The "New Political Economy": Two Recent Books

This paper reviews two recent books on Political Economy by Allan Drazen and Torsten Persson and Guido Tabellini. It discusses some problems of the recent Political Economy literature.

Assessing the Political Viability of Labour Market Reform: The Case of Employment Protection

We analyze the political support for employment protection legislation. Unlike my previous work on the same topic, this paper pays a lot of attention to the role of obsolescence in the growth process. In voting in favour of employment protection, incumbent employees trade off lower living standards (because employment protection maintains workers in less productive activities) against longer job duration. The support for employment protection will then depend on the value of the latter relative to the cost of the former. We highlight two key deeterminants of this trade-off: first, the workers' bargaining power, second, the economy's growth rate-more precisely its rate of creative destruction.

Political-ethical skill development in nursing undergraduates

This research aimed to identify political-ethical skills developed in a training process compatible with the expected profile set by the National Curriculum Guidelines for the Undergraduate Nursing Degree. A case study was conducted with units represented by 32 former students from a particular religious teaching institution who already were in the job market. The content of the interviews was analyzed using the thematic analysis technique, which resulted in the following categories: "Political-ethical skills in the formative process" and "Political-ethical skills as a product of the educational process." From the former students’ perspective, these categories reinforced the social role of the nurse and the need for students to be reflective, understanding and participative in the transformation of society.

Le sophiste Dion de Pruse, le bon roi et l'empereur

Cet article porte sur la réflexion politique grecque au sujet du principat et sur les relations entre le sophiste Dion de Pruse (40-50 après J.-C. - après 110 ?) et le pouvoir impérial. Il propose une analyse des discours de Dion qui concernent les modèles de royauté : les quatre discours Sur la royauté (Or. I à IV), l'Agamemnon (Or. LVI), le discours Sur la royauté et la tyrannie (Or. LXII). La première partie examine les circonstances de rédaction ou de prononciation des discours, afin de distinguer différentes étapes dans la pensée politique du sophiste et dans son jugement sur la figure de l'empereur. La deuxième partie étudie les deux images du « bon » roi : le roi imparfait, soumis à reddition de compte ; l'Optimus Princeps. Cette seconde image, beaucoup plus développée, est définie à la fois par un ensemble de vertus et par l'imitation du roi des dieux. La troisième partie analyse les objectifs de Dion, compare sa réflexion avec celles des intellectuels romains du Ier et du IIe siècles, dégage sa position complexe à l'égard du principat et de la figure de Trajan. The paper focuses on Greek political thinking on principate as well as on the relations between the sophist Dio of Prusa (40-50 till 100 A.D. ?) and the imperial power. It analyses Dion's speeches on royal models : the four speeches On Kingship (Or. I to IV), the Agamemnon (Or. LVI) as well as the speech On Kingship and Tyranny (Or. LXII). The first part examines under which circumstances these speeches have been drafted and given, in order to highlight the evolution of the sophist's political thinking and his assessment of the figure of emperor. Secondly, the two images of a good king are examined : the imperfect and accountable king on the one hand, the Optimus Princeps on the other. The latter image, more largely developed, is both defined by a collection of virtues and an imitation of the king of gods. The third and last part analyses Dion's objectives, compares his thoughts with the ones of 1st and 2nd centuries Roman intellectuals and sketches his complex standpoint towards the principate and Trajan.