Political Institutions,Policymaking, and Policy Stability in Latin America

In some Latin American nations, policy change occurs frequently, while in others it is stable, less prone to shifts with the prevailing political climate or shocks. The conditions under which institutional rules and the powers of key actors influence the capacity for governance vary, and this variation is seldom addressed in the literature. This project examines the effects of the interactions between key policymakers (the executive and the legislature) in Latin America on policy stability across different institutional frameworks. Countries with simultaneously strong executives and weak legislatures are shown to have unstable policy environments, as are countries with a history of unified government and, to a lesser extent, candidate‐centered electoral systems.     

Prolegomenon to a Southern Jurisprudence

It is good to take stock from time to time and to see how things stand in jurisprudence. So, what is the relationship of doctrine and theory with jurisprudence? Is private law theory apolitical while public law contains politics for the very many constitutional ends in the Global South? In India, legal theorist Chhatrapati Singh very originally asked if legal systems and normative systems were the same? Chhatrapati’s enquiry was however a species of the classical approach to the law that promotes the law’s purity. On the contrary, the postcolonial approaches account for the historical life as well as the political proclivities of the law. The private law theory often seen as impersonal and non-imperial comes under scrutiny in the postcolonial approaches. Duncan Kennedy and Roberto Unger notably problematized contract theory, while Upendra Baxi argued for mass tort as public law—contract and tort are both private law—to offer, if you will, a jurisprudence of the South. A southern jurisprudence essentially rejects an impersonal reading of the private law.

     

Self‐Strangulation Turning into Partial Hanging for a Suicide Victim

Hanging is the most common asphyxial method of suicide, whereas suicide by strangulation is unusual. Here, we are reporting a particular methodology of the asphyxial method of suicide in which a case of self‐strangulation culminated into partial hanging. A 30‐year‐old male wrapped one end of the cable wire around his neck. He then passed the other end over a curtain rod and tied that end around the right hand. He pulled the hand down, using the curtain rod as a fulcrum, to tighten the noose around the neck in an attempt to strangulate himself. However, he lost consciousness during the process and the body slipped down, pulling the right hand up which got stuck at the curtain rod. This led the body hanged in the kneeling position. This bizarre scenario raised suspicion of homicide but the crime scene, autopsy and victim characteristics were in favor of suicide.     

More Norms,Less Justice: Refugees,the Republic,and everyone in between

The paper argues for conflating refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) as two sides of a work-in-progress postcolonial state. To be sure, aliens, refugees, IDPs, and stateless persons are separate legal entities. Nevertheless, this fragmented normative regime stands testimony to more laws and less justice. Many Asian states have no domestic refugee law. India, a common law system, takes a case by case approach as refugees are given “temporary shelter on humanitarian considerations”. Ironically, a work-in-progress postcolonial state sustains even de jure citizens as de facto stateless persons; the erstwhile Indo-Bangla enclaves for more than half a century were an apt example. Surely, the raison d’être of international law on refugees is to end human suffering, if needed, by transcending the absence of positive laws. A constitutional and political desire to minimise human suffering alone could cut the rigour of such positivist legal narratives. The Delhi High Court seemingly walked that path in Koul v Estate Officer noting “refugees and IDPs appear to be similarly situated”. Rising terrorism has made states increasingly believe in a security narrative all the same. A simultaneous emergence of a demographic anxiety particularly in India’s North-eastern states increasingly pits aliens and refugees against the domiciled indigenous and tribal people.     

Preliminary evidence on the determinants of Federal Reserve open market operations

We are grateful to Marcelle Chauvet, Marvin Goodfriend, Stefano Manzocchi, Jiannis Venieris and an anonymous referee for comments. The usual caveat about errors applies.     

Insect faunal succession on decaying rabbit carcasses in Punjab, India

Insect faunal succession on decaying rabbit carcasses was carried out at Punjabi University, Patiala (Punjab), India, from March 1997 to December 1999. Four stages of decomposition were recognized, i.e., fresh, bloated, decay, and dry. A total of 38 insect species belonging to four orders and 13 families were recorded. Diptera, Coleoptera, and Hymenoptera dominated the carrion fauna. Calliphorids were the first to arrive in all the seasons of the year. Five species of Calliphoridae, four of Sarcophagidae, ten of Muscidae, and one each from Anthomyiidae and Otitidae were observed on rabbit carcasses. Representatives of six Coleopteran families, i.e., Staphylinidae, Histeridae, Cleridae, Dermestidae, Tenebrionidae, and Silphidae, were recorded. Eight species belonging to family Formicidae (Hymenoptera) were also collected during the present studies. Only one species of Lepidoptera was observed on carrion.     

Primer residue analysis of ammunition of Indian origin by neutron activation analysis

The primer residues of ammunition manufactured in India have been analysed by neutron activation analysis (NAA). Since NAA is rather insensitive for lead, attention was confined to the elements antimony, barium, copper and mercury. The element/element combinations detected in significant amounts were (Sb), (Ba, Hg), (Ba, Cu, Sb), (Cu, Hg, Sb) and (Hg, Sb). The present study reveals the presence of Hg from mercury fulminate in priming compositions long discontinued in most ammunition of foreign origin. The presence of Hg can be advantageous in certain situations where the matrix on which the residue is deposited contains high levels of antimony such as clothing made of synthetic fibres. Caution is also required in interpreting the Cu values as being solely due to a jacketed projectile.