The Solitary Center: the Core Executive in Central and Eastern Europe

This article discusses the coordinative capacity of Centers of Government (COGs) in several Central and Eastern Europe countries. In formal terms, COGs are at the heart of the executive process; but their contribution to coherence in executive policymaking has remained limited. This observation applies both to coordination within the executive, and between the executive and other key participants in the political process. In important respects, the "solitary centers" operate in isolation from their political and institutional environment. In part, this weakness of linkage reflects the particular features of the post-Communist political systems; in part, it can be explained by a lack of nodality, authority and policy expertise at the COG. There are good reasons to assume that, as policy systems mature, problems of linkage will decline in significance. But this outcome cannot be taken for granted. Instead, we might be witnessing the emergence of a "new administrative type" in some Central and Eastern European countries.     

Maidens at risk: 'date rape drugs' and the formation of hybrid risk knowledges

The ill-defined set of substances and behaviours collected under the name 'date rape drugs' present an opportunity to rethink risk management and the ways in which risk is studied in governmentality analyses. We borrow and develop Bakhtin's notion of the 'chronotope' - the spatially specific temporality constituting each literary genre - to understand how the risks associated with certain illicit drugs consumed by youth at weekend parties are thought of as inhering in a chronotope rather than in some chemicals. This chronotope, like most others, is gendered, but the gender-specific character of both the risks of partying and the friendship networks mobilized to prevent mishaps is denied by the educational materials: risks are simultaneously gendered and de-gendered.The insights generated by this study highlight the importance of relying on a more flexible toolbox for doing research on knowledges of risk.     

Trajectories of European Politics: An Introduction

This article introduces a specially commissioned issue of West European Politics marking the journal's 30th anniversary. It highlights profound changes in the European political landscape over the last three decades, including the fall of Communism; progressive European integration; territorial restructuring; public sector reforms at European, national, regional and local levels; changes in democratic participation, protest, elections, political communication, political parties and party competition; and challenges to the welfare state. The special issue also discusses how political science has responded to these changes in terms of its substantive focus, concepts, methods and theories. Many of the 17 contributions included in the special issue identify important challenges for the future, including those challenges stemming from EU integration, the reduced electoral accountability of politicians, the problematic legitimation of party government and the sharpening of the edges of the state.     

Characterization of the variant allele 9.2 of Penta D locus

DNA profiles of forensic cases of Córdoba Province, Argentina, typed by PowerPlex 16 kit (Promega), have shown in the Penta D locus few samples with a variant allele migrating as an off ladder between alleles 9 and 10. In order to determine the molecular basis of the new variant allele, three samples were subject to polymerase chain reaction amplification of the Penta D locus by monoplex, and were further purified and sequenced. The sequence analysis revealed that the off ladder allele has ten repeats motifs AAAGA as allele 10, with three nucleotides (TAA) deletion in the 3' flanking region, 128 nucleotides after the last repeat. Therefore, the variant allele could be explained by a deletion of allele 10, and was designated 9.2. Mse I digestion assay allows to corroborate allele 9.2 without sequencing. A population study in Córdoba Province indicates that allele 9.2 of Penta D locus has a frequency of 0.0063.     

A case of multiple assignments (paternity/maternity) in an equine-out breeding system

Recently, the use of DNA markers has provided a more accurate method of identifying individuals and verifying parentage. In this report, we describe foal assignment in a farm bred jumping horses (Silla argentino). Ten mares were freely served by two stallions, resulting in nine foals. Weaning occurred without registration of the mare of each offspring, resulting in a failure to identify either the mare or the sire of each foal. Animals were typed using 12 microsatellite systems and four biochemical polymorphisms in order to determine the paternity/maternity of each foal. We used the CERVUS program to evaluate the parentage of each offspring. It was possible to determine maternity in eight cases, and paternity in all of them. We concluded that this set of codominant markers analyzed following a likelihood-based approach included in the CERVUS package, are useful tools to solve parentage assignments in domestic horses.     

EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATIONS: APPLICATIONS TO CUSTODY AND PARENTING TIME CASES PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION IN HENNEPIN COUNTY,MINNESOTA

A program to apply Early Neutral Evaluation (ENE), a confidential, settlement‐oriented and accelerated alternative dispute resolution technique, to child custody and parenting time cases has been cooperatively developed by Hennepin county Family Court Services and the Minnesota Fourth Judicial District Family Court. Parties are referred by the court to a male/female team of experienced neutral evaluators for early feedback on the probable outcome of a full evaluation and an opportunity to negotiate a settlement. It has proven to be a highly successful program in its first 2 years, with the majority of cases reaching an early settlement. The ENE program reduces the stress and expense of custody disputes for clients, expedites judicial case management, maximizes Family Court Services staff efficiency, and focuses subsequent evaluations on critical issues.     

Studying Law by Association: Bruno Latour Goes to the Conseil d'État

This essay provides an overview of actor-network theory (ANT) and its potential interest for sociolegal scholars. It focuses on Bruno Latour's 2002 ethnography of La fabrique du droit: une ethnographie du Conseil d'État [The factory of law: an ethnography of the Conseil d'État] (2002b), which provides an analysis of the workings of the French Conseil d'État. The essay seeks to introduce non-French-reading sociolegal researchers to this work and draws out methodological and theoretical implications for research on legal institutions, legal knowledge, and bureaucracies.     

Intimate Partner Homicide in Portugal: What Are the (As)Symmetries Between Men and Women?

European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research - There is consensus that intimate partner homicide (IPH) is a gender crime and that it is one of the most extreme forms of violence. This study...     

Metropolitan Planning Organizations: Findings and Recommendations for Improving Transportation Planning

With the enactment of the Intermodal Surface TransportationEfficiency Act in 1991, metropolitan planning organizations(MPOs) became more important institutions for planning and fundingregional transportation systems. This study attempts to assessthe success of MPOs in four fast-growing areas- Dallas/Ft. Worth,Denver, Phoenix, and Seattle-in meeting regional transportationneeds. The research identifies the criteria that distinguishmore successful from less successful MPOs-effective leadership,staff competence and credibility, quality public involvement,development of a regional ethos, streamlined and efficient processes,cooperative relationships with the state DOT, land-use coordination,and accountability to members–and offers suggestions forimproving transportation planning.