‘…I TAKE POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY!’: THE THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL RELATION BETWEEN MINISTERIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND MINISTERIAL RESIGNATIONS IN GERMANY

How is the doctrine of ministerial responsibility applied in the decisions of German ministers (not) to resign? This question arises from an empirical puzzle as well as from a theoretical contradiction. Despite the prominent principle of ministerial responsibility, empirically, the ‘personal consequences' of ministerial scandals in their area of responsibility, display a large variance. Some ministers resign because of rather trifling affairs, others stay in office in spite of serious scandals. Taking into consideration the delegation relationship between the executive and the parliament, in view of the principal‐agent theory, a minister's resignation due to major political or personal misconduct is to be expected. On the other hand, the actual constitutional configuration of ministerial responsibility casts theoretical doubts on the ministerial loss of office. The quantitative analysis of 133 resignation issues in the years 1949 to 2009 reveals that ministerial responsibility bears no relevance to the decision whether to resign or not. Indeed, when the cause of the resignation issue is directly connected to ministerial responsibility, the probability of a resignation even decreases.     

中国海岛的保护开发与管理

中国海域辽阔,海岛众多。海岛在资源、权益、国防等多个方面都有着极其重要的地位。另一方面,在中国经济高速发展的今天,海岛渔民的的生活与沿海有很大的差距。关注民生,海岛需要发展;关注国家安全与长远利益,海岛需要保护;要做好保护与开发,需要立法。该文总结海岛保护与利用的现状、成就,分析问题,提出设想,就海岛的利用、保护与管理立法向全国人大提出建议案,推动海岛立法。     

Not so Fair after All? Perceptions of Procedural Fairness and Satisfaction with Democracy in the Nordic Welfare States

The Nordic countries are known for their well-functioning public administrations. In indices measuring control of corruption and the quality of the rule of law, they frequently occupy top positions. However, as we demonstrate in this article, a country's top position in comparative indices does not automatically imply that citizens view the state of affairs in the same way as depicted by experts. The observation is in no way trivial: Drawing on theories of procedural fairness, we go on to show—statistically, using individual level data—that widespread public perceptions about the unfairness of civil servants may have a negative effect on the legitimacy of the political system even in so-called high-trust and “least corrupt” settings such as the Nordic ones.     

20世纪90年代拉美国家的财政管理改革

20世纪90年代大多数拉美国家实施了调整预算权力分配、建立财政货币政策协调机制、进行财政支出项目规划、完善财政支出控制和监督制度等方面的财政管理改革,其目标是控制财政赤字,提高财政管理效率和公共支出效益,发挥财政政策的宏观调控功能。由于经济不稳定和政治力量分化严重,一些国家财政管理改革的连续性较差,难以深入。上述两重因素构成了拉美国家深化财政管理改革的主要障碍。     

论警察法治

警察法治是国家法治文明的重要标志,是社会和谐稳定与公平正义的推进器,是保障民生和维护民权的强大后盾。警察法治具有促进社会和谐发展,保障人权、民主、自由、平等,强化法律权威和推进依法行政以及推动警政建设、警务工作和谐发展的功能。警察法治的基本要求是牢固树立执法为民的思想和坚持严格公正文明执法。     

1966年美国富布赖特听证会对华决策影响力浅析

1966年美国富布赖特听证会历时一个月,是在美国国内反战舆论不断高涨,有关中国问题的辩论也空前热烈起来的背景下举行的。1966年3月8日,鲍大可与费正清、斯卡拉彼诺、戴德华、汉斯·摩根索等14位中国和国际问题专家出席了听证会。鲍大可在发言中指出:“过去近17年间,我们对共产党中国采取的是一种最好被形容为旨在遏制与孤立的政策。在我看来,     

The legal notion of nationality in the Turkish Republic: from Ottoman legacy to modern aberrations

Shortly after its emergence, the Turkish Republic adopted legislation inspired by European legal systems and traditions, including a law on nationality. The implementation of this law was affected by the staunchly nationalistic early republican policies which were not immune from the influence of the concept of ‘race’, as well as by the Ottoman legal conceptions on nationality based on religion, both of which guided the application of the new laws by the judiciary and the administration. This article proposes a critical legal approach to the issue of Turkish nationality, based on historical reflections. After a survey on the laws on nationality since the foundation of the Republic, it addresses the major confusions in connection with the concept of nationality in the light of textbooks from the relevant period, in order to observe, in conclusion, inherent and insolvable inconsistencies within the law, and a tenacious survival of Ottoman conceptions within the current law on nationality, especially with regard to religious minorities, which are assimilated to dhimmis in the legal subconscious and often equated to foreigners in practice.