Are “We” More Punitive than “Me”? Self-Construal Styles,Justice-Related Attitudes,and Punitive Judgments

Cross-cultural as well as procedural justice research suggests that an interdependent self-construal is connected to more justice-related concerns, more moral outrage following observed unethical behavior, and a preference for effective but constructive sanctions. Independent self-construal, on the other hand, is expected to be connected to weaker moral reactions toward injustice, but also to preferring punitive over constructive forms of sanctions. Two studies were conducted in which dispositional self-construal was measured. In Study 2, self-construal was also manipulated with a priming procedure. Results show that interdependent self-construal is connected to stronger emotional reactions toward injustice, to social and moral concerns, to preferences for constructive forms, but also to retribution-oriented goals of punitive sanctions. Independent self-construal, on the other hand, goes along with fewer moral concerns, lower punitiveness, but more draconic attitudes.     

Trends and Constraints of Partial Democracy in Latin America

This article analyses the mixed forms and results of the institutionalisation of partial democracy in conjunction with free market policies in the last two decades in Latin America. It assesses trends and constrains in domains with important implications for the quality of democracy in the region, by asking the following questions: Is there an unequivocally new political and administrative culture or are older cultures proving to be resilient? Are the new means of delivering what have hitherto been regarded as public goods facilitating democracy, or hindering it? And are new constitutional arrangements and their legal corollaries and consequences facilitating participation and the formation of democratic public spheres? Posing these questions and looking for answers in the actual processes of democratisation and the introduction of free-market policies, moves analysis from the realm of models of democracy to the realm of democratic practice and highlights the ensuing tensions with the models of democracy adopted and shared with the core countries of the developed West. This research was supported by a generous grant from the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation (1999-2002), which is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like to thank the participants of the workshop on 'Limits of politics, market crises and social disintegration' (Centre for Latin American Studies, Cambridge University, 29-30 November 2002), as well as the editorial board of Cambridge Review of International Affairs and the anonymous readers, for their criticisms and constructive remarks.     

The 2016 Austrian Presidential Election: A Tale of Three Divides

The 2016 Austrian presidential election was remarkably different than the previous ones in the history of the country characterized by its stable political system. Not only did it open the role of president in Austria to debate, but it also sidelined the two political parties that had dominated Austrian politics since World War II. Alexander Van der Bellen won the election with one of the closest margins in recent history. This article argues that the election divided the country in more than one way. Besides the near 50–50 divide between the candidates, the results show that it generated important dynamics in territorial politics as well, notably in the states and cities of Austria. These results point towards a party system transformation in Austrian politics.     

Correction to: Abstract rules for complex systems

European Journal of Law and Economics - The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The name of corresponding author Mario Mario Rizzo was incorrect. The correct name...     

Entrepreneurial universities in two European regions: a case study comparison

An entrepreneurial university is a natural incubator that tries to provide a supportive environment in which the university community can explore, evaluate and exploit ideas that could be transformed into social and economic entrepreneurial initiatives. Entrepreneurial universities are involved in partnerships, networks and other relationships to generate an umbrella for interaction, collaboration and co-operation. Rapid developments in science, the multidisciplinary nature of frontier research, legislative changes such as the Bayh–Dole Act and demands from business and society have shaped knowledge-based entrepreneurship within universities. Despite sharing similar historical backgrounds, economic conditions and cultural and social structures, entrepreneurial universities in most countries remain distinct from one another by their institutional arrangements, traditions and characteristics unique to each organization. Interestingly, no comparative research has been conducted to understand the similarities and differences of the conditioning factors and the outcomes/outputs of entrepreneurial universities in different regions that share similar social, economic and political conditions. This paper addresses this research deficit, adopting institutional economics and resource-based view. We compare entrepreneurial universities in two European regions (Spain and Ireland) using an in-depth qualitative approach based on multiple case studies (two Spanish universities and two Irish universities) between 2006 and 2010. The findings provide organizational practices and approaches relevant to the transformation process of other regional universities seeking to become entrepreneurial.