Lobbygruppen im politischen Wettbewerb: Die Auswirkungen des Konkurrenzkampfes unter Interessengruppen auf deren Lobbyverhalten

Lobby groups face direct competition from each other, yet the level of competition they face varies and depends on the political issue area they compete in. This article investigates the question, how these differing intensities of competition affect the lobbying behavior of interest organizations. Based on data stemming from a survey among Swiss and German interest groups, this article establishes that the intensity of competition among lobby groups positively influences both directly lobbying politicians (inside lobbying) but also exercising influence indirectly via the media and the public (outside lobbying). Yet it is also demonstrated that the inside lobbying benefits more strongly from higher competition levels, hence interest organizations look for ways to directly influence politicians first when they are faced with stiffer competition.     

Unregistered residents and registered crime: an estimate for asylum seekers and irregular migrants in Norway

The purpose of our study has been to better estimate the number and types of crimes committed by asylum seekers and irregular migrants. While data on immigration status for non-residents are lacking in Norwegian crime statistics, we use indirect identifiers (lack of a national ID number, citizenship, residency) to arrive at an estimate for persons with a pending asylum claim and the related group of irregular migrants (i.e. non-EU citizens). A very small amount of the total crimes registered with a known offender are committed by this group. However, these groups are most likely overrepresented as offenders compared to the registered resident population, also when taking age and gender into consideration. Our method is recommended in a field otherwise dominated by political arguments and as an alternative to registering asylum status in crime registers.     

信用证欺诈例外原则研究--从加拿大一起案例看我国司法实践中应注意的问题

为抑制信用证欺诈、维护诚实信用的国际贸易环境 ,信用证欺诈例外原则的运用需突破信用证的独立性 ,将信用证交易与基础合同交易联系起来考查。这是对信用证独立原则的例外。加拿大最高法院于 1 987年审结一起有关信用证欺诈例外原则的著名案例BankofNovaScodiaappellantv .Angelica -WhitewearLTD .andAngelicaCorpo rationRespondents,成功地总结了英美法国家处理信用证欺诈问题的立法、判例。本文从介绍该案入手 ,结合国际公约和现有立法、判例、法学理论 ,分析信用证欺诈例外原则确立的必要性及适用条件 ,以期为我国在新形势下完善有关信用证欺诈的立法、司法作理论上的探讨     

SCM协议中财税措施地区专向性特别规定初探——兼评美国对华反补贴调查的相关案例及我国的对策

SCM协议地区专向性标准条款中的财税措施特别规定具有经济合理性,并符合WTO的政治考虑。该特别规定认定“有资格”的地方各级政府所采取的“确定或者改变”在其辖区内“普遍适用”税率的补贴措施不具有SCM协议意义上的专向性。我国应充分利用该特别规定提供的政策空间,深化税制改革,协调地方政府地区补贴与SCM协议之间的关系。     

浅析农村集体资产流失的法律救济——兼论公益诉讼制度的设立

公益诉讼是目前法学界正在讨论的一个热点问题,其对维护社会公共利益具有极其重要的意义。农村集体资产流失也是一个影响农村发展和稳定的重大问题,但是从法学的角度对其进行研究和探讨的文章不多。笔者提出了通过建立公益诉讼制度救济农村集体资产流失的观点,希望能抛砖引玉。     

Testing the Hollowing-Out Thesis

In recent years, many economists have argued that governments are discarding pegged exchange rates in favor of alternative exchange rate regimes such as monetary unions and currency boards on the one hand, or floating exchange rates on the other. Capital mobility, such economists argue, has made pegged exchange rates costly to maintain for long periods, and thus the pegging option is being “hollowed-out.” Few, however, have tried to present evidence that capital mobility has a direct effect on exchange rate regime choices. I present two sets of tests using different measures of capital mobility that provide qualified confirmation that developing countries peg less as capital mobility rises. These tests indicate that direct measures of capital mobility have some correlation with de facto exchange rate regimes but not with de jure exchange rate regimes. Capital flows, a consequence of capital mobility, may have a direct effect on the choices of both de jure and de facto regimes. Governments do not make changes in their declared exchange rate policies in rational anticipation of the growing costs of pegging associated with increasing capital mobility. Rather, governments normally adapt their declared exchange rate policies after capital flows have increased and actual exchange rates have become more difficult to manage. The tests also indicate that hollowing-out has not only been the result of systemic factors such as increasing capital mobility and capital flows, but also due to domestic factors such as growing public sector indebtedness and the spread of democracy.     

