Political Parties and Foreign Aid

The influence of partisan politics on public policy is a much debated issue of political science. With respect to foreign policy, often considered as above parties, the question appears even more problematic. This comparison of foreign aid policies in 16 OECD countries develops a structural equation model and uses LISREL analysis to demonstrate that parties do matter, even in international affairs. Social-democratic parties have an effect on a country's level of development assistance. This effect, however, is neither immediate nor direct. First, it appears only in the long run. Second, the relationship between leftist partisan strength and foreign aid works through welfare state institutions and social spending. Our findings indicate how domestic politics shapes foreign conduct. We confirm the empirical relevance of cumulative partisan scores and show how the influence of parties is mediated by other political determinants.

Wage policy in Indian industries

India is on the threshold of industrial and economic development. The growth would be retarded if harmonious employer-employee relations are not maintained. 'Wages' plays a fundamental role in establishing this relationship. However, much controversy in the industrial sphere revolves round the question of wages. Though formerly the laissez faire doctrine prevailed, with the emergence of the welfare state ideology, notions of national economy and social justice gained prominence. The problem of wages has became one with social, political, economic, psychological and legal dimensions. Formulation of a proper wage policy is thus a riddle. Realities of the present have to be fused with perspectives about the future. With due recognition of all significant factors, a proper balance has to be struck, which should be the hard core of any wage policy. This study emphasises the need for a wage policy which may meet the requirements of rapid economic growth and stable industrial relations. The study also indicates the proper bases for the promotien of such a policy.

Cooperation or Confrontation?

With globalization and increased connectedness, migration has become a political issue. Nevertheless, without citizenship participation in the political system in the host society is limited. Based on a neo-institutionalist approach and referring to political opportunity structure theory, this paper analyzes differences in means of political participation by migrants in two cities, one in the U.S. and one in Germany. Specific focus is put on the welfare state as one factor potentially influencing forms of participation of migrants. From interviews with migrants, local governments, and organizations, this paper establishes that political participation in the German city, Essen, is more institutionalized than in the U.S. city, Newark, NJ, where demonstrations and rallies play a more significant role. Looking at these findings, this paper explains the differences with a variation in the political opportunity structure between the two cities. Whereas in the conservative-corporatist welfare state, ideas of collective bar-gaining and the conferral of social rights to migrants leads to government-created bodies for migrant participation, in the U.S. city, these bodies do not exist and, therefore, migrants use different means of political participation. Through the conferral of social rights on migrants as well, in Germany, the cleavage between migrants and majority society has been pacified. In the U.S. city, where this is not the case, demonstrations and rallies are more common.

Social Inequality and Social Policy outside the OECD

Almost all Latin American countries are still marked by extreme forms of social inequality – and to an extent, this seems to be the case regardless of national differences in the economic development model or the strength of democracy and the welfare state. Recent research highlights the fact that the heterogeneous labour markets in the region are a key source of inequality. At the same time, there is a strengthening of ‘exclusive’ social policy, which is located at the fault lines of the labour market and is constantly (re-)producing market-mediated disparities. In the last three decades, this type of social policy has even enjoyed democratic legitimacy. These dynamics challenge many of the assumptions guiding social policy and democratic theory, which often attempt to account for the specificities of the region by highlighting the purported flaws of certain policies. We suggest taking a different perspective: social policy in Latin American should not be grasped as a deficient or flawed type of social policy, but as a very successful relation of political domination. ‘Relational social analysis’ locates social policy in the ‘tension zone’ constituted by the requirements of economic reproduction, demands for democratic legitimacy and the relative autonomy of the state. From this vantage point, we will make the relation of domination in question accessible for empirical research. It seems particularly useful for this purpose to examine the recent shifts in the Latin American labour markets, which have undergone numerous reforms. We will examine which mechanisms, institutions and constellations of actors block or activate the potentials of redistribution inherent in such processes of political reform. This will enable us to explore the socio-political field of forces that has been perpetuating the social inequalities in Latin America for generations.

