New Institutionalism: Distilling some 'Hard Core' Propositions in the Works of Williamson and March and Olsen

The efflorescence of work on new institutionalism has encouraged scholars to build bridges between various schools of thought. Such cross-fertilisation enlivens the debate but runs the risk of erecting bridges on shaky foundations. My article seeks to minimise this risk by going back to basics. It narrows the field of inquiry to the economic and the sociological institutionalist tradition represented by Williamson on one side, and the collaborative work of March and Olsen on the other. It explores and assesses their contribution on three interrelated issues fundamental to any analysis of political institutions: the goals attributed to institutions, the theory of action and the commitment to methodological individualism versus methodological holism. I conclude by noting that in the transition from the old to the new institutionalism – as represented in the works of these authors – the role of power conflicts, negotiations and bargaining between individuals seems to have lost its central position.     

The Speed of Global Flows and the Pace of Democratic Politics

The claim I want to make in this article is, in short, first, that democratic theory for the most part has seriously neglected the temporal preconditions of liberal democracy and, second, that it therefore fails to adequately grasp some fundamental aspects of the crisis of democratic self-determination in the contemporary global age. In its first part, the article seeks to demonstrate that the history of modernity is an ongoing process of social acceleration and that most of the phenomena we currently grasp under the concept of “globalization” can in fact best be understood as instances or consequences of the latest wave of social acceleration. In the second and main part of this article, the consequences of this acceleratory character of modernity for the plausibility, legitimacy and possibility of political democracy are systematically explored. The main argument is that the speed-up of society at first enabled and supported democratization, but beyond a certain critical threshold, the reverse effect occurs: the speed of social change and the dynamics of socioeconomic development threaten to undermine the proper functioning of democracy. Thus, it is my claim that democracy only works properly within a certain time- or “speed-frame” of social change. From this, I conclude that what is called for in the Age of Globalization is a new critical theory of acceleration, the contours of which I briefly sketch out in the third and last part of this essay.     

The Open Method of Coordination in the New Member States—the Perspectives for its Use as a Tool of Soft Law

Abstract:   The open method of coordination (OMC) has introduced a shift with the traditional legal instruments set up by the Treaty. Its introduction was initially supposed to favour more 'flexibility' and 'openness' in the community legal order. After a presentation of the OMC, this article intends to provide an assessment of the OMC's implementation in the ten new Member States. It displays that the OMC is sometimes far from his initial purposes, and in consequence needs to a certain extend, to adapt some of the guidelines and to clarify its legal bases. It concludes with a critical appraisal of the use of the OMC as itself, which should be imbricated in the community.     

Analysis of hair after contamination with blood containing 6-acetylmorphine and blood containing morphine

The study was carried out to investigate external contamination of hair by blood in heroin-related post-mortem cases. Solutions were prepared containing 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5 and 3.0μg/mL of 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-AM) only or morphine only in human blood. Samples of approximately 3.2g of drug-free hair were contaminated by soaking in the blood solutions for 5min. They were then removed and left at room temperature. Approximately 0.5g of hair was collected from each of the blood soaked hair samples at 6h, 1, 2, 4 and 7 days after contamination. As each hair sample was collected it was shampoo-washed to prevent further drug absorption. Hair samples were analysed in triplicate using a fully validated method described previously. 6-AM broke down to morphine in all samples. In hair contaminated with blood containing 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2μg/mL 6-AM or morphine drug was either not detected or was detected below the limit of quantitation (0.2ng/mg hair) at all contamination times. In hair contaminated with blood spiked with 0.5μg/mL morphine, the concentration in hair ranged from 0.54 to 0.91ng/mg and in hair contaminated with blood spiked with 3.0μg/mL, from 3.25 to 5.77ng/mg. The concentrations of 6-AM ranged from 0.65 to 1.11ng/mg and morphine from 0.34 to 0.80ng/mg in hair contaminated with 0.5μg/mL 6-AM in blood. 6-AM ranged from 2.12 to 3.67ng/mg and morphine from 0.84 to 2.05ng/mg in hair contaminated with 3μg/mL 6-AM in blood. For 6-AM and morphine ANOVA statistical evaluation showed no significant difference among the concentrations over time.     

