Hidden corporate profits in the U.S. prison system: the unorthodox policy-making of the American Legislative Exchange Council

Using a leaked document trove containing 800 model bills, we analyze the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) hidden corporate profit making in the prison–industrial complex. We find that ALEC seeks to expand the private prison industry in three ways: (1) promoting greater use of private prisons, goods, and services, (2) promoting greater use of prison labor, and (3) increasing the size of the prison population. ALEC’s efforts to increase the prison population by expanding definitions of existing crime, creating new crimes, enhancing enforcement of existing crimes, amending the trial process to increase the likelihood of incarceration, and lengthening prison sentences for crimes pose a threat to civil liberties. ALEC’s unorthodox policy approach exemplifies John Gaventa’s theory that powerful interests maintain their power by creating conditions in which citizens are not able to identify and advocate on behalf of their interests.     

The impact of family indifference on delinquency among American Indian youth: A test of general strain theory

Native American (NA) youth's delinquency is one of the major problems that have been overlooked by criminal justice researchers and practitioners. To examine if negative family environment influences their delinquency with the mediating effect of negative emotion, this study analyzed structural equation modeling based on the General Strain Theory (GST). Using data regarding NA adolescents, this study found much evidence supporting GST. The results of the model with anger showed that anger was a mediating variable between family indifferences and delinquency, and the model with depression indicated that family indifferences increased delinquency through depression. However, some results in the model with anger and depression were not in accordance with GST hypothesis.     

国际金融安全治理中的金砖路径

随着世界经济发展格局与国际政治权力结构之间的错位日益严重,在"新兴国家"的共同身份与追求金融安全保障的共同利益的双重基础上,金砖机制以国家组合的形式积极参与国际金融安全治理,向当前西方主导的金融安全治理格局发起了强有力的冲击。在全球层次,金砖国家以二十国集团、国际货币基金组织等国际多边组织机构为框架参与国际金融安全治理并谋求更高的权力地位;在区域层次,金砖国家成立了金砖国家新开发银行、构建金砖外汇储备库等新的金融机构和金融机制以深化成员国内部的金融安全合作;在双边层次,金砖国家通过本币互换等形式提升货币安全。金砖国家金融安全治理合作的顺利开展,需要一个更有效的国际机制作为保障。然而,金砖机制中存在着成员特质差异、政治嫌隙明显、议题实施艰难、国际风险巨大等诸多障碍,使其在内部难以避免制度性缺陷,在外部难以保障金融安全,这就需要金砖国家采取更加积极的作为加以克服。作为金砖机制的主导国,中国一方面在经济外交新发展的历史阶段,需要借助金砖平台以展示实力、阐明诉求;另一方面,中国也能为构建治理水平更高的金砖金融机制做出贡献。     

美国电子商务法评析

美国各地及企业集团的利益之争 ,是美国目前电子商务立法分歧的重要原因 ,而立法的统一化 ,则是其电子商务法的必然趋势 ,无论是通过联邦立法 ,还是走统一州法的道路。在借鉴美国电子商务法的经验方面加州的技术中立原则和尤他州的政府干预方法 ,值得参考。     

美国宪法的政治解释

从政治因素入手剖析1787年美国宪法制订的历程,能够从本质上揭示独立后的美国联邦政府渴求联邦宪法的深层原因。尽管制宪会议争论非常激烈,方案的分歧也很明显,但克服联邦内部混乱,消除各自为政的政治局面,建立一种新的政治制度,确保国家政治稳定,成为制订联邦宪法的根本目的。     

冷战时期美国的军事战略与军事思想

冷战时期,美国形成了为其全球战略服务的各种军事战略,包括"遏制战略"和各种核威慑战略,如大规模报复战略、灵活反应战略、限制损伤战略、确保摧毁战略、现实威慑战略、总体威慑战略、有限核威慑战略和新的灵活反应战略。与此相适应,军事思想也发生了很大的变化,强调"空军第一"、"争夺制海权"、"质量建军",并形成了新的作战思想。这些战略和军事思想使美国赢得了冷战的胜利,但是也产生了许多问题。     

Political imperatives and military preparations: New insights into why South Africa’s 1998 intervention in Lesotho went awry

In September 1998 South African troops crossed into Lesotho to restore stability to the small mountain kingdom that had been roiled by protests for months. Operation Boleas encountered heavy resistance – in the ensuing chaos dozens died and the towns of Maseru, Mohale’s Hoek and Mafeteng were damaged. Media and scholarly commentary on the intervention was scathing, but in the rush to judge there has been insufficient effort to chronicle and clarify. This article uses declassified archival records and interviews with policy makers to provide a more exhaustive explanation of how the Mandela Administration decided on the deployment of troops into Lesotho. It focuses on the difficulty South African officials had in aligning their political objectives with the military exigencies of the rapidly changing crisis. This re-examination of the Lesotho intervention rectifies historical inaccuracies while also identifying potential problems that policy makers should be conscious of when considering future peace missions.     

The political economy of infrastructure development in Africa: an assessment of the NEPAD Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative (PICI)

Using a political economy approach, this article examines the factors that cause high-profile political leaders on the African continent to champion particular regional infrastructure projects within the framework of the Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative (PICI). It also analyses the extent to which the presence of high-stature political champions enhances the prospects for project implementation. The paper argues that the economic and integrative potential of regional infrastructure projects, alongside the presence of high-stature political champions, do not necessarily guarantee implementation. Rather, it is the interplay of diverse economic, institutional and political factors and interests that determines the successful implementation, or otherwise, of the various championed infrastructure projects.     

Hydro-politics and hydro-power: the century-long saga of the Inga project

The proposal to build the world’s largest hydro-power project on the Congo River is a century old. This article argues that the Grand Inga project could become the political, diplomatic, and economic driver to deepening integration between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other African countries. The Inga delays were not without benefits. Twenty-first century sensibilities ensure revision of the proposed mega-project to minimize both ecological and social harm. While colonial-era projects were configured to maximize benefits to imperialist, settler, and corporate interests, independence and democratization are the prerequisites to facilitate the broadest possible distribution of the benefits of electrification. Since some of the countries involved have hybrid regimes, further democratization, and civil society lobbying, will be necessary to mitigate the downside of its ecological and social impacts.     

The global,the local and the hybrid in the making of Johannesburg as a world class African city

In 2000 the city of Johannesburg adopted the vision of becoming a World Class African City (WCAC). Since then Johannesburg has been energetically promoted in accordance with this vision. The tagline ‘world-class African city’ is now used in the branding of the city. It has become a major signifier on its logo and a notable catchphrase in its radio adverts of its brand. However, the nested opposition of the ‘world-class’ and ‘African’ discourse has not been explicitly defined in the vision beyond their simplistic connection. Many people have found the vision puzzling and some have questioned its claims. This paper explores the conundrum that lies in the nested opposition of the ‘world-class’ and ‘African’ discursive currents. It identifies the ‘global’ and ‘local’ discursive forces (in the country) which were formative in the creation of the vision. It looks at how the intersection of global and African discursive fronts has become leverage for generating hybrid cultural/cosmopolitan identities. The thrust of the paper is that the urban practices and landscapes of post-apartheid Johannesburg are enacted and re-enacted together with the inspiration, signification and/or representation of the city vision.