Towards an Analytical Framework for Party Mergers: Operationalising the Cases of the German Left Party and the Dutch Green Left

The theoretical literature on party mergers is thin. This article draws upon organisational behaviour research to create an analytical framework that is suitable for explaining the processes inherent in party mergers. The authors operationalise this framework by examining two cases of party merger: in Germany, between the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and the Electoral Alternative for Labour and Social Justice (WASG) in 2006/07, and in the Netherlands, between four small parties to form Groenlinks (Green Left) in 1989–91. They conclude that the two cases demonstrate definable steps and processes that are inherent to mergers, and they welcome further applications of this framework in other settings.     

Estimating the economic impacts of a hub airline serving a tourist destination: the case of america west airlines and las vegas,nevada

Airlines are an important component of regional economies. The economic impact of an airline goes beyond the usual impacts of their payroll and expenditures. Airlines also may affect business productivity and the critical economic base of a regional economy. This article estimates the economic impact of America West Airlines on Las Vegas, Nevada. Key aspects of the study were measurement of the direct impacts, estimation of the associated impact on tourism allowing for the possibility of competing travel alternatives, and the use of a regional economic impact model to derive the total economic impact.     

对建立刑事诉讼专家辅助人制度的思考——以全国首例专家辅助人参与刑事案件为视角

新《刑事诉讼法》中明确了专家辅助人制度的雏形,但是条文的规定简单概括。有关专家辅助人的资格、介入诉讼的方式、权利和义务、启动方式和其意见的可采性等相关问题都没有详细的规定,使其在司法实践运作环节出现许多障碍。构建专家辅助人制度前应准确理解其概念,明确专家辅助人的法律地位,充分认识构建专家辅助人制度的必要性,并建立配套的专家辅助人援助制度。     

对我国军事立法权限划分的几点认识

<正> 军事立法是指国家机关依照其职权范围通过一定程序制定(包括修改和废止)军事法律规范的活动。它既包括拥有国家立法权的国家机关制定军事法律的活动,也包括被授权的其他国家机关制定从属于军事法律的其他具有法律效力的规范性文件的活动。那么,在我国有哪些国家机关有权制定军事法律规范呢?这些机关在制定军事法律规范时,各自的职权范围是如何确定的?这就产生了军事立法权限的划分问题。     

科学合理确定我国公务员工资水平的路径探讨

科学合理确定我国公务员的工资水平需要建立工资调查比较机制。该机制包括两项核心任务——科学合理地建立政企职位对应关系以及准确高效地开展工资调查工作。实现这一机制的核心难点是如何建立政企职位对应关系和如何开展市场工资调查。本文对比分析了目前公务员工资确定的三种方法和技术,归纳比较了各种方法的优缺点。同时,本文分析了在我国建立工资调查比较机制的必然性,回答了工资调查比较工作中的若干操作化问题,为进一步落实公务员工资制度提供了专业的参考意见。     

What can we Learn from the First Major Statement of Labour’s Economic Policy under Keir Starmer?

Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, Anneliese Dodds, recently set out the first major exposition of economic policy under leader Keir Starmer. Covering a lot of ground, she gave insights into current Labour thinking on macro and micro policy. Much of the speech was aimed at emphasising the fact that Labour would be ‘responsible’, an attempt to reassure voters as well as markets. But there is plenty of room for radical approaches within this framework, so exactly what this all means for practical policy is still to be determined.     

Chemical Contamination of Soft Drinks in Sealed Plastic Bottles by Environmental Stress Cracking

Abstract:  A contamination of soft drinks in sealed bottles by organic solvents is reported: closed bottles full of soft drinks were accidentally placed on a cardboard soaked with thinner and the organic fluid subsequently fissured the bottom of the bottles and penetrated into the soft drinks without any apparent leakage of the soft drinks. Experiments were carried out to simulate the process: the penetration of different organic solvents into soft drinks through the bottom of closed bottles was tested. The penetration occurred only when the closed bottles contained carbonated soft drinks (CSD), indicating that inner pressure is a necessary condition for the fissuring of the bottles. This paper discusses environmental stress cracking of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles by organic solvents and migration of chemicals to CSD. Experiments were conducted to determine the conditions in which PET can be permeable to poisoning organic products.     

Crime trends and the effect of mandated drug treatment: Evidence from California's Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act

The Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act (SACPA), implemented statewide in California in July 2001, mandates drug treatment rather than incarceration for certain nonviolent drug offenders. Critics of the legislation suggest that crime increased as a result of the legislation, but researchers have largely ignored this issue. Utilizing time series methodology applied across several independent data sets from Orange County, California, the effects of SACPA on crime were assessed. Results indicate that significant increases in commercial burglaries and paraphernalia arrests may have been attributed to SACPA, but the overall pattern does not support a conclusion that crime increased markedly.