An Examination of the Relationship Between Media Exposure and Fear of Victimization: Implications of the Superpredator Narrative on Juvenile Justice Policies

The media allow crime to infiltrate the public’s consciousness in every conceivable way, thereby playing a major role in shaping the public’s opinion and attitude toward crime and crime issues (Barak, 1995; Fields & Jerin, 1996; Kappeler & Potter, 2005). Reporters constantly talk about crime, and crime related stories dominate the headlines of local and national newspaper outlets (Dowler, 2003; Pizarro et al, 2007). Some of the most highly rated television programs are based on crime plots and people across social, political, and racial demographics are constantly engaged in crime dialogue generated from local or national news stories. When the focus of these mediums is on youth they become even more profound and contentious. The images portrayed conjure up stereotypes that lead to fear and inflammatory remarks that become entrenched into the national lexicon. The current study uses data from the National Opinion Survey of Crime and Justice to test the relationship between crime-related media viewership and fear of victimization within a nationally representative adult sample. Approximately 42.67% of respondents reported regularly watching crime shows and about the same proportion (42.83%) believed their local media paid too much attention to violent crime. In addition to regular crime-show viewership, confidence in the police, gender, and recent contact with the police were associated with fear of victimization. This article adds to an existing body of research through a largely unexplored area in the administration of justice. It does so within the context of the U.S. juvenile justice system.     

Parliament on its Knees: MPs' Expenses and the Crisis of Transparency at Westminster

In May 2009, revelations made in The Daily Telegraph about the way that MPs had used and abused the House of Commons expenses and allowances regime threw the British political system into turmoil, forced the resignation of the Speaker of the Commons along with a number of implicated MPs, and ignited talk about a crisis in parliamentary democracy and a collapse of public trust in politics. This article explores the events that led to this situation, from the structure of MPs pay and allowance system, the Freedom of Information context that framed the disaster, and the crisis of transparency which the House of Commons has itself precipitated. It argues that, talk of parliamentary reform aside, MPs must radically rethink the way that they approach their representative role and the nature of their broader engagement with the public they claim to serve.     

Against Localism: Does Decentralising Power to Communities Fail Minorities?

The continued decline in levels of political engagement among British citizens has led many politicians, commentators and academics from across the political spectrum to advocate a move toward a more direct form of democracy via some kind of localism. The claim is that citizens feel increasingly estranged from the democratic process, and from those organisations on which they have historically relied to represent them within the political system. Consequently, localists argue, there now exists a gap between the people, the institutions which are supposed to work on their behalf, and the decisions made in their name, so the system needs to be reformed in such a way as to give individuals and local communities more of a direct input into the decision-making process. Calls for a more direct form of democracy via localism are popular among members of the progressive left and the 'new Conservative' right, and have become so dominant in political discourse that it is often suggested that 'we are all localists now'. This article raises questions about the localist agenda, and suggests that the adoption of a more direct form of democracy in Britain may not only fail to address the decline in political engagement, but may also result in the exclusion, marginalisation, and oppression of minority groups.     

The quest for inclusion and citizenship in Ghana: challenges and prospects

Ghana's tortuous journey to democracy received a major boost in the year 2006 with the enactments of two human-rights-related pieces of legislation. In this article the author contends, on the one hand, that the recent enactments of an amendment to the law on representation of the people and the persons with disability law in Ghana constituted a noteworthy landmark in the search for inclusive citizenship. On the other hand, the relation between society and the political authority during the processes of the enactments highlighted characteristics of a post-colonial African state. The author explores the antagonisms that surrounded the enactments of these laws. The article concludes that although the Ghanaian experience represents a new wave of re-thinking of rights in Africa, it also underscores the deep-seated issues of contestation and negotiations that unavoidably accompany the expansion of democracy and extension of rights to the excluded and the marginalized.     

民主党派利益代表机制研究

利益是政党活动的核心,政党政治是实现各种复杂的社会利益最权威的活动.在我国,民主党派参政虽然是民主的政治活动,但也必然围绕着利益展开活动,其核心就在于如何在实现该政党所代表的阶层的政治、经济利益的同时保证不同社会阶层之间利益的公正协调.因此,充分发挥参政党的利益代表功能,趋利弊害,对于实现社会和谐与均衡发展均有重要意义.本文从上述视角出发,着重探讨了民主党派利益代表机制的基本内涵以及其顺利实现对社会和谐的意义.     

"三个代表"思想的历史唯物主义基础

"始终代表先进生产力的发展要求",运用生产力是一切社会发展的根本动力,是社会进步的最高评价标准的原理,指明了执政党自身建设的根本目标;"始终代表先进文化的前进方向",从意识形态和科学文化对社会发展起积极作用的原理出发,指明了执政党思想文化建设的时代方向;"始终代表最广大人民的根本利益",从人民群众是历史的主体和创造者原理的高度,揭示了执政党生命的源泉.     

Parity,Power and Representative Politics: The Elusive Pursuit of Gender Equality in Europe

In recent years the concept of parity democracy has rapidly risen up the European political agenda. Using a threefold typology of sex-quotas, this article undertakes a classification of the measures taken by the 15 old E.U. member states to improve the gender balance in representative assemblies. This is then used as the basis for an exploration of the advantages and disadvantages of the parity approach as a tool to promote gender equality, including the constitutional obstacles which stand in its way. The article goes on to present a comparative study of several national systems in which attempts to achieve parity democracy have been pursued, concluding that, in order to maximise their effectiveness, parity measures must operate within a system of unbiased political structures and be properly adjusted to suit the particularities of individual national electoral regimes.     

浅谈网络督察

开展网络督察是社会发展的必然要求 ,是公安事业现代化的需要 ,是警务督察工作实现跨越式发展的最佳途径。随着“金盾工程”建设的发展 ,开展网络督察的条件日趋成熟。网络督察应根据警务督察部门的职责 ,运用现代网络技术 ,不断建立和完善督察网络系统的信息功能、控制功能和评估功能 ,实现对公安机关及其民警全方位获得即时信息、全过程实施运行控制、全系统实现科学管理的目标。它是一种全新的督察模式。当前 ,开展网络督察需要确定一条现实的工作思路 ,扎实做好六项工作 ,着重处理好五个关系。     

Proportional representation and attitudes about politics: results from New Zealand

PR systems often are credited with producing more equitable outcomes between political parties and encouraging wider social group representation than majoritarian systems. Theory suggests that this should instill greater trust, efficacy, and faith in the political system. We assume that citizens disadvantaged by majoritarian rules (political minorities) will have a relatively greater shift toward positive attitudes about democracy following a transition from a majoritarian system to proportional representation. We employ panel data from the 1993–1996 New Zealand Election Study (NZES) to test hypotheses about the effects of electoral system change on attitudes about governmental responsiveness, trust in government, and political efficacy. We find that there is a general shift in mass opinion toward more positive attitudes on some measures of efficacy and responsiveness. Political minorities display a greater shift toward feelings of efficacy than other voters.     

殖民主义文本中的印第安再现——对朗费罗《海华沙之歌》的解读

美国19世纪杰出诗人朗费罗以其充满神话传奇色彩的长篇叙事诗《海华沙之歌》，再现了早期印第安人的历史与文化。但是，此部作品在某种程度上以欧洲文明至上的偏见遮蔽了印第安人被殖民的历史原貌，因而成为一种充满了帝国主义话语的殖民主义文本。本文通过对《海华沙之歌》进行文本细读和对朗费罗所处时代的文化背景进行分析，探讨朗费罗对印第安人的再现，并进一步阐述这种再现背后潜在的原因。