Compulsory Licensing in Canada and Thailand: Comparing Regimes to Ensure Legitimate Use of the WTO Rules

This paper examines two recent examples of compulsory licensing legislation: one globally embraced regime and one internationally controversial regime operating under the same WTO rules. In particular, we consider Canadian legislation and the use of compulsory licensing for HIV/AIDS drugs destined for a developing country. This is then contrasted with the conditions under which Thai authorities are pursuing compulsory licenses, the outcomes of their compulsory licenses, as well as the likely impact of the Thai policy. Finally, we construct a rubric to evaluate characteristics of a successful regime. This is used to analyze the Canadian and Thai regimes and frame the expected implications of each national policy. It is hoped that the assessment will guide changes to compulsory licensing design to ensure that legitimate regimes are embraced while illegitimate ones are disallowed.     

Political Representation of Women in Northern Ireland

Increasing the political representation of women in Northern Ireland is part of fostering political pluralism. First, the political representation of women requires democratic participation and a justification of 'women' as a category. Second, specific factors of culture and the church unique to Ireland hinder women's participation in elected politics, and there are additional factors of class, violence, and nationalism that are peculiar to Northern Ireland. Third, gender quotas are successful elsewhere, but alone will not alter the powerful resistance to feminist change in Northern Ireland. Structures to encourage inclusionary politics must create spaces for political women to be transformative agents.     

The Steering Group as Policy Advice Instrument: A Case of “Consultocracy” in Stadium Subsidy Deliberations

This study considers the use of steering groups and private consultants as sources of policy advice to local governments. More particularly, our research addresses the combined role of a government-appointed working party and consulting firm in the deliberation process precipitating from proposals to renovate/re-build a sports stadium. Through this New Zealand-based case, we explore the political tensions arising from the Working Party's mandates to consult and its role as vehicle to market policy solutions. Data is gleaned from interviews with working party members (and their consultants), observations of public consultations and analysis of documents (e.g., background papers, reports, and press releases). Implications of this institutional arrangement are discussed in light of recurring logics, tensions and paradoxes. We first consider the Carisbrook Working Party as an instrument of policy advice and distinguish its founding logic from other forms such as task forces or commissions of inquiry. We further discuss the paradoxes of the Working Party's procedural and political imperatives including its roles as facilitators of the process, advocates of the “problem,”and as authoritative proclaimers of certainty.