Stop,Question, and Assess: Comments on Rosenfeld and Fornango

We develop three points in this commentary on Rosenfeld and Fornango’s empirical assessment of the NYPD policy of stop, question, and frisk (SQF). First, we draw attention to some of the key patterns uncovered in the analysis, posing questions that we think warrant additional thought. Second, we highlight some potential ambiguities between the underlying logic model of SQF and the empirical models assumed in existing research evaluations that have important implications for the conclusions that one might draw from the available evidence. Finally, we suggest some ways in which the empirical basis for evaluating the efficacy of SQF might be strengthened.     

French Caribbean organizations and the ‘Black question’ in France

Abstract

Collective remittances are a particular kind of flow, which is gaining more and more attention. It puts into light the role of diaspora associations in promoting the development of the origin countries. The aim of the article is to analyze how diaspora associations cope with development issues and the impacts of these activities in terms of migrants' new forms of citizenship. It draws attention on the relationship between diaspora and transnationalism stressing that, nowadays, the immaterial dimension of ethnic belonging encompasses also a material dimension made of cross-border connections; thus, allowing migrants to participate on the both shores of migration. Using the concept of the Political Opportunity Structure, the article shows the role played by the host country on the way migrants organize themselves and on how they act as citizens at home by engaging in development actions. The comparative approach puts into evidence that the different characteristics of Ghanaian migrants in Italy and in the UK shape transnational development actions but in a different way than one would expect: the relative lack of integration seems to stimulate migrants to better development actions at home since, in so doing, they can be recognized as actors also in the place where they live.     

Parties,Party Systems and Democracy in the European Union

Since the late 1980s, research on political Islam has been much in vogue in Europe and the US. This phenomenon is typically viewed as an expression of religion rather than of politics. Precisely because of the assumed “religious” underpinnings of political Islam, most Western attempts to engage with Islamists often remain trapped in an attempt to test their “democratic credentials”. By focussing on what Islamists think about democracy, many studies have ignored the political, social and economic contexts in which Islamists operate. Accounting for the political underpinning of Islamist movements can both help understand their political evolution and open up fruitful avenues for comparative analysis. For this reason, attention is turned to Europe to seek best practices of external engagement with domestic opposition movements in authoritarian contexts, such as Western engagement with opposition actors in Franco's Spain, Kuchma's Ukraine and Shevardnadze's Georgia.     

The Comparison Question Test: Does It Work and If So How?

In a mock crime study of the comparison question test (CQT), 35 subjects decided to participate as guilty and 30 as innocent. Two conditions were varied: Explaining the comparison questions in the pretest interview and re-discussing comparison questions between charts. Higher identification rates (approximately 90% for guilty and innocent participants) were achieved in groups with explanation of comparison questions than in groups without explanation. Re-discussing comparison questions had no effect on identification rates. Ratings of subjective stress due to relevant and comparison questions were also obtained and can be seen as indicators of the significance of the questions. The significance of comparison questions was hardly affected by the different testing conditions. When effects are detectable at all, they contradict theoretical expectations in their direction. Results are discussed in terms of the significance of comparison questions used in polygraph testing.     

回应型司法与刑事契约

回应型司法的权力和权利关系为具有后现代意味的刑事契约的生成提供了政治和法律制度环境,对社会主体多元化利益诉求的回应为其提供了社会民间化解纷的民众动力。我国移植刑事契约缺乏传统法文化的的历史支持,现存的社会急剧变革时期共存的多种社会秩序也不能为刑事契约所适宜的权力与权利结构奠定政治制度和法律制度基础,因此刑事契约的本土化借鉴应该谨慎。     

司法特殊正义及其运作机制研究

随着当代中国社会冲突所呈现的新趋向,我国推进司法改革的价值理念发生了重要转向,开始关注司法特殊正义和司法运作机制的研究。前者要求司法过程中走出传统的一视同仁对待所有人的均码正义,转而关注特殊群体的司法特殊正义;后者从现有大规模的静态制度研究转向选择动态的司法运作机制作为研究进路,通过在纠纷处理过程的动态描述中介入化解冲突的深层机理,从而在根本上解决社会矛盾。这种司法论题的转向,生成了司法判决可接受性、司法多边主义、司法知识竞争、案例指导运作机制等新的问题意识。     

论行政诉讼中先予执行制度的几个问题

先予执行,是指人民法院在判决确定之前裁定由给付义务的人,预先给对方部分财物,或者为一定行为的法律制度。先予执行在行政诉讼中并未引起应有重视,也没有发挥出其应有的价值。从行政诉讼角度重新审视先予执行制度,会发现有一些问题存在,尚需完善,尤其是先予执行的行为,尽管有很强的实践意义,但实施起来却困难重重。     

The Critical Instance ‘After’ The Critique of the Subject

The central argument of this piece involves the idea that insofar as␣critique, with its two basic tropes of question and judgment, has been central to the ȁ8classical’ configuration of subjectivity, the critical instance ȁ8after’ the critique of the subject is to be found re-situated on a different philosophical terrain where the question of the question is re-thought and the logic of judgment displaced by an ethic of encounter. It is on this terrain that we can then start sketching the emergence of a different set of critical instances: critical ontologies, critical analytics and critical erotics.     

The Effect of Question Order on Disclosure of Intimate Partner Violence: An Experimental Test Using the Conflict Tactics Scales

Two plausible but contradictory approaches to question order in research on sensitive or criminal behavior are (1) that presenting the questions in a sequence corresponding to a culturally recognized behavior pattern will facilitate disclosure, and (2) that presenting questions in random order will result in more disclosure because random order disrupts response sets. The question order of the original Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS1) used the culturally recognized sequence approach, and the revised CTS (CTS2) used a modified random order. This experiment was designed to determine which of these two question orders results in more disclosure of physical and sexual assault of a dating partner. The standard version of the CTS2, which has the questions from each of the 5 scales interspersed in a slightly modified random order, was administered to every second student in a sample of 417 university students. The other half of the sample were given the same instrument but with the questions in the culturally recognized sequential order used in the CTS1. The cultural sequence order begins with the socially approved behaviors in the Negotiation scale and ends with scales measuring antisocial and the criminal behavior such as the Physical Assault scale. The results indicate that the CTS2 random order produced significantly higher disclosure rates for the scales that measure criminal behavior (Physical Assault, Injury, and Sexual Coercion) and made no difference for the other CTS2 scales (Negotiation and Psychological Aggression). Although these results suggest that the CTS2 random order is the preferred approach, reasons to treat that conclusion with caution are presented.     

公安民警执法活动中存在的主要问题及对策

公安民警的执法活动不仅关系着党的执政地位、国家的长治久安、人民的安居乐业,而且也关系着党和政府的形象;关系着法律的实施和法制的权威,关系着社会秩序与公正,关系着民众的权利与自由;同时,也关系着人民警察自身的形象和处境。当前公安民警执法活动中存在的问题是多种因素综合作用的结果,实践中应加强学习,增强民警的法制意识,提高民警的政治素养;强化“民本”意识,全心全意为人民群众谋利益;强化“监督”意识,做好执法监督工作;加强制度建设,严格执法责任。