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Political Parties And The Transition To Democracy

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Role of Political Parties in Democratic Societies

Democracy requires the participation of effective political parties. Parties are unique organizations that fulfill a number of interrelated functions central to the democratic process of governance. Basic partyfunctions include:

C Contesting and winning elections, in order to seek a measure of control of government agencies and institutions.
C Aggregating and representing social interests.
C Providing policy alternatives.
C Vetting and training political leaders who will assume a role in governing society.

In most countries, parties are required to fulfill legal obligations for official registration and recognition, including a minimum level of membership, a written constitution and platform, and the election of party leaders. Depending on a variety of factors C such as the type of democratic system, the electoral law, and the historical role of trade unions, religious groups, and ethnic communities C a country may have anywhere from two to a hundred registered parties. In some cases, parties may merge or divide over time and new parties may

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Body Attachment and Body Execution: Forgotten But Not Gone

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INTRODUCTION

Although the civil processes of body attachment (capias ad respondendur) and body execution (capias ad satisfaciendum) often are perceived as outmoded remedies that have been abolished, these methods of enforcing debts frequently are available to present day creditors. Despite the existence of several legal impediments to the unfettered utilization of these drastic remedies, methods for circumventing the various state constitutional and statutory prohibitions against imprisonment for debt exist. Procedures implemented to effect body attachment or body execution must be measured against the evolving debtor due process standard. After examining the legal history of body attachment and body execution, this Note will analyze the present status of these ancient creditors' remedies.

HISTORY OF BODY ATTACHMENT AND BODY EXECUTION

Depriving a debtor of his liberty in an attempt to force payment of a debt is a remedy of ancient origin. Any society dependent upon trade and commerce must provide an aggrieved creditor with the means to enforce payment of an overdue...

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Who Is Responsible for Fraternity Related Injuries on American College Campuses?

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INTRODUCTION

The stereotypical image of a fraternity depicts a scene from Animal House:' a group of men running around drinking and causing chaos. Although Animal House was filmed in the 1970s, this image of fraternities still exists today. Over the past two decades, as the concern over hazing,' binge drinking, violence and sexual assault on college campuses has risen, fraternities have been the subject of increased litigation. Litigation against fraternities has resulted in enormous civil damages paid to injured plaintiffs, often involving multiple parties including the local chapter, the national chapter, the college and the individual defendant fraternity members who cause the injury It is time for both national and local fraternity chapters, as well as the colleges, to take a role in preventing these injuries. When these measures fail, all three of these institutions should bear the responsibility. The courts should recognize the current relationship between universities and students. Until now, universities have successfully avoided liability for fraternity-related injuries...

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Reproductive Age Women Are Over-Represented Among Victims Of Wife-killing

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ABSTRACT

Younger women, relative to older women, incur elevated risk of uxoricide. Some evolutionary theorists attribute this pattern to men's evolved sexual proprietariness. Other evolutionary theorists propose an evolved homicide module for wife killing. An alternative to both explanations is that young women experience elevated uxoricide risk as a byproduct of marriage to younger men, who commit most acts of violence. We used 13,670 uxoricides to test these explanations. Findings show that (1) reproductive age women incur elevated risk of uxoricide; (2) younger men are over-represented among uxoricide perpetrators; and (3) younger women, even when married to older men, still incur excess risk of uxoricide. Discussion examines competing explanations for uxoricide in light of these findings.

WIFE-KILLING AND WOMEN'S REPRODUCTIVE STATUS

According to the reports of battered wives, battering husbands, and friends and family of both parties, physical violence is a punishment inflicted by husbands on wives they suspect of sexual infidelity (Daly & Wilson, 1988; Dobash & Dobash, 1979)....

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Judicial Construction of the Trading with the Enemy Act

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THE Trading with the Enemy Act has in modern economic warfare two basic objectives: to keep an enemy from using for his own purposes any property which he owns or controls, located within the United States; and to make that same property available for the purposes of the United States. Essentially simple as are these purposes, the Act perhaps because loosely and hastily drafted - has presented to the judiciary a collection of knotty problems which are probably not surpassed by those arising under any other statute of its size and weight. It is the aim of this article to discuss some of those problems. The first purpose, essentially defensive, has been accomplished principally by "freezing" controls. Freezing, unlike vesting, did not change the ownership of the property affected, but simply prohibited and declared void transfers not licensed by the Treasury.' The constitutionality of such prohibition and nullification of transfers of foreign-owned property is no longer open to question, and in general the courts...

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“Only the Guilty Would Confess to Crimes”?: Understanding the Mystery of False Confessions

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It is naturally hard to understand why anyone would confess to a crime they had not committed. Yet, in North America we can trace false confessions back to at least 1692 and the Salem Witch Trials where “large numbers of mostly women were tried for witchcraft on the basis of confessions extracted by torture and threats” (Kassin, 2010).

