The national front in France and the construction of political legitimacy

The National Front in France has experienced a meteoric increase in support since 1981, attacting about ten per cent of the vote in elections at every level. The principal issues on which the party has won support ‐ immigration and security ‐ have become key domestic issues. This article analyses the rise of the party and the inability of the established parties of the right to maintain the confidence of their supporters. It also examines a process of construction of legitimacy in which political elites of right and left participated. Finally, an evaluation is made of the National Front's ability to maintain and expand its electoral strength.     

Liability, Responsibility and Blame: British Ransom Victims in the Mediterranean Periphery, 1860–81

Between 1865 and 1881 there occurred in southern Europe and the Balkans several cases of kidnapping in which British subjects were seized and held to ransom by brigands. Most ended peacefully (though expensively) with the negotiation and handing over of a substantial ransom, usually in gold, and the subsequent freeing of the hostage(s); one case, that of the so‐called ‘Marathon murders’ of 1870 in Greece, ended in tragedy. Quite apart from the problems these incidents created for the victims and their families, some kidnappings also raised important questions for the governments involved, notably who was to blame for such incidents, who was formally responsible for them, and — crucially — who was ultimately liable for the cost involved? These questions and the responses of British governments to them, culminating in 1881 with the enunciation by Gladstone's administration of a clear policy on such matters, form the core of this article.     

L‘économie publique: suggestions pour une amélioration des choix politiques

Abstract. The problem of the distribution of resources in the public sector has often been compared to the market process of the private sector of the economy, in order to determine criteria similar to those used in welfare theory. However, the very nature of public goods is such as to make it very difficult to identify what each consumer really wants and to finance the production of public goods by making a charge. It is imperative, therefore, to initiate a decision-making process that reconciles these difficulties. This process will only be democratic if it is controlled by all citizens, who express their judgment by voting. But we do not know whether this vote expresses a choice as far as public goods are concerned. Considering the complexity and the quantity of public services being offered, it becomes impossible to identify a priority scale. Perhaps instead of choosing goods the voters can be said to choose a public entrepreneur, i.e. the government they elect. In order to find out the citizens' preferences, governments elected as entrepreneurs must provide for special communication mechanisms such as parliamentary committees and surveys of public opinion. Such surveys are not to be seen as replacing the vote but rather as supplementing it. Finally, between the entrepreneur and the consumer of public goods there stands the public service. Its role is of major importance. Public administration consists of ministries which compete with each other. Efficient central coordinating agencies have to be established to arbitrate the conflicting demands for the resources available. Out of this general plan one can provide a simplified decision-making process by levels and stages. Sommaire. Le problème de l'allocation des ressources dam le secteur public a souvent été comparé au système de marché de l'économie privée, afin de déterminer des critères normatifs d'allocation se rapprochant de ceux de la théorie du bien-être. La nature des biens publics est cependant telle qu'il est difficile d'identifier la demande réelle de chaque consommateur et de fhancer la production des biens publics en exigeant un tarif. II faut donc trouver un processus de décision qui réconcilie ces difficultés. Ce processus pour être démocratique doit être conirôle par les citoyens qui expriment leur jugement en votant. La question est alors de savoir si le vote exprime un choix de biens publics. Or éant donné la complexité et la quatité de services publics qui sont offerts, il devient impossible de dégager un ordre de préférence. Plutôt que de choisir des biens, on peut émettre l'hypothèse que le votant choisit un entrepreneur public. Pour conndîre les préférences des citoyens, un gouvernement éilu en tant qu'entrepreneur doit prévoir des mécanismes spéciaux de communications comme les commissions parlementaires et les sondages d'opinion. Ces sondages ne sont pas vus mmme un substitut au vote mais plutôt comme un complément. Enfin entre l'entrepreneur et le consommateur de biens publics se situe l'administration qui joue un rôle important. Cette administration est divisée en ministères qui sont en concurrence et l'arbitrage des demandes de ressources nécessite l'organisation d'organismes centraux de coordination efficace. On put alors déduire de ce schéma général un processus simplifié de décision par niveau et par éape.     

