Localism and coordination under three different electoral systems: The national district of the Japanese House of Councillors

Democratic representation involves tradeoffs between collective actors – political parties seeking to maximize seats – and individual actors – candidates seeking to use their personal vote-earning attributes (PVEAs) to maximize their own chance of election and reelection. We analyze these tradeoffs across three different electoral systems used at different times for the large-magnitude nationwide tier of Japan's House of Councillors. These electoral systems – closed and open-list proportional systems and the single non-transferable vote – differ in the extent to which they entail candidates seeking individual preference votes and in whether collective vote shares affect overall party performance. We use local resources as a proxy for PVEA and seek to determine the extent to which parties nominate “locals” and how much the presence of such locals affects party performance at the level of Japan's prefectures.     

Media as Moderator of “the Sympathy Effect”

SUMMARY

How does public opinion respond when faced with the tragic death of a political candidate in the midst of an election campaign? The concept of the sympathy vote suggests that media coverage of the tragedy and the unification of public opinion carry the party of the deceased to victory on Election Day. Yet, the emotional dynamics of public opinion may not be so simple. This study argues that the relationship between emotion and candidate support hinges largely on behavioral expectations and media coverage. If messages violate expectations, media will focus on controversy leading to a dissipation of the sympathy effect in public opinion. This investigation elaborates on the mechanisms governing the relationship between campaigns and public opinion by emphasizing the significant link of media coverage in the process, and by defining boundaries of the concept of the sympathy vote for further theoretical consideration.     

帮会文化与有组织犯罪

帮会文化是反映帮会生存方式、活动方式、行为准则、伦理关系、帮内规矩、价值观念的文化。它与有组织犯罪有着不可分割的内在联系 ,在有组织犯罪形成发展中起着精神动力的作用。就其实质而言 ,黑社会性质犯罪组织完全是一种现代化了的帮会 ,是帮会文化哺育出来的一个毒瘤。因此 ,彻底批判帮会文化 ,肃清其流毒 ,并切实加强先进文化建设 ,是扼制有组织犯罪的根本之策     

DNA指纹图在法医学鉴定中应用的研究(Ⅱ)——应用‘Myo’小卫星探针进行血斑、精斑、个体组织的个体认定

应用‘Myo’小卫星 DNA 探针,Southern 印迹杂交技术,对血斑、精斑、同一个体不同组织进行 DNA 指纹图分析,均获得清晰的图谱。同一个体的血斑与血液、精斑与精液以及不同的组织其 DNA 指纹图谱完全相同。可以根据斑痕或组织与嫌疑个体的血液或某一组织 DNA 的指纹图谱比对以做出同一认定。50μl 血液量的血斑、5μl 精液量的精斑可以获得清晰易辨的指纹图谱。五年的精斑、两年的血斑亦可做出与同源个体新鲜精液、血液完全一致的 DNA 指纹图谱。对杀人、强奸杀人、碎尸等不同案件的血痕、精斑、不同组织碎块进行了 DNA 指纹图检验,均做出了正确的个体认定。本方法的应用为我国法医物证检验提供了新的分析手段,使个体认定得以实现。     

论警察执法活动的人身安全保障

人民警察执法活动的特殊性在于其存在较大的潜在危险性。因此,在要求人民警察在执法活动中尽职尽责的同时,还应当重视其执法活动中的人身安全保障问题。加强人民警察执法活动的人身安全保障,对于提高执法水平、有效打击犯罪以及维护社会的长治久安,具有十分重要的现实意义。     

投票与民主

作为主体的民众之所以投票,是为了实现"政治参与",并且这种政治参与并不限于投票行为.以投票人数的多寡来衡量某个地区的政治制度是否符合民主理念,不仅忽略了言论自由、个人利益等民主的必须内容,而且因为缺乏对其他民主内容的重视,造成对投票这一方式的迷信,甚至是对公民投票的利用.     

Trading party preferences: the Australian experience of preferential voting

Political parties respond to electoral rules in ways which gain them partisan advantage and enable them to make strategic choices about the use of their electoral support. The alternative vote (AV) and proportional representation by the single transferable vote (STV) provide considerable opportunity for this kind of partisan activity. The ability of the voter under such electoral systems to rank candidates in order of the voter's preference creates a kind of property which can be used by parties, especially minor parties, to influence the behaviour of both candidates and other parties. The paper investigates this aspect of preferential voting systems and the extent to which the context of electoral rules can encourage or discourage a trade in partisan preferences. Elections for the Australian House of Representatives and Senate are used to show how political actors can respond to electoral rules which permit the control and trading of preferences to be developed into a series of sophisticated transactions.     

论无限防卫权

无限防卫权是刑法赋予公民的一项十分重要的权利。但如何正确理解和行使这项权利,争论颇大。本文就争论较大的三个问题:无限防卫权的设置、刑法第20条第3款中有关用语的理解和无限防卫权的构成条件进行了分析。     

POLITICS WITHOUT PARTIES: AFGHANISTAN’S LONG ROAD TO DEMOCRACY

Democracy has not brought stability to Afghanistan in the almost two decades since the fall of the Taliban. But it would be wrong to conclude that the soil of Afghanistan is not conducive to the tree of democracy, when in reality it was never planted with any skill. Democracy did not fail in Afghanistan; it was never even tried.

A series of connected mistakes began with the introduction of a flawed electoral system, no insistence on a transparent register of voters, lack of proper scrutiny of polling, and a lack of support for the development of reformist political parties and other functioning civil society institutions. From the start the US did not see this as a ‘nation-building’ project, but nevertheless US officials made far-reaching decisions about the nature of Afghan democracy. These were seriously unsound, and the electoral system introduced itself operated against the development of strong democratic institutions.

This article outlines the problems inherent in the Single Non-Transferable Vote system, examines the history of Afghan political parties through the twentieth century and asks whether alternative and traditional forms of Afghan government provide any real obstacles to the development of modern politics. The 2004 constitution was the seventh since 1923: this was not a green field site in terms of institution-building as it was seen by many of the international officials who flooded in after the fall of the Taliban.     

Follow the Candidates,Not the Parties? Personal Vote in a Regional De-institutionalized Party System

This article analyses how personal vote shapes electoral competition and predicts electoral results in a regional de-institutionalized party system. After having analysed the connection between unpredictable political environment and personal vote, we build an original empirical model that explores preferential vote and patterns of re-candidacies and endorsements of the most voted candidates in the Calabrian regional elections. The analysis shows that leading candidates retain a more stable and predictable support over time with respect to parties and that candidates and their system of interactions are able to predict the electoral results better than parties and their alliances.