Is the Russian federation becoming more democratic? Moscow‐regional relations and the development of the post‐Soviet Russian State

This article addresses the condition of Russian democracy by focusing on the developing political relations between the central government and regional governments. A situation of profound ambivalence and ambiguity has evolved since ratification of the Russian Federation Constitution in December 1993. Regional governments have found it possible to gain a degree of political autonomy uncharacteristic of Russia's long historical experience, yet increasingly in line with global trends toward decentralization of governmental authority. Two political patterns in the current Russian Federation are explored, both of them promising broad and enduring significance. First, the political ambiguity of relations between the national government and regional authorities may provide the context in which divided government serves to enable democracy, despite the appearance of authoritarian rule in many regions themselves. Second, the nature of the interaction between the centre and regional authorities may be breaking new ground, in terms of flexible solutions to intra‐state relations among different levels of government. Because certain aspects of centre‐regional relations in the Russian Federation replicate comparable issues elsewhere (particularly regarding the ethnic‐territorial dimension of politics), the Federation's approaches and solutions to this aspect of state‐formation could suggest useful lessons for other parts of the world.     

‘Indirect amendment’: how the federal department of justice unilaterally alters the text of the constitution of Canada

Since 1957, the Department of Justice of Canada has regularly altered the wording of some sections of the Constitution Act, 1867 in its consolidated versions of the Constitution of Canada, even though neither the Westminster Parliament nor the Parliament of Canada had ever amended these provisions themselves or delegated to the executive the authority to make changes on their behalf. The Department of Justice refers to its practice of altering the text of the Constitution of Canada as ‘indirect amendment’. However, since the Constitution Act, 1982 states categorically that the Constitution of Canada can only be validly amended through one of its five amending formulas, the Department of Justice’s technocratic approach to ‘indirect amendment’ is almost certainly unconstitutional.?Either the Department of Justice should restore the original wording of the text of these sections in its subsequent consolidations of the Constitution Acts and relegate the updated figures or other commentary to explanatory footnotes. Alternatively, the Parliament of Canada should update these sections itself, directly, as a Section 44 Constitutional Amendment. The rule of law depends upon following the Constitution of Canada's amendment procedures properly.     

Summonsing Criminal Desistance: Convicted Felons’ Perspectives on Jury Service

This exploratory study is the first to examine how convicted felons view the jury process and their role in that process. Data derived from interviews with former and prospective felon‐jurors in Maine, the only US jurisdiction that does not restrict a convicted felon's opportunity to serve as a juror, reveal that participants displayed an idealized view of jury service, stressing a commitment to serve conscientiously. Additionally, inclusion in the jury process affirmed their transitions from “offenders” to “nonoffenders.” In response, participants exhibited a sense of particularized self‐worth, emphasizing that negative experiences with the criminal justice system make one a more effective juror. In sum, this study suggests that among convicted felons, inclusion in the jury process may prompt conformity with the “ideal juror” role, facilitate prosocial identity shifts by mitigating the “felon” label, and help former offenders to find personal value.     

Multijurisdictional drug task forces: An analysis of impacts

In the past decade, municipal police organizations have devoted significant resources toward drug enforcement. One popular strategy in addressing the American drug problem is the formulation of multijurisdictional drug task forces. Despite their popularity, the impact of these cooperative ventures on law enforcement agencies has not been adequately evaluated. The research reported here examined the effect of membership in a drug enforcement task force on levels of drug enforcement outputs and perceptions of effectiveness by comparing law enforcement agencies participating in drug task forces to agencies which do not participate. Results suggest that task force membership impacts perceptions, but does not appear to influence objective measures of drug enforcement outputs.