Does business influence government regulations? New evidence from Canadian impact assessments

Regulatory impact assessments frequently embed stakeholder consultations in their design. Canada was one of the early adopters of such an approach and therefore has systematic documentation on the actors taking part in these consultations. This article asks whether these consultations have an influence on regulatory change and whether business disproportionally benefits from them. After converting the documentation into data, we find that these consultations do in fact matter: the more diversified the stakeholders taking part, the more stringent the changed regulations. But we also found that for a subset of regulatory changes, those likely to carry high economic stakes, business takes advantage of the consultation, often obtaining some reduction in regulatory stringency. These reductions, however, are conditioned on the limited presence of opposing views expressed during the consultations.     

RHETORIC OF THE LAWYER AND PHILOSOPHICAL CONVERSATION

The article focuses on the difference between strategic rhetoric and philosophical conversation. It first tries to distinguish between sophistical manipulation and valid strategic argumentation. In order to do that, the author tries to give a new meaning to the old Aristotelian tripartition between logos, ethos, and pathos. Then, he uses Chaim Perelman’s theory of argumentation to show that the standard of rationality in practical reasoning is a specific one. After having clarified the very concept of strategic argumentation, the author distinguishes it from the notion of philosophical conversation. He tries to show that if the latter is completely replaced by the former, the danger exists that victimization and morals “a la carte” will generate a defeat of critical thought.     

公司财产独立之法律规制研究

公司财产独立是股东承担有限责任的前提,在我国,公司财产独立法律责任偏重于运用行政责任和刑事责任手段,对民事责任手段不够重视。法律应建立权益博弈机制,确立民事责任优先原则,完善公司人格否认制度,充分调动债权人积极性,高效地解决该项“公司难题”。     

体面劳动在中国

国际劳工组织自1999年提出"体面劳动"的理念后,一直在全球推行体面劳动。体面劳动所涵盖的内容既是国际劳工组织的战略目标,也是中国一直致力于实现的目标。     

Ethics in the workplace

The right to request flexible working has been introduced into the UK employment laws against a background of post-fordist work practices, which already allow for employer rather than employee flexibility. This paper posits the idea that for the individual employee to benefit from these new rights what is required is the situation of dialogues within the workplace that take place in an ethical frame that recognises the employee as an individual.

Struggling in the Street and at the Table

Two scholar practitioners of conflict intervention and social movements present case histories of mediated conflicts involving complex choreographies of contention and negotiation. Both processes, while differently structured and facilitated, have led to improvements in the dynamics of identity‐based conflicts in urban communities. The authors raise theoretical questions and propose improvements to practice.     

Working with boards: The experiences of Australian managers in performing arts organisations

Corporate governance has long been a feature of the arts and cultural sector and is a requirement for all cultural organisations seeking public funding, regardless of their size. However, despite the ubiquity of corporate governance in the arts and cultural sector, there is little research addressing the experiences of managers. This study examines the experiences of managers in performing arts organisations in working with their boards, based on data collected across 20 performing arts organisations in Australia using a stakeholder salience lens. Our results indicate that while the board is seen as a key organisational stakeholder, managers have a range of concerns about the governance role of boards, and in particular their limited effectiveness on the dimensions of legitimacy and urgency. We find that arts managers often must wrestle with competing agendas around creative autonomy and the low‐risk appetite of their management boards. Our findings highlight the need to re‐align, particularly in small‐ and medium‐sized organisations, the organisational needs of arts managers with corporate governance arrangements, without detracting from creative endeavours.     

论利益相关者理论与我国公司治理结构的完善

利益相关者理论强调公司不仅仅追求股东利益的最大化,还应当关注其他利益相关者的利益;它集中体现了对公司本质的新认识、对人力资本价值的重视,符合经济民主化的要求,对完善我国公司治理结构具有重要的借鉴意义。公司应当推行职工参与制度,有效吸收职工参与公司内部治理;作为主债权人的银行应该有限地参与公司内部治理;但供应商、消费者、社区与政府却不宜介入公司的内部治理。     

中国参与东亚多边安全合作及其理论分析——以东亚多边安全对话机制为例

冷战后,东亚地区兴起了以各种多边安全对话机制为代表的多边安全合作模式。中国在10多年的参与过程中坚持东盟主导,遵循“不干涉他国内政、协商一致和灵活非正式”的东盟原则,重点加强在非传统安全领域的务实合作和防务对话,主张以建立信任措施为主要目的并探讨符合东亚特征的预防性外交。文章认为,中国应以主人翁姿态参与东亚安全合作,并以“10＋1”和“10＋3”机制为基础,广泛推进地区安全合作议程的创设,为东亚多边安全机制提供足够的物力、财力和智力支持。     

参与、对话、共享:试论新型控辩关系的构建

我国控辩关系失衡由来已久:规范维度上,立法滞后、保障不力;实证维度上,控方一家独大,辩方权利萎缩;观念维度上,长期权力本位,辩护权倍受歧视。新型控辩关系构建,须从参与、对话、共享三方面入手。其中,参与机制需要从制度上保证辩护人全程、全面、立体化介入诉讼;对话机制源于戴维·伯姆的对话理论,通过控辩对话消除侦控过程的思维碎片化,建立互信、强化协作;信息共享机制源于信息不对称引发的司法寻租,须构建以控方为主、辩方为补充的信息披露义务,让各方在公开透明的司法程序中公平竞技。