The international diffusion of electoral systems: The spread of mechanisms tempering proportional representation across Europe

There is an assumption in much of the electoral engineering literature that domestic episodes of electoral system choice occur in a vacuum, isolated from international influences. Yet this assumption remains largely untested, despite the comparative focus of much of that literature. This article focuses on part of this gap by considering two electoral mechanisms that seek to limit party system fragmentation under proportional representation – low district magnitudes and high electoral thresholds – and shows that the mechanisms have spread across many European countries during the post‐1945 period. Analyses reveal that national legislators are more likely to adopt one of these electoral mechanisms when a large number of peer countries have made similar choices within the last two or three years. This effect is robust to various model specifications and to the inclusion of multiple controls. The article also offers some qualitative evidence from case studies and parliamentary debates.     

十八届四中全会司法改革新举措之解读

党的十八届四中全会《决定》明确了一系列司法改革新举措,对司法体制改革作出新的重大部署。最高人民法院设立巡回法庭,探索设立跨行政区划的人民法院和人民检察院,建立领导干部干预司法活动、插手具体案件处理的记录、通报和责任追究制度,从制度和体制上防范和禁止地方行政权力干涉,保障审判权、检察权依法独立行使;推进以审判为中心的诉讼制度改革,实行审判权和执行权相分离体制,探索建立检察机关提起公益诉讼制度,实行立案登记制,从司法权运行机制和职能定位上强化司法权威,促进公正司法,保障国家和公民权益。     

Residential Segregation,Housing Submarkets,and Spatial Analysis: St. Louis and Cincinnati as a Case Study

This article considers how spatial analysis of housing submarkets can advance research into residential segregation. While an emphasis on housing submarkets has been proposed as a new construct for modeling housing prices, its use in analyzing residential segregation has been limited. Recent advances in spatial analysis and geographic information systems present new opportunities for researchers to exploit the potential of housing submarkets as constructs that offer a more precise way to examine residential segregation. The article synthesizes literature related to residential segregation and housing submarkets and demonstrates how to delineate housing submarkets using publicly available data. It examines the spatial distribution of housing submarkets and how the socially disadvantaged are represented across housing submarkets in St. Louis, Missouri, and Cincinnati, Ohio, to conclude that St. Louis's housing market is more polarized and racially segregated than Cincinnati's. Spatial analysis of housing submarkets, in conjunction with archival analysis, provides a promising avenue for identifying residential segregation as a multidimensional phenomenon, and a means to explore local processes of urban inequality.     

新时期辅警制度的现实困局与探索路径

作为正规警力的有益补充,辅警在协助警察维护社会治安等方面发挥了重要作用,成为维护安全稳定不可或缺的治安辅助力量。不过,辅警体系的制度构建和现实运作也出现了辅警称谓多样化、成员复杂、缺乏保障、身份定位尴尬等一系列问题。加强辅警队伍的管理和建设,积极推动辅警队伍持续健康发展,是公安机关不容回避的现实问题。对于辅警队伍的管理与建设应从管理规范化、考核灵活化、技能专业化、工作透明化四个方面入手,大力推进辅警队伍的正规化、制度化建设。     

论近代景颇族政治制度文化的三元性质

明末清初至民国时期 ,由于社会文化环境的变迁 ,景颇族的政治制度文化发生了重大变化 ,形成了具有山官制度承上启下性、傣族土司封建领主制政治控制的“羁縻”性和中央集权政治制度的“渗透”性的三元性质的政治制度文化。在某种程度上“山、土、流”混治的政治制度文化结构 ,对近代景颇族的发展产生了重要影响。     

Learning to Change: The Production of Contingency in Modern Legal Systems

Modern society is characterized bycomplexity and change. Weber's theory of thesephenomena explained them with changes in basicreligious concepts. Conceptual changes areagain under investigation here, but the theoryis somewhat different. In this paper, it isassumed that law is a system that follows theAshby's systems theoretical law of requisitevariety. Society can respond to growth ofcomplexity in its environment by eitheradaptation or selective indifference. Theexample of the evolution of legal persons inGerman law is used here to show how law hasdeveloped contingent concepts as a cognitivebuffer between itself and the demandingenvironment of modern society. The legal systemcan balance adaptation and selectiveindifference by constructing and observing itsbasic concepts as contingent. The constructionof autonomy is shown to be a continuous processwhere law establishes an increased level ofautonomy.     

秦汉时期西南少数民族职官制度的形成与发展

秦王朝的建立,标志着中央集权的统一多民族国家的形成.汉袭秦制,进一步巩固和完善了这一国家体制.秦汉王朝实行的羁縻职官制度是这一政策的集中体现.     

论一国两制下特区司法管辖权的限制性与完整性——纪念香港回归祖国9周年

在一国两制下,限制性是特区司法管辖权的基本特征,完整性欠缺是特区司法管辖权的现实状态。特区司法管辖权具有国家性、授权性、独立性、冲突性、限制性与完整性的统一等法理属性。特区司法管辖权的限制来自立法、行政、管辖权排除、基本法解释、特别情况、法院自我约束等方面。影响特区司法管辖权完整性的原因有制度建设滞后、法律冲突和协调机制不健全等。一国两制法治实践中出现的“管辖权僭越”违背了特区司法管辖权限制性原则,而制度和机制构建的滞后,也制约了特区司法管辖权完整性的实现。在现有特区基本法法律架构下,防止“管辖权僭越”和保证特区司法管辖权的完整性,应与国家法治建设同步,在既有制度建构中加以改善,需要首先解决一些比较容易解决、对一国两制可能的冲击和震荡较小的制度性、机制性问题,保护和保证特区司法管辖权的完整性,以期用较小的法律和政治代价,换取最大的一国两制效益。     

“9＋2”与“10＋1”框架机制比较

中国—东盟的全面经济合作,是应经济全球化而产生的国际区域合作的又一新的成果,其“合作框架协议”是最基本的法制依据。而我国南方九省区加上香港、澳门两地的“泛珠三角区域合作”则是在一个国家之内,“一国两制”之下不同省区横向合作的机制创新,它不仅受到了国际区域经济合作创新的启示,而且顺应了整个社会区域整体发展的潮流。本文将在二者的实施框架机制方面进行一定的比较,欲为“泛珠三角区域合作”的法制建构献可替否。