ENERGY LAW IN SUPPORT OF THE LOW-CARBON TRANSITION: LESSONS FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM AND CHINA

Law is an important tool for national governments to promote the transition to a low carbon energy sector. However, law is the servant of national politics and policies and is embedded in a wider institutional environment, both nationally and internationally. This comparative analysis of the United Kingdom (UK) and China shows that, although national law plays a role in supporting the transition to a low-carbon energy system, the nature of the law and the role it plays depends greatly on the wider institutional environment. The UK is a parliamentary democracy and a liberal market economy. Therefore, the laws passed by the legislature form a critical part of the framework for the low-carbon transition. In contrast, the authority of the executive in China allows the executive to govern the energy sector through decrees and regulations, and diminishes the role of law passed by the legislature. Energy law and policy in both the UK and China are formulated in the light of the prevailing energy policy paradigm: the market-oriented regulatory state paradigm in the UK and a state-centered paradigm in China. Together, these differences explain the contrasting experiences in promoting the low-carbon transition, in general, and the deployment of renewable energy in particular.     

The Neglect of Quantitative Research in Green Criminology and Its Consequences

While interest in green criminology has rapidly expanded over the past twenty-five years, much of this growth has occurred on the periphery of orthodox criminology. This article suggests that green criminology’s marginalization is partially a result of its non-quantitative methodology. We hypothesize that non-quantitative tendencies within green criminology distance it from orthodox criminology because orthodox criminology values quantitative methods (Tewksbury et al. in J Crim Justice Educ 16(2):265–279, 2005). Here, we examine how neglecting quantitative research methods may contribute to inattention to green criminology within orthodox criminology, and we consider what can be done to change that situation. We suggest that employing quantitative approaches within green criminology is one way to increase its appeal to mainstream criminology, and that quantitative studies, in conjunction with other research methodologies, can also enhance generalizability of findings, influence policy, and advance theory construction and hypothesis testing.     

Sexual Dimorphism of the First Rib: A Comparative Approach Using Metric and Geometric Morphometric Analyses

This research investigated the sexual dimorphism of the first human rib using geometric morphometric and metric approaches on a sample of 285 specimens containing European Americans and African Americans from the Hamann‐Todd collection. Metric measurements were investigated for sexual dimorphism and ancestral differences using univariate statistics. Four type II landmarks and 40 sliding semi‐landmarks were placed outlining the dorsal and ventral curvatures of the ribs. Landmark data were processed using Generalized Procrustes Analyses with Procrustes distance sliding, and the subsequent coordinates were investigated for sexual dimorphism and ancestral differences using Procrustes ANOVAs. Both geometric morphometric and metric data were analyzed using cross‐validated discriminant function analyses to test the hypothesis that variables from both approaches can be combined to increase sex classification rate. European Americans had sex correctly classified as high as 88.05% and African Americans as high as 70.86% using a combination of metric and geometric morphometric variables.     

Do Precinct Characteristics Influence Stop-and-Frisk in New York City? A Multi-Level Analysis of Post-Stop Outcomes

Between 2003 and 2014, the majority of people stopped under the New York Police Department’s policy of stop-and-frisk were non-white. This led to charges of racial bias. This paper examines whether biases persist after a stop occurs. Data on 587,479 stops from 2010 are analyzed to examine differences by race for six outcomes: use of force, being frisked, being searched, being issued a summons, being arrested, and yielding a productive stop. Multilevel logistic models are then estimated to examine the effect of precinct-level residential racial composition and crime rates on the odds of the six outcomes. Results show that blacks and Latinos are more likely to be frisked and to have force used against them; however, this risk depends on precinct-level characteristics. A supplementary analysis of stops from 2014 shows that decreased reliance on stop-and-frisk reduces the odds of force being used against blacks and Latinos to non-significance.     

Playing fair: fairness beliefs and health policy preferences in the United States

Conventional wisdom suggests that the best way to persuade Americans to support changes in health care policy is to appeal to their self-interest - particularly to concerns about their economic and health security. An alternative strategy, framing problems in the health care system to emphasize inequalities, could also, however, mobilize public support for policy change by activating underlying attitudes about the unfairness or injustice of these inequalities. In this article, we draw on original data from a nationally representative survey to describe Americans' beliefs about fairness in the health domain, including their perceptions of the fairness of particular inequalities in health and health care. We then assess the influence of these fairness considerations on opinions about the appropriate role of private actors versus government in providing health insurance. Respondents believe inequalities in access to and quality of health care are more unfair than unequal health outcomes. Even after taking into account self-interest considerations and the other usual suspects driving policy opinions, perceptions of the unfairness of inequalities in health care strongly influence respondents' preferences for government provision of health insurance.     

Global warming and state-corporate crime: the politicalization of global warming under the Bush administration

Global warming is one of the most significant and difficult issues facing the world today. As result, researchers in a number of disciplines have directed their attention to addressing issues relevant to the study of and responses to global warming. This has been less true in the social sciences, and especially within specific social sciences such as criminology, in comparison to the physical sciences. Global warming does, however, have criminological and sociological relevance on several levels. This article examines one of those levels by exploring the politicalization of global warming under the Bush Administration, and addresses this issue as an example of state-corporate crime.