Questions of Sovereignty: Redefining Politics in Scotland?

The issue of sovereignty has never been resolved in Scotland. The 1998 Scotland Act, creating the Scottish Parliament affirmed that the Westminster Parliament is sovereign, but this is disputed. In practice, the issue was left largely in abeyance as sovereignty was seen as an outdated concept. The Scottish independence referendum of 2014 and the UK Brexit referendum of 2016 both brought back the question of sovereignty in stark terms. Analysis of data from the British Election Study of 2019 with regard to (a) the right of Scottish self‐determination, and (b) the right of a UK‐wide majority to take Scotland out of the EU, allows us to identify ‘sovereigntists’ and ‘unionists’. Sovereigntists, on both dimensions, now constitute a majority. A smaller group of unionists reject both positions. There remains a group of ‘semi‐sovereigntists’ who accept Scottish self‐determination, but also that the UK as a whole should decide on Brexit. Controlling for the social and political factors, Scots are increasingly polarised around issues of sovereignty, which have become central to contemporary Scottish politics.     

Analyzing Territorial and Sectorial Dimensions of Public–Private Partnerships in Science,Technology, and Innovation policies

The performance of innovation systems depends, to a great extent, on the degree of public–private collaboration they involve. Thus, innovation policies often aim to enhance this collaboration through public–private partnerships. These partnerships are a multidimensional phenomenon whose success depends on factors related to each of their dimensions. This paper proposes the use of an analytical model that reflects the multidimensional nature of public–private partnerships and analyses to what extent they are applied in a specific innovation system in order to identify the territorial and sectorial factors that act as barriers or drivers to use them. This model aims to help policy makers design appropriate public–private partnerships in each context. The case under review is the Spanish innovation system, given that this system has been suffering from a structural lack of collaboration for several decades, despite the implementation of policies aimed to foster this. Thus, if the model works, it should be able to identify key factors that influence greater or more restricted use of the different PPP formulas.     

司法知识及其形态变迁的社会逻辑——从“难办案件”的处理切入

与传统中国社会难办案件的处理更多依赖于法官个人的伦理实践不同,当下中国司法场域里的难办案件处理术,则更多表现为一种知识的公共实践。这种知识的公共实践不仅会强化国家对于基层社会的治理与控制,而且也有利于公民社会与公共生活的整体建构。因此,当下中国的司法改革,就不仅要留意社会转型对司法知识及其形态变迁所起的作用,更要注意司法知识对于社会的型塑,以便能够在司法发展的过程中形成司法知识与社会结构和文化情境系统全面而良性互动的机制,最终推动中国司法与社会全面而优质地发展。     

The Diagnostic Frame in National Security Evaluations

In clinical and most forensic evaluations, “diagnosis” connotes the expectation of a DSM‐5 or ICD‐10 formally labeled mental condition. When the task is to evaluate the security risk a person's psychological makeup presents to an institution, such a molar diagnosis can blind the clinician and elevate the risk to a security agency. When “diagnosis” connotes achieving an understanding of a person's behavior that has raised security concerns, then a different conceptualization of the diagnostic process is required. Unlike the clinical situation, the evaluation is not being performed to benefit the person but for the purpose of assessing risk to an agency. The differences this introduces involve every aspect of the evaluation and changes the type of diagnosis expected. Not appreciating these differences can cause the clinician to fail in the task of assessing psychological tendencies that affect national security.     

我国自然资源德用权流转的法律规制及完善

自然资源是物,自然资源使用权是用益物权,其流转可实现对其的永续利用。我国自然资源使用权流转在可交易的权利类型,流转的主体资格和法律条件,审批登记制度,价值评估制度,监督管理等方面存在不足。我国法律应在扩大可交易的自然资源使用权类型的范围,严格主体的市场准入条件,完善权属登记制度,全面实行开发利用规划,建立与之相适应的司法制度,采取环保激励措施等方面予以完善。     

发挥人才资源优势 推动长吉图开发开放先导区的发展

长吉图开发开放先导区是吉林省在振兴东北老工业基地的基础上迎来的又一新机遇和新挑战,而人才是生产发展的第一资源。本文在分析了长吉图开发开放先导区战略规划目的的基础上,阐述了目前长吉图开发开放先导区人才发展的现状及存在的问题,并提出了解决对策。以便更好地运用人才资源推进长吉图开发开放先导区的建设和发展。     

A THRESHOLD MODEL OF COLLECTIVE CRIME

The group nature of offending has been recognized as an inherent characteristic of criminal behavior, yet our insight on the decision to engage in group crime is limited. This article argues that a threshold model offers broad appeal to understand this decision. After discussing the basis of this model and its applicability to collective crime, we offer one example of the kind of research that could stem from this model. Specifically, by using survey data from 583 university students, this study asked respondents to self‐report thresholds for group theft and destruction of property. By experimentally manipulating characteristics of the hypothetical scenario used to measure thresholds, we investigated both the individual‐ and situational‐level correlates of these self‐reported thresholds. The discussion considers the results that emerge from a Tobit regression model and offers suggestions for future research that would provide further refinement of the threshold model.     

WORK,INCOME SUPPORT,AND CRIME IN THE DUTCH WELFARE STATE: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY FOLLOWING VULNERABLE YOUTH INTO ADULTHOOD

Life‐course criminological research has consistently suggested that employment can reduce criminal behavior. However, it is unclear whether the financial aspects of employment or the social control that inheres in employment best explains the relationship between employment and reduced offending. By using longitudinal information on a sample of men and women (N = 540) who were institutionalized in a Dutch juvenile justice institution in the 1990s, this study examines the effects of employment as well as the different types of income support on crime. Random‐ and fixed‐effects models show that for men, both work and income support are associated with a reduction in the rate of offending. For women, however, although employment is correlated with a lower offending rate, receiving income support, and in particular disability benefits, is correlated with a higher offending rate. The findings support both theories that stress the financial motivation for crime as well as theories that emphasize the importance of informal social control for reducing offending.     

Dating of Iron Gall Ink Using the Dissolution‐Diffusion Method

In many criminal and civil cases, some questioned documents are written with iron gall ink. Determining the date when an iron gall ink entry was written can be important to assess the authenticity of a document. A dissolution‐diffusion method was successfully employed to draw aging curves of iron gall ink entries stored in controlled conditions over 40 months. Calibration curves were created to indicate the relationship between the average dissolution‐diffusion rate of ink components and the age of ink entries stored under natural aging conditions. As preliminary findings of this study, the mixed solution of dimethyl formamide (DMF) and anhydrous ethanol was suitable to dissolve the dye of iron gall ink strokes made at different time. It was also determined that brands of iron gall inks, types of paper, and thickness of iron gall ink strokes had varying impacts on estimating the dates of iron gall ink strokes.