Nondecision making and inertia in Portuguese health policy

Despite there having been a positive context for initiating health care reforms in Portugal in the past fifteen years (accompanied by political consensus on the nature of the structural problems within the health care system), there has been a lack of reform initiatives. We use a process-based framework to show how institutional arrangements have influenced Portuguese health care reform. Evidence is presented to demonstrate inertia and nondecision making in three critical areas of Portuguese health policy: clarifying the public-private mix in coverage and provision, creating financial incentives and motivation for human resources, and introducing changes in the pharmaceutical market. Several factors seem to explain these processes, namely, problems in the balance of power within the political system, which have contributed to a lack of proper policy discussion; a lack of pluralism in the formation of health care policies (with low participation from citizens and high mobilization among structural interest groups); and the low priority of health care in public sector reforms. Portuguese politicians should be aware of the pitfalls of the current political system that constrain participatory arrangements and pluralism in policy making. In order to pursue health care reform, future governments will need to counterbalance the strong influence of structural interest groups.     

Verhandlungssituationen in der EU: Eine theoriegeleitete Analyse der Gemeinsamen Fischereipolitik

Auf der Grundlage des akteurzentrierten Institutionalismus präsentiert der vorliegende Beitrag eine theoriegeleitete und empirisch angereicherte Analyse von Verhandlungsergebnissen in der EU am Beispiel der Gemeinsamen Fischereipolitik. Dabei fasst das zugrunde liegende Untersuchungsdesign die Verhandlungsergebnisse als die abhängige, die Präferenzen der Mitgliedstaaten, die Präferenzen der Kommission sowie den institutionellen Rahmen als die unabhängigen Variablen auf. Dieses Untersuchungsdesign wird dann empirisch an zwei wichtigen Verhandlungssituationen überprüft, die gleichzeitig mit der Kompetenzübertragung der Fischereipolitik auf die europäische Ebene einhergehen. In der ersten Verhandlungssituation geht es um die Einführung der Strukturpolitik und der Gemeinsamen Marktorganisation für den Fischereisektor im Jahr 1970. Bei der zweiten Verhandlungssituation steht die Einführung der Bestanderhaltungspolitik für die Fischbestände im Jahr 1983 im Mittelpunkt. Zusätzlich zu den Verhandlungspositionen der Regierungen der Mitgliedstaaten wird in diesem Beitrag anhand der Rolle der Kommission und der formellen (Einstimmigkeitsprinzip) und informellen Regeln (Schatten der Zukunft) gezeigt, wie sich diese Variablen auf die Politikergebnisse auswirken.     

A Growth Curve Analysis of the Joint Influences of Parenting Affect,Child Characteristics and Deviant Peers on Adolescent Illicit Drug Use

This study purports that parental rejection and warmth are critical to the development of adolescent drug use, and investigates a model that also considers children's vulnerability and deviant peer affiliations. It tests mediation through the proximal risk factor of deviant peers. Poisson growth curve modeling was used to examine participants from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY; N=2194) over 4 waves. Results indicated that parental rejection was positively related to drug use, whereas parental warmth was negatively related to it. Both effects were significant when child ADHD symptoms were taken into account. Parental rejection and warmth had differential effects over time. Deviant peer affiliations were positively associated with drug use, did not have a differential influence over time, and did not mediate the other effects. There was significant between-individual (level 2) variability in drug use. Results are discussed in light of adolescent perceptions of parent-child relationships. Research Interests: social and emotional development; family processes; adolescent problem behaviours; main area of work is about understanding risk and protective factors in typical and atypical adolescent development Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology, University of Toronto, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1V6, Canada Research Interests: social and emotional development; family interaction; child psychopathology; main area of work is about understanding emotion processes in children and in family life that help us to understand psychopathology in childrenDepartment of Human Development and Applied Psychology, University of Toronto, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1V6, Canada     

A Theory of International Conflict Management and Sanctioning

In this paper we analyze sanctioning policies in internationallaw. We develop a model of international military conflictwhere the conflicting countries can be a target ofinternational sanctions. These sanctions constitute anequilibrium outcome of an international political market forsanctions, where different countries trade politicalinfluence. We show that the level of sanctions in equilibriumis strictly positive but limited, in the sense that highersanctions would exacerbate the military conflict, not reduceit. We then propose an alternative interpretation to theperceived lack of effectiveness of international sanctions, byshowing that the problem might not be one of undersanctioningbut of oversanctioning.     

‘Bringing the state back in’: A political economy analysis of Portuguese immigration policy

Southern European states are recurrently represented as ‘safe havens’ for irregular immigration in face of powerless national governments. Drawing from an interdisciplinary approach combining the domestic politics approach and the political economy of migration, this investigation explores the effectiveness of the Portuguese policy towards labour and irregular inflows during the 1990s and the 2000s. Against the increasing exclusion of politics and national governments in immigration studies, this research focuses on the agency of the Portuguese state. This article associates the intensity of irregular inflows with the covert expansive approach towards immigration adopted by the Portuguese state, driven by economic objectives.     

Distribution of Y-chromosome STR defined haplotypes in Iberia

Seven Y-specific STR loci (DYS19, DYS389I, DY5389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392 and DYS393) were studied in five populations from the Iberian Peninsula: Andalusia, Valencia, Basque Country, Galicia and Northern Portugal. Haplotype and allele frequencies of these seven Y-chromosome STRs were estimated. Observed haplotype diversities are in a range between 0.96 (Basque Country) and 0.99 (Valencia and Andalusia). Significant population differentiation was registered between Basques and all the other Iberian populations and also between Valencia and Northern Portugal.     

Public policies against criminal assets in mexico: challenges and opportunities from the north border states

Crime, Law and Social Change - Given its vast border with the United States, Mexico is a strategic trade and economic development region, which creates significant challenges in combating crime and...