The Regulation of Third Party Campaigning in UK Elections

This article looks at the regulation of third parties in UK election law. During the 2019 general election campaign, media reports noted an increase in non-party organisations spending money on electoral advertisements on social media. Such advertisements raised a number of ethical questions, related to spending, transparency, and the content of the messages. Despite such recent concerns, third party electoral activity in the UK is not new, and the existing legal framework regulates campaign spending. That framework has its roots in Victorian-era election law and has been periodically updated. This article will look at the challenges in designing laws to regulate third party electoral activity, as a difficult line has to be drawn to ensure the laws are effective, while at the same time not imposing too many burdens on independent political activity. Moreover, the move to digital campaigning poses some further challenges, such as monitoring compliance by third party campaigners. While there are no simple solutions to some of the issues raised by third party electoral activity, this article will note some of the measures that could at least improve the transparency of such campaigning.     

追溯体系对食品国际贸易的影响分析

食品安全是食品贸易的焦点问题,而追溯体系是保障食品安全性的重要举措。文章从追溯的内涵和种类出发,深入分析追溯体系的产生原因以及对食品国际贸易的影响。研究发现,消费者、企业和政府共同推动了可追溯体系的产生;追溯体系的发展提高了出口产品的竞争力、促进了食品产业链的合作交流与产业内贸易的发展;然而各国追溯体系发展的不平衡也给国际贸易带来挑战,我国作为食品生产和出口大国,也应积极推广追溯体系,提高食品的安全竞争力。     

The Limits of Transparency

Few would disagree that more transparency is generally a good thing for democracy. Indeed so few would disagree that an unthinking consensus has developed where transparency appears to have become the political tonic to cure all ills. Political unaccountability? Let's have more transparency. Economic inefficiency? More transparency. Too close a relationship between politicians and the press? We need more transparency. These six essays by Andrew Murray, John Lloyd, Helen Margetts, Sean Maguire, Aleks Krotosky and Kevin Marsh question the sometimes unthinking consensus about the benefits of transparency. They question it from a legal perspective, from a journalistic perspective, from a governance perspective, from a technological perspective, from practical perspective, and from a civic perspective.     

Weakening forensic science in Spain: from expert evidence to documentary evidence

An amendment in 2002 to the Spanish Code of Criminal Procedure converted into documentary evidence the expert reports prepared by official laboratories aimed at determining the nature, weight, and purity of seized drugs. In most cases, experts are spared from appearance before the courts. This is likely to be extended to other forensic fields. After an overview of criminalistic identification in current forensic science, the objectivity and reliability concepts used by jurists and scientists are considered by comparing the paradigm of individualization with that of likelihood. Subsequently, a detailed critical study is made on the above-mentioned Spanish legal reform, and a comparison is made with the decision on the Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts case as ruled by the Supreme Court of the United States. Although the reform is in compliance with the Spanish Constitution, it is at odds with science, in particular regarding the logic underpinning the scientific evaluation of evidence.     

我国地方政府公共财政支出结构偏向分析——基于晋升锦标赛的理论视角

晋升锦标赛制度激发了地方政府官员发展经济的积极性。然而,晋升锦标赛的激励导向与公共财政的合理支出结构之间有内在矛盾。由于与官员晋升指标的弱相关性,基本公共服务财政支出长期低于社会需求水平,降低了社会福利。因此,必须通过一些措施、机制等,降低晋升锦标赛的强激励,促进公共财政支出结构的优化。     

从凤凰山汉简看西汉地方财政税收

凤凰山汉简是研究西汉赋税的重要资料。与以往对此研究焦点多集中在赋税额度上不同,本文则从地方财政角度重新审视这批简牍,以口钱为切入点,认为凤凰山汉简所载的口钱条目并不是向未成年人征收的人头税,也不是简单意义上向成年人征收的人头税,而是与简牍上其它条目一样,是地方财政的一部分,用来供给地方行政长官的公务费用。     

财政联邦主义理论及政府间关系分析模式概述

财政联邦主义理论体系根植于西方国家长期的民主政治和地方自治实践及经验总结,政府间关系分析模式业已突破传统单纯关注中央——地方二元结构的思维局限,逐渐发展成为多元主体相互影响下的网络体系,同时融入其他学科的理论假设进入分析框架。     

The view from city hall: Local perceptions of intergovernmental fiscal relations in the Czech Republic

This article analyzes perceptions of inter-governmental fiscal relations as held by local officials of the Czech Republic. The field study probes local perceptions of progress toward fiscal decentralization in the Czech Republic. A statistical analysis is based on a scaling of cities according to size and according to a generalized, multi-part measure of fiscal autonomy. This measure is effective in discriminating high and low autonomy cities by size, types of expenditures, and funding sources. Cities of diverse sizes are divided into groups reflecting perceptions of greater or lesser autonomy. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

基于社会保障支出的中国税负水平探析

关于中国宏观税负水平的高低问题,理论界和实际部门一直存在着争论。从社会保障支出的角度审视中国的税负水平,在阐释税负衡量维度和指标的基础上,将宏观税负、税收痛苦指数、社会保障支出进行国际比较,同时将社会保障支出与GDP、税收收入、财政收入、财政支出、其他类型财政支出进行对比分析。比较和分析的结果表明,中国民众承担的税负水平相对较高,税负不公现象存在。虽然近年来中国的社会保障制度建设取得了较大成绩,但基于社会保障支出的税负公正水平有待提高,财政支出仍需向社会保障支出倾斜。     

强制性支出责任与地方财政自主权

《宪法》和《预算法》赋予了地方政府一定的财政自主权。以此为基础,地方政府通过调整支出结构、提高支出效率,为地方居民提供符合本行政区域实际情况的公共品与服务,并调控经济运行状况。分税制改革减少了地方的财政自主权,从而导致地方支出效率的降低。法律和中央政府为地方政府设定强制性支出责任,旨在遏制因地方支出效率降低产生的公共支出结构扭曲和区域间支出水平差异等状况。但是,强制性支出责任在客观上却进一步降低了地方的财政自主权,从而陷入新的恶性循环。赋予地方政府充分的财政自主权,是优化地方支出结构、提高地方支出效率的基础性制度依赖;强制性支出责任仅具有辅助性功能。两者不能本末倒置。