The 2011 Constitutional reform in Morocco: more flaws than merits. Jean Monnet Occasional Paper No. 07/2014

Introduction. In the speech given to both Houses of Parliament on 11 October 2013 during the first parliamentary session, King Mohammed VI said that the “Moroccan democratic model” was “a precursor in the region as well as on the continental level.”1 Similarly, with the purpose of stressing the “democratic exceptionalism”2 of the country, the new government, led by Abdeilah Benkirane, emphasised that Morocco represents a “third way” compared to countries such as Tunisia, Libya or Egypt since it “…has not embarked on a limited process of reform from the top, driven and controlled by the King. Nor has it experienced a revolution brought a angry citizens rising up against the regime. Rather, it has chosen an alternate path based on a genuine partnership between the King and the PJD (Parti de la justice et du développement) that promises to bring about more far-reaching reform than palace alone would grant, without the disruption caused by uncontrolled popular upheaval.”4 It should not be at all surprising that the regime and the new Government consider Morocco a “democratic model” or a “third way.” After all, they are refe country. What is harder to understand is that when discussing the Arab uprisings, even prominent Western political leaders, representatives of the European Union institutions and the mainstream media (when they do not forget about Morocc to praise the process of democratic reform carried out by Mohammed VI. For example, on 12 September 2012, Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State, said, “in many ways, the United States looks to Morocco to be a leader and a model […] On political reform, we have all seen remarkable changes taking place across North Africa and the Middle East. I commend Morocco and your government for your efforts to stay ahead of these changes by holding free and fair elections, empowering the elected parliament, taking other steps to ensure that the government reflects the will of the people.”5 Similarly, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy sang the praises of the process that led to the adoption of the new 2011 Constitution: “King Mohammed VI has shown the path towards a profound, peaceful and modern transformation of Moroccan institutions and society […] France fully supports this exemplary process.” Interestingly enough, even at the European Union level the constitutional reform that took more far-reaching reform than palace alone would grant, without the disruption caused by uncontrolled popular upheaval.”4 It should not be at all surprising that the regime and the new Government consider Morocco a “democratic model” or a “third way.” After all, they are refe country. What is harder to understand is that when discussing the Arab uprisings, even prominent Western political leaders, representatives of the European Union institutions and the mainstream media (when they do not forget about Morocc to praise the process of democratic reform carried out by Mohammed VI. For example, on 12 September 2012, Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State, said, “in many ways, the United States looks to Morocco to be a leader and a model […] On political reform, we have all seen remarkable changes taking place across North Africa and the Middle East. I commend Morocco and your government for your efforts to stay ahead of these changes by holding free and fair elections, empowering the elected parliament, taking other steps to ensure that the government reflects the will of the people.”5 Similarly, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy sang the praises of the process that led to the adoption of the new 2011 Constitution: “King Mohammed VI has shown the path towards a profound, peaceful and modern transformation of Moroccan institutions and society […] France fully supports this exemplary process.” Interestingly enough, even at the European Union level the constitutional reform that took place in Morocco was considered an extremely positive step taken by the country, as well as a means to strengthen the cooperation between the EU and Morocco. Indeed, according to the High Representative Catherine Ashton, this reform “constitute[s] a significant response to the legitimate aspirations of the Moroccan people and [is] consistent with Morocco’s Advanced Status with the EU.”7 When it comes to the media, it is worth noting that following the ratification of the 2011 Constitution, The New York Times headlined: “All Hail the (Democratic) King.” Even sections of the academic literature have commended the constitutional reform carried out by the Moroccan Sovereign.9 In this paper I argue against the aforementioned idea, according to which Morocco should be considered a model in the region, and in particular I show that the constitution-making process, the 2011 Constitution and its subsequent implementation have more flaws than merits. Accordingly, this paper proceeds in five steps. First of all, I examine the reaction of the regime to the upheavals that broke out in the country after 20 February 2011. Secondly, I analyse the process of constitution showing its main strengths and weaknesses, and comparing it with other constituent processes that took place in the region following the Arab uprisings. In the third section, I highlight the most significant elements of continuity and discontinuity with the previous 1996 Constitution. The fourth section deals with the process of implementation: specifically process is proceeding quite slowly and that in some cases ordinary legislation is in contrast with the new Constitution and international human rights treaties. Moreover, I discuss the role that the judiciary and the Constitutional Court can play in the implementation and interpretation of the Constitution. Finally, I draw some concluding remarks.

