Racial Bias in Case Processing: Does Victim Race Affect Police Clearance of Violent Crime Incidents?

Prior studies have illustrated racial differences in perceptions of police legitimacy. African‐Americans’ views, however, appear to be complex, shaped by perceptions of over‐enforcement of crimes committed by African‐American offenders coupled with under‐enforcement of crimes involving African‐American victims. Using data from the 2002 National Incident‐Based Reporting System, we examine whether victim race (alone, and in combination with offender race) affects police case clearance of four types of violent criminal incidents (homicide, aggravated assault, rape, and robbery) as a potential explanation of African‐Americans’ reduced levels of support for the police. Results suggest that the race of the victim, particularly in combination with the race of the offender, is related to police clearance of violent criminal incidents, but that this relationship is not as strong as those between agency, offense type, and situational characteristics of the incident. Implications for research and policy on police—community relations are discussed.     

民事诉讼模式正当性反思——一个实践哲学的视角

诉讼模式转换和变迁的研究提供了对诉讼结构分析的框架,成为民事诉讼理论发展的一个重要基础和前提。但模式应是对诉讼经验和诉讼过程的分类与比较考察,不应前置为可以建构的理论目标和对司法发展的预期,从而架构性的按照单一司法理念来对诉讼模式进行设计。当下民事诉讼的理论发展应超越模式分析的类型学划分,避免诉讼模式的刻意的选择和设计,着重关注司法过程中的主要矛盾、矛盾的主要方面及其现实转化,超越在模式框架下的狭隘的理论建构,从实践合理性的角度完善诉讼结构,形成以实践理性为主导而不是权力话语主导的司法运作格局。     

THE MEANING OF DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE

Prevailing paradigms of macro‐economic management and levels and distributions of poverty in some rich countries suggest that economic and strategic self‐interest rather than poverty reduction in poor countries are likely to be the primary objectives of much development assistance. The incommensurability of the paradigms of development discourse makes it unlikely that strongly held ideologically based positions on these matters will change quickly or easily. Moreover, non‐altruistic positions can be maintained more readily by virtue of the loose construction of international declarations such as the Paris Declaration. Based on different interpretations of the Paris Declaration, empirical evidence from Cambodia and Indonesia of donor opportunism that is designed to maximise aid control and aid distinctiveness for non‐altruistic purposes is presented. Recent sharp declines in donor legitimacy have made this more difficult to do, but even so, there have been no concomitant reductions in donor self‐assurance concerning their exclusive possession of the moral and technical high ground. Such behaviour is, however, increasingly resented particularly by government officials in lower middle‐income countries like Indonesia. Resulting relationships lack trust and are therefore unlikely to contribute optimally either to the realisation of non‐altruistic purposes or to poverty reduction. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Official apologies,reconciliation, and settler colonialism: Australian indigenous alterity and political agency

The burgeoning literature on transitional justice, truth commissions, reconciliation and official apologies tends to ignore the conditions of settler states in which ‘reconciliation’ needs to take account of indigenous minorities. The settler colonialism literature is worth including in the general discussion because it is exceptionally reflective about political theory (the constitutional recognition of indigenous rights) and ethnogenesis (the origin and viability of both settler and indigenous identities), challenging mainstream liberalism, in particular, to account for difference beyond platitudes about multiculturalism. This article highlights the postcolonial critiques of the Australian governments' apology to the indigenous peoples of the country. The authors of these critiques seek to protect indigenous alterity from the Australian state, which they regard as irredeemably colonialist, especially in its liberal and progressive mode. The article suggests that Indigenous political agency transcends the resistance/co-option dichotomy presented in much of the apology's commentary.     

