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.     

The political value of languages

A theory of linguistic justice needs to take into account the three distinct values of language as a medium for communication, as a source of individual identity and as an instrument for political self-government. Doing so would undermine Van Parijs’ claim that political borders and peoples should be downgraded to a purely instrumental role for purposes of social justice. But it would widen the scope of egalitarian global justice by including a universal right of individuals to membership self-governing polities and it could provide more solid theoretical foundations for his defence of coercive territorial language regimes.     

Protection and Regulations to Status Property of Rich Second Generation

The status property of rich second generation is based on protection of status relations and private property rights, private property lateral expanse to the family property, and vertical expanse to inheritance property, but the current legal right of property has also shaped the power of the rich second generation. Policies for rich second generation should be based on the property nature of private right and sociality, the efficiency of property possession, the intergenerational equity to inheritance, and the abuse of property rights. Rich second generation have limited legitimacy to the property. It is necessary to improve the system of equity and trust to serve their property, and use the estate tax to achieve balance of interests between individual and society, but also need to overcome the fairness of procedure to constraint abuse of power.     

Who's Afraid of WikiLeaks? Missed Opportunities in Political Science Research

Leaked information, such as WikiLeaks’ Cablegate, constitutes a unique and valuable data source for researchers interested in a wide variety of policy‐oriented topics. Yet political scientists have avoided using leaked information in their research. This article argues that we can and should use leaked information as a data source in scholarly research. First, the methodological, ethical, and legal challenges related to the use of leaked information in research have been considered, concluding that none of these present serious obstacles. Second, how political scientists can use leaked information to generate novel and unique insights concerning political phenomena using a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods have been shown. Specifically, how leaked documents reveal important details concerning the Trans‐Pacific Partnership negotiations, and how leaked diplomatic cables highlight a significant disparity between the U.S. government's public attitude toward traditional knowledge and its private behavior have been demonstrated.     

Vernacular rights cultures and the ‘Right to Have Rights’

We use a case study of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) in Brazil and the Via Campesina network of which they are part to develop the concept of ‘vernacular rights cultures’. Vernacular rights cultures calls attention to the way in which demands for the right to have rights call on particular cultures, histories and political contexts in a manner that can transform the rights inscribed in constitutions and political imaginaries. What Ranciere (1999) and Balibar (2002) call the democratisation of democracy, we therefore argue, does not just involve a logic of equality and inclusion through which dispossessed groups demand already existing rights. Rather, it also occurs as mobilisations alter the means through which rights are delivered and transform the content and meaning of the rights demanded.     

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。     

刑事政策视野下我国暂缓起诉制度之构建

暂缓起诉制度具有深厚的法理基础和重要的价值意蕴,虽然学界对我国是否应当建立暂缓起诉制度存在争论,但权衡利弊,我们认为,在我国建立暂缓起诉制度是很有必要的。     

有限国家责任说——构建刑事被害人国家补偿制度的主要理论基础

为了保护被害人权益,化解社会不稳定因素,国内学者纷纷呼吁,参照其他国家的先进理论构建我国刑事被害人国家补偿制度。为了使作为被害人补偿制度的理论依据——国家责任说更有科学性和说服力,宜对国家责任说的理论基础——社会契约理论进行推理和择取。结合社会契约理论,应以有限国家责任说和社会保险说为理论依据,建立我国的刑事被害人国家补偿制度。     

深刻领会中国特色社会主义理论体系的基本内涵

党的十七大创造性地提出并系统地阐述了中国特色社会主义理论体系。坚持和发展中国特色社会主义理论体系的基本要求就是要充分认识其历史地位,全面掌握其科学内涵,深入学习贯彻落实好科学发展观,充分发挥其指导作用。