RACIAL–ETHNIC INTOLERANCE AND SUPPORT FOR CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: A CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARISON*

This article tests cross-nationally the minority group threat thesis that public sentiments toward repressive crime-control policies reflect conflicted racial and ethnic relations. Using multiple data sets representing France, Belgium, the Netherlands, East and West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Denmark, Great Britain, Greece, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Austria, Canada, Ireland, and Portugal, we examine whether racial and ethnic intolerance—animus, resentments, or negative sentiments toward minorities—predicts greater support for the death penalty. Our results reveal that the respondents were significantly more likely to express support for capital punishment if they were racially or ethnically intolerant while controlling for other covariates of public opinion. These findings indicate that the link between support for capital punishment and racial and ethnic animus may occur universally in countries with conflicted racial and ethnic relations.     

Failed States After 9/11: What Did We Know and What Have We Learned?

This paper addresses the relationship between accumulated knowledge and U.S. policy dealing with failed states and terrorism. The central thesis is threefold: (1) that more was known about the possible linkages between failing states and terrorism than appears in pre-9/11 U.S. policies; (2) that since 9/11 some important realignment of knowledge and practice has occurred, but it remains partial and incomplete; and (3) that new knowledge, especially about the policies to sustain and promote legitimate governance, needs to be generated in order to support an effective grand strategy for addressing the threats and challenges of the twenty-first century. The paper recommends such a grand strategy and, in addition to the required new knowledge, a significant reorganization of the U.S. national security policy-making apparatus. International studies curricula appear well suited for contributing to that new knowledge and the practitioners we require.     

自行车交通事故推断交通方式1例

自行车交通事故中为明确责任大小,往往需要先明确横穿公路者交通方式是骑行还是推行,由于一些客观条件限制,证人证言、现场痕迹等证据不能明确该关键点,这就需要从尸体上寻找相关证据。笔者曾根据现场车辆碰撞痕迹及尸检所见,运用法医学知识,判断死者交通方式1例,现报道如下。案例资料死者吴某,女,31岁。2003年4月8日11时15分,与其丈夫一前一后骑自行车,当到达一划有人行横道线路口时,吴某先横穿道路,被一辆小货车碰撞,经抢救无效死亡。由于证人证言出现矛盾,推行还是骑行无法确定,如骑行,应负次要或同等责任,如推行,则无责任。现场勘查:自…