Information Aggregation and Optimal Structure of the Executive

We model two aspects of executives in parliamentary democracies: Decision‐making authority is assigned to individuals, and private information is aggregated through communication. When information is relevant to all policies and communication is private, all decisions should be centralized to a single politician. A government that holds cabinet meetings, where information is made available to all decision makers, outperforms one where communication is private: A multimember cabinet can be optimal; it need not be single peaked around the most moderate politician or ideologically connected. Centralization is nonmonotonic in the degree of ideological divergence. In a large cabinet, all power should be given to the most moderate politician. Even when uncertainty is policy specific and a single politician is informed on each policy, power should never be fully decentralized. Our model provides a justification for centralized authority and cabinet meetings that enhance the quality of policy.     

Robotic prostheses as products enhancing the rights of people with disabilities. Reconsidering the structure of liability rules

The term ‘robot’ refers to a wide variety of devices, serving very different purposes. The case of robotic prostheses is considered here. After defining such devices, and briefly describing the technical peculiarities that characterize their functioning and distinguish them from traditional implants, their relevance with respect to the fundamental rights of people with disabilities is considered. Pursuant to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a claim is made that favouring the development of said applications may be required to subscribing states. In light of such considerations, the liability regime – namely that emerging from the Defective Product Directive – is analysed, in the attempt to determine – with a prospective analysis – the impact that said rules are likely to have on their development. The technology-chilling effect and the anticipated extremely complex evidentiary burden the user would have to face in order to obtain compensation lead us to conclude that legal reform is advisable. Some alternatives are considered, and in particular that of the development of a – partially – state-funded no-fault plan, intended to allow more ex ante certainty for producers and researchers (favouring the development of said devices), and prompt and adequate compensation to the victim in case an accident occurs.     

Secret Things and the Confinement of Walls

This article explores the under-examined issue of sexual abuse of children by women. It asks what are the conditions under which such things become knowable or when are they rendered unthinkable? The private sphere, marked by domestic walls, has been identified as the space most influenced and shaped by women. Its walls symbolise shelter and protection, and they are associated with the safety of all within. At the same time, however, the walls which constitute the private also enable a space within which women's actions can take place with limited oversight by others. Walls foster secrecy and what happens within can include elements of transgression. The sexual abuse of children by women—either their own or those entrusted into their care by others—is one such transgression. This article analyses a series of case studies derived from different historical sources in order to highlight how walls and the understandings of privacy that they support help to perpetuate a widespread belief that women can be unquestioningly trusted in their relations with children.