A New Nationalism for a New Era: The Political Ideology of Mexican Neoliberalism

The structural economic reforms justified by neoliberal ideas that transformed Mexico's statist political economy in the 1980s posed a direct challenge to the nationalism inherited from the revolutionary era that had long served to legitimise the interventions of the social state. This article examines the strategy adopted by the administration of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988–1994) to reconcile the rival ambitions of neoliberalism and nationalism and its reasons for doing so. It does so by examining ideas concerning the state, society and the individual found in writing and speeches published in political organs and the press during this period.     

What If? The Historian and the Counterfactual

This essay lays out why many scholars, particularly historians, are inherently skeptical of counterfactuals. It highlights several of the most obvious errors that are often made by those undertaking counterfactual reasoning. It also highlights how these articles go a long way toward developing effective rules for the appropriate and most effective use of counterfactuals.     

When silence threatens safety: lessons from the first Canberra Hospital neurosurgical inquiry

Despite widespread institutional and professional support, the recommendations of the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry may be insufficient to reduce patient risk from impaired senior medical practitioners. Using the First Inquiry into Neurosurgical Services at the Canberra Hospital as a case study, this article argues that the Bristol-type recommendations--which emphasise reformulation of clinical governance structures, including early reporting of "sentinel events" and compulsory clinical audits--will be ineffective without a reformed institutional ethos that encourages open transparency and respect for those committed to such processes. Such reformulation may need to commence in medical education and involve new strategies including the use of portable digital technology to facilitate self-assessment of performance and immediate reporting of adverse incidents.