When long-distance relationships don't work out: Representational distance and satisfaction with democracy in Europe

We assess the impact of party representation on satisfaction with democracy. Our proposition is that such representation is not only about having a chosen party in government; citizens also derive satisfaction from having their views represented by a political party. We test this through an individual-level measure of policy (in)congruence: the ideological distance between a voter and his or her closest party. Via multi-level modelling of European Election Study data from 1989 to 2009, we find that perceived policy distance matters: the further away that voters see themselves from their nearest party – on either a left-right or a European unification policy dimension – the less satisfied they are with democracy. Notably, this effect is not moderated by party incumbency or size. Voters derive satisfaction from feeling represented by a nearby party even if it is small and out of office. Our results caution against a purely outcomes-driven understanding of democratic satisfaction.     

A voter-centric explanation of the success of ideological candidates for the U.S. house

In recent years, ideological candidates for the U.S. House have become increasingly successful, to the point where their chances of being elected are indistinguishable from moderates. However, scholars have still not uncovered exactly why this is happening. Using survey data from the American National Election Studies, I find that voter-centric explanations of vote choice – a voter's partisanship, ideology, and presidential approval rating – have increasingly predicted their vote choice in U.S. House elections from 1980 to 2016. Using data on candidate ideology, I find that candidate ideology is an increasingly poor predictor of individual vote choice over time. Original experimental data supports these claims, finding only a small electoral advantage for moderates, compared to ideologues of their own party, and evidence suggesting that, at least among Democrats, ideological candidates are rated more favorably than moderates. Taken together, these results suggest that the increased electoral success of ideological candidates can be attributed to changes in voters' decision calculus, rather than structural or candidate-centric explanations.     

How Do Performance Gaps Affect Improvement in Organizational Performance? Exploring the Mediating Roles of Proactive Activities

Abstract

According to the extensive literature on performance gaps, the various reference points of the problem identification process affect the managerial decisions of public managers. In this article, we propose a theory about the public management decision-making processes based on the roles of proactive behaviors, specifically regarding how identifying such problems (performance gaps) leads to performance improvement. Using panel data from Korea covering 2005–2014, this analysis provides support for our assertion that not all reference points are equally important to public managers’ proactive responses; however, we find evidence supporting the importance of perceiving the external reference point of problem identification as a significant precedent for successful organizational performance. Our results also indicate that practitioners need to become involved in greater feedback processes when searching for proactive solutions that remedy poor organizational performance. This suggests that the creation of diverse and sophisticated performance feedback systems can strengthen public managers’ abilities to find solutions for organizations. Ultimately, the findings enhance our understanding of the relationship between performance gaps and performance improvement by examining the role of public managers’ proactive behaviors.     

Gender,Child Maltreatment,and Delinquency

Prior research and theorizing have suggested that the relationship between child maltreatment and delinquent outcomes is gendered. However, research to date that has sought to test this hypothesis has been incomplete due to issues such as inconsistency in findings, focusing on a single type of maltreatment or delinquent outcome within a given study, and an overreliance on nonprobability samples. The authors sought to expand on this literature by examining the effects of several different types of child maltreatment on six different delinquent behaviors during middle adolescence in a nationally representative probability sample of American adolescents. Results suggest that in the case of physical abuse and alcohol use, child maltreatment shapes delinquent behaviors differently for girls and boys, with several other types of delinquent behaviors being similarly shaped by child maltreatment among girls and boys. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Costly Signals: Voter Responses to Parliamentary Dissent in Austria,Britain, and Germany

When Members of Parliament (MPs) disagree publicly with their party, this provides a signal to voters regarding both their political views and their character valence. We argue that the strength of this signal to voters depends on the personal career costs an MP incurs by dissenting. The greater the perceived costs of dissent to the MP, the more positively voters should react to dissent. In line with this theory, we use a series of conjoint analysis experiments in Britain, Germany, and Austria to show that: (1) dissent has a more positive effect on voter evaluations in systems where the costs of dissent are higher, and (2) more costly types of dissent have a greater impact on voter evaluations. These findings have important implications for understanding how voter evaluations of MPs depend on beliefs about parliamentary systems and how parliamentary institutions condition the link between voters and MPs.     

