Factors that influence death penalty support among university students in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) became an independent nation state in 1992 and abolished the death penalty six years later. Little is known about how Bosnians view the death penalty. This study addresses this gap in the literature. Utilizing self-reported survey data collected from 440 university students enrolled at the University of Sarajevo in 2009, we assess the degree of support for the death penalty and what factors predict this support among university students in BiH. Drawing from the broader punitivity literature, the following correlates are considered: individual characteristics (e.g. age and sex), individual experiences (e.g. fear of crime and prior victimization) and philosophical attitudes pertaining to punishment (e.g. deterrence, retribution, modernity and indifference). Among the students surveyed, roughly half (52.7%) were in support of the death penalty. Results from a series of multivariate statistical analyses reveals that only philosophical attitudes predict death penalty support after controlling for important individual characteristics and experiences. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Russia–EU relations at a crossroads: preventing a new Cold War in a polycentric world

In the past year, the Ukrainian crisis has generated an international discussion about a ‘new Cold War’. This article looks into the likelihood of such a scenario and makes suggestions of how it may be precluded. The course of events depends on whether the current model of globalization can be reversed. This would mean not only a change in the current structure of the global economy, but its dismantling. However, it is obvious that for most European and other states, the risks associated with such a policy outweigh potential geopolitical and economic benefits. The international order is in a state of flux. High risks are unacceptable when governments or nations pursue their interests in a stable environment. But when the balance of power shifts substantially, as it has now, the perception of risk threshold also begins to change. European history has shown that large-scale transformations in international relations in most cases triggered tension and violence, caused by rising demands of ascending powers and by resistance of those who were challenged. In the twenty-first century, the polycentric structure of the world provides an opportunity to achieve a new lasting global settlement, and to put an end to the current period of increasing tension.     

Uncertainty at the EU's borders: narratives of EU external relations in the revised European Neighbourhood Policy towards the southern borderlands

This article analyses the role of narratives in European Union (EU) external relations in the revised European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and systematically explores how they operate in practice in the context of the EU's border management practices vis-à-vis the “southern borderlands”, in particular with respect to their inclusionary and exclusionary potential. Key EU documents and statements by EU agents, released throughout the first three years of Arab uprisings and pertaining to the revised ENP, will be subjected to a thorough examination which highlights four observations: first, in spite of the fact that the revised ENP is rooted in several narratives, some nevertheless dominate over others; second, the simultaneous presence of and recourse to different narratives contribute to an increase, rather than a decrease, of uncertainty in the EU's southern borderlands; third, despite a multitude of narratives which serve to legitimize EU action in the framework of the revised ENP, the latter perpetuates the logics of its predecessor by generating benefits mainly for the EU itself; fourth, that the first three years of the revised ENP have in practice demonstrated that an imbalance exists between on the one hand the original acceptance of the narratives by EU stakeholders and on the other hand their willingness to abide by them and fill them with life.     

The political value of languages

A theory of linguistic justice needs to take into account the three distinct values of language as a medium for communication, as a source of individual identity and as an instrument for political self-government. Doing so would undermine Van Parijs’ claim that political borders and peoples should be downgraded to a purely instrumental role for purposes of social justice. But it would widen the scope of egalitarian global justice by including a universal right of individuals to membership self-governing polities and it could provide more solid theoretical foundations for his defence of coercive territorial language regimes.     

Covenant of Mayors: Reasons for Being an Environmentally and Energy Friendly Municipality

The Covenant of Mayors (CM) is the mainstream European movement involving local authorities who voluntarily commit to increase energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources within their territories with the aim of reducing CO₂ emissions and meet the European Union objectives by 2020. One country that has a greater number of signatories of this agreement is Spain. This article analyzes which factors influence the decision of Spanish local authorities to join the ever‐growing movement. An empirical model is formulated to describe the behavior of Spanish local governments, this being a binary choice model which is a function of various political, economic, and technical factors. Among the prominent factors that influence this decision are population, availability of renewable energy, fiscal and environmental stress, citizens’ political preference, the contagion effect of neighboring municipalities, the existence of covenant coordinators, and finally, economic motivations.     

欧盟商标产品平行进口的法律问题

商标产品平行进口一直是世界各国知识产权法领域探讨的热点问题之一.欧盟有关该问题的立法与实践对我国具有颇多的借鉴意义.欧盟在立法中明确允许欧盟范围内商标产品的平行进口,而对于欧盟范围外商标产品的平行进口问题争议很大,通过几个有典型意义的案例进行分析,从中可以窥探到欧盟立法者的态度及欧盟立法动向.     

试论现代商人法的适用

现代商人法作为国际商事实践中产生并逐渐成熟起来的"自治性"法律体系或法律部门,顺应了国际商事关系发展的客观需要,并展现出日渐蓬勃的生命力。而对于其适用,在理论与实践中尚有诸多争议,学者及国际社会以及各国立法与司法上态度有许多不同。通过考察理论上与实践中对待现代商人法的态度,分析了现代商人法适用条件和途径以及其适用中产生的冲突和解决冲突的办法。     

地区经济合作:理论、现状和我国对策--兼论中国-东盟自由贸易区

由于世界贸易的壁垒正在不断降低 ,当前的经济一体化组织主要受益于资源的优化配置效应 ,因此 ,其排他性正在减弱。欧盟和北美自由贸易区的成功合作表明 ,地区经济一体化合作有利于参加这一合作所有成员国的共同繁荣。中国———东盟自由贸易区将加快所有成员国经济的发展 ,推动多极世界的形成。最后 ,文章提出了创建中国———东盟自由贸易区的若干建议。     

欧盟反倾销中的国家类别研究

欧盟针对不同的国家类别,实施不同的反倾销机制或政策,因此反倾销与国家类别之间存在一定的关联性。欧盟对国家类别的划分在一定程度上影响着包括中国在内的不少国家和地区的对欧出口,成为这些国家与欧盟正常开展双边经贸关系的一个不利因素,因此研究这一问题具有一定意义。     

How the court made a federation of the EU

We analyze the European institutional integration that took place in the 1950s and 1960s as a two-stage process. Firstly, an explicitly political project aims at establishing a European political community. The project is abandoned in the mid-1950s and political integration stops. At that time, the institutions of the Union take the form of a confederation. In a second stage, because of the failure of the European political community, a legal process of integration driven by the European Court of Justice takes place. This second stage of unification is more centralizing and in effect leads to a federalization of the European institutional structure. The transformation of the political structure of the European Union thus appears to result from the actions and decisions of a legal entity, the European Court of Justice.