Creating the missing link: applying collective marks to create clusters

Legal context: Collective trademarks offer an adequate institutional settingto create clusters. The legal framework provided by this formof IP right offers an enabling environment for the creationof cooperative business arrangements, as applied in clusters.In particular, they allow small- and medium-sized enterprisesto intensify their degree of interaction, so to build up networks,thus reducing costs and dependence on large firms, while atthe same time increasing systems of collaboration. Key points: While the positive externalities provided by clusters are wellresearched, the IP aspect has been largely ignored. This isobserved in theory, as well as in practice. While the businessliterature is rich on empirical and theoretical arguments onthe functioning of clusters, the role IP law takes in the creationof clusters has gone largely unnoticed. Practical significance: This article seeks to provide the missing link and explain why,how, and under which circumstances the application of collectivetrademarks is a crucial element for the creation of clusters.While the first part of this paper provides the theoreticalunderpinning, the second part offers an overview of variousempirical illustrations of the argument.     

Schools and the prevention of petty crime: Search for a missing link

Earlier research on the relation between school features and petty crime suggests that schools can intentionally influence the crime rate of the pupils. These findings were the starting point for a Dutch study at secondary schools of the same type in Dutch towns. The study focused on effects on the delinquency of third-year low-stream pupils (aged 15–17). For the study a control theory was formulated, a conditional control theory, which, in contrast to Hirschi's social control theory, recognizes possible delinquent influences of the pupils' network. In the study a strong statistical relation between integration of pupils in school and petty crime was found. However, I found almost no influence of the studied school features on integration and petty crime. These results led to the question whether the real important feature of schools had been neglected in the study. This seems not to be the case. A multilevel analysis shows that it is unlikely that there is major impact of schools on the integration of pupils, on delinquency, or on the relationship between integration and delinquency. This can be the result of special aspects of the Dutch school system and of the neglect of theory in earlier research.     

The rule of law as a catalyst for sustainable democracy in Nigeria

Democracy and the rule of law are the pillars of sustainable development and the guarantee of fundamental freedoms in any society. The rule of law is one of the prerequisites to creating an enabling environment that supports socio‐economic growth and political development. The future of democracy rests with the ability of democratic governments to observe the rule of law. The rule of law is the fulcrum of democracy and the pillar upon which the structures of democracy stands. This article examines the crucial importance of the rule of law as a catalyst for the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria.     

Medicaid reform: programming solutions to the equity problem

This paper demonstrates the application of a mathematical programming model to a longstanding policy issue in the Medicaid reform debate: the redistribution of program funds necessary to achieve equity in eligibility and benefit coverage across states. The model is used to estimate the potential degree of equity achievable in the current Medicaid system given various budgetary and political constraints. Two model simulations, based on a 1979 data set for aged recipients of Supplementary Security Income, are presented. The results indicate that half or more of the interstate differences in spending for this population group are due to actuarial and efficiency factors rather than deviations from equity potential. The implications of eliminating the remaining differences are discussed.     

Differentiation or federalisation: Which democracy for the future of Europe?

Differentiation has become a central topic of debate in the EU. Generally, it is considered a positive device for advancing integration in crucial policies, letting the unwilling states opt out from the new regimes. However, the debate has not sufficiently acknowledged that policy differentiation has been made possible by governance differentiation. It was the 1992 Maastricht Treaty's decision to inaugurate an intergovernmental regime for core state power policies, distinct from the supranational regime regulating single market policies, that allowed differentiation to flourish. Differentiation and intergovernmentalism are thus inter-connected. During multiple crises of the last decade, intergovernmental governance has shown its undemocratic effects, thus soliciting a critical reappraisal of the differentiation logic. The federalisation of the EU appears a more promising alternative strategy for advancing integration and, at the same time, meeting the democratic expectations of the EU.     

我国人民民主面临的问题及对策——基于协商民主视角的分析

人民民主是社会主义民主的核心要义,是中国共产党和当代中国的理想和追求.我国设计了以人民代表大会制度为标志的一系列制度措施来实现人民民主,但在具体的政治实践中却面临种种问题.协商民主是强调讨论对话和审议的民主形式,恰好在某种程度上弥补了目前我国人民民主实践的不足.     

Redressing wounds: finding a legal framework to remedy racial disparities in medical care

In recent years, numerous medical studies and reports have documented startling disparities between the health status of African Americans and White Americans. The literature is replete with evidence that one of the main causes of these racial disparities is the different treatment of patients of different racial groups. This Comment addresses the possibility that implicit cognitive bias, in the form of implicit attitudes and stereotypes, significantly contributes to these racial disparities in medical treatment. Finding existing legal frameworks inadequate to address current disparities in health care, this Comment recommends avenues for the reworking of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, it suggests that disparate-treatment provisions that encompass claims arising from unintentional discrimination should be incorporated into Title VI, and it offers the employment law frameworks of Title VII and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act as models for such reform.     

Crabs in a bucket: the politics of health care reform in California

In 1982 the state of California adopted a package of legislation collectively known as "the Medi-Cal reform." This article examines the background of this reform, the process through which it was adopted by the state legislature, and its effects on the various interests involved. In particular, the article focuses on the alteration of power relationships occasioned by the emergence of business interests as an active force in the formulation of health policy.     

DNA databases as a tool to improve the search for missing persons in Brazil

In 2019, based on the publication of Law No. 13,812/2019, the National Policy on the Search for Missing Persons was created in Brazil. In this context, on March 2, 2020 the Steering Committee of the Integrated Network of DNA Databases (RIBPG) created the Working Group on Genetic Identification of Missing Persons. In 2021, the first National Campaign for the Collection of DNA from Relatives of Missing Persons was launched. This action provided the collection of relatives of more than 1700 missing people throughout Brazil. Since the beginning of the work, the number of genetic profiles related to the search for missing persons has increased by 216 % in the National DNA Database. So far, RIBPG has already managed to solve 223 disappearances throughout Brazil.     

The politics of management in health care: a British perspective

This paper discusses the contribution of organizational political perspectives to a better appreciation of policy implementation problems in health care. The context is the efforts of successive British governments to accord a higher priority to community health and long-stay services. The limited success of these policies owes much to continuing medical control of the philosophy of the organization and agenda, in spite of government responsibility for funding and providing health services. More effective policy implementation depends on a recognition of the "naturalness" of organizational politics, rather than treating them as constraints in an otherwise rational, managerial system.