Populist polarization and the slow death of democracy in Ecuador

This article analyses how the interactions between a strong populist government in Ecuador and a weak, divided, and inefficient internal opposition in a context of weak liberal institutions could lead to what Guillermo O'Donnell termed “the slow death of democracy”. Rafael Correa was elected with a substantive project of democratization understood as economic redistribution and social justice. His administration got rid of neoliberal policies and decaying traditional political parties, while simultaneously co-opting social movements, regulating civil society, and colonizing the public sphere. Because the judiciary was subordinated to Correa, social movement activists, journalists, and media owners could not use the legal system to resist Correa's crack down of civil society and regulation of the privately owned media. They took their grievances to supranational organizations like the Organization of American States. When these organizations stepped in to challenge Correa, his government denounced imperialist intervention in his nation's internal affairs, and advocated for the creation of new supranational institutions without US presence.     

Is there a need to regulate mediation? The English and Welsh case study

The use of mediation in England and Wales is nowadays an accepted and common practice within the alternative dispute resolution industry. Credited professionals have been performing the duties of a mediator in different fields of legal disputes; however, despite the positive perception of mediation, this area remains unregulated. So far, the rules applying to mediation in England and Wales originate from case law and contract between the parties. Such a scenario is not shared by other countries in which mediation has been regulated through an Act covering either private or judicial mediation. This article examines the current mediation scenario in England and Wales to assess whether there is a need to give it a statutory character in a similar manner to other jurisdictions.     

Brazilian Parliament and digital engagement

ABSTRACT

This paper examines how new technologies are employed by the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies to stimulate experiences of digital engagement. It also evaluates how new technologies are put in practice by the institution, considering its potentialities and limitations in mediating the relationship between the parliament and the citizens. This analysis is anchored in concepts put forth by Polsby about arena parliaments and transformative parliaments, in order to evaluate which of these models of engagement tools have greater potential. The study concludes that the use of digital technologies by the Brazilian Parliament is very diverse, with a variety of tools that allow for the interaction and engagement of citizens, although these tools have the greatest potential for the arena parliament model.     

Origin of blood ethanol in decomposed bodies

Problems related to blood contamination by other postmortem fluids in decomposed bodies (DB) make the interpretation of medicolegal blood alcohol levels (B EtOH) a very difficult task. So the aim of this paper is to show the utilization of vitreous humor (VH) as the biological fluid for an unequivocal determination of ethanol origin in DB for forensic purposes. Alcohol was determined in VH, blood (chest fluid-CF) and urine (Ur) collected from 27 DB in different states of putrefaction. A simple head-space gas-chromatographic method was used. In fifteen cases alcohol was found to be of endogenous production due to its absence in VH. In the twelve remainders, alcohol was detected in VH and CF in an atypical distribution. Examining the reliable scene and historical information together with the analytical data, ethanol origin in these cases was classified: endogenous production (3 cases), ingested (2 cases), both (2 cases), contaminated plus endogenous production (3 cases) and unable to determine (2 cases). According to the results obtained it was possible to conclude that alcohol analysis in VH is fundamental for determining the origin of ethanol detected in CF of DB.     

Testing for Cointegrating Relationships with Near-Integrated Data

Testing theories about political change requires analysts tomake assumptions about the memory of their time series. Appliedanalyses are often based on inferences that time series areintegrated and cointegrated. Typically analyses rest on Dickey–Fullerpretests for unit roots and a test for cointegration based onthe Engle–Granger two-step method. We argue that thisapproach is not a good one and use Monte Carlo analysis to showthat these tests can lead analysts to conclude falsely thatthe data are cointegrated (or nearly cointegrated) when thedata are near-integrated and not cointegrating. Further, analystsare likely to conclude falsely that the relationship is notcointegrated when it is. We show how inferences are highly sensitiveto sample size and the signal-to-noise ratio in the data. Wesuggest three things. First, analysts should use the singleequation error correction test for cointegrating relationships;second, caution is in order in all cases where near-integrationis a reasonable alternative to unit roots; and third, analystsshould drop the language of cointegration in many cases andadopt single-equation error correction models when the theoryof error correction is relevant.     

Social heterogeneity and wasteful lobbying

Using a general equilibrium model with endogenous policy, we explore how heterogeneity affects wasteful lobbying by sectoral interest groups. With the help of a simulation approach, we first investigate the impact of information heterogeneity on how lobbies react to a shift from a soft to a strict government budget constraint. Next, we examine how lobbying is influenced by heterogenous perception of the general equilibrium implications of lobbying effort. Finally, we explore the consequences of heterogenous specialization in households' asset portfolios. We conclude that social heterogeneity in information, perceptions, and portfolio compositions increases incentives to lobby.     

Reviews

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