Free Speech,Political Equality,and Campaign Finance Reform: A Paradox for Democracy?

Liberty to speak free of government interference and political equality are both essential to democracy. Yet political equality requires governmental regulation of resources needed for political speech. Analysis of Supreme Court cases, supplemented by considerations from democratic theory, suggest that this apparent paradox is better understood as a tension within the idea of free speech itself: between liberty to speak and the need for government to oversee fair distribution of resources necessary for politically effective speech. Although it is a tension worth negotiating with care, democracy simply requires fairness in distribution of politically relevant resources. The Supreme Court has erred in not reading the Constitution as mandating political equality as a fundamental right, and also in not incorporating real political equality as a compelling state interest. Therefore, the public should seek a 28th Amendment that would mandate political equality regardless of economic circumstance as a fundamental right, and inscribe into the document, for the first time, the word “democracy.”     

Really ‘Two Deeply Divided Electorates’? German Federal Elections 1990–2013

It has become both a tradition and a key feature of electoral studies after 1990 to frame the debate about German voting behaviour in terms of East and West. To study national voting patterns has become a synonym for comparing both parts of the country. The corresponding findings are frequently interpreted as an answer to the recurring question whether the Germans (still) form a disunited electorate or not. However, the comparative look at electoral results in East and West conceals regional fragmentation within both areas – the key for evaluating the relevance of East–West frictions. By analysing those aspects, which are widely believed to yield deep East–West gaps, the article shows that only left-wing voting and electoral turnout indicate two unchangingly distinct voting habits for the complete post-unification time. Right-wing voting (divergence) and volatility (convergence) in turn were subject to major shifts.     

美国专利法中的不正当行为问题

不正当行为在美国专利侵权诉讼中通常被用来作为抗辩理由.根据美国专利法,所有与专利申请的起草和审查直接相关的人员,都有义务向美国专利与商标局披露与专利授权相关的重要信息.因此,若法院判定有关人员存在实质性失实陈述或疏漏行为,并有欺诈美国专利与商标局之意图,构成不正当行为,则该专利将被认定为全部无效.