Making local government work better: How local and internationally sponsored institutions interact to influence performance in Bosnia‐Herzegovina

Why has international investment into reforming local governance in post‐conflict societies produced mixed results? Drawing on new institutionalism, the authors expect reform outcomes, even of comprehensive assistance, to be shaped by the interaction between new and old rules, an interaction mediated by local elites. This expectation is explored in three pairs of comparable municipalities in Bosnia‐Herzegovina. Using data collected through field research and an original index of local government performance, we find that most municipalities achieved incremental improvements in performance between 2005 and 2010. Differences can be explained by the varying endurance of old informal rules that antagonistically coexist with and undermine internationally proposed rules, as well as by the varying strength of local opponents of reform. The implication is that more effective promotion of local government performance requires more attention to and a long‐term approach to minimizing the constraints posed by informal rules and local actors opposed to reform.     

Effects of Institutional Reforms on Women's Representation in Colombia, 1960–2014

Starting in the 1990s, reforms aimed at addressing the underrepresentation of women have been implemented in Colombia. However, research on the consequences of these reforms has been inconclusive. This article analyzes the influence of institutional variables on the proportion of nominated and elected women in Colombia between 1962 and 2014, at both the national and local levels of government, in three different institutional environments. Results confirm the influence of institutional change, indicating that decentralizing reforms and the introduction of the gender quota have had a positive impact on the proportion of women's candidacies and elections, but that the adoption of the open list negatively affected the percentage of elected women.     

Student–Teacher Congruence in Reported Rates of Physical and Relational Victimization Among Elementary-School-Age Children: The Moderating Role of Gender and Age

The present study investigated the degree of congruence between student self-reports and teacher reports of relational and physical victimization and tested whether gender and age moderated these relations. Mixed effect regression models were conducted on a sample of 294 students (50.7% male) in Grades 2 to 5 and their classroom teachers. Results revealed that, despite its covert nature, greater agreement was found between students and teachers on reported rates of relational victimization. However, contrary to our expectations, teacher and student reports of physical victimization were unrelated. Greater agreement was also found among girls and teachers as well as between older students and teachers, however, on reported rates of relational victimization only. Implications are discussed in light of school-based intervention efforts to address peer victimization among students.     

A cost comparison study of using global positioning system technology (electronic monitoring) in a medium secure forensic psychiatric service

‘Electronic Monitoring’ (EM) uses devices to monitor individuals’ whereabouts. In 2010, South London and Maudsley medium secure unit introduced EM to monitor individuals on leave. Analysis after two years revealed EM was associated with increased unescorted leave and reduced leave violation; however, comparative costs were not established. This study aims to compare costs of EM for patients on leave by comparing average total cost per patient with and without EM. Costs were compared before and after implementation of EM. Total cost of leave for each group was divided by number of patients to generate average total cost per patient. The average total cost per patient without EM was £1702; £1617 with EM. Although cost decreased, this was not statistically significant. The results showed no significant difference between average total costs per patient before and after EM. The finding of EM being cost-neutral is cautiously optimistic. Further trials are recommended.     

The Purpose of Legal Theory: Some Problems with Joseph Raz’s View

This article seeks to clarify Joseph Raz’s contention that the task of the legal theorist is to explain the nature of law, rather than the concept of law. For Raz, to explain the nature of law is to explain the necessary properties that constitute it, those which if absent law would cease to be what it is. The first issue arises regarding his ambiguous usage of the expression “necessary property”. Concurrently Raz affirms that the legal theorist has the following tasks: (a) explain the essential properties of that which the concept of law refers to, which exists independently from any concept of law; (b) explain the essential properties of law given our concept of law. After trying to dissolve the ambiguity of Raz’s argument, I conclude that based on his methodological commitments the only possible task for a legal philosopher would be conceptual analysis, understood as the task of explaining our concept of law.     

Isolation in Times of Epidemic: Reflections for our Present from a Smallpox Epidemic in Concepción (Chile)

This article seeks to put in historical perspective the implementation of isolation measures such as quarantines, widely used today to tackle COVID-19. Based on an epidemic that affected the city of Concepción (Chile) in 1789, I analyse the isolation measures adopted by the authorities, the difficulties they had to face in their implementation, and their reception by the local population. It is concluded that lessons from history should take into consideration the dynamic interaction of the public and the private spheres that characterise the experience of the disease in any given epidemic.