The Continuing Relevance of Ars Poetica to Legal Scholarship and the Modern Lawyer

In this late modern era within which the basic values of life have been reordered (driven by globalisation, the corporate agenda and mass communication technologies), the individual has effectively been reduced to a mere abstraction. It might be argued that the rational, moral and humanistic concept of freedom has, to a great extent, been compromised by a consequent crisis within the intelligentsia. These groups, in particular the gatekeepers of a classical liberal approach to legal scholarship, are caught between the twin evils of increased unreflective populism and pragmatism evident within many law schools and modern legal institutions. Although a contested term, defenders of the ‘socio-legal’ tradition, who place the humanities at the heart of legal research and education, are obliged to restate with increased determination the utility of the liberal arts and literature to the law profession and wider legal community. In a normative environment, law and narrative are inextricably linked and narrative poetry is not only invaluable to explaining the origins and location of the legal tradition, but also elicits a mode of understanding which transcends the boundaries of narrowlydefined legal hermeneutics—which often only addresses issues of an operational nature. French novelist Flaubert claimed “chaque notaire porte en soi les débris d’un poète” (Flaubert in Madame bovary (trans: Wall, G.), Penguin Classics, London, 1960: 269), paraphrased by American civil rights lawyer, Clarence Darrow, as “inside every lawyer is the wreck of a poet” (Lukas in Big trouble: a murder in a small western town sets off a struggle for the soul of America, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1997: 323). In an age of disenchantment, this paper explores the poetic form as an important medium within which to understand the nature and function of law in a society of differentiated individuals.     

Climate Change Litigation in Canada and the USA

This article examines the growing phenomenon of climate change litigation in the USA and Canada. It explores the expanding context in which this litigation is occurring and highlights key successes and failures of these actions. In the absence of a comprehensive federal framework in both countries, the article shows how litigation is being used by claimants to attempt to require government action in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to force private entities to do the same and to pay damages. Whether a piecemeal approach to climate change engendered through litigation can provide a solution to this global issue remains to be seen.     

The role of neurological and psychological explanations in legal judgments of psychopathic wrongdoers

Although brain imaging has recently taken center stage in criminal legal proceedings, little is known about how neuroscience information differentially affects people’s judgments about criminal behavior. In two studies of community participants (N = 1161), we examined how mock jurors sentence a fictional psychopathic defendant when presented with neurological or psychological research of equal or ambiguous scientific validity. Across two studies, we (a) found that including images of the brain did not alter mock jurors’ sentencing judgments, (b) reported two striking non-replications of previous findings that mock jurors recommend less severe punishments to defendants when a neuroscientific explanations are proffered, and (c) found that participants rated a psychopathic individual as more likely to benefit from treatment and less dangerous when a neurological explanation for his deficits was provided. Overall, these results suggest that neuroscience information provided by psychiatrists in hypothetical criminal situations may not broadly transform mock jurors’ intuitions about a psychopathic defendant’s sentence, but they provide novel evidence that brain-based information may influence people’s judgments about treatability and dangerousness.     

BIS/BAS Variables as Moderators of the Rumination-Intimate Partner Violence Link

Although cognitive rumination is related to violence perpetration, not all people who ruminate become violent. Four personality variables—impulsivity, anxiety, anger-in, anger-out—were tested as possible moderators of the link between the tendency to ruminate and the frequency of intimate partner violence (IPV). Variables related to the Behavioral Activation System (anger-out and impulsivity) were predicted to strengthen the rumination-IPV link; whereas measures related to the Behavioral Inhibition System (anger-in and anxiety) would suppress this link. As predicted, anger-out, anger-in, and impulsivity moderated the relation between rumination and IPV. No evidence was found for suppressor variables. Thus, appetitive drives appear to amplify the effect of rumination on violence. Clinically, therapeutic techniques that address rumination, anger, and impulsivity may help to reduce IPV risk.     

