Free Will,Punishment, and the Burden of Proof

Justifying state punishment presents a difficulty for those who deny that human actions are free in the sense required by moral responsibility. The argument I make in this article, following work done by Double, Vilhauer, and Sehon, is that those who believe that human beings do sometimes act freely face exactly the same difficulty, for no current account of freedom has the sort of evidentiary support that condemning a person to punishment requires; no current account could meet even the most minimal burden of proof. Recourse to purely preventive methods, such as are proposed for a system of quarantine of dangerous individuals, seems undesirable because of the absence of limits under such a system, limits like the requirements of proportionality and guilt. That same objection holds as well against proposals of non-retributive punishment. The adoption of a system of punishment, understood retributively or non-retributively, does not preclude the state even in theory from also adopting a system of preventive measures. The answer that I suggest is a system of limited deprivations of freedom justified in much the way the doctrine of takings is justified, along with the specific exclusion of purely preventive methods for competent individuals.     

Evangelical violence: Western Christianity and the use of force against the Third World

Abstract

Recognising the impact of religion on state action, this article identifies two variables that interact to affect the type and level of violence employed by Western states against Third World targets. First, variation in the degree to which the prominent Christian denominations and organisations within these states view evangelisation as either an individual-level or national-level process – Christian individualism vs Christian nationalism – has determined church support for using violence as a tactic. Second, the level of influence that churches and missionary organisations have over their home states affects the ability of Christian actors to directly impact state actions. Western violence against Third World peoples is expected to be lowest when churches and Christian organisations view evangelisation in primarily individualistic terms and have significant influence over the state. The article examines the relationships between concepts of evangelisation, Christian influence over state policies, and levels of violence against the Third World by examining British, French and German colonialism during the late colonial period of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.     

Reflections on law and impact in the light of Brexit

ABSTRACT

The impact agenda in academic research affords rich opportunities – to inform the media, policymakers and the general public; to co-produce research with third sector organisations. In the context of Brexit, the prevailing ignorance of politicians and other stakeholders has been so profound, and the falsehoods that have had popular purchase so baseless, as to make the need for impact and public engagement all the more acute. This is not simply about fact-checking, but about making the case for the very worth of expertise, and reasserting the basic, core scientific values that drive academic work – values that have been trashed by the precepts of a postmodern nihilism, in which all positions are equally (in)valid and only your own gut can be trusted. But challenging these precepts in public arenas has personal and professional costs: significant workload implications, the acquisition of new skills and often a torrent of abuse. As such, this work needs institutional support. Departments need to value it appropriately, to promote equal access to impact opportunities and to confront the discriminatory barriers to (and consequences of) taking up the impact gauntlet. Throughout the Brexit process, expertise and experts have been dismissed and denigrated. The task now is to restore public faith in the value of the pursuit of truth.     

风险社会的刑法的三个基本面相

风险社会的形成使刑法的发展驶上了由传统社会结构与（狭义的）风险社会结构共同塑造的＂双轨道＂,刑法在风险社会展示出了不同于以往的新面相,即刑事政策走向规范化,刑法被定位为安全刑法,刑法规范被塑造为行为规范。     

Navigating the Representative-Politics–Liberal-Rights Dilemma: Social Policy Designs for Nonremoved Migrants

Abstract

Although nonremoved rejected asylum seekers (NRASes) are declared unwanted, the liberal state is obliged to provide them with basic social protections. We argue that various social policy designs can mediate the representative-politics–liberal-rights dilemma and allow for (limited) access to differentiated, conditioned benefits. Drawing on migration control and welfare-state literature, the findings stem from expert interviews with stakeholders and document analysis in Austria, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Welfare-enabling approaches are context specific, varying from path dependencies in Sweden to change-resistant forms of policymaking in Austria. In the Netherlands, exclusionary measures are explained by early general welfare retrenchments.     

产业扶贫缘何难以为继:目标嵌入与行动“脱嵌”--基于一个地方案例

产业扶贫在脱贫攻坚与乡村振兴的进程中面临难以为继的困境。以项目制为基础的产业扶贫方式使政府得以将企业作为国家资本“代理”嵌入贫困村参与扶贫;为了激发村庄的内生发展能力,地方政府以政治精英下沉嵌入和村庄内生嵌入的方式,引导扶贫干部、合作社、大户三大重要的扶贫力量参与到产业扶贫中,带动贫困村产业发展和解决贫困问题。但基层政府对“短平快”效果的追求、企业纯粹逐利进入、村庄共生关系淡化及贫困户被动的策略性接受,破坏了这种嵌入性带来的结构性转变,造成产业扶贫中产业发展与脱贫目标的靶向偏离、贫困户实际创收有限、产业扶贫难以为继,形成一种脱嵌式产业扶贫。因此须构建一套完整的对产业扶贫参与主体的监督、考核、激励机制,努力探索开发扶贫目标下农户能普遍获得资源和项目成果公平性分享的制度安排,以期实现乡村产业兴旺、农民生活富裕。     

地方政府发展中的城投债分析

该文从城投债的性质入手,分析了城投债对地方政府的危害,并结合地方政府债券市场发展的经验,提出了城投债市场规范发展的政策建议。     

桂林市社会化居家养老模式的探索与思考

近几年，老龄化步伐的快速迈进对原有养老模式提出了严峻的挑战，人口老龄化的严峻形势需要社会化养老服务。桂林市积极探索新形势下社会化养老模式，推行的社会化“居家养老”模式走在广西区前列。进一步搭建服务平台、加强政策支撑；加大资金投入、提高使用效益；借鉴典型经验、创新发展思路；创新激励机制、壮大服务队伍以及建立评估制度、不断总结提升，应是推动社会化居家养老事业发展的有力举措。     

关于黑龙江省现代服务业发展的财税政策研究简

黑龙江省现代服务业尽显龙江优势和重点现代服务业发展迅速,但其现代服务业发展的现行财税政策存在着财政支持政策弱化、税收优惠政策较少等问题,在借鉴外国现代服务业发展的积极财政扶持政策、综合税收减免政策和特色税收优惠政策的基础上,提出了加大财政投入力度、完善财政补贴办法、合理降低税收负担和实施税收优惠政策等加快黑龙江省现代服务业发展的财税政策.     

少数民族地区农村老年人养老意愿分析与政策绩效考察——基于贵州G乡苗族村落的调查数据

在城市化加速发展及人口老龄化加剧的社会形势下,少数民族地区农村老年人的养老问题呈现出了与非民族地区的城市老年人不同的特征。以贵州省G乡的若干苗族村落为例,通过问卷调查数据对苗族地区农村老年人的养老意愿进行分析,结果表明:少数民族地区农村老年人的养老意愿呈现出家庭养老模式为主、社会养老模式为辅、集体养老模式缺失的特征。通过对该地区的老年人养老问题加以分析,提出适合贵州少数民族地区的养老措施。