民事审前调解程序的构建

法院调解历来是解决民事纠纷的重要途径,针对我国传统法院调解中＂调审合一＂、＂调解与审判功能混淆＂的弊端,民事审判制度的改革提出了＂调审分离＂的改革方案。审前调解就是实现调解程序和审判程序分离,是在立案后开庭审理之前,由法院专门调解人员主持下进行的调解。审前调解程序具有当事人处分权优先性、独立性、契约性、职业化和专业化的特征,具有不同于审判程序的调解原则和程序设置。     

关于完善我国行政处罚听证程序的法律思考

听证程序在我国还是一项崭新的法律制度,无论从理论上还是实践上都与国外有较大的差距。文章在阐述行政处罚中的听证程序概念及主要内容的基础上,分析了我国行政处罚听证程序中存在的缺陷和不足,同时提出了完善我国行政处罚听证程序的相关建议。     

More than wishful thinking: Causes and consequences of voters’ electoral expectations about parties and coalitions

Accurate expectations about the outcome of elections play a central role in psychological and economic theories of voting. In the paper, three questions about voters’ expectations are investigated. First, we identify and test several factors that influence the overall accuracy or quality of voters’ expectations. Second, the phenomenon of “wishful thinking” is tested and confirmed for expectations about the electoral performance of individual parties and coalitions. Finally, two mechanisms how expectations might influence voting behavior are identified and tested. Based on surveys from Austria and Germany, the results suggest that voters not only rely on expectations to avoid casting “wasted” votes for parties without electoral chances, but that they are able to engage in fairly sophisticated strategic coalition voting.     

The second-order election model revisited: An experimental test of vote choices in European Parliament elections

This paper examines the micro-foundations of the second-order elections model of European Parliament (EP) elections. We extend the existing literature in several ways. First, we propose an individual-level model of voting behaviour in second-order elections. Second, we present the first study using experimental methods to test the predictions of the second-order model, allowing us to test the individual-level propositions about vote choice in a controlled environment. Importantly, we also examine the conditioning effect of information on the ‘second-order’ nature of voting behaviour in EP elections. Our findings show that while voters base their EP vote choices primarily on domestic preferences, those who are given additional information about the European integration dimension are also more likely to vote on this basis.     

When do voters actually think “It’s the Economy”? Evidence from the 2008 presidential campaign

Studies linking election outcomes to economics frequently assume that the economy’s salience is constant. This study shows that the economy’s salience systematically fluctuates. The number of voters focused on economic issues shifted dramatically throughout the 2008 campaign as the recession worsened and this change occurred well before the financial markets collapsed in September 2008. However, even during the recession substantial numbers of individuals said their vote was based on non-economic issues and for these individuals there was no relationship between their assessment of the economy and their electoral choice. Consistent with extant theories of issue attention, citizens who were the hardest hit by the recession and those who had the most anxiety about suffering a financial dislocation in the future were most likely to consider economic performance electorally important while secure voters were less likely to be economic voters.     

盘查程序与相对人的协助义务

盘查是在宪法规定的迁徙自由的情境下产生的一种警察应对措施。赋予警察盘查权,实现了从＂静态执法＂向＂动态执法＂的转变,增加了警察执法的机动性、灵活性和应变能力,适应了由计划经济向市场经济转轨之后社会治安形势发生的变化与要求。对盘查的控制,主要通过程序来完成。这是盘查的随机性、及时性、合成性等属性使然。一方面,要充分发挥程序对相对人权益的保障作用,另一方面,程序也不能过于繁琐、影响行政效率。而对于相对人的协助义务,无论是国内还是国外尚无定论,是亟待理论进一步回应、有待实践努力解决的一个重要问题。     

Economic voting under the economic crisis: Evidence from Greece

Having joined the Eurozone in 2001, Greece experienced a short period of economic euphoria before confronting a major financial crisis some nine years later. In the period between joining the Eurozone and accepting the joint IMF/EU bailout package, the economic situation facing Greek voters changed dramatically. I use this setting to test the economic voting hypothesis. Using longitudinal aggregate data from 1981 to 2009, I investigate the relationship between macroeconomic indicators and vote share of the incumbent party to test the “grievance asymmetry” hypothesis. Moreover, by using individual-level data from 2004 to 2009, I investigate the extent to which retrospective sociotropic evaluations about the state of the economy are associated with support for the incumbent party. The results suggest that sociotropic economic evaluations are associated with government party support, but in a period when the economy is at its worst the incumbent has no real chance of winning and should expect support only from its long-time loyal supporters.     

PIGS or not? Economic voting in Southern Europe

Economic voting has been little studied in the nations of Southern Europe. Here we examine economic voting in the Southern European countries of Portugal, Italy, Spain, and Greece – the PIGS. Through the analysis of a large, ten European nation survey pool, we establish that economic voting exists in the PIGS, with a strength that significantly exceeds that in non-PIGS of Northern Europe. The explanation for such a difference, we suggest, lies in the generally less complex governing coalitions and the poorer economic performance that characterize these Southern European nations. This relatively greater strength of the economic vote in the PIGS implies their electorates will hold government tightly accountable for management of the ongoing economic crises they face.     

Valence beyond consensus: Party competence and policy dispersion from a comparative perspective

Part of the growing literature on valence politics interprets the electoral impact of party competence perceptions as resulting from consensus over ideological positions in contemporary societies. The relationship between valence politics and consensus, however, is usually based on either disputable theoretical assumptions or on single-country analyses. In this paper I empirically test the assumptions linking valence politics and policy consensus in a comparative perspective across 21 political systems. The results show no evidence that valence is associated with consensus, and some evidence that the electoral effect of valence is correlated with certain forms of policy dispersion, such as ideological party polarisation. The implication that perceptions of party competence are significantly informed by spatial-based considerations is discussed.     

公安行政执法程序研究

公安机关的行政执法程序是影响公安机关行政执法行为的重要因素,应引起公安机关和社会各界的高度重视。当前,公安机关的行政执法程序方面的问题主要表现在执法主体、执法行为、行政行为等方面。笔者认为,应该从提升程序意识、完善规章制度和加强监督管理等方面着手,规范公安行政执法程序,为提升公安行政执法效率提供制度保障。