過去立法院常被譏為行政院的橡皮圖章，但隨著國內民主政治的快速發展，立法院已成為我國當前最重要的政治舞台，不管是各政黨或是政治人物，對於在立法院合議制度下，所形成的權力分享與利益分配，都有莫大的關注與興趣。再者，立法院職權之行使攸關人民生活財產的維護，在民主化的過程裡，代表民意的立法院，更背負著民眾的高度期待。因此，研究立法院之監督功能，對立法與行政之間的互動關係做一明確的界定與釐清，將有助於了解我國民主政治的建立與實踐民主化的進程。 本研究旨在探討立法院之監督功能，也因此擬先介紹民主國家國會監督概念，針對「監督」一詞，加以界定並分析其理論基礎。再針對各國憲政發展之比較，來了解何以要研究我國立法院監督功能，並從我國民主發展過程中，探討立法院扮演監督功能的意義與角色，最後試圖從法制規範層次與實務操作層次上，找尋出我國立法院所具有的監督效果，以達到探究其監督功能之目的。 從萬年國會到國會全面改選，乃至目前歷經六次修憲以來，我國國會體制逐漸落實立法院真正成為全國最高立法機關之制度設計，不過立法權如何有效落實其監督制衡行政權的功能，除了從靜態的憲法條文賦予的職權來分析，還必須透過動態的立法權行使過程加以探討。因此，本文先從民主憲政原理中的監督背景及其概念，假設我國在國會全面改選後，雖然行政部門過去的主導力量甚強，但立法權仍能發揮其監督行政權之功能，以立法院所行使的職權是否具有監督功能來分析，並觀察出立法院非制度面部分，具有的實際監督功能之機制，最後做出結論與提出建議。 本文分成六個部分。第一章緒論，介紹本論文研究背景、研究目的、概念界定、研究架構設定、文獻回顧、研究方法及研究範圍與限制；第二章國會監督功能之理論基礎，從形成國會的民主概念破題，來介紹國會監督功能之背景、意義、基礎、技術，以了解民主國家之國會監督功能；第三章我國立法院監督功能之介紹，從我國立法院形成之背景，來介紹立法院監督功能之背景、意義、基礎、技術，以呼應第二章；第四章法制規範層次之監督功能分析，是以監督對象為基礎來分析立法院的監督功能，文中將監督對象分成對人如同意權、彈劾權等；對機關如預算權的監督；對政策如法案權，再放置到四個重要民主政治概念（權力分立、代議政治、有限政府、權力制衡）中來檢驗，以了解其法源依據、規範作用及實質影響；第五章實務操作層次之監督功能分析，將提出具有實際運作而無法在法制層次探討如議事杯葛、政黨協商等非正式制度面之監督功能，從實務操作層次中，去探討其實質影響。第六章結論，提出研究過程中所得到之發現，及希冀提供後進研究者之建議。

The purpose of the present study is to identify the participants in the British socialist movement who worked in the Second International. The Second International was a confederation of socialist groups from over twenty nations who tried to carry on the work of Marx in the years of its existence, from 1889 to the outbreak of World War One in 1914. the study explains the political work of the Independent Labour Party, the Social Democratic Federation, and the Fabian Society, all of which gained focus from their membership in the International. The findings of the present study are that the focus of the British socialist movement in the period from 1889 to 1914 came from the Second International, an organization that British socialists helped to form and through which they were able to formulate an effective political party that lasted long after the world war they were powerless to prevent. It was this triumph which gave evidence of their special kind of optimism.

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This thesis consists of three chapters. The first chapter examines the impact of judicial discretion and left-digit bias on criminal sentencing outcomes. Judicial discretion allows judges to make nuanced decisions, taking into account details of legal cases that are not directly covered by law. However, judicial discretion can also expose behavioral biases and lead to irrational decision-making. I test for the existence of a particular behavioral bias: age-based left-digit bias. Specifically, I use a regression discontinuity design to test for changes in sentencing decisions occurring on an offender's 20th birthday using data on sentencing decisions from the state of Pennsylvania. I find that an offender sentenced just after his/her 20th birthday is 3.5 percentage points more likely to be sentenced to incarceration than an offender sentenced just before his/her 20th birthday. I test for evidence of conscious mechanisms underlying this effect and find no such evidence, leaving an unconscious bias as the best available explanation. Chapter two examines the impact of highly publicized police killings of black individuals on the racial gap in birth outcomes. Police killings of Black Americans are increasingly being met with significant media coverage and public response, including civil unrest. Given the frequency with which these events occur, it is vital to understand both their direct and indirect impacts. Using national birth certificate data and an event study design, I test for the impact of high-profile police-involved killings of Black Americans on racial disparities in maternal stress levels and birth outcomes. I find a large, statistically significant, and persistent increase in gestational hypertension of Black mothers relative to White mothers, strongly indicating an increase in the racial gap in maternal stress following these high-profile killings. I find limited evidence of an accompanying effect on the racial gap in birth outcomes. However, many existing papers similarly find no impacts of maternal stress on birth outcomes while simultaneously finding significant impacts on later-life outcomes, leaving room for additional future work based on these findings. How does the content of public communication by elected representatives change in response to highly salient, politically polarizing events? In Chapter 3, I examine this question using the text of tweets from members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, an n-gram text regression model and sentiment analysis alogorithms, and an event study design focused on mass shootings in the U.S. Observable effects on communication are concentrated on the day of and the day following a mass shooting. Republican members of Congress exhibit a reduced tweet frequency relative to Democratic members of Congress in the immediate aftermath of a shooting, while Democratic members of Congress speak with a more clearly differentiated Democratic vocabulary. Members from both parties speak with a more negative vocabulary. With Republicans collectively disengaging and Democrats collectively highlighting their partisan identification, this may suggest that Democrats are taking advantage of an opportunity for a political and/or policy win while Republicans in the same period are choosing to avoid additional political and/or policy losses.

