THE LEGITIMACY OF RACE AS VARIABLE IN THE DELIBERATIONS OF INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARDS

This paper investigates the issue of race as a variable in research ethics and the extent to which it is morally appropriate to regard the race of research subjects as a relevant factor for research outcomes. The author analyses the challenges posed to deliberation in Institutional Review Boards （IRB ＇s） on this matter. The first part of the paper consists of a conceptual analysis of the notion of deliberation, drawing on the work of Elster, Habermas, Rawls, Gambetta and others. Special attention is paid to the dialogical structure of deliberation and the complexities attached to the notion of race, as a social construct. Arguments in favour and against the proposal that race is a valid variable in biomedical research are systematically distinguished. The author comes to the conclusion, based on an extensive literature review, that race sometimes has to be taken into consideration, subject to clearly stated qualifications. In conclusion it is argued that deliberation, especially about such a controversial notion such as race should not be expected to yield definitive truths. The most we can expect is a series of （hopefully） progressive settlements that represent provisional beacons of insight on which we can draw in future conversations. Race represents a field of tension and contestation that will inevitably continue to permeate interpersonal contact and social relations for the foreseeable future.     

The communicative constitution of representation and exclusion

In the light of current debate on representation, specifically engaging with literature showing how representation is communicatively constituted, this paper empirically shows how exclusion also can be seen as communicatively constituted. The interpretive approach toward communication employed in this study presents new insights on how, for citizens, government communicates its responsiveness, and how citizens' interpretations that arise from these communications make sense. Dutch citizens who evaluate government responsiveness as low were interviewed to explore their views. The respondents evaluate government responsiveness on the basis of a set of engagements with government. These engagements are conceptualized in terms of four types of encounter – forms in which government manifests itself to citizens. By ‘thinking with’ these encounters, citizens relegate institutions and processes of representative democracy to the margins of political reality. Situating citizens outside of democratic politics, these interpretations imply the experience of exclusion, despite apparently functioning democratic institutions and processes.     

Domestic European Union Coordination and Interest Group Mobilization in Three Member States: Looking Beyond the Formal Mechanisms

One conclusion in the literature on domestic European Union (EU) coordination is that the formal institutional properties of countries—devolved versus centralized or unitary—affect the nature of coordination practices. Basically, the view has emerged that domestic coordination is a largely bureaucratic process in which political control mechanisms remain relatively weak. Instead of only looking at public authorities and their formal networks, this article relies on a data set that allows us to analyse informal political-administrative networks and look at how societal interests mobilize and target policymakers in order to shape the position governments defend at the EU level. One of our conclusions is that despite devolution in Belgium, its intergovernmental coordination shows a considerable level of network centralization, even when compared to unitary countries such as France and the Netherlands, meaning that there are large differences between the three states with respect to the connectedness of the actors involved.     

Between Deadlock and Decentralization: Bargaining Dynamics in Federal States

A classic way to meet regionally diverse interests is to grant partial autonomy to sub-national entities, either by assigning them the right to decide upon policies (federalism), to implement policies (decentralization), or both. This article argues and formally elaborates that central governments may intentionally choose to increase decentralization in an effort to facilitate agreements that otherwise would be deadlocked. In this regard, a central government's decision to promote decentralization depends on its own relative valuation of policy change and congruence. We illustrate the empirical validity of our argument with a case study pertaining to the Swiss New Regional Policy.     

环境赔偿法——以荷兰为例的社会法学分析

本文对环境民事责任立法进行分析,以图有益于是否需要以及如何进行环境责任立法的讨论.主要分成两大部分.首先运用比较法分析,介绍荷兰的环境民事责任成文法与相关判例法,①包括实体法和程序法两个方面,希望能为中国的立法提供一些值得借鉴的有效途径.然后,主要采用社会法学观点进行分析,讨论荷兰判例法的相关规范移植到中国的可能性和效果,并从公平正义、法律意识等角度,对中国的新立法做出预测.社会法学的分析是本文的重点,强调判例法对于环境责任立法的重要性.在环境法这样一个复杂领域,法律规范应当来自于现实而非抽象的原则性规定.通过对一些已经被欧洲各国承认的判例的介绍,论证法学与社会经济学相结合的分析方法对于立法的重要意义.环境民事立法应当具有环境个体保护的立法价值,还必须体现公平正义积极有利于法律意识的提高.同时,要配之以相当的执行力度,这主要有赖于法律有关规定和诉讼成本以及胜诉率等因素     

Eerste Afrikaanse leesbaarheidsformules

SUMMARY

Two readability formulas for use as instruments to measure the readability of written messages in Afrikaans have been compiled. Two different approaches were made, resulting in the LV and LC formulas. Both formulas are based on average percentages obtained in tests which were conducted with 1200 randomly selected high school pupils. In the case of the LV formula the average percentages were obtained by means of a multiple choice test while in the case of the LC Formula a Cloze test was used. In order to construct the formulas with these test results the frequency of appearance of 16 variables which presumably have a bearing on readability was established in 30 passages.

The two formulas are not satisfactory in every respect but they can be of use if employed with circumspection. The study which is the first of its kind in Afrikaans, provides a starting point for further research into the measurement of readability of the written word in that language.     

Automated shape annotation for illicit tablet preparations: A contour angle based classification from digital images

In order to facilitate forensic intelligence efforts in managing large collections of physical feature data pertaining to illicit tablets, we have developed an automated shape classification method. This approach performs categorical shape annotation for the domain of illicit tablets. It is invariant to scale, rotation and translation and operates on digital images of seized tablets. The approach employs two processing levels. The first (coarse) level is being based on comparing the contour curvature space of tablet pairs. The second (fine) level is a rule based approach, implemented as a classification tree, that exploits characteristic similarities of shape categories. Annotation is demonstrated over a collection of 169 tablets selected for their diverse shapes with an accuracy of 97.6% when 19 shape categories are defined.     

Fairness matters when responding to disasters: An experimental study of government legitimacy

Governments worldwide are regularly faced with severe weather conditions and disasters caused by natural hazards. Does the way in which governments respond to disasters affect their legitimacy? The current study investigated how evaluations of authorities were influenced by four aspects of a governmental response to a hypothetical disaster. In a survey experiment participants read a scenario in which a government distributed aid in the aftermath of a flooding. Data were collected from the Netherlands, France, Poland, Ukraine, and Russia (N = 2,677). Results showed that the government was seen as more legitimate when it was described as distributing resources fairly, following fair procedures, and providing a material benefit to the participant. However, in contrast to predictions derived from system‐justification theory, results showed that outcome dependence was associated with reduced legitimacy. These findings suggest that response policies that address both instrumental and fairness concerns might help maintain positive evaluations of governments.