Culture, Cosmopolitanism, and Risk Management

Most cultural approaches to risk management deal with the connections between the forms of social relations within groups and the risk concerns of those groups. According to these theories, a certain limited set of different relational forms (usually three, four, or five) lead to specific, different and conflicting, risk concerns. In contrast to these theories, cosmopolitanism is an approach to culture that focuses, not on forms of sociality, but on changes among forms—expansions and contractions in the inclusivity of forms and movement by persons from one form of sociality to another. Relative to other cultural theories, cosmopolitanism thus is much more concerned with the solution of risk management problems than with their origins. Cosmopolitanism can be thought of as a cultural continuum, with cosmopolitanism at one end and pluralism at the other. Cosmopolitan persons are more open to cultural change—and thus the solution of risk management problems. In this article, we outline our new theory of cosmopolitanism, describe a method for measuring it and present an experimental study that tests some implications of the theory. Results from the study support the theory by showing that, compared to pluralistic respondents, cosmopolitan respondents are more inclusive in their risk management judgments—that is, they express equal concern for a local and a national issue, whereas the pluralistic respondents express greater concern in the local case. We discuss the risk management implications of a cosmopolitan approach to culture.     

Perception of Ecological Risk to Water Environments

This paper examines lay and expert perceptions of the ecological risks associated with a range of human activities that could adversely affect water resource environments. It employs the psychometric paradigm pioneered in characterizing perceptions of human health risks, which involves surveys to obtain judgments from subjects about risk items in terms of several important characteristics of the risks. The paper builds on a previous study that introduced ecological risk perception. This second study employs a larger, more diverse sample, a more focused topic area, and comparisons between lay and expert judgments. The results confirm that a small set of underlying factors explain a great deal of variability in lay judgments about ecological risks. These have been termed Ecological Impact, Human Benefits, Controllability , and Knowledge. The results are useful in explaining subjects' judgments of the general riskiness of, and need for regulation of, various risk items. The results also indicate several differences and areas of agreement among the lay and expert samples that point to potential key issues in future ecological risk management efforts for water resources.     

基于模糊判断矩阵信息确定专家权重的方法

本文对群组模糊判断矩阵集结过程中确定专家权重的问题进行了研究,建立了模糊判断矩阵的特征矩阵和求解群集结矩阵的最优化模型,通过矩阵之间距离度量判断信息自身逻辑一致性程度和群体相容性程度,给出一种基于专家判断信息的可信度计算其后验权重的方法,最后用算例予以说明.     

区间数互补判断矩阵的一致性及其排序研究

由于目前国内外文献对区间数互补判断矩阵的性质研究较少,从而使得对排序方法的相关研究缺乏理论依据.针对这些缺陷,本文研究了区间数互补判断矩阵的性质及其排序方法问题.根据区间数互补判断矩阵的定义,给出了区间数互补判断矩阵的一致性、严格强传递性与弱传递性等定义,并研究了一致性判断矩阵的性质,并说明这些性质更符合人们的思维特征.在一致性性质的基础上建立了区间数互补判断矩阵排序的非线性规划模型,算例分析表明该方法是有效可行的.     

一种基于区间数判断矩阵的群决策新方法

针对基于区间数判断矩阵的群决策问题,提出了一种群决策新方法.借助于集值统计原理,构造了与区间数判断矩阵群信息等价的具有一定可靠度的确定数判断矩阵,建立了计算这类群信息集结值可靠度的模型,运用和积法对所得新判断矩阵进行处理,得到了一种简便的方案排序方法.最后,通过一个算例验证了该方法的有效性和实用性.     

行政诉讼履行法定职责实体判决论——以“尹荷玲案”为核心

“司法审查有限原则”是行政诉讼法的基本原则,这导致了“履行法定职责实体判决”存在争议。“尹荷玲案”不但证成了履行法定职责实体判决存在的正当性,而且明确了该判决适用的“双阶要件”,即“理由具备、事实清楚、法律规定明确”的一般要件,与“法效果唯一性”的特别要件。其中“法效果唯一性”分为两种情况:一是羁束行政行为,二是行政裁量收缩为零,这恰与《行政诉讼法》修改后“给付判决”与“履行判决”的规定相契合。纵观司法实践,重做判决、履行判决、给付判决形成了“程序性判决—提示性判决—履行法定职责实体判决”3种判决方式,体现了三者功能的相似性。作为实质化解争议的履行法定职责实体判决,也彰显了司法推动制度发展的功能。     

论行政诉讼非法证据类型

非法证据排除规则最早在美国确立并得到发展,形成一套比较完整的体系。我国对非法证据排除规则的探讨很长时期仅停留在理论阶段,2012年《刑事诉讼法》修改中采纳并确立这一证据规则,使其从理论探讨变为实践,也为行政诉讼非法证据排除规则的探讨提供了很好的借鉴。目前,行政诉讼法正处于修改时期,以现有的法律规范为基础探讨行政诉讼非法证据的类型及其判断标准显得尤为必要。     

问题类型划分方法视野下的犯罪概念研究

在问题类型划分方法的视野下,犯罪概念问题应该属于纯粹刑法学问题中的解释选择问题,但刑法学界以往有关犯罪概念的讨论却大多将其作为刑法问题中的价值判断问题。由于未能妥当确定犯罪概念的问题类型,从而使学界有关犯罪概念的讨论未能达成最低限度的学术共识。作为纯粹刑法学问题中的解释选择问题,形式与实质相结合的混合犯罪概念不存在被替代的必要性,而犯罪概念也不应被规定在刑法典中。     

网络环境下的图书馆文献典藏——从民初笔记野史《乌蒙秘闻》说起

由于网络数字技术的冲击,大量久藏深闺的文献资料流布天下,偶有引起认识或研究的混乱。《乌蒙秘闻》一书是许指严在民初"反满"思想的影响下,为生计考虑,以清初滇东北改土归流为背景创作的一篇传奇小说,本不足信。但网络上却较常见,有称"中外名著"的,有称"重要资料"的,还出现了专门的词条,这就对当前承担公共服务的图书馆等部门提出了新的要求和任务。     

Power To Our Journeys: Re‐membering Michael

The following personal reflections are in honour of Michael and all that he contributed to our lives. And, we honour Brigitte a key member of the group who died in 2006. Mem, Sue and Veronica, December 2008.