THE LANGUAGE OF STIGMATIZATION AND THE MARK OF VIOLENCE: EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE ON THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF CRIMINAL RECORD STIGMA

After years of stagnation, labeling theory has recently gained new empirical support. Simultaneously, new policy initiatives have attempted to restructure criminal record stigma to reduce reintegration barriers, and subsequent recidivism, driven by labeling. For example, in a recent Department of Justice (DOJ) language policy, person‐first terms (e.g., “person with a conviction”) were substituted for crime‐first terms (e.g., “offender”). The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has also issued guidelines to structure how decision‐makers use criminal records. Unfortunately, little is currently known about the social construction and use of criminal record stigma or the potential effects of such policy changes. In the current study, we provide two unique empirical tests. In study 1, we examine the social construction of stigma by testing DOJ's language policy with experimental data from a nationally representative sample of American adults (N = 996). In study 2, we use a separate nationwide experiment (N = 1,540) to examine how the contextualization of criminal records influences social exclusion decisions. Across both studies, we find consistent evidence of a “mark of violence.” The public perceives that individuals with violent convictions are the most likely to commit future crimes, and it is more supportive of excluding these individuals from employment. Crime‐first terms exacerbate perceived recidivism risk for individuals with violent convictions.     

当前韩中文化外交存在的问题及对策

自韩中两国建交以来,韩中两国文化外交取得了巨大的成就。但是时至今日,韩中两国的文化外交也受到诸多制约因素的挑战,本文针对当前韩中文化外交存在的主要问题以及这些问题背后的深层根源进行了分析,并提出了具有针对性的建议,作者认为韩中两国应该从战略高度积极协调双方文化外交,并且要妥善处理历史认知问题和重新审视两国的大众传播媒体在塑造和服务于韩中文化外交过程中所扮演的角色,同时韩国政府要积极改善韩中两国文化产品输入不对等的问题。两国政府和民间要进一步拓宽两国民间外交的渠道和方式,进而全面提升韩中文化外交全面向前发展。     

论刑事司法实践中的民意影响

本文结合典型案例从刑事司法实践中的案件事实认定、法律适用以及裁判执行三个方面,详细探讨民意的影响,并剖析其中原因,认为民意的感性化和情绪化并不一定构成司法警惕民意的理由。但是为了维护法律的权威、促进司法的公平正义,司法绝不能仅仅为了获取社会公众的认同而盲目顺从民意,必须始终坚持法律至上原则,与民意保持适当距离,对民意的考量只能在法官的自由裁量权范围内进行。     

《死刑案件证据规定》第23条的诠释与解读——以鉴定意见审查判断为视角

2010年7月1日《关于办理死刑案件审查判断证据若干问题的规定》已正式实施,该规定第23条明确规定了鉴定意见审查判断时应当着重考察的若干事项。鉴定意见作为现代诉讼活动中的“证据之王”,在案件事实认定中具有极为重要的地位,甚至在死刑案件中扮演着“一纸定生死”的角色。通过对《死刑案件证据规定））第23条的诠释与解读,进一步明确刑事案件,尤其是死刑案件中的鉴定意见证据能力及证明力,有助于切实保障案件裁判的司法公正、维护案件当事各方的合法权益。     

Public opinion, party messages, and responsibility for the financial crisis in Britain

The political consequences of the crisis in world financial markets are only beginning to be understood. In this article, we take up one of these many repercussions by examining public beliefs of who’s to blame for a complex and unparalleled set of events. Analyses of survey data from Britain find that while most assign responsibility for the crisis to market actors, the likelihood of blaming governments, as opposed to blaming banks and investors, is greater among low sophisticates and Conservative Party identifiers. We further show how elite messages from competing political elites evolved over-time and were reflected in mass beliefs about the crisis. Results highlight the centrality of partisan cues and, in particular, of political sophistication in understanding the dynamics of responsibility attributions. Lastly, we estimate the consequences of blaming the government for the crisis for voter choice.     

Coalition formation and polarisation

Party ideology plays an important role in determining which government coalitions form. Research on coalition formation tends to focus on the ideological distance between coalition parties. However, the distribution of preferences within the coalition, and the legislature, also has implications for which government coalition forms – that is, a party's willingness to join a coalition depends not only on its prospective coalition partners, but also on the alternative coalitions it could form. Several hypotheses about the effects of legislative polarisation are offered and tested using data on coalition formation in 17 parliamentary democracies in the postwar period. This article also demonstrates how the traditional measure of ideological divisions within coalitions fails to capture certain aspects of ideological heterogeneity within the cabinet (and the opposition) and how Esteban and Ray's polarisation index helps in addressing these deficiencies.     

网络民意表达与地方官民沟通机制创新——对广东奥一网络问政平台的案例解读

伴随着网络时代的到来,公民通过互联网表达自身利益诉求和公共意见已成为一种普遍现象。为此,地方政府通过制度创新,建立网络问政平台,顺势关注和吸纳网络民意。这种官民沟通机制的建立,改变着传统的单向式决策模式,构建着“官民共治”的新型治理模式,并最终将推动国家与社会良性互动关系的形成。     

关于当前高校校报言论写作的若干思考——以省高校校报研究会一等奖言论《学会在压力下生存和发展》为例

高校校报言论是对高校校园内某种事件、现象、态势加以评述、评说的一种文体.以省高校校报研究会一等奖言论《学会在压力下生存和发展》为例,综合分析近几年校报研究会年会参评言论,概括出当前校报言论写作选题具有针对性、内容具有贴近性、结构具有完整性等特点,但也存在着一些不足.建议言论作者和校报编校人员增强责任意识、加强业务学习,校报主管部门注重稳定采编队伍、加强校报审读管理,真正做到以正确的舆论引导人.     

论当前中国法律理论与民意的冲突——兼论现代性法律的局限性

法律理论与民意的冲突,目前成了一种不容忽视的冲突。泸州"二奶"遗赠案反映了自由权利与社会责任的冲突;"刘涌案"反映了程序正义与实体正义的冲突;"死刑存废之争"反映了法律理想图景与现实正义观念的冲突。冲突的根源在于:现代性法律以个人主义和自由主义为前提预设,把人视为独立自由的平等个体,把错综复杂多样的社会关系剪裁成单一片面的法律关系,要求尽可能地限制国家权力,甚至主张以"人道"规范一切;但是,社会中的人却不是独立自由的,而是受到多种社会伦理规范的制约;国家职能和社会规范都是多元的;民意具有现实性和综合性的特点。现代性法律与中国民意的冲突,本质上是两种不同的国家社会体制的冲撞。现代性法律只能调整特定的社会关系、满足中国的部分需求。     

刑事司法领域中的民意之解读

民意是客观存在的。信息时代使得民意关注、评价甚至在一定条件下影响司法活动成为可能。刑事司法领域中的民意是公众在对因为某种原因受到社会各界格外关注的刑事案件认知、判断的基础上,根据法律正义的外在社会价值形成的带有普遍倾向和较多道德成分的观点或意见。民意是与案件处理结果有关（直接或潜在）但被国家排斥在刑事诉讼活动之外的一种重要利益的体现。