The Imprisonment Crisis in America: Introduction

This article provides an overview of recent trends in imprisonment rates in America and introduces the articles in this issue of The Review of Policy Research. Incarceration rates have increased by more than 500 percent since the early 1970s and have now reached a rate of almost 700, higher than anywhere else in the world. The impact has been particularly hard on racial minorities, especially women (whose incarceration rate went from around 8 in 1975 to 59 in 2001). The “war on drugs” has been one of the main reasons behind the increases in imprisonment, along with the more general “get tough on crime” movement that began in the late 1970s. The articles in this issue center around how this recent trend in incarceration impacts the entire society, but especially poor communities. Several of the articles focus on race, age and gender as important variables, in addition to the tendency of the parole system to sort of “recycle” released prisoners back into the prison system.     

Under Two Flags: Symbolic Voting in the State of Mississippi

Participants in a specialelection held in the State of Mississippion April 17, 2001, voted overwhelminglyagainst changing the design of the state'sflag, which incorporates a symbol of theConfederacy. The determinants of voting onthe flag are analyzed and turnout rates inApril 2001 are compared with those forrecent gubernatorial and presidentialelections. We find that the flag votedivided Mississippians sharply along linesof race, class and political ideology. Akey empirical implication is that voterpositions in issue space tend to be morepolarized when political choices haveexpressive as opposed to instrumentalconsequences.     

The Federal Line Item Veto Experiment: After the Supreme Court Ruling,What's Next?

The federal line item veto has ceased to exist, thanks to the Supreme Court's June 1998 ruling invalidating the expansion of the president's rescission authority that was contained in the Line Item Veto Act. This article reviews the application of the Act during 1997, its effect on spending and the deficit, the judicial reaction to its use, and the prospects for the restoration of some version of the power. President Clinton was quite restrained in the use of his new power, with the exception of his cancellations in the Military Construction appropriation bill; these were ultimately restored by the Congress. Because of the president's restraint, the Line Item Veto Act had a miniscule affect on spending and the deficit; total cancellations represented less than .04 percent of FY98 discretionary budget authority. Ultimately, the Supreme Court held that the Act violated Article I, Section 7 because it created a Constituionally impermissable way for the president to change laws. There is no clear fallback position for supporters of the Act; alternatives are either difficult to enact, hard to administer, or too weak to be considered an effective substitute. Given the problems in enacting any alternative, it may be that the federal line item veto will end up only as a historical anomaly.     

武汉城市圈内圈层一体化建设思考

本文界定了武汉城市圈内圈层的内涵,提出了实现武汉城市圈内圈层一体化切入点和重点的七个方面,以期对实现武汉城市圈内圈层一体化建设提供借鉴。     

Federal Budgeting After September 11th: A Whole New Ballgame,or Is It Déjà Vu All Over Again?

Federal budgeting has undergone some profound changes since the tragic events of September 11th, 2001. Large surpluses that existed prior to September 11th and were forecast to continue have been replaced by equally large and intractable deficits. The consensus around a macro‐level norm for federal budgeting has completely broken down. In other ways, the federal budget process has not changed at all. Despite the emphasis on defense and homeland security, domestic discretionary spending is still continuing unabated, as it has since the late 1980s. Further, the federal government continues to have chronic difficulty adopting its budget in a timely fashion.     

The China–asean Free Trade Agreement And Taiwan

While China's move toward a FTA with ASEAN reflects Beijing's most recent foreign economic policy adjustment and represents a new stage in the nation's open-door policy, it inevitably produces significant impact on cross-Taiwan Straits relations. This recent development in China's foreign economic relations brings not only substantial psychological and real effects and pressure on Taiwan for its possible isolation and marginalization from the ongoing process of regional integration in East Asia, but also growing pressure exerted by the island's business community that fears being pushed into a disadvantageous position in competition with ASEAN companies in the ever expanding and lucrative market of the mainland. For strategic, diplomatic, and economic considerations in the face of this new challenge, Taiwan is pursuing counter-measures by searching for its own FTAs with other countries within and beyond the region.     

习近平人类命运共同体思想的实践旨向

人类命运共同体思想,并非一个悬设的概念或虚幻的理念,它有着深刻的现实关怀和鲜明的实践旨向。纵观近几年习近平所提出和阐述的人类命运共同体理念,在实践层面基本围绕着建设世界和平、促进全球发展和维护国际秩序三个层面来考量。世界和平,是人类命运共同体思想的首要目标和价值诉求,持久和平与普遍安全是构建人类命运共同体的前提条件。走共同发展之路,实现全球的共同繁荣、共同富裕,是维系共同体生活的坚实物质保障和经济基石。推动国际关系的健康发展,构筑并维护国际秩序的和谐有序,促使人类走向持久和平、普遍安全、共同繁荣、开放包容、清洁美丽的新世界,是人类命运共同体思想的最终实践旨归。     

我国刑事笔录类证据制度探析

笔录类证据在诉讼中形成,由特定人员制作,具书面特征.其制作强调及时、纪实和合法.笔录类证据有助案件信息发现,将证据材料与案件事实连接起来,固定证据材料,反映取证过程,有的还具情景再现功能.搜查、提取、扣押笔录和审判笔录应纳入笔录类证据范围.询问与讯问笔录属于人证范畴,不宜纳入笔录类证据范围,且应当限制询问、讯问笔录在庭审中的过量适用,促使审理形式从“笔录为中心”转向“证人为中心”.真实性与可靠性保障不足已成为影响笔录类证据适用的重要问题,解决之道在于细化笔录制作规范和强化笔录证据制作的外部监督机制,落实见证人制度,扩大全程录音录像适用范围,确立笔录制作相关人员出庭制度和辩护律师在场权.