The Road to Good Governance: Via the Path Less Accountable? The Effectiveness of Fiscal Accountability in Liberia

Accountability mechanisms are touted as a path to “good governance.” But are accountability mechanisms a sure route to achieving the objectives of “good governance”? Limited case studies have offered inconsistent evidence (Blair, 2000 Blair, H. 2000. Participation and accountability at the periphery: Democratic local governance in sex countries. World Development, 28(1): 21–29. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Charlick, 2001 Charlick, R.B. 2001. Popular participation and local government reform.. Public Administration and Development, 21: 149–157. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Devas &; Grant, 2003 Devas, N. and Grant, U. 2003. Local government decision-making-citizen participation and local accountability: Some evidence from Kenya and Uganda. Public Administration and Development, 23: 307–316. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). But empirical evidence of the relationships among principles of good governance—high citizen participation, low levels of corruption, high-quality service delivery—and accountability mechanisms is lacking. We examine the effectiveness of accountability mechanisms in Liberia and find relationships between measures of county level fiscal accountability and measures of good governance do not always produce expected results, making fiscal accountability mechanisms no guarantee for achieving goals of good governance.     

‘Big Men’ Rule: Presidential Power,Regime Type and Democracy in 30 African Countries

This article provides a systematic overview of the institutional basis of presidential power in 30 sub-Saharan African countries, using a broad comparative scheme to assess presidential power developed by Siaroff (2003). The dual purpose is, first, to compare the power of African presidents to patterns found by Siaroff for countries worldwide, looking particularly at the relation between regime type and presidential power; and second, to make a preliminary analysis of the political consequences of high levels of presidential power in the light of earlier theoretical claims associating it with regime problems such as democratic breakdown.

The article's comparative framework illustrates the high levels of institutional power of presidents in 30 African countries. As argued by Siaroff, regime type tells us little about presidential power; in these African cases, semi-presidential systems score even higher than presidential systems. One ‘parliamentary’ system also shows a high degree of presidential power. Moreover, there is very little difference in presidential power between democracies and non-democracies, and ‘minimal’ electoral democracies score higher on average than non-democracies and liberal democracies.

Examination of the consequences of high levels of presidential power also shows that more than a quarter (28.6 per cent) of such regimes experienced a democratic breakdown, although this is not a statistically significant level. A weak correlation is found between presidential power and freedom and democracy ratings, again not at a statistically significant level, while correlations with governance ratings are strong and statistically significant. A repeated measures test, however, does show a statistically significant relation with freedom and democracy. Although more research is needed, including a larger N and more variation in the independent variable, the evidence supports intuitive knowledge: a high degree of presidential power bodes ill for democracy and good governance in Africa.     

Therapeutic jurisprudence and responsivity: Finding the will and the way in offender rehabilitation

Correctional systems worldwide are currently undergoing a shift towards rehabilitation. Underpinning rehabilitation are the principles of risk, need, and responsivity. Responsivity includes internal responsivity (offender characteristics) and external responsivity (staff and setting characteristics). The responsivity principle has been neglected in the literature. While contemporary psychological theories of offender rehabilitation address internal responsivity, they do not address external responsivity, particularly in relation to the impact of the law. Therapeutic jurisprudence as a legal theory provides the opportunity to complement psychological theory and to address responsivity in offender rehabilitation. Therapeutic jurisprudence utilizes psychological knowledge to determine ways in which the law can enhance individual well-being. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate a psycholegal approach to offender rehabilitation. Psychological approaches can be applied to motivate offenders and provide them with the opportunity to make informed decisions about participation in rehabilitation programmes. However, this approach will not succeed without harnessing correctional staff as legal actors and potential therapeutic agents. A cognitive--behavioural model of an organizational culture change towards rehabilitation is proposed. In this endeavour “the will and the way” in both offenders and staff can be harnessed to maximize the therapeutic effects of the law.     

