Demobilization of Paramilitaries in Colombia: Transformation or Transition?

Historically, Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reinsertion (DDR) has provided a useful means to terminate conflicts. Since being catapulted to office in August 2002 with 53 percent of the vote of 46.45 percent of the voters, ¹ 1. IFES Election Guide, available at (http://www.electionguide.org/results.php?ID=1011). Colombian President Álvaro Uribe has vigorously pursued a demobilization program, both individual and collective. However, despite the fact that over 40,000 combatants have demobilized under these programs, evidence is growing that this latest round of Colombian DDR is merely transitioning, rather than terminating, violence in that Andean country.     

Democratization without a State: Democratic Regime-building in Kosovo

This article examines the relationship between democratization and the state with reference to recent political developments in the non-state entity of Kosovo. Existing analyses of the role of the state in democratic transitions provide critical insights into the politics of democratization, but have suffered from a lack of consensus regarding the concept of the state itself. This study distinguishes three separate dimensions of statehood – recognition, capacity and cohesion – and argues that each has separate implications for transition politics. Analysis of democratic political development in Kosovo suggests two conclusions: first, that international recognition of statehood should not be viewed as a prerequisite for democratization, and second, that problems of state capacity or state cohesion present far more fundamental challenges to successful democratic regime change.     

Elections and landmark policies in Tanzania and Uganda

Much of the relevant literature on Africa downplays the salience of elections for policy-making and implementation. Instead, the importance of factors such as clientelism, ethnicity, organized interest groups, and donor influence, is emphasized. We argue that, in addition, elections now motivate political elites to focus on policies they perceive to be able to gain votes. This is based on analyses of six landmark decisions made during the last 15 years in the social, productive, and public finance sectors in Tanzania and Uganda. Such policies share a number of key characteristics: they are clearly identifiable with the party in power; citizens are targeted countrywide; and policy implementation aims at immediate, visible results.     

Psychometric Properties of Revised Conflict Tactics Scales: Portuguese Sibling Version (CTS2-SP)

The Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2, Straus et al. Journal of Family Issues, 17, 283–316, 1996) were conceived to measure Psychological Aggression, Physical Assault, Sexual Coercion, Injury and the use of Negotiation towards a partner in a marital, cohabiting or dating relationship. The CTS2-SP was designed for obtaining data on conflict tactics between siblings. The main objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the CTS2-SP Portuguese version. Data were collected among 590 Portuguese university students. Reliability was assessed through Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.65 to 0.81 for the perpetration scales and ranging 0.66 to 0.84 to victimization scales. Significant correlations between different forms of the CTS2 illustrate its construct validity. The psychometric characteristics of CTS2-SP Portuguese version were found to be adequate. The CTS2-SP offers a reliable and valid measure to be used within the Portuguese population.     

The causes of legal rents extraction: evidence from Spanish municipalities

This paper analyzes the causes of legal political rent extraction by using a direct measure of it, namely, local top politicians’ wages. In particular, we investigate whether local politicians’ incentives to extract rents by setting their own wages are influenced by the degree of political competition and voter information. We use a sample of the largest Spanish municipalities over the years 2008–2010. The results indicate that weaker political competition and lesser voter information are related to more rent extraction. In an additional analysis, we show that higher wages do not ensure better financial management. These findings confirm that when politicians can set their own salaries, higher wages do not mean better management, but they are just political rents.     

(Re-)Assessing Career Patterns in Multi-Level Systems: Insights from Wallonia in Belgium

This article proposes a new analytical framework for the study of political careers in multi-level systems. It is argued that the study of vertical movements between political arenas, which constitutes the prevalent methodological approach in the literature on political careers, should be complemented by the study of horizontal movements within political arenas. Based on a longitudinal analysis of individual political careers, the micro-approach developed in this article allows the comprehension of all territorial dynamics of political careers in multi-level systems. Based on an in-depth case study of all 419 Walloon careers in Belgium, four career patterns are identified: national careers, regional careers, multi-level careers and discrete careers. Although Belgium presents an integrated structure of opportunity, it is demonstrated that key evidences underline the prevalence of a regional and a national political class along a highly integrated political elites.     

The OECD and “The Rest”: Analyzing the Limits of Policy Transfer

Abstract

Prompted by the rise of the emerging economies and the growing importance of the G20, the OECD has formally announced its intention of establishing itself as a key actor in global policy coordination. As part of this ambition, it has embarked on cultivating closer relations with five G20 countries it designated as key partners through the so-called “Enhanced Engagement” programme: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa. This article mobilizes concepts from the policy transfer literature to explain why the OECD’s attempts to increasingly involve all five countries in its policy have fallen short of its original ambitions, and also why the transfer of its policy work has been uneven across policy and country issue.     

The Chilean big business lobby: a long-standing and major influence on public policy

Elements of the business lobby, particular sectors of big business and its peak associations, have been a continual influence, sometimes a dominant force, in Chilean politics since the second half of the 19th century. This prominence and sustained influence is particularly noteworthy since the 1930s, given the various forms of democracy experienced in Chile, the harsh military dictatorship of the 1970s and 1980s, and because the return to democracy in 1990 has meant increasing competition among interest groups. This article offers an explanation of the political significance of the big business community by reference to both common factors that shape the influence of business across political systems and especially the developments in Chile's political economy. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

STR data for the AmpFlSTR SGM Plus from the eastern and western sections of Mediterranean region of Turkey

Allele frequencies of the 10 STR loci (D16S539, D2S1338, D3S1358, vWA, D18S51, D21S11, D8S1179, D19S433, FGA and TH01) included in the AmpFlSTR SGM Plus kit were determined in 107 unrelated individuals from the eastern section and 108 unrelated individuals from western section of Mediterranean region of Turkey. The expected performance of these loci for personal identification and paternity testing in these populations were estimated.