Political Constitutionalism and the Question of Constitution‐Making

The debate on political constitutionalism has entirely neglected the constitution‐making dimension. This is probably due to the fact that constitution‐making usually brings with it undesirable outcomes such as the entrenchment of rights or structures. These outcomes do not respect reasonable disagreement among citizens because they violate the only fair system for settling disagreement: majority rule and equal voting rights. This article argues that political constitutionalists may regret the absence of any claim about constitution‐making. Either they are overlooking certain problems inherent to the electoral process that is supposed to tackle disagreement or, even worse, they are downplaying the entrenching effect of ordinary political processes by ignoring the redemptive properties of constituent power. In both cases, their claims undermine the political dimension of constitutionalism.     

Working women in France,nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Where,when, and which women were in work at marriage?

We look at women's labour force participation for the whole of France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We study to what extent young women were working at the time of their marriage, in which occupations, and how differences in labour force participation might be explained. Using a sample of 53,451 marriage records from the TRA project, we identify regional and temporal differences in rates of female labour force participation and in types of work in France between 1860 and 1986.We observe rather stable levels of female labour force participation between 1860 and 1950 of about 60 per cent, but higher levels in the second half of the twentieth century. Over time, women started to work across virtually all occupational sectors. Regional differences declined over time but continued to exist in the late twentieth century. We formulate a set of hypotheses to explain which women worked, taking into account their resources, as well as their expectations, in a male-breadwinner-dominated society. The results of our hierarchical logistic analysis indicate that women with fewer parental resources were more likely to work.     

Intellectual Capital and Public Management： A Bibliometric Analysis

Starting from the premise that public management, in the context from the emergent knowledge society, needs new forms to act and new tools to reach its objectives, this paper aims to find evidence of the adoption of the principles of intellectual capital under the public management, by raising scientific articles about the subjects, and aims to select theoretical referential about intellectual capital and public management, by bibliometric analysis. The processes presented 100 constant articles in the final portfolio, available in the data base Web of Science, Science Direct and Scopus. The bibliometric indicators show that the studies were published as from 1969, released by 15 international periodicals, written by 164 authors, used 241 key words related to the constructs of this study. It is believed that the identification of the main references helps the understanding of the foundations of this research field. Additionally, this paper provides many inputs that contribute to the comprehension of the subject at an international level, and that can be utilised in the development of future works.     

How Many Europes? Fragmentation in the European Space since the Great Recession

ABSTRACT

Since the Great Recession started in the late 2000s, the European Union (EU) has experienced an acute crisis that has triggered internal divisions among EU members. Three factors can help shed light on this tendency towards political fragmentation: economics and finance, culture, and territory. Each of these reveals a specific ‘geography’, in terms of policies and narratives, of the current malaise regarding the EU project and the limits of the Union in addressing issues important for the domestic debates of its members. Such discontent, as well as anti-EU sentiment, fuels strong political reactions including populism and anti-elitism that could further fragment the EU in the future.     

Hezbollah and the framing of resistance

Abstract

Hezbollah is a holistic network whose social, political, military and cultural dimensions are all parts of a discourse of resistance. Conducting a qualitative frame analysis of speeches by Hezbollah’s General Secretary Nasrallah, supported by interviews with Hezbollah leadership privy to its ideology, this study analyses the construction of muqawama (resistance). It argues that resistance is a complex social phenomenon, which can be manifested, for example, in the differences in how resistance is framed in varying contexts, often addressing different audiences. However, three unifying themes emerged from the frame analysis: diversity of resistance, normalisation of resistance and social dimensions of resistance.     

Reexamining the correlates of adolescent violent victimization: the importance of exposure, guardianship, and target characteristics

The present study examines the relative contributions of various theoretical constructs to violent victimization by operationalizing multiple measures of exposure to motivated offenders, guardianship, and target characteristics. Using a nationally representative sample of American adolescents, we conducted principal components factor analysis and logistic regression analysis to examine whether such measures do in fact represent empirically distinct constructs and if they are each correlated with violent victimization risk. Findings suggest that both nondelinquent and delinquent routine activities which expose adolescents to motivated offenders increase risk of victimization. In terms of guardianship, parental attachment appears to protect adolescents from victimization, although direct parental control actually increases risk. Finally, only one of four target characteristics-psychological vulnerability-was significantly associated with violent victimization risk. We discuss the implications for theory and future research in light of the findings.     

Hold your nose and vote: corruption and public decisions in a representative democracy

This paper analyzes how corruption alters policy decisions in democracy, and examines whether this distortion can result in a long-term persistence of corruption even when the voters are well informed and rational. By applying a citizen-candidate model of representative democracy, the paper analyzes how corruption distorts the allocation of resources between public and private consumption, altering the policy preferences of elected and nonelected citizens in opposite directions. The outcome is a reduction in real public expenditure and, if the median voter??s demand for public goods is sufficiently elastic, a reduction in taxes. In this case, some citizens benefit indirectly from corruption. The paper also presents some empirical evidence that, in democratic countries, corruption results in lower tax revenue, and proceeds to show that, when this occurs, citizens anticipating a shift in preferences in favor of public expenditure may support institutions that favor corruption. This result complements the findings of other studies that have attributed the persistence of corruption in democracy to some failure on the part of the voters or the electoral system. It also bears implications for developing effective anticorruption strategies and for redefining the role that can be played by the international community.     

Preliminary evaluation of the persistence of organic gunshot residue

The organic components of gunshot residue (OGSR, also called firearms discharge residue (FDR) or cartridge discharge residue (CDR)) have been studied and discussed in the literature. These residues, consisting of particulates such as burned and unburned powder as well as molecular compounds, are rarely used in casework except for purposes such as shooting reconstructions. Molecular compounds that survive the firing event or that are created as a result of the firing event could, with focused research and development, open a new avenue for forensic gunshot residue analysis. In this study, the persistence of organic gunshot residue was evaluated using diphenylamine (DPA) as a target analyte and ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) as the detection system. Samples were collected from hands using a solvent swabbing technique and the swab was analyzed using direct thermal desorption for sample introduction into the IMS. OGSR was found to persist for at least 4h. Although DPA is a widely used industrial compound, analysis of numerous blank and background samples (n～100) did not show any significant response for DPA using this detector. Variations were noted among individuals and as such, the data set does not support estimation of a half-life as has been done for traditional primer residues. No secondary transfers were observed, suggesting the possibility of skin adhesion via interactions between the lipophilic organic compounds and skin lipids. IMS proved valuable as a means of generating patterns for forensic pattern matching and shows promise as a screening tool applied to firearms discharge.     

Comparison of GSR Composition Occurring at Different Locations Around the Firing Position

Abstract: Variations in gunshot residue (GSR) compositions are used in the reconstruction of shooting incidents. In this study, GSR samples taken from seven different locations around and in the firearm were collected and analyzed using scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X‐ray analysis. Four different types of ammunition were applied. Very low correlations were found when different ammunition were used. This clearly shows that it is possible to differentiate between ammunition types. When the same ammunition was used, high correlations were found between samples taken from external positions (such as hands of shooter, bullet‐entrance holes) but poor correlation was found between internal samples (such as firearm barrel, cartridge case) and external samples. A high degree of association was found between samples that simulated victim and shooter. These findings clearly demonstrate that GSR comparison studies are meaningful but care needs to be taken when choosing suitable exhibits. External samples (such as hands of shooter, bullet‐entrance holes) are more suitable candidates than internal samples (barrel of the firearm, cartridge case).