Legitimacy and Internet in the Judiciary: A Lesson From the Italian Courts' Websites Experience

Judiciaries in democratic countries have been facing problemsof low legitimacy due to increasing judicial activism. Traditionalforms of accountability have shown to be inadequate to the presentsituation. The purpose of this article is to examine whethereasy access to information on judicial systems, courts’activities and cases available through the Internet can increaselegitimacy. Although websites can be a tool to enhance accountability,transparency, legality and representativeness of the judiciary,the results of this article show that this is not always thecase. The authors hypothesize that enhancements occur when certaincombinations of four core elements (organization of the webservice provision, access to information, content, and users)take place. Based on an examination of all websites of threejudicial systems, we seek to provide an initial outlook on theuse of websites in facilitating legitimacy, and a contributionto knowledge in the field of courts and ICT.     

Case report of a homicide by a shotgun loaded with unusual ammunition

Reported is the case of a man killed by a neighbor with a shotgun loaded with a unusual ammunition. The cartridge contained several shots chained together by metallic wires. Such ammunition has been used for hunting purposes but is now banned, so it can be handmade only. The joined pellets produce a wound with features that are different from those of a wound made by a regular load of pellets. Several interpretive problems are caused by the unknown number of pellets contained in the shell and the effects of the wire holding the shot together.     

Business Angel and risk capital： The impact on innovation

The aim of the analysis is to understand if the risk capital carried by Business Angels （B.A.） could affect firms with high innovation propensity in creating more innovations than receiving risk capital from other financial operators. Innovation is a critical factor for the competitiveness of national system especially when the economy of the latter has come to maturity. For realizing ＂the successful exploitation of ideas, into new products, processes, services or business practices, and the critical process for achieving two complementary business goals of performance and growth, which in turn will help to close the productivity gap＂ （DTI＇s Innovation Report, 2003, p. 8）, firms have to understand which are the right competences to increase. In this context, the authors have developed a framework that measures the propensity to innovate in the firms. The model considers the firm＇s competences （grouped into four macro areas as management, organization, ITC and marketing） to improve the creation, development and diffusion of the innovation. The work is structured as an empirical analysis as follows： （1） The authors analyzed a sample of 12 business plans （choices for high level of innovation in their business） that received risk capital from B.A. and other financial operators; （2） For each firm, their innovation propensity is measured through the author＇s model during their start-up period （the data analyzed are business plan＇s data）; （3） After a period of time （3 years）, the authors checked if the firms with high innovation propensity have created real innovation and if a correlation exists between risk capital origin （from Business Angels or not） and innovation propensity. The conclusion of the work is the finns with B.A.＇s risk capital have a high innovation propensity and create after a medium term period more innovation compared with the others.     

Integrating Rijeka into socialist Yugoslavia: the politics of national identity and the new city’s image (1947–1955)

This article investigates the politics of national identity implemented in Rijeka after World War II, when the city was integrated into socialist Yugoslavia. These national and political transitions posed various challenges to the consolidation of the Yugoslav Communists’ power. The nationalities policy embedded in the slogan “Brotherhood and Unity” was the official answer to the national question, promoting collaboration among the Croatian majority, the Italian minority, and other national communities in the city. This article focuses on the definition of postwar Rijeka’s image, investigating the relationship between Yugoslav socialism and national identities in everyday political practice. The negotiation of the representation of national identities in a socialist society led to ambivalences, contradictions, and contentions expressed in and through Rijeka’s public spaces, highlighting the different orientations of cultural and political actors. The process of building socialist Yugoslavia in this specific borderland context reveals the balance and tension between the multinational framework and the integrative tendencies pertaining to the legitimization and consolidation of the socialist system.     

Perilous presidentialism or precarious power-sharing? Hybrid regime dynamics in Myanmar

ABSTRACT

Although Myanmar's transition from military rule has been thoroughly studied, research into the evolving presidential system is lacking. This article maps Myanmar's unique hybrid form of presidentialism and characterises executive-legislative relations between 2012 and 2017. It not only examines institutions themselves but also explores how actors within them have acted and shifted strategically. It is argued that elite-behaviour determines how institutions work. Myanmar's 2008 constitution imposed by the military established a hybrid presidential system with a formally powerful president. The first phase under President Thein Sein saw competitive yet cooperative executive-legislative relations between President Thein Sein and the ambitious House Speaker Shwe Mann, both members of the former military regime. However, this power-sharing arrangement of former members of the military regime became increasingly fragile with the rise of Aung San Suu Kyi and her attempt to change the 2008 constitution. After the election victory of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the passage of the state counsellor law, a de facto semi-presidential system was established – Burmese style. Since then, the frontline has been between the civilian and military parts of the administration.     

A Responsibility to Profit? Social Impact Bonds as a Form of “Humanitarian Finance”

ABSTRACT

Recent years have seen the emergence of social impact bonds (SIBs), geared toward funding social interventions while earning financial returns. The article proposes to conceive of SIBs as a practice of contemporary humanitarianism. In an effort to trace the politics of such humanitarian finance, the article analyzes a SIB that sought to improve outcomes for homeless persons in London. It argues that, instead of relying on sentimental stories, the project was animated by a results-oriented, technocratic culture geared at solving social problems (rather than just alleviating suffering). Its mode of reasoning, however, directed attention to highly vulnerable individuals – and away from the structural conditions that perpetuate poverty. But at the same time, the scheme reworked exclusionary constellations “from within.” Thus, such humanitarian finance simultaneously performs a relation of inequality and a relation of assistance. The article makes the case for an ongoing engagement with both dynamics.