Remembering Civil Patrols in Joyabaj, Guatemala

During the civil war in Guatemala, which only ended with the signing of the comprehensive Peace Accords in December 1996, the military organised the male population throughout the Guatemalan highlands into civil defence patrols (Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil, PAC). Initially set up to help the military to win the war, they eventually evolved into a local power player in their own right. Although the patrols were dismantled in 1996, former patrols still influence daily life. This paper examines how, at the municipal level, current memories of the civil war, especially of the civil defence patrols, still shape perceptions, actions, and social relations. These are marked by fear, prejudice, and distrust, thereby creating important impediments for erasing the legacy of violence and building local democracy and civil society.     

A variable geometry of enforcement?

This paper locates the control of fraud against the Community budget within the wider context of the tensions engendered by fiscal crises and successive enlargements of the European Union. Funds allocated to the Member States for agriculture, whether in the form of subventions or structural grants, take up more than half of total budget expenditure, so the Common Agricultural Policy has been at the heart of the discussion on budgetary control. Since the 1980s the Common Agricultural Policy has been blamed for the repeated fiscal crises affecting the Community budget, and for frauds and irregularities. In this historical context, the control of fraud has not been static, but has gone through distinct phases, beginning with benign neglect in the 1960s and 70s, followed by transitional and active phases up to and including today's media focus on the Community budget, and the fraud affecting it. The paper analyses the prospects for future enforcement.     

Evidenz und Expertise im vorparlamentarischen Gesetzgebungsprozess: Die Rolle von Verwaltung und externen Experten

Der Evidence‐Based Policy‐Ansatz hat international Reformen ausgelöst und Studien zum Verhältnis von Wissen und Politik angestossen, wobei ein klares Verständnis von “Evidenz” nach wie vor fehlt. In diesem Artikel wird eine Typologie politikrelevanter Wissensarten entwickelt, die zwischen systematischer Evidenz und personengebundener Expertise sowie zwischen den Politikdimensionen Policy, Politics und Polity unterscheidet. Auf dieser konzeptionellen Grundlage wird empirisch erfasst, welches Wissen die Verwaltung und externe Experten während der bisher kaum untersuchten Frühphase von Gesetzgebungsverfahren auf Bundesebene beitragen. Es zeigt sich, dass die federführenden Verwaltungsakteure kaum über Expertise verfügen, die für den Gesetzgebungsprozess relevant wäre, doch versuchen sie, ihre Wissenslücken je nach Dimension unterschiedlich zu kompensieren. Externe Experten leisten einen bescheidenen Wissensbeitrag, weshalb ihre Beteiligung primär als Mittel für die politische Kompromissfindung verstanden werden muss. Dies eröffnet aus demokratietheoretischer Sicht Diskussionsbedarf.     

Ten years in the United Nations: Where does Switzerland stand?

Prior to its full membership in the United Nations, Switzerland was an active observer and even an active member of many specialized UN agencies. However, ten years ago, Swiss voters finally approved full UN membership and in 2002, behavioral data started to become available on Switzerland's involvement in the major UN assemblies. Switzerland was admitted to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) as a full member on September 10th, 2002 and was elected to the newly created UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in 2006. Switzerland wished to be an active partner in both of these assemblies. In this research note we describe, based on novel data collected on the UNGA and the UNHRC, how Switzerland positions itself in the “orchestra of nations.”     

Incomplete contracts and competition: another look at fisher body/general motors?

In this paper we analyze the problem of the enforcement of incomplete contracts with endogenous outside options. Some of the equilibria we outline may reverse one of the main results presented in the standard literature. We then revisit the literature on the highly debated Fisher Body/General Motors merger and suggest an explanation based on GM??s need to control the Fisher brothers?? outside options.     

Semiconductor chips, genes, and stem cells: new wine for new bottles?

This Article analogizes early semiconductor technology and its surrounding economics with isolated genes, stem cells, and related bioproducts, and their surrounding economics, to make the case for sui generis (of its own class) intellectual property protection for isolated bioproducts. Just as early semiconductors failed to meet the patent social bargain requiring novelty and non-obviousness in the 1980s, isolated genes and stem cells currently fail to meet the patent bargain requirements of non-obviousness and eligible subject matter that entitle them to traditional intellectual property protection. Like early semiconductor chip designs, nevertheless, the high cost of upstream bioproduct research and development, coupled with the need to sustain continued economic growth of the biotechnology industry, mandates that Congress provide some level of exclusive rights to ensure continued funding for this research. Sui generis intellectual property protection for isolated bioproducts would preserve the incentive to continue innovation in the field. As illustrated by the semiconductor industry, however, such sui generis protection for this technology must include limitations that address the need to provide an appropriate level of public access to facilitate downstream product development and enrich the public domain.     

Examining the moderating role of family cohesion on the relationship between witnessed community violence and delinquency in a national sample of adolescents

Witnessed community violence has been linked to a number of internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescents. Guided by Cicchetti and Lynch's (1993) ecological-transactional model, this study aimed to examine the impact that family-level factors had on negative outcomes associated with witnessed community violence. Using a nationally representative sample, we explored the moderational role of family cohesion in the relationship between witnessing community violence and delinquent behavior while taking demographic variables into account. Results from the investigation suggested that low levels of family cohesion were predictive of delinquency after controlling for race, gender, past delinquency, and direct trauma. In addition, the findings suggested that family cohesion moderated the impact of witnessed community violence on future delinquent behavior. Future directions for research and implications for practice were also discussed.