Exit,voice, and loyalty: Parent–child relations in the proto-industrial household economy (Zürich, 17th–18th centuries)

This article formulates a simple model of parent–child interest conflicts. Based on a simple model of a household economy with a production or wage income function, a labor maintenance cost function, and an externally given wage rate, it discusses potential conflicts over the appropriation of the product of family members' labor in terms of the trilogy of exit, voice, and loyalty. The model is then explored by using household lists that provide detailed information on the economic activity of individuals. Many young proto-industrial workers used the threat of exiting their parents' household to keep much of their earnings through the Rast custom (boarding allowance). The threat of leaving operated well among the middle and lower classes of proto-industrial society, but it is unclear whether it also worked for the daughters of farmers who apparently left home much earlier than their brothers. The discourse of contemporaries about the Rast custom are considered and interpreted as a counterstrategy against the exit threat in which the elders fostered a sense of loyalty among the young.     

Striving for a good life: The good lives model applied to released child molesters

Abstract

The good lives model (GLM) is a strengths-based approach to offender rehabilitation in which treatment aims to equip offenders with the skills and resources necessary to satisfy primary goods, or basic human values, in personally meaningful and socially acceptable ways. The aim of the present research was to explore the practical utility of the GLM with a sample of released child molesters, and investigate the relationship between primary goods attainment and overall re-entry conditions (in terms of accommodation, social support and employment). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 child molesters at one, three and six months following their release from prison. As expected, participants endorsed the majority of GLM primary goods with high importance, and positive re-entry experiences were associated with increased goods attainment. Implications for clinicians, policy makers and society as a whole are discussed.     

坚持群众路线，创新社会治理——以“善治”理论为视角

群众路线作为党的根本路线贯穿于整个社会治理的始终。本文从“善治”理论的视角分析了“善治”、群众路线以及创新社会治理体制的内在联系。提出应在“善治”理念下践行党的群众路线。从社会治理的前提、基础、关犍、本质、重点、棱心六个方面重构社会治理的对策。     

浅析多重语境下的习惯法概念界定——以民法中“交易习惯”的性质认定为例

习惯法概念的界定历来存在争议,正确界定习惯法的概念及认识习惯法与习惯之间的意义对于我们认识现存法律中的关于习惯入法及习惯在司法中的适用提供重要的意义和理论基础。本文以为习惯法应该是独立于国家强制力之外的一种法律,即区别于制定法。是一定社会中,人们在长期的生产生活和社会实践中所惯性的为一定的群体人们在心理上所接受的,能够像发一样规制人们行为的,不违背公序良俗的习惯。而我国民法中的交易习惯也应当是习惯法。至于交易习惯的适用,应当由司法机关汇编适用。     

见义勇为救济制度立法完善研究

见义勇为乃中华传统美德,但是这种美德在我国却往往得不到应有的回报,勇为者遭受人身与经济的双重损害却无处获得帮助。国家的立法混乱与统一立法的缺乏,导致见义勇为的救济体系岌岌可危。而我国现存救济制度的不足无疑会扼杀此种美德的延续与生存,因此,确立一种国家先行救济与完备社会保障制度相结合的救济体系显得尤为重要。     

法律必须认真对待习惯——论习惯的精神及其法律意义

习惯由个人习惯(含本性和习性)与社会习惯(含习俗、惯例)构成。个人习惯是社会习惯的根基和源头,是习惯的核心和力量之源。习惯的精神是个人性而不是社会性。习惯精神个人性的法律意义在于它能改善法律自身的内部结构,强大其功能,为法律顺畅运行提供了最基本的内部力量、广泛的人性基础、深厚的合法性根基及其获得合法性的自然化机制。法律要想获得人们普遍而有效的遵循,必须认真对待习惯。     

Bankruptcy in divorce: The litigation tactic of the angry spouse

A matrimonial proceeding on its own is complex and can have far-reaching implications. Add in a spouse filing for bankruptcy in the midst of the proceeding, and the process becomes even further complicated and quite possibly hostile. This Note analyzes the bad-faith tactics of debtor spouses filing for bankruptcy in the middle of a divorce proceeding and proposes an amendment to the Bankruptcy Code that permits bankruptcy courts to dismiss bad faith petitions before they negatively impact divorce proceedings.