Durant les années 1950, la Guerre froide entre les États-Unis et l’Union soviétique est bien amorcée. Alors que les puissances s’affrontent déjà dans une course à l’armement nucléaire, l’URSS envoie le 4 octobre 1957 le premier satellite artificiel en orbite de la Terre et déplace le combat sur un nouveau front : l’espace. Cet événement sans précédent marque certainement la population américaine et, bien évidemment, le gouvernement en place. Dans un contexte d’affrontement avec les Rouges, le Congrès des États-Unis, quoique divisé par les opinions des démocrates et des républicains, réagit promptement en cherchant à comprendre la signification d’un tel accomplissement, la raison d’un probable retard américain et les actions à entreprendre afin d’assurer une place au premier rang pour la nation dans la course à l’espace.

This thesis provides a survey and an analysis of South Africa's relations with the British Commonwealth (Commonwealth of Nations) between the years 1945 and 1961. It outlines and explains the deterioration of this relationship in the context of the crisis in South Africa's foreign relations after World War II. Documentary evidence is produced to throw more light on the relationship with Britain and, to a lesser extent, other Commonwealth countries. This relationship is analysed in the context of political, economic and strategic imperatives which made it necessary for Britain to continue to seek South Africa's co-operation within the Commonwealth. This thesis also describes how the African and Asian influence began to be felt within the Commonwealth on racial issues. This influence was to become particularly important during the crucial period after the Sharpeville incident. The attitudes of Britain and other Commonwealth countries at the two crucial conferences of 1960 and 1961 are re-examined. The attitude of extra-parliamentary organisations in South Africa towards the Commonwealth connection is an important theme of this thesis in addition to the other themes mentioned above. It is demonstrated how Indian and African opinions became increasingly hostile towards what was seen as British and "white" Commonwealth "appeasement" of South Africa. These attitudes are surveyed in the context of an increasing radicalisation of black politics in South Africa. The movement by English and Afrikaans-speaking white South Africans toward a consensus on racial and foreign policy is also examined. Finally, the epilogue to this thesis discusses the return of South Africa to the Commonwealth in 1994. It includes a brief survey of developments in the Commonwealth attitude to South Africa since 1961. / History / D. Litt. et Phil. (History)

Deutsche Universitäten unterliegen starken organisationalen Veränderungen, die in die gesellschaftspolitischen Entwicklungen hin zu einer Wissensgesellschaft sowie dem Marktparadigma einzuordnen sind. Universitäten handeln zudem zunehmend strategisch, um im politisch forcierten Wettbewerb zu agieren. Die dafür notwendigen Veränderungen, z.b. im Rahmen der New Public Management-Reformen, stehen jedoch in einem Spannungsverhältnis zum tradierten kulturellen Selbstverständnis der Universitäten. Daraus ergeben sich besondere Herausforderungen für strategische Veränderungsprozesse an Iniversitäten. Der Beitrag zeigt auf, welche Rolle Universitätskultur in strategischen Veränderungsprozessen einnimmt und wie sie positiv in diese integriert werden kann.

The late 1990's was a time of great wealth and prosperity in the United States. With this economic fervor came a new era of deregulation of the financial services industry. During this time, Congress passed the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, otherwise referred to as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GBLA). This law removed the final barrier (contained in Depression-era Glass-Steagall legislation) between mixing investment banking and commercial banking in the United States. The purpose of this report is to explain the intentions of the law's supporters and detractors, to discuss why this period was a particularly ripe time for such a policy, to examine the leadership decisions that contributed to the passage of GLBA, and to understand the motives behind a "new Glass-Steagall" bill today. This paper focuses only on the deregulatory parts of GLBA relevant to Glass-Steagall's repeal. It does not examine the privacy protections, et al. of GLBA at any length. Also contained in the analysis is a brief discussion of whether GLBA's stated intentions have been violated through the mixing of banking and commerce that has emerged in the present day. Finally, this report ends with a discussion on the fidelity of our national debate on banking regulation, and what it means for the federal government to manage risk in American financial markets in support of the public interest. / text