The Impact of Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect Program on the Volatility and Liquidity of the Stock Market

Based on the interaction between the trading mechanism and heterogeneous investors' behavior, using Shanghai stocks data, this paper studies the impact of the Shanghai-Hong Kong stock connect program on the volatility and liquidity of the stock market. The result shows that investors with long-term value investment philosophy carry international market risk to the A-share market, which causes excessive panic among medium and small investors. In the absence of derivatives for effectively avoiding risks, price volatility increases. With the increase of the investment risks, the costs of domestic institutional investors'frequent trading out of excessive speculation increase and the investors who are attracted by the international mature capital markets escape from the mainland. The medium and small investors are gradually becoming more prudent, which leads to the decrease of market liquidity.     

POISONED DEVELOPMENT: ASSESSING CHILDHOOD LEAD EXPOSURE AS A CAUSE OF CRIME IN A BIRTH COHORT FOLLOWED THROUGH ADOLESCENCE

The consequences of lead exposure for later crime are theoretically compelling, but direct evidence from representative, longitudinal samples is sparse. By capitalizing on an original follow‐up of more than 200 infants from the birth cohort of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods matched to their blood lead levels from around age 3 years, we provide several tests. Through the use of four waves of longitudinal data that include measures of individual development, family background, and structural inequalities in how lead becomes embodied, we assess the hypothesized link between early childhood lead poisoning and both parent‐reported delinquent behavior and official arrest in late adolescence. We also test for mediating developmental processes of impulsivity and anxiety or depression. The results from multiple analytic strategies that make different assumptions reveal a plausibly causal effect of childhood lead exposure on adolescent delinquent behavior but no direct link to arrests. The results underscore lead exposure as a trigger for poisoned development in the early life course and call for greater integration of the environment into theories of individual differences in criminal behavior.     

人格权侵害禁令的程序实现

人格权侵害禁令是人格权侵害领域中预防性责任形式的快速实现机制,其独立于先予执行和普通的行为保全,是不必然伴随诉讼程序、具有非暂时性和非保全性的人格权独立保护制度。根据此种实体法功能,禁令的程序模式在价值上要权衡程序的便利高效和当事人的程序利益保障。基于非讼程序法理的发展和现行法,虽然禁令案件是真正的诉讼案件,但仍可将其作为非讼程序的审理对象,并以非讼程序作为禁令的基本程序模式。据此,禁令程序应采用职权探知主义,建立被申请人最低限度的程序保障规则,确立非讼程序和诉讼程序之间的合理转换条件和方式,且禁令程序中的裁定不具有既判力。其他的具体程序规则也应根据非讼程序予以解释构建。     

职业许可的概念界定

职业许可是资格许可与行为许可的结合,具有强烈的人身专属性,但不具有排他性。从法律属性看,职业许可以对公民职业自由的一般性限制为前提,系对公民职业自由的法律化转换。职业许可与营业许可、职业认证等之间,既有一定联系,也存在明显区别。     

利用影响力受贿罪客观方面存在的问题及立法完善

2009年2月28日公布实施的《刑法修正案(七)》在《刑法》第388条后增加了一条作为第388条之一,是对当前腐败问题从《刑法》角度的积极回应。我国已经加入《联合国反腐败公约》,政府对于受贿罪的打击力度越来越强,力求多方面借鉴经验以打击官员腐败。相对于传统的贪污贿赂犯罪而言,这是一种利用影响力的新型犯罪。结合司法实践,其客观方面的规定还存在不完善的地方,需要通过立法和司法解释加以完善,以此最大限度地发挥利用影响力受贿罪的实践价值。