Studying Discretion in the Processes that Generate Criminal Justice Sanctions

This paper presents a typology of discretion that differs from the standard typology of discretion in the legal literature: Type A discretion, which is the generally recognized discretion of individual actors to make decisions within a set of laws and rules, and Type B discretion, which is the crafting of laws and setting of rules in the first place. An analysis using aggregate data from 1992 to 2002 points to the prosecution stage as the primary source of Type A discretion that contributed to the massive increase in incarceration during this period. To understand how this could happen, this paper argues that actions need to be linked to outcomes. We identify three key outcomes of the sanctioning process—crime control, justice (guilt/innocence), racial disparity (fairness)—that deserve more attention from social scientists.     

Rethinking dependency and development between international and indigenous non-governmental organisations

This article presents a case study detailing how the Netherlands-based international NGO Terre Des Hommes (TDH) works with and impacts the indigenous Tanzanian NGO Umoja wa Maendeleo ya Bukwaya (UMABU) and the Bukwaya region that UMABU serves. The article illustrates how indigenous agency and autonomy are actualised within relationships where indigenous over-reliance and dependency are connected to Western aid organisations. The paper proposes that dependent relationships between Southern and Northern NGO partners can be negotiated by indigenous leaders in order to disseminate resources for development in indigenous communities to a greater extent than previously imagined by Western donor agencies.     

Stumbling into the Future? The Indirect Approach and American Strategy

The United States has yet to reconcile its strategic culture to the realities of the post-9/11 era. In the absence of a consensus on grand strategy, America's military and civilian leadership is arguing that in a world of “persistent conflict,” America must exercise its power in increasingly indirect ways. This essay explores the current surge of interest in the so-called “indirect approach” and its possible relevance for the strategic environment of today and tomorrow. We briefly consider a strategic framework for an indirect approach, what true implementation would take, and the attendant risks of such a path. Pursuing a global indirect approach in the absence of such a framework could send America stumbling to the farthest corners of the globe only to harm her own strategic interests.     

ALLOCATING CUSTODIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AT DIVORCE

The American Law Institute's Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution: Analysis and Recommendations contains a set of detailed reform proposals for the allocation of custodial responsibility for children among parents, including the approximation rule . This article examines two bodies of social science evidence that explicitly or implicitly were used to justify the approximation rule, attachment theory and research and research on the impact on children of shared parenting arrangements subsequent to divorce . These two bodies of evidence used to justify the approximation rule are reviewed and evaluated to provide an assessment of its social-based rationales.     

The Rise of Collective Corruption in China: the Xiamen smuggling case

The Xiamen case, as well as several other high-profile corruption cases uncovered at the end of the 1990s, signals a new trend in collective corruption whereby private companies, entrepreneurs and organized crime groups now play an important role in initiating and coordinating networks of criminal activity. This article uses the concept of collective corruption to examine the smuggling empire built up by the entrepreneur, Lai Changxing, the network of state-owned enterprises and officials that supported and protected his smuggling operations, and the central government's crackdown. It concludes with a discussion of two other major corruption scandals, and what they say about the nature and extent of collective corruption in China. I argue that these recent cases show that corruption in China has evolved into more sophisticated, complex and destructive forms that resemble the more extreme forms of corruption found in post-communist countries where corrupt networks have been able to infiltrate and take over state institutions.     

Voices from the Terror

Several novels have attained popularity in the extreme right subculture, most notably, The Turner Diaries—a tale of race war that convulses America. Some observers have characterized these novels as blueprints for revolution and terrorist campaigns. The medium of fiction can be an effective vehicle for propagandizing to those persons who may not be amenable to non-fiction political treatises. This article reviews some of the more popular extremist novels. By doing so, it provides insight into the worldviews and aspirations of the contemporary extreme right.     

Public interest politics,corporate governance and company regulation in Germany and Britain

This article introduces a systematic framework for evaluating the impact of public interest issues on companies through regulation and mandatory corporate governance requirements that change the nature of the firm. It finds that public interest issues that apply to the firm are becoming more important in both Britain and Germany, despite their disparate historical patterns of dealing with the company. European integration and national politics are both expanding the range of issues companies must deal with, even under the competitive pressures of globalisation, while national institutions and politics continue to dominate the manner in which most firms confront public interest issues.