More than 300 years later, people continue to falsely confess to crimes ranging from academic cheating to murder. But the mystery of why someone would falsely confess persists. Unlike the Salem Witch Trials, most false confessions today are provided under psychological duress, but without torture or threats of physical harm. Do the generally accepted modern police methods still produce false confessions, or does the responsibility for false confession fall entirely on the confessor?

There is a tendency to believe “others” might well confess under duress–but most people think they, themselves, would never do such a thing (Horgan, Russano, Meissner & Evans, 2012). This belief it

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Vietnamese Law And Assessment Of The Legal System In Vietnam In Comparison To The United Nations Convention Against Terrorism

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I. GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Terrorism is a transnational organized action against the UN’s principles and purposes which are to maintain international peace and security and settle international disputes by peaceful means. In recent years, terrorism has increasingly become an urgent global issue. Beside the great loss of people and property, terrorist activities also cause a permanent alarmed and fearful state for the world community. Therefore, preventing and suppressing terrorism is the common task of nations worldwide, of which the UN plays the central role. With its roles and responsibilities, since its establishment, the UN and other international organizations have issued 13 multilateral conventions and protocols related to the prevention and suppression of terrorism in relation to different areas of international affairs. Along with many other countries worldwide, the Government of Vietnam has been actively participating in the fight against terrorism. This is shown in the persistent policies of the State and the Government in fighting crime in general and terrorism in particular. Vietnam considers terrorism... ...

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A Guide To Opioid Overdose Prevention And Reversal For Public Safety And Law Enforcement

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What is an opioid OD?

An overdose is when the body has more drugs than it can handle. People can overdose on lots of things, including alcohol, cocaine/crack, opioids or a mixture of drugs. Opioid overdoses happen when there are so many opioids or a combination of opioids and other depressants (downers) in the body that the brain shuts down breathing. This happens because opioids fit into specific receptors on the brain that have an effect on breathing. If someone can’t breathe or isn’t breathing enough, then oxygen can’t get to the brain and after a very short time the heart stops, which leads to unconsciousness, coma, then death. The lack of oxygen from slowed or stopped breathing is the key dangerous aspect to an opioid overdose. Combining opioids with benzodiazepines or alcohol increases the likelihood of an OD. Benzodiazepines are psychoactive drugs that have sedative, hypnotic, anti-anxiety, anticonvulsant, muscle relaxant, and amnesic actions, which are useful to treat alcohol dependence, seizures, anxiety, panic, agitation and insomnia. ...

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LPS Training Manual

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Module One

This module reviews the historical framework of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this module, the student will be able to describe:
1. Why the LPS Act was initiated.
2. Purpose and intent of LPS Act.

Overview

History:

In the late 1960’s, the California Legislature instituted a groundbreaking bill to change how persons with mental disabilities were to be treated in this State. The law was hailed across the country as the most progressive and humane piece of legislation to date. It was mandated that a mentally disabled person be treated in the least restrictive setting and given the right, just as any person has, to be heard in court when detained involuntarily.

Legislative Intent:

The California Mental Health Act (Sections 5000 to 8000 of the Welfare and Institutions Code), also known as the LPS Act, begins by promoting the legislative intent:
• Most important was: to end the inappropriate, indefinite, involuntary commitment of mentally disordered persons;

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Looking Through a Gendered Lens: Local US Television News Anchors’ Perceived Career Barriers

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The authors conducted a nationwide mail survey of 246 local TV news anchors to examine anchors’ perceptions of hindrances to their career progress. Women anchors’ highest-rated barrier was the overemphasis on their physical appearance; lack of professional networks and support groups ranked the highest for men. Career barriers ranked highly by anchors of both sexes included: balance between work and family life, conflicting roles of wife/mother or husband/father and professional newscaster, and relocation.

In the U.S., half af all TV news reporters and anchors are women (Stone, 1997). Twenty-five years ago, women made up only 13% of the television news workforce (Stone, 1997). This dramatic increase in the number of women in a once maie- dominated profession serves as onc result of what Pamela Creedon calls the “gender switch,” which occurred during the mid-1970s when more women than men enrolled in college journalism and mass communication courses (1989). While the “gender switch” has resulted in increased numbers...

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Guidelines for Smart Grid Cyber Security: Vol. 1, Smart Grid Cyber Security Strategy, Architecture, and High-Level Requirements

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CHAPTER ONE

CYBER SECURITY STRATEGY

With the implementation of the Smart Grid has come an increase in the importance of the information technology (IT) and telecommunications infrastructures in ensuring the reliability and security of the electric sector. Therefore, the security of systems and information in the IT and telecommunications infrastructures must be addressed by an evolving electric sector. Security must be included in all phases of the system development life cycle, from design phase through implementation, maintenance, and disposition/sunset. Cyber security must address not only deliberate attacks launched by disgruntled employees, agents of industrial espionage, and terrorists, but also inadvertent compromises of the information infrastructure due to user errors, equipment failures, and natural disasters. Vulnerabilities might allow an attacker to penetrate a network, gain access to control software, and alter load conditions to destabilize the grid in unpredictable ways. The need to address potential vulnerabilities has been acknowledged across the federal government, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)...

