Covenant of Mayors: Reasons for Being an Environmentally and Energy Friendly Municipality

The Covenant of Mayors (CM) is the mainstream European movement involving local authorities who voluntarily commit to increase energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources within their territories with the aim of reducing CO₂ emissions and meet the European Union objectives by 2020. One country that has a greater number of signatories of this agreement is Spain. This article analyzes which factors influence the decision of Spanish local authorities to join the ever‐growing movement. An empirical model is formulated to describe the behavior of Spanish local governments, this being a binary choice model which is a function of various political, economic, and technical factors. Among the prominent factors that influence this decision are population, availability of renewable energy, fiscal and environmental stress, citizens’ political preference, the contagion effect of neighboring municipalities, the existence of covenant coordinators, and finally, economic motivations.     

The Military Dimension of the War on Drugsin Mexico and Colombia

The Armed Forces of Colombia andMexico have characteristics thatdifferentiate them from the rest of theirLatin American counterparts. They areatypical armed forces that are shaped bythe realities of their contemporarypolitical history. The failure of lawenforcement institutions has forced bothmilitaries to take on the mission ofcombating drug trafficking andinternational criminal cartels. In orderfor these militaries to successfullyaccomplish this mission, they must besubordinated to civilian rule, cooperatewith other countries and internationalorganizations, and be accountable to therule of law.     

What Makes a Key Player in Interorganizational Social Policy Networks? The Case of Uruguay

ABSTRACT

Networks of organizations involved in public policy implementation require strong interaction, concerted action and high degrees of collaboration to be effective. However, little is known about how different types of organizations involved in implementation of multi-sectoral social policies interact in these networks. In this article the relationship between organizational characteristics and network position is explored, as well as how the intensity of collaborations can also determine organizations’ involvement in networks. The nature of funding (public/private) and the remit of activity of organizations are found to determine their influence and importance in social policy networks. Furthermore, the network position of the organizations also depends on the level of intensity of their interactions. These results can guide public administrators when developing and promoting networks to involve a particular type of actor and also policymakers as to which types of ties are more aligned with the implementation of a particular policy.     

Women and Reparations

Reparations for victims of gross human rights violations arebecoming an increasingly acknowledged feature in post-authoritarianand post-conflict societies coping with the legacy of a violentpast. Despite some recent progress much more work needs to bedone for massive reparations programs to respond better to theneeds of women. This article, resting as it does on a comprehensiveconception of reparations, outlines both the procedural andsubstantive components of reparations programs necessary forthe programs to fulfill the goal of providing (partial) justiceto women.     

Fire debris analysis and scene reconstruction

During the summer of 2010 near a little village in the south of Italy, a fire destroyed a piece of brushland without any apparent economic importance. The remains of a fire-setting tool were found at the point of origin of the fire. It was started using a well-planned and methodical approach. The analytical results demonstrated a sophisticated and effective incendiary tool designed to leave little evidence that could identify the offender. The action and the purpose of the arsonist were clear but the basic motivation was unpredictable. The burned area was without any relevant economical interest. It was burnt during the past and has not been used for any cultivation or sheep farming but in the region there was evidence of bushfires that had been lit to stimulate the growth of forest fruits to be harvested for sale.