La construction institutionneIIe des reagions du Québec

Sommaire: En visant le développement régional, l'État québécois est passé dune phase d'aménagement du territoire à une phase de management régional de programmes nationaux ainsi que de biens et de services collectifs. L'émergence ou la localisation d'organisations publiques, parapubliques et collectives entre l'État et les municipalités traditionnelles ont occasionné, en fait, la construction institutionnelle des régions. Douze composantes caractérisent cette construction et offrent des criteres de différenciation entre les deux écheions que sont les régions administratives et les régions mrc. Grke à la mesure de l'occupation institutionnelle de ces deux niveaux régionauu, l'article illustre plusieurs phénomènes, dont le degré de construction de cliaque région du Québec. Les auteurs exposent les causes des inégalités ainsi que les tendances actuelles. Abstract: In its efforts towards regional development, Quebec has gone from a phase of physical planning to a phase of regional management of national programs as well as collective goods and services. The emergence or the placing of public organizations at the levels between local municipalities and the state has in fact given rise to the institutional organization of regions. This concept is characterized by twelve components which differentiate between the tier of administrative regions and the tier of the mrc regions. With the degree of the institutional occupation of these two regional levels, this ptper illustrates several phenomena, in particular the degree of achievement in the organization of Quebec regions. The authors expose some causes of inequalities in the achievement of organizations in these regions and the actual tendencies.     

A positive domestic violence screen predicts future domestic violence

The objective of this study was to determine if a brief screen for domestic violence (DV) predicts future violence. We conducted a cohort study of adult women who presented to an inner-city emergency department during an 8-week study period. Participants were screened for DV using the Partner Violence Screen (PVS). At 4 months, follow-up telephone interviews were conducted: rates of verbal and physical violence were measured using the modified Conflict Tactics Scale. Relative risks of violent events (physical and verbal) were calculated. Of the 215 women who enrolled, 36 (16%) had an initial screen positive for DV. Ninety-six women participated in the follow-up phase; of these women, 9% had screened positive for DV. At 4 months, women with DV were 11.3 times more likely to experience physical violence and 7.3 times more likely to experience verbal aggression. The study's screen identified women at high risk for subsequent physical violence and verbal aggression.     

Representation and voter participation

This paper presents results from a study of turnout in the 1994 European Parliament elections which inserted several new questions into the post–election Eurobarometer, including some open–ended questions. It distinguishes between circumstantial and voluntary abstention and shows how each type varies depending on the institutional arrangements for the election. Using both the subjective reasons given for abstention and a range of more objective measures of attitudes, it makes the case that conventional views as to the impact of Sunday–voting and the proportionality of the electoral system and as to the non–impact of attitudes to the European Union need to be modified. It concludes by identifying some practical institutional and political measures that could encourage higher levels of participation.