The status of human cloning in the international setting]

The General Assembly of the United Nations submitted a Declaration on Human Cloning in March 2005. The text of such Declaration was the result of a difficult and long process, taking more than three years. Being a Declaration instead of a Resolution, it has not legal capability in inforcing United Nations members to act according to its recommendations. This article begins with an explanation of several terms referred to cloning. Different countries' legislation on cloning is analyzed. Positions of the same countries at the Convention of the United Nations are as well analyzed. Comparing both countries' views shows that national legislation on cloning is independent and orientated by some countries' particular interests and biological and ethical views on these issues. Future developments on human cloning and its applications will be shared among all countries, both the ones currently allowing and supporting "therapeutic" cloning and the ones now banning it. In such case, it would be important to reach agreements on these issues at an international level. The article discusses possible legislative developments and offers some proposals to reach such agreements.     

Patronage Politics and Contentious Collective Action: A Recursive Relationship

Based on ethnographic reanalysis and on current qualitative research on poor people's politics, this article argues that routine patronage politics and nonroutine collective action should be examined not as opposite and conflicting political phenomena but as dynamic processes that often establish recursive relationships. Through a series of case studies conducted in contemporary Argentina, this article examines four instances in which patronage and collective action intersect and interact: network breakdown, patron's certification, clandestine support, and reaction to threat. These four scenarios demonstrate that more than two opposing spheres of action or two different forms of sociability, patronage, and contentious politics can be mutually imbricated. Either when it malfunctions or when it thrives, clientelism may lie at the root of collective action.     

Protection of genetic data in Spain. Analysis based on the general principles of personal data protection]

The genetic data is Spain is not regulated specifically, rather, we must look at the regulation on the protection of data of a personal nature. This is turn, establishes a series of general principles to apply to any type of data. Analysing this with other regulations that are dispersed both in the national and international regulations, we can deduce the rights and obligations in this field. This highlights the fact that one can't dispose of the genetic data in the same manner as the personal data.     

A follow-up investigation on the quality of medical documents from examinations of Basque incommunicado detainees: the role of the medical doctors and national and international authorities in the prevention of ill-treatment and torture

According to the United Nations and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), torture and ill-treatment continues to be a problem during incommunicado detentions in Spain. CPT has visited Spain and published recommendations for improvements of preventive medical examinations. However, no scientific assessment of the impact of such recommendations exists. The objectives of this study were to assess the quality of documents from preventive medical examinations and the prevalence of alleged ill-treatment and compare findings with similar data from a previous study. Documents issued by state employed doctors describing medical examination of Basques held incommunicado during 2000-2005 were reviewed. The analysis covered allegations of ill-treatment and existence and quality of information essential for medical appraisal of allegations of ill-treatment. The material was collected by a non-governmental organisation. Of 425 documents concerning 118 persons, 85% had no formal structure and the format recommended by CPT was never used. None of 127 documents, concerning 70 persons with allegations of ill-treatment had an overall conclusion on the likelihood of ill-treatment. Twelve to 68% of necessary data were totally missing, and only 13-38% of existing information was sufficient. There was significant variation between the reporting of individual doctors, but in general the quality was unacceptable, although somewhat higher than in the previous study. The prevalence of allegations of ill-treatment was as high as previously. There were more reports of psychological ill-treatment and procedures of forced physical exhaustion, but fewer reports of beatings. In conclusion, there was no indication that the conditions of incommunicado detainees have improved substantially over the past 15 years and the standard of medical reporting was unacceptable. The Spanish authorities should give clear objectives and guidelines for medical examinations of detainees. An independent forensic specialist with the overall academic responsibility for preventive medical examinations of detainees should be employed to supervise state employed doctors. The present article shows the necessity for harmonization of medical practice in documentation of torture.     

Freedom,immigration, and adequate options

According to the freedom argument for open borders, immigration restrictions are generally unjust because these restrictions infringe on important freedoms, such as freedom of association and the economic liberties. Some authors have objected to the freedom argument by claiming that potential immigrants only have rights to sufficient options to live decent or autonomous lives and, consequently, states can permissibly prevent people from immigrating when potential immigrants have adequate options. This paper shows that this objection to the freedom argument for open borders is unsound and that restrictions on international freedom of movement can be morally impermissible even when potential immigrants have adequate options.     

Learning through foreign market participation: the relative benefits of exporting,importing, and foreign direct investment

A growing literature explores the degree to which firms learn from exporting. Although this literature finds that firms that export subsequently enjoy enhanced innovative performance, there has been little research that compares the effect of exporting to that of alternative internationalization activities. In this paper, we extend the literature to explore theoretically the differential effects of a firm’s exporting, foreign direct investment, and importing activity on its innovative outcomes. We test the resulting hypotheses using a sample of Spanish manufacturing firms from 2000 to 2008. We find that (1) learning associated with exporting is more pronounced than that associated with a firm’s FDI activities, (2) exporting and FDI operate as substitutes in their effect on a firm’s learning, and (3) although importing is positively associated with learning as manifested in new product introductions, it is not associated with learning as manifested in patenting activity.     

Ancestry Culture,Assimilation, and Voter Turnout in Two Generations

Political Behavior - Women vote less than men in many parts of the world. Whether this gender gap is due to cultural preferences stemming from traditional gender norms or to structural constraints...