Rules of Procedure as a Cause of Legislative Paralysis: The Case of Costa Rica, 2002–2012

Research on executive‐legislative relations in Latin America has focused on the impact of minority presidents and multiparty legislatures on legislative productivity. But an additional deadlock scenario, the blocking of a majority president by a minority through filibustering, has been understudied. This article analyzes filibustering in Costa Rica and explains the legislative paralysis in the wake of the nation's transition to a multiparty system in 2002. Legislative paralysis is seen as a product of the interaction between increased legislative fragmentation and polarization and the legislature's preexisting rules of procedure, which enable legislators easily to block bills they oppose, even when those bills are supported by supermajorities. This argument is tested through a comparison of major economic reforms in the 2000s to the reforms tackled in the 1990s. The role of filibustering, well acknowledged in U.S. politics, should also be studied in comparative politics.     

¿Por qué prevalece el estado de derecho? una aproximación comparada a las explicaciones centradas en la cultura de la legalidad

The objective of this paper is to analyze the relation between the concept of the Rule of Law and the culture of legality from a compared approach in order to establish the scope and limitations of explanations that are based in cultural factors. More specifically, we are interested in comparing the scope and limitations of culture-based explanations on why the Rule of Law prevails in certain countries: these explanations are centered in the construction of wide agreements between social actors and the control by civil society. Also we consider equally important the comparing of different definitions of culture of legality and the strategies and instruments that allow its construction. For this purpose we will center, specially, in the experiences of Hong Kong, Palermo and Bogotá.     

The Sovereignty Dispute over the Falklands/Malvinas: What Role for the Un?

Netherlands International Law Review - On 2 April 2012, it was thirty years ago that an armed conflict between Argentina and the UK erupted. The conflict lasted two and a half months and was fought...     

原儒“义利”观与公安队伍反腐倡廉建设--以平安文化原型理念为视点

基于对中华优秀传统文化的自信,选择原儒“义利”观这一平安文化原型理念作为公安队伍反腐倡廉建设的重要维度。在阐述“义”“利”之所指、原儒的“义利”观之后,论证原儒“义利”观对公安队伍队伍反腐倡廉建设价值在于:一、推进公安队伍正规化建设和平安文化建设的历史进程;二、促进公安干警严格遵循社会主义核心价值观和“十六字”总要求;三、提高公安干警的精神追求和文化自觉;四、强化公安干警职业道德建设;五、增进公安民警法治精神,强化“从严治警”。作为平安文化的原型理念之一的原儒“义利”观,能够在当今公安队伍正规化建设的反腐倡廉建设中,发挥其现实功用。