Book Review: How Mediation Works: Theory,Research, and Practice by Stephen B. Goldberg,Jeanne M. Brett,Beatrice Blohorn‐Brenneur,With Nancy H. Rogers

This is a book review of How Mediation Works: Theory, Research, and Practice by Stephen B. Goldberg, Jeanne M. Brett, Beatrice Blohorn‐Brenneur, with Nancy H. Rogers. How Mediation Works is intended for a wide range of audiences: practicing mediators; aspiring mediators; those who may refer cases to mediation; participants in mediation, including parties and attorneys; managers who facilitate disputes; and those interested in mediation without a specific plan to engage in the practice (who the authors call “mediation learners”). The book is a well‐written, thoughtful, easy‐to‐read, organized, and concise overview of mediation practice. The book is divided into six chapters: (1) conflicts, disputes, and their resolution; (2) dispute resolution processes; (3) the roles of the mediator and the disputing parties at each step of the mediation process; (4) dealing with difficulties; (5) mediation and the law; and (6) suggestions for aspiring mediators. Though not an authority for family law mediation, the book provides many insightful observations and suggestions that would be instructive and helpful to any mediator or individual with an interest in mediation.     

Rape investigation and prosecution: Stuck in the mud?

Abstract

This paper evaluates the Stern Review of rape in the context of public responses to rape, in England and Wales. The piece is based on an anti-rape feminist approach and so weighs a woman-centred approach to rape responses against the mainstream justice model. Overall, the argument made is that nothing much is really changing in public responses to rape. The work outlines problems with the Stern contention that the conviction rates for rape need to be calculated differently, and takes issue with the claim that the “policies are right”. Stern's call for greater support for women who have been raped is welcomed, but the effectiveness of the review process itself is questioned. These discussions illustrate the process of attrition as it is variously understood by feminists and by Baroness Stern. It is suggested that reviews themselves may be little more than a dampener, brought in when claims for change create a need to be seen to be doing something. A preferred alternative might be some form of ongoing body, reviewing and challenging practice and policy; however, it is recognised that this could be difficult to achieve amid the current spending cuts. The paper then turns to evaluate trends in support for survivors and notes that the more “professional” models of the Sexual Assault Referral Centre and the Independent Sexual Violence Advisers have held sway for some time. However, under the new coalition, government funding is also being directed towards women-only Rape Crisis centres, and this move is warmly welcomed here. The work concludes that much does indeed remain the same, despite positive signs in terms of respect for this survivor-centred model.     

The 2001 British Election Study Internet Poll

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on the findings of the Internet component of the 2001 BES and compares them with those of the other BES pre-election surveys. Part 1 outlines the rationale that underpins the introduction of Internet polling as a supplement to more traditional methods of assessing mass public opinion. Part 2 describes the marginal distributions on the key dependent variable-the projected vote shares of the main political parties-of the three pre-election polls that were conducted using BES questionnaires. Intriguingly, the (unweighted) Internet-based poll provided a better guess of the actual vote shares in the subsequent election than either of the two conventional polls. Part 3 provides a more detailed comparison of the profiles of the face-to-face and Internet-based polls. It shows how the Internet poll, compared with the face-to-face poll, was skewed demographically towards the professional classes and politically towards the Conservative Party. Part 4 explores the extent to which the use of the Internet poll might result in spurious causal inferences being drawn about the sources of voting preferences in the 2001 UK election. A simple, direct-effects causal model is estimated using both the face-to-face probability sample data and the Internet survey data. The results suggest that, although the raw probability and Internet samples differ significantly, the relationships among the key variables do not differ significantly across the two samples. We conclude that Internet polling has an important part to play in gauging and analysing public opinion in future UK elections.     

On the Duration of Self-Employment: The Impact of Macroeconomic Conditions

The article examines the role of lending rates, imports and growth on the duration of self-employment in Zimbabwe while the country embarked on trade liberalisation. The variables were selected because of their importance as policy variables in reform programmes and also their importance to small entrepreneurs. Previous research has established the importance of an initial endowment and other measures of human capital on entry into self-employment as well as growth of the respective enterprises. We show that such initial conditions do not always give robust results. Instead, duration of self-employment is negatively related to higher lending rates, increased imports and structural change, but responds positively to growth.