THE ROLE OF TURNING POINTS IN ESTABLISHING BASELINE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PEOPLE IN DEVELOPMENTAL AND LIFE‐COURSE CRIMINOLOGY

Turning points, between‐person differences, and within‐person changes have all been linked to desistance from crime. Nevertheless, the means through which between‐person differences are frequently captured in life‐course criminology makes them intertwined with, and perhaps confounded by, turning points in life. We propose that a new way of capturing the between‐person effect—the baseline between‐person difference—could benefit theoretically informed tests of developmental and life‐course issues in criminology. Because they occur at one time point immediately preceding a turning point in life, we demonstrate that baseline between‐person differences establish meaningful theoretical connections to behavior and the way people change over time. By using panel data from the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative, we estimate models capturing within‐person change and baseline between‐person differences in social bonds (family support) and differential association (peer criminality) at the time of release from prison. The results demonstrate that baseline levels of family support protect people from postrelease substance use but not from crime. Baseline between‐person differences and within‐person changes in peer criminality, however, are robustly related to crime and substance use. Collectively, baseline between‐person differences seem critical for behavior and within‐person change over time, and the results carry implications for reentry‐based policy as well as for theory testing in developmental criminology more broadly.     

The Politics of Civil Service and Administrative Reforms in Development—Explaining Within‐Country Variation of Reform Outcomes in Georgia after the Rose Revolution

This article examines the role of politics as a determinant of civil service and administrative (CSA) reform outcomes in Georgia. The majority of existing studies on CSA reforms face several methodological challenges, which make it difficult to understand the influence of politics in more detail. Based on literature review findings, the article proposes a model for within‐country comparisons that allows one to control for a number of variables such as context and policy design. Comparing CSA reform outcomes in the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs in Georgia after the 2003 Rose Revolution through a matched case study, the article shows that certain countrywide legal adjustments, anti‐corruption measures and context variables are necessary but insufficient conditions for successful reform. While in general Georgia has achieved considerable success in its CSA reform efforts, the President's leverage over reform implementation, leadership at the ministry level and the politics of foreign aid have led to significant variation in reform outcomes across the analysed institutions. In addition to this, institutional constraints reflecting inherent differences between policy sectors explain another part of the variation in outcomes in Georgia. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

党代会常任制:政治体制改革的重要突破口

党代会常任制就是关于党代会本身如何"常任"的一系列制度和程序。由于党代会常任制对党内民主发展来讲具有实质性、联动性、风险较小的特点,所以党代会常任制是发展党内民主的突破口。由于"党内民主是人民民主的推动和引导力量,人民民主的发展有助于权力过分集中的政治体制的改革;党内民主是消除权力过分集中的政治体制弊端的有力武器;以党内民主带动政治体制改革风险小、成本低",所以党内民主是我国政治体制改革的突破口。由此,从逻辑推演的视角看:党代会常任制是我国政治体制改革最为重要的突破口。     

试论社区建设与政府职能转变的关系

在中国,政府职能转变的过程并不顺利,其原因是多方面的,其中主要原因之一就是在职能转变的过程中缺乏强有力的基层依托,以至出现了管理真空,阻碍了健全的市场体系的形成,加深了政府职能转变的难度。社区建设在巩固基层及沟通政府、市场与社会等方面具有巨大的优势。通过大力开展社区建设,不断加强社区自治体系建设和社区党组织建设,使社区能够承接政府职能转变以及政企、政社职能关系调整过程中的基层管理事务,并在保证自身持续稳定发展的同时,为政府职能的转变提供坚实有力的社会基础和基层依托,这是实现政府职能顺利转变的新途径。     

党内和谐：实现社会和谐的突破口

以党内和谐促进社会和谐是党的十六届六中全会提出的新思路。利益格局变化、价值取向多元化和制度不完善,是影响党内和谐的主要原因。实现党内和谐的基本思路是加强利益整合、推进制度创新、加强理论武装和完善领导方式与执政方式。     

论董事的竞业禁止义务

从各国对董事竞业行为的法律规定来看 ,虽然大都对董事的竞业行为予以禁止 ,但范围大小不一 ,宽严程度不同。我国公司法对董事竞业行为采取了绝对禁止的态度 ,不尽合理。对于不损害公司利益的竞业行为 ,公司法应明确规定 ,经股东大会的许可 ,董事可从事本公司有竞争关系的活动。     

司法的限度：在司法能动与司法克制之间

我国法院从司法改革初期积极扩张司法权的一端,转变到面对社会矛盾复杂性而采取自我限缩策略的另一端,暴露出司法权运作边界模糊的问题。社会需求决定了司法的供给,但司法权的能力是有限的,其机能的发挥有赖于一定的条件,而且当事人人数的多少、案件的复杂程度等都会影响司法权的能力。司法权应当恪守自己的边界。对超越自身能力的事情保持克制,是司法权威的必要保证。     

论劳动争议受案范围法规的完善

我国现行有关劳动争议受案范围的规定, 形式上过于分散, 内容上与劳动监察、人事争议处理的范围相互交叉或冲突, 使实际操作非常困难。这种状况主要源于劳动争议的概念不清、立法层次不高及立法主体主观方面的过错。鉴此, 应在劳动法规中界定劳动争议的概念; 由国家最高权力机关制定专门的劳动争议处理程序法; 选择“定义式”界定劳动争议的受案范围; 把劳动监察限于用人单位和劳动“基准法”; 把用人单位与劳动者之间发生的有关社会保险及计划生育方面的争议纳入行政诉讼的范围。