during the campaign helps voters to update their candidate preference. Finally, we estimate the “Palin effect,” based on individual-level changes in favorability towards the vice-presidential nominee, and conclude that her campaign performance cost McCain just under 2% of the final vote share.     

AN INSTITUTIONALIZED GUARANTEE

On March 15, the Second Session of the 13th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, adopted the country's first Foreign Investment Law to promote, protect and man age foreign investment in the changed circumstances. The new law, which will take effect on January 1, 2020, is expected to enhance the confidence of foreign-funded enterprises in China.     

农村打黑除恶难点与对策

随着市场经济的不断完善和改革开放的不断深入发展,当前云南省黑恶势力犯罪的形式、手段和特点出现了新情况、新变化,局部地区黑恶势力犯罪已成为危害社会治安、破坏社会经济秩序、威胁人民群众生命财产安全的一大突出问题,成为影响和阻碍经济健康发展和社会全面进步的"毒瘤"。从公安机关的角度出发,结合公安机关的侦查实践,着重研究、发现在侦办农村黑恶势力犯罪案件的问题和困难,探讨打击农村黑恶势力的一些对策和方法。     

不断完善医疗纠纷赔偿机制的思考

本文对海南省推行全省统一的医疗责任保险方案实施两年来,在运行过程中存在的问题与对策从医院层面进行分析,认为医疗纠纷通过医责险赔偿仍面临诸多矛盾和问题。主要表现在：一是保险公司的逐利性和医院对投保的初衷存在巨大差异,购买医责险并非医院自愿;二是医责险在理赔中困难重重,该赔不赔、随意压价、限制受理范围等等导致调解失败,医院没有真正从医疗纠纷中解脱出来,“医闹”问题仍困扰医院;三是保险方案设计和保费调整系数不合理,医院承担的保费过高,而赔偿过低,未能达到风险转嫁的目的。作者提出不断完善医疗纠纷赔偿机制,尝试建立医疗风险互助金制度。     

群体性事件发生原因研究的再审视——层次分析方法的引入与应用

层次分析方法就是将导致某一事件发生的原因进行分层。将层次分析方法应用到群体性事件发生的原因研究中,群体性事件发生的原因可分为结构、体制机制和个人三个层次。通过比较三个不同层次上变量的重要性,结构层次上的变量最为根本和重要,体制机制层次上的变量次之,个人层次上的变量可视为常数。加强对结构和体制机制层次上的变量的研究,有助于深入探究群体性事件发生的深层次原因。     

试论刑事审前程序的司法控制与监督

我国刑事诉讼法由于长期受控制犯罪模式的影响,现行法律赋予公安机关在侦查阶段享有除逮捕之外一切强制侦查方法的自行决定权,其不受制约的权力是导致侦查阶段存在严重侵犯公民人身自由等基本权利的最大根源;同时由于我国检察监督的乏力与滞后以及侦查权与国家公诉权的同质性,寄希望于检察机关对事前程序中侦控权力的运行进行制约是不现实的,在检察机关自己侦查的案件中本身也存在着谁来监督“监督者”的疑问：在人权观念深入人心和司法权日益规范的背景和趋势下,在刑事审前程序中建立相应的司法控制和监督制度,就显得尤为重要和迫切。     

现代服务业的发展态势及对我国的启示

现代服务业作为一种以现代经营方式和组织形式发展起来的产业,其发展水平已成为衡量一个城市或区域经济发展水平的重要基准。今后一段时期里,现代服务业不仅将是我国城市经济的重要增长点,而且也将成为调整产业结构,优化投资环境,强化城市功能的关键领域。我们在对现代服务业进行研究梳理的基础上,阐述国际、国内现代服务业的发展动态,提出现代服务业的演进趋势,对推进我国现代服务业发展具有一定的借鉴意义。     

刑事审前法官制度的中国语境分析

刑事审前法官制度的缺位,不仅导致我国侦查程序中非法侦查行为屡禁不止,权利救济机制处于空白状态,侦查程序不具诉讼形态,也使得公诉权缺乏应有的控制,公诉方式改革未能达到预期的效果。还造成庭前程序中非法证据排除规则不能落实,证据展示程序难以运行,庭审法官的预断不能排除。加强权力制约与保障人权,必须建立司法审查制度、设立刑事审前法官．     

转型时期地方政府决策行为分析

转型时期,地方政府的决策行为在不同领域具有不同特点,影响因素主要来自职能与角色定位、法律与政策、利益与官员素质、任期与资历、信息与监督等方面,为此,必须通过界定地方政府的决策权力边界,规范决策程序,公开决策过程,加强决策监督,让地方政府在决策时正确地做事,做正确的事。