Conditional effect of economic development on democracy – the relevance of the state

This article investigates how the economic role of the state shapes the relationship between economic development and democracy. We argue that the state is not passively under the influence of socio-economic development as assumed in extant empirical studies. Through participating in economic production, the state is able to mitigate positive effect of economic development on politics through shaping the strength and preference of both the state and the societal forces in a way unfavourable for democracy. We thus model the state's economic engagement as a moderator variable to capture the variation in the effect of economic development on regime transition. Empirical analyses consistently show that state engagement attenuates the positive effect of development on probability of democratic transition. And economic development benefits democracy only when the level of state engagement in the economy is relatively low.     

Exposure to internet pornography and sexually aggressive behaviour: protective roles of social support among Korean adolescents

ABSTRACT

Adolescents’ exposure to internet pornography and its negative effects on healthy sexual development have been extensively investigated. However, little research has addressed the identification of protective factors that can buffer these negative effects. Based on the conceptualisation of a stress-buffering model of social support, this study empirically tested whether social support would provide a buffer against negative effects of internet pornography on sexually aggressive behaviours in adolescents. Results from an online survey of two-hundred-ten (210) Korean high school students revealed that social support from parents and friends performed buffering roles, and the buffering effect of friend support was the strongest. Based on these results, practical implications for healthy adolescent sexual development were discussed.     

An inmate’s right to die: legal and ethical considerations in death row volunteering

There is a considerable body of literature about the death penalty across a variety of disciplines. However, a newer body of literature has emerged examining the phenomenon of elected executions, also known as death row volunteering. To date, 138 (nearly 11%) of the 1300 death row executions have come from volunteers. This issue has been particularly controversial due to a number of legal and ethical considerations that have been raised by the scholarly, legal, and public communities. Such issues include a capital defendant’s competency to volunteer; ethical and moral dilemmas for capital defense attorneys, the states, and medical and mental health professionals; whether death row volunteering equates to ‘state-assisted suicide’; and finally, how these considerations impact the public’s support for capital punishment. This paper reviews the existing literature pertaining to death row volunteering through the lenses of these various considerations. Recommendations for future research in this area are also offered.     

Slavery's Enduring Legacy

Abstract

Using data on post-Greggexecutions and death sentences, we explore the previously observed, but not well understood, relationship between slavery and the death penalty. We classify modern states into categories focused on their jurisdictional law and practice of slavery circa 1860. Our analyses reveal that the relationship between slavery and modern executions is stronger even than previously recognized, with 90.6% of post-Greggexecutions occurring in states that supported the practice of slavery, whether or not they were in the Confederacy or inside the traditional boundaries of the South. We conclude that capital punishment is one of the enduring legacies of American slavery.     

Race and Ethnic Differences in Punishment and Death Sentence Outcomes

Abstract

A review of the capital punishment literature shows evidence of differential treatment of defendants at two separate levels: commutations and executions. However, since most prior studies have followed a dichotomous approach, little is known about other death sentence outcomes, that is, sentence declared unconstitutional, sentence overturned, and conviction overturned and Latino/a defendants have either been excluded or treated as a monolithic group. Hence, little is known about death sentence outcomes for Latinos/as, whose experiences differ from those of African Americans and Caucasians. The main objective of this study, then, is to expand on the existing data by analyzing death sentence outcomes data for California, Florida, and Texas between 1975 and 1995. Logistic regression, controlling for time under the sentence of death, prior felony convictions, age at the time of the offense, marital status, and education, shows that disparities in death sentence outcomes is not a phenomenon of the past or restricted to commutations and executions. The findings suggest that race and ethnicity and several legal variables still play a role in the legal decision-making process.     

Between Michel Foucault and Erving Goffman: between discourse in the abstract and face-to-face interaction

Michel Foucault's ‘archaeology’ and Erving Goffman's interpersonal sociology are complementary. Both are essential for understanding how classifications of people interact with the people classified, and hence for the author's studies of ‘making up people’. The paper begins by explaining how that project is rooted in an ‘existentialist’ conception of the person. It then uses Goffman's Asylums and Foucault's Folie et déraison - both published in 1961 - to illustrate how these methodologies reinforce each other.     

房产税调控商品房市场的效果与对策分析——以重庆、上海、北京为例

我国市场经济发展中商品房市场具有自住需求与投机投资的双重功能,国家为保障百姓生活安居乐业、国民经济协调发展,"新国五条"中通过扩大"房产税"开征范围,以支持自住需求、抑制投资投机行为调控商品房市场,在辩证分析其积极作用的同时,一定要注重其社会负效应的降低。     

《刑法修正案(八)》对监狱行刑的影响及应对策略

《刑法修正案(八)》的颁布实施,调整了"死刑偏重,生刑偏轻"刑罚结构,体现了我国"宽严相济"的刑事政策。其中限制减刑、禁止假释范围的扩大,必将导致监狱长刑犯、累犯、死缓犯的增加,给监狱的监管安全、教育矫正带来极大挑战。监狱只有认真解读《刑法修正案(八)》,分析其对监狱行刑带来的影响,并采取相应的应对策略,才能提高罪犯的矫正质量,维护监狱和社会的安全和稳定。     

中美股票市场经济周期中的行业效应差异及成因分析简

本文分析了过去15年来中国股票市场在经济周期的四个不同阶段的强势行业的表现,并与美林模型关于美国股票市场在经济周期中不同阶段的行业效应进行了比较。美林模型对美国股票市场行业效应的分析,是基于美国的经济结构和经济周期特点而展开的。本文分析认为行业效应差异的成因主要在于中美两国在经济结构和周期波动特征方面的差异,指出中国资本市场在过去的经济短周期中,行业效应与投资驱动的经济结构和周期特征高度相关。     

眼球钝挫伤后视网膜脱离的司法鉴定

目的分析眼球钝挫伤后视网膜脱离在法医临床学眼损伤及伤残鉴定中的致伤原因及因果关系。方法研究112例眼球钝挫伤后视网膜脱离案例,对其中视网膜裂孔类型、外伤至视网膜脱离时间、合并其他损伤或疾病进行分析。结果本组案例锯齿缘离断4.28%,黄斑裂孔12.50%,其他部位的裂孔(<90°)56.25%,巨大裂孔(>90°)5.00%,未发现裂孔的增殖性玻璃体视网膜病变(PVR)性视网膜脱离11.6%,其中45眼有不同程度的PVR。外伤至视网膜脱离的时间以1周～2个月为常见(61.60%)。合并中高度近视者83.93%,合并玻璃体混浊者52.68%。外伤与视网膜脱离存在直接因果关系者41.07%,存在间接因果关系者52.68%,外伤与视网膜脱离难以联系者6.25%。结论视网膜脱离与多种危险因素有关,外伤与视网膜脱离之间因果关系的分析是法医学眼损伤及伤残鉴定的重要内容。