Authoritarian legality and informal practices: Judges, lawyers and the state in Russia and China

To participate in the global economy authoritarian states are pressed to offer international business a legal order that protects the interests of investors, customers, and sellers, but the creation of a modern legal order threatens to undermine the leaders’ control of public life. An increasingly common way to resolve this dilemma, I argue, is developing formal legal institutions that appear to meet world standards, while using informal practices to maintain control over the administration of justice when needed. In this paper I show how the governments of post-Soviet Russia (with its hybrid or competitive authoritarian regime) and the fully authoritarian People’s Republic of China as well, have used this approach in their relations with judges and defense lawyers in their respective countries. The analysis underscores the utility of investigating informal practices along with the reform of formal legal institutions, especially in the context of transition.     

Fighting corruption in public procurement in post-communist states: Obstacles and solutions

Anti-corruption efforts in Europe’s post-communist states have been less successful than anticipated. Criticism has been raised against the role of the international community in promoting anti-corruption programmes. Besides, such programmes have been deemed vague and “all-inclusive”. They have largely failed to address local factors “informing” corrupt behaviour in post-communist states, such as (a) negative perceptions of law, and (b) informal practice.‘ I'd be grateful if you could retain the original sentence as it is more precise.     

论民事行为无效

在我国民法上无效民事行为的范围越来越窄,体现了我国民法理论的进步发展。民事行为自始绝对无效原因应当以民事行为违反国家利益、社会公共利益为限。违犯法律、行政法规强制性规定的民事行为并不当然无效。需要根据规范的目的来区分强行性规范的类型。民事行为只有违犯效力性禁止性规范的才会导致自始绝对无效。民事行为无效后,原则上要使当事人的财产状况恢复到民事行为开始之前的状态,因此会产生返还财产、赔偿损失的法律后果。     

Profiling the mobile customer – Is industry self-regulation adequate to protect consumer privacy when behavioural advertisers target mobile phones? – Part II

Mobile customers are increasingly being tracked and profiled by behavioural advertisers to enhance delivery of personalized advertising. This type of profiling relies on automated processes that mine databases containing personally-identifying or anonymous consumer data, and it raises a host of significant concerns about privacy and data protection. This second article in a two part series on “Profiling the Mobile Customer” explores how to best protect consumers’ privacy and personal data through available mechanisms that include industry self-regulation, privacy-enhancing technologies and legislative reform.¹ It discusses how well privacy and personal data concerns related to consumer profiling are addressed by two leading industry self-regulatory codes from the UK and the U.S. that aim to establish fair information practices for behavioural advertising by their member companies. It also discusses the current limitations of using technology to protect consumers from privacy abuses related to profiling. Concluding that industry self-regulation and available privacy-enhancing technologies will not be adequate to close important privacy gaps related to consumer profiling without legislative reform, it offers suggestions for EU and U.S. regulators about how to do this.²     

我国妇女农地权利法律制度运作的实证研究与完善路径

在我国,保护农村妇女土地权益具有重要意义,但调查研究表明,农村妇女土地权益频受侵害,土地承包经营权并未得到充分的保障。造成这种状况的主要原因:一是我国立法上对"男娶女嫁"婚嫁方式可能损害妇女土地权利的认识不足;二是法律、政策的相关规定互相矛盾;三是立法上对妇女权益法律保护的效果适得其反;四是法律规定过于原则,操作性不强;五是当村规民约侵害妇女土地承包权益时,缺乏有效的法律救济途径;为此,应当有效化解政策、法律之间的冲突,完善细化法律规则,在立法和执法过程中引入社会性别视角,加强对村规民约的法律审查,消除制度歧视。     

Factors affecting turnover rates of public child welfare front line workers: comparing cohorts of title IV-E program graduates with regularly hired and trained staff

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of a statewide intervention (BSW level Title IV-E Program) on both the workers’ intent to leave the job and their actual exit from a state administered public child welfare agency. Employees completed an extensive survey including scales assessing individual, team, and organizational variables that might impact turnover. Results show that more Title IV-E graduates stay with the agency than do regular hires and leave at a slower rate. Different variables impact intent to leave compared to actual exit and vary across type of employee. Implications for the workforce are discussed.     

Constructing a restorative school district collaborative

This action research initiative showcases the impact of a collaborative process involving educators who are delivering restorative practice to schools in the second largest school district in California. Three restorative practice action-oriented cycles engage educators in developing leadership capabilities to implement a restorative practice approach in targeted schools. Data shows through collaborative participation, restorative educators and stakeholders transform their ideas into restorative action.     

Developing Bureaucracies for Environmental Governance: State Authority and World Bank Conditionality in Laos

This paper considers the on-going production of bureaucracies for environmental governance in developing countries and the ways in which donor engagement is reshaped through localised bureaucratic dynamics. In Laos, World Bank conditions associated with the Nam Theun 2 hydropower project saw the establishment of the Watershed Management and Protection Authority (WMPA). I examine internal dynamics at the WMPA headquarters in Nakai District, including formal institutions for forest management, informal institutions for recognising local authority and wealth redistribution and the personal aspirations of WMPA officials. In doing so, this piece contributes to current discussions about donor-driven institutional change, practices of state-making and the local “technocrats” who are personally confronted by the complex intersections of donor conditionality and state authority.     

HRM: Performance Relationship: Need for Further Development?

The last decade of empirical research on the HRM value additions, also known as the “HRM and performance” debate, demonstrates evidence that HRM does matter (Huselid, 1995 Huselid, M. 1995. The impact of human resource management on turnover, productivity and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, 38(3): 635–672. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Guest et al., 2003 Guest, D.E., Michie, J., Conway, N. and Sheehan, M. 2003. Human resource management and corporate performance in the UK. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 41(2): 291–314. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Wright et al., 2003 Wright, P., Gardner, M. and Moynihan, L. 2003. The impact of HR practices on the performance of business units. Human Resources Management Journal, 13(4): 21–36.  [Google Scholar]; Rehman et al., 2010). Unfortunately, the relationships are often statistically weak and the results ambiguous. This article reviews and attempts to extend the theoretical and methodological issues in this debate. Its aim is to build an agenda for future research in this area. A brief overview of achievements to date is followed by the theoretical and methodological issues related to what constitutes HRM, what is meant by the concept of performance, and the nature of the link between these two. In the final section, it is argued that research designs should start from a multi-dimensional concept of performance, including the perceptions of employees, and build on the premise of HR systems as an enabling device for a whole range of strategic options. This implies a reversal of the strategy-HRM linkage.     

An exploratory study in methods of distinguishing destructive cults

Abstract

Drawing extensively on academic and anti cult literature and paying particular attention to theories of how cults become destructive, this small-scale exploratory study deconstructed 25 cults into a number of constituent behaviours, practices and beliefs. A preliminary multivariate analysis revealed that 7 behaviours might form the basis of discriminating destructive from more benign cults. These 7 behaviours, which were most closely correlated with overt destructive acts (mass suicide and mass murder) did distinguish the five demonstrably destructive religious cults (Aum Shinri Kyo. Order of the Solar Temple, Brunch Davidians, Heaven's Gate, Jim Jones Jonestown) associated with major loss of life from the remaining 20 cults examined. The exception to this was The House of Yahweh, which was not theoretically classified as destructive but was empirically classified as such in this analysis. The study demonstrated clear patterns of behaviour and beliefs that are at variance with those identified by other authors who have adopted a more conceptual approach.