宽严相济刑事政策的展开

宽严相济刑事政策具有开放的空间,但需要立法者、司法者和执行者在刑法基本原则的制约之下展开其具体内容。宽严相济刑事政策应当首先作为刑事立法政策指导刑事立法,而刑事立法政策、刑事司法政策和刑事执行政策应当放在整体的刑事社会政策中考察,在有关犯罪人人权保障和被害人被害补偿的刑事社会政策中进一步展开宽严相济的刑事政策。     

艾滋病歧视问题的法律探究

我国艾滋病(A ID S)歧视现象较为严重,主要包括艾滋病医疗歧视、就业歧视、教育歧视等歧视类型。目前,我国反艾滋病歧视法律制度还存在诸如立法理念落后、立法体系不完善,缺乏对艾滋病歧视的界定和法律责任的规定,司法救济力度不足等问题,加强我国反艾滋病歧视法律制度建设,应更新立法理念,完善立法体系,加强宪法监督,规定歧视者的法律责任,不断加大司法保护力度。     

Oversight Effectiveness and Political Will: Some Lessons from West Africa

The purpose of the present note is to advance two theoretical claims. The first claim proposed is that the impact of the availability of oversight tools and of the most broadly understood legislative capacity (availability of material, technical, financial resources; availability of well-trained staff) on the effectiveness with which legislative oversight is performed is conditional. The second claim put forward, after reviewing a rich body of work on executive–legislative relations and legislative oversight in West Africa, is that, of the various conditions that promote or prevent the effective use of oversight tools and capacity, political will is the single most important. These claims have both theoretical and practical relevance, for if political will is as important as is claimed for the effective performance of the oversight function, then international organisations may have to reconsider their approach to legislative strengthening.     

Friendship,Courting, and Engagement: Pre-electoral Coalition Dynamics in Action

The literature on pre-electoral coalitions (PECs) still relies heavily on comparative statics to gauge whether a PEC is likely to form and/or its effects on government formation. However, less is known about the behavioural dynamics of PECs. The dynamics of the recent 2009 PEC between the Socialist People's Party and the Social Democrats in Denmark are assessed. Elaborating on the signalling hypothesis, it is argued that coalition members over time must show their ability to vote together in parliament in order to establish a credible commitment. Empirical support is found for this take on the signalling thesis. It was also found that the distance between the parties narrows before the formulation of the PEC, and distinct phases in the process are pointed to, which the authors coin ‘friendship’, ‘courting’, and ‘engagement’. Finally, alternative explanations are assessed and the question of which party of the PEC would have to change voting patterns in the inter-party coordination process in order to become 'office-fit' is addressed. It is concluded that PECs have a systematic effect on the members' parliamentary voting behaviour and that they serve as a preparatory signalling device for opposition parties with office ambitions.     

Institutional Determinants of Legislative Turnover in the German State Parliaments: 1947–2012

More than 60 years of turnover data were collected to draw a unique picture of membership circulation in the German state parliaments between 1947 and 2012. The empirical study draws on new institutionalist theories in search of variables that might complement electoral volatility in explaining turnover patterns in sub-central Germany. Five institutional variables are tested using hierarchical models. From the substantial set of 196 elections, several robust conclusions can be drawn. The level of legislative turnover is affected by the length of the electoral term, professionalisation and institutionalisation of a legislature, and by changes in parliamentary size. By contrast, the small range of electoral system variation does not add anything to the explanation of variation in aggregate turnover rates at the German sub-central level.     

再论危险驾驶罪的客观方面——超前立法观、实质解释论、类型思维法之运用

《刑法修正案(八)》第22条增设了危险驾驶罪,但是该罪的行为类型欠缺多样性,醉驾行为没有情节的限制,双重既遂标准同时存在,从而导致了该罪的预期功能与现实效果之间的扭曲。为了填补立法漏洞,加强本条的可操作性,应当运用超前立法观、实质解释论和类型思维法,适当丰富该罪的行为类型,将其解释为具体危险犯,以"足以危害公共交通安全"作为统一的既遂标准。     

立法视角下的《反邪教法》立法必要性探讨

邪教犯罪是当前世界各国共同面临的重要社会问题，也是我国当前和今后一个时期预防与打击各种社会犯罪中的首要任务之一。本文梳理我国打击邪教犯罪方面的立法规定，针对我国邪教问题表现出来的复杂性和多样性，指出迅速制定出台《反邪教法》，从而对其进行有效的规范和控制。     

Dealigned or Still Salient? Religious-Secular Divisions in Chilean Presidential Elections

With countries like Chile facing secularisation, some research predicts religious-secular cleavages will ‘dealign’, while other research suggests these cleavages will persist so long as religious-secular divisions are reflected among presidential candidates. Using surveys of first-round voting intentions in the five most recent presidential elections in Chile, the analysis shows that religious-secular divisions in voting appear when candidates are divided clearly along religious-secular lines (and not when divisions among candidates are blurred). These findings suggest researchers need to account for the impact candidates' positions have on the appearance of religious-secular divisions before declaring that dealignment has occurred.     

Characteristics of children with problem sexual behaviour and adolescent perpetrators of sexual abuse: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

People who commit sexual offences are a heterogeneous group, with research suggesting that children and young people commit a large proportion of all sex offences, especially those committed against other children. This systematic review provides a synthesis of literature concerning the characteristics of children and adolescents who exhibit harmful sexual behaviour. There is a particular focus in this review on studies that examine the characteristics of children and young people exhibiting these behaviours within institutional and organisational settings or which take a situational and/or developmental approach to understanding sexually abusive behaviour. Using a developmental and life-course criminology lens, this review explores implications from the literature for the prevention and response to child sexual abuse, with a particular focus on institutional contexts where the perpetrators are children and adolescents.     

How (often) do voters change their consideration sets?

The consideration set model posits that in multi-party elections voters decide in two stages. We expect that in the consideration stage, when voters select viable options, ideological proximity is a key determinant, while in the choice stage election-specific factors become particularly important. This would imply that consideration sets are rather stable and that changes in voting preferences occur mainly within ideologically coherent consideration sets. This study examines both claims by analyzing panel survey data from Sweden and the Netherlands. Consideration sets were indeed rather stable, more so than voting intentions. After one year, voters still considered the same party in 81% of cases and only 13% of respondents shifted between ideological camps. This indicates that voters changed electoral preferences primarily within the boundaries of relatively stable consideration sets and ideological camps. These findings help to understand how elections can be volatile, despite the strong impact of highly stable ideological orientations.