The Determinants of Vote Intentions in Portugal

This paper offers new insights on theinteractions between economics and politicsin Portugal. We use two unexplored datasets consisting of monthly polls on voteintentions for the main political partiesin Portugal and responses to a consumersurvey containing a battery of questions oneconomic evaluations. The analysis coversthe interval from 1986 to 2001. We findthat: (1) right-wing governments arepenalized for higher inflation while theleft-wing ones are not, (2) left-winggovernments are more penalized forincreases in the unemployment rate; (3)voters base their evaluations ofincumbents' performances on perceptions ofpast and current economic conditions,rather than on expected future economicoutcomes.     

Technological Change,Globalization and the Europeanization of Rights

In contrast to civil and political rights, and to economic and social rights, which have been constructed and guaranteed within the framework of the nation-state, the new rights that aim to respond to opportunities and risks arising from new information and communication technologies, biotechnologies or, more generally, technology-based industrial development, are emerging in a context characterized by the strengthening of trans-national forces and dynamics (so-called 'globalization') and the erosion of state sovereignty. The state's loss of power and autonomy to regulate economic and social activity, as well as to protect individual rights, has been accentuated in the European Community (EC) as a result of a process that to a certain degree anticipated contemporary global tendencies. The EC appears, therefore, as a privileged observatory of the possible impact of globalization on the contents of rights, whether 'classical' rights or new rights, such as the rights of access to information, new forms of intellectual property or rights to be consulted or to participate in decision-making about environmental risk. My main objective in this article is to analyze recent developments in the EC's legal framework of informational and environmental policies with a view to evaluate how opportunities for individual and collective action and welfare, made possible by new information and communication technologies or claimed by environmentally alert citizens, are being defined in the form of rights recognized to individuals or social groups.     

Tactiques d'influence des cadres supérieurs dans la fonction publique québécoise

Sommaire: Cette étude considère neuf tactiques utilisées par les gestionnaires de la fonction publique québécoise pour tenter d'influencer, dans la direction des réultats désirés, les comportements et les actions de leurs supérieurs et de leurs subordonnés: la confiance, le raisonnement, la flatterie, la coalition, la compensation, la pression, la réglementation, le parrainage et la coercition. Les résultats montrent que le raisonnement et la pression sont les tactiques d'influence les plus populaires qui s'appliquent à tous. Deux tactiques se partagent le troisième rang: les cadres s'appuient sur la réglementation pour influencer leurs supérieurs, tandis qu'ils pratiquent la flatterie à l'égard de leurs subordonnés. Les résultats révèlent aussi que le choix des tactiques d'influence est conditionné par d'autres facteurs que le type d'agents visés. Abstract: This study considers nine tactics used by Quebec civil service managers to try to influence in the desired direction the behaviour and actions of their superiors and subordinates: trust, reasoning, flattery, coalition, remuneration, pressure, regulation, mentorship, and coercion. The results show that reasoning and pressure are the most popular influence tactics that apply to everyone. Two tactics share third place: officials use the regulations in order to influence their superiors, while practising flattery towards their subordinates. The results also reveal that the choice of influence methods depends on factors other than those intended.     

L'herméneutique juridique entre hermétisme et dogmatisme. Le jeu de l'interprétation en droit

Sans résumé     

Homicide by a Forensic Female Sample in Brazil: A Preliminary Study

The objective of the study was to evaluate the mental status of all women (n = 14) who were acquitted by reason of insanity of charges of murder or attempted murder and committed to a forensic psychiatric hospital in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. All cases were retrospectively examined, including medical files, technical records, and forensic experts' official reports. A conclusive psychiatric diagnosis was established using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐IV Axis I and II Disorders and clinical and forensic records. The most common diagnosis was schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorders (n = 8; 57.3%). Most victims (n = 12; 75%) were close relatives of the patients. We found that 43% (n = 6) of the patients had a previous history of violent behavior. According to the initial psychiatric forensic evaluation, 5 patients (35.7%) had psychotic symptoms. It is expected that a growing understanding of motivational factors underlying homicidal behavior in mentally disturbed female offenders may further the implementation of effective preventive and therapeutic interventions.     

Measurements of the Foramen Magnum and Mandible in Relation to Sex Using CBCT

The purpose of this study was to evaluate pre‐existing CBCT images of a large sample of adult females and males to provide data on foramen magnum and mandibular measures of sexual dimorphism for use as a reference sample in cases of establishing identity in unknown fragmentary skulls. The study group consisted of 161 adult patients. 3D images of the patients were assessed retrospectively. FM measurements were obtained from reformatted axial sections. Six mandibular measurements were taken. According to the results, the study identified four mandibular measurements as final predictors of sex which are as follows: the gonial angle (G‐angle) and ramus length (Ramus‐L), gonion–gnathion length (G–G‐L) and bigonial breadth (BG‐Br). It was found that the cross‐validated grouped overall predictive accuracy was 83.2% for FM and mandible measurements. It could correctly identify males in 77.3% and females in 87.4% of the cases. To assess sexual dimorphism, the gonial angle and ramus, gonion–gnathion lengths, and bigonial breadth of the mandible and sagittal diameter of the FM may be used on CBCT images.     

Tempering the EU? NGO advocacy in the Area of Freedom,Security, and Justice

The European Union's (EU) area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) portfolio comprises policy areas such as immigration and asylum, and police and judicial cooperation. Steps were taken to bring this field into the mandate of the EU first by the Maastricht Treaty, followed by changes implemented by the Amsterdam and Lisbon Treaties, the last one ‘normalizing’ the EU's erstwhile Third Pillar. As the emergent EU regime continues to consolidate in this field, NGOs of various kinds continue to seek to influence policy-making and implementation, with varying success. This article seeks to establish the context in which NGOs carry out their work and argues that the EU-NGO interface is impacted both by the institutional realities of the European Union and the capacities of EU-oriented NGOs to seize and expand opportunities for access and input into the policy cycle. Using EU instruments representing three different policy bundles in AFSJ (immigration, asylum and judicial cooperation in criminal matters), the article seeks to map out NGO strategies in engaging and oftentimes resisting European Union policy instruments.