Between fact and norm : narrative and the constitutionalization of founding moments

Both the subject who gives birth to a constitution and the time a constitution comes into being are part of the multifarious construct of the genesis of a constitution. The intertwinement of the constituent power (subject) and the founding moment (time) not only gives rise to issues at the centre of scholarship on constituent power but also speaks to ambiguities about the relationship between the founding moment and its ensuing constitutional order in constitutional theory. In this paper, I examine the question of the founding moment in constitutional scholarship in light of the antinomy between fact and norm. I argue that contemporary constitutional theories fail to account for the role of the founding moment in the constitutional order because they are absorbed in the narrow question of constitutional interpretation at the expense of making sense of the constitutional order. Drawing upon Robert Cover’s inspiring discussion of nomos and narratives, I contend that the founding moment is pivotal to the discovery of constitutional meaning as it stands as the reservoir of the enriching narratives about the birth and growth of a constitutional order. Through narratives, the founding moment is related to its ensuing constitutional order and thus ‘constitutionalized’, suggesting a broader understanding of interpretation in constitutional theory than contemporary constitutional theories assume. On this view, the founding moment is neither a mere historical fact nor a placeholder for universal norms. Rather, narratives about the founding moment concern more the invigoration of the existing constitutional order than its original foundation. Thus emerges an alternative attitude towards the unsettling concept of constituent power: the constituent power’s appeal does not so much lie in the substitution of a new constitutional order for the existing one as in its rejuvenation of the latter since it is reincarnated in the narratives-mediated constitutionalized founding moment

The concept of ‘law’ in global administrative law : a reply to Benedict Kingsbury

Departing from the Westphalian tradition, global administrative law is seen as arising from the pragmatic needs of transboundary regulation underpinned by a normative aspiration to rule of law beyond national boundaries. Unhinged from state consent, however, it faces a twofold challenge: legality and legitimacy. The former centers on the distinction between law and non-law; the latter is concerned with the legitimacy of global administrative law. Benedict Kingsbury’s The Concept of ‘Law’ in Global Administrative Law attempts to answer this twofold challenge by centering the new paradigm of international law, as epitomized by global administrative law, on the notion of publicness. First, he pins its solution on the substantive concept of publicness. Second, he portrays global administrative law as an inter-public law, governing the relationship among regulatory regimes in accordance with the value of publicness. This Reply argues that Kingsbury’s publicness-centered conception of international law does not resolve the challenges facing global administrative law. Rather, his version of global administrative law does not so much correspond to an inter-public law as points to a post-public conception of legitimacy, reflecting the trend of addressing the issue of fragmentation by tacitly adopting the strategy of privatization in global administrative law scholarship

Taming governance with legality? Critical reflections upon global administrative law as small-c global constitutionalism

The project of global administrative law has stood out from various efforts to tame global governance with the rule of law. By enhancing transparency and accountability, global administrative law is expected to improve the policy output of global administration, giving legitimacy to global governance. In this way, global administrative law evolves into a small-c global constitutionalism. In this paper, I trace the trajectory of global administrative law as small-c global constitutionalism and how the concept of legitimacy is recast in relation to global governance. I first point out that originally embedded in the practice of global governance, global administrative law effectively functions as the small-c constitutional law of global governance, echoing the trends toward constitutionalization. As it takes on constitutional character, however, global administrative law faces the challenges of legality and legitimacy. Turning away from state consent, global administrative law turns to the idea of publicness as solution to its double challenges. My inspection of the notion of publicness in global administrative law shows that the strategy of resting the legitimacy of global administrative law as small-c global constitutionalism on the idea of publicness turns out to be the privatization of legitimacy, suggesting a post-public concept of legitimacy. -- Das Projekt des globalen Verwaltungsrechts sticht unter vielen Versuchen Global Governance durch Rechtsstaatlichkeit im Zaum zu halten hervor. Durch die Erhöhung von Transparenz und Verantwortung, werden mit dem globalen Verwaltungsrecht Erwartungen bezüglich einer Verbesserung der politischen Leistung globaler Verwaltung verbunden, die Legitimität von Global Governance voraussetzt. In diesem Prozess entwickelt sich aus dem Verwaltungsrecht eine konservative globale Rechtsstaatlichkeit. Die vorliegende Arbeit zeichnet den Wandel globalen Verwaltungsrechts in Form einer konservativen globalen Rechtsstaatlichkeit nach und eruiert Veränderungen des Legitimitätskonzeptes in Beziehung zu Global Governance. Zunächst hebe ich hervor, dass globales Verwaltungsrecht, ursprünglich in die Praktiken des Global Governance eingebettet, effektiv als konservatives Staatsrecht des Global Governance funktioniert und damit die Trends hin zu rechtsstaatlichen Strukturen spiegelt. Sobald globales Verwaltungsrecht rechtsstaatlichen Charakter annimmt, sieht es sich mit der Frage nach Legalität und Legitimität konfrontiert. Globales Verwaltungsrecht wendet sich von staatlicher Zustimmung hin zu der Idee von Öffentlichkeit als mögliche Lösung für die doppelte Herausforderung. Meine Analyse der Bedeutung von Öffentlichkeit für globales Verwaltungsrecht zeigt, dass die Strategie, die Legitimität des globalen Verwaltungsrechts in Form konservativer globaler Rechtsstaatlichkeit auf der Idee von Öffentlichkeit aufzubauen eine Privatisierung von Legitimität ist und ein post-öffentliches Konzept von Legitimität nahelegt.

