Aspectos procesales de la conciliaci��n extrajudicial en derecho del ��rea civil, a la luz de lo previsto en la Ley 640 de 2001

--

International Organizations: Fostering Democracy ���at Home���: From Silent Players to Salient Players?

The international dimension of democratisation is a major concern in the study of contemporary political systems. The analysis of domestic political transformations in which International Organisations (IOs) may be salient actors compromises the traditional inward-looking approach of comparative politics that holds democracy to be a domestic affair par excellence. Nevertheless, the maturity of any process of democratisation relies upon the establishment and sustainability of institutions that genuinely reflect the interests and socio-political identity of the citizens of that polity. The role of external influence, whether progressive or abrupt, is clearly limited in constructing and sustaining this process. However, the relevance of international variables in influencing the renaissance or enhancement of democracy has not been overlooked by either scholars or politicians over the past fifteen years. As a number of political systems went through what became known as the third wave of democratization, the role of IOs in breaking down undemocratic strongholds and in neutralising possible reversals began to gain momentum. Contending approaches and controversial case studies alike appear to elicit very different conclusions concerning the legitimacy and the effectiveness of international actors in this field. This analysis addresses the rationale underpinning the deployment of multilateral external actors as agents of democratisation. Drawing on an integrative theoretical approach and a comparative case study involving the democratisation agendas of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations (UN) in Latin America (LA), contrasting international models of deployment are assessed. It is argued that IOs��� democratisation strategies are based on institutional roadmaps leading towards the attainment of targets which vary according to three key ��guidelines���: how democracy is conceptualised, what cooperative strategies are used, and what frameworks for democratisation are adopted.-----La dimensi��n internacional de la democratizaci��n representa un fen��meno importante de los sistemas pol��ticos contempor��neos. El hecho de que la transformaci��n pol��tica interna sea incluida bajo el t��tulo de organizaciones internacionales (OI) indica un rompimiento con el enfoque tradicional de observaci��n interna de la pol��tica comparativa, si se parte de la suposici��n de que la ���democracia��� es un asunto interno por excelencia. Hay procesos complejos que limitan la viabilidad de la fortuna democr��tica en la pol��tica interior, los cuales dependen de las estructuras representativas del poder que fluye de la legitimidad nacional y la identidad pol��tica. No obstante, los est��mulos internacionales que sostienen a los sistemas nacionales de gobierno, estructurados alrededor de la construcci��n y la consolidaci��n de la democracia, est��n en el centro de la pol��tica comparativa contempor��nea. Cuando varios sistemas pol��ticos atravesaban la tercera ola de democratizaci��n, las OI asumieron r��pidamente una posici��n significativa como agentes que neutralizaban los miedos a la inversi��n de pol��ticas, rompiendo lazos con formas antidemocr��ticas de gobierno y eliminando las normas informales de los juegos democr��ticos. Las din��micas mencionadas dan fundamento para abordar el debate sobre los modelos externos de apoyo. Mediante un enfoque te��rico integrador y un estudio comparativo de casos de las agendas de democratizaci��n de la Organizaci��n de Estados Americanos y las Naciones Unidas dirigidas a la problem��tica democr��tica latinoamericana, se aclaran modelos internacionales ���ocultos��� de despliegue. Se argumenta que las estrategias de las OI para democratizar se fundamentan en que los planes de desarrollo institucionales para la democratizaci��n lleguen a los objetivos democr��ticos a trav��s de tres ���gu��as��� multilaterales: conceptualizaci��n de la democracia, estrategias de cooperaci��n y marcos de referencia especiales para la democratizaci��n.

Productivity, demand and the home market effect

The causality between international trade and industrialization is still ambiguous. We consider a model of international trade with the Home Market Effect - with differences in income and productivity between sectors and between countries - in order to identify additional channels for determining the effects of international trade on industrialization. Introducing non-homothetic preferences and differences in productivity aids in the interpretation of any apparent paradoxes within international trade, such as the commercial relations between more populated countries like China and India and large economies such as the U.S. Population size, demand composition and productivity levels constitute the three main channels for determining the effects of international trade. Interactions among these channels define the results obtained in terms of industrialization, while welfare levels are always higher in relation to autarky.