Campaigns and the Selection of Policy-Seeking Representatives

Can voters learn meaningful information about candidates from their electoral campaigns? As with job market hiring, voters, like employers, cannot know the productivity of candidates, especially challengers, when they elect them. The real productivity of representatives only reveals itself after the election. We explore if the information revealed during the “hiring process” is a good signal of the legislative effort of elected representatives. In the incomplete information environment of election campaigns, candidates should turn to credible signals to indicate their “type” to voters. Campaigns—and campaigning—are means by which candidates can, in principle, signal their motivations to voters. Is a candidate’s behavior on the campaign trail informative about his or her behavior and effort as a legislator? Does it, for example, reveal whether a candidate will be more hard working and legislatively active? Using evidence from the European Parliament, we show that campaign activity prior to the election is not related to policy-seeking behavior in the legislature post-election. The finding also holds in two national-level settings and across a variety of measures of legislative effort. Those who campaign harder do seem more likely to win the election, but campaign effort seems to provide a poor guide to what the winner does once elected.     

Decisional Capacity and Personality Disorders: Substantially Unable or Substantially Unwilling?

Capacity assessments are performed when there is suspicion that a person is unable to adequately care for their physical, medical, or financial well-being. The purpose of these assessments is to inform the legal system as to whether or not guardianship may be necessary. It is well established that certain mental illnesses, such as neurocognitive disorders (dementia) or psychotic disorders (like schizophrenia), may diminish capacity and, in some cases, lead to the need for establishment of a legal guardian. However, personality disorders are another common category of mental illness which may impair decision-making. There is very little information in the literature about how or why these disorders could impair capacity, and thus, it can often be difficult to discern whether clients with personality disorders are substantially unable to care for themselves—versus unwilling to act in a way contrary to their ingrained habits. We present a series of three cases in which clients are determined to lack capacity primarily mediated by a personality disorder diagnosis. They are demonstrated to have mild deficits in cognitive functioning, but they show impaired decision-making out of proportion to these deficits. In all three cases, it is apparent that the personality disorder is substantially impairing their ability to care for themselves. Discussion includes consideration for ways to incorporate evaluations of cognitive function, activities of daily living, and personality considerations into capacity assessments, and how to approach recommendations (such as guardianship vs. less restrictive option) based on both level and scope of impairment.     

Maintaining neutrality in the Minister's office

How do non-partisan advisors in Ministers’ offices maintain political neutrality while immersed in a highly politicised environment? Private Secretaries are ubiquitous non-partisan public service representatives in the political environment of Ministers’ offices. There has been significant research undertaken the role of political advisors in Ministers’ offices, yet the contribution of these non-partisan advisors has not yet been described in academic literature. The risk of Private Secretaries being overly responsive to politicians and undertaking political tasks rather than maintaining neutrality is ever present. Further, they must actively manage the risk of free and frank advice being obstructed by political advisors. This article presents views about political neutrality gleaned from interviews with Private Secretaries who have worked in Ministers’ offices in New Zealand during the period of 1997–2018. It presents new insights into the tensions within a key setting of the core executive.     

Teacher Unions conflict in New York City, 1935–1960

Abstract

While studies of the New York City Teachers Union (TU) generally attribute its eventual demise to the Red Scares of the 1940s and 1950s, this article situates the TU in the history of New York City teachers’ associations more generally. It argues that the Union’s fate was a consequence not simply of anticommunism, but of competition between the Union and other city teachers’ associations. In particular, the Teachers Guild fought with the Union for the mantle of teacher radicalism. While the two organizations fought for some of the same issues, the liberal Guild was accommodating to the government, while the radical Union was confrontational. When it came to the Union’s ideology, however, the Guild consistently sacrificed its commitment to academic freedom by collaborating with public authorities to reveal the extent of the Union’s Communist commitments. Using archival data – private correspondence of teacher unionists, minutes of Union meetings, and articles from the teachers’ unions’ official periodicals – this article documents the Guild’s efforts at subverting the Union, particularly at moments when the Union’s political commitments became salient in public affairs.     

