Preserving fairness: Williams against Cohen on just inequality

The view that the choices people make affect what it is fair for them to receive has widespread appeal. This very general thought has found particular and acute expression in the context of distributive justice in the form of the influential view that has become known as luck egalitarianism. In a surprising development, one of luck egalitarianism’s foremost advocates – G.A. Cohen – appeared, in one of his final papers, to reject the commitment to the fairness of chosen inequalities that defines luck egalitarianism. In opposition to the luck egalitarian view, Cohen suggests that choice merely deprives the disadvantaged of a complaint against being worse off, rather than rendering such inequality fair. Against Cohen’s revised view, Andrew Williams has argued that Cohen’s move underestimates an account of equality under which what individuals choose to do with their equal allocation affects what it is to treat them fairly. Here, I seek to show how the Williams response fails to undermine Cohen’s claims about the relation between fairness and choice. I draw on this analysis to show how the disagreement between Williams and Cohen on this issue illuminates a broader methodological divergence over how to approach questions of justice and fairness.     

刑罚的伦理价值

刑罚是刑法的核心。作为法律概念,刑罚充分体现了法律和道德之间密不可分的联系。体现这种联系的一个重要方面就在于刑罚必须具有正义、功利和公平这三种既相互联系又相互区别的伦理属性。正义是刑罚存在的基础,功利是刑罚追求的目的,公平是贯穿刑罚始终的原则和方法。     

论经济法的理念——基于对现有经济法理念研究的批判

经济法的理念是指对经济法的应然状态的一种理性认识和追求。经济法的理念不同于法的理念、其他部门法理念和经济学目标,也不同于经济法基本原则。它不能脱离法的理念,但具有固有的特质,其最核心的特质是"经济性"。经济法理念的基本内容包括经济实质公平、经济宏观安全、经济整体效率。经济实质公平着眼于经济问题中权利的倾斜配置和分配结果的公平;经济宏观安全意味着经济法追求的是国民经济整体意义上的宏观安全;经济整体效率区别于短期、个别的效益,要求重视经济社会全面、协调、可持续发展。     

法治 应该如此呵护——读《司法民主、公平正义与法官制度》

司法民主是我国司法改革的前进方向,人民陪审制度是我国实现司法民主的主要方式之一,应充分发挥陪审员源于民众,代表民众的优势。我国存在传统法律伦理精神与现代法治精神的冲突,导致现实中公平正义的法治精神缺失。为培育公平正义的法治精神,不仅要融合有益的传统法律伦理精神,还要加强现代法治精神的宣传教育。法官制度与司法民主与公平正义在逻辑上是紧密相连的。时下的法官制度有历史遗留问题,也有遴选与任免上的不尽科学等。完善法官制度要提高法官的准入资格,增强司法独立性,打破按照行政区划设置司法机关的局面等。     

基本权利规范的正当程序价值——兼议行政程序法如何保障基本权利

我国宪法中的基本权利规范具有丰富的正当程序价值,行政程序法的制定,需通过宪法解释的方法挖掘基本权利规范的程序价值,使之得到行政程序法的保障。基本权利条款的设置从整体上表征国家与公民之间的平等关系,这种平等关系要求行政程序法建构起交互式的行政程序,吸纳公众有效参与行政过程。人格尊严既包含个别的权利,又是概括的"人权",表征公开、公正的价值,需要行政程序法通过建构回避制度、禁止单方接触制度、职能分离制度和公开制度予以保障。     

考选分离:完善现行公务员选拔制度的思考

通过考试选拔人才是西方文官制度的核心,也是我国当前公务员选拔的核心方式。但是我国当前针对具体岗位广泛考选的公务员选拔方式存在着诸多问题,亟需进行完善。唐代文官选拔制度作为文官考试的重要发端,其考选分离、多科目选拔人才及文官"守选"、"循资格"等措施都对完善现行公务员选拔制度有着积极的借鉴意义。本文运用文献研究和比较研究的方法,对现行公务员选拔制度存在的问题和唐代文官选拔制度的特点进行比较分析,提出了建立公务员储备干部制度、调整公务员考试机制、加强岗前培训机制和完善晋升激励机制的思路。     

A Strategic Prospect that Can Be Realized

正The Chinese Dream in Full Swing Speech Extracts from the International Dialogue on the Chinese Dream ForumTHE Chinese Dream encompasses four main visions:a renewed,powerful China;a civilized China governed by equality and fairness;a harmonious China in which all social strata coexist peacefully;and a beautiful China with a clean environment.Despite China’s well-known difficulties–pollution,corruption,and economic inequality–China     

Hard and Fast on the Path of Reform

正Over the past 35 years,China’s socio-economic development has relied on reform and opening-up.Now,the country is confronting conundrums,risks and challenges in its course of development.The only way to ensure sustained and healthy socio-economic development is to deepen reform and opening-up.2014 marks a new era of comprehensively deepening reforms at several levels:     

Public disclosure: Sex offenders' perceptions of the pilot scheme in England. Compliance,legitimacy and living a “Good Life”

Abstract

In 2008–09 four police forces in England piloted a scheme requiring disclosure of information about registered sex offenders (RSOs) to members of the public meeting certain eligibility criteria. Drawing upon data gathered during the evaluation of the pilot, this paper explores the offenders' perceptions of the scheme. In particular, the paper explores RSOs' perceptions of fairness and legitimacy of public disclosure and how these may impact upon their compliance. The RSO interviews also provided limited but informative evidence on the ways in which RSOs manage their lives in the community, and the potential for public disclosure to both hinder and reinforce the living of a “Good Life”.     

Viewing Things Differently: The Dimensions of Public Perceptions of Police Legitimacy

Legitimacy (or “the right to exercise power”) is now an established concept in criminological analysis, especially in relation to policing. Substantial empirical evidence shows the importance of legitimacy in securing law‐abiding behavior and cooperation from citizens. Yet adequate theorization has lagged behind empirical evidence, and there has been a conflation of legitimacy with the cognate concepts of “trust” and of “obligation to obey the law.” By drawing on the work of Beetham (1991) and others (e.g., Bottoms and Tankebe, 2012 ), this study tests the hypothesis that the contents of the multiple dimensions of police legitimacy comprise procedural fairness, distributive fairness, lawfulness, and effectiveness. The study also investigates the relative influence of legitimacy and feelings of obligation on citizens’ willingness to cooperate with the police. Using data from London, the results substantiate the hypothesized dimensions of police legitimacy. In addition, legitimacy was found to exhibit both a direct influence on cooperation that is independent of obligation and an indirect influence that flows through people's felt obligations to obey the police. Implications for future research are discussed.