The sociology of the sociology of law: A view from economics

The sociology of law appears to be a weak field in the United States, in comparison to other indisciplinary fields of legal study, notably economic analysis of law. Although American legal sociologists have done important empirical work, particularly on the litigation process and on the legal profession, the focus of American sociology of law has been narrow, theoretically limited, and, empirically, limited in both scope and method. These deficiencies may reflect the methodological limitations of Max Weber, the most influential figure in the history of sociology in general and sociology of law in particular. The failure of legal sociologists to borrow theoretical and empirical tools from sociologically minded economists such as Gary Becker is especially regrettable, and may be due to inaccurate perceptions of the political valence of economic analysis of law, sociology's traditional skepticism about the knowledge claims of other disciplines, professional envy, and misunderstanding of the economists' conception of rational choice.     

使命的要求--关于加强党的先进性建设的几点思考

中央决定在全党开展"先进性教育"活动有着深刻的理论、现实和国际背景.保持共产党员先进性是党加强自身建设的需要,是党提高执政能力、完成执政使命的必然要求.党的先进性是历史性与现实性的统一,是"三个代表"重要思想的核心.加强党的先进性建设,需要联系具体工作的实际,深入研究,积极践行.     

Understanding the Role of Repeat Victims in the Production of Annual US Victimization Rates

Victimization incidence rates produced from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) are a generally accepted annual indicator of the amount and type of crime in the United States. However, persons who report a large number of similar victimizations—known as series victimizations in the NCVS—are currently excluded in government reports of annual violent victimizations. This paper quantifies the effect of series incident counting procedures on national estimates of violent victimization. The findings suggest that these high-volume repeat victims can have a significant impact on the magnitude and distribution of violent victimization. Current government counting rules that exclude series incidents do not include about three out of every five violent victimizations and distorts the characterization and risk of violence in the United States. However, the inclusion of series incidents introduces significant estimate instability. One remedy is to use prevalence rates in concert with incidence rates to present a more complete and reliable picture of victimization.

马克思主义哲学中国化研究的视野与方法

马克思主义哲学是被实践证明了的科学的世界观和方法论,马克思主义哲学中国化进行的好与不好,顺利或不顺利,直接关乎到马克思主义在中国能否实现真正的中国化———富有中国作风和中国气派,反映民族性和时代性。当前马克思主义哲学中国化过程中面临的种种困境和挑战,为一种新的研究视野与研究方法的提出提供了可能性。站在世界历史的视野,采用历史主义研究方法,马克思主义哲学中国化研究这种在视野与方法上的创新,有助于进一步推动马克思主义中国化。     

再论法学对哲学诠释学的继受

法学对哲学诠释学的继受,存在着解构与建构两种不同的理论路向。为此,须明确法律诠释学对哲学诠释学进行继受的可能与限度。立足于本体论与方法论相统一的解释学立场,在建构意义上将法学方法论纳入哲学诠释学的理论框架中,诠释学的任务不仅仅在于对法学方法论进行反思,更在于实现诠释学思维的方法论转化,创建法学作为人文科学的方法论。诠释学反思导向法律意义的追问,必然引起法律概念论从实体本体论向关系本体论的革新。     

个体主义方法论和我国法人制度

私法自治是民法的理念,决定了民法理论体系的构建和制度生成。民法的理念决定了民法理论体系的立场是个人主义。私法中所坚持的是个人主义立场,因此决定了个体主义方法论是民法的基本研究方法。自然人与法人是最重要的民事主体类型,是民事主体制度的重要内容。法人是一个组织,但其行为需要由法人机关实施,因此如何合理设计法人法律制度,促使法人内部团体意志有效形成并通过法人机关实现,与第三人实施法律行为参与法律交往,实现法人的利益,同时能够有效约束法人机关,防止其利用代表权谋取私利损害法人的利益,对促进民法体系的完善与成熟,意义重大。本文从个体主义方法论的视角对我国《民法通则》中有关法人人格、法人分类、法人机关等法律制度进行评析并提出完善建议。     

文化自觉的方法论问题初探

文化大发展大繁荣首先需要达到文化自觉。要达到文化自觉,贵在科学应用相关方法论;把握文化自觉内在物质实践规律,厘清文化自觉内在方法论的两大层次是科学应用相关方法论的前提和基础;实现文化价值,从文化自觉的理论方法论视野出发,不仅需要注重跨学科和跨文化的研究,而且需要辩证的思维与视野以及宏观研究与微观研究的有机结合。从文化自觉的实践方法论视野出发,既要坚持走出去与引进来并重原则,也要注重把握时代脉搏,增强中华文化辐射力,更要做到文化融合科技促进创新。     

习惯如何成为习惯法及其方法论意蕴——两种认可说的比较分析

习惯如何成为习惯法的问题必须从界定"习惯"、"习惯法"这对概念入手,而不同的定义将在很大程度上决定人们对该问题的态度或立场。社会认可说与国家认可说是人们在回答上述问题上的两种立场或学说,它们背后各自隐藏着一幅研究者据以解释经验事实的理想图景。其中国家认可说与文化研究中的"大传统"模式、制度研究中的"现代化"范式相互支持,极大地阻碍了习惯法研究。上述讨论启示我们,在习惯法研究中必须确立正确的方法论立场,才能比较客观地还原习惯法的本质和拓展习惯法研究的深度。     

Studying North Korea through North Korean migrants: lessons from the field

This article examines the use of North Korean defectors’ accounts as a source of information for studying the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Information from defectors fills a vital knowledge gap and improves our understanding of North Korean politics, economics, and society. Witness accounts and interview data collected from people who were born in North Korea but have since left have been widely used by journalists, government agencies, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and academics. There are, however, serious methodological issues in collecting, organizing, and interpreting information derived from defectors’ accounts. Selection and demographic biases, power relations between researchers and interviewees, monetary incentives, and language barriers are among those issues. We propose focus group discussions and participatory observation as complementary methods of data collection to mitigate the shortfalls of relying on individual interviews.     

Normative behaviourism as a solution to four problems in realism and non-ideal theory

ABSTRACT

This article advances the case for ‘normative behaviourism’ – a new way of doing political philosophy that tries to turn facts about observable patterns of behaviour, as produced by different political systems, into grounds for specific political principles. This approach is applied to four distinct problems at the heart of the ideal/non-ideal theory and moralism/realism debates: (1) How to distinguish good from bad idealisations; (2) how to rank options of variable feasibility, cost, and danger; (3) how to distinguish legitimate acceptance of a given political system from acceptance based on coercion or false consciousness; and (4) how to translate abstract principles into concrete institutions. Objections against the general viability of normative behaviourism, and against the types of behaviour it tracks, are also considered.