Going It Alone or Playing to the Crowd? A Critique of Individual Budgets and the Personalisation of Health Care in the English National Health Service

The introduction of individual budgets into English health care is a recent example of the pervasive drive towards personalisation in welfare sector organisation and delivery. As a heavily centralised and highly bureaucratic institution, the National Health Service (NHS) is an obvious target for personalisation. On the other hand, as a symbol of solidarity and nationhood it retains a powerful place within the collective psyche, such that radical reform might expect to encounter resistance. This paper analyses the assumptions that are inherent in personalisation and raises concerns over its ability to transform health‐care services. At the heart of these concerns is the tension between appeals to tailored service provision and empowerment on the one hand, and promotion of a strong social contract, public trust in institutions, and collective identity on the other. Lessons are drawn for personalisation in other sectors and settings.     

Is the label ‘minimal legislature’ still appropriate? The role of the National People's Congress in China's political system

To discuss the type of legislature, this article explores what role the National People's Congress (NPC) plays in China's political system, particularly in legislation. According to Mezey's study (Comparative Legislatures, 1979), he defines ‘minimal legislatures’ as being characterised by having little or no policy-making power and being more supported by the elite. The assumption is that the NPC is a minimal legislature, acting as a rubber stamp for the executive. This study is used to test this assumption. The findings show that the NPC does play an important role in the whole political system, especially in legislation, though the NPC has typically been under the control of China's Communist Party. The findings also call into question the continued applicability of Mezey's classic typology legislatures given the development of the Chinese legislature. A new approach for classifying legislatures is introduced based on the institutionalisation and professionalisation of a legislature.     

Victims and Offenders in Two Crime Statistics Programs: A Comparison of the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) overcomes a basiclimitation of the traditional summary Uniform Crime Reporting program (UCR)by collecting victim information. Using this new victim information tocompare National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and NIBRS results, wefind some similarities as well as some differences in the characteristics ofvictims and offenders suggested by the two programs. Similarities appear inthe proportions of men and women involved as victims and offenders forrobbery and assault. Comparisons are more difficult and the proportions lesssimilar for property offenses. Nevertheless, the results suggest that whenthe NIBRS is fully developed, it will be an important source of informationon the characteristics of both victims and offenders. Even before theredesigned program is fully implemented, one of the most important featuresof NIBRS reports will be their ability to provide local area victimizationinformation. In addition, the NIBRS will provide much more information onarrests and the characteristic of offenders than any existing program.     

Using the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) to Test Estimates of Arrestee and Offender Characteristics

National-Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) information for 1993 iscompared with two other sets of homicide data to assess the acuracy ofprocedures for estimating age-, sex-, and race-specific arrest counts fromtraditional Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data. The simultaneous age, race, andsex characteristics of offenders provided in the NIBRS arrest and offender segmentsare compared with estimates of the same characteristics derived from summaryUCR arrest data. The results suggest that using UCR marginal totals toestimate arrest counts by race and sex produces reasonably accurateestimates of the number of black and nonblack male arrests for murder andother offenses. Estimates of arrests of females by race and sex are lessaccurate, probably because of the relatively small number of arrests ofwomen and girls. Estimating male arrest counts for specific age groups alsoproduces reasonably accurate estimates. The results suggest that previousresearch employing such estimates may have been misleading in the estimatesof female arrests by race but accurate in the estimates of male arrests byrace. Although the use of summary UCR-based estimates in futurecross-sectional research will become increasingly unnecessary as the NIBRSreplaces the current UCR program, time series research designs on arrest andcrime trends will continue to require estimates.     

中美投资基金监管比较研究

美国的投资基金监管有着一套完整的法规体系,实行集中管理体制.与此相比,中国的基金监管体系在监管机构的一致性、立法的延续性、自律组织的权威性、执法的严肃性和投资者的理性方面都有所欠缺.针对这些问题,中国应健全基金法律体系,严惩违法行为,弘扬诚信精神,并加强透明度、行业自律和媒体与研究机构的作用.     

伊斯兰教对地缘政治格局中民族心理的调适功能——以新疆地区为例

心理调适功能是伊斯兰教的诸多社会功能之一,对维护我国西北边疆地区的稳定具有重要意义.受当前国际地缘政治格局影响,新疆地区部分穆斯林群众可能会出现某些不健康、不正常的心理,表现为安全感缺失心理;悲观失望心理;与非穆斯林之间的隔膜、戒备、防范心理;民族偏激心理和民族敌视心理;崇洋心理与盲从心理以及被动参与民族分裂活动的无知心理和无原则民族认同心理;宗教认同、跨国界民族认同高于国家认同的错误心理.对此,可以充分发挥伊斯兰教的心理调适功能,将不正确的民族心理予以矫正,使之复归到有利于国家边疆地区统一和社会稳定、经济发展的路子上.     

犯罪被害人补偿的理论思辨及价值评判

随着刑事政策理论的发展尤其是犯罪被害人学的发展,国家对犯罪被害人补偿问题逐渐引起社会各界的重视,而不同学者对国家补偿的认识也各不相同。要研究国家与犯罪被害人之间是否存在补偿关系,必须弄清补偿关系的法理基础,从而可以从法理学的视角去论证犯罪被害人国家补偿的价值内涵。     

从汶川地震看宪法上的国家紧急权

2004年宪法修正案完善了我国国家紧急权的宪法规范,但通过比较其他国家紧急权的规定和参照四川汶川大地震应急预案的启动,我国宪法上的国家紧急权仍存在实体条件规范、程序条件规范、限制规范和监督规范缺失的不足。需要在宪法中增加判断是否应进入紧急状态的最基本条件,完善国家紧急权表决、宣布等程序,并明确国家紧急权的使用必须遵循基本人权不得克减的原则和比例原则,将行使国家紧急权事先、事中和事后的行为都置于立法机关和司法机关的监督之下。     

The Geography of the International System: The CShapes Dataset

Sceptics of globalization attribute the proliferation of light weapons to economic openness. Increasing globalization apparently weakens public authority, leading to social disarray, anomic violence, and general conditions that make handgun ownership and use more likely. Pro-globalists might argue contrarily that trade openness can raise the premium on peace as violence is bad for business. Moreover, greater interdependence allows the diffusion of anti-proliferation norms and facilitates cooperative behavior among trading partners for stemming the demand for and proliferation of small arms. Using a unique dataset on small arms imports, we find that greater openness to trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) lowers small arms imports per capita. A policy measure of economic freedom is associated with higher small arms imports, but this association seems to be explained entirely by the association between economic freedom and strong bureaucracies. States that are de facto more open to the global trading system are less likely to be inundated with these weapons, but richer, better-governed countries import more small arms. Global policy should pay closer attention to the seepage of these weapons from the relatively wealthy, who manufacture and buy them in larger quantities, to the poor, among whom the ‘problems’ associated with small arms are often manifested. Curbing those factors that encourage globalization, however, would be counterproductive to reducing the trade in small arms and light weapons.