Congressional Vote Options

Numerous accounts reveal that congressional leaders often secure “hip‐pocket votes” or “if you need me” pledges from rank‐and‐file legislators. These are essentially options on votes. Leaders exercise sufficient options—pay legislators to convert to favorable votes—when those options will yield victory. Otherwise, they release the options. A model shows that this optimal strategy for leaders produces many small victories, few small losses, and losses that are, on average, larger than victories. We find precisely these patterns, hence strong evidence for vote options, in Congressional Quarterly key votes from 1975 through 2001 and in non‐key votes from the 106th Congress (1999–2000).     

法家重刑思想再认识

一重刑思想作为法家学说的重要内容之一虽已是一个不争的事实,但重刑思想包括哪些内容,学者的认识不尽相同。有学者认为重刑,专指中国奴隶制刑法和封建制刑法中的严刑峻法的制度和思想。它至少包括以下几个内容:1·刑种苛繁;2·罚不当罪;3·肉刑发达;4·死刑残刻①。也有学者认     

对中共一大前“53名党员”说法的质疑

关于中共一大前到底有多少党员,党史界有多种说法,其中53人说受到广泛认同.考虑到历史本身的局限,如信息闭塞统计有误,资料残缺保存不全等因素,53人说值得商榷,中共一大前党员的确切人数随着新史料的浮现、考证工作的深入,有可能更接近历史的真实.     

In re Browning.

HELD: Prior judicial approval is not required for a surrogate to exercise the state constitutional right of self-determination of a patient who has become incompetent and who, while competent, specifically expressed her wishes regarding medical treatment decisions orally or in writing. The surrogate, in so exercising that right, must satisfy herself that certain requirements are met.     

Indigenismo and the Avant‐garde: Jorge Sanjinés' Early Films and the National Project

Jorge Sanjinés' 1960s films Revolución and Ukamau challenge the class and ethnic hierarchies of Bolivian society by casting the proletarian and indigenous masses as revolutionary liberators. The new national imaginary they evoke is tightly bound to the experimental cinematic techniques they employ, since their rejection of rationalist, realist aesthetics signals a partial undermining of the linear time of the modern nation. Ukamau both recalls and resists previous Bolivian indigenismo, which sought to co‐opt the Indian into a national mestizo consciousness. Its exoticist portrayal of the Indian ultimately limits its political effectiveness, but textual and contextual analyses show subversive Indian agency leaking through.     

Mass deaths by gas or chemical poisoning. A historical perspective

This review chronicles the characteristics of deliberate and accidental mass poisonings that occurred in World Wars I and II, in Bhopal, and in other historical cases up to and including modern wars. It also considers approaches to the investigation of such cases from the medicolegal as well as general standpoints.     

美国对伊拉克战略:负"重"前行

2006年,国际格局调整加快,世界热点问题升温,大国协调进一步展开,中国外交硕果累累。2007年,世界将进入深度调整,国际形势总体趋向缓和,但局部紧张可能加剧,尤其是伊朗核问题有可能升级,中国外交则在面对新机遇的同时有可能遭遇更复杂的挑战。鉴此,《现代国际关系》编辑部于2007年1月6日举办“2007年国际大势前瞻”研讨会,特别邀请30多位京内外专家学者在总结、回顾2006年国际形势的基础上,着重对2007年国际形势及中国外交的变化趋势进行前瞻性分析。现将研讨会主要观点辑录如下,以期有助于读者更准确把握国际形势走向。     

The sentencing reform act of 1984: A bold approach to the unwarranted sentencing disparity problem

Conclusion In 1984, after years of study and thorough debate, a bipartisan majority of the Congress enacted perhaps the most far-reaching reform of the federal criminal justice system in the history of the United States. The Sentencing Reform Act and the federal sentencing guidelines are now beginning to produce data indicating that the objectives of avoiding unwarranted disparity and invidious discrimination are being achieved.After an uncertain beginning, the guidelines are gaining acceptance by courts and criminal justice practitioners. As one appellate court observed in admonishing lower courts that the guidelines must be respected:We have embarked on a new course. Only time will tell whether the use of the guidelines will result in an improvement over the old system. But unless we follow the spirit and written directions of the guidelines, we will never know if they have been given a fair test. They at least deserve that.Indeed, the bold new approach to sentencing that is being followed today in federal courthouses throughout the United States deserves an opportunity to succeed, given its many beneficial features and the lofty goals toward which the reforms are directed. While ample work remains for the United States Sentencing Commission to monitor and improve the guidelines, indications at this still early date are that the experiment is succeeding.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the fifth conference of the Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, Parliament House, Edinburgh, Scotland, August 5–9, 1990. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the United States Sentencing Commission.B.A., Davidson College 1964; J.D., University of South Carolina School of Law 1967.B.A., Ohio State University 1974; M.S., Arizona State University 1980; M.A., University of California, Santa Barbara, 1983.B.S., Clemson University 1971; M.S., Clemson University 1975; J.D., University of South Carolina School of Law 1978.