Institutional anomie and cross-national differences in incarceration†

Messner and Rosenfeld's (2007) institutional anomie theory (IAT) has mainly been applied by criminologists to explain crime rates at various aggregate levels. However, Messner and Rosenfeld also suggest that the same social and cultural forces that lead to high crime may explain differences in punishment, although this latter proposition has yet to be subject to empirical testing. Using a variety of data sources for 41 countries measuring various structural and cultural configurations, in this study we assess the extent to which IAT can explain cross-national differences in incarceration. Our results indicate that the strength of the economic institution and the extent of institutional imbalance reflecting a dominant economic institution are positively associated with incarceration rates when the national culture is characterized by individualism, a competitive achievement orientation, or both. A national culture characterized by both collectivism and a cooperative achievement orientation, however, serves as a buffer against the punitive effects of an institutional imbalance that favors the economy. Our results are discussed in the context of the extant IAT literature and future research on cross-national incarceration.     

Understanding the nature of change: how institutional perspectives can inform contemporary studies of development cooperation

This article argues that core lines of sociological institutionalist thought provide a set of valuable conceptual and theoretical vocabularies for exploring and explaining contemporary concerns of development cooperation. It identifies four broad categories of issues of central attention in the current study of development cooperation, and couples these with four avenues of sociological institutional research that may provide us with theoretical and conceptual frameworks for further empirically exploring and theoretically extrapolating these. Increasing attention to these theoretical concerns not only helps us progress the study of development cooperation, it may also allow us to inform contemporary institutional thinking.     

The International Harmonization Process of Public Sector Accounting in Portugal: The Perspective of Different Stakeholders

This paper investigates the reform of public accounting in Portugal through the IPSAS adoption highlighting the perception of different stakeholders. Two competing theories (NPM and the institutional theory) are used to understand public accounting changes within the Portuguese context. In general, different stakeholders agree with the favorable moment and the context of the reform. The context of financial crises and the great external pressures to cut public deficits and to improve the quality of financial information seem to be the most important factors to stimulate changes in public accounting. In addition, stakeholders recommend the use of different strategies to ensure success.     

Historicizing the power of civil society: a perspective from decentralization in Indonesia

The devolution of power to subnational governments and the involvement of civil society in policy decisions and implementation are the twin pillars of neoliberal governance reforms in post-authoritarian Indonesia. Yet, for the poor, these reforms have failed to bring about downward accountability and popular participation. Based on a political ethnography in the Priangan highlands of West Java, this article explores how a civil society approach to decentralization has compromised local democracy. Drawing on state–society relations, state formation, and institutional choice literatures, and focusing on power relations, social structures, and historical experiences in Indonesia, the article illustrates the complicity of civil society in the failure of decentralization to benefit the poor.     

论贪污罪中的职务便利

贪污罪中“利用职务上的便利”有自己独特的含义和成立条件。为了有效实施贪污行为,贪污罪中的职务之便必须能够直接作用于财物,即职务上的职权和职责对贪污行为的实施及完成起到了主要作用;因此,贪污罪中的职务之便具有直接性、形式合法性、现时性、公务性的特征。     

中国共产党党建思想发展研究

建党90年来,党的历代领导核心都对党的建设进行了艰辛的探索,并形成宝贵的党建思想。这些思想既一脉相承又各有侧重,毛泽东在全面推进基础上突出思想建党,邓小平在解放思想基础上突出制度建党,江泽民在与时俱进基础上突出执政建党,胡锦涛在科学发展基础上强调学习建党,结合时代发展总结历代领导核心的党建重点思想对于总结党建规律具有极其重要的理论意义和现实意义。     

Institutional Reform and Social Changes in Northeast China During the Late Qing: A Case Study of Appeal Trials

Institutional reform and social changes in northeast China during the late Qing period are usually attributed to the Qing dynasty changing its policy on immigration to northeast China. However, institutional reform because of debt appeals between civilian creditors and the Mongolian princes is often overlooked. Using administrative cases from Fengtian Governor Archives and Kirin Prefecture Archives, this study identifies how the governor officers of northeast China changed Mongolian land rights and official finance institutions through appeal judgments in the late Qing dynasty. Appeals were related to Mongolian land rights reform and promoted the financial institutional reform in northeast China. This study concludes by arguing that the judgments affected the profits of the litigants and changed the local society.     

国际民用航空组织争端解决机制司法化改革论析

1944年《芝加哥公约》第18章赋予国际民用航空组织理事会裁判与公约的解释与适用有关的国际争端的权能。但过往裁判实践表明,国际民用航空组织争端解决机制的结构性缺陷导致理事会司法功能未有效发挥。一方面,《芝加哥公约》第54条与第84条存在适用冲突,使得理事会在实践中更愿意以政治角色介入争端解决,导致《解决分歧规则》的司法效能被弱化。另一方面,理事会成员国代表司法能力不足且缺乏司法中立性,使得理事会对争端的解决难以提供高效的法律产出。国际民用航空组织应在2018年所启动《解决分歧规则》修订进程中对争端解决机制进行司法化改革,避免国际民用航空业沦为国际政治对抗的工具。     

侨务工作转型与政府机构改革刍议

该文通过对新形势下侨务工作实际的分析,指出侨务工作的主体应由政府机构转型为群团组织,并对侨联进一步完善功能、切实发挥为侨服务的作用提出建议。     

中俄贸易互补性实证分析

中俄两国作为毗邻的世界大国,政治稳定,经济快速增长,双边经贸发展潜力巨大。通过对中俄贸易总体互补性分析、产业内贸易互补性分析、产业间贸易互补性分析,可以发现,中俄两国各具比较优势,贸易具有较强的互补性。中俄两国应继续加强经济合作、改善产品结构、促进相互投资、辟建自由贸易区、开展科技开发合作,加快经贸发展。