Establishing a Social-Darwinist Mentality in Japan’s Paternalist State: The Potential of Resistance by a Counter-Public

ABSTRACT

From a historical perspective, the welfare net in Japan was established from above without democratic participation and expanded only slowly. This expansion in many cases was aimed at enhancing national cohesion, especially during war time. During the current neoliberal era, Japan’s paternalistic welfare state has been able to put into practice the dismantling of national pension and health-care systems without the need for any theoretical re-orientation. In response, counter-publics have engaged in protest and resistance. By doing so, the victims of modernization and those who are socially weak and disadvantaged in multiple ways are able to regain their self-esteem and personal integrity.     

University students’ support to penalty enhancement for hate crime

Laws enabling penalty enhancement for crimes motivated by hostility or prejudice, i.e. hate crimes, have become common in many countries. However, laws as a measure against hate crimes have been contested, because their deterrent effect has gained none or little support in the (limited) literature, and they may be considered symbolic rather than deterrent. This study investigates attitudes towards penalty enhancement for hate crimes. Previous empirical investigations of this question are scarce. The material consists of a survey targeting nearly 3000 Swedish university students. Support for penalty enhancement for hate crime was moderate, shown by one third of the total sample. Results supported the premise that students belonging to a minority group, assumed to be at risk of hate crime victimization, agree to a higher extent of penalty enhancement than students belonging to the majority. Previous victimization experiences and worrying about being victimized were not significantly related to punitive attitudes. However, respondents who perceived the risk of victimization to be increased for minority groups in general were more likely to support penalty enhancement for hate crime. Findings should be confirmed in a nationally representative sample since the public’s perspective on the criminal justice system is important for understanding and dealing with the social problem of hate crime.     

论刑事公诉案件中被害人的上诉权

当前的刑诉法典规定,公诉案件的被害人不享有上诉权,其不服地方各级人民法院第一审的判决,只能请求人民检察院抗诉。围绕着是否应赋予被害人以上诉权,目前理论界存在两种对立的观点：肯定说（赞成说）和否定说（反对说）。基于刑事诉讼惩罚犯罪与保障人权的目的,比较这两种观点及主要理由并综合考虑各种因素,在刑事诉讼法再修改时应赋予被害人有限的上诉权。     

我国家庭暴力犯罪的特征及其对策

家庭暴力是世界各国所面临的最复杂和冲突最激烈,同时也是最为隐蔽的一个严重社会问题。它所具有的普遍性、隐蔽性、逆变性、举证难、处理难等特征,决定了消除家庭暴力,应积极推进“社会性别特别关注”战略,将性别问题纳入决策主流;创设以政府为主导、多机构参与的反家庭暴力综合机制;深化“女性素质工程”,努力提高妇女自身的素质;加快我国《家庭暴力防治法》的立法进程,为规制家庭暴力、切实保护妇女的合法权益提供法律依据和社会支持。     

对石家庄市新农村文化建设现状的调查与思考——以辛集市小辛庄乡为例

农村文化建设是新农村建设的重要内容。农村文化建设是政府行使职能的重要内容,各级政府是农村文化工作的责任主体。近年来,辛集市比较偏远的农民现代化的个人文化生活物品拥有程度有显著的提高,但农村的文化设施却有较大比例的缺失。     

公安院校学生道德状况调查分析

作者对河北公安警察职业学院大三学生的道德素养进行了调查,主要涉及政治信念、警察职业道德、公正执法、道德素质四方面,并进行了简要分析,结合调查结论,对加强公安院校学生道德教育提出了建议。     

The rise and fall of “Novorossiya”: examining support for a separatist geopolitical imaginary in southeast Ukraine

