Financial Recession and the Wages of the Czech Employees by Educational Attainment

The present paper deals with the development of wage distribution by educational attainment in the Czech Republic in the years of 2003-2012, analyzing 50 wage distributions as the object of research and the gross monthly wage in CZK （Czech Koruna） as the research variable. It examines the development of wage distribution in time and the gross monthly wage in relation to the level of educational attainment. It also pursues the development of the minimum wage in the monitored period. The author pays special attention to the lowest guaranteed wage levels classified according to wage classes and work capability assessment, comparing the minimum wage with the wage of subsistence. The forecasts of future wage distribution are an integral component of the research. Comparison of wage levels in the world and the position of wages of the Czech employees in the international context are included, too.     

INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND INTERSECTORAL TENSIONS IN ENVIRONMENTAL OLICY IMPLEMENTATION: THE CASE OF HAZARDOUS WASTE

Superfund—the federal government's program to clean up toxic waste sites—was designed to promote cooperative interaction between levels of government and w ith the private sector. Implementation of the program has, produced a web of tensions instead. The tensions have been intergovernmental and intersectoral. As this examination of the cleanup of four South Carolina sites reveals, these tensions have served to delay and distort the implementation process.     

Defining and classifying serial murder in the context of perpetrator motivation

The last several decades have seen increased research attention to the subject of serial murder. Unfortunately, an empirical understanding of serial homicide continues to be impeded by difficulties in establishing a working definition for serial murder. Current definitions for serial homicide tend to focus on frequency and timing of homicide behaviors, and thus leave some confusion as to which groups of individuals should be included under the heading of serial murders. This article suggests alterations to the definition of serial murder, which focus not only on frequency and timing of homicide behaviors, but also on the motivation and context of those behaviors.     

UK Ministerial Responsibility in 2002: The Tale of Two Resignations

The resignations in 2002 of Stephen Byers and Estelle Morris (UK Secretaries of State for Transport and Education respectively) suggest the need to review the constitutional and political aspects of resignation. In both cases, ministers recognized that they had failed in the oversight or supervision of their departments and thus in the fulfilment of their ministerial role. Their resignations therefore provide evidence of a move away from 'causal responsibility', with its complication of the policy/operations and accountability/responsibility distinctions, towards 'role responsibility'. In so doing, they raise the possibility that what are commonly understood as 'departmental fault' resignations may be more appropriately subsumed within an expanded category of personal fault. The resignations also challenge Finer's thesis on the conditions that need to be meet for a resignation to be forthcoming. In neither instance was the political party out for blood or the prime minister unbending. In both cases the press was relentless, suggesting that the media has become a prime actor in determining resignation, and the minister yielding, a recognition, perhaps, of constitutional principle over political pragmatism.     

The Domestic Use of Drones: An Ethical Analysis of Surveillance Issues

Drone surveillance can be regarded either as a justifiable, impartial practice serving the interests of all or as an oppressive technique catering to the interests of some at the expense of others. This analysis is an effort to weigh the ethical prospects and problems in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles by asking whether surveillance of civilians is ethical. To address this question, classical philosophical and modern behavioral approaches to ethics are used. The inquiry begins with the importance of the issue, followed by its evolution and current status. After describing the method of analysis, the article examines arguments for and against domestic monitoring. The unique utility of drones can accomplish much in the public interest while simultaneously creating moral hazards. The conclusion discusses accountability standards, model legislation provisions, and regulatory criteria for aerial vehicle surveillance.     

Legal reforms appropriate for cohabitants and LATs

Cohabitants and LATs (couples who “live apart together”) do not fit the traditional categories and rules of our family law system. This article describes what we know about both cohabitants and LATs in the U.S., compares the two institutions, and makes recommendations about legal reforms with respect to each. For cohabitants the reforms would assimilate cohabiting couples to marriage after the passage of time, based on the evidence of their economic interdependence and the probability that there are children in their households. As to LATs, the reforms proposed are limited to those that would support the caretaking functions LATs perform for each other, resulting in benefits to society as a whole.