Introduction: Meritocracy in Perspective. The Rise of the Meritocracy 60 Years On

Sixty years after its publication, Michael Young’s The Rise of the Meritocracy remains one of the most important texts for understanding the changing intellectual politics of postwar Britain. Young’s fictional vision of a meritocratic society explores the consequences of a society where each citizen is judged according to the formula ‘I.Q. + Effort = Merit’. The successful meritocrats hoard ever-greater rewards for themselves, crystallising into a rigid and repressive elite who rule over an increasingly powerless and depressed underclass. While the concept has evolved and adapted, the language of meritocracy is one of the great survivors of postwar British politics. In an age characterised by the rise of populist leaders and movements, as well as a backlash against educated ‘liberal elites’, revisiting, reinterpreting and re-evaluating Young’s influential satire and the central place the concept of meritocracy occupies in the history of postwar Britain has never been more important.     

Identity as Dependent Variable: How Americans Shift Their Identities to Align with Their Politics

Political science generally treats identities such as ethnicity, religion, and sexuality as “unmoved movers” in the chain of causality. I hypothesize that the growing salience of partisanship and ideology as social identities in the United States, combined with the increasing demographic distinctiveness of the nation's two political coalitions, is leading some Americans to engage in a self-categorization and depersonalization process in which they shift their identities toward the demographic prototypes of their political groups. Analyses of a representative panel data set that tracks identities and political affiliations over a 4-year span confirm that small but significant shares of Americans engage in identity switching regarding ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and class that is predicted by partisanship and ideology in their pasts, bringing their identities into alignment with their politics. These findings enrich and complicate our understanding of the relationship between identity and politics and suggest caution in treating identities as unchanging phenomena.     

Does Medicare Coverage Improve Cancer Detection and Mortality Outcomes?

Medicare is a large government health insurance program in the United States that covers about 60 million people. This paper analyzes the effects of Medicare insurance on health for a group of people in urgent need of medical care: people with cancer. We used a regression discontinuity design to assess impacts of near-universal Medicare insurance at age 65 on cancer detection and outcomes, using population-based cancer registries and vital statistics data. Our analysis focused on the three tumor sites for which screening is recommended both before and after age 65: breast, colorectal, and lung cancer. At age 65, cancer detection increased by 72 per 100,000 population among women and 33 per 100,000 population among men; cancer mortality also decreased by nine per 100,000 population for women but did not significantly change for men. In a placebo check, we found no comparable changes at age 65 in Canada. This study provides the first evidence to our knowledge that near-universal access to Medicare at age 65 is associated with improvements in population-level cancer mortality.     

理解中美关系的裂痕

中美关系是当下亚太地区正在发生的政治和战略变化的决定性因素,中美之间的竞争并不奇怪,它是国际关系的一种形式,关键是中美的利益冲突是对抗性的还是非对抗性的。这一问题在中美两国的官员、思想者、媒体中都引发了激烈的争论。部分美国高级官员认为中国的一些行为是修正主义的,但其实它们是保护主义的。从东亚总体来看,东北亚存在修正主义国家,东南亚则没有。因此,南海发生重大危机的可能性不大,而东北亚将给东亚带来很大的不确定性。     

THE CRITICAL CLIMATE AGENDA

The world set a goal in the Paris Agreement: to keep global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius of preindustrial levels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has explained why this is a valid goal. If global warming were to go higher than 1.5 degrees Celsius, this would jeopardize life on the planet with a potential multi-meter sea-level rise, the collapse of critical ecosystems, and the release of methane from thawing permafrost, possibly triggering runaway warming. Yet the world's current trajectory implies a catastrophic 2.7-degree- Celsius increase in global temperature.     

应税事实依据经济实质认定之稽征规则——基于台湾地区“税捐稽征法”第12条之1的研究

台湾地区税捐稽征法第12条之1课税构成要件之认定及明订举证之责任,将税捐稽征中已实行多年的实质课税原则条文化。当避税安排的法律形式与其经济实质不相符时,稽征机关认定应税事实应以实质经济事实关系及其所生实质经济利益之归属与享有为依据。由量能课税原则导出的实质课税原则,重经济实质甚于法律形式,是实现税捐正义的实质性手段,并不违背税收法定原则。稽征机关实质课税的自由裁量权理应谦抑行使,其以税捐负担的公平分配为原则,以不损害纳税人的合法权益为底限。稽征机关依据经济实质认定应税事实,应依法承担举证责任,纳税人依法应尽协力义务,否则,稽征机关有权推定应税事实。大陆《税收征管法》亦应增订实质课税原则。     

论涵括（一）：一种初步探索

经验法则是司法证明中的一项基础性法则,大陆法系司法证明理论对其进行了概括论述,其理论形态具有较高的概括性、抽象性。英美国家的司法证明学者在“涵括”概念下也具体探讨了经验法则相关的内容,与大陆法系学者对经验法则的概括论述有所区别,英美学者在阐述“涵括”理论时,更注重其在证据能力和证明力评断以及具体司法推论过程中的方法论和工具作用,为我们研究经验法则的内容、作用机制提供了一个新的观察视角。     

香港与内地仲裁裁决司法审查制度的借鉴和融合

通过对香港和内地在仲裁裁决司法审查范围、标准和技术方面的综合分析,本文认为两地在司法制度、法治发展和仲裁理念上的较大差异导致了两地在对待仲裁裁决司法审查上之截然不同。重要的是,香港法院对仲裁的支持态度及其具体审查操作的先进经验,可为内地在这一领域的改革提供重要指引。《香港与内地关于相互执行仲裁裁决的安排》实施近十年来,已逐渐出现两地仲裁界和司法界在审查制度面向上的趋同。惠于"一国两制"和"更密切经贸关系"的大背景,相信两地间商事仲裁的融合会更加蓬勃发展,为中国跨境商事活动提供更好的争端解决服务。     

侵权冲突法一般规则之确立——基于罗马Ⅱ与中国侵权冲突法的对比分析

2007年欧盟《非合同之债法律适用条例》(罗马Ⅱ)是侵权冲突法立法的典范。罗马Ⅱ洋溢着平衡与理性的精神,但关键处亦偏袒欧盟国家的利益需要。中国侵权冲突法已经严重滞后于时代。对比罗马Ⅱ与中国侵权冲突法的一般规则,指陈各自的利弊得失,揭示各自所需服务的特殊法律政策,探索侵权行为地法、共同住所地法、最密切联系原则和意思自治这四大系属公式在侵权冲突法的一般规则中的最佳结合方式,有助于我国在当下的国际私法立法中构建科学合理的侵权冲突法的一般规则。