In the spring of 2014, some anti-Maidan protestors in southeast Ukraine, in alliance with activists from Russia, agitated for the creation of a large separatist entity on Ukrainian territory. These efforts sought to revive a historic region called Novorossiya (“New Russia”) on the northern shores of the Black Sea that was created by Russian imperial colonizers. In public remarks, Vladimir Putin cited Novorossiya as a historic and contemporary home of a two-part interest group, ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking Ukrainians, supposedly under threat in Ukraine. Anti-Maidan agitation in Ukraine gave way to outright secession in April 2014, as armed rebel groups established the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhans’k People’s Republic on parts of the eponymous Ukrainian oblasts. Rebel leaders aspired to create a renewed Novorossiya that incorporated all of eastern and southern Ukraine from Kharkiv to Odesa oblasts. To examine the level of support for this secessionist imaginary in the targeted oblasts, our large scientific poll in December 2014 revealed the Novorossiya project had minority support, between 20 and 25% of the population. About half of the sample believed that the concept of Novorossiya was a “historical myth” and that its resuscitation and promotion was the result of “Russian political technologies.” Analysis of the responses by socio-demographic categories indicated that for ethnic Russians, residents of the oblasts of Kharkiv and Odesa, for older and poorer residents, and especially for those who retain a nostalgic positive opinion about the Soviet Union, the motivations and aims of the Novorossiya project had significant support.     

Measuring Civilian Defensive Firearm Use: A Methodological Experiment

Estimates of the incidence of victim gun use from the National CrimeVictimization Survey (NCVS) are consistently lower than are those fromother studies. To examine the divergence, we conducted a survey that gaugedthe impact of methodological differences between the NCVS and the otherstudies. For half of the sample, we asked questions from the NCVS, followedby questions from the other surveys. For the other half of the sample, wepresented the questions in the reverse order. We examined two hypotheses:(1) survey methods account for the divergent results, and (2) the questionscover unrelated activities. The results provided some support for the firsthypothesis, but respondents also reported many more defenses to thequestions from the other surveys than to the NCVS questions. Consistent withthe second hypothesis, this suggests that the NCVS and the other surveysmeasure responses to largely different provocations.     

新入狱罪犯的特点及改造对策探析

受社会政治、经济发展变化的影响,我省近三年内新收押罪犯的构成出现了新的变化,其心理和行为均出现了新的特征,对刑罚执行工作提出了新的挑战。笔者采取情况普查与个案调查相结合、摸底分析与座谈讨论相结合的方法,对我省2001年1月1日至2003年8月31日期间监狱新收押的罪犯情况进行了调查研究,从新入狱罪犯的构成特点和其心理行为特征分析入手,提出相应的改造对策,为我省的监管安全和教育改造工作提供了有用的参考和必要的理论支撑。     

The acceptance,relevance and dominance of lobbying the EU Commission — a first‐time survey of the EU Commission's civil servants

Among public affairs techniques lobbying is by far the most mystifying one — at least in Europe. Lobbying comes from the Latin word ‘labium’ and means ‘entrance hall’ or ‘lounge’. Therein the essential meaning can be seen: today political decisions are not made in plenary assemblies but primarily in the pre‐political phase of balancing the various interests. Lobbying is to be understood as the ‘diverse intensive activities of social groups, chambers and companies in the political and bureaucratic vestibule’ (Beyme 1980). Modern lobbying on the EU level is an intermediary policy for the support of political decision making — even if some critics refuse to believe it. Lobbying at EU level has become a politically realistic dimension. Even if the mass media still take a very sceptical and negative view of lobbying in Brussels, based on the existing European taboo on influencing politics, an in‐depth analysis reveals various lobbies at work in EU institutions. Lobbying today is an essential part of all EU decision areas. This paper describes the functional theory approach of lobbying known as ‘cooperation as confrontation through communication’. For the first time, recipients of lobbying in the EU Commission are demonstrating their acceptance of lobbying efforts. The paper is based on the doctoral thesis ‘The acceptance, relevance and dominance of lobbying the EU Commission’ by Peter Koeppl, University of Vienna (unpublished). Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications