FAMILY COURT IMPROVEMENT AND THE ART OF GRANTSMANSHIP: A JUDGE'S PERSPECTIVE

Many American courts face funding obstacles as they try to create and implement unified family court processes that have not been part of the traditional family court adversarial process. To create new staff positions, build and equip adequate facilities, and create and implement innovative programs, grant funding may be available to supplement what local and state governments provide. While social science research confirms that children are adversely affected by exposure to high‐conflict family litigation and domestic violence, many communities have few affordable and available resources to address these issues. This article presents lessons and principles that one court learned as it applied for a grant to design programs for high‐conflict families and families with domestic violence history.     

现代社会中司法的力量——兼论转型中国司法的两难困境及应对

在现代社会中,司法成为一种专门且相对独立的活动,这不仅是分权制衡的必要和纠纷解决的产物,也是现代国家统治正当化的策略选择。由此,司法活动既受内在限制,也蕴含了影响国家治理和社会发展的潜在力量。面对人们司法预期增长与法院自身能力不足的矛盾,司法力量的铸成需以克制为基本立场,并依靠相应的制度和司法技艺灵活处理可能危及自身安全和正当性的社会需求。相形之下,转型中国的司法尚未完成现代化就已经无法避免能动的角色担当,其力量的培育不仅需要在审判独立性方面着力,而且还要注重为法院"减压",并理性认识和评估法官实践中的智慧。     

政府绩效评估制度安排的现实困境及其消解

政府绩效评估制度的本质就是以评估来促进政府行为的规范,加强对政府监督,强化政府的责任,提高政府的效率.然而当下中国,政府绩效评估的制度安排遇到了现实困境:政府绩效评估价值扭曲带来制度安排困境,政府绩效评估客体与主体失衡带来制度安排偏差,绩效评估系统内部运行阻滞带来制度安排障碍.消解政府绩效评估制度安排困境,从价值层面必须考虑社会公平、宽容合作;从运作体系必须考虑目标系统、比较系统、测定系统的制度安排要符合系统之间的逻辑关联.     

Mainstreamed voluntary sustainability standards and their effectiveness: Evidence from the Honduran coffee sector

Voluntary Sustainability Standards have become a popular private governance framework for more sustainable agri-food value chains. Yet, amid increasing concerns over the decoupling of standards and practices, it is still unclear to what extent agricultural standard requirements are implemented on the ground, and what may account for such differential implementation. This study employs a novel dataset of 659 Honduran coffee producers to examine this puzzle, focusing on the most widely used standards in the coffee sector (Common Code for the Coffee Community, Fairtrade, Fairtrade/organic, UTZ Certified, and Rainforest Alliance). It first presents results on implementation and behavioral change, based on matched groups of certified and non-certified farmers, for eight representative social and environmental sustainability practices. Analyzing determinants of implementation success, it finds that the stringency of rules – if they are known by farmers – and the level of farm-gate prices are significantly correlated with farmers’ performance and lower levels of decoupling across a majority of indicators. These results speak to the importance of supporting small-scale actors’ awareness of and financial capacity to comply with proposed sustainability rules.     

西部大开发中建立区域绿色生态经济模式的基本思路

绿色生态经济模式是可持续发展原则的产业化。21世纪,西部区域可持续发展的根本途径是建立绿色生态经济模式。区域绿色生态经济模式建立的基本思路是:实现生态系统与经济系统及开发方式的对接;通过发展农业生态经济,建立区域生态工业经济体系,建立生态化的区域第三产业等,提高区域绿色生态经济的总量与质量。     

The Environment: A Winner for the Liberal Democrats?

While the Liberal Democrats have a long-standing commitment to environmental sustainability and have over the years developed a range of policies acclaimed by the green NGOs, there remain doubts about the depth of that commitment. In particular, the party's local government environmental record is not notably better than its rivals. With the Conservatives and others now heavily promoting their green credentials, the Liberal Democrats face the dilemma of either being outflanked on the green reputation front or having to adopt much tougher policies that some in the party believe will lose votes. The author argues that one course of action would be to seek cross-party support for achieving agreed environmental targets supported by a menu of tough policies to be introduced if those targets are missed.     

我国当下道德困境的多维原因探究

文章从社会、文化、经济、政治等多维视角展开对道德困境产生原因的分析,旨在对道德困境之源有一个较为清晰的把握与认识。     

基因专利的发展与困境——以美国基因专利发展为参照

基因技术的发展无法做到绝对的技术中立,对基因技术授予专利成为一个棘手的问题。美国从20世纪80年代以来开始授予基因专利,虽然在授予基因专利的条件上,就新颖性、实用性、创造性上的要求更高,但是依旧有大量基因技术取得专利权。反对基因技术授予专利权者从法律伦理、公共健康的角度对其提出质疑,这些质疑也在影响着法院在对是否授予基因专利上的判断。如何对基因专利实现既保护又减少与公共利益的冲突依旧是个待解的难题。     

Does the Gown Help the Town? Examining Town–Gown Relationship Influence on Local Environmental Sustainability in the United States

A US municipality environmental sustainability index, the OSSPI (Opp-Saunders Sustainability Practices Index), found an overwhelming percentage of top-ranked sustainable cities were home to higher education institutions. While this may be a coincidence, this research seeks to determine if and how local communities partner or collaborate with higher education institutions for environmental sustainability purposes. The results of two case studies, San Antonio, Texas and Dubuque, Iowa, suggest there is considerable variability in the town-gown relationships. However, it is found that larger, public universities are more likely to have stronger relationships and effects on local sustainability efforts.     

Deputy sheriff or independent ally? Evolving Australian–American ties in an ambiguous world order

The policies of Australia’s current government have been so close to the United States as to invite comparisons to an Australian ‘deputy sheriff’ executing the interests and policies of a US global marshal. Advocates of the ANZUS alliance disagree, citing the immense politico-strategic benefits Australia extracts from that relationship and insisting that ANZUS objectives are commensurate with a stable and just world order. Recent developments in international security politics such as the Iraq conflict and the persistence of global terrorism may now challenge that proposition and test the Australian electorate’s future support for the American alliance. A greater determination by Australia to cultivate a more balanced approach to alliance politics will underwrite its national security interests more effectively than a sustained and rigid adherence to alliance loyalty under any circumstances.