Los límites de la teoría distributiva : hacia una política del reconocimiento de la diferencia

El artículo elabora una crítica a la teoría de la justicia distributiva formulada por John Rawls haciendo énfasis en los principios de la igualdad y de la diferencia. De manera paralela, analiza las tesis feministas y las perspectivas desarrolladas por Iris Marion Young y Nancy Fraser con el objeto de señalar los principales límites de la propuesta de Rawls.

El rol del juez administrativo colombiano:¿un actor influyente en las transformaciones del derecho administrativo y en el fortalecimiento del estado social y constitucional de derecho?

El propósito de esta investigación es describir desde lo teórico, cómo se han incorporado los modelos de Estado en el derecho administrativo colombiano con el fin de encontrar los referentes ideológicos que tiene a su disposición el juez administrativo para la resolución de conflictos. Este estudio es parte de una investigación que tiene por objeto aportar al estudio del derecho administrativo desde la perspectiva del papel del juez administrativo como defensor o crítico de determinado modelo de Estado. La inquietud que permea este estudio se presenta bajo la frase de Otto Mayer “el derecho constitucional pasa, el derecho administrativo permanece” que llevándola a la actualidad, lleva a cuestionarse sobre el razonamiento del juez administrativo en tiempos del Estado Social y Constitucional de Derecho.

El papel del Estado en los países andinos: ¿ocaso o transformación?

A juicio de muchos analistas, el Estado-nación –piedra angular de la organización política del mundo desde la suscripción del Tratado de Wesfalia, en 1648– está experimentando una profunda crisis. En esta visión, el poder efectivo de dicha entidad política se está desbordando en tres direcciones: hacia arriba, por la globalización y la supranacionalización; horizontalmente, por el desmonte del Estado de bienestar, la privatización y la desregulación, y hacia abajo, por la descentralización y la devolución de autonomías a las polis regionales y locales.La acción conjunta de estas tendencias estaría determinando el vaciamiento (hollowing out) del Estado-nación, en la medida en que muchas de sus competencias tradicionales se están transfiriendo hacia arriba, a las instituciones internacionales y supranacionales; hacia los lados, al mercado, las empresas privadas y las transnacionales, y hacia abajo, a las entidades de orden subnacional. En este artículo analizaremos el impacto de tales tendencias en los países andinos.-----According to many analysts, the Nation State is undergoing a deep crisis, because the effectiveness of its power is being broken up in three ways: upward, because of globalization and supranationalization; horizontally, because of the dismantling of the Welfare State, privatization and deregulation, and downward, because of decentralization and the empowerment of the regional and local entities. According to these interpretations, the joint action of such trends would be eroding the traditional competences of the Nation State and determining the irrelevance of this political entity in the global dynamics of power and the economy. This paper analyses the impact of the above mentioned trends in the Andean countries. It concludes by stating that in this context the processes aimed at reducing the role of the State, have paradoxically turned into the widening of its sphere of action in other fields.

¡Levanten las manos los cristianos! Prácticas discursivas y su relación con el ascenso al poder del Partido Nacional Cristiano

Frases como “Levanten las manos los cristianos, y levanten la mano quienes van a votar por José María Villanueva” vienen a transformar la percepción del papel que cumplen las comunidades religiosas en el escenario político del país

Autoridad y legitimación

Este artículo se cuestiona sobre la posibilidad de fundamentación moral de las obligaciones políticas y de la legitimidad de la autoridad, dando una respuesta negativa. Así, se postula que no hay un deber moral de obediencia a la autoridad (política) a la vez que se propone, a partir de allí, una somera defensa del Estado de bienestar.

De la jurisprudencia constitucional a la legislación. Un análisis de la sentencia C-355 de 2006 y sus efectos en la división de poderes.

