Urban Change and Policing: Mass Private Property Re-considered

This article examines a key explanation for the growth of private policing in North America and Western Europe - the influential mass private property thesis (Shearing and Stenning 1981). The discussion of private policing in Western Europe still tends to be heavily influenced by theories developed in the North American context, theories which may be problematic in the contrasting legal, social and economic contexts of Western European nations. The development of more Eurocentric theories has to date been inhibited by the relative paucity of empirical data on the rise of private policing in European countries. Recent research in Britain (Jones and Newburn 1998b) has begun to address this problem, and to map out some important contrasts with the North American experience. By considering these contrasts, it is possible to identify some key areas for future research on private policing in European countries and thus provide a more contextually-grounded series of explanations for what is happening to policing.Joseph Rowntree Foundation Professor of Urban Social Policy     

Methods for Understanding and Analyzing NIBRS Data

The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) is an incident-basedcrime reporting program for local, state, and federal law enforcementagencies. Within each criminal incident, NIBRS captures information onoffenses, victims, offenders, property, and persons arrested, as well asinformation about the incident itself. The ability to link and analyze thisdetailed information is a significant improvement to the existing UniformCrime Reporting (UCR) summary reporting system. As one might expect,however, this increase in crime data significantly complicates the life ofthe data analyst, particularly when cross tabulating the NIBRS data. To dealwith the complexity of NIBRS data, one must understand its structure. Thisarticle provides an overview of the NIBRS structure and methods formaneuvering within it to present and interpret correctly cross tabulationsof the NIBRS data.     

Examining Space–Time Interaction in City-Level Homicide Data: Crack Markets and the Diffusion of Guns Among Youth

This paper examines the linkage between crack market activity and gunhomicide suggested by Blumstein (1995), who argues that the arrival ofcrack stimulated an increased availability of guns among juveniles. Thisgreater availability of guns, the argument continues, is responsible for thesharp upswing in juvenile homicide experienced in the United States in themid-1980s. Using city-level data on crack arrests and gun-related juvenilehomicide, we fit a change-point version of the Bass (1969) model ofinnovation diffusion. We find that, in most large American cities, thediffusion process for crack cocaine experienced an onset of dramatic growththat was followed by a similar, slightly slower growth in gun homicidescommitted by juveniles. We further use cluster analysis to find that thespatial patterning of the two processes is similar, starting on the East andWest Coasts and working their way toward other regions of the nation. Gunuse in homicide among slightly older offenders (ages 18–24) alsoexperienced a change at roughly the same time as the juveniles, but the rateof diffusion was considerably milder than for the younger group; offendersages 25 or older generally show no growth in gun-related homicide whatsoever. In addition, there is no detectable surge in juvenile nongun homicide activity. Based on these findings, we conclude that the crack cocaine markets–gun availability linkage is highly plausible, and we suggest directions for future research in clarifying the dynamics of the late-1980s surge in juvenile homicide.     

Opinion formation in foreign policy: the Swiss experience

Applying John Zaller's model of opinion formation to survey data covering 15 years (1981–95) of direct democracy in Switzerland, this paper provides a contribution to the debate about opinion formation in foreign policy. On the one hand, the Swiss experience contradicts the widespread view that citizens are poorly informed about and little interested in foreign affairs. On the other hand, direct democracy often translates into governmental defeats in this field. We address these mixed results and show that opinion formation in foreign policy is not a special case, and differs from that in domestic policy only with respect to the circumstances under which it occurs. In particular, we highlight the unusual type and level of conflict within the elite on foreign policy issues, which translates into distinct patterns of attitudes among the public.     

Simplicity and Spook: Terrorism and the Dynamics of Threat Exaggeration

It has been common, at least since 1945, to exaggerate and to overreact to foreign threats, something that seems to be continuing with current concerns over international terrorism. This paper sketches threat exaggeration during the Cold War and applies the experience from that era to the current one. Alarmism and overreaction can be harmful, particularly economically. And, in the case of terrorism, it can help create the damaging consequences the terrorists seek but are unable to perpetrate on their own. Moreover, many of the forms alarmism has taken verge on hysteria. The United States is hardly "vulnerable" in the sense that it can be toppled by dramatic acts of terrorist destruction, even extreme ones. The country can, however grimly, readily absorb that kind of damage, and it has outlasted considerably more potent threats in the past.     

16 STR data of a Greek population

Allele frequencies for 16 STR loci (D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818, FGA, and SE33) were calculated for a sample of 300 unrelated individuals from Greece. No deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium were observed for all loci. The combined power of discrimination (PD) and the combined power of exclusion (PE) for the 16 tested STR loci were 0.999999999 and 0.999999816, respectively. Population comparisons were carried out and low genetic distances were found between our data and those previously published for other neighbouring European populations.     

中央苏区时期反腐败斗争中的群众监督

中华苏维埃政府曾被号称＂空前的真正的廉洁政府＂,中央苏区时期,反腐败斗争取得卓越的成绩与群众的监督有着密切的联系。当时,群众参与监督的方式主要有：通过建立民主制度监督;群众参与监督机构;发动群众进行检举和控告;诉诸舆论武器。中央苏区时期反腐败工作发挥群众监督的作用对今天仍有许多启示。     

对马克思主义大众化的三维解读

在当代中国，必须从理论、信仰、实践三个维度理解、解读马克思主义大众化。只有这样，才能推动当代中国马克思主义大众化。     

网络格式合同若干法律问题的探讨

消费者进行网上访问、参与电子商务交易活动大多通过订立网络格式合同进行,而网络格式合同作为人们从事电子商务活动的最主要的手段,在迅速发展起来的同时被赋予了新的内容和形式,不可避免地对传统的合同法律制度提出了挑战。基于此在探析网络格式合同的新内涵并分析和审视网络格式合同法律效力的基础上,提出借鉴外国相关立法和实践经验,针对电子商务交易进行单独立法和课以网络格式合同提供方以合理提示义务,加强行业协会监管作用等措施来规范网络格式合同使用过程中产生的法律关系。     

示范诉讼制度探析——兼论我国代表人诉讼制度之完善

示范诉讼制度具有其他群体性纠纷解决制度所不具备的特征和独特功能,正因如此,目前已经有许多国家和地区在民事诉讼立法中对其加以明确规定,还有些国家在实践中大量运用这一制度以解决实际问题。我国现行民事诉讼法有关群体性纠纷解决制度的规定存在明显的缺陷,结合在新形势下我国所面临的司法现实需求,为了更好的解决群体性纠纷,在我国未来的民事诉讼立法当中,在对代表人诉讼制度进行完善的同时,应当引入示范诉讼制度;同时考虑到示范诉讼自身的一些特点,在具体制度设计上,要充分考虑并注意处理好其与代表人诉讼制度的协调问题,以便更好地发挥两种制度各自的优点。