Stability in Parliamentary Regimes: The Italian Case

Abstract: In this article, we distinguish legislative stability from government stability and argue that the character of the relationship that exists between them is a complex one in which various combinations are possible. We focus on Italy because of the manner in which it has combined legislative stability with government instability. Our findings indicate that the relationship between legislative and government stability in Italy is best seen as curvilinear, that the analysis of government stability must take the number of governments as well as the duration of governments into account, and that the attributes of the party system that stabilize the legislature destabilize governments. Given these findings, we discuss their implications for explaining stability in parliamentary regimes in terms of events, “strong parties,” and strategic calculation. We conclude that legislative stability should not be treated simply as a secondary or derivative effect of government stability and that Italy can serve as a benchmark for further study of the nature and determinants of the relationship between the two in other parliamentary systems.     

Lessons for parents,teachers, and juvenile probation officers: seven ideal criteria for constructively evaluating discipline

By delineating a basic set of terms, this paper seeks to enhance the appreciation, understanding, and discussion of constructive discipline. Advocating initiative by our nation's juvenile probation officers, the author views this cadre of some 18,000 JPOs as an important catalyst in the never-ending task of delinquency prevention. In an era of growing harshness toward youthful offenders, we must remain cognizant that much of the chronic violence which we justly abhor has roots in prior parental malpractice. Our approach provides a model to place three major role-players — parents, teachers, JPOs — all “on the same page,” to borrow a popular metaphor. We focus on seven criteria for evaluating discipline by each participant, while furnishing a supplementary framework to amplify task awareness. Despite already having excessive caseloads, JPOs are encouraged to serve as outreach agents in a common cause. The tables seek to provide officers a basic set of “handouts” for distribution at panels, workshops, seminars, school visits, and parent conferences. Parents should especially appreciate that the seven criteria give guidelines not only for their disciplinary practices, but also for those of teachers and JPOs     

The Fall of Wall Street

Globalization may not be coming apart at the seams—yet—but the seams are ever more apparent. Rising fuel prices challenge a model of global transportation based on cheap energy, reinforcing the possibility of decoupling through great regionaliza‐tion of trade. Already, 50 percent of trade among ASEAN plus China and Japan is among each other. The Wall Street meltdown has spread a lack of confidence in the American financial system and the model of deregulation which stimulated rapid globalization of capital flows. Along with other developments, all this raises the question of whether the United States is prepared to operate successfully in a world it no longer dominates. An anti‐globalization leader, a former US labor secretary, a top American intellectual and a Nobel laureate address these issues.     

Beyond the Janus Face of Zionist Legalism: The Theo‐Political Conditions of the Jewish Law Project*

Abstract. What are the assumptions that underline the Jewish Law Project? To what extent is this project relates to Zionism as a political program and national vision? Does the secular version of this project and the religious one have anything in common? I argue that aside from the ideological lines that guide the Jewish Law Project, within it rests a reductionist and utopianist stance vis‐à‐vis halakhah which are considered to be obvious. I shall attempt to claim that reductionism and utopianism as tacit assumptions, which are neither explicit nor declared by the carriers of the Jewish Law Project, are definitely not trivial. Then, by detrivializing these two assumptions I will suggest viewing the halakhic‐legal relations defined by the Jewish Law Project through these same parameters—the reductionism of the halakhah and its utopian approach.     

The Seriousness of Crime Cross-Culturally:

This study examines the perceptions of the seriousness of offenses: first, by examining perceptions of a wide range of offenses for respondents from two very divergent cultures, the United States and the Middle East, second, by assessing the perceived severity of some 17 sanctions for respondents from these two cultures and finally, by assessing the impact of religiosity on the perceived seriousness of Crime. In addition, both the magnitude estimation and category techniques for measuring the seriousness of crime are utilized and the results from using these two techniques are compared.