Results of the 2003-2004 GEP-ISFG collaborative study on mitochondrial DNA: focus on the mtDNA profile of a mixed semen-saliva stain

We report here a review of the seventh mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) exercise undertaken by the Spanish and Portuguese working group (GEP) of the International Society for Forensic Genetics (ISFG) corresponding to the period 2003-2004. Five reference bloodstains from five donors (M1-M5), a mixed stain of saliva and semen (M6), and a hair sample (M7) were submitted to each participating laboratory for nuclear DNA (nDNA; autosomal STR and Y-STR) and mtDNA analysis. Laboratories were asked to investigate the contributors of samples M6 and M7 among the reference donors (M1-M5). A total of 34 laboratories reported total or partial mtDNA sequence data from both, the reference bloodstains (M1-M5) and the hair sample (M7) concluding a match between mtDNA profiles of M5 and M7. Autosomal STR and Y-STR profiling was the preferred strategy to investigate the contributors of the semen/saliva mixture (M6). Nuclear DNA profiles were consistent with a mixture of saliva from the donor (female) of M4 and semen from donor M5, being the semen (XY) profile the dominant component of the mixture. Strikingly, and in contradiction to the nuclear DNA analysis, mtDNA sequencing results yield a more simple result: only the saliva contribution (M4) was detected, either after preferential lysis or after complete DNA digestion. Some labs provided with several explanations for this finding and carried out additional experiments to explain this apparent contradictory result. The results pointed to the existence of different relative amounts of nuclear and mtDNAs in saliva and semen. We conclude that this circumstance could strongly influence the interpretation of the mtDNA evidence in unbalanced mixtures and in consequence lead to false exclusions. During the GEP-ISFG annual conference a validation study was planned to progress in the interpretation of mtDNA from different mixtures.     

Investigation of Italy's deadliest building collapse: forensic aspects of a mass disaster

We describe the investigation of the 1999 collapse of an apartment building in Foggia, Italy. Sixty-one victims were recovered in the rubble of the building, and five people were unaccounted for. All the bodies were well preserved except for two who had been burned. The majority of the victims were identified visually or by comparing body features, clothing, or personal effects with information collected from relatives or friends. Positive identifications of the two victims who were burned were obtained by dental comparison and DNA analysis. Approximately half of the victims (51.6%) sustained fatal injuires, while the remainder died from asphyxia. The injuries were characterized using the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and the New Injury Severity Score (NISS) systems. Injury severity associated with the location of victims inside the apartment may provide useful information for those involved in building design and/or search and rescue operations. Engineers determined that the collapse was the result of the use of inappropriate foundation material.     

Raíces Del Sur: Cultivating Ecofeminist Visions in Urban New Jersey

ABSTRACT

Significant research has been devoted to analyzing community gardens, including their benefits and problems. This article contributes to debates about community gardens by using concepts from feminist geography and food justice research to reflect upon the challenges and possibilities of community gardening in small, peripheral cities with large immigrant populations. We argue that these concepts provide a useful framework to enact ecofeminist visions through community gardens, especially in places dominated by immigrant populations that are particularly marginalized in the present political era. Our case study garden, Raíces Del Sur, was located in the City of Passaic, a low-income, post-industrial urban center surrounded by suburbs in Passaic County, New Jersey. As activists involved in the making of the Raíces Del Sur community garden to different degrees, and as researchers committed to an ecofeminist vision, we draw attention to the need for greater ecofeminist engagement with community gardening initiatives in cities throughout New Jersey.     

Changes in the dimensions of political competition in Europe and their impact on citizens’ engagement via Facebook

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on a little-explored area of research, seeking to explain how political changes influence the participation of citizens in the social networks of local governments. In the context of the recent upsurge of anti-system movements and political parties in the European Union, we analyse a new set of data on participation via local governments’ Facebook pages during a turbulent period in European politics. The results obtained show that when a local government is affected by changes in political competition there is a greater degree of citizens’ engagement through social networks. Our analytical framework shows that this increased engagement is directly associated with the vulnerability of political parties, especially when the governing party loses its absolute majority and is constrained or prevented from carrying out political initiatives.     

Distribution of 6-monoacetylmorphine and morphine in head and pubic hair from heroin-related deaths

There is limited published data to aid interpretation of analytical findings from hair analysis. The aim of the study was to collate 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-AM) and morphine concentrations in head and pubic hair from heroin users and to propose reference ranges and relate these to the amount of heroin used. The ratio of morphine-to-6-AM was also investigated. A total of 82 head hair samples divided into 173 segments of various lengths and 15 pubic hair samples were collected at postmortem from heroin users. The hair was analysed using a previously published method. A statistical evaluation demonstrated that in head hair, the lower, middle and upper concentration ranges of 6-AM were 0.1–0.9, 0.9–12.5 and 12.5–154.1 ng/mg and those of morphine were 0.1–0.8, 0.8–6.0 and 6.0–36.3 ng/mg. In pubic hair, the lower, middle and upper concentration ranges of 6-AM were 0.2–0.5, 0.5–2.3 and 2.3–18.2 ng/mg and those of morphine were 0.2–0.4, 0.4–2.4 and 2.4–13.3 ng/mg. The morphine-to-6-AM ratio showed a large variation. The ratio tended to decrease from proximal to distal segments. The statistical results suggest low, middle and high concentration ranges which we propose can be used for estimating the amount of heroin consumed into corresponding low or occasional, regular or habitual and heavy or excessive drug use. The ratio of morphine-to-6-AM showed great variation and did not support the proposal that a ratio less than 0.77 is needed to prove ingestion of heroin.