A Trojan Horse Behind Chinese Walls?: Problems and Prospects of US-Sponsored "Rule of Law" Reform Projects in the People’s Republic of China

The US government has announced an initiative to promote the "rule of law" in the People’s Republic of China. However, though China has also endorsed building the "rule of law" as a goal, the American and Chinese views of what "rule of law" entails differ substantially. In the US government, rule of law reform is seen as a way to promote human rights and political reform, whereas the Chinese government wants to restrict law reform to those areas closely related to developing a market economy. To deal with this divergence in goals, the US has adopted a "Trojan Horse" strategy: the belief is that the Chinese will allow US-sponsored law reform programs for economic reasons, but once established, these programs will lead to broader political reform. However, this view is not well-supported by theory or empirical evidence. Thus, while law reform programs in China may be worthwhile, we should be skeptical of their ability to trigger more fundamental political reform.rule of law; China; legal reform; political reform

Mixed Signals: Reconsidering the Political Economy of Judicial Deference to Administrative Agencies

This paper investigates rational choice explanations for patterns of Supreme Court decision-making with respect to the appropriate level of judicial deference to administrative agency decisions. In particular, I assess empirically the thesis that the Supreme Court expands deference when the Supreme Court is ideologically closer to the executive than to the circuit courts, and contracts deference when the opposite is true. I find little to no evidence supporting this rational choice theory of judicial deference. Given this surprising null finding, I offer alternative explanations for the data and suggest directions for future research

Optimal Political Control of the Bureaucracy

It is widely believed that insulating an administrative agency from the influence of elected officials, whatever its other benefits orjustifications, reduces the agency\u27s responsiveness to the preferences of political majorities. This Article argues, to the contrary, that a moderate degree of bureaucratic insulation from political control alleviates rather than exacerbates the countermajoritarian problems inherent in bureaucratic policymaking. An elected politician, though responsive to majoritarian preferences, will almost always deviate from the majority in one direction or the other Therefore, even if the average policy position of a given elected official tends to track the policy views of the median voter in the electorate, the average divergence between the preferences of that official and the median voter in the electorate is generally greater than zero. Forcing the politically responsive official to share power with a partially insulated bureaucracy can reduce the variance in policy outcomes, because bureaucratic insulation creates a kind of compensatory inertia that mutes the significance of variation in the elected official\u27s policy preferences. Up to a point, the median voter\u27s benefit from this reduction in outcome variance outweighs the costs associated with biasing the expected outcome away from the median voter\u27s ideal policy

The Qualities of Public Servants Determine the Quality of Public Service

Article published in the Michigan State Law Review

Decision Analysis for Management of Natural Hazards

Losses from natural hazards, including geophysical and hydrometeorological hazards, have been increasing worldwide. This review focuses on the process by which scientific evidence about natural hazards is applied to support decision making. Decision analysis typically involves estimating the probability of extreme events; assessing the potential impacts of those events from a variety of perspectives; and evaluating options to plan for, mitigate, or react to events. We consider issues that affect decisions made across a range of natural hazards, summarize decision methodologies, and provide examples of applications of decision analysis to the management of natural hazards. We conclude that there is potential for further exchange of ideas and experience between natural hazard research communities on decision analysis approaches. Broader application of decision methodologies to natural hazard management and evaluation of existing decision approaches can potentially lead to more efficient allocation of scarce resources and more efficient risk management

Exposure to environmentally persistent free radicals during gestation lowers energy expenditure and impairs skeletal muscle mitochondrial function in adult mice

© 2016 the American Physiological Society. We have investigated the effects of in utero exposure to environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) on growth, metabolism, energy utilization, and skeletal muscle mitochondria in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity. Pregnant mice were treated with laboratory-generated, combustion derived particular matter (MCP230). The adult offspring were placed on a high-fat diet for 12 wk, after which we observed a 9.8% increase in their body weight. The increase in body size observed in the MCP230-exposed mice was not associated with increases in food intake but was associated with a reduction in physical activity and lower energy expenditure. The reduced energy expenditure in mice indirectly exposed to MCP230 was associated with reductions in skeletal muscle mitochondrial DNA copy number, lower mRNA levels of electron transport genes, and reduced citrate synthase activity. Upregulation of key genes involved in ameliorating oxidative stress was also observed in the muscle of MCP230-exposed mice. These findings suggest that gestational exposure to MCP230 leads to a reduction in energy expenditure at least in part through alterations to mitochondrial metabolism in the skeletal muscle

The role of host PrP in Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies

AbstractPrP has a central role in the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs), and mutations and polymorphisms in host PrP can profoundly alter the host's susceptibility to a TSE agent. However, precisely how host PrP influences the outcome of disease has not been established. To investigate this we have produced by gene targeting a series of inbred lines of transgenic mice expressing different PrP genes. This allows us to study directly the influence of the host PrP gene in TSEs. We have examined the role of glycosylation, point mutations, polymorphisms and PrP from different species on host susceptibility and the disease process both within the murine species and across species barriers