Social contract theory and the semiotics of guns in America

We present a semiotic model of gun possession in America based upon the social contract theories put forward by Locke, Rousseau, and Rawls. Our central focus is upon the rights of self-preservation and the protection of property. The model proposes that American political history has cycled between two sets of symbolic threats to the social contract: tyranny imposed by a despotic central government and chaos represented by outsiders designated as savages. We propose that the two central semiotic images presented in the origin myth of the USA – that of pioneers living on a savage frontier and citizens rebelling against tyrannical government – endorse the individual possession of firearms. The specific models of guns chosen by private citizens are found to be closely intertwined with military patterns of usage; thus, the US military seems to serve as a rhetorical vessel from which cultural ideals of appropriate weaponry are derived. Examples of American autobiographical writings, contemporary gun advertising, and popular culture fictional narratives are presented to ground the arguments. We conclude that individual access to the use of deadly force for self-defense and the defense of property is the semiological basis of the American social contract and that US government efforts to reduce civilian possession of firearms are unlikely to succeed.     

Comment on Harvey Jacobs' “Social conflict over property rights: the end,a new beginning,or a continuing debate?”

Jacobs draws on history, law, politics, and policy to examine the development and response of the private property movement and the social conflict over property rights and public planning. This comment suggests that the debate be broadened beyond the advocates of property rights and planning to include the interests of other members of the community, including minority and low-income households who are often affected by the outcomes. Otherwise, property will continue to be used to exclude people from democracy, rather than include them.     

The accumulation of lender-owned homes during the US mortgage crisis: examining metropolitan REO inventories

A key concern among policymakers and community developers in recent years has been the extent to which lender-owned homes, often called real estate owned or “REO” properties, accumulate in different local housing markets during the mortgage crisis. This paper describes the accumulation of REO properties in 356 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) from August 2006 to August 2008. It examines differences in both changes and static levels of REO activity across MSAs and compares changes in REO levels to changes in home values over the same period. Special attention is paid to 12 large MSAs with substantial levels of REO as of August 2008. A model of REO volume at the metropolitan level is estimated that includes differences in state foreclosure legal processes and timing among the independent variables. Finally, cluster analysis is used to identify a simple typology of MSAs based on REO levels and home price changes.     

业主拖欠物业服务费的法律问题研究

目前,物业服务行业的发展存在一种问题,业主由于各种原因对物业服务企业存在不满,进而拖欠物业服务费,而业主认为这是一种维护自己权利的行为。于是就出现了实践中物业服务企业继续降低服务质量、业主继续拖欠物业服务费的恶性循环。因此,了解业主拖欠物业服务费相关法律原理,对于促进物业服务行业的良性发展能起到促进作用。     

Political institutions and FDI inflows in autocratic countries*

ABSTRACT

Why do some autocratic countries attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) than others? Surprisingly, few studies have explored the considerable variation in FDI inflows to non-democratic countries. In this article, I argue that non-democratic countries with seemingly democratic political institutions, such as elected legislatures, attract more FDI inflow than others. This is because these institutions can (1) reduce the transaction costs of investment activities due to the relative transparency of the policy-making process, and (2) act as veto players, making the existing market-friendly policy changes difficult, and thus, promising a more stable investment environment. My empirical results support the main expectation that autocratic countries with legislatures attract more FDI than other autocratic countries, and the institutions’ effects are conditionally modified by the quality of market protecting institutions.     

Property as Governance: Time,Space and Belonging in Australia's Northern Territory Intervention

This article analyses two cases brought by aboriginal Australians against the Australian government acquisition of long leases of their land under the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007. These leases are conspicuous, particularly in that the government always made it clear that it would not take up its right to exclusive possession of the leased land, and has not done so. The leases have not been used to evict residents, as some feared; nor to pursue mining or agricultural activity. Socio‐legal theories centered on the right to exclusive possession cannot account for these leases. The article explores the use of property under the 2007 Act, the legal geographies of the areas subject to the leases and the political potency of property beyond exclusive possession, and suggests an understanding of property as a spatially contingent relation of belonging. Specifically, the article argues that property is productive of temporal and spatial order and so can function as a tool of governance.     

我国国有财产对私有财产优越权的法理省思

《物权法》颁行以来,我国公私财产平等保护原则的落实并不充分。现行宪法中"社会主义的公共财产"是指国有和集体财产中的公共财产;宪法所确认的国有经济在国民经济中的主导地位,主要体现在国家对某些自然资源和特定行业或领域的所有权或经营管理权的独占。完善我国公私财产平等保护的制度建设,需要从调整相关宪法规范的表述方式、区分国有财产中经营性财产与公共财产和建立政府对公私财产的平等保护机制等方面着手。     

占有脱离物与善意取得——兼论我国物权法的价值选择

在善意取得制度中,真正权利人的利益与善意受让人的利益相互冲突,传统民法理论向来将占有委托物与占有脱离物的区分作为一个重要的利益衡平工具.以民法权利外观信赖保护理论为基点,对区分肯定主义立法和区分否定主义立法进行评析,认为善意取得制度应扬弃占有脱离物与占有委托物的区分.在此基础上对我国物权法的价值选择进行评价,并对未来民法典中的善意取得制度提出了立法构想.     

《物权法》中值得商榷的问题——以有关业主共同意思表示的规定为视角

《物权法》规定业主共同决定的事项应当经专有部分占建筑物总面积三分之二(半数)以上的业主且占总人数三分之二(半数)以上的业主同意,这种双权重、高比例的规定过于严苛,妨碍全体业主准确、便捷、有效地作出合法的意思表示。物权法也没有赋予业主大会和业主委员会的诉讼主体资格,实践中不利于全体业主实施有效的诉讼救济。