Beyond contestation: conceptualizing negotiation in democracy promotion

ABSTRACT

This article presents an analytical framework that guides the contributions to this special issue and, in general terms, aims at enabling a systematic investigation of processes of negotiation in the international promotion of democracy. It first briefly introduces the rationale for studying democracy promotion negotiation, offers a definition, and locates the general approach within the academic literature, bringing together different strands of research, namely studies of negotiation in international relations as well as research on democratization and democracy promotion. The larger part of the article then discusses key concepts, analytical distinctions and theoretical propositions along the lines of the three research questions that are identified in the introduction to this special issue. More specifically, the article (1) offers a typology that facilitates a systematic empirical analysis of the issues that are discussed in democracy promotion negotiations; (2) takes initial steps towards a causal theory of democracy promotion negotiation by identifying and discussing a set of parameters that can be expected to shape such negotiations; and (3) introduces key distinctions and dimensions that help guide empirical research on the output and outcome of negotiations in democracy promotion.     

Obtaining public input for health‐systems decision‐making: Past experiences and future prospects

Abstract: Interest in finding more effective methods for public involvement in decision‐making about health systems is more widespread than ever in Canada since significant aspects of health‐care decision‐making were devolved from provincial governments to regional health authorities. Involving the public can be risky business, however, as the accountability and legitimacy of decisions made by governing authorities are often assessed against the nature and degree of interaction that occurs with the public. Consequently, decision‐makers in a variety of policy domains routinely struggle with questions about when it is appropriate to involve the public, what the most effective means are for doing this, and how to measure their success. The authors analysed these issues by documenting the experiences of health‐systems decision‐makers in two Canadian provinces (Ontario and Quebec) with public consultation and participation over the past decade. Their findings illustrate that despite the different roles and responsibilities held by Ontario and Quebec decision‐makers, decisions to consult with their communities are driven by the same basic set of objectives: to obtain information from and to provide information to the community; to ensure fair, transparent and legitimate decision‐making processes; and to garner support for their outcomes. Decision‐makers also acknowledged the need to rethink approaches for involving the public in decision‐making processes in response to the perceived failure of past public participation and consultation processes. While these experiences have clearly left some participation practitioners feeling beleaguered, many are approaching future community consultation processes optimistically with plans for more focused, purposeful consultations that have clear objectives and more formal evaluation tinged with a healthy dose of pragmatism. Sommaire: L'intérêt que I'on porte à trouver des méthodes plus efficaces pour inciter le public à participer à la prise de décisions au sujet des systèmes de santé ne cesse de grandir au Canada depuis que les gouvemements provinciaux ont transféré aux autorités régionales la responsabilité d'importants aspects de la prise de décisions dans ce domaine. Cependant, faire intervenir le public peut être une affaire délicate, car la transparence et la légitimité des décisions prises par les autorités existantes sont souvent évaluées par rapport à la nature et au degré d'interaction qui se produit avec le public. C'est pourquoi, les décideurs dans divers domaines de politiques ont généralement de la difficultéà déterminer quand il convient de demander I'avis du public, quels sont les moyens les plus efficaces pour le faire et comment mesurer leur succès. Nous avons analysé ces questions en documentant les expériences que les décideurs des systèmes de santé de deux provinces canadiennes (l'Ontario et le Québec) avaient eues en ce qui concerne les efforts de participation et de consultation publique au cours de la derniére décennie. Nos conclusions démontrent qu'en dépit des divers rôles tenus et diverses responsabilités assumées par les décideurs de I'Ontario et du Québec, leur déision de consulter leurs communautés est guidée par les mêmes principaux objectifs: obtenir de I'information de la communauté et lui en foumir; assurer des processus de prise de déisions justes, transparents et légitimes et obtenir I'aval de leur décision. Les décideurs ont également reconnu le besoin de repenser les approches visant à faire participer le public aux processus de prise de décisions suite à I'échec perçu des expériences antérieures de participation et de consultation du public. Alors que certains partisans de la participation ont été clairement découragés par ces expériences, un grand nombre envisagent avec optimisme les processus de consultation communautaire. Ils croient que les consultations pourraient être plus focalisées et plus déterminées visant des objectifs clairs et une évaluation plus formelle et empreinte d'une bonne dose de pragmatisme.