What Makes a Key Player in Interorganizational Social Policy Networks? The Case of Uruguay

ABSTRACT

Networks of organizations involved in public policy implementation require strong interaction, concerted action and high degrees of collaboration to be effective. However, little is known about how different types of organizations involved in implementation of multi-sectoral social policies interact in these networks. In this article the relationship between organizational characteristics and network position is explored, as well as how the intensity of collaborations can also determine organizations’ involvement in networks. The nature of funding (public/private) and the remit of activity of organizations are found to determine their influence and importance in social policy networks. Furthermore, the network position of the organizations also depends on the level of intensity of their interactions. These results can guide public administrators when developing and promoting networks to involve a particular type of actor and also policymakers as to which types of ties are more aligned with the implementation of a particular policy.     

Women and Reparations

Reparations for victims of gross human rights violations arebecoming an increasingly acknowledged feature in post-authoritarianand post-conflict societies coping with the legacy of a violentpast. Despite some recent progress much more work needs to bedone for massive reparations programs to respond better to theneeds of women. This article, resting as it does on a comprehensiveconception of reparations, outlines both the procedural andsubstantive components of reparations programs necessary forthe programs to fulfill the goal of providing (partial) justiceto women.     

Fire debris analysis and scene reconstruction

During the summer of 2010 near a little village in the south of Italy, a fire destroyed a piece of brushland without any apparent economic importance. The remains of a fire-setting tool were found at the point of origin of the fire. It was started using a well-planned and methodical approach. The analytical results demonstrated a sophisticated and effective incendiary tool designed to leave little evidence that could identify the offender. The action and the purpose of the arsonist were clear but the basic motivation was unpredictable. The burned area was without any relevant economical interest. It was burnt during the past and has not been used for any cultivation or sheep farming but in the region there was evidence of bushfires that had been lit to stimulate the growth of forest fruits to be harvested for sale.     

The Capability Approach and the Debate Between Humanist and Political Perspectives on Human Rights. A Critical Survey

This paper provides a critical exploration of the capability approach to human rights (CAHR) with the specific aim of developing its potential for achieving a synthesis between “humanist” or “naturalistic” and “political” or “practical” perspectives in the philosophy of human rights. The “Polemical Context: the Debate Between Humanist and Political Perspectives on Human Rights” section presents a general strategy for achieving such a synthesis. The “The Capability Approach to Human Rights” section provides an articulation of the key insights of CAHR (its focus on actual realizations given diverse circumstances, its pluralism of grounds, its emphasis on freedom of choice, its demand for public reasoning, its context-sensitive universalism, and its broad view of obligations). These insights go some way toward the achievement of the desired synthesis. But, as explained in the “Need for Further Development of the Approach” section, in its current form, CAHR faces two serious objections by the defenders of the political perspective: the gap between capabilities–interests and rights objection and the disconnect from practice objection. Answering these criticisms requires some amendments to CAHR. The “Recommending a Contractualist Framework of Normative Reasoning” section suggests a response to the first objection based on the introduction of a contractualist framework of justification. The “Recharacterizing the Cosmopolitanism Inherent in the Humanist Standpoint” and “Focusing on a Three-Dimensional Picture in the Search for Deliberative Reflective Equilibrium about Human Rights” sections tackle the second objection by introducing a recharacterization of the cosmopolitan standard underlying the humanist perspective and by identifying the differences and relations between various dimensions of a conception of human rights and their significance for actual political practice. The paper illustrates the practical implications of CAHR, in its modified form, for the pursuit of some important rights.     

Aid and Sectoral Growth: Evidence from Panel Data

This article examines empirically the proposition that aid to poor countries is detrimental for external competitiveness, giving rise to Dutch disease type effects. At the aggregate level, aid is found to have a positive effect on growth. A sectoral decomposition shows that the effect is (i) significant and positive in the tradable and the nontradable sectors, and (ii) equally strong in both sectors. The article thus provides no empirical support for the hypothesis that aid reduces external competitiveness in developing countries. A possible reason for this finding is the existence of large idle labour capacity that prevents the real exchange rate from appreciating.     

Spain: The fragile democracy

The attempted military coup of 23 February 1981 underlined the fragility of democracy in Spain, recently restored after forty years of dictatorship by General Franco. The article argues that the ultimate reason for Spanish democracy's precarious state lies in the existence of a traditionally interventionist Army, an Army not identified with the values and ideals of democracy. A minority of right‐wing officers thought that terrorism by the Basque group ETA, the regional problem, and the political disenchantment of many Spaniards, related to the decline of Suárez, called for a new intervention by the Army against the legally constituted democracy.