Edem v. The Information Commissioner and The Financial Services Authority [2014] EWCA Civ 92

From time to time the Court of Appeal feels the need to steer inferior courts and tribunals away from an over-enthusiastic application of a particular direction of travel signposted by its own previous decisions. In the Edem judgment, published on 7 February 2014, the court has taken the opportunity to restrict significantly the application of its decision more than a decade ago in Durant v. Financial Services Authority, ¹ a case that has been relied on by many commercial data protection practitioners to deny subject access or the wider application of the Data Protection Act 1998 on the grounds that the data were not personal in that they did not relate to the individual in question even though the individual's name appeared as part of the data.     

The European Union Faced With the Challenges of Food Safety： Solutions Proposed in the Framework of the Common Agricultural Policy （CAP） and Strategies of the Actors Concerned

Within the framework of Common Agricultural Policy （CAP）, how has the European Union （EU） responded to new challenges emerging at the end of the last century？ The overall picture shows that the process of improving health conditions includes various players. The overall objectives of the CAP are specified in Article 39 of the Treaty of Rome： to increase agricultural productivity and ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural community. The word ＂security＂ here refers to the stability of supply. The first major reform came in 1992, linked to the Uruguay Round Cycle of initial responses to consumes expectations regarding food safety and the prevention of health risks. The centrepiece of EU food policy, European Food Safety Authority （EFSA） is consumed with all maters effecting food safety, nutrition, animal health and welfare, and plant health. The controversy around the need for reforms and their implementation has featured prominently in the public debate. The paper analyzes these debates by drawing on scientific studies carried out by multidisciplinary laboratories.     

房产税改革正当性的五维建构

房产税改革是当前我国财税体制改革中的焦点、重点和难点,其正当性建构必须得到重视。在现行法律框架下,有关土地公有制和双重征税的质疑能够化解,存量房产具有可税性。房产税改革的正当性可分解为五个维度:一是征税正当,应以完善财产税制为直接目的,组织收入的功能则需经由整体性的税费结构调整来渐进地实现。二是定税正当,应以税负适度为核心,合理确定计税依据、税率及税收优惠。三是管税正当,应完善房产评估等配套制度,建立以纳税申报为主体的新型征纳模式。四是用税正当,应强化地方财政支出的公共性,形成地方财政收支健康运转的良性循环。五是程序正当,应以制定房产税法的形式推进改革,通过改革路径的法治化和可参与化来增强其民意基础。     

制度认同与政治合法性

在现代社会,政府与公民、公民与公民之间的一切关系都以非人格化的制度为中介,作为政治权力具体表征的各项法律和政策能否获得社会认同,就成为政治合法性的基本判准.制度认同不是盲目的,也不是被迫的,而是建基于认知性期待与规范性期待统一之上的实践证成过程.一切影响和制约人们对制度的认知性期待形成、制度实施效果的因素以及影响每个人规范性期待形成的公民素质,都会对制度认同的形成产生影响,并规定着制度认同建构的可能路径.     

Predicting public support for the use of license plate recognition technology by police

The use of license plate recognition technology (LPR) by police is becoming increasingly common. LPR may be used for many purposes, ranging from stolen vehicle enforcement to more complex surveillance and predictive functions. Existing research does not examine community support for this technology, despite its potential to impact police legitimacy. Results from the first community LPR survey are presented and multinomial logistic regression models of citizen support for the technology are developed. Regression results suggest that a number of factors significantly predict citizen support for LPR use, including increased trust in police and the belief that LPR information is public information.     

Which decision‐making arrangements generate the strongest legitimacy beliefs? Evidence from a randomised field experiment

How can democracies satisfy citizens' demands for legitimate decision making? This article reports findings from a randomised field experiment designed to mimic decision making in large‐scale democracies. Natural collectives of individuals with a shared history and future (high school classes) were studied. They were asked to make a decision about how to spend a sum of money under arrangements imposed by the researchers and distributed randomly across classes. Within this setting, empirical support for three ideas about legitimacy enhancing decision‐making arrangements is tested: participatory constitution‐making; personal involvement in the decision‐making process; and fairness in the implementation of arrangements. Throughout the analyses it was found that personal involvement is the main factor generating legitimacy beliefs.