Involvement and detachment in David Cameron and Ed Miliband’s political discourse. An analysis of deictic shields on the pronoun ‘I’ in UK 2015 General Election news interviews

The goal of my study is to investigate the relationship between selected deictic shields on the pronoun ‘I’ and the involvement/detachment dichotomy in a sample of television news interviews. I focus on the use of personal pronouns in political discourse. Drawing upon Caffi’s (2007) classification of mitigating devices into bushes, hedges and shields, I focus on deictic shields on the pronoun ‘I’: I examine the way a selection of ‘I’-related deictic shields is employed in a collection of news interviews broadcast during the electoral campaign prior to the UK 2015 General Election. My purpose is to uncover the frequencies of each of the linguistic items selected and the pragmatic functions of those linguistic items in the involvement/detachment dichotomy. The research is structured as follows. Chapter 1 provides an account of previous studies on the three main areas of research: speech event analysis, institutional interaction and the news interview, and the UK 2015 General Election television programmes. Chapter 2 is centred on the involvement/detachment dichotomy: I provide an overview of nonlinguistic and linguistic features of involvement and detachment at all levels of sentence structure. Chapter 3 contains a detailed account of the data collection and data analysis process. Chapter 4 provides an accurate description of results in three steps: quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis and discussion of the pragmatic functions of the selected linguistic features of involvement and detachment. Chapter 5 includes a brief summary of the investigation, reviews the main findings, and indicates limitations of the study and possible inputs for further research. The results of the analysis confirm that, while some of the linguistic items examined point toward involvement, others have a detaching effect. I therefore conclude that deictic shields on the pronoun ‘I’ permit the realisation of the involvement/detachment dichotomy in the speech genre of the news interview.

Investigation of driver reactions to tread separation scenarios in the National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS).

Decreasing vehicle understeer was strongly associated with the likelihood of control loss following both the unexpected and expected tire failures. Knowledge of the imminent tread separation reduced the overall probability of control loss from 55% to 20% and had a significant effect on how quickly drivers responded as well as on the nature of their initial responses (i.e., steering orbraking). Driver age was marginally associated with increased likelihood of vehicle control loss, but only on unexpected trials. Vehicle speed at the time of first steering input also contributed to the probability of control loss. Neither the location of the tire that failed (left rear vs. right rear) nor the specific instructions about how best to respond to the tread separation influenced the probability of control loss. Differences associated with vehicle understeer conditions observed in the present study were large and consistent, independent of driver expectations and across driver age groups. It is thus fair to conclude that in the event of a complete rear-tire detread, the increased difficulty in vehicle handling and the associated increased likelihood of loss of vehicle control with decreasing vehicle understeer generalize to real-world driving.

[Speech pamphlets.

Reprinted from various periodicals.

Studies in language, literature and criticism.

Each number has a distinctive title.

Characterization of Organophosphate Pesticides in Urine and Home Environment Dust in an Agricultural Community

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Perceptual evaluation of motor speech following treatment for childhood cerebellar tumour

The speech characteristics, oromotor function and speech intelligibility of a group of children treated for cerebellar tumour (CT) was investigated perceptually. Assessment of these areas was performed on 11 children treated for CT with dysarthric speech as well as 21 non-neurologically impaired controls matched for age and sex to obtain a comprehensive perceptual profile of their speech and oromotor mechanism. Contributing to the perception of dysarthria were a number of deviant speech dimensions including imprecision of consonants, hoarseness and decreased pitch variation, as well as a reduction in overall speech intelligibility for both sentences and connected speech. Oromotor assessment revealed deficits in lip, tongue and laryngeal function, particularly relating to deficits in timing and coordination of movements. The most salient features of the dysarthria seen in children treated for CT were the mild nature of the speech disorder and clustering of speech deficits in the prosodic, phonatory and articulatory aspects of speech production.

Making the processes of designing explicit within an information technology environment

In this paper, technology is described as involving processes whereby resources are utilised to satisfy human needs or to take advantage of opportunities, to develop practical solutions to problems. This study, set within one type of technology context, information technology, investigated how, through a one semester undergraduate university course, elements of technological processes were made explicit to students. While it was acknowledged in the development and implementation of this course that students needed to learn technical skills, technological skills and knowledge, including design, were seen as vital also, to enable students to think about information technology from a perspective that was not confined and limited to 'technology as hardware and software'. This paper describes how the course, set within a three year program of study, was aimed at helping students to develop their thinking and their knowledge about design processes in an explicit way. An interpretive research approach was used and data sources included a repertory grid 'survey'; student interviews; video recordings of classroom interactions, audio recordings of lectures, observations of classroom interactions made by researchers; and artefacts which included students' journals and portfolios. The development of students' knowledge about design practices is discussed and reflections upon student knowledge development in conjunction with their learning experiences are made. Implications for ensuring explicitness of design practice within information technology contexts are presented, and the need to identify what constitutes design knowledge is argued.

