Parliamentary Voting Procedures in Comparison

Increasingly, scholars of legislative politics propose comparative analyses of parliamentary voting behaviour across different countries and parliaments. Yet parliamentary voting procedures differ dramatically across parliamentary chambers and ignoring these differences may, in the extreme, lead to meaningless comparisons. This paper presents a first glimpse at a comprehensive data collection effort covering more than 250 parliamentary chambers in 176 countries. Focusing on European legislatures it assesses what explains the differences in the rules among chambers. It is found that incentives linked to MPs’ visibility contribute to explain the transparency of the adopted voting procedures.     

Parallel Systems and Human Resource Management in India's Public Health Services: A View from the Front Lines

There is building evidence in India that the delivery of health services suffers both from an actual shortfall in trained health professionals and from unsatisfactory results of existing service providers working in the public and private sectors. This study focuses on the public sector and examines de facto institutional and governance arrangements that may give rise to well‐documented provider behaviors such as absenteeism that can adversely affect service delivery processes and outcomes. We analyze four human resource management (HRM) subsystems: postings, transfers, promotions and disciplinary practices from the perspective of front‐line workers—physicians working in rural healthcare facilities operated by two state governments. We sampled physicians in one “post‐reform” state that has instituted HRM reforms and one “pre‐reform” state that has not. The findings are based on both quantitative and qualitative measurements. The results show that formal rules are undermined by a parallel modus operandi in which desirable posts are often determined by political connections and side payments. The evidence suggests an institutional environment in which formal rules of accountability are trumped by a parallel set of accountabilities. These systems appear so entrenched that reforms have borne no significant effect. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The international diffusion of electoral systems: The spread of mechanisms tempering proportional representation across Europe

There is an assumption in much of the electoral engineering literature that domestic episodes of electoral system choice occur in a vacuum, isolated from international influences. Yet this assumption remains largely untested, despite the comparative focus of much of that literature. This article focuses on part of this gap by considering two electoral mechanisms that seek to limit party system fragmentation under proportional representation – low district magnitudes and high electoral thresholds – and shows that the mechanisms have spread across many European countries during the post‐1945 period. Analyses reveal that national legislators are more likely to adopt one of these electoral mechanisms when a large number of peer countries have made similar choices within the last two or three years. This effect is robust to various model specifications and to the inclusion of multiple controls. The article also offers some qualitative evidence from case studies and parliamentary debates.     

十八届四中全会司法改革新举措之解读

党的十八届四中全会《决定》明确了一系列司法改革新举措,对司法体制改革作出新的重大部署。最高人民法院设立巡回法庭,探索设立跨行政区划的人民法院和人民检察院,建立领导干部干预司法活动、插手具体案件处理的记录、通报和责任追究制度,从制度和体制上防范和禁止地方行政权力干涉,保障审判权、检察权依法独立行使;推进以审判为中心的诉讼制度改革,实行审判权和执行权相分离体制,探索建立检察机关提起公益诉讼制度,实行立案登记制,从司法权运行机制和职能定位上强化司法权威,促进公正司法,保障国家和公民权益。     

Residential Segregation,Housing Submarkets,and Spatial Analysis: St. Louis and Cincinnati as a Case Study

This article considers how spatial analysis of housing submarkets can advance research into residential segregation. While an emphasis on housing submarkets has been proposed as a new construct for modeling housing prices, its use in analyzing residential segregation has been limited. Recent advances in spatial analysis and geographic information systems present new opportunities for researchers to exploit the potential of housing submarkets as constructs that offer a more precise way to examine residential segregation. The article synthesizes literature related to residential segregation and housing submarkets and demonstrates how to delineate housing submarkets using publicly available data. It examines the spatial distribution of housing submarkets and how the socially disadvantaged are represented across housing submarkets in St. Louis, Missouri, and Cincinnati, Ohio, to conclude that St. Louis's housing market is more polarized and racially segregated than Cincinnati's. Spatial analysis of housing submarkets, in conjunction with archival analysis, provides a promising avenue for identifying residential segregation as a multidimensional phenomenon, and a means to explore local processes of urban inequality.     

新时期辅警制度的现实困局与探索路径

作为正规警力的有益补充,辅警在协助警察维护社会治安等方面发挥了重要作用,成为维护安全稳定不可或缺的治安辅助力量。不过,辅警体系的制度构建和现实运作也出现了辅警称谓多样化、成员复杂、缺乏保障、身份定位尴尬等一系列问题。加强辅警队伍的管理和建设,积极推动辅警队伍持续健康发展,是公安机关不容回避的现实问题。对于辅警队伍的管理与建设应从管理规范化、考核灵活化、技能专业化、工作透明化四个方面入手,大力推进辅警队伍的正规化、制度化建设。     

论近代景颇族政治制度文化的三元性质

明末清初至民国时期 ,由于社会文化环境的变迁 ,景颇族的政治制度文化发生了重大变化 ,形成了具有山官制度承上启下性、傣族土司封建领主制政治控制的“羁縻”性和中央集权政治制度的“渗透”性的三元性质的政治制度文化。在某种程度上“山、土、流”混治的政治制度文化结构 ,对近代景颇族的发展产生了重要影响。     

论经济犯罪侦查的专门手段--司法会计技术

经济犯罪不可避免地在财务会计资料中留下痕迹。司法会计就是利用这些痕迹进行调查取证的特殊而有效的手段。它 包括司法会计检查和鉴定两个方面的专门技术。经侦部门有必要加强司法会计知识的普及,并逐步实现司法会计技术的专门化。     

Learning to Change: The Production of Contingency in Modern Legal Systems

Modern society is characterized bycomplexity and change. Weber's theory of thesephenomena explained them with changes in basicreligious concepts. Conceptual changes areagain under investigation here, but the theoryis somewhat different. In this paper, it isassumed that law is a system that follows theAshby's systems theoretical law of requisitevariety. Society can respond to growth ofcomplexity in its environment by eitheradaptation or selective indifference. Theexample of the evolution of legal persons inGerman law is used here to show how law hasdeveloped contingent concepts as a cognitivebuffer between itself and the demandingenvironment of modern society. The legal systemcan balance adaptation and selectiveindifference by constructing and observing itsbasic concepts as contingent. The constructionof autonomy is shown to be a continuous processwhere law establishes an increased level ofautonomy.     

试析实证会计理论

自上世纪80年代以来,实证会计理论获得了巨大的发展,在实际工作中也得到了越来越多的关注和运用。但是,作为一种研究方法,实证会计也有其适用范围,因此,应根据客观条件的需要,扬长避短,有选择地予以运用。