Reforma del estado como mecanismo de control en democracia delegativa: caso reforma judicial Ecuador 2007-2014

The object of this doctoral thesis is the analysis of the political and administrative purpose that is given to the reform process of a vital sector of State powers within the framework of delegate democracy, such as the administration of Justice. The object is also to analyze if State reform in a diminished or non-liberal surrounding increase or improve conditions of democracy in a given situation, based on the constitutional “what should be”, or if what occurs is a process of “seizure” of the functions of State, which becomes an institutional risk. Finally, we will examine the real and effective existence of a horizontal accountability process through the use of institutional resources, which would evidence the existence of an incomplete model of democracy. This analysis implies the relationship between two institutions within public administration: State Reform, as an act of change in State structure in order to improve qualitatively the outcomes and outputs of public policies, and in sum, to make the system work better. This, as it will be examined later, is the case of Latin America as a response of the State to three processes in crisis: fiscal, as in government intervention or in the form of bureaucratic administration. In that scheme of things, this thesis examines the present state of the art in public administration science of this process to prove that in delegate democracy, this type of instruments disregard the constitutive elements of democracy and serve, especially in critical areas of the administration, allowing for Power to dismiss Law. This research seeks to contribute towards an area seldom analyzed regarding public administration doctrine under the light of the theory of law, which is the connection between previous conditions or principal inputs of an execution process of a democracy and, on the other hand, regarding the effects of introducing a reform within models of a changing democracy and new concepts of the rule of law. While reviewing writings regarding State reform, it is clear that no approximations have been previously made in reference to prior conditions of the political system in order to begin operating a reform which respects fundamental rights as an object of this procedure. Furthermore, no analysis has been found regarding structural change of strategic areas in State services as to the effect caused on democratic exercise and the outcome in an open society...

Un proyecto de modernización de la cultura finisecular: la Institución Libre de Enseñanza

La tesis doctoral tiene por objeto el estudio del proyecto de modernización de la sociedad española diseñado y ejecutado por Francisco Giner de los Ríos y sus compañeros y discípulos de la Institución Libre de Enseñanza (ILE) desde su creación en 1876, así como su influencia y las consecuencias que ha tenido para la cultura española moderna. El trabajo ha requerido analizar el diseño del proyecto, su proceso de construcción y consolidación, su implantación en unos años decisivos, su evolución desde el momento de plenitud hasta la catástrofe de la guerra civil, la posterior resurrección de la tradición institucionista en la España del exilio y en la de la resistencia interior al franquismo, y, tras el encuentro y fusión de ambas, su proyección en la España democrática. Con este fin se ha procurado buscar la interrelación entre Giner, la Institución y la historia no sólo de España, sino también de Europa e incluso universal, para contextualizar un proyecto que va a propiciar, a partir del periodo intersecular y hasta el estallido de la Primera Guerra Mundial, lo que ha sido visto como el reencuentro de España con la modernidad. Un reencuentro caracterizado en primer lugar por el fortalecimiento de los lazos con el resto de Europa y del mundo...