The FIRRE Act and Housing for Low-Income Families

During the 1980s, federal government real, direct expendituresfor low-income housing increased modestly, budget authorityfor future housing spending fell dramatically, and subsidiesshifted from primarily construction to tenant aid. These changesreflect the delicate balance struck between Reagan's "decentralizedfederalism" as it applied to low-income housing and the muchmore pro-active, centralized positions often advocated by theCongress. Although Congress did not win the budget battle, itdid add new resources to low-income housing in less direct ways.One of those less direct initiatives is the low-income housingprograms contained in FIRREA, which add both money and institutionsto the delivery of housing services for the poor. This articleevaluates these new FIRREA programs in expanding the supplyof housing for the poor. The article concludes that their successwill largely depend on the ability of the low-income housingdelivery system to integrate these new institutions and joinwith them in an active partnership to make efficient use ofthese new housing resources.     

Forensic psychiatric expert witnessing within the criminal justice system in Germany

In recent years, the number of occupied beds in German forensic–psychiatric hospitals has continued to rise. Diversion refers to the removal of offenders from the criminal justice system at any stage of the procedure and court proceedings. There are no specific diversion programs in Germany but diversion does in fact happen via legal regulations that are based on the construct of legal responsibility. The assessments of responsibility as well as risk are the core tasks of forensic–psychiatric expert witnessing in Germany. Recommendations of an interdisciplinary working group serve as a guide to operationalize this forensic–psychiatric task. These recommendations list formal minimum requirements for expert reports on the question of criminal responsibility and risk assessment as well as minimum standards regarding content and in writing the report.     

The Rise of Chinese Power and the Implications for the Regional Security Order

This article examines the reach of China's growing economic and military power in East Asia. It examines the economic and military sources of the rise of China and the implications of the development of Chinese strategic influence on the Korean Peninsula and across the Taiwan Strait. It also considers where in East Asia China has yet to develop greater coercive or deterrent military capabilities, so that the strategic status quo in this area persists, thus establishing the regional strategic boundaries of the rise of China and the emerging U.S.-China great power order in East Asia.     

Four Comprehensive Pillars of Xisms

At the end of 2014,Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the strategic layout of the Four Comprehensives—comprehensively building a moderately prosperous society,deepening reform,advancing the rule of law,and strictly governing the Communist Party of China.Later,the new guideline for development became the overall framework for the current leadership’s work and has aroused interest at home and abroad.From Issue No.17 published on April 23,Beijing Review has put forth a series of commentaries by foreign researchers commissioned by Renmin University of China’s Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies.This is the last commentary of the series,presented here in abridged form.     

Theory of science and history of science

The article uses an interesting discussion between historian and philosopher of science as point of departure for a brief examination of the special task of the sociology of sciences. Both historian and philosopher proceed according to certain ritualised conventions. They take it for granted that it is possible, today as in the seventeenth century, to work out a theory of science by concentrating on one science only, on theoretical physics. They are unable to come to grips with the diversification of sciences as a theoretical problem. The growth of a single science itself is treated by them as if it were an absolutely autonomous social development. A sociological theory of sciences has to take account of the observable advance of scientific knowledge into areas of the universe that were previously unknown or inaccessible to scientific exploration. It has to take account for instance of the emergence of biological and social sciences both as a science-immanent and a science-transcendent problem. Philosophers and historians of science have constructed a seemingly impenetrable conceptual wall between immanent and transcendent developments. According to them, ‘internal’ history of a science can be treated as independent of ‘external’ history. The article indicates that this is part of a professional ideology. By claiming absolute autonomy for one's subject matter one tries to secure the absolute autonomy of one's profession. If that claim is abandoned the fashionable problem of continuities and discontinuities in the development of sciences appears in a different light. Neither discontinuity nor autonomy of a scientific development can ever be absolute. Its relative autonomy, however, can grow or diminish. That of physics, for instance, is at present noticeably greater than that of sociology. One may well ask why that is the case. That is the kind of problem which requires a sociological as distinct from a philosophical or historical investigation.