Safe Labour Suburbia? The Changing Politics of the Merseyside Suburbs

Over the past twenty‐five years, safe Conservative seats in the affluent Merseyside suburbs have instead become safe Labour seats. This remarkable political transition poses an important puzzle for students of voting behaviour. Analysis of voting patterns since 1979 underlines the exceptional scale of the shift to Labour on Merseyside compared with other metropolitan areas. Yet, substantial swings to Labour in suburban constituencies like Sefton Central and Wirral South in 2015 and 2017 cannot be explained with reference to wider evidence of the party's increased support among younger, more diverse, cosmopolitan populations. It is shown that Labour dominance on Merseyside has occurred via three distinct phases, with the political map of the city‐region turning red, over time, from the core outwards. Explanations rooted in the changing relationship between the city and its suburbs are argued to best explain the emergence of Merseyside as a ‘red conurbation’.     

A Bloodless Guerrilla Warfare: Why U.S. White Leftists Renounced Violence Against People During the 1970s

Between 1968 and the late 1970s, a significant number of U.S. white leftist groups escalated their protest to armed struggle. After experimenting briefly with violence, they opted for low-intensity armed propaganda that targeted property and avoided hurting people. By contrast, European leftist groups and anti-colonial organizations in the U.S. made extensive use of antipersonnel violence. Why did U.S. leftists eschew attacks against civilians? Scholarship does not explain this case, as it focuses either on the internal dynamics of a single group or on structural variables. Conversely, this article addresses this question through a historical reconstruction and a multilevel analysis. The research identifies the critique and ensuing de-solidarization by the radical milieu as the main factor accounting for the restraint of violence. This article demonstrates that the radical milieu censored and isolated armed groups as soon as they escalated and began to endanger human lives. Therefore, in order to safeguard the solidarity pact with their constituencies, violent fringes moderated their repertoires of action. This article employs primary sources and original interviews with militants to support this claim and to assess the relevance of three concurrent factors: the trauma generated by the “townhouse incident,” the deterrence by law enforcement, and the militants’ socio-economic background.     

Are groups a good thing? Evaluating group associations among vegetable farmers in Freetown,Sierra Leone

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is a widespread feature in sub-Saharan African cities, and has become particularly important in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Recent surveys have revealed the importance of UPA in Freetown as a method for generating food, income, and employment. Government and NGOs have encouraged urban farmers to group together into farming associations so that advice and inputs can be provided. Little information currently exists about the functioning of these associations, and whether their effectiveness might be improved. This paper draws upon recent field-based research in which the experiences of members in six different farming associations were investigated.     

Can school children reliably collect rural household data in developing countries? Evidence from Nepal

Household surveys are an important tool for assessing the status or trends of rural households, farms, and communities, and for conducting research. Conducting surveys in rural communities in developing countries is expensive and logistically challenging. We investigated whether primary school children could efficiently collect household or farm data as part of their homework. We hypothesised that primary school students can collect accurate data and therefore it should not be different from the data collected by trained interviewers. The results indicate that primary schools may be an excellent resource for efficiently collecting information about rural households and farm families in developing countries.     

Japanese Labour Unions and Nuclear Energy: A Historical Analysis of Their Ideologies and Worldviews

This article analyses how diverse stances toward nuclear energy were produced and reproduced among Japanese labour unions from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s, and how these stances of the formative period influenced the subsequent development of inter-union politics before and after the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in 2011, based on content analysis of union bulletins and other materials of pro- and anti-nuclear energy unions. This article asks three research questions: (i) what factors contributed to pro- or anti-nuclear energy stances of labour unions?; (ii) what elements constituted or framed unions’ arguments on the issue of nuclear energy?; and (iii) what impact did these stances and arguments formed in the early period have on the subsequent development of inter-union politics over nuclear energy, especially in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster? The paper shows union ideologies and institutional integration were the factors influencing unions’ stances on nuclear energy. It also analyses the worldviews of pro- and anti-nuclear energy unions based on the three policy styles of technological enthusiasts, moralists and cost-benefiters. The Fukushima disaster reinforced the previously formed division of union ideologies, but considerably weakened the discourse of technological enthusiasm stressed by pro-nuclear energy unions.     