Extracting entangled qubits from Majorana fermions in quantum dot chains through the measurement of parity

We propose a scheme for extracting entangled charge qubits from quantum-dot chains that support zero-energy edge modes. The edge mode is composed of Majorana fermions localized at the ends of each chain. The qubit, logically encoded in double quantum dots, can be manipulated through tunneling and pairing interactions between them. The detailed form of the entangled state depends on both the parity measurement (an even or odd number) of the boundary-site electrons in each chain and the teleportation between the chains. The parity measurement is realized through the dispersive coupling of coherent-state microwave photons to the boundary sites, while the teleportation is performed via Bell measurements. Our scheme illustrates \emph{localizable entanglement} in a fermionic system, which serves feasibly as a quantum repeater under realistic experimental conditions, as it allows for finite temperature effect and is robust against disorders, decoherence and quasi-particle poisoning.Comment: Accepted by Scientific Report

Evolution of dust content in galaxies probed by gamma-ray burst afterglows

Because of their brightness, gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows are viable targets for investigating the dust content in their host galaxies. Simple intrinsic spectral shapes of GRB afterglows allow us to derive the dust extinction. Recently, the extinction data of GRB afterglows are compiled up to redshift $z=6.3$, in combination with hydrogen column densities and metallicities. This data set enables us to investigate the relation between dust-to-gas ratio and metallicity out to high redshift for a wide metallicity range. By applying our evolution models of dust content in galaxies, we find that the dust-to-gas ratio derived from GRB afterglow extinction data are excessively high such that they can be explained with a fraction of gas-phase metals condensed into dust ($f_\mathrm{in}$) $\sim 1$, while theoretical calculations on dust formation in the wind of asymptotic giant branch stars and in the ejecta of Type II supernovae suggest a much more moderate condensation efficiency ($f_\mathrm{in}\sim 0.1$). Efficient dust growth in dense clouds has difficulty in explaining the excessive dust-to-gas ratio at metallicities $Z/\mathrm{Z}_\odot <\epsilon$, where $\epsilon$ is the star formation efficiency of the dense clouds. However, if $\epsilon$ is as small as 0.01, the dust-to-gas ratio at $Z\sim 10^{-2}$ Z$_\odot$ can be explained with $n_\mathrm{H}\gtrsim 10^6$ cm$^{-3}$. Therefore, a dense environment hosting dust growth is required to explain the large fraction of metals condensed into dust, but such clouds should have low star formation efficiencies to avoid rapid metal enrichment by stars.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, published in MNRA

How might contact with nature promote human health? Promising mechanisms and a possible central pathway

How might contact with nature promote human health? Myriad studies have linked the two; at this time the task of identifying the mechanisms underlying this link is paramount. This article offers: (1) a compilation of plausible pathways between nature and health; (2) criteria for identifying a possible central pathway; and (3) one promising candidate for a central pathway. The 21 pathways identified here include environmental factors, physiological and psychological states, and behaviors or conditions, each of which has been empirically tied to nature and has implications for specific physical and mental health outcomes. While each is likely to contribute to nature’s impacts on health to some degree and under some circumstances, this paper explores the possibility of a central pathway by proposing criteria for identifying such a pathway and illustrating their use. A particular pathway is more likely to be central if it can account for the size of nature’s impacts on health, account for nature’s specific health outcomes, and subsume other pathways. By these criteria, enhanced immune functioning emerges as one promising candidate for a central pathway between nature and health. There may be others

A Real-Time Mobile Vehicle License Plate Detection and Recognition

100學年度研究獎補助論文[[abstract]]In this paper we present a instant and real-time mobile vehicle license plate recognition system in an open environment. Using a nonfixed video camera installed in the car, the system tries to capture the image of the car in front and to process instant vehicle license plate detection and recognition. We utilize the color characteristics of the barking lights to carry out license plate detection. We first detect the location of the two barking lights in the captured image. Then set license plate detection region using the probability distribution of the license plate between the two lights. This method can eliminate any environmental interference during the license plate detection and improve the rate of accuracy of license plate detection and recognition. Moreover, we use the morphology method Black Top-Hat to enhance the level of separation of the license plate characters. Experiments show that the system can effectively and quickly capture the vehicle image, detect and recognize the license plate whether it is in daytime, nighttime, clear day, raining day or under complicated environment.[[notice]]補正完畢[[incitationindex]]EI[[booktype]]紙

Estimating the Stochastic Sickness Effect on Employment, Worktime and Saving Decisions

This paper aims to study labor supply and saving decisions as a result of health uncertainty. O’Donnell (1995) suggested a theoretical positive relationship between working hours (or saving rate) and the perceived health uncertainty. That is, for risk-averse individuals, there exists a precaution motion to work harder and save more when facing the uncertainty for the health condition. We test this hypothetical relationship by applying the 2003-2005 data from the Panel Study of Family Dynamics (PSFD) in Taiwan. Following Hughes and Maguire’s approach (2003), our estimation result indicates that a stochastic sickness has positive effects on the decisions of working time and saving rate.Health, Uncertainty, Labor Supply, Saving