Committees and Legislative Strengthening: The Growing Influence of Committees in Ukraine's Legislative Process

The Ukrainian legislature is in the process of transforming from a ‘rubber stamp’ institution of the Soviet type into an ‘institution that matters’ in a new democratic state. The practice of democratic institution building in the post-Soviet countries presents multiple examples of powerful executives who gained dominance in legislative processes. What path has Ukraine taken and what can explain its specific characteristics? This article charts the growth of committees here as a marker of legislative institutionalisation in Ukraine. The study finds that Ukrainian legislative committees defy prevalent regional trends and, contrary to expectations, have asserted independent roles. It then discusses factors that may account for this unique regional development – the role of a dual executive structure and the Ukraine party system.     

英国执行机构改革及其对我们的启示

英国执行机构改革的国际地位及其当前在我国产生的影响使其备受瞩目。本文对执行机构改革背景及针对的问题、执行机构体现出的组织模式多样化原则、执行机构的管理体制、执行机构的改革趋势等进行系统描述讨论。其目的在于阐明 :执行机构改革的核心理念是机构类型和组织模式的多样化 ,其性质是一场管理革命而非机构的革命。在此基础上 ,就英国执行机构改革对我国的启迪提出一些个人看法。     

论地方行政权力清单制度及其法制化

权力清单本质上是对行政法律法规中有关行政权能的细化、整合和集中,它进一步明确了行政权的范围并将政府权力置于阳光下,具有控制和规范行政权的作用和价值。在当下的地方政府权力清单推行过程中,存在着政府及其职能部门不主动、不积极,权力清单的内容不完整、不客观以及不合法等问题。必须将地方政府权力清单制度予以法制化,这是稳步推进权力清单制度顺利推行的需要,是确保权力清单内容合法性的需要,也是保证权力清单内容得以顺利实现的需要。要以法律或行政法规的形式对权力清单制度进行明确规定,并以地方性法规的形式对权力清单的内容及其制定程序予以法制化。     

Childhood abuse and neurocognitive performance in adulthood: a preliminary study of executive functioning in offenders

Childhood abuse has an important negative influence on long-term executive functioning performance. Although this has been studied in non-offenders (controls), few investigations have examined offender samples. The aims of this study were: to study the influence of childhood abuse history on adulthood executive functioning in offenders, and to examine whether executive performance is affected differentially by different abusive events. It was found that in comparison with controls (n?=?17) and with non-abused offenders (n?=?22), the abused offenders (n?=?18) have poorer performance on psychomotor-cognitive processing speed and cognitive flexibility. In abused offenders, it was also found that physical abuse events primarily and significantly affected adulthood performance in these cognitive abilities. In conclusion, this study helps us to know, preliminarily, the neurocognitive profile of abused offenders and how different abusive events suffered in childhood (e.g. physical and emotional abuse) differentially affect executive functioning of this sample.     

Effectiveness of cognitive remediation for female inmates: a pilot study

There is considerable evidence that neurocognitive deficits are frequent among incarcerated offenders. However, current correctional programming does not directly seek to remediate deficits in offenders’ neurocognitive deficits. In this pilot project, we sought to treat neurocognitive deficits in incarcerated Portuguese adult women offenders (n?=?28) using cognitive remediation to target cognitive flexibility, memory, and planning. Statistically significant positive changes, with medium to large effect sizes, were discovered across several neurocognitive domains, including attention, speed of processing, verbal learning and memory, cognitive flexibility, and planning. We also found a decrease in the negative emotional states of depression, anxiety, tension/stress, and on disturbed behavior in prison. Cognitive remediation has the potential to enhance the neurocognitive functioning of incarcerated women. Controlled research is needed to establish cognitive remediation fully as an intervention for the treatment of neurocognitive deficits of incarcerated women.