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Metropolitan State Hospital, Norwalk, California

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Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

On March 21, 2002, we notified then Governor Davis that we were investigating conditions at Metropolitan State Hospital (“Metropolitan”), pursuant to the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act ("CRIPA"), 42 U.S.C. § 1997. During the weeks of June 24 and July 8, 2002, we visited the facility. Our first tour, “Metropolitan I,” focused on the care and treatment provided to the facility’s child and adolescent patients, all of whom are in Metropolitan’s Program I. Our second tour, “Metropolitan II,” addressed the care and treatment provided to the facility’s adult patients. At exit interviews conducted at the end of each facility visit, we verbally conveyed our preliminary findings to counsel and facility officials. Consistent with the requirements of CRIPA, we wrote to Governor Davis on May 13, 2003, to apprise him of our findings regarding the child and adolescent patients. We are writing now to transmit our findings regarding the care and treatment of thefacility’s...

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A Roadmap to Computer-Based Psychotherapy in the United States

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BACKGROUND

Mental health disorders are widespread in the United States, costing the nation, as it does many other nations, billions of dollars in lost income, reduced productivity, and disability. In the United States, mental health disorders account for four of the ten leading causes of lost productivity, and the annual cost in income not earned due to mental health disorders is $193 billion. Successful treatment of mental disorders generally returns individuals to productivity levels comparable to those who have no history of mental health problems. However, only 22% of U.S. workers with high levels of psychological distress receive treatment.3 Providing mental health services to persons who need it would improve the United States’ productivity and the overall wellness of the population. These changes would, in turn, increase the competitiveness of U.S. goods sold abroad, improve our balance of trade, and lead to improvement in national morale.

Barriers to the Dissemination of Evidence-Based Treatments

Although effective EBTs for mental health disorders exist, there are barriers to their widespread dissemination in the...

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Administrative Discharge Procedures for Involuntary Civily Committed Mental Patients: An Alternative

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Historically, state practices governing institutionalization of mental patients have escaped serious challenge. Sparked, however, by a rising societal concern for individual rights' and an increasing recognition of the pervasiveness of mental illness, litigators and commentators are no demanding a more critical examination of the treatment of mental patients. In accord with these realizations, this note will focus on involuntary, civilly-committed patients in state mental hospitals and will examine both highly protective systems recently enacted by some states as well as failures of discharge procedures in others. An alternative system, providing a second level of administrative review, with some improvements on judicial review, will be recommended for those states which currently maintain inadequate procedures and which realistically cannot or will not bear the cost of more protective systems.

IMPORTANCE OF ADEQUATE DISCHARGE PROCEDURES

Most litigation involving the rights of involuntary civil patients focuses on the lack of due process in commitment procedures and on deprivations and abuses occurring within institutions.' Discharge procedures are largely ignored becaus...e

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Unused Pharmaceuticals in the Health Care Industry:

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The Focus of EPA’s Study

EPA initiated the study of unused pharmaceutical disposal practices at health care facilities with the goals of understanding one way in which pharmaceuticals enter our waterways and also understanding what factors contribute to pharmaceuticals entering through water. While EPA understands that there are many factors influencing the handling and disposal of pharmaceuticals by the health care industry, the focus of EPA’s study is on disposal into water. EPA decided to study medical facilities because the Agency believes that these facilities dispose of a large quantity of unused pharmaceuticals. Thus far, EPA has only evaluated hospitals and long-term care facilities, so the information in this interim report pertains only to hospitals and long-term care facilities. Recently EPA decided to expand the scope of its study to include hospices and veterinary facilities and intends to issue a nationwide information collection request to gather better, representative data (see “Next Steps”). Hospitals include general and medical surgical hospitals, psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals, and specialty hospitals,...

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Entrapment And Denial Of The Crime:a Defense Of The Inconsistency Rule

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Although litigants in civil proceedings are permitted to argue inconsistent positions,' most federal courts have not allowed inconsistent defenses in criminal cases. Concern over this so-called "inconsistency rule" in criminal cases most frequently arises with respect to the entrapment defense. Currently, the federal courts of appeals are split on the question whether a criminal defendant who wants to plead entrapment may also assert other defenses. The Supreme Court has declined to resolve the issue. After a brief discussion of the development of the entrapment defense, this note outlines the four approaches that the federal courts of appeals have taken in addressing whether a criminal defendant may assert inconsistent defenses in an entrapment case. The note advocates adherence to the inconsistency rule, but suggests that courts adopt a more precise definition of "inconsistency" in this context. The proposed rule would prohibit a defendant from denying a crime and asserting entrapment. It would not, however, require a defendant to admit the crime...

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