Deaths of Despair: Gang Violence after the Crack Crisis

Critical Criminology - The end of the crack-cocaine crisis and collapse of open-air urban drug markets over the last two decades have reshaped the contours of gang life and gang violence in the...     

人民政协专门协商机构制度建设的国家治理逻辑

人民政协作为专门协商机构在国家治理体系和治理能力现代化建设中具有重要地位和作用,体现着中国特色社会主义民主政治的优势。国家治理的本质特征、价值理念与运作过程为人民政协专门协商机构制度建设赋予必要前提、基本遵循与现实要求,人民政协专门协商机构制度的功能结构主要包含政治协商、民主监督、决策参与、凝聚共识。基于体系过程与结构功能分析以及主体角色与优势效能分析,人民政协专门协商机构制度建设的关键领域分别是人民政协政治协商更好纳入国家治理决策过程以及人民政协政治协商有效发挥国家治理共识凝聚功能。     

关于混合性党内法规的理论与实证研究

混合性党内法规能不能作为概念存在?其与党政联合发文是什么关系?它因何"入"规?有没有必要"入"规?这些问题都与当前建立完善的党内法规制度体系、协调党内法规与国家法律关系、推进依规治党等任务密切相关.基于对党政联合发文的实证分析可以得出,区分混合性党内法规和其他党政联合发文,把混合性党内法规纳入党内法规体系,并进一步规范其调整范围、制定实施、备案审查、清理等基本问题,是贯彻落实习近平法治思想,加快建设完备的党内法规制度体系,实现以"良法促进发展,保障善治"的基本条件.为此,还应当结合党内法规的形式和实质特征,合理控制党政联合制定混合性党内法规的数量,并明确混合性党内法规的边界,将其限定在党政机构统筹改革、党的直接管理、党政同责等领域.     

The politics of mortgage credit expansion in the small coordinated market economies

Abstract

Recent contributions to the comparative political economy literature claim that liberal market economies are vulnerable to asset booms and busts because of financial deregulation, shrinking welfare states and a political ideology emphasising financial self-sufficiency. This article examines the rapid expansion of mortgage lending in three coordinated market economies (CMEs): Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands. This expansion is puzzling given that all three countries are CMEs with generous welfare states. Yet the pattern of mortgage lending resembles the Anglo-Saxon or liberal market economies (LMEs) more than other CMEs. The article argues that mortgage bubbles in the small CMEs emerged as the unintended outcome of pairing neoliberal programmes to expand home ownership with collectivist housing institutions. This resulted in supply restrictions and rising property values which saddled households with extraordinarily high mortgage debts. In short, mortgage credit bubbles are not unique to Anglo-liberal welfare states and may have different origins.     

Speaking of Justice: A Qualitative Interview Study on Perceived Procedural Justice Among Defendants in Dutch Criminal Cases

Qualitative interviews with one hundred defendants in Dutch criminal cases examine whether perceived procedural justice is a relevant concern for defendants, and, if so, which procedural justice components they refer to. The study provides a point of epistemological departure from the quantitative studies dominating the field, as it assessed which components of procedural justice (if any) respondents put forward themselves rather than asking about predetermined procedural justice components. The large majority of respondents mentioned procedural justice issues themselves, and six components were at the core of their procedural justice perceptions: (1) information on which decisions are based, (2) interpersonal treatment, (3) due consideration, (4) neutrality, (5) voice, and (6) accuracy. Although these procedural justice components largely correspond with the literature, respondents thus mentioned some components more often, and others less often, than the literature would suggest. In particular, neutrality plays an important role in the Dutch legal context examined here.     

法、道德和软实力

软实力就是文化实力,代表了一个国家的综合实力,决定着一个国家的未来。软实力由观念文化所组成,内容丰富,但是其核心是法和道德的观念和知识。一个国家的软实力表现在法和道德的状况上。法和道德的基本精神是创造和谐,因此,具有普世的价值。     

The End of Wilderness: Conflict and Defeat of Wilderness in the Grand Canyon

In the early 1970s, Grand Canyon National Park intended to designate its land to “Wilderness,” including the controversial Colorado River corridor. However, by the end of the 1970s the potential for Wilderness designation was off the table, and would never seriously return for genuine consideration. Using Schattschneider's model of conflict, we explain how the organization of this conflict privileges the “causal story” of Wilderness opponents, and therefore why the canyon is not designated. It is our contention that members of Congress will not stand forward to support Wilderness designations without simultaneously providing benefits for extractive land use because (1) congressional representatives are more penalized for supporting than opposing Wilderness designations, (2) Wilderness advocacy groups do not pressure congressional delegates as firmly as opposition groups, and (3) key local congressional members are not likely to see Wilderness as a salient issue worth the risk of negative exposure. If these findings hold, the implication is that we may have reached the end of significant Wilderness designations in highly visible areas, unless critical aspects in land use conflict change.     

外国刑法中犯罪成立要件的实质化

罪刑法定主义应当是形式与实质的统一,以此为基础的犯罪概念和犯罪成立要件也必然具有形式与实质的内容。不同法系的国家实现犯罪成立要件实质化的途径各有千秋。