State-sponsored development,oil and democratization

This study seeks to examine the relationship between natural resource revenues, most notably oil-generated wealth, and democratization. I show that the prevalent theoretical framework fails to explain the variation in rentier states' level of democracy. The empirical evidence from the fixed-effects regression models for the 1972–1999 period poses a challenge to the currently prevalent ‘resource curse’ hypothesis and suggests the possibility of a positive relationship between oil wealth and democratization.     

Do new democracies deliver social welfare? Political regimes and health policy in Ghana and Cameroon

Democratic reform processes often go hand in hand with expectations of social welfare improvements. While the connection between the emergence of democracy and the development of welfare states in the West has been the object of several studies, however, there is a scant empirical literature on the effects of recent democratization processes on welfare policies in developing countries. This is particularly true for Africa. In a dramatically poor environment, Africans often anticipated that the democratic reforms many sub-Saharan states undertook during the early 1990s would deliver welfare dividends. This article investigates whether and how the advent of democracy affected social policies – focusing, in particular, on health policy – by examining one of the continent's most successful cases of recent democratization (Ghana) and comparing it with developments in a country of enduring authoritarian rule (Cameroon). Evidence shows that democracy can indeed be instrumental to the expansion and strengthening of social policies. In Ghana, new participatory and competitive pressures pushed the government towards devising and adopting an ambitious health reform. Despite façade elections, no similar pressures could be detected in undemocratic Cameroon and health policy remained almost entirely dictated by foreign donors.     

The primacy of political security: contentious politics and insecurity in the Tunisian revolution

The removal of Ben Ali's regime in Tunisia signalled the start of the Arab Spring. The abrupt nature of the regime change raises questions about why it happened in the way it did. This article examines the contextual factors that precipitated the regime change through the lens of political security. The aim is to examine how political insecurity in society led to the emergence of opposition sufficiently organized to unseat Ben Ali. The paper develops a framework to consider how the loss of legitimacy by the regime opened the space for opposition. Attempts to restrict opposition failed to address underlying claims, leaving the way open for the opposition to unite following the self-immolation of Mohammed Bouazizi.     

Open-source intelligence and privacy by design

As demonstrated by other papers on this issue, open-source intelligence (OSINT) by state authorities poses challenges for privacy protection and intellectual-property enforcement. A possible strategy to address these challenges is to adapt the design of OSINT tools to embed normative requirements, in particular legal requirements. The experience of the VIRTUOSO platform will be used to illustrate this strategy. Ideally, the technical development process of OSINT tools is combined with legal and ethical safeguards in such a way that the resulting products have a legally compliant design, are acceptable within society (social embedding), and at the same time meet in a sufficiently flexible way the varying requirements of different end-user groups. This paper uses the analytic framework of privacy design strategies (minimise, separate, aggregate, hide, inform, control, enforce, and demonstrate), arguing that two approaches for embedding legal compliance seem promising to explore in particular. One approach is the concept of revocable privacy with spread responsibility. The other approach uses a policy mark-up language to define Enterprise Privacy Policies, which determine appropriate data handling.     

Privacy by design and anonymisation techniques in action: Case study of Match technology

Privacy by Design is now enjoying widespread acceptance. The EU has recently expressly included it as one of the key principles in the revised data protection legal framework. But how does Privacy by design and data anonymisation work in practise? In this article the authors address this question from a practical point of view by analysing a case study on EU Financial Intelligence Units (“FIUs”) using the Ma³tch technology as additional feature to the existing exchange of information via FIU.NET decentralised computer network. They present, analyse, and evaluate Ma³tch technology from the perspective of personal data protection. The authors conclude that Ma³tch technology can be seen as a valuable example of Privacy by Design. It achieves data anonymisation and enhances data minimisation and data security, which are the fundamental elements of Privacy by Design. Therefore, it may not only improve the exchange of information among FIUs and allow for the data processing to be in line with applicable data protection requirements, but it may also substantially contribute to the protection of privacy of related data subjects. At the same time, the case study clearly shows that Privacy by Design needs to be supported and complemented by appropriate organisational and technical procedures to assure that the technology solutions devised to protect privacy would in fact do so.     

防卫意图是正当防卫理论的短板

正当防卫理论中的防卫意图,对于认定防卫人的行为是否成立正当防卫以及认定防卫过当行为的性质具有重要意义。然而,防卫意图这个主观要件已经成为正当防卫理论中的薄弱环节,司法实践也长期忽视防卫意图的评价功能。防卫意图不要说具有重大缺陷,在认定行为人的行为是否成立正当防卫时,仍应将防卫意图作为必不可少的构成要件。应将防卫意图理解为对意志因素的表达,即指行为人主观上制止不法侵害的愿望或追求。当防卫人制止不法侵害的行为明显超过必要限度时,若防卫人对此有明确认识,则不成立防卫过当,应以故意犯罪认定;反之,成立防卫过当。正当防卫意图的本质决定了防卫过当的行为属性是过失犯罪而非故意犯罪。     

国家综合配套改革试验区的实践探索与发展趋势

近几年,为适应改革开放新形势的需要,国家推动了综合配套改革试验区建设,赋予其落实科学发展观、体制创新、探索新发展模式、提升区域竞争力以及建设和谐社会的历史使命。从目前已经推行综合配套改革的几个试点城市来看,改革方案的内容及举措均体现出鲜明的时代和区域特色,尤其是与以往经济特区模式相比具有较大的差异。在当前区域竞争日益激烈的情况下,能否利用自己的特色和优势,推进体制创新,掌握改革主动权,将决定一个城市或地区在未来竞争格局中的位置。获准设立国家综合配套改革试验区,对于一个城市或地区来说,无疑相当于获得一次体制创新、再创业和腾飞的机会。这也正是各地在申报建立国家综合配套改革试验区上竞争激烈的原因所在。     

同构原理视域下的法治理念与公安执法关系研究

法治理念是依法治国的观念基础,公安执法是实现依法治国的重要途径。基于共同的价值追求,两者在对法律、权力、权利和程序的认知方面具有高度一致性,因而具有同构关系。从理论上论证两者之间的同构关系,分析其交互功能价值,对未来我国法治建设和公安执法规范化建设具有理论指导意义。     

Cross-border metropolitan governance: the multi-faceted state power

Metropolitan regions have become one of the most appropriate scales to define efficient governance networks for economic and territorial development. The state still is the key actor of these partnerships. Yet the question remains whether cross-border metropolitan regions represent a new point of reference that puts state power in question or whether they only reorganize it. The centrality of state power will be examined by looking at two networks of actors (public transport and territorial marketing) working at the Eurometropolis Lille–Kortrijk–Tournai. The results reveal that a triple-faceted state power has emerged to define and organize cross-border metropolitan management.