Party unity and presidential dominance: parliamentary development in the fourth republic of Ghana

Political power in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa is often portrayed as being highly informal and heavily personalised. The assumption that personalised politics is how ‘Africa works’ has led to the neglect of the study of Africa's formal institutions, including parliaments. This article assesses the position of the Parliament of Ghana under the Fourth Republic. It displays evidence suggesting that over successive parliamentary terms parliamentary committees became increasingly adept at handling legislation, and inputting into the policy process. It also shows that the parliament was increasingly able to oversee the implementation of legislation. Although the findings of hitherto undocumented progress represent a valuable nuance, the argument that the parliament became increasingly able to input into the legislative process says exactly that; while the parliament became increasingly capable of amending legislation rarely was this witnessed. The article argues that parliamentary development in Ghana has been a function of three interacting structural factors: the constitution; unified government since 1992; and political party unity. The strong partisan identities of legislators from the two major political parties – the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) – provide the executive with extra leverage to control the parliament. Throughout the Ghanaian parliament is juxtaposed with the Kenyan National Assembly. More substantially, the article seeks to force a revision of the dominant narrative that generalises African party systems as fluid and fragmented, and African political parties as lacking any recognisable internal cohesion or ideology.     

消费立法问题研究

消费者问题是消费者在生活消费需要中,正当需求得不到满足,并且受到提供消费资料和消费服务的经营者损害而发生的社会问题。消费者问题引发的消费者运动是在市场经济条件下,消费者为维护自身权益,改善其社会地位所进行的社会运动,消费者运动推动了消费者保护的立法。     

对建设最高人民法院行使违宪审查权制度的分析

对于如何建立中国自己的违宪审查制度,国内诸多学者的主要意见大都统一在现有的制度基础上设计,即由全国人民代表大会及其常务委员会行使违宪审查权。但本文认为应在坚持全国人大及其常委会行使宪法监督权的体制下,由最高人民法院行使违宪审查权才是明智之举。     

关于修订《海商法》需要厘清的几个基本理论问题——从《海商法》的第一章“总则”说起

讨论修订《海商法》需要厘清的一些基本理论问题，并以《海商法》第一章总则为切入点，重点讨论海商法的立法目的、调整对象及性质，希望能够促进和激发中国海商法界就海商法基础理论问题的研究与讨论，为将来修订《海商法》提供更多的参考意见。     

Sweetening the US Legislature: The Remarkable Success of the Sugar Lobby

The US sweetener industry comprises the production and processing of sugarcane, sugar beet and corn and, more recently, non-caloric products. The industry has always been protected by federal legislation. Such legislation has had positive and negative impacts on domestic sugar prices, which have remained relatively stable but well above the world price. José Alvarez discusses three factors behind that protective status: the industry's economic importance, the large representation of sweetener-producing states in the US Congress, and a powerful and successful lobby. Under current conditions, no change in the status quo should be expected. The major potential contingency on the horizon could be an agreement reached at the World Trade Organization eliminating existing levels of worldwide protection. Free trade negotiations have added new pressures to the US support programme. Time will tell whether or not the domestic success of the US sweetener industry can be duplicated in the international arena.     

Legislative Oversight under the Nigerian Presidential System

Oversight function is a major component of the activities of modern legislatures irrespective of the form of government in practice. This study examines the extent to which the Nigerian legislature, characterised by infrequent appearances on the political scene and operating in an environment largely dominated by the executive arm, has performed its oversight role. The study, which is basically empirical, argues that the Nigerian legislature has been incapable of effectively performing its oversight role because, in addition to constraints like executive interference, crippling internal conflict, inexperience and high rate of members turnover hampering legislative efficiency, the legislature has compromised its role. However, occasional flashes of a measure of assertiveness by the legislature suggest that with effective mitigation of its internal problems its performance will improve as legislative culture deepens.     

More women in the Tanzanian legislature: Do numbers matter?

This study examines the changes that followed the rise in the number of female parliamentarians in the Tanzanian legislature and the contextual factors undermining the potential power of the increased number of female MPs. As found in a number of other countries, with more women in parliament, women's interests, concerns and perspective have been better incorporated into parliamentary debates and policy-making in Tanzania. However, the increase in female parliamentary representation challenges the existence of the special-seat system that helped women reach a large minority. The effectiveness of female MPs in Tanzania will improve only with a stronger legislature and a sturdier opposition. If the special-seat system is to remain, a new selection mechanism that allows direct cross-party competition among special-seat candidates should be considered to bring better qualified women into parliament.     

论WTO与中国产业立法

产业结构调整是我国近几个五年计划的重中之重.现代市场经济发展历史表明政府产业调整活动的行为效果在很大程度上依赖于产业立法的完善.加入WTO将给我国不同的产业部门带来不同的机遇和挑战.国家应对的首要措施便是产业调整.如何强化产业立法,实现产业立法与产业发展的良性互动,是关系到入世后我国社会主义市场经济健康发展的重大理论课题.     

关于我国《刑事诉讼法》有关"侦查部分"立法修订的建议

本文从法学理论、侦查学理论和诉讼实务的角度,在对我国现行<刑事诉讼法>中关于侦查部分的立法条款进行客观评价的基础上,对其中的不足之处进行了分析,并对"侦查机关的职能界定"、"案件管辖"、"有关侦查概念订正"、"侦查章、节、条、款结构调整与内容增添"提出了立法修订的具体建议.     

中国反倾销法律制度研究

随着中国的“入世,”外国商品在华倾销越来越频繁,给我国经济带来的负面影响也越来越大,但我国现行的反倾销立法存在着立法层次较低、实体方面有缺陷及漏洞、程序方面有缺陷等问题,不能很好地保护我国经济发展,因而,必须借鉴国际反倾销规则,尽快完善我国反倾销法律制度。