Picking battles: Correctional officers,rules, and discretion in prison

To outsiders, prisons vacillate between visions of regimented order and anarchic disorder. The place of rules in prison sits at the fulcrum between these two visions of regulation. Based on 131 qualitative interviews with correctional officers across four different prisons in western Canada, we examine how correctional officers understand and exercise discretion in prison. Our findings highlight how an officer's habitus shapes individual instances of discretionary decision‐making. We show how officers modify how they exercise discretion in light of their views on how incarcerated people, fellow officers, and supervisors will interpret their decisions. Although existing research often sees a correlation between “rule‐following” by incarcerated individuals and official statistics on such misdeeds, our data highlight that official statistics on rule violations do not easily represent the rate or frequency of such misbehavior. Instead, these numbers are highly discretionary organizational accomplishments. Our findings advance an appreciation for correctional officer discretion by focusing on the range of factors officers might contemplate in forward‐looking decisions about applying a rule and how they rationalize the nonenforcement of rules.     

习近平法治思想:新时代伟大社会革命的理论产物

习近平法治思想的创立,是马克思主义法治思想中国化进程的第三次历史性飞跃。在中华民族迎来了从站起来、富起来到强起来的伟大飞跃的历史进程中,习近平法治思想应运而生。面对着新时代具有许多新的历史特点的伟大斗争,习近平法治思想深刻回答了在中国这样一个超大型的东方大国为什么实行全面依法治国、怎样实行全面依法治国这一重大时代课题,为新时代伟大社会革命中的全面依法治国、建设法治中国、推进国家治理现代化提供了科学指南。     

Vertical party integration: informal and human linkages between elections in a Canadian province

Examining multi-level vertical party linkages in Canada’s largest province, this paper makes two primary contributions to the literature. First, drawing on data from a unique survey of constituency associations, the paper focuses on an often unexplored aspect of parties: their local organisations. Second, the paper offers an exploratory analysis of constituency level factors in order to determine which types of constituency associations are the most likely to be integrated. The results of the logistic regression demonstrate the possibility of non-party-based factors such as electoral strength that may contribute to vertical party integration.     

“Bad enough governance”: state capacity and quality of institutions in post-Soviet autocracies

This article contributes to current discussions on state capacity, quality of institutions, and political regimes. Our analysis demonstrates that the J-curve argument (“good institutions” in autocracies as compared to hybrid and transitional regimes) may not be generic and is not well supported by empirical evidence from the sample of post-Soviet countries. An explanatory model of the “King of the Mountain” is instead provided. Its focus is on the monopoly of political rent as a precondition for extraction of economic rent. It demonstrates an inverse correlation between the quality of institutions and the extraction of political and economic rent, and explains why an autocrat may not have an incentive to improve institutions that may make his/her monopoly vulnerable, and rather would prefer to preserve a low quality of institutions and “bad enough governance.” An analysis of a variety of external and domestic factors that may endanger this monopoly is provided. Finally, the autocrat's alternative strategic choices are analyzed. It is argued that better payoffs for the autocrat – paradoxically – may result from partial reforms and improvement of the quality of institutions. However, for various reasons, this is not occurring in post-Soviet autocracies.     

The effects of protracted conflict and displacement on citizen engagement in Northern Uganda

The Acholi region of Uganda was deeply affected by the war between the Lord’s Resistance Army and the Government of Uganda from the late 1980s to 2006. This article presents qualitative case-study research of how citizen engagement evolved during the conflict and period of internal displacement, analysing the mechanisms through which violent conflict affected the sense and practice of citizenship. The findings show that the securitisation of local institutions and the militarisation of the public sphere limited the opportunity for learning the practice of citizenship. In the post-conflict situation, perceptions and behaviours that developed during the conflict period persist among the Acholi. Finally, the experience of protracted conflict has a negative impact on a sense of citizenship, which weakens the confidence of the Acholi people to engage with the state. With practices of citizenship limited by inexperience and a sense of citizenship that is characterised by alienation, the Acholi find it difficult to hold state actors to account. This demonstrates the need for a clear understanding of the continued fragility of citizenship after violent conflict.     

“三治融合”视域下乡村治理能力提升的三维审视

不同于主要依托村民自治制度展开的传统村治形式,自治、法治、德治相结合的"三治融合"乡村治理方式具有更为丰富的构成要素与更为深刻的价值意蕴。乡村"三治融合"体现了基层民主力量、规范力量与柔性力量的融合,其实践过程即乡村自治能力、法治能力与德治能力的提升过程,其诉求指向涉及参与均衡、权威转化和乡贤培育。从乡村自治能力提升的维度观之,需要推进村民公共参与的均衡化;从乡村法治能力提升的维度观之,需要驱动精英权威向制度权威的转化;从乡村德治能力提升的维度观之,需要挖掘传统乡贤文化精髓并培育新乡贤群体。以上三个通道的打开,可以有效提升乡村治理能力,促进乡村治理现代化和乡村振兴愿景的实现。     

对我国商业贿赂治理的思考

商业贿赂是国际商业交易活动中普遍存在的现象,其破坏了良好的社会管理与经济发展秩序,扭曲了国际竞争条件,具有很强的危害性。根据我国企业跨国经营的具体特点,借鉴美国《海外反腐败法》和国际组织制定的反腐败国际公约的相关内容,制定我国的《海外反商业贿赂法》,以遏制商业贿赂行为的滋生蔓延。     

地缘性介入与制度性嵌构：美国亚太区域水安全外交战略

根据地缘利益诉求(攻势/守势)与跨国流域水治理程度(工具性/制度性)两个指标,可以将"水安全外交"界定为国家以及相关行为体围绕跨境水资源安全问题展开的博弈行为。水安全外交包括冲突预防型、霸权引导型、水互动冷漠型和治理后现代型四种类型。作为霸权引导型的美国水安全外交战略,其核心是通过水的全球治理来巩固其全球霸权地位,主要表现在两个方面:一是通过大国的地缘性介入,保障其水外交的战略利益;二是通过对区域水治理体系的制度性嵌置和重构,保持其水外交的合法性和有效性。美国通过水外交的四条路径(联盟和议题联系方式、同水外交大国的协调方式、国际组织议题嵌入、网络化伙伴关系)推进水安全外交政策和安全战略的制定。在其水外交进程中,国内外的动因机制发挥了重要作用。美国通过水安全外交拓展自身在亚太的地缘利益诉求,推行美国价值观的水治理原则和规范,嵌构以美国为核心的水安全治理体系,遏制地区大国(特别是中国)的水话语权,以最终实现美国在区域水—能源—粮食纽带安全中的战略优势平衡。     

法律史视野下的羁縻政策研究———以唐、清两代治理西北边疆的比较为例简

中国古代传统的羁縻政策是中央政府通过法律治理西北边疆的重要组成部分,其实质是一种法律制度.唐、清两代治疆理念继承和发展了中国古代传统的羁縻政策并有所损益变化.唐代和清代是羁縻政策发展演变的典型时期.从法律史学的角度对二者进行比较,勾勒出中国古代羁縻政策的演变,还原两代封建王朝中央政府治理西北边疆的政策、方略.     

Formal Rules and Informal Cooperation: Inter-governmental Relations in Domestic European Policy Making in Comparative Perspective

One of the key elements of the strategies of interest representation of strong legislative regions in EU policy making is active participation in the co-ordination processes within the member state. This article argues that Europeanization of inter-governmental relations leads to a greater emphasis on cooperation in the formal rules on inter-governmental cooperation in EU affairs. However, when informal practices are taken into account, some member states become more cooperative, others arguably less. This divergence can be explained by the circular interplay of formal and informal practices.