Politicians and Civil Servants: Unfinished Business—The Next Steps Report,Fulton and the Future*

This article discusses the origins of the Efficiency Unit's ‘Next Steps’ Report, published 20 years ago which recommended the executive agency as an organisation for much of the British government. Within five years more than half the civil service had been transferred to work in agencies but the other major recommendation of the report – improving the management skills of the senior civil service received far less enthusiastic attention. From the Fulton Report, the Next Steps report to the Capability Reviews of current Whitehall the same problem is highlighted: there is still too little management competence within the public service despite the endorsement of the need for improvement by successive governments.     

Public Outrage,Media Spectacle and the Kapunda Road Royal Commission

The article focuses on the relationship between the executive and the judiciary in respect of a legal case that provoked public outrage. This outrage entered into the media spectacle and was channelled by the executive into calling a royal commission. The royal commission was charged with re‐examining the police actions and the legal case. However, hidden behind its narrow terms of reference was the larger question of justice being ‘blind’ to a network of privilege. As such, the royal commission had the potential to threaten the independence of the judiciary.     

诉讼中的法律真实与客观真实

法律真实与客观真实的关系是诉讼法学界的一个热点问题。本认为,诉讼中的“客观真实”与“法律真实”是不矛盾的,不应将两对立起来;证据的合法性要求正是为了保证证据的客观真实性;诉讼认识的相对性不能成为否定客观真实的理由;否定客观真实在实践中是有害的。     

杨树花提取物及其复方制剂的药理学试验

通过药敏试验、联合抗菌作用试验、抗细菌感染试验及抗炎试验,对杨树花提取物及其复方制剂的药理作用进行了研究.结果显示,杨树花水提液及其复方制剂对大肠杆菌、沙门氏菌标准菌和致病菌有中度抑菌活性;杨树花水提液的乙酸乙酯及正丁醇萃取物对大肠杆菌标准菌和致病菌、沙门氏菌标准菌也有中度抑菌活性,但对沙门氏菌致病菌的抑菌活性较低,杨树花与黄芩联合抗菌具有相加作用.抗细菌感染及抗炎试验结果证实,杨树花水提液及复方制剂在昆明系小白鼠体内对大肠杆菌具有抑菌作用,高、低剂量杨树花水提液可使小鼠耳肿胀度明显降低,其抑制率分别为65.0%和51.6%.结果表明,杨树花提取物及其复方制剂具有明显的抑菌、抗炎作用.     

Effects of Decomposition on Gunshot Wound Characteristics: Under Moderate Temperatures with Insect Activity

Abstract:  Previous studies document characteristics of gunshot wounds shortly after they were inflicted. This study was conducted to determine if the early stages of decomposition obscure or alter the physical surface characteristics of gunshot wounds, thereby affecting the quantity and quality of information retrievable from such evidence. The study was conducted in August and September, 2005 in Nova Scotia, Canada in forested and exposed environments. Recently killed pigs were used as research models and were shot six times each at three different ranges (contact, 2.5 cm, and 1.5 m). Under these test conditions, the gunshot wounds maintained the characteristics unique to each gunshot range and changes that occurred during decomposition were not critical to the interpretation of the evidence. It was concluded that changes due to decomposition under the conditions tested would not affect the collection and interpretation of gunshot wound evidence until the skin was degraded in the late active or advanced decay stage of decomposition.     

法律解释视角下的“电脑量刑”

电脑量刑之类的思想很早就有了,限制法官的法律解释活动和视司法为机械的操作活动的思想曾经在西方历史上很盛行,但这种思想最终被证明违反了法律解释原理。根据法律解释原理,司法活动是法官对法律的理解、解释和应用过程,电脑量刑是对这一原理的违背。电脑量刑在我国出现具有其特定的原因,推行下去会对司法活动产生不良的影响。除去对电脑等现代科技的迷信,我们可以利用它们为法官在司法活动中的法律解释服务。