Classifying Political Regimes in Latin

This article is about how political regimes should generally be classified, and how Latin American regimes should be classified for the 1945–99 period. We make five general claims about regime classification. First, regime classification should rest on sound concepts and definitions. Second, it should be based on explicit and sensible coding and aggregation rules. Third, it necessarily involves some subjective judgments. Fourth, the debate about dichotomous versus continuous measures of democracy creates a false dilemma. Neither democratic theory, nor coding requirements, nor the reality underlying democratic practice compel either a dichotomous or a continuous approach in all cases. Fifth, dichotomous measures of democracy fail to capture intermediate regime types, obscuring variation that is essential for studying political regimes. This general discussion provides the grounding for our trichotomous ordinal scale, which codes regimes as democratic, semi-democratic or authoritarian in nineteen Latin American countries from 1945 to 1999. Our trichotomous classification achieves greater differentiation than dichotomous classifications and yet avoids the need for massive information that a very fine-grained measure would require.     

Profiling of the public‐service élite: A demographic and career trajectory survey of deputy and assistant deputy ministers in Canada

Abstract: In the summer of 2006, a survey was sent to the 941 senior public administration executives who held the rank and title of deputy minister or assistant deputy minister in the federal, ten provincial and three territorial jurisdictions in Canada. The survey explored, among other variables, age, education, gender, ethno‐racial status, aboriginal background and career trajectory. The response rate to this survey was 43.61 per cent. Obviously those in the deputy/assistant deputy cadre (referred to in this article as the “public‐service élite,” or pse ) are important actors in the life of the Canadian state, but relatively little is known about them. The authors report on and analyse the meaning and significance of their findings not only for a Canadian perspective but also, on the value of such research in the broader comparative sense. Their data also allow the examination of various dimensions of representative bureaucracy at the most senior levels in Canada. Sommaire: Au cours de l'été 2006, un sondage sous forme de questionnaire a été envoyé aux 941 cadres supérieurs de la fonction publique qui occupaient des postes de sous‐ministres ou de sous‐ministres adjoints au gouvernement fédéral, au gouvernement des dix provinces et des trois territoires du Canada. Le sondage portait, entre autres variables, sur l'âge, l'éducation, le sexe, le statut ethno‐racial, les origines autochtones et la trajectoire de carrière. Le taux de réponse à ce sondage a été de 43,61 pour cent. Évidemment, les personnes qui occupent les postes de sous‐ministres et de sous‐ministres adjoints (désignés dans le présent article sous le nom d' «élite de la fonction publique» ou «éfp ») sont des acteurs importants dans la vie de l'État canadien, mais on les connaît assez peu. Les auteurs donnent un compte rendu et font une analyse de la signification et de 1'importance des résultats, non seulement pour avoir une perspective canadienne, mais aussi pour voir la valeur d'une telle recherche à des fins de comparaison plus vaste. Leurs données permettent également d'examiner diverses dimensions de la bureaucratie représentative aux niveaux les plus élevés du Canada.     

Biotechnology and society in the new century]

The developments and applications in human biotechnology make us face deep social dilemmas, social and ethical, that are associated to the possibility of altering our evolutionary and cultural development, thereby renouncing to the principle of Humanity. From a sociological perspective, this text reflects on this matters taking into account how its past and present has shaped a specific operational matrix that is projected towards the future. We shall offer all the public perceptions held on their possibilities in Spain and in the European nations as every advance in scientific and technological matters must take into account the opinion of the citizenry. Finally, there are some final reflections that rather than close the debate leave some questions unanswered. The future should be constructed through dialogue and consensus in a matter of such importance.     

