Popular initiatives in Uruguay: confidence votes on government or political loyalties?

Among stable democracies, Uruguay is one of the most prodigious users of direct democratic devices at the national level. If we analyze the relationship between the share of “yes” votes received by any popular initiative and the share of votes received by politicians who politically supported it, we observe a strikingly high positive correlation of 0.9. Explaining this correlation is the central objective of this paper. Three alternative hypotheses are plausible: First, such a correlation could be a spurious association due to aggregation bias. Second, PI results could be reflections of economic conditions. Third, Uruguayans are extremely consistent in following their political parties' advice. This paper finds that when Uruguayans go to the polls to vote on a popular initiative, their vote choice is primarily the result of their party loyalty, rather than their reaction to economic conditions. In testing my hypotheses I rely on the following statistical methods: King's “Ecological Inference,” multivariate regression, and path analysis. The data come from seven popular initiatives in Uruguay since 1985 (133 observations).     

Family Structure and Problem Behavior of Adolescents and Young Adults: A Growth-Curve Study

In the present longitudinal 3-wave study of 1274 adolescents and young adults, aged 12–24 at the 1st wave, it is examined whether youngsters from intact versus postdivorce families show long-term differences in internalizing and externalizing problems. Furthermore, possible differences in the development of this problem behavior between offspring from intact and postdivorce families are examined, i.e., possible differences in growth curves of internalizing and externalizing problems are investigated. Longitudinal multilevel analyses reveal long-term differences in internalizing and externalizing problems according to family structure. Adolescents and young adults growing up in postdivorce families display more internalizing and externalizing problem behavior than youngsters of intact families. The development of these 2 types of problem behavior does not differ by gender or family structure. That is, the shape of the growth curves of internalizing and externalizing problem behavior is similar for boys and girls and also for youngsters from intact and postdivorce families. Inge VanderValk is a Postdoc Researcher at the Department of Child and Adolescent Studies, Utrecht University, the Netherlands. She received her Ph.D. in 2004 from Utrecht University. Her major research interests include associations between adolescent adjustment and parental marital quality and parental divorce. Ed Spruijt is an Associate Professor at the University of Utrecht. He received his Ph.D. in 1983 from Utrecht University. His major research interests are the consequences of parental divorce and visitation arrangements on children. Martijn de Goede is an associate Professor at Utrecht University, Department of Methodology and Statistics. He received his Ph.D. in 1988 from Utrecht University. His major research interests are occupational and relational life courses of youngsters. Cora Maas is an Assistent Professor at Utrecht University, Department of Methodology and Statistics. She received her PH.D. in 1992 in Utrecht from Utrecht University. Her major interests are: multilevel analysis (theory and applications). Wim Meeus is full Professor of Adolescent Development at Utrecht University. He received his Ph.D. in 1984 from Utrecht University. His major research interests are personality, identity, and relationships in adolescence.     

Judicial Behavior and Public Opinion: Popular Expectations Regarding the Factors That Influence Supreme Court Decisions

This article examines the mass public's perceptions of the factors that actually influence Supreme Court decisions as well those that ought to influence such decisions. We expect significant discrepancies between what the public believes ought to be the case and what it perceives to actually be the case with regard to Supreme Court decision making and that these discrepancies have a significant negative impact on the public's assessment of the Court. More specifically, we hypothesize that the public believes that political factors have more influence on the Court than ought to be the case and that the public perceives traditional legal factors to be less influential than they should be. We find that the expected discrepancies do exist and significantly detract from popular regard for the Court.     

当事人询问在行为保全程序中之构建

当事人是案件过程的亲历者,是事实认定的最佳信息来源,其陈述助益真实之发现;当事人与案件结果具有最密切的利害关系,是最差的证人,其陈述阻碍真实之发现。鉴于当事人对案件真实发现正反两面之功效,向来以正确而慎重裁判之达成为目的诉讼程序,将当事人询问规定为补充性证据,并居于证据种类排序的末位。而在以简易、迅速而经济裁定之达成为目的之行为保全程序中,首先询问当事人既能契合程序固有的快速解决机制,又可以满足被申请人甚至案外人之程序保障,使得法官尽早掌握案件要点。因此,取消当事人询问之补充性地位,并置于证据种类排序的首位更符合诉讼目的。     

我国集会游行示威自由与规范

本文以近几年频发的“群体性表达事件”为切入点，提出其作为法制外集会游行示威权的尴尬地位；进而以程序问题和实体问题为坐标，分别对我国《集会游行示威’法》的文本规定与其他国家有关集会游行示威规则进行分析比较；最后，本着务实与渐进的原则提出了重新审视并改进我国集会游行示威相关规则的建议。     

仪式与司法建构

文章从人类学的仪式理论与实践出发,引入仪式在日常生活和在司法领域的表现及作用,从而阐明仪式对立统一的存在价值。其次,从陪审制度这一现代司法仪式的阻断功能、辅助司法权威功能以及稳定司法功能进行全景式考察,阐述陪审制度借助仪式这一载体而体现的独特价值。     

思想政治工作基本规律浅析

思想政治工作是我们党的优良传统和政治优势,要把思想政治工作搞好,必须研究和掌握思想政治工作的基本规律。     

误收假币后故意使用行为的刑事责任问题初探

误收假币后故意使用的行为具有刑事可罚性,应当以使用假币罪定罪处刑。在犯罪认定时,客观要件之中的“使用”行为不应以置于流通为必要;只要能够根据基础事实予以合理推定其主观上为“明知”,就足以认定其符合本罪的主观要件。由于该行为的期待可能性较小,因此处刑时应结合我国针对误收假币后故意使用行为的立法变动情况,对于数额较大的情形原则上只判处罚金刑,而是否侵犯公私财产权这一随机客体也具有影响量刑的功能。     

对公安民警心理行为训练的几点思考

心理行为训练是提升民警心理素质、改善心理健康水平的训练方法，目前的心理训练在提高民警一般心理能力、团队合作、维护心理健康方面开展较好，至少发挥着缓解压力也掘潜能、学习合作、完善人格的积极作用。为了进一步发挥心理行为训练的作用，我们还应继续在心理行为训练的内容、组织形式、实施过程等方面进行改进。     

差异性社会:基于政治学层面的思考

差异性社会是对我国经济社会发展现状的客观定位。其中,尊重人的主体性地位是差异性社会形成的基点;规范人的主体性行为是差异性社会的制度要求;提高人的劳动能力是差异性社会的基本任务。从政治学层面梳理差异性社会理论对构建社会主义和谐社会以及人的全面发展有一定意义。