Portrait of the Accused as a Young Man: New Zealand’s Harsh Treatment of Young People who Commit Serious Crimes

Abstract

This article argues that although New Zealand’s unique youth justice system generally considers the whole picture of a young offender and responds holistically to the offending, in the case of those accused of serious crimes, the system draws a limited picture that depicts the young offender as a ‘young adult’. These young people are sentenced in adult courts, where their youth, inexperience and potential for rehabilitation are far less influential than they are in a youth court. The result is harsh treatment of some extremely vulnerable young people, which breaches New Zealand’s international obligations. That harsh treatment is particularly problematic, given its hugely disproportionate effect on Māori youth.     

论《纽约公约》与仲裁协议的法律适用——兼评中国加入《纽约公约》二十年的实践

《纽约公约》第2条关于仲裁协议书面形式的规定构成了统一实体规则,该规则应优先于国内法加以适用。对涉及仲裁协议实质有效性的问题,各缔约国法院在“裁决后诉讼”中应按照《公约》第5条第1款（甲）项的统一冲突规范确定准据法;在“裁决前诉讼”中应类推适用《公约》第5条第1款（甲）项的统一冲突规范。对“双无仲裁协议”,则由缔约国自行确定其实质有效性的准据法。我国法院在涉外仲裁协议法律适用方面应更好地执行《公约》的规定。     

论中国化马克思主义经济学的建设性质

马克思主义经济学的科学性蕴涵在其内容的丰富性之中.马克思主义经济学有着多方面的理论观点,这些观点有着相对独立的价值.但这些观点并不仅仅是一棵棵孤立的"大树",而是由多种"树木"构成的"森林",其严密逻辑把这一个个观点缀连成不可分割的整体.正是在马克思主义经济学的基础上,中国化马克思主义经济学才除了革命性质以外,还具有了重要的建设性质,成为集革命与建设于一体的建设的经济学.指导中国改革开放的主流经济学,是主张发展社会主义的中国化马克思主义建设经济学,而不是主张葬送社会主义的西方非马克思主义激进经济学.     

新型农村合作医疗框架中政府角色的理性定位

基于农村合作医疗的公共利益属性,政府参与农村合作医疗建设是其必须承担的义务,这也是被实践证明的事实。20世纪50年代,政府以"引导者"身份号召建立农村合作医疗制度;21世纪初,政府以"主导者"身份全面参与新型农村合作医疗制度建设。今后,若要实现新型农村合作医疗可持续发展,必须对政府准确定位。随着社会建设理念的强化以及政府职能转变的深化,以法律形式将政府定位为"指导者",并以此身份参与新型农村合作医疗制度建设,是新型农村合作医疗持续、健康、稳步发展的关键。     

Why are the French so different from the Germans? Underpricing of IPOs on the Euro New Markets

We study the underpricing of firms listed on the two largest EuroNM stock exchanges, the Neuer Markt of Germany and the Nouveau Marché of France. We find that the high underpricing in these two markets – contrary to the evidence on the US – is not driven by insiders’ selling behaviour. However, the large underpricing is caused by the high degree of riskiness of the issuing firms and by the partial adjustment phenomenon of offer prices to compensate institutional investors for the truthful revelation of their demand for the shares. For France, lock-up agreements act as substitutes to underpricing, but not so for Germany. We also explore the reasons for the large difference in underpricing between the German and the French IPOs: German firms are more underpriced because they are riskier, have larger price revisions, have less stringent VC lock-up contracts, and go public mostly during the hot issue period when the general level of underpricing in all IPO markets is substantially higher.