Regionalism in the Global South: Mercosur and ECOWAS in trade and democracy protection

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to analyse the performance of regionalism in the Global South through a comparative analysis of Mercosur and Ecowas with regard to the trade and democracy protection agendas, by contrasting their institutional design and regional leadership concerning the two issues. Firstly, it analyses the evolution of intra-regional trade as well as the trade agenda of each bloc concerning international negotiations with other states or economic blocs. Secondly, it discusses the relevance of democratic stability in the two regional organisations and how each organisation has performed in cases of democratic rupture in member states. When comparing the dynamics of the two organisations, we argue that differences in terms of institutional design and regional leadership have meant that Ecowas has been less ambitious than Mercosur in its trade agenda, but more decisive vis-à-vis the region’s democratic stability. Thus, this article aims to contribute to the comparative regionalism literature, setting out an analytical comparative framework for assessing the performance of regional organisations, which remains a difficult task for this particular research agenda.     

The International Security Involvement of Federated States: Comparing Massachusetts,Illinois and Flanders

Application of the federal principle of shared sovereignty to external security policies directed against foreign states can easily give rise to a situation in which the federation ceases to be an indivisible subject in an international setting. This can in turn lead to conflicts between the two levels. A comparison of three instances of sanctions adopted by federated states–the sanction policies of Massachusetts in support of the democratisation of Myanmar/Burma (1996–2000), the divestment policies of Illinois in opposition to the governmental policies of Sudan (2006-), and the participation by Flanders in Belgian and European sanctions in protest against the Freedom Party's participation in the Austrian government (2000)–confirms this thesis.     

Science and Politics in the Regulation of Genetically Modified Organisms in Brazil

This paper analyzes the regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Brazil, focusing on the debates that preceded the enactment in 2005 of the current Biosafety Law and the factors (both domestic and international) that influenced the policy‐making process. More specifically, it identifies the social and governmental actors that influenced the congressional debates, showing how their interests and agenda were translated into two different institutional frameworks. Here, the policy outcome was what we call a “hybrid” and “conciliatory” regulatory model, which formally acknowledges the importance of both technical/scientific and social/political considerations in the evaluation of GMO biosafety and engages most of the stakeholders in the regulatory process. The new policy regime also establishes a middle ground between the conflicting demands of promoting agricultural development and protecting the country's biodiversity.     

Islamic faith-based development organizations in former Soviet Muslim environments: the Mountain Societies Development Support Programme in the Rasht valley,Tajikistan

This article aims to examine the modus operandi of the Aga Khan Foundation and its Mountain Societies Development Support Programme (MSDSP) in Tajikistan's Rasht valley. As one of the few non-governmental development programmes from the wider Islamic world in an area where the Sunni beneficiary base is of a different Islamic tradition than the Ismaili Shi'ite community the Foundation is connected with, the MSDSP gained importance and legitimacy as a rehabilitator and provider of public services and social infrastructure that were once provided by the state. The article pays particular attention to the ways of transcending the Sunni–Ismaili divide between aid providers and beneficiaries, as well as to more recent social changes which increasingly challenge the MSDSP's use of traditional local institutions for programme implementation.     

How Reliable are Parenchymal Tissues for the Evaluation of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning? A Pilot Study

Dealing with burnt bodies, the forensic pathologist must first of all answer the question whether the victim was alive at the moment of the fire. This study aims at clarifying whether some human solid tissues may be reliably used for the forensic diagnosis of Co poisoning on burnt bodies providing no collectable blood during the autopsy. From 34 selected cases, both cardiac blood and parenchymal samples were collected to perform CO‐oxymeter, spectrophotometry, and gas chromatography tests: blood CO estimations (blood COHb% and blood[CO]) and parenchymal[CO] values have been compared with special focus on R values. The solid tissues having the best correlations with blood CO amount turned out to be the lung (R 0.84), the liver (R 0.83), the kidney (R 0.79), and the spleen (R 0.92).     

The Effects of Regional Sizing on Growth

In this paper, a micro-founded model dealing with the effects of regional sizing on economic growth is developed. Departing from bigger sizes, reduction involves more efficient public choices because of proximity to individual preferences and needs, but also creates the risk of underestimation of the real profitability of public expenditure by local governments due to cross border spillovers and “predator” behaviors. Hence the optimal size depends on the relative strength of both effects. Moreover, we show that different institutional arrangements between fiscal tiers involve different results for each possible size. Using data from the Spanish regions during the period 1984–1996, the relationship between productive spending and jurisdiction size is then analyzed.     

Tinker, Tailor, Policy-maker ... ... ... The Wider Context of Prosecution Service Work

This article explores the wider ambit of prosecutorial work outside classic criminal proceedings in 11 European criminal justice systems. It provides an overview of the roles a prosecutor is expected to play, e.g. whether a contribution to national or local crime prevention policy or to act in victim’s interest is expected. It further provides detail as to the setting within which prosecutors work, describing in how far they are politically accountable and/or subject to orders in their daily work.