本研究主要是從現階段台日國會交流，探討台灣的國會外交。由於台灣外交受到中國全方位無理的打壓，國際社會的處境十分艱難。因此在許多無邦交國家，傳統外交工作及駐外單位與外國行政機關的接洽聯繫經常受到限制，然而經由國會交流管道，卻往往可以達到一定的成效。另外就邦交國而言，由於國會代表民意，國會議員間的互訪、交流、聯繫也更能加強雙邊互動。選定日本為研究個案的原因，主要是日本為內閣制國家，國會外交的影響較為直接，且近期台日交流有重大發展，如美日安保諮商「二加二會談」首度納入台海問題、日本支持台灣成為WHA觀察員、台灣觀光客赴日免簽證等；另外，台日雙方國會議員往來密切，且有運作成熟之跨黨派國會聯誼組織，進行有系統的交流，如台日交流聯誼會、日華議員懇談會等。 本研究係採用深度訪談法，選擇的訪談對象為參與外交事務的國會議員、立法院行政人員、外交部官員、日本國會議員，以及國際關係學者。經由訪談分析，所獲致的研究成果有：一、了解台灣目前國會外交現況、困境以及未來可能的發展策略。二、評估國會外交的功能，並探討其運作方式對台灣外交與其他方面之影響。三、借重台日國會交流經驗，提供政府國會外交政策建議，藉以協助台灣突破目前所面臨的外交困境。 / It is mainly to explore the implications of congressional diplomacy of Taiwan in this study, by reviewing the exchanges of the Congress between Taiwan and Japan at current stage. Undoubtedly, China is doing its best to keep Taiwan out of the diplomatic arena at all levels in the world, so as to worsen the situation of national identity of Taiwan in the international community. Under such circumstances, the restrictions are constantly imposed upon the routine works and contacts for the Taiwan Representative Offices abroad with government authorities or agencies in the undiplomatic countries. As for the congress represents the general public will in the democratic countries, it is surely helpful for the interactions of bilateral relations among congressmen of Taiwan and other countries through visits, exchanges and contacts. Furthermore, it is achieved in the goal of the promotion on the substantial relations with other countries. Japan is a cabinet-oriented country, its members of the Cabinet come from the Congress. It therefore produces direct influence on diplomacy of congress. Besides, there are some enormous breakthroughs on the exchanges between Taiwan and Japan at current stage, such as: the Taiwan issue has been put on the agenda of ”2 plus 2” US-Japan security consultation meeting for the first time, Japan supports Taiwan as an observer in the WHA, free visa entry treatment for Taiwanese tourists, and so on. Based on this, it is primary to take the exchanges of the Congresses between Taiwan and Japan as the subject of this study. Moreover, there are maturely operating and multiparty members’ amity groups conducted in both country’s congress, which are keeping close contacts, such as Taiwan-Japan Exchanges Amity Group, Sino-Japanese Diet Members Conference. It is going to be reviewed on this part in the study. The method of in-depth interview will be exercising in the research. The selected interviewees are ranging from those legislators who are actively participating in foreign affairs, senior administrators of the Legislative Yuan, officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japanese Congressmen and heavy-weighted scholars who are familiar with international relations. Through the analysis of interviews, it will be expected to produce some outcomes in this study, such as following: 1. To realize the situation, hardship and future possible development strategy of the congressional diplomacy of Taiwan at current stage. 2. To evaluate the achievement of the congressional diplomacy of Taiwan, and to explore what influence its operation will be on Taiwan’s diplomacy and other aspects. 3. To advise the Government about the feasible policy of the congressional diplomacy and assist in breaking through hardship of Taiwan’s diplomacy right at the moment by borrowing the experiences of the exchanges of the Congress between Taiwan and Japan.

The struggle between the President and the Congress over the power to control the use of military force is an enduring dimension of U.S. foreign policy. In the 20th century Arthur Schlesinger labeled the growth of Presidential war power the “Imperial Presidency.” While some scholars have attempted to explain the expansion of Presidential power based on the Cold War or nuclear weapons, there has been little work studying the link between America’s ascending role in international legal frameworks and this domestic legal transformation. In this dissertation, I argue that America’s participation in international legal frameworks, such as the United Nations and NATO, has been a central factor in enabling the growth of Presidential war power. These international frameworks allow the President to circumvent Congress and to assert that the use of military force was something other than a ‘war’ that would need Congressional authorization. In case studies of pre-WWII aid to Great Britain, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War, I demonstrate how the rise of executive war power relied on America’s growing participation in international legal frameworks. The dissertation contributes to the nexus of International Relations and Constitutional scholarship. It offers a unique interpretation of Presidential war power while also offering new insights on the nature of the United States’ relationship with international legal frameworks. I argue that participation in international legal frameworks has been ‘democracy-undermining’ as the President utilizes those frameworks to circumvent the Constitution’s restrictions on Presidential war power.