Barack Obama and the South: demography as electoral opportunity

ABSTRACT

Barack Obama was more successful in the South in the 2008 election than many previous Democratic presidential nominees had been. While John McCain continued Republican dominance in the conservative region, it was a major breakthrough for a northern liberal Democrat, especially an African American from Illinois, to win three southern states and secure 55 electoral votes. Florida, North Carolina and Virginia were good opportunities for Obama because, demographically, they had come to resemble other large states outside the South. In these ‘converging’ southern states, the Latino and Asian communities had grown substantially. The percentage of college-educated Whites had increased and there had been large-scale migration from other regions of the country. The states that Obama won in the South were not as ‘southern’ as they once were. In some southern states, those called the ‘neo-Confederate South’ in this article, white support for Obama was less than John Kerry had received in 2004. This decline in white voting for the Democratic presidential nominee occurred despite the difficult economic times that enveloped the country in the months preceding the election, and the general unpopularity of the incumbent Republican administration headed by George W. Bush. Some of these states, like Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, had been among the most intransigent states in resisting the claims of the civil rights movement for social and political equality for African Americans in the 1950s and 1960s. In the future it may be more accurate to speak of more than one South, rather than refer to the region as an undifferentiated whole.     

Knowledge sharing and lesson learning: consultants' perspectives on the international sharing of political marketing strategy

Political marketing consultants who offer specialist skills and experience in political marketing – polling, strategy, voter profiling, segmentation, micro-targeting, voter-responsive product design – travel around the world sharing ideas from one campaign to the next, raising concerns that these unelected advisors wield global power; that political products will become all the same, and political leaders are prevented from offering an appropriate vision geared to the needs of their individual country. Whilst previous literature on political consultancy generally debated whether such global activities represented Americanisation or globalisation this article presents new qualitative interview data with consultants that suggest alternative perspectives. Political marketing strategy and tools are shared, but not just from the USA but between all countries, and they are adapted to suit the particular situation of each country, or indeed, each election. Politics is truly being marketised all over the world but each election remains a unique exercise.     

浅议相对刑事责任年龄人转化型抢劫致人轻伤的处理

相对刑事责任年龄人转化型抢劫致人轻伤该如何处理,《最高人民法院关于审理未成年人刑事案件具体应用法律若干问题的解释》(以下简称《解释》)没有作出明确规定,学者有不应当定罪和应当定抢劫罪两种观点,而这两种观点的背后则是立法权和司法权的矛盾与协调问题。在中国现有国情下,当立法权和司法权发生冲突时,尊重立法权是一个较为合适的选择。     

评美国反基因歧视法律实践及其启示

为防治基因技术的滥用和基因信息歧视,以《2008年禁止基因信息歧视法》为代表的美国联邦和州立法积极实施干预,以确保所有人雇佣机会平等、享有平等健康保险待遇,全面参与社会生活.美国反基因歧视法内容详尽,既禁止基因信息歧视行为,又兼顾保险公司、雇主的合理要求以及避免可能给第三人及公众带来的风险,使违法行为几乎“无缝隙可钻”,且法律对公立雇主的要求高于私立雇主.美国反基因歧视法律实践,对于我们客观认识和把握平等权,完善相关立法和公共政策,具有一定启迪.     

再论我国刑法的“三元立法模式”

当下我国刑法的立法模式呈现单一“法典化”的特征,试图以“法典化”模式规制各种犯罪,但在体系与内容上具有不可避免的局限性,故构建多元化立法模式才符合未来的发展趋势与历史潮流.以“二元立法模式”实现对我国刑法立法模式的改造也并非最佳选择,因为该模式在体系与内容上都存在不缜密之处,使得在理论建构和实践操作上都大打折扣.故应实...     

著作权法定许可与默示许可的功能比较与立法选择

著作权法定许可与默示许可具有制度构造上的相似性,但两者也存在着明显的差异,默示许可具有独立的制度价值。我国现行法律法规对法定许可与默示许可的＂杂糅式＂规定不合理,而《著作权法》修改草案中的＂分离式＂规定相对可取。默示许可与法定许可相比更适应网络环境的制度需求,具有更广阔的适用前景。应在公益事业和体现互联网开放性与共享性的行为中扩大默示许可的适用范围。     

完善我国商业健康保险法制的若干思考

本文分三个方面,就我国刚刚确立起来的三大社会基本医疗保险（城镇职工基本医疗保险、城镇居民基本医疗保险和新型农村合作医疗保险）之外的商业健康保险作了一个比较系统的阐述,对商业健康保险法制的形成、发展中遇到的问题、完善商业健康保险法制的一些措施做了分析,对我国保险法理论和实务的发展阐述了自己的思考。     

论我国行政程序法的立法基础

以行政的公正、公开、高效为立法目标的行政程序法,是现代国家规范行政权力的基本法律。本文通过对影响我国行政程序立法进程的经济、政治、社会和文化因素进行分析,指出行政程序法制定的现实条件、客观依据及其必要性,以期为我国制定统一的行政程序法典提供立法基础支持。     

论现代公共法律服务多元化规范体系建构

公共法律服务体系建设现代化的核心问题是满足人民群众追求美好生活日益增长的法律服务需求,为实现共同富裕发展目标提供全方位的法治保障。现代公共法律服务体系建设的地方立法例中,均集中体现出对公共法律服务基本概念和调整范围的反思与分歧,为此亟待厘清公共法律服务应然规范构造理论,这是未来形成公共法律服务全国统一立法的法学理论基础。公共法律服务专门立法在整个公共法律服务规范体系中具有纲领性地位,公共法律服务体系建设改革实践不仅具备基本服务与非基本服务二元结构架构特征,而且越来越多地呈现出多元和多维架构的本质特征。现有二元规范构造理论已经不能全面解释和解构现有的公共法律服务体系建设实践发展的全样本和多维度、多元化样态,只有建构多元化的现代公共法律服务规范体系才能根本解决现有公共法律服务地方立法例实践及理论研究中出现的关于基本概念、规范类型、规范属性、调整方式、权利属性等诸多基本争议,从而确定公共法律服务的权利义务主体、事项范围、模式与程序、标准与评价指标、监督管理等主要体系建构的基本规范要素,进而归纳整合公共法律服务立法规范构造的本质特征,为将来形成区域协同一体化立法或全国统一立法提供立法规范要素的基本构造理论支撑。     

JUVENILE CRIME AND WHY WAIVER IS NOT THE ANSWER

Many states deal with the issue of juvenile crime by charging juveniles as adults. This is done by a method of waiver. Waiver allows adult criminal courts to have the power to exercise jurisdiction over juveniles.¹ In effect, a juvenile is tried and sentenced as an adult when his or her case is waived (removed) from the juvenile court to the adult court. Waiver in juvenile (youths seventeen and younger) cases should never be allowed because juvenile offenders are too immature and incompetent to appreciate the nature of their crimes and because the juvenile justice system is a more appropriate place to rehabilitate juvenile offenders.