China-2000: Introduction

This paper argues that, firstly, while economic development in China has been impressive, solutions to a number of critical political and socio-economic problems and issues are still awaiting. And secondly, due to ideological confusion among Party members and government officials, malperformance of the Party and administrative systems, a necessary condition for political upheaval in China, has been, and is likely to remain, serious: In conclusion, it is questionable if political stability and social harmony can be enhanced in China in the near future.     

Dental age assessment of southern Chinese using the United Kingdom Caucasian reference dataset

Dental age assessment is one the most accurate methods for estimating the age of an unknown person. Demirjian's dataset on a French-Canadian population has been widely tested for its applicability on various ethnic groups including southern Chinese. Following inaccurate results from these studies, investigators are now confronted with using alternate datasets for comparison. Testing the applicability of other reliable datasets which result in accurate findings might limit the need to develop population specific standards. Recently, a Reference Data Set (RDS) similar to the Demirjian was prepared in the United Kingdom (UK) and has been subsequently validated. The advantages of the UK Caucasian RDS includes versatility from including both the maxillary and mandibular dentitions, involvement of a wide age group of subjects for evaluation and the possibility of precise age estimation with the mathematical technique of meta-analysis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of the United Kingdom Caucasian RDS on southern Chinese subjects. Dental panoramic tomographs (DPT) of 266 subjects (133 males and 133 females) aged 2-21 years that were previously taken for clinical diagnostic purposes were selected and scored by a single calibrated examiner based on Demirjian's classification of tooth developmental stages (A-H). The ages corresponding to each stage of tooth developmental stage were obtained from the UK dataset. Intra-examiner reproducibility was tested and the Cohen kappa (0.88) showed that the level of agreement was 'almost perfect'. The estimated dental age was then compared with the chronological age using a paired t-test, with statistical significance set at p<0.01. The results showed that the UK dataset, underestimated the age of southern Chinese subjects by 0.24 years but the results were not statistically significant. In conclusion, the UK Caucasian RDS may not be suitable for estimating the age of southern Chinese subjects and there is a need for an ethnic specific reference dataset for southern Chinese.     

Local Government Reforms in Latvia, 1990–2003: Transition to a Democratic Society

This case study of Latvian local governments focuses on the qualitative aspects of reform legislation passed and implemented between 1990 and 2003 as the best available measures of changes made. Special attention is given to historical influences and inherited Soviet practices, the uncertain and conflicting value systems of reformers, and a gradual shift to concerns about the services provided. Power relationships are examined, together with the funding of local governments and minority relations. It is anticipated that in 2005 Latvia will adopt new elected regional development boards to work with the EU and other external institutions, leading to more democratic and cooperative modes of government. There is evidence that values of achievement and trust held by the younger generation are increasingly compatible with new needs and reform processes.     

平衡论:对现代行政法的一种本质思考——再谈现代行政法的理论基础

<正> 对行政法的理论基础的研究和探索,旨在解析行政机关与相对一方的现实矛盾关系及其在法律上表现的权利义务关系。自从几年前我们提出现代行政法的理论基础是“平衡论”以来,学术界的同仁们纷纷就此问题发表了许多颇有见地的中肯的意见。本文是我们几年来对“平衡论”继续思考和研究的部分成果,希望以此渐善我们的理论,更希望以此抛砖引玉,使关于行政法理论基础的探讨深入进行下去。     

Rational Choice and Community Power Structures1

The community power debate concluded with each side believing they had won. Political theorists have generalized power, making empirical investigation very difficult; urban scholars have turned their attention to more manageable empirical problems. Rational choice advances the debate, exposing the errors of all sides and facilitating a new approach which transcends structural versus individualist methods. By separating various aspects of power in urban contexts, complementary techniques such as network analysis in a bargaining framework, semi-structured interviewing and the use of text databases permits a comprehensive investigation of agenda-setting and the mobilization of bias. The paper demonstrates the utility of this approach by comparing it to 'regime theory', the latest paradigm of urban research.