Extending environmental justice research to religious minorities

For more than 30 years, significant research in the United States has found that racial and ethnic minorities suffer disproportionately from nearness to environmental disamenities compared with white non-Hispanics and that these results persist even controlling for poverty and “which came first,” the minorities or the disamenities. The engrained discriminatory findings of this environmental justice (EJ) research have led some to argue that we observe “systemic racism,” built into our social systems in ways that may be difficult to perceive. Yet, within the history of the United States, racial and ethnic minorities are not the only groups that have been systematically discriminated against; various religious groups also have histories of discrimination. Here we consider whether, holding constant race and ethnicity, some religious groups may also suffer from “EJ syndrome.” Since the US Census does not collect data on religion, to measure the presence of some religious groups that may be discriminated against, we use an original dataset on the presence of Jewish, Muslim, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, aka Mormon), and Roman Catholic houses of worship within California's Census tracts. Our results indicate that even controlling for race/ethnicity and income, the presence of Jewish or Muslim houses of worship in a California Census tract increases the likelihood of environmental burden as measured by the CalEnviroScreen 3.0 index of pollution and community vulnerability.     

证人作证的基础探析

证人为什么要作证 ?人们不加思索地回答 :因为法律规定凡是知道案件情况的人都有作证的义务。这种回答是比较肤浅的、片面的。用现代法理学眼光来看 ,用权利理论可以轻易解释为什么西方有的已经把作证作为公民自己的自觉行为 ,而中国证人出庭作证难是因为欠缺权利观念呢 ?因为法律的效力不能简单地建立在暴政或单方面的强制之上 ,而应建立在社会道德之上。在中国 ,应大力发展商品经济 ,树立强烈的权利意识 ,尊重个人的主体意识 ,当义务本位转向权利本位时 ,证人拒绝作证才能从观念上消除。     

关于政府转型的人本思考

以人为本推进政府转型是实现科学发展观的本质要求。政府转型必须实现转型观的飞跃,坚持人与经济、社会的全面协调可持续发展,以规范政府管制、实现依法行政、改革行政体制、转变政府职能为路径,以民主的充分发展为制度平台。     

关于证人出庭作证的几点看法

证人特别是重要证人能否出庭咋证,既是人民法院能否准确认定事实、能否定案的关键,又是刑事诉讼的审判方式改革能否得到有效实施的前提。证人不出庭作证的原因主要是制度不健全和法治意识淡漠。因此,应从完善证人出庭作证的制度入手,同时创造有利的化氛围,并以法律手段确保证人的安全,从而使证人出庭作证变“被动”为“主动”。     

关于Krashen第二语言习得理论的五个假设及相关思考

美国语言学家Krashen提出了关于第二语言习得的5个理论假设。这5个理论假设具有内在的逻辑层次,即以习得—学习假设为基础和前提,以输入假设为中心,以自然顺序假设为具体操作指导,以监控假设和情感过滤假设为辅助。它为对外汉语教学提供了可借鉴的理论基础和很多启发,如何更好地利用它为对外汉语教学服务,还需要对外汉语工作者在教学实践中进行摸索。     

论人民政协在政治协商中的双重功能

人民政协在政治协商中具有主体地位和制度平台的双重功能。在实践中,主体地位表现为与人民政协的协商,制度性平台的作用表现为在人民政协的协商,同时,人民政协在政治协商中具有的双重功能是有机统一、相辅相成的。这双重功能是中共老一辈领导人的科学设计,自党的十一届三中全会以来得到继续坚持和发扬光大,它顺应了我国政治制度的内在要求。     

国家如何塑造乡村精英?——关于乡村精英变迁中的国家角色述评

围绕村民自治制度实行以来,国家如何塑造乡村精英这一核心问题,本文对相关研究领域的文献进行了梳理。本文将国家对乡村精英的塑造区分为两个层次:一是作为整体的国家以宏观政策方式塑造乡村精英。其中,意识形态话语的变迁使乡村精英由政治型精英转变为经济型精英,基层制度设计的变迁使乡村精英由单一政治型精英转变为多元化精英,资源性政策的变迁则使得新代理人登上村庄政治舞台。二是基层政府作为与乡村精英直接互动的行动者塑造乡村精英。其中,压力型科层制使基层政府根据中心工作的性质来塑造乡村精英,使乡村精英经历了税费时期的灰黑化、税费改革后前几年的老好人化,以及资源下放时期的新代理人化;乡村关系则使得基层政府根据与乡村社会的博弈来塑造乡村精英:强乡弱村的乡村关系使乡村精英由兼业化走向职业化,强村弱乡的乡村关系使得乡村精英主要由有声望的村民来担任。     

Westernness,Chineseness, or Life as Essence——A Discussion with Luo Gang and Peng Yuping on the Poetic Nature of Poetic Remarks in the Human World

There have emerged two representative opinions regarding the origin of Wang Guowei's thought as shown in his Poetic Remarks in the Human World, one being Westernness aided by Chineseness, and the other being Chineseness aided by Wesernness. The former opinion holds that Wang's fundamental ideas in Poetic Remarks in the Human World were derived from modern Western philosophy and aesthetics, which, in turn, were used to deal with traditional Chinese poetry; the latter opinion argues that Wang's basic thought originated from Chinese aesthetic traditions, which were aided by western thought in Wang's Case. The two opinions seem to be over-focused on conceptual comparison and identity; therefore, they fail to point to Wang's principle of “Life as Essence” which incorporates thought of all origins. Wang's Poetic Remarks in the Human World is a reaffirmation of the “aesthetic life”, a blending that goes beyond mere conceptual comparison and contrast.     

论后工业时代的生态伦理思维

随着工业革命的发展,21世纪人类进入了以科技和信息为标准的后工业时代。在这一时代,生态危机越来越严重,已经成为工业社会的“瓶颈”。因此,后工业时代的任务在加速发展科技和经济的同时还有一个更为严峻的问题——生态问题。要解决生态问题,我们需要的就是生态伦理思维。生态伦理思维有利于我们改变工业革命时期的不良思维,为后工业时代更好发展提供便利。     

经济赔偿与国家刑罚权关系的正确解读

文章通过＂赔钱赎刑＂现象,结合办案实践,多方面深入解读经济赔偿与国家刑罚权的关系。同时提出了建立财产保全、国家补偿制度、丰富非刑罚惩罚手段等建议,以期发挥经济赔偿在新刑罚改革中的作用,为刑事案件轻缓化处理提供更为合理的法律依据。