Race-Based Peremptory Challenges: An Empirical Analysis of Litigation from the U.S. Court of Appeals, 2002–2006

This paper examines race-based peremptory challenges. Such challenges occur during the voir dire jury selection process. The process allows both the defense and the prosecution to strike jurors who they believe will not decide cases fairly. However, in the case of Batson v. Kentucky 476 U.S. 79 (1986), the Supreme Court ruled that race could not be used as a factor in eliminating prospective jurors. This paper examines federal litigation for five years in which it was alleged that race was used as a factor in removing a juror. An examination of the cases revealed that most of the cases involved sole male litigants who allege that there were multiple race-based peremptory challenges used in their cases. Moreover, most of the cases that led to the allegations involved violent offenses. Other case characteristics are noted, but of most significance was the finding that most appellants lost their cases. As such, the courts felt that most of the challenges were, in fact, race neutral. The implications of this research are discussed. This study was funded by an undergraduate research grant from Penn State University.     

我国城镇最低生活保障制度改革的微观模拟——基于劳动供给反应的政策效应研究

最低生活保障制度改革一直是我国社会与学界关注的重点，而由于微观数据和建模技术的匮乏．对于该问题的研究往往限于定性理解和总量分析。本文以计算机微观模拟技术为突破口，将微观主体的异质特征和行为决策机制纳入模拟的实验范畴，建立相应的模拟模型，对我国城镇居民最低生活保障制度改革进行深入的量化研究。结合区域经济现实，分别从历史特定的制度改革和政策参数的灵敏度实验两方面进行了微观模拟，实验结果量化了制度改革所引发的劳动供给与收入分配效应。同时揭示了制度潜在的低效率及其本质原因，并提出应对策略；为最低生活保障制度改革的评价与设计提供了建设性依据。     

陕甘宁边区民事调解制度的群众化

主张人民的事情由人民自己做主的决策理念,使得陕甘宁边区民事纠纷的解决主体群众化。主张以诉讼外方式为主以减少诉讼的纠纷解决理念,使得陕甘宁边区民事调解运作方式逐步民间化。陕甘宁边区民事调解群众化的过程,是我国人民调解制度形成与完善的过程,同时又是中国特色司法制度的建立过程。     

Strategic Standardization in Europe: A Public Choice Perspective

In October 1990, the EC Commission presented a Green Paper in which it outlined a New Approach to European standardization. In particular, standardization was interpreted as a means of furthering the completion of the Internal Market. This paper discusses the impact of the modifications to the process of standard setting, as they have been proposed by the Commission, with respect to the incentives and goals of the major players in the European standardization game, i.e., national and European standardization bodies, industry and the EC Commission. Selected economic models of standardization are applied to investigate the policy impact of the New Approach.     

Another Textual Frontier: Contemporary Fiction on the Northern Mexican Border

This article approaches fiction writing from the northern Mexican frontier from the perspective of the border. It perceives the border between Mexico and the United States as a multispace that permeates fictional texts from the area. In clear contrast with most Chicano and Border Studies perspectives, the border is viewed here as a physical rather that metaphorical space whose dynamics formulates textual discourses and aesthetics. The fiction works of Luis Humberto Crosthwaite and Jesús Gardea are analysed from this perspective.     

发挥工会组织优势 搞好技术创新活动

组织职工搞好技术创新活动，是工会参与国家转变发展方式的重要切入点。基层工会要紧紧结合企业发展的重点、难点、突破点来落实此项工作。本文从此项工作的切入点、关键点、突破点、落脚点等方面具体介绍了本单位的经验。并从保证、主体、关键、动力上阐述了对职工技术创新的认识和体会。     

改革开放与社会主义发展新模式的形成

改革开放是决定当代中国命运的关键选择。当代中国共产党人在坚持马克思主义普遍原理的基础上，大胆实行改革开放。改革开放突破了马克思主义经典作家设计的社会主义发展模式、苏联模式和自身的历史模式，开辟了中国特色社会主义发展道路，实现了社会主义发展模式的新突破。     

私法自治原则的缺失——以前苏联时期民事立法为考察背景

前苏联时期,私法自治原则基于特定的理论基础,在民事立法中出现了制度性缺失,进而影响了当时民事立法基本制度的面貌。这一特定时期发生的这一法律现象,为丰富私法自治原则的理解提供了一个极具理论意义的解读标本。     

THE EFFECTS OF LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT BLOCK GRANTS ON SERIOUS CRIME*

Research Summary The Local Law Enforcement Block Grants (LLEBG) Program was second only to the Community‐Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program in its funding levels. Some $3 billion was dispensed to local jurisdictions to reduce crime and improve public safety; yet the effects of LLEBG funding on crime have been all but ignored. Accordingly, panel data from more than 5,000 cities covering a 12‐year period (1990–2001) were collected, and index crime rates were regressed on LLEBG funding and appropriate demographic controls. Additional controls for police levels and other federal grants were also introduced, proper checks for endogeneity of grants (and police levels) were performed, and the models were subjected to an array of robustness checks. A consistent message emerged: LLEBG Program funding was associated with significant reductions in serious crime. Policy Implications Although LLEBG funding seemed to reduce serious crime, the results also revealed that the decrease did not occur through the hiring of additional police officers, even though many funds were used for that purpose. Other mechanisms were thus at work, but the data did not provide insights into what these mechanisms were. In any case, every $1 in LLEBG funding per capita was associated with approximately 59 fewer index crimes per 100,000 people. When combined with the findings from recent studies of the effects of community policing grants on crime, this study suggests additional federal support for local law‐enforcement agencies should be considered.     

工会工作与构建和谐企业

全面落实科学发展观,构建和谐社会,是建设具有中国特色社会主义的重大问题。工会作为党联系职工群众的桥梁和纽带,义不容辞地肩负着协调企业与职工多方面利益关系的重任。因此,工会组织要充分发挥在构建和谐企业中的作用。