Vehicle remote keyless entry systems and engine immobilisers: Do not believe the insurer that this technology is perfect

In the 1990s, governments put pressure on motor vehicle manufacturers to provide better security for vehicles. Thieves could steal cars and lorries with relative ease. The manufacturers responded by introducing electronic systems to make it more difficult for vehicles to be stolen without the key. However, as with most forms of technology, the software can be bypassed. In recent years, thieves have manipulated weaknesses in the technology, so that vehicles can be stolen without the key.     

Advancing Science and Research in Criminal Justice/Criminology: Complex Systems Theory and Non‐Linear Analyses

For over a century, criminological research has been able to explain a consistently small amount of the variation in crime. It is plausible that the problem with criminological theory is not in the theory but in the analysis. Complex systems science (CSS) attempts to examine data in a different way – often making the most of error data discarded by linear analyses. This paper addresses the viability of using CSS in criminological research. An example is drawn from social disorganization theory to demonstrate the ability of CSS to explain crime at the neighborhood level. The result is a new theory called Ecodynamics Theory, developed by combining the elements of neighborhood research with complex systems analyses. The implications of this theory to increase the efficacy of criminological research are discussed.     

我国儿童虐待防治法律制度的完善

儿童虐待是一种严重侵害儿童身心健康的违法行为。我国规制儿童虐待的法律主要有专门性的《未成年人保护法》和《义务教育法》与非专门性的《宪法》、《刑法》、《婚姻法》等法律。儿童虐待防治法律制度存在立法形式分散,缺乏系统性;儿童虐待报告制度残缺不全;调查与处理制度暂付阙如及受虐儿童保护制度设计不合理等缺陷。借鉴域外经验,我们应将儿童虐待定义明确化、制定儿童虐待强制报告制度、设立儿童代理人制度、改革儿童收养与寄养法律制度并设立儿童虐待调查与处理制度。     

代际支持、社会网络对老年人生活质量的影响——基于老化态度的中介效应分析

促进家庭代际赡养,营造适合老年人互动的社会环境,激励老年人形成积极的老化态度,以更好地提高老年人生活质量,对于老年人、家庭和社会都具有重要意义.本研究基于中国老年社会追踪调查(CLASS)2014年的数据,探讨代际支持、社会网络对老年人生活质量的影响,同时从老化态度层面分析代际支持、社会网络在对老年人生活质量影响过程中...     

Deliberative citizenship: a critical reappraisal

ABSTRACT

The study of citizenship as a political or moral ideal involves identifying core commitments and capabilities, the cultivation and exercise of which is often presented as a condition of being a ‘good’ citizen. Deliberative democracy was, at least until recently, associated with a conception of citizenship that endorses those qualities that equip us for a certain kind of respectful and reflective dialogue. This article reappraises this conception in light of the so-called ‘systemic turn’ within deliberative theory. It shows how systems thinking has displaced the traditional conception of deliberative citizenship, but that theorists have so far not elaborated a satisfactory replacement. A pluralist model is thus proposed, which casts light on the diverse qualities that a range of actors in a deliberative system might require. The resulting argument is not merely of interest to deliberative theorists, but to all who are concerned with the ethics of citizenship. The main reason is that it displaces the entrenched notion of a ‘good citizen’, in favour of the more heterogenous ideal of a ‘good citizenry’.     

女大学生基本心理需求满足与手机成瘾的关系:错失焦虑的中介作用及社会支持的调节作用

为探讨错失焦虑在女大学生基本心理需求满足与手机成瘾之间的中介作用以及社会支持的调节作用,采用基本心理需求满足量表、错失焦虑量表、大学生手机成瘾倾向量表、领悟社会支持量表对956名女大学生进行了调查.调查结果发现:基本心理需求满足与错失焦虑、手机成瘾均呈负相关(r=-0.29,-0.44),基本心理需求满足与朋友支持、家...     

Demand Responsive Services: Towards an Analytical Framework for Administrative Practice in Indigenous Settlements

Demand responsiveness is an established principle in the efficient operation of markets. The principle has been applied to government services in international development overseas, and mainstream government service delivery in Australia, but only recently to Indigenous settlements. Shifting the balance in services from supply to demand is seen to have the potential to improve access, outcomes, and sustainability of services. In Indigenous settlements, an important relationship between demand and supply of services does exist, but a deeper analysis is necessary beyond the economic model to account for the complex sociopolitical geographies involved. Further research is required to develop a framework to explain the interactions that occur in practice, to determine the conditions which permit productive relationships to develop between consumers and service providers. The article presents an analytical framework through which to proceed, structured around five proposed research questions.     

Candidate-centred electoral systems and voter turnout

Abstract

This study evaluates contradictory theoretical predictions concerning the relationship between the candidate-centredness of electoral systems and voter turnout. Candidate-centredness has been proposed to both stimulate and depress turnout. Cross-sectional time-series data from 36 democracies between 1990 and 2014 are used to test the competing assumptions made about the impact of the personal vote on turnout. Three measures assessing the extent to which electoral systems create incentives to cultivate a personal vote are employed. The results show that turnout is the lowest in candidate-centred systems and the highest in party-centred systems with closed and ordered lists, while controlling for a host of contextual factors that have been linked to aggregate turnout. In addition, the finding that candidate-centredness is negatively related to turnout holds up even when taking into account district magnitude, electoral disproportionality and effective number of parties.     

Institutions,governmental performance and the rise of political newcomers

This article analyses the institutional and contextual factors that facilitate the election of political newcomers as heads of government in democratic regimes. Using data from 870 democratic elections between 1945 and 2015, it is found that political newcomers are more likely to be successful in presidential systems, in new democracies and when party systems are weakly institutionalised. The election of politically inexperienced candidates is also related to governmental performance. Political newcomers are more successful when the economic performance of the government is bad and when the government engages in high‐level corruption.     

Media Motivation and Elite Rhetoric in Comparative Perspective

The exchange of diverse points of view in elite deliberation is considered a cornerstone of democracy. This study presents evidence that variations in political motivation for media use predict the tendency of politicians to present deliberative rhetoric that considers multiple points of view regarding issues and sees those views as related to one another. We surveyed 111 incumbent Members of Parliament in Belgium, Canada, and Israel and analyzed a large sample of their parliamentary speeches. The findings demonstrate that motivation to attain media coverage and act upon information from the news media leads politicians to strategically display simple and unidimensional rhetoric due to newsworthiness considerations, but only in countries where the media constitute important resources for reelection. The results contribute to extant literature by demonstrating a media effect on elite deliberation and by emphasizing the moderating role of political systems on the nature of elite rhetoric.