Colliding intervention in the spatial management of street-based injecting and drug-related litter within settings of public convenience (UK)

This paper considers the structural production and amplification of tensions surrounding the issue of street-based injecting drug use and drug-related litter (injecting paraphernalia) discarded in public settings. These tensions, it is argued, is a consequence of colliding intervention (policy and practice) brought about by conflicting connections between national/local drug strategy and micro-level forms of governance regarding the spatial management of public space. These colliding interventions have negative consequences upon harm reduction and the formation of enabling environments. The paper draws upon data obtained from a five-year (multi-site) ethnographic study of street-based injecting conducted throughout the south of England during 2006–2011.     

Substate variations in political values in Canada

The article aims to make three methodological and substantive contributions to the literature on substate cleavages in political values. Considerable controversy characterizes this literature. The paper argues that this controversy is due to how indicators representing political values are chosen and constructed. The paper proposes to use factor analysis to select and construct indicators of political values. The analysis identifies five dimensions, which collectively account for 57% of Canadians’ political values. They include support for moral traditionalism, egalitarianism, pluralism, openness to immigration and personal responsibility. Second, the paper shows that there is only limited variation across provinces in political values. Third, the paper shows that this result holds when considering regional variations rather than provincial variations.     

Beyond Dyads: Regional Democratic Strength’s Influence on Dyadic Conflict

Over the history of modern international relations research, we have moved from systemic and regional studies to empirical explorations of dyadic interactions. However, our statistical models have put the details of dyadic interactions under a microscope at the expense of ignoring the relevant regional context that these dyads interact in. This development has been in part due to computational limitations, but do we really believe that decision makers interact with one another while ignoring the regional power balance and the wishes of regional powers? In this article, I take a look at the well-researched relationship between democracy and peace by using a multilevel approach to dyadic interactions and the regions they are embedded in. The findings suggest that when the regional power balance favors democracies, it influences conflict between dyads, especially mixed dyads, by increasing the costs of aggression by autocracies and establishing regional norms of cooperation and compromise.     

Resurgent authoritarianism: the case of Russia's new NGO legislation

Following the protest demonstrations of the 2011–2012 electoral cycle, tensions between the limited modernization efforts of Medvedev and the resurgent authoritarianism of Putin have become increasingly manifest. These are seen not only in the relationship between society and the state, but also in the “para-constitutional” institutions of the dual state. This article argues that whereas Medvedev created an arena for liberalization within these para-constitutional structures, Putin has firmly rejected these policies, among other things by revising the 1995 law on NGOs amended in 2006. Using the perspective of the dual state, the article argues that with the introduction of the Law on Foreign Agents (2012), the original law draft On Public Control (2014), a key element in Medvedev's modernization program, was delayed and substantially altered. Together, these amendments create precarious conditions for NGOs, pressuring their independence by threats of dissolution and reducing the quality of civil control over state organs.     

Assessing the Relationship Between a Peer-Mentoring Program and Case Outcomes in Dependency Court

Building successful family-centered programs to support families whose children have been removed can be especially challenging to child welfare agencies. Peer-mentoring programs match families new to the dependency system with a mentor who has successfully reunified with their children. The current study examines the relationship between a peer-mentoring program, Parent for Parent (P4P), engagement levels of parents, and case outcomes for these families. Findings revealed that participants in the peer-mentoring program experienced increased engagement levels and improved outcomes for their cases. Specifically, mothers and fathers who participated in P4P increased their compliance with case plans and visitation, as well as increased presence at court hearings. Reunification rates increased for all families who participated in the peer-mentoring program, compared to those who did not. Few associations were found between racial and ethnic groups and program participation. The implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

论科学发展观的哲学“发展之法”

马克思主义哲学发展观是科学发展观赖以产生的基石,后者不仅深刻反映了前者中的"发展之理"、"发展之质"和"发展之本",而且折射了前者中的"发展之法".马克思主义哲学发展观蕴含的"消解矛盾"、"超越现实"、"重组要素"、"实践创新"、"和谐共生"、"辩证调控"等"发展之法",正是科学发展观阐发的发展方法的理论旨归.     

中国法治模式的法经济学分析

法治模式又称法治道路问题 ,是建设社会主义法治国家的重要理论问题。运用经济学中的生产要素组合的理论作为类比 ,以一种新的视角来研究法治道路问题 ,说明法治的道路在政府推进型和社会演进型之间如何结合的理论问题 ,也许能带来一个解决这个社会问题的困境的思路 ,因为毕竟法治道路问题的研究之路上还有诸多的理论和实践的荆棘潜伏着 ,我们的路依然很漫长。     

New Labour in Power: Five Problems of Contemporary History

The history of New Labour is highly politicised, deployed either for its policy lessons (good or bad) or as a weapon in Labour's factional struggles. But, just as historians in the 1990s reassessed the premierships of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan, so the distance of time and the opening of archives offers an opportunity to reappraise New Labour as history. Such work raises five methodological challenges: the lack of sufficient distance from the subject to tell whether policy innovations will remain popular and permanent; the long shadow the Iraq war casts over this whole period; the deluge of data and sources available; the continuing and controversial part that key actors, such as Tony Blair, are still playing; and the lack of expertise any one author will inevitably face in some policy areas. This article addresses each of those difficulties in turn.     

Eliciting preferences for land use alternatives: A structured value referendum with approval voting

This article discusses an experimental application of the Structured Value Referendum (SVR) with approval voting. The decision context is selecting the best land use for an undeveloped area of publicly owned suburban land in Richmond, British Columbia. Subjects were a random sample of 200 registered voters, selected in a "mall‐intercept" format. Subjects reviewed relevant information, completed a ballot, and then completed a survey about their satisfaction with the approval voting format. The results are of substantive interest for the land use decision, and show a high preference for an approval voting format. The results show ease in understanding the task and information provided, as well as a belief that this approach could be useful in guiding public policy. © 1999 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

再论法学对哲学诠释学的继受

法学对哲学诠释学的继受,存在着解构与建构两种不同的理论路向。为此,须明确法律诠释学对哲学诠释学进行继受的可能与限度。立足于本体论与方法论相统一的解释学立场,在建构意义上将法学方法论纳入哲学诠释学的理论框架中,诠释学的任务不仅仅在于对法学方法论进行反思,更在于实现诠释学思维的方法论转化,创建法学作为人文科学的方法论。诠释学反思导向法律意义的追问,必然引起法律概念论从实体本体论向关系本体论的革新。