When Is a Gerrymander Not a Gerrymander: Who Benefits and Who Loses from the Changed Rules for Defining Parliamentary Constituencies?

Members of the British Labour party have, not for the first time, criticised the Boundary Commissions’ proposals for new constituency boundaries as gerrymandering. This represents a misuse of the term: the Commissions have produced recommended constituencies in the context of new rules for such redistributions that give precedence to equality of electorates across all seats and the boundaries of those constituencies have been defined without any reference to the likely electoral consequences. The Conservatives, who were responsible for the change in the rules to emphasise electoral equality, wanted to remove a decades‐long Labour advantage in the translation of votes into seats because of variations in constituency size, and the Commissions’ implementation of those rules has achieved that. A Labour advantage has been removed but not replaced by a Conservative advantage: in terms of electoral equality between the two, the playing field has been levelled. Labour's claim to have been disadvantaged by decisions on the electoral register is also examined; the disadvantage is probably only small.     

“金三角”地区的社会治安

本文从工作实际出发,概括了“金三角”地区社会治安的特点、难点,提出了五个方面的治理对策,以期有效地增强“金三角”地区的治安防控能力。     

法律的界限－－从“暂缓起诉制度”的试行谈起

暂缓起诉制度的试行是为了保护未成年人的利益,这与我国刑事立法有关未成年人犯罪的原则要求并不矛盾,但其解决问题的方式在刑事立法的基本原则方面越出了法律界限,而法律的界限是法治的基础.     

Dishonest Government: Local Government Reorganisation,England 2006–2010

‘When I use a word’, Humpty-Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.’ (Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass.)

Abstract

The local government reorganisation process introduced by the Labour government in England in the 2006–2010 period is characterised by a range of disturbing characteristics, in particular the misuse of the English language, the disjunctive between rhetoric and reality and a failure to distinguish between what is ‘lawful’ and what is proper. These claims are justified on the basis of an independent assessment of the government's claims regarding the costs and savings associated with a move to unitary authorities, a review of the court cases involved, which all involved serious criticism of the government's approach, and a critical review of the various contradictory statements made by government ministers during the course of the process. The evidence of the way the government handled the process has serious implications for the way in which public administration needs to be reformed.     

赌博罪、赌博中的违法行为与娱乐活动的界定

赌博,是指用财物作注比输赢,以偶然性的胜负争财物或财产利益得失的行为。对赌博罪、赌博中的违法行为与娱乐活动进行界定,可以使我们正确区分罪与非罪,赌博罪、赌博中的违法行为与娱乐活动的界限以及认清赌博中的犯罪与违法的特殊形态和表现形式。     

冲突和调适的界碑--湘西南长城之历史文化定位

湘西南长城是改主归流后民族矛盾再次加剧后,在平息民族冲突中,重新调适地区社会秩序的产物.明清政府修建南长城是为了从军事上长期有效地控制湘西地区的社会秩序.南长城保障了民族的有序交往,巩固了改土归流的成果,促进了湘西少数民族地区政治、经济、文化的发展.同时在巩固中华民族的统一和发展过程中发挥了它应有的历史作用.     

Choosing between Impossible Alternatives: Creating a New Constituency Map for Wales, 2004

The allocation of at least 35 parliamentary constituencies to Wales in the 1944 House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act meant that Wales was over-represented in the House of Commons. Subsequent decisions by the Boundary Commission for Wales, operating within a set of mutually contradictory rules, increased the number of Welsh seats to 40 and exacerbated the country's over-representation in the House, relative to the situation for England.
In its Fifth Periodic Review, the Boundary Commission has determined not to recommend any further growth in the number of Welsh constituencies, but its method of doing this has created substantial inequalities within the country, with the area around Cardiff significantly under-represented relative to the situation in North Wales. These inequalities will also apply to the Welsh Assembly. The political parties did not challenge these recommendations, presumably because they felt that their interests were best served by the inequalities. Analysis shows that alternative sets of recommendations would have been somewhat more egalitarian, but within an overall structure of unfairness guaranteed by the unworkable rules under which the Commissions must operate.     

湘赣边界秋收起义若干史实考证

在现有的有关湘赣边界秋收起义的研究文章中,党史专家对安源会议的时间、安源会议的性质、工农革命军第一军第一师的组建过程及具体构成、毛泽东何时到铜鼓等问题已有固定的提法,但作者在查阅了大量的历史资料并进行调查研究后,对以上问题提出了不同的看法。     

W.B. Gallie,T.H. Marshall and the contested concepts of fairness and citizenship: examining the parameters of debate in Newport City Council’s Fairness Commission and citizens’ views on fairness

The paper examines Newport City Council’s Fairness Commission’s (NFC) understanding of fairness, alongside a survey of Newport citizens’ views on fairness. These views focus on two parameters of debate identified by the NFC – equality versus differential treatment, and the accountability and transparency of decision-making – reflecting competing interpretations of the political concept of fairness, and as explored by W.B. Gallie. Moreover, these contested interpretations also have a profound bearing on post-1945 debates about citizenship instigated by T.H. Marshall. While many contemporary policy-recommenders and politicians reject Marshallesque social rights to citizenship, dismissing these rights as encouraging so-called passive conceptions of citizenship emphasising unconditional individual entitlements to local services, the views of Newport citizens tend to broadly support these rights. These rights are distinct from ‘active’ conceptions, emphasising the values of interdependency and reciprocity, and citizens’ obligations to positively participate in community life which then underpin conditions for receiving entitlements.     

Crossing the Line: A Quantitative Analysis of Inmate Boundary Violators in a Southern Prison System

The majority of current research on inappropriate relationships between correctional staff and inmates involves a qualitative approach. This study sought to provide a quantitative analysis of these boundary violators by self-report data, which was provided by male inmates in a southern prison system. Building upon research by Allen and Bosta (Games criminals play. Susanville, CA: Rae John Publishers, 1981) and Marquart et al. (Justice Quarterly 18:877–910, 2001) the inmates were divided into two distinct categories: Inmates who indicated “No relationship”, and those inmates who were “boundary violators”. This study examined the differences between these two categories utilizing demographic characteristics, custody level, and attitudes and prison behavior. Significant differences were found in boundary violator attitudes about female correctional officers and the behavior they exhibit in the presence of females.