Six propositions on the poor and pollution

The effect of improving the environment may be greater inequities in our society. Current environmental programs maintain this inequity, proposed environmental programs may make things worse, and even if we do improve the environment, contentment may decrease. A political coalition of environmental and equity enthusiasts may provide a viable way out of these dilemmas.     

Scenes from a mall: Retail training and the social exclusion of low-skilled workers

In this article we examine how post-industrial Britain and Denmark undertake vocational training for low-skilled retail workers. Specifically, we evaluate whether leaders in training skilled industrial workers are also doing the best job with low-skilled service workers. While Danish retail is increasingly becoming a haven for low-skilled workers, British workers are gaining in skills levels with the transition to services even in the retail sector. While some suggest that social democratic countries have sacrificed the political interests of low-skilled workers in order to protect core manufacturing workers, we find no evidence of this. Rather, the high expectations of vocational training in Denmark have forged barriers to the easy admission of low-skilled service workers, while the British system provides more entry points for vocational training at different levels. The structures of coordination that had narrowed the gap between white-collar and blue-collar manufacturing workers during the industrial age are creating new cleavages in the post-industrial economy.     

Latinos/as in the criminal and juvenile justice systems

With few exceptions, prior explanations of racially disparate punishment have followed a dichotomous approach (i.e., African American versus Caucasian), due in part to the limitations of existing data. Researchers have either excluded Latino/a, defendants or treated them as a monolithic group. Consequently, there is not much on Latinos/as, whose experiences with the criminal and juvenile justice systems differ from those of African American and Caucasian. This article expands on current literature by providing a thorough overview of existing literature on Latino/as. It critiques this body of literature and lists ten common methodological flaws that may contribute to findings of equal treatment. Finally, it provides a concise summary of the main subgroups within the umbrella term ‘Latino/a’ to highlight the heterogeneity within this classification.     

Simultaneous analysis of six amphetamines and analogues in hair, blood and urine by LC-ESI-MS/MS: Application to the determination of MDMA after low Ecstasy intake

A rapid and sensitive method using LC-MS/MS triple stage quadrupole for the determination of traces of amphetamine (AP), methamphetamine (MA), 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “ecstasy”), 3,4-methylenedioxyethamphetamine (MDEA), and N-methyl-1-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)-2-butanamine (MBDB) in hair, blood and urine has been developed and validated. Chromatography was carried out on an Uptisphere ODB C₁₈ 5 μm, 2.1 mm × 150 mm column (Interchim, France) with a gradient of acetonitrile and formate 2 mM pH 3.0 buffer. Urine and blood were extracted with Toxitube A^® (Varian, France). Segmented scalp hair was treated by incubation 15 min at 80 °C in NaOH 1 M before liquid–liquid extraction with hexane/ethyl acetate (2/1, v/v). The limits of quantification (LOQ) in blood and urine were at 0.1 ng/mL for all analytes. In hair, LOQ was <5 pg/mg for MA, MDMA, MDEA and MBDB, at 14.7 pg/mg for AP and 15.7 pg/mg for MDA. Calibration curves were linear in the range 0.1–50 ng/mL in blood and urine; in the range 5–500 pg/mg for MA, MDMA, MDEA and MBDB, and 20–500 pg/mg for AP and MDA. Inter-day precisions were <13% for all analytes in all matrices. Accuracy was <20% in blood and urine at 1 and 50 ng/mL and <10% in hair at 20 and 250 pg/mg. This method was applied to the determination of MDMA in a forensic case of single administration of ecstasy to a 16-year-old female without her knowledge during a party. She suffered from hyperactivity, sweating and agitation. A first sample of urine was collected a few hours after (T + 12 h) and tested positive to amphetamines by immunoassay by a clinical laboratory. Blood and urine were sampled for forensic purposes at day 8 (D + 8) and scalp hair at day 60 (D + 60). No MDMA was detected in blood, but urine and hair were tested positive, respectively at 0.42 ng/mL and at 22 pg/mg in hair only in the segment corresponding to the period of the offence, while no MDA was detectable. This method allows the detection of MDMA up to 8 days in urine after single intake.