Whither the state? Mining codes and mineral resource governance in Africa

In contrast to the early post-independence era in which African states predominantly controlled the mining sector, the 1980s saw African countries update their mining codes to attract foreign capital. These reform measures largely diminished the power of the state, either resulting in its “selective silence” or its retraction. However, after three waves of these reforms, the disparity between natural resources and sustainable development has continued to widen. Two theories offer a nuanced approach to understanding the state of flux of mining codes and mineral governance in Africa: governance theory and the developmental state theory. This article argues that the activist, interventionist state is making a comeback in mineral resource governance throughout Africa. Moreover, regional initiatives such as the African Mining Vision represent a fundamental departure in mineral governance. However, such initiatives will only bring development to the extent that they are owned by African governments and backed by local communities.     

Updating International Law Enforcement Ethics: International Codes of Conduct

For any profession, establishing codes of ethics that are both practically relevant and up to date is an ongoing challenge. Law enforcement is no exception to this as agencies are faced with an evolving modern environment. With changes in technology, types of policing, and sources of societal conflict there is a potential array of new or evolving ethical considerations that confront the profession. Attempts to distill and prescribe law enforcement ethics at the international level have resulted in the creation of the “Law Enforcement Code of Conduct” of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the “Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials” of the United Nations (U.N.). However, both these codes were created decades ago, so they do not cover some of the more contemporary ethical issues that have arisen. This article compares the content of the IACP and UN codes and identifies a range of ethical issues either absent or insufficiently addressed. Normative themes and issues are organized around the following topics: difficulties in applying the codes, human rights and the use of force, misconduct and integrity, and enforcement and accountability.     

Who ‘Owns’ the Streets? Ritual Performances of Respect and Authority in Interactions Between Young Men and Police Officers

Joining insights from the work of Richard Sennett and Erving Goffman, I probe the power relations which underlie the performances and negotiations of respect and authority in interactions between young men and police officers. Two cultures or codes of conduct most often clash in these confrontations, which interestingly enough bear some key similarities. The officers from the local police office that I observed attempted to avoid unnecessarily engaging youths in confrontations and thereby evaded contests of face. Their assignment in the field was to make their presence felt in the area they were patrolling and to bring the youth to an understanding that they were sharing this territory with them. The officers from the ‘street peace group’ had a different agenda and sought out confrontations with youths and thereby engaged them in public show‐downs over face. Their assignment in the field was to bring respect among the youth for the authority of the police, that is, to force a submission to their authority, and this is most readily accomplished through contests of face—contests in which they had the upper hand and through which they demonstrated time and again that they (the police authorities) controlled the streets (at least momentarily).     

侦查行为的伦理底限——“张氏叔侄案”引发的思考

努力让群众在每个司法案件中感受到公平正义,是习近平总书记在2013年中共中央政治局第四次集体学习时对司法机关提出的工作要求,也是全面规范和改进侦查行为的重要目标。然而,诸如张氏叔侄案中不合法甚至不合理的侦查行为不仅不能使民众感受到公平正义,而且还会加速社会信用体系的崩溃和社会道德的沦丧。我们应坚持不违法秩之形成、不违正义之实现、不违人权之基准和不伤害等原则,重新审视一些侦查行为,从而构建理性、平和、文明、规范的伦理评价体系,以增强民众司法公信力。     

Techniques to Enhance the Transmission of Quality Programs by Private Television Channels in Europe

Over the last years there has been a change in the structure of the European television market. The dominant private television stations as well as new forms of electronic communication, like cable television and Internet, have established a new role in communications. The question is whether private television channels can draw up a quality program in this role.The two standard approaches in Europe, namely, regulating intervention and free competition, do not suffice to provide an answer. For this reason, the present study aims to analyze two alternate tools for the exertion of policy, that is, the creation of incentives and the self-regulation of media organizations, in the hope that answers will be provided as to what ways the European private television can employ in order, on the one hand, to be financially effective and, on the other, to have a quality program.     

论加强我国公务员职业道德建设的基本路径

公务员职业道德建设是完善我国公务员制度需要关注的重要方面。加强公务员职业道德建设，必须坚持我国公务员制度的基本特征，按照突出社会主义核心价值体系、加强党的宗旨教育和贯彻《中华人民共和国公务员法》等路径稳步持久地推进。     

European capitalism and the effects of agricultural commercialization on slave labor in Tunisia, 1780s–1880s

Abstract

The paper argues that while the significance of Tunisian state economic and political reforms during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries has reflected the changing patterns of the caravan slave trade in previous research, much of this research has not considered the role of slaves in the emergent Tunisian economy. Nowhere is this negligence more apparent than in the agricultural sector, which was predominantly responsible for strengthening economic growth from the late eighteenth century until its weakening as a result of encroaching European capitalism by the mid-nineteenth century. Drawing on Tunisian state population data known as the Majba Census and the extant economic literature, the paper addresses this gap by exploring the implications of the Tunisian state economic reforms on enslaved labor in the agricultural sector. Exploring this research gap will enable us to ascertain the extent to which enslaved labor contributed to Tunisia’s burgeoning agricultural sector in a manner that has dodged academics’ attention. After providing a historical context of European capital penetration and its implications on political and economic reforms from the Ottoman conquest through the Husaynid periods, the paper looks at how European capital infusion after the first quarter of the nineteenth century transformed the agricultural sector and examines the role of slave labor prior to the European capital infusion and commercialization of the agricultural sector. Using the Majba Census records’ regional distribution of blacks in the Regency the paper sheds light on the implications of the precarious economy engendered by agricultural commercialization under the aegis of European capitalism on the structure of enslaved labor.     

公司人格机理与公司救济体制之重构

基于"共同行为"的法理,公司法律责任制度在责任的宗旨、责任的特质、责任的追究机制等诸方面均与传统的民事责任存有本质上的区别。受"民商合一"体制的制约,我国现行公司立法不存在独立的公司法律责任及公司诉讼制度。为更好地保护公司的利益,我国应构建区别于传统的民事责任之外的、独立的公司法律责任与公司诉讼     

A Comparative Approach to Civil Service Ethics in Estonia,Latvia and Lithuania

Ethics management is a rather new topic in public administration literature. The authors compare civil service ethics in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. By comparing statistical data, they describe models of civil service and features in civil service, analyze institutional arrangements and legislative frameworks and explore predominant values among Baltic civil servants. While there are some common features in the ethical management of all three countries, the authors conclude that the implementation of ethical management principles differs due to differences in the civil service systems.     

When Formal Sanctions Encourage Violent Offending: How Violent Peers and Violent Codes Undermine Deterrence

Research focusing on deterrence has stressed the negative relationship between perceived formal sanctions and criminal behavior, ignoring the possibility that in some populations formal sanctions may serve to increase offending under some conditions. Utilizing a sample of 300 homeless street youths, the study explores if violent peers, violent values, and the culture of the street moderates the association between perceived legal sanctions and violent offending. The results suggest that violent peers, violent values, and the culture of the street condition the perceived certainty of punishment so that it leads to higher levels of violence. Further, the culture of the street conditions the relationship between perceived severity of punishment and violence. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.