Confused or competent? How voters use the STV ballot paper

STV is often extolled because it allows voters to express a nuanced choice, but is criticised for being too confusing. In practice the system is little used, but evidence from where it is indicates much depends on how voters choose to use it. STV was used for the first time in Scottish local elections in 2007, providing valuable new evidence on how voters respond to the system. We use survey data to examine the incidence of various indicators of apparent failure by Scottish voters to exploit STV, and compare both the levels and patterns of incidence with equivalent data for Ireland. We find little sign of confusion in either country, but significant evidence of ballot order effects in Scotland.     

The mechanical and psychological effects of legal thresholds

In this paper, we estimate the effect of the legal threshold on the number of parties and decompose it into a mechanical and a psychological effect. We study the case of Morocco, whose local elections afford a rare opportunity to uncover the causal effect of the legal threshold, using a differences-in-differences approach. Our results show a large effect of the legal threshold on the number of parties. We find a large psychological effect in absolute terms: a 3% increase in the legal threshold leaves almost one effective party out of the council for purely strategic reasons. We conjecture that this large effect is due to the lack of institutionalization and programmaticness of most Moroccan parties.     

抗战时期湘桂铁路股票发行成效及其原因评析

广西荔浦县档案馆藏有一些湘桂铁路股票。这些股票是在抗战爆发后，随着湘桂铁路修筑而开始发行的。广西省政府在发行过程中充当着非常重要的角色。股票的发行在一定程度上促进了湘桂铁路的建设。但是，蒋桂矛盾使其经济功能未能得到有效的发挥。     

国际习惯法在我国入宪探讨

由于历史、政治、效力、认识等原因,国际习惯法在我国宪法中缺失,但无论从法理因素还是从现实状况来探讨,国际习惯法都有在我国入宪的必要性。国际习惯法的效力问题非国际法问题而是国内法问题,这可以从一些典型国家的做法中看出。国际习惯法在我国入宪应采取并入与转化相结合的方法,同时对于其在国内法中的效力应看不同情形予以区别对待。     

公共产品供给对农民增收的负面效应及其防控

农村公共产品有效供给是促进农民增收的关键性要素,对农民增收会产生正面效应,是促进农民增收的有效途径。但公共产品供给对农民增收也会产生一些负面效应,这是我们在农村公共产品供给决策和推进时必须要理性认识和积极应对的重要问题。因此,只有既充分发挥正面效应,又积极预防与减控负面效应,才能最大可能地促进农民增收。     

承诺方式的效力考

《中华人民共和国合同法》对承诺方式的效力的规定,过于原则,易出现法律适用上的不一致。本文从法理学的角度对《合同法》第22条进行剖析,以解决实践中出现的承诺方式和要约指定方式的不一致、以行为方式作出的承诺、行为承诺效力的发生标准等法律适用上的问题。     

THE DELINQUENCY OF CHILDREN BORN TO YOUNG MOTHERS: RESULTS FROM THE ROCHESTER YOUTH DEVELOPMENT STUDY*

This paper examines the relationship between a mother's age at first childbirth and the delinquent behavior of her children. Using data from the Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS), an ongoing longitudinal study of adolescent development, we found that children born to mothers who began childbearing at a young age were more prone to general delinquency, violence, and arrest than were children born to mothers who began childbearing when they were older. This “early first‐birth effect” was far larger in white and Hispanic families than in African‐American families. Mediating analyses found that the early first‐birth effect was most attributable to the unstable composition of families in which early childbearing occurs. That said, a substantial portion of the effect remains unmediated.     

美育对公安大学生心理素质的影响

美育素质是人才综合素质的构成要素之一,美育可促使人个性和心理积极健康地成长。公安院校要把美育提高到一个培养合格公安人才的高度来正视,使公安大学生的警察业务知识中融入丰富地人文美育知识,使他们心胸开阔、身心健康、能文能武、品性高尚,将来更好地适应社会、工作的需要,承担应尽的职责。     

国外社区警政理论与实践的反思

社区警务是现代警务改革的主要内容和发展趋势。但是多数国家的警方及媒体多以主观的褒奖替代了对其客观科学的分析研究;事实上社区警务的负面影响和具体操作的困难是不容忽视的。国外学者对社区警务的理论背景及实践操作中遇到的代表性问题进行了客观地分析和探究,并提出了相关对策。这对于我国正在进行的社区警务工作具有重要的借鉴意义。     

早产儿视网膜病变及其与吸氧的因果关系

早产儿视网膜病变主要发生于眼球发育不完善的新生儿,常会导致盲目或眼球萎缩等严重后果。该病的发病原因众多,较多学者认为与血氧浓度过高或过低有一定关系。在因ROP引致的纠纷中,吸氧治疗与疾病的因果关系常成为需要认定的重要问题。在进行此类案件的鉴定时,应当考虑多方面因素,全面分析,综合判断。