Monitoring dendritic cells in clinical practice using a new whole blood single-platform TruCOUNT assay

Dendritic cells (DC) from distinct DC subsets are essential contributors to normal human immune responses. Despite this, reliable assays that enable DC to be counted precisely have been slow to evolve. We have now developed a new single-platform flow cytometric assay based on TruCOUN(TM) beads and the whole blood Lyse/No-Wash protocol that allows precise counting of the CD14(-) blood DC subsets: CD11c(+)CD16(-) DC, CD11c(+)CD16(+) DC, CD123(hi) DC, CD1c(+) DC and BDCA-3(+) DC. This assay requires 50 mul of whole blood; does not rely on a hematology blood analyser for the absolute DC counts; allows DC counting in EDTA samples 24 It after collection; and is suitable for cord blood and peripheral blood. The data is highly reproducible with intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variation less than 3% and 11%, respectively. This assay does not produce the DC-T lymphocyte conjugates that result in DC counting abnormalities in conventional gradient-density separation procedures. Using the TruCOUNT assay, we established that absolute blood DC counts reduce with age in healthy individuals. In preliminary studies, we found a significantly lower absolute blood CD11c(+)CD16(+) DC count in stage III/IV versus stage I/II breast carcinoma patients and a lower absolute blood CD123(hi) DC count in multiple myeloma patients, compared to age-matched controls. These data indicate that scientific progress in DC counting technology will lead to the global standardization of DC counting and allow clinically meaningful data to be obtained. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of vehicle and region of application on absorption of hydrocortisone through canine skin

Objective-To determine the effects of various vehicles on the penetration and retention of hydrocortisone applied to canine skin. Sample Population-20 canine skin samples obtained from the thorax, neck, and groin regions of 5 Greyhounds. Procedure-Skin was harvested from dogs after euthanasia and stored at -20 degrees C until required. The skin was then defrosted and placed into diffusion cells, which were maintained at approximately 32 degrees C by a water bath. Saturated solutions of hydrocortisone that contained trace amounts of radiolabelled [C-14]-hydrocortisone in each vehicle (ie, PBS solution [PBSS] alone, 50% ethanol [EtOH] in PBSS [wt/wt], and 50% propylene glycol in PBSS [wt/wt]) were applied to the outer (stratum corneum) surface of each skin sample, and aliquots of receptor fluid were collected for 24 hours and analyzed for hydrocortisone. Results-The maximum flux of hydrocortisone was significantly higher for all sites when dissolved in a vehicle containing 50% EtOH, compared with PBSS alone or 50% propylene glycol, with differences more prominent in skin from the neck region. In contrast, higher residues of hydrocortisone were found remaining within the skin when PBSS alone was used as a vehicle, particularly in skin from the thorax and neck. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Penetration of topically applied hydrocortisone is enhanced when EtOH is used in vehicle formulation. Significant regional differences (ie, among the thorax, neck, and groin areas) are also found in the transdermal penetration and skin retention of hydrocortisone. Variability in clinical response to hydrocortisone can be expected in relation to formulation design and site of application.

Computerizing the welfare state: An international comparison of computerization in social security

Although computer technology is central to the operation of the modern welfare state, there has been little analysis of its role or of the factors shaping the way in which it is used. Using data generated by expert informants from 13 OECD countries, this paper provides an indicative comparison of the aims of computerization in national social security systems over a 15-year period from 1985 to 2000. The paper seeks to identify and explain patterns in the data and outlines and examines four hypotheses. Building on social constructivist accounts of technology, the first three hypotheses attribute variations in the aims of computerization to different welfare state regimes, forms of capitalism, and structures of public administration. The fourth hypothesis, which plays down the importance of social factors, assumes that computerization is adopted as a means of improving operational efficiency and generating expenditure savings. The findings suggest that, in all 13 countries, computerization was adopted in the expectation that it would lead to increased productivity and higher standards of performance, thus providing most support for the fourth hypothesis. However, variations between countries suggest that the sociopolitical values associated with different welfare state regimes have also had some effect in shaping the ways in which computer technology has been used in national social security systems.

