Institutional change in the European Parliament: balancing legislative ethics and parliamentary independence

Research on legislative ethics has shown how scandals often trigger ethics reform; yet, the content of the reform often differs from that of the scandal. Why is this the case? And if scandals don't explain legislative ethics reform outcomes, then what does? If not this kind of external shock, then what factor(s) shape legislative reform outcomes? These questions provide the point of departure for a case study of the European Parliament's 2011 ethics reform. Drawing from the legislative ethics literature and from recent theories of institutional change, the article examines the impact of the scandal that initiated the reform, the interests and strategies of reform agents who wanted a quick reform process that would not undermine the EP's independence; and the institutional order in which those actors were embedded. It argues that an institutional logics perspective offers a convincing and comprehensive account of EP ethics reform, and suggests a new analytical framework that might be used by researchers in future research on legislative ethics.     

我国市场要素型破产法的立法目标及其制度构造

我国破产立法存在的最大问题是未能准确定位破产法在整个市场经济法律体系中的核心地位,工具主义思想严重。未来,破产法改革应以市场经济为导向,以商事法律理念为指导,以市场要素型破产法为改革目标,按照市场经济的内在要求,构建以市场为导向,以淘汰和拯济相结合,以破产重整为核心的现代破产制度。其具体内容包括适当扩大破产法的适用范围;区分不同类型的破产人,分别设计不同的破产法律制度;完善破产前置程序,引入简易重整制度。同时大力推进破产审判的专业化建设,从组织上、技术上、程序上保证破产审判的实际效果,设立专门的破产事务管理机构,充分发挥政府对破产审判的支持作用。     

MARKETIZED MENTALITY,COMPETITIVE/EGOISTIC SCHOOL CULTURE,AND DELINQUENT ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR: AN APPLICATION OF INSTITUTIONAL ANOMIE THEORY*

We analyze the individual‐level and school‐level determinants of delinquency through the lens of a macro‐sociological theory of crime—institutional anomie theory (IAT). The concept of a “marketized mentality” is introduced as a predictor of students’ delinquency, along with an egoistic/competitive school culture—a feature of the school community. Five hypotheses pertaining to the readiness to use violence and self‐reported delinquency were assessed using multilevel modeling with data from a survey in Germany for 4,150 students clustered in 69 schools. The results largely meet theoretical expectations. The measure of marketized mentality exhibits robust relationships with both forms of delinquency at the individual level, and an egoistic/competitive school culture helps explain variation in levels of these forms of delinquency across schools. Also consistent with expectations, the anti‐social effects of marketized mentality are accentuated for both the readiness to use violence and committing instrumentally motivated property offenses as a competitive/egoistic school climate increases. The results of our analyses reveal that bringing in concepts of IAT can appreciably enhance understanding of the characteristics of students and features of communal school organization that are conducive to youthful offending.     

Online fraud victims’ experiences of participating in qualitative interviews

Institutional Review Boards often raise concerns about qualitative research with vulnerable populations such as crime victims, and assume that research with vulnerable populations will be distressing for participants. It is therefore vital to examine whether participants do in fact experience adverse effects stemming from their participation. The existing research is clear that some members of vulnerable populations do feel distressed when they participate in research; however, in most cases, this distress is outweighed by the benefits of participation, such as a sense of having contributed to community awareness raising. This literature is, however, predominantly quantitative. In addition, it overwhelmingly focuses on violent trauma, providing no insight into participants’ experiences of research on non-violent traumatic events. The current study addresses these shortcomings by examining the research participation experiences of victims of online fraud. Specifically, an online questionnaire designed to elicit qualitative data was administered to victims of online fraud who had previously participated in a semi-structured qualitative interview. Among other findings, the study suggests that perceptions about the outcomes of research, in addition to the research process, influence victims’ satisfaction with their participation in qualitative research.     

Democracy, Sea Power and Institutional Change: An Economic Analysis of the Athenian Naval Law

The present essay attempts to test the validity of the theory of institutional change based on the concept of property rights, in the remote historical setting of Classical Athens. The Naval Law introduced by Themistocles in 483-2 BC, established the institution of trierarchy to produce warships to face the Persian invaders. This reform led to the first attempt to define the costs and benefits of public goods in the field of national defense. Thus, institutional change in Ancient Athens, through an efficient arrangement of property rights and duties, had long-term consequences on economic performance, creating a new growth path and ensuring economic prosperity and social justice for more than 150 years.     

制度变迁：文化转型的内在动力机制

20世纪的中国社会充分展现了一幅巨大变迁的历史画卷 ,其变迁的核心内容是中国社会的文化转型。本文通过揭示“制度”与“文化”的基本内涵 ,从理论与实践相结合的角度梳理了近代以来中国文化转型的基本面貌 ,并分析了中国文化转型的内在动因。制度变迁是中国社会文化转型的内在动力机制。     

区域经济一体化时代的东北亚区域经济合作

20世纪90年代以来世界区域经济一体化进程的加快,使东北亚区域经济合作面临新的机遇与挑战。适应区域经济一体化大发展的时代要求,我们必须积极探索21世纪东北亚区域合作的新途径。在东北亚地区经济合作的模式选择上,应该遵循时间上的渐次性和空间上的层次性相结合的方针,首先加快中、日、韩3国的制度性合作,使之成为东北亚区域经济合作的核心和先导,然后再向全区扩展。当然,只有充分利用好各种有利因素,才能使合作展现出光明的前景。     

Back to Basics: A Theory of the Emergence of Institutional Facts

In order to account for the mode of existence of social rules and norms, the author develops a theory of the emergence of institutional facts. Just as other kinds of institutional fact, rules and norms are meanings. Therefore, insight into the emergence of social rules and norms can be achieved by studying the recognition and the communication of meanings. Following accounts of meaning and factuality, institutional facts are characterized as unquestionable shared typifications. It is argued that, in becoming an institutional fact, a typification goes through two phases. First, it becomes a social habit. Second, this habit turns into an obligation by being objectified.     

The methods and measures of centrography and the spatial dynamics of rape

Technique known as centrography are presented in order to demonstrate their utility for describing and measuring the salient features of a spatial distribution and for facilitating temporal and comparative analyses in discerning trends and contrasting spatial distributions of crime. Centrographic techniques are applied to a 5-year data set of lone-assailant rapes classified by type of offender. The results indicate that different classes of offenders have relatively distinctive spatial distributions. Moreover, changes in the spatial distributions of offender classes, through time, are not uniform.     

Predicting Institutional Adjustment and Recidivism with the Psychopathy Checklist Factor Scores: A Meta-Analysis

This study explored the validity of the PCL/PCL-R factor scores in predicting institutional adjustment and recidivism in forensic clients and prison inmates. Forty-two studies in which institutional adjustment, release outcome (recidivism), or both were assessed prospectively with the PCL/PCL-R yielded 50 effect size estimates between the PCL/PCL-R factor scores and measures of institutional adjustment/recidivism. A meta-analysis of these findings disclosed that Factor 2 (Antisocial/Unstable Lifestyle) correlated moderately well with institutional adjustment and recidivism, whereas Factor 1 (Affective/Interpersonal Traits) was less robustly associated with these outcomes. Direct comparisons of the mean effect sizes attained by Factors 1 and 2 revealed that Factor 2 was significantly more predictive of total outcomes, general recidivism, violent recidivism, and outcomes from the 12 most methodological sound studies than Factor 1. There was less differentiation between Factors 1 and 2 on measures of institutional adjustment.