The Chimera of Proportionality: Institutionalising Limits on Punishment in Contemporary Social and Political Systems

The concept of proportionality has been central to the retributive revival in penal theory, and underlies desert theory's normative and practical commitment to limiting punishment. Theories of punishment combining desert‐based and consequentialist considerations also appeal to proportionality as a limiting condition. In this paper we argue that these claims are founded on an exaggerated idea of what proportionality can offer, and in particular fail properly to consider the institutional conditions needed to foster robust limits on the state's power to punish. The idea that appeals to proportionality as an abstract ideal can help to limit punishment is, we argue, a chimera: what has been thought of as proportionality is not a naturally existing relationship, but a product of political and social construction, cultural meaning‐making, and institution‐building. Drawing on evolutionary psychology and comparative political economy, we argue that philosophers and social scientists need to work together to understand how the appeal of the idea of proportionality can best be realised through substantive institutional frameworks under particular conditions.     

Silent citizenship among Asian Americans and Latinos: opting out or left out?

In his classic study, Who Governs?, Robert Dahl interpreted the patterns of political assimilation of ‘white ethnic’ immigrants and their children during the mid-twentieth century as a hopeful sign of the potential of democratic pluralism in the USA. While acknowledging that immigrant groups faced discrimination and structural barriers that might lead them to be silent, Dahl predicted that social mobility and assimilation would eventually erase these deficits in political participation among immigrants. Building from Dahl's analysis, we investigate the extent to which pluralism in the USA can and does work the same way for immigrants who are also racial minorities. We highlight factors that can lead these groups to become silent citizens, including lack of legal status, lower levels of political mobilization by institutions, and discrimination as structural impediments to minority participation. Our findings suggest that both resources as well as structural impediments structure the political behavior of Asian Americans and Latinos, determining whether they are vocal citizens or silent citizens.     

First‐Hand Experience and Second‐Hand Information: Changing Trust across Three Levels of Government

Little is known about how different sources of information drive citizen trust in government. To address that gap this article compares disaster evacuees to observers, noting how trust differs as attention to media coverage increases. First‐hand experience supplies information to update trust through biological and personal processes and performance assessments, while secondary sources provide information about other people's experiences, filtered through lenses that take an active role in crafting information. These two types of information have varying effects depending on the level of government being trusted. Using surveys administered a year after Hurricane Katrina, I find that Katrina evacuees have the highest trust in federal government, until they start paying attention to media coverage, and that attention to coverage has the most dramatic effect on these evacuees compared to all other groups. I also find that increasing attention to second‐hand information corresponds with higher trust in local officials, and that this effect decreases as the level of government increases. It appears media coverage creates a comparison in the mind of hurricane evacuees, causing them to update their performance assessments based on comparing their own experience to that which they observe, thereby updating their political trust.     

群体性暴力事件形成计算分析

当前,随着社会转型的不断深化,我国进入了群体性暴力事件的高发期。为进一步了解此类事件的形成机制,降低群体性暴力事件对社会稳定带来的负面影响,作者在agent建模、社会燃烧理论以及羊群效应等理论的基础上搭建了一个群体性暴力事件的形成模型,仿真了无警力条件下群体性暴力事件自发形成的过程。大量仿真结果表明,在群体性暴力事件发生现场的区域内人员密度、“点燃”事件的类型、所在地区的可目视范围以及当地社会环境中的舆论导向等因素均会对群体性暴力事件的产生及发展带来不同程度的影响。该结果将为相关部门预防与处置群体性暴力事件提供重要的理论依据。     

新时期构建党的纪律教育平台的理论与实践思考

构建党的纪律教育平台,加强纪律教育,是落实党要管党、从严治党的必然要求,是加强党的纪律建设的迫切需要,是做好新时期干部教育培训工作的现实需要。新形势下构建党的纪律教育权威平台,就是要在把握和尊重干部成长规律和干部教育培训规律的基础上,进一步整合资源、突出重点、创新方法、健全机制,提高党的纪律教育的科学化、制度化、规范化水平,不断夯实党员干部廉洁从政的思想基础、筑牢拒腐防变的思想道德防线,切实解决党员干部"不想腐"的问题。     

从古希腊历史看政治观的形成

政治观是社会意识领域里不可或缺的一部分,它的形成经历了一个漫长的历史过程。古希腊的城邦政治是西方政治文明的源头,从古希腊的历史中可以清晰的看出,政治观世界观发展的过程是逐步形成的过程。     

树立社会主义法治理念，实施依法治国方略

本文对社会主义法治理念的理论依据、基本内涵、本质要求进行了分析,并探讨了在政法系统开展社会主义法治理念教育的重大意义。     

论江泽民思想政治工作理论形成的时代背景

江泽民思想政治工作理论的形成有着鲜明的国际和国内背景。20世纪90年代之后,在国际上,发生了苏东剧变,世界向多极化方向发展,经济全球化影响深远;在国内,1989年的政治风波刚刚平息,实行了几十年的计划经济体制被市场经济体制所取代,党所处的历史方位和党员队伍构成发生了新变化。这些因素对人们的思想观念造成了很大的冲击。江泽民思想政治工作理论就是针对这些新情况和新问题作出的科学回答。     

坚持开展学习教育活动与不搞政治运动--略论解决党内存在问题的方式

开展学习教育活动是中国共产党人在长期的建党实践中创造的 ,不搞政治运动解决党内存在问题的有效形式。搞政治运动是世界无产阶级政党遭受挫折的共同因素。不能混淆政治运动与学习教育活动两者质的规定性。不搞政治运动是一个战略决策 ,要注意扫除极“左”思想的残余 ,防止对政治运动旧情难忘 ;学习教育活动应与时俱进 ,不断创新 ,务求实效。否则 ,人民群众不满意 ,教育活动本身也难以避免陷入难堪的境地。     

社会主义民主政治建设的新突破--村民自治对中国政治发展的深远影响

村民自治是中国农民对社会主义民主建设的各种各样民主的新形式,是对社会主义民主发展的新贡献。村民自治将重新塑造农村民主政治的主体、改变农村传统的政治文化、辐射城市民主化进程、加速政治体制的进一步改革。