Judgement without justice: on the efficacy of the European human rights regime

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is widely regarded as the most important human rights court worldwide. This article investigates the extent to which the court addresses cases from countries with the worst human rights performance. Using a new data set on all ECtHR judgments from 1995–2012, the analysis suggests that the ECtHR does not deliver its judgments against members of the Council of Europe with the worst human rights records, but instead against more democratic and affluent states. The reason is that litigating in front of a supranational court requires capacities that vulnerable people are unlikely to possess, except when aided by transnational advocacy groups. However, more judgements are issued against countries that lack independent judiciaries, where cases are less likely to be resolved at the domestic level. While the ECtHR might not address the worst human rights crimes, it plays a subsidiary role in the European human rights protection system by compensating for weak domestic judiciaries. However, the court's inability to independently pursue litigation, together with the lack of capacity in some countries to bring cases forward, have hampered more effective protection of human rights for the most vulnerable in Europe.     

Political enthusiasm for social pensions and its eventual decline in Taiwan: an institutional account of pension dynamics in a new democracy

Over the last two decades, there has been a remarkable transformation of the demography and political economy of East and Southeast Asia, thus raising pensions as an important policy issue. In addressing the pension needs of those outside formal sector employment, Taiwan was the regional forerunner regarding social pension provision. However, the immense political popularity of these schemes waned and from the mid-2000s onwards the government began to substitute them with a contributory system for the socially disadvantaged. This paper analyses the political dynamics of social pensions in Taiwan, from expansion of coverage through to gradual dismantlement. The politics surrounding these benefits has received scant attention in international scholarship, with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank Institute, in particular, having focused most of their attention on policy design issues. The contention here is that a specific configuration of political factors featured prominently in Taiwan, thus providing an explanation for the evolution of its pension policy. Also, these political dimensions can shed light on how this type of pension could evolve in other East and Southeast Asian countries, which is pertinent given that many have increasingly ageing populations.     

Digital media and political opposition in authoritarian systems: Russia’s 2011 and 2016 Duma elections

The ability of authoritarian regimes to maintain power hinges, in part, on how well they are able to manipulate the flow of information to the masses. While authoritarian states have had success controlling traditional media, the growth of social media over the last decade has created new challenges for such regimes. The Russian experience offers an example of how an authoritarian regime responds to this potential threat. Because of the massive demonstrations surrounding the 2011–2012 Duma elections, the ruling Russian government suspected that social media provided a significant impetus for the demonstrations. Social media, through its dissemination of opposition blogs, could have helped drive negative attitudes about the governing party. As such, the government responded by employing strategies to tighten their grip on the digital flow of information. We use survey data to demonstrate that exposure to blogs via social media at the time of the demonstrations led many to believe that the elections were fraudulent. Ultimately, we contend that Russian fears concerning the importance of social media for the fomenting of opposition movements is well grounded. Social media can drive support for opposition in an autocratic state.     

美国《2005年集团诉讼公平法》及其启示

为规制集团诉讼在消费者保护领域的滥用现象,美国出台了2005年集团诉讼公平法.该法对美国原有的集团诉讼规则进行了重大变革,尤其在管辖权规则与和解规则的完善方面.中国应在立法理念、立法技术等方面借鉴美国经验,完善民事诉讼模式,逐步建立集团诉讼机制.     

论民族、种族和宗教犯罪的立法完善——从国际人权公约角度看

民族、种族和宗教相互之间具有紧密联系,且对一个国家的和谐与稳定关系重大。我国加入或即将加入的国际人权公约对民族、种族和宗教相关的犯罪行为已经作出了明确规定,我国有必要以国际人权公约的规定为参照检视我国刑法在民族、种族和宗教犯罪上的规定,作出与我国实际相符合、也与国际人权公约相一致的修正。修改现有相关犯罪的构成条件,增加我国刑法没有规定但危害严重的民族、种族和宗教犯罪。     

对民族地区英语教学的社会心理学分析

民族地区的英语教学一直是教育中的一个难题,教育工作者们为改进其教学方法做了不懈的努力,但都没能从深层上认识英语教学的难点。本文采借社会心理学的理论,对民族地区英语教学中的社会偏见、社会信念与判断、群体影响等进行了分析,为民族地区英语教学研究提供了一个新的视角。     

俄罗斯社会转型中市民社会发展的困境

进入21世纪以来,俄罗斯的经济持续高速增长,新一轮的政治转型和社会转型随着俄罗斯的经济崛起而开展起来.在俄罗斯国内初步发展起来的市民社会,正是俄罗斯市场经济发展的印证.因此,研究俄罗斯市民社会的发展和未来,分析制约俄罗斯市民社会发展的各种历史和现实因素,对于理顺俄罗斯社会转型中影响其现代化的各种因素,预测俄罗斯未来的发展走向有着重要的意义.     

So Close But So Far: Voting Propensity and Party Choice for Left‐Wing Parties

While the bulk of the literature focuses on the vote for parties from different blocs, the purpose of our article is to study the vote for two parties that are ideologically very close to each other: The Social Democrats and the Greens in Switzerland. To that end, we develop a two‐step model, where voters first make a selection of parties that are acceptable to them and then make their electoral choice out of this set of acceptable alternatives. We use voting propensities as a measure of the first, consideration step and we show that they strongly depend on the distance between voters and parties on the Left–Right scale. With regard to the second, choice stage of the electoral process we hypothesize about the factors that may account for the varying ability of the two parties to convert potential voters into real voters. Our empirical tests provide encouraging support for our hypotheses regarding the impact of socio‐demographic variables and issue voting. Strategic considerations, by contrast, do not seem to matter.     

交通管理中处罚效果和社会效果的辩证关系

交通违法行为是影响道路交通安全畅通有序的重要因素,对交通违法行为实施行政处罚是交通管理工作的重要手段之一。正面的处罚效果能引导人们自觉遵守法律义务,减少道路交通违法行为的发生。要实现处罚效果和社会效果的正面统一,就必须从执法理念和执法方式入手,端正民警的执法理念,提升执法水平,同时正确引导社会舆论对交通管理工作中行政处罚的评价,逐步消除处罚给交通管理工作带来的负面社会效果。     

切实保障被害人权益稳固和谐社会基石

被害人的权益保障已成为社会关注的一个热点问题,对其引起足够的重视,有利于社会治安的维护与和谐社会的构建.我们可以在明确保障被害人权益对构建和谐社会现实意义的基础上,放眼全球,立足国情,从法律和制度层面提出保障和完善被害人权益的构想.