Democracy in Spain: Legitimacy, discontent, and disaffection

This article examines changes in perceptions of democracy in Spain over the last two decades. A variety of empirical indicators gleaned from numerous surveys are used to distinguish between democratic legitimacy and political discontent, as well as between this (which includes the well-known indicator of dissatisfaction with the way democracy works) and political disaffection. The article traces the different ways in which these attitudes have evolved in Spain over the last twenty years, and demonstrates that they belong to different dimensions. It also includes the results of two tests showing that these two sets of attitudes are conceptually and empirically distinct: a factor analysis confirms the distinct clustering of the indicators at the, individual level, whilst cohort analysis identifies different patterns of continuity and change across generations. José Ramón Montero is Professor of Political Science at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He obtained his doctorate in Law at the Universidad de Santiago and has taught, at the Universities of Granada, Santiago, Zaragoza, Cádiz and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He has been Visiting Professor at the Universities of Harvard, California at Berkeley, and Ohio State University, as well as Secretary and Dean of the School of Law, Universidad de Cádiz, and Deputy Director of the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas. Richard Gunther is Professor of Political Science at Ohio State University. He has a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley, and is co-Chair of the Subcommittee on Southern Europe of the Social Science Research Council. Mariano Torcal is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He holds a doctorate from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and a Ph.D candidacy in Political Science from the Ohio State University. He has been a Visiting Professor in the Department of Political Science at the Univeristy of Michigan, and Visiting Fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, Notre Dame University.     

An improved method for subtyping Pi in old bloodstains.

Immunofixation procedures were used for detecting alpha-1 antitrypsin protease inhibitor (Pi) phenotypes in bloodstains. Neuraminidase elution of bloodstains, together with isoelectric focusing, immunofixation, and silver staining techniques, makes possible Pi subtyping in old bloodstains. No extra bands appear when the storage time is no longer than three months.     

Foreign investiment in socialist Cuba: Significance and prospects

In February 1982, Cuba’s Council of State approved legislation that authorized some forms of foreign investment in the island. The legislation was largely ignored by foreign business that for nearly a decade showed scant interest in investing in Cuba. However, in the 1990s, foreign investiment in socialist Cuba has increased rapidly. The first part of the article gauges the economic significance of foreign investment in the context of the financial needs of the country. The second part touches on a number of issues that have a bearing on the further growth of foreign investment in Cuba. The article concludes with some general observations on the impact of foreign investment on the Cuban economy and prospects for the future. Jorge F. Pérez-López is an international economist with the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor. His writings on international economics issues— especially on the Cuban economy—have appeared in professional journals and several edited volumes. He is the author ofThe Economics of Cuban Sugar (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991),The Cuban Second Economy: From Behind the Scenes to Center Stage (Transaction Publishers, 1995), and editor and contributor ofCuba at a Crossroads (University Press of Florida, 1994). He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the State University of New York at Albany. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.     

Increased responsiveness of electric precipitation (electrosynerese) by means of a chemical method.

Electric precipitation is a method in serological diagnostics (determination of species-specificity). Since serum protein fractions (especially immunoglobulins) and extracts from blood stains migrate in agar-gel at pH 8.2--8.6 towards the cathode they cannot be used for the determination of the species specificity. By a chemical method using glutaraldehyde authors have produced an albumin-immunoglobulin complex, altering in this way the direction of electrophoretic mobility. Treatment of the blood samples with glutaraldehyde increases the sensitivity and realiability of the method.     

Online teaching and copyright from the European Union perspective in COVID times

China-EU Law Journal - Teaching may involve the use of copyrighted works. It is very important that teachers and professors know two things: (1) what kind of contents they can use in their classes;...     

Adjustments in municipal fiscal crises. Are they different according to the gender of the mayor?

The literature on gender has attempted to explain the differences between the public outcome depending on whether the ruler is male or female, on the basis that men and women have different preferences. This scientific research has not yet examined issues related to fiscal crises, and our research aims to fill this gap. In a context of generalised economic crisis, our research examines if the gender of the mayor affected the fiscal adjustment policies carried out by municipalities with fiscal deficits in the Spanish region of Galicia. Our paper suggests that although gender of the mayor does not seem to have affected the level of adjustment in total current expenditure, it does seem to have influenced the way in which social and non-social spending were adjusted. Our study also highlights that female mayors are associated with lower levels of tax revenues and this could slow the adjustment processes of fiscal imbalances.