El interés de este estudio de caso es estudiar los efectos que produce una sentencia de la Corte Constitucional de Colombia en la división de poderes con el objetivo de mostrar que por medio del ejercicio de sus funciones la Corte se extralimita y produce efectos negativos desde un punto de vista orgánico puesto que se toma funciones orgánicas de la Rama legislativa. Sin embargo desde un punto de vista funcional estas extralimitaciones pueden verse de una forma positiva. Para esto se estudia la sentencia C-355/2006 puesto que su contenido vinculante permite ver como es afectada la división de poderes desde ambos puntos de vista.

School leadership in a contradictory world

Resumen basado en el de la publicación

A construção da União Europeia : um olhar sobre a dimensão social do projeto

O Tratado de Roma de 1957 priorizou o setor económico em detrimento do social. Em consequência, cada Estado-membro manteve o seu modelo de assistência social e , deste modo, a diversidade de Estados-providência. Mais tarde, o princípio da subsidariedade legitimou-os no contexto do processo de construção da Comunidade Económica/União Europeia e, por consequinte, a coexistência dos mesmos, particularmente os submodelos de assistência social escandinavo, anglo-saxónico, continental e dos países da Europa do sul. Hoje, graças ao Ato Único Europeu e ao Tratado de Amesterdão de 1997, foi adotada por todos os Estados-membros a Carta dos Direitos Sociais Fundamentais no Conselho de Estrasburgo de 1989, assim como valorizada a dimensão social e o incentivo à negociação coletiva entre parceiros, respetivamente. Assim, sendo, e na sequência do exposto anteriormente, constata-se, nessa nova EUropa em transformação permanente, a emergência de um novo modelo de Estado-providência, centrado essencialmente na compilação, complementariedade e/ou «fusão» do que existe de melhor no conjunto dos quatro submodelos existentes, de acordo com o princípio da unidade a partir da diversidade.

Role and potential influence of technologies on the most relevant challenges for long-term care. ENEPRI Research Report No. 113, 26 June 2012

This report considers three case studies (namely diabetes, dementia and obesity) for setting up a framework to assess the systemic influences of technologies in the long-term care milieu, using a problem-driven approach in relation to health care. Such technologies could be an enabling factor or a catalyser of advances taking place in the health and social sectors. They offer opportunities to support and amplify relevant organisational changes in the context of innovative care models, which stem from overall policies and regulations of a national or regional jurisdiction to address the future sustainability of health and social care.

Technological Solutions Potentially Influencing the Future of Long-Term Care. ENEPRI Research Report No. 114, April 2012

This report provides a forecast of the potential direct and indirect influences of various kinds of technologies on the LTC milieu, answering the following question: from a technology-driven perspective: “Consider each technological solution. What could be its future usage in the LTC sector?” Future technological deployments will induce changes in the respective roles of the care recipient and of the formal and informal carers, with an impact on three major concerns: the transformation of the care recipient into a proactive subject, the augmented potentiality for home care and the new functions that informal carers could assume.

Performance of long-term care systems in Europe. ENEPRI Policy Brief No. 13, December 2012

The evaluation of long-term care (LTC) systems carried out in Work Package 7 of the ANCIEN project shows which performance criteria are important and – based on the available information – how European countries score on those criteria. This paper summarises the results and discusses the policy implications. An overall evaluation was carried out for four representative countries: Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland. Of the four countries, the Dutch system has the highest scores on quality of life of LTC users, quality of care and equity of the LTC system, and it performs the secondbest after Poland in terms of the total burden of care (consisting of the financial burden and the burden of informal caregiving). The German system has somewhat lower scores than the Dutch on all four dimensions. The Polish system excels in having a low total burden of care, but it scores the lowest on quality of care and equity. The Spanish system has few extreme scores. Some important lessons are the following. The performance of a LTC system is a complex concept where many dimensions have to be included. Specifically, the impact of informal caregiving on the caregivers and on society should not be forgotten. The role of the state in funding and organising LTC versus individual responsibilities is one of the most important differences among countries. Choices concerning private funding and the role of informal care have a large effect not only on the public expenditures but also on the fairness of the system. International research into the relative preferences for the different performance criteria could produce a sound basis for the weights used in the overall evaluation.