Income inequality,development and electoral turnout – New evidence on a burgeoning debate

In this article, we comprehensively analyze the macro-level link between income inequality and electoral turnout. First, we re-examine prior studies which affirm that higher inequality puts a drain on electoral turnout in wealthy industrialized Western countries. Second, we evaluate whether there is an association between the two concepts in a larger, more representative sample of democratic elections around the world. Third, we analyze if income inequality has a different influence on participation in the Western and non-Western countries. Controlling for nine theoretically informed covariates, we assess these claims in a multilevel framework with evidence from more than 550 democratic elections between 1970 and 2010. We find little evidence that electoral turnout is affected by income inequality. Our results also indicate that this “null” effect does not differ between the Western- and the non-Western world. However, we do find evidence that mandatory voting laws and more decisive elections boost turnout considerably.     

严复对中国近现代教育的贡献和启示

严复在我国近现代教育史上开创了教育救国的道路,最早制定了德、智、体全面育人的方针,在文化上他突破"中体西用"的模式,主张从体用一致上全面学习西方的长处,达到救国图强的目的。严复是北京大学首任校长,在艰难条件下对维护北大生存和开创学科改革有过重大贡献。严复的教育思想和行为品格,对我国当代教育也有诸多启发。     

海西路面治安问题与管理创新

路面治安是指街头或路面的治安状况,主要体现是发生在街头或路面与社会治安有关的刑事犯罪案件和治安案件。近5年来,海西路面刑事犯罪案件和治安案件呈上升趋势,并出现发生时空的集中性、涉案人员的地缘性和团伙性、作案手段的多样性等特点。当前路面治安管理中还存在群众自防意识差、防范力量未能形成合力、硬件设施利用率不高、视频监控装置存有缺陷等问题,需要在组织机制、执行机制、权责模式、监督机制和管理模式加以创新管理,实行"多警合一",开展"网格化巡逻",实现"综合执法",平衡"激励与问责",加强"人技联防"。     

西部民族地区毒品犯罪之宗教防治功能

西部民族地区毒品犯罪防治具有特殊性,其中宗教因素能够发挥其防治毒品犯罪的社会控制功能。宗教对有关毒品违法犯罪问题持有否定性态度,这对西部民族地区防治毒品犯罪宣传教育等工作具有重要作用,并且对法律规范起到一定的补充作用。     

Baltic Studies in North America: A Survey of Academic Dissertations 1911–2006

ABSTRACT

The article argues for an extended delineation of increasing Western cultural hegemony in the reconstituted Baltic states. An initial idiom of postcolonial studies is revisited in order to complement their dominant scope in the Baltics, focused primarily on a retrospective cultural study of Baltic/Soviet relationships. The argument elaborates on the urgency of the expanding research agenda regarding the Baltic/European research framework. By pointing out the frequent occurrence of the superiority or inferiority value scale in cross-cultural references sampled from press releases of the Art Museum of Estonia, the article concludes that mainstream cultural self-reflection in Estonia is nowadays subjected to the supremacy of the imagined West European viewpoint.     

Efficacy of Several Candidate Protein Biomarkers in the Differentiation of Vaginal from Buccal Epithelial Cells*

Abstract: Currently, there is no accurate method to differentiate vaginal epithelial cells from buccal epithelial cells in biological samples typically encountered in forensic casework. This study tested the expression of a selection of candidate proteins in buccal and vaginal epithelial cells. We investigated six candidate biomarkers, such as loricrin, vimentin, stratifin, cytokeratin 4, cytokeratin 13, small proline‐rich protein 2, and involucrin, using Western blot analysis on whole protein extracts and immunohistochemistry (IHC) on intact cells in an attempt to identify cell‐specific markers that would differentiate these cells by microscopy. Involucrin, loricrin, and stratifin showed differential expression during Western blot analysis and were carried through to IHC. Although proteins unique to vaginal epithelial cells and buccal epithelial cells were not identified from among the proteins tested, the increased expression levels of two proteins, loricrin and stratifin in vaginal cells, when compared to buccal cells, do provide encouraging results in the search for epithelial cell‐specific markers.     

中世纪刑法对现代西方刑法思想的人文指归

提起中世纪西方刑法学,"刑法文明史中的漫漫长夜","蒙昧、残酷、专制"等负面评价遮掩了其应有的光辉。其实,在陷于四分五裂的战争时期的欧洲,强调抑制原欲、注重心灵赎罪、提倡群体理性的教会刑法思想具有特殊意义的人文性与进步性。它以强大的宗教力量使得欧洲刑法观念呈现出空前整齐、划一的状态;这种历经千年积淀而成的刑法文化,维持并传承了欧洲统一的价值观念与信仰体系,对近、现代西方刑法思想的发展起着重要的提挈与引导作用。     

The backlash against civil society in the wake of the Long War on Terror

The enthusiasm for civil society that emerged in the late 1980s and 1990s with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the spread of democratic regimes has been replaced in recent years by a backlash against civil society on many levels and fronts. This has particularly intensified since the attacks of 11 September 2001 and the ensuing global war on terror. This article examines the causes of this backlash within the context of the ‘Long War on Terror’, describes the overt and implicit manifestations of the backlash, and reflects upon the implications for the future. It considers how the growing prominence of concerns about security and the concomitant expansion of counter-terrorist measures across the world threaten the spaces for civil society to flourish and act. It argues that while the manifestations of the backlash, such as the crackdown on NGOs in Russia and the taming of NGOs by bilateral and multilateral agencies, may appear to be disparate, unconnected phenomena, on closer inspection it is clear that they are intricately intertwined.     

加强法治建设 构建和谐海峡西岸经济区的制度环境

和谐海峡西岸经济区的建设离不开政府提供法治的保障。本文浅析了福建省政府为此已做的努力，并针对目前存在的问题提出进一步加强法治建设的方向、重点，以期为构建和谐海峡西岸经济区提供公平、诚信、活力、有序及人与自然和谐相处的制度环境。     

NGO–government partnerships for scaling up: sexuality education in Mexico

Governments in developing countries need effective programmes to advance public policies and improve social welfare. NGOs often have well-tested programmes and research outcomes that are relevant to such needs, yet the scaling up of pilot programmes to national level is difficult to achieve and frequently unsuccessful. This article presents a case of successful scaling up for an adolescent sexual-health and psychosocial-competencies programme in Mexico, through an NGO–government partnership involving IMIFAP, a Mexican NGO. The case illustrates how an NGO can create a successful partnership with government to scale up effective programmes, in ways that meet key needs of the target population while protecting the NGO's core values.