Measuring the ability of school children with a history of otitis media to understand everyday speech

The present study compared the ability of school-aged children with and without a history of otitis media (OM) to understand everyday speech in noise using the University of Queensland Understanding of Everyday Speech Test (UQUEST). Participants were 484 children (246 boys, 238 girls) attending Grade 3 (272, mean age = 8.25 yr., SD = 0.43) and Grade 4 (212, mean age = 9.28 yr., SD = 0.41) at 19 primary schools in Brisbane metropolitan and Sunshine Coast schools. Children selected for inclusion were native speakers of English with normal hearing on the day of testing and had no reported physical or behavioral impairments. The children were divided into three groups according to the number of episodes of OM since birth. The results showed no significant differences in speech scores across the participant groups. However, a significant difference in mean speech scores was found across the grades and the noise conditions. Although children with a history of OM performed equally well at a group level when compared to the controls, they exhibited a large range of abilities in speech comprehension within the same group.

Syntactic complexity measures and their relation to oral proficiency in Japanese as a foreign language

The study reported in this article is a part of a large-scale study investigating syntactic complexity in second language (L2) oral data in commonly taught foreign languages (English, German, Japanese, and Spanish; Ortega, Iwashita, Rabie, & Norris, in preparation). In this article, preliminary findings of the analysis of the Japanese data are reported. Syntactic complexity, which is referred to as syntactic maturity or the use of a range of forms with degrees of sophistication (Ortega, 2003), has long been of interest to researchers in L2 writing. In L2 speaking, researchers have examined syntactic complexity in learner speech in the context of pedagogic intervention (e.g., task type, planning time) and the validation of rating scales. In these studies complexity is examined using measures commonly employed in L2 writing studies. It is assumed that these measures are valid and reliable, but few studies explain what syntactic complexity measures actually examine. The language studied is predominantly English, and little is known about whether the findings of such studies can be applied to languages that are typologically different from English. This study examines how syntactic complexity measures relate to oral proficiency in Japanese as a foreign language. An in-depth analysis of speech samples from 33 learners of Japanese is presented. The results of the analysis are compared across proficiency levels and cross-referenced with 3 other proficiency measures used in the study. As in past studies, the length of T-units and the number of clauses per T-unit is found to be the best way to predict learner proficiency; the measure also had a significant linear relation with independent oral proficiency measures. These results are discussed in light of the notion of syntactic complexity and the interfaces between second language acquisition and language testing. Adapted from the source document

Treating dysarthria following traumatic brain injury: Investigating the benefits of commencing treatment during post-traumatic amnesia in two participants

Primary objective: The aims of this preliminary study were to explore the suitability for and benefits of commencing dysarthria treatment for people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) while in post-traumatic amnesia ( PTA). It was hypothesized that behaviours in PTA don't preclude participation and dysarthria characteristics would improve post-treatment. Research design: A series of comprehensive case analyses. Methods and procedures: Two participants with severe TBI received dysarthria treatment focused on motor speech deficits until emergence from PTA. A checklist of neurobehavioural sequelae of TBI was rated during therapy and perceptual and motor speech assessments were administered before and after therapy. Main outcomes and results: Results revealed that certain behaviours affected the quality of therapy but didn't preclude the provision of therapy. Treatment resulted in physiological improvements in some speech sub-systems for both participants, with varying functional speech outcomes. Conclusions: These findings suggest that dysarthria treatment can begin and provide short-term benefits to speech production during the late stages of PTA post-TBI.

The effect of auditory and visual distracters on the useful field of view: Implications for the driving task

PURPOSE. The driving environment is becoming increasingly complex, including both visual and auditory distractions within the in- vehicle and external driving environments. This study was designed to investigate the effect of visual and auditory distractions on a performance measure that has been shown to be related to driving safety, the useful field of view. METHODS. A laboratory study recorded the useful field of view in 28 young visually normal adults (mean 22.6 +/- 2.2 years). The useful field of view was measured in the presence and absence of visual distracters (of the same angular subtense as the target) and with three levels of auditory distraction (none, listening only, listening and responding). RESULTS. Central errors increased significantly (P < 0.05) in the presence of auditory but not visual distracters, while peripheral errors increased in the presence of both visual and auditory distracters. Peripheral errors increased with eccentricity and were greatest in the inferior region in the presence of distracters. CONCLUSIONS. Visual and auditory distracters reduce the extent of the useful field of view, and these effects are exacerbated in inferior and peripheral locations. This result has significant ramifications for road safety in an increasingly complex in-vehicle and driving environment.