Changing development models in small economies: The case of Jamaica from the 1950s to the 1990s

By examining in detail the successes and failures of different development models in one developing country over a four-decade period, this article sketches a development model for small economies in the 1990s as an alternative to the neoliberal model pushed by the International Monetary Fund. It reviews the experience of Jamaica with various development models from the 1950s to the 1990s, with special attention focused on the experience of the Seaga government of the 1980s. It also draws lessons from the successful development experience of small European countries and of the East Asian Newly Industrialized countries. In normative terms, the alternative development model attempts to combine growth with equity and democracy. In analytical terms, it takes account of the constellation of domestic forces and appropriate political strategies, as well as of international economic and political conditions. The main features are a strong role for the state in economic interactions with transnational corporations, in identification of export markets and promotion of export production, in selective protection of domestic industry with an export potential, in promotion of agriculture linked to industrial development, in improvement of human resources and promotion of regional economic integration. Within these parameters, a crucial role is assigned to the domestic private sector and a complementary one to foreign investment. Distribution is to be addressed primarily through distribution of productive assets and access to health care and education. Evelyne Huber is professor of political science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is a coauthor ofDemocratic Socialism in Jamaica andCapitalist Development and Democracy. She is currently involved in research on the changing role of the state in Latin America and on comparative social policy. John D. Stephens is professor of political science and sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is a coauthor ofDemocratic Socialism in Jamaica andCapitalist Development and Democracy. His current research focuses on options for social democracy and comparative social policy.     

All Bark and No Bite: Notes on the Federal Constitutional Court's 'Banana Decision'

The Federal Constitutional Court's banana decision of 7 June 2000 continues the complex theme of national fundamental‐rights control over Community law. Whereas in the ‘Solange II’ decision (BVerfGE 73, 339) the Federal Constitutional Court had lowered its standard of review to the general guarantee of the constitutionally mandatorily required minimum, the Maastricht judgment (BVerfGE 89, 155) had raised doubts as to the continued validity of this case law. In the banana decision, which was based on the submission of the EC banana market regulation by the Frankfurt‐am‐Main administrative court for constitutional review, the Federal Constitutional Court has now confirmed the ‘Solange II’decision and restrictively specified the admissibility conditions for constitutional review of Community law as follows. Constitutional complaints and judicial applications for review of European legislation alleging fundamental‐rights infringements are inadmissible unless they show that the development of European law including Court of Justice case law has since the ‘Solange II’ decision generally fallen below the mandatorily required fundamental‐rights standard of the Basic Law in a given field. This would require a comprehensive comparison of European and national fundamental‐rights protection. This paper criticises this formula as being logically problematic and scarcely compatible with the Basic Law. Starting from the position that national constitutional courts active even in European matters should be among the essential vertical ‘checks and balances’ in the European multi‐level system, a practical alternative to the Federal Constitutional Court's retreat is developed. This involves at the first stage a submission by the Federal Constitutional Court to the Court of Justice, something that in the banana case might have taken up questions on the method of fundamental‐rights review and the internal Community effect of WTO dispute settlement decisions. Should national constitutional identity not be upheld even by this, then at a second stage, as ultima ratio taking recourse to general international law, the call is made for the decision of constitutional conflicts by an independent mediating body.     

Überlegungen zur Einführung eines Grundrechts auf Betreten der Natur in die österreichische Rechtsordnung

Das Betreten und der Aufenthalt in der Natur sind in Österreich eine Selbstverständlichkeit. Ein Blick auf die rechtlichen Grundlagen offenbart allerdings eine Diskrepanz zwischen tatsächlicher Übung und Rechtsordnung, die die Juristerei seit einem Jahrhundert beschäftigt. Die folgenden Überlegungen thematisieren erstmals die Möglichkeit, den Erholungs suchenden in Österreich ein verfassungsgesetzlich gewährleistetes Recht einzuräumen. Ausgehend von einem konkreten Formulierungsvorschlag geht es um den möglichen Inhalt eines derartigen Grundrechts und darum, wie ein Ausgleich mit anderen geschützten Rechtspositionen gefunden werden kann.     

Konsens und Gewalt. Zur handlungstheoretischen Modellierung sozialer Mechanismen der Normentstehung

Der Aufsatz untersucht die Möglichkeit, handlungstheoretisch fundierte Modelle über Abstimmungsmechanismen zu entwickeln, mittels derer Akteure die Koordinations-, Kooperations- und Ungleichheitsdilemmata überwinden können, denen ihre Beziehungsverhältnisse ausgesetzt sind. Es zeigt sich, dass die bislang diskutierten soziologischen und ökonomischen Modellierungsvorschläge Mängel aufweisen, die dadurch behoben werden können, dass man die Etablierung und Durchsetzung von (normativen und zugleich rechtswirksamen) Regeln, welche die Akteure auf die Rücksichtnahme der Interessen anderer verpflichten, als eine notwendige Bedingung der Stabilisierung zwischenmenschlicher Beziehungsformen in die Modellierungen aufnimmt. Ergebnis dieser Modellerweiterung ist die Einsicht, dass es keine ultrastabilen Lösungen für die genannten Abstimmungsprobleme gibt. Da alle sozialwissenschaftlichen Disziplinen derartige Abstimmungsmechanismen behandeln, wäre deren interdisziplinäre Erforschung anzuraten, die auf der Basis einer einheitlichen, fächerübergreifenden Theorie des menschlichen Wahlhandelns vorangetrieben werden kann.     

Public choice in local judicial systems

For their contributions to earlier drafts, acknowledgements are extended to Webb Smathers, Ron Faas, Rod Ziemer and other reviewers.     

FRAMEWORKS FOR CONCEPTUALISING TERRORISM

Terrorism has been situated—and thereby implicitly also defined—in various contexts such as crime, politics, war, propaganda and religion. Depending on which framework one chooses, certain aspects of terrorism get exposed while others are placed ‘outside the picture’ if only one framework is utilised. In this article five conceptual lenses are utilised: 1. terrorism as/and crime; 2. terrorism as/and politics; 3. terrorism as/and warfare; 4. terrorism as/and communication; and 5. terrorism as/and religious fundamentalism.     

Allele frequencies of 15 tetrameric short tandem repeats (STRs) in Andalusians from Huelva (Spain)

The allele frequency distribution of 15 short tandem repeat (STR) loci contained in the AmpFlSTR Identifiler PCR Amplification Kit (Applied Biosystems), was determined in 114 individuals from Andalusia (province of Huelva), in the southernmost part of the Iberian Peninsula. After Bonferroni's correction, no deviations from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed for all samples at the 15 STR loci. All loci are highly polymorphic. The aim of the study was to obtain accurate allele frequencies relevant for applications in forensics and population genetics. Comparative analyses between our population data and other population samples gathered from the literature are also presented.     

Der Mensch denkt und die Institution lenkt: Zur Reformfähigkeit von Staat und Gesellschaft am Beispiel der deutschen Arbeitsmarktpolitik

Ohne Zusammenfassung