La sumisión del poder público al derecho en el civil law y en el common law: estado de derecho,rule of law y su expansión al ámbito internacional

Generally regarded as synonyms, the Rule of Law and the Rechsstaat are different. There are between the two legal institutions substantial differences that we must distinguish rigorously. The idea of the public power submission to the law —expressed through both theoretical constructions— has gone beyond the State borders and, progressively, made its way into international scenario. For some authors, the root for the application of the principle of the Rule of Law to interstate relationships, within international society, could date back to the XVIII century. However, it was until a few years ago that the Rule of Law analysis, from a sttrictly international point of view, started to take off. In this article the author analyzes the differences between the Rechsstaat and the Rule of Law in order to study the extension of these conceptions and how it could be applied to highlight the preeminence of law at international level.     

La ley natural y su falta de determinación. apuntes sobre la teoría clásica de la determinación del derecho natural

In classical philosophy only a fragment of the legal system is natural law. The natural precepts are solely a little part of the normative system of civil societies. Even though the natural principles are the fundament of positives rules, the iusnatural norms are not sufficient for the regulation of all aspects of human life. They are “indeterminate”. This is the reason of the need the normative power of State, of judges and particulars.     

Shaping the Scope of Conflict in Scotland’s Fracking Debate: Conflict Management and the Narrative Policy Framework

This study applies a narrative lens to policy actors’ discursive strategies in the Scottish debate over fracking. Based on a sample of 226 newspaper articles (2011–2017) and drawing on key elements of the narrative policy framework (NPF), the research examines how policy coalitions have characterized their supporters, their opponents, and the main regulator (Scottish government). It also explores how actors have sought to expand or contain the scope of conflict to favor their policy objectives. Empirically, only the government strives for conflict containment, whereas both pro‐ and anti‐fracking groups prioritize conflict expansion through characterization contests and the diffusion and concentration of the costs/risks and benefits of fracking. In theoretical terms, the study proposes that Sarah Pralle’s conflict management model, which emphasizes symmetrical strategies of conflict expansion by both coalitions, is a potential tool to revise extant NPF expectations about the different narrative strategies of winning and losing coalitions. Moreover, the fact that policy actors mostly employ negatively rather than positively framed characters in their narratives may be a valid expectation for similar policy conflicts, particularly under conditions of regulatory uncertainty.     

Revolutionary Movements in Latin America after the Cold War: The Case of the Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo

This article addresses the debate concerning the reasons for the emergence of revolutionary movements in Latin America in the post‐Cold War period. It uses the example of the Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo (EPP, Paraguayan People's Army) to question the hypothesis by McClintock that, whereas political factors were the principal cause of such movements during the Cold War, economic factors have dominated since then. After reviewing the structural context in which the EPP emerged, as well as its history, strategy and ideology, the article offers a contemporary understanding of the insurgency, examines its relevance to the debate about the prospects for revolution in post‐Cold War Latin America and proposes a reformulation of McClintock's hypothesis.     

The expansion of the nuclear family unit in Great Britain between 1910 and 1920

This article deals with the evolution of the image of the individual and of family structure within every social class in Great Britain between 1910 and 1920, not only because of the influence of the Great War but also of the effect of new social legislative steps taken by the Radical Liberal government. Its essential findings are that the power of males declined in the aristocracy when they were faced, on the one hand, by the increasing attention and concern for children, and on the other hand, by the social, cultural, moral, and political part played by mothers within smaller working- and middle-class family units. Such units were regarded as the crucible for the regeneration and strengthening of the whole British society.     

Las fuentes de conocimiento de lo jurídico*

The basic concept of law which was built on that of the state’s sovereignty has been transformed in such a way that can be no longer recognised as operable in the reality of politics. a great number of social changes have contributed to such a transformation; such as politic and internal social pluralism, the latter contradicts the idea of sovereignty and cohesion; the establishment of alternative centres of power which coexist with the state; the institutionalisation of contexts integrate their branches of power beyond those of the state –and consequently, they are becoming unavailable both for individual states-; and for individuals to claim their rights before international jurisdictions. This paperwork analyses formal legal sources from this perspective.     

Reconsidering the southern Europe model: Dowry, women's work and marriage patterns in pre-industrial urban Italy (Turin, second half of the 18th century)

This paper aims to investigate and analyse the impact of the dowry and the endowment system on marriage and household patterns and on the labour market in 18th century Turin. At the same time it enquires into the reliability of the northern/southern Europe pattern for the study of this topic. Two points are developed. Firstly the paper shows that the dowry system coexists with a relatively high age at marriage because of the specific role played by the dowry in Turin society. Indeed, this was not a once-and-for-all established asset but was a negotiable and flexible resource that could be manipulated by the different actors concerned in the endowment. Moreover, the payment did not always take place immediately upon marriage, nor was the money quickly available. At the same time the paper examines the economic role of dowry in Ancien Régime households: by means of a juridical procedure couples could alienate this property, and use or invest it to ensure their well-being and/or their economic situation. Finally, the second part investigates the relationship between the dowry system and the participation of young girls and married women in the local labour market: their significant and crucial presence demonstrates that the dowry and its expectation was not a sufficient incentive to keep them out of the labour market.     

Historia patria and the construction of the mestizo nation in Porfirian Mexico: the Fiestas del Centenario, 1910

Abstract

My contribution to the Special Edition seeks to examine two key aspects of the ideological underpinnings and cultural presumptions of the liberal project of state- and nation-building as interpreted by the elective dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz in Mexico (1876–80, 1884–1911), and its specific manifestation in the commemorative Fiestas del Centenario – the official celebration of the first centenary of Mexican independence from Spain – in September 1910. The article focuses, first, on the manifestation of a triumphalist liberal version of historia patria, and, second, on the projection of a distinct mestizo identity for Mexico’s ethnically diverse citizenship as key components in the construction of Mexican national identity.     

Institutional shifts and punctuated patterns in digital policy

While digital policies provide significant value within contemporary governance, not many governments' digital policies are adapted to rapidly changing technologies and associated expectations. The limited adaptability can be explained by governments' focus on institutional shifts as an instrument to generate policy changes. Therefore, this article examines the impact of institutional shifts on digital policy by leveraging the Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET) as a lens to explore the Belgian federal government between 2000 and 2020. This is done through performing a distributional application of the PET and an explaining-outcome congruence case study. The results highlight the role of institutional shifts in directing digital policy, but also underscore the importance of other factors (i.e., policy image, attention allocation and/or structure of the political system) and the presence of policy entrepreneurs to explain the (in)stability of digital policy.     

Political Ideology,Political Party,and Support for Greater Federal Spending on Environmental Protection in the United States: Evidence from the General Social Surveys, 1993–2018

This paper focuses on the effects of political ideology and party affiliation on support for more government spending on environmental protection. Pooled‐sample results show that Liberals (Democrats) are more likely to support higher government spending on environmental protection than Moderates (Independents), who, in turn, are more likely to support higher spending levels than Conservatives (Republicans). The results persist even when we control for respondents' opinions concerning whether the federal government, in general, does too little or too much. When stratifying by party, ideological divisions generally narrow, while stratifying by ideology leads to slightly wider divisions between Democrats and Republicans. Together, these results suggest that when Liberals and Conservatives form opinions about government spending on the environment, party affiliation, to some degree, dampens the effects of ideology. Between 2014 and 2018 the probability of supporting more environmental spending increased, albeit slightly, for all ideologies and parties, but more so for Liberals and Democrats.