A Comparative Study of Children and Adult Homicide Rates in the USA and the Major Western Countries 1974–1999: Grounds for Concern?

The aim of this study is to examine the changing patterns of child homicide in the USA and the other 9 major Western countries between 1974 and 1999. On the basis of standardized WHO mortality data, 5-year mean rates of Baby (<1 year), Infant (1–4), Child (5–14), and General Population Rates for Homicide (GPRH) were analyzed for 1974–78 and 1995–99 for the USA and major Western countries. The analysis provided ratios of change for children's homicide between 1974 and 1999 and ratio of ratios between adult' and children's homicide. Over the period USA male Baby homicide rose by 78% and Females 44% with a combined rise in All Children [0–14] homicides of 45%, within the context of a declining adult GPRH. In the 1970s, 3 major Western countries had either higher or similar children's homicide rates to the USA, but by the late 1990s none did. Moreover, between 1974 and 1999, the USA had the biggest rise in Baby (<1) and All Children's deaths, and only France had substantial increases, whereas Baby homicide rates fell significantly in 6 other countries. The findings indicate a worrying deterioration in U.S. child homicides. Possible links with child abuse and explanations for the results are briefly discussed. Urgent case-specific research is required to determine the cause/s for and how to reverse the worsening child homicide situation in the USA.     

比较文学学科的"死亡"与"再生"

传统意义上的比较文学学科在经历了多次"危机"之后其衰落之趋势是无可挽回的,但这种衰落恰恰为其"再生"奠定了内在的基础,此也即比较文学学科内部的反拨.在这方面,包括中国学者在内的东方和第三世界学者将对一门新的比较文学学科的"再生"有所作为.比较文学的最高境界是世界文学阶段.那种为比较而比较的牵强比附式的"比较文学"确实应该死亡,而一种新的融入了文化研究和世界文学成分的比较文学学科将在这其中获得再生.     

纯粹中国美学话语:何以可能

在比较语境下研究中国美学话语,由于存在着中西两种话语本质的相异,西方话语只能转换为其所蕴涵的方法,以便于发明中国问题。其学术理念可以表述为:借助于西方方法之发明,以中国话语来表述中国问题,并最终形成中国方法,而不脱比较语境。据此可以对中国美学话语重建中存在的如何处置西方方法和话语的问题做出回应。     

中外秘密侦查法律制度比较研究

秘密侦查在打击犯罪方面发挥着极为重要的作用,但又存在着一定的侵害性。为了防止警方滥用秘密侦查权,不少英美法系和大陆法系国家都通过立法或判例形式对秘密侦查措施的运用给予了较为严格的规范。而在我国,相关法律制度并不完善。为了规范秘密侦查措施的运用,必须综观全局,以构筑合理、公正的诉讼体制目标为导引,以建立抑制权力的人权保障制度为直接手段,并努力营造有利于秘密侦查规范化实现的制度氛围。     

A Comparison of State Traditions and the Revival of a Nuclear Power in Four Countries

Abstract

The British, American, French and Finnish governments are seeking to promote investment in a new generation of nuclear power plants. Nuclear power programmes are delivered through networks of international companies through which government must manage. This is consistent with the concept of governance. Governments can advance their policy goals by using a variety of policy instruments to shape and organize governance networks. This is known as metagovernance. The paper considers the extent to which the selection and deployment of the policy instruments used to metagovern is informed by the prevailing tradition of government. The paper examines how the British, American, French and Finnish governments have tried to metagovern. It is shown that whilst governing traditions do inform the selection and deployment of the policy instruments used to metagovern, the composition of the network, and the nature of the policy problem also plays a role in shaping government action.     

Indian Federalism and Democracy: The Growing Salience of Diversity-claims Over Equality-claims in Comparative and Indian Perspective

This article introduces a conceptual distinction between diversity-claims and equality-claims in order to reflect critically on the relation between federalism and democracy in India, which is not adequately problematized and somewhat neglected. Federalism and democracy suggest two different problematics, but in India democracy has often played second fiddle to the claims of diversity. As a result, India's success as a federation has not been paralleled by its record as a democracy in terms of its equality functions. Since the article engages with the issue of accommodation of diversity in the wake of federation-building, and the relation between federalism and democracy, critical references are made to the relevant theoretical literature in order to point out federalism's new problematic and its pitfalls. With the Indian case as a major illustration, it is shown here that the institutional arrangements and governing practices have overwhelmingly been given priority to meet the claims of diversity to the relative neglect of equality-claims.     

Comparative Analysis of Sweden’s Wind Energy Policy: The Evolution of “Coordinated” Networks

Abstract

In search of an appropriate institutional structure for successful environmental policy, many researchers focus on network governance. And while it provides the flexibility and adaptability needed for climate change initiatives, the paper argues that many networks collaborate too loosely to have the capacity to reach strategic goals or mobilize local players. There is often a disconnect between national policy goals and on-the-ground dynamics. Instead, government should adopt a network perspective which does not eliminate state action, but involves network management institutions at arm’s length of government. As an example for this mode of network governance, the research looks at the Swedish “National Network for Wind Power”, which was initiated by government and is now led by four wind coordinators managing the development of on- and off-shore wind electricity. The paper compares Swedish performance before and after the introduction of the wind network and shows how these government efforts have transformed Sweden from a weak performer to being a frontrunner in Europe.     

Stern Review 2.0? The Report of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate

Eight years after the launch of the Stern Review of the economics of climate change, a new major report on economic growth and climate change (Better Growth, Better Climate) has been published by a Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, chaired by Nicholas Stern. While this comprehensive review of recent evidence has some overlap with the original Stern Review, it focuses more on the short‐term costs and benefits of action needed to reduce carbon emissions in specific parts of the economy such as cities, energy and agriculture. Perhaps the most noted conclusion of the report is that policies which governments should be pursuing anyway, because they will reduce pollution, improve health, raise productivity and reduce congestion, will cut carbon emission by between 50 and 90 per cent of what is needed to get to a 2°C pathway. This is an important report that will have considerable influence, although it has had lower public visibility than the original Stern Review. However, it also points to the need for a better understanding of the politics of climate policy, and why the opportunities to adopt policies that have multiple long‐term public benefits do not get taken. While Better Growth, Better Climate does have a chapter on the political economy of change, the analysis is limited, and could be deepened by bringing in the growing literature on the politics of climate policy.     

Nations or Sectors in the Age of Globalization: China's Policy Toward Foreign Direct Investment in Telecommunications

Scholars debate whether states or markets drive economic policy in the context of internationalization. Unpacking the market–state dichotomy, liberal pluralists and institutionalists alike conduct sectoral analysis to examine economic policies and outcomes. They debate the relative importance of sectors versus factors and the impact of sectoral coalitions, structural characteristics, and institutional trajectories. Building on previous scholarship, this article argues that state imperatives, such as national security and technological advancement, are an important guide to understanding dominant patterns of economic policy, defined as state goals, government–business relations, and state methods. Beyond that, the organization of institutions and structural sectoral attributes influence the ways in which actual policy outcomes vary across sectors and time. Case studies of the liberalization and subsequent reregulation of foreign direct investment across subsectors of telecommunications in China substantiate this argument. Evidence from other industries further validates this explanatory model.