Exporting governance: Lithuania adapts a Canadian policy management model

Abstract: Lithuania's efforts to join the European Union were faltering in the late 1990s. A moribund policy management system offered scant hope for quick reversal. To break the impasse, Lithuania's prime minister negotiated a unique, CIDA‐funded project to modernize their decision‐making system by partnering with the Ontario Public Service and the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. Although slow to gain traction, inspired leadership by a new Lithuanian prime minister, his chancellor and government secretary re‐energized efforts to adapt an Ontario policy management model, which endures today. The results, in terms of pace and scope of reform, were impressive. But did they make a difference? In the absence of useful public benchmarks from oecd governments, the project collaborated with the World Bank to develop its own set of indicators for each stage of the policy process. Two surveys, conducted in 2000 and 2002, revealed a dramatic turnaround, underscoring how major change can be quickly implemented when supported by determined leadership. This article reviews the project, the survey methodology and results. Given the centrality of Ontario to Lithuania's reform, the article concludes with a cursory exploration of whether the province applies its own best practices. The answer, not surprisingly, is that it does so, sometimes. Sommaire: Les efforts déployés par la Lituanie pour se joindre à l'Union européenne s'affaiblirent à la fin des années 1990. Un système moribond de gestion des politiques offrait peu d'espoir d'un revirement rapide. Pour mettre fin à l'impasse, le Premier ministre de la Lituanie a négocié un projet unique financé par lacdi pour moder‐niser leur système de prise de décision, en établissant un partenariat avec la Fonction publique de l'Ontario et l'Institut d'administration publique du Canada. Même si ce projet fut lent à démarrer, un leadership inspiré par le nouveau Premier ministre litu‐anien, son chancelier et secrétaire d'État relança les efforts pour adapter un modèle ontarien de gestion des politiques, qui se trouve toujours en place aujourd'hui. Les resultats, en termes de rapidité et de portée de la réforme, furent impressionnants. Mais ont‐ils changé quelque chose? En l'absence de points de repère publics utiles de la part des gouvernements de locde , le projet a collaboré avec la Banque mondiale au développement de ses propres indicateurs pour chaque étape du processus de politique. Deux enquêtes, menées en 2000 et 2002, ont révélé un redressement remar‐quable, soulignant comment un changement majeur peut être rapidement mis en ceuvre lorsqu'il a I'appui d'un leadership déterminé. Cet article passe en revue le projet, la méthodologie et les résultats des enquêtes. Étant donné la grande importance de l'Ontario dans la réforme de la Lituanie, en conclusion, l'article examine brièvement si la province applique elle‐même ses meilleures pratiques. La réponse, qui n'est pas surprenante, est que oui, elle les applique…Parfois.     

Excessive Prices: Using Economics to Define Administrable Legal Rules

European competition laws condemn as ‘exploitative abuses’the pricing policies of dominant firms that may result in adirect loss of consumer welfare. Article 82(a) of the EC Treaty,for example, expressly states that imposing ‘unfair’prices on consumers by dominant suppliers constitutes an abuse.Several firms have been found to abuse their dominant positionsby charging excessive prices in cases brought by the EuropeanCommission and the competition authorities of several MemberStates. Those cases show that the assessment of excessive pricingis subject to substantial conceptual and practical difficulties,and that any policy that seeks to detect and prohibit excessiveprices is likely to yield incorrect predictions in numerousinstances. In this paper, we evaluate the pros and cons of alternativelegal standards towards excessive pricing by explicitly consideringthe likelihood of false convictions/acquittals and the costsassociated with those errors. We find that the legal standardthat maximizes long-term consumer welfare, given the informationtypically available to regulators, would involve no ex postintervention on the pricing decisions of dominant firms. A possibleexception to this general rule is discussed.     

The European Union and gender mainstreaming: Constitutionally embedded or comprehensively marginalised?

This paper examines the extent to which gender mainstreaming is constitutionally embedded in the legal framework of the European Union. Within the framework of that broad question it examines three sub-questions concerning the robustness and constitutionalised nature of the E.U.'s `equality regime', the extent of adaptation to mainstreaming methodologies by supranational institutions such as the Court of Justice, and the extent of the gender dimension in the debates which are shaping the future of the European Union, especially the 2002–3Convention on the Future of the Union and the Commission's Governance White Paper of 2001.The E.U. is analysed in this article as an emergent, non-state, postnational constitutionalised polity. The first section presents this perspective, and the succeeding three sections engage with the three` sub-questions' outlined above. The conclusion suggests that as yet, while gender concerns maybe constitutionally embedded in the Treatyframe work, they are less prominent in the constitutional politics of the Convention and the Governance White Paper. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Shift patterns and hardiness: Police use of lethal force during simulated incidents

In the present experiment, utilizing the Film Fire' shooting simulation system, the effects of shift patterns and hardiness on police officers' judgments (decisions to (i) shoot at a suspect and (ii) taking cover during the confrontation) were examined. Sixty-one Authorised Firearms Officers were briefed on two “incidents” they would be asked to attend. The experiment took place at three different times, each time one hour before completion of the shift: at 1 p.m. (early day shift), 9 p.m. (late day shift), or 5 a.m. (night shift). In one incident the officer would be justified in shooting the suspect, whereas in the other incident it would be difficult for the officer to justify having shot the suspect. Because in both incidents the suspects were threatening the police officer, taking cover during both incidents would be desirable. Results revealed that most erroneous decisions occurred during the early shift, and that officers low in hardiness made more incorrect judgments than officers high in hardiness. Implications of the findings are discussed. Authors' Note: This study has been sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), studentship award given to the first author.