Voces del pasado, ecos del presente. la Red de Trabajo Contra la Violencia Sobre las Mujeres en Tiempos de Guerra y su labor en la sociedad japonesa

Gracias al trabajo de las redes transnacionales de defensa los marcos legales internacionales se han adaptado a las nuevas dimensiones que han alcanzado los conflictos armados en los últimos veinte años. Esta investigación estudia el papel de la Violence Against Women in War Network, Japan y del Women's Active Museum on War and Peace, como ejemplos de cómo los actores no gubernamentales pueden sensibilizar y transformar las normas nacionales e internacionales, el comportamiento de los Estados, los organismos supraestatales y a la sociedad en la que desarrollan su labor

Publicizing insecurity, privatizing security: Chinese wholesalers' surveillance cameras in a Paris suburb

Since the early nineties, several hundreds of Chinese immigrants have settled in what has become known as the 'Chinese wholesalers area'. For the past two years, Chinese wholesalers in Aubervilliers have been calling on public authorities to address the problem of street robberies and violent thefts, which they experience on a daily basis. Yet, they have been encouraged by the authorities to ensure their own protection, by - amongst other things - installing surveillance cameras to film the streets. This is illegal according to French legislation on camera surveillance. Knowing this, why have surveillance cameras been adopted as a solution? This question guides the ethnographic analysis presented here of a situation where the installation of surveillance cameras was locally negotiated by the main actors involved - namely, the wholesalers' representatives and the police.

Delivering Healthcare to the Armed Forces (PDF 88 KB)

A Protocol for Ensuring Equitable Access to Health and Social Care Services

What Kind of Justice Today ? Expectations Of 'Good Justice', Convergences And Divergences Between Managerial And Judicial Actors And How They Fit Within Management-Oriented Values

This research aims toward a better understanding of the organizational culture(s) of the judiciary in Switzerland by analysing what 'good justice' means nowadays in this country. It seeks to clarify whether, and to what extent, expectations of 'good justice' of judicial actors (judges without managerial experience) and of managerial actors (court managers) are similar and to describe possible managerial implications that may result from this. As judges are at the heart of the judicial organization and exert a strong influence on other groups of actors (Sullivan, Warren et al. 1994), the congruence of their expectations with those of court managers will be at the centre of the analysis. Additionally, referring to the conceptual worlds of Boltanski and Thévenaut (1991), we analyze how closely these expectations are to management-oriented values. We found that almost half of expectations are common to the two groups examined and the main quoted ones are compatible to new public management (NPM) concepts. On the other hand, those expectations shared exclusively by judges relate to the human side of justice, whereas those specific to court managers focus on the way justice functions.

A survey on the enlistment of pharmacists in a hospital battalion of the Swiss Armed Forces

Background: Pharmacists, mainly militiamen, are incorporated in the Swiss Armed Forces, for instance in hospital battalions to supply drugs and medical devices, as well as to coordinate hygiene service. Presently, their duties are only very globally defined. Aims: The objective of this survey was to investigate the tasks that were actually assumed by the military pharmacy of the 2nd Hospital Battalion. Methods: Two types of commitments, offering military and civilian interest's convergence, were considered between 2005 and 2011: (1) army camps for the disabled and (2) operations and supports provided to two nursing homes. While relieving the civil caregiver usually involved with disabled or elderly people, such missions offer indeed the possibility to the army medical service to train its care and logistical processes with real patients, even in the absence of any sanitary crisis or war in the country. Results: Two basis activities have been assumed: (1) centralized supply of drugs and medical devices and (2) coordination of hygiene monitoring and disinfection operations. New tasks were also performed: (3) support to the management of ward-based pharmacies, (4) pillboxes preparation, (5) medication review and (6) selective participation in clinical rounds. The last two were integrated in an interdisciplinary education process. Conclusions: Results shows that, apart from traditional duties, new clinical-oriented activities have been evenly developed and assumed by militia pharmacists. They call thus for a possible renewed definition of the tasks of military hospital pharmacists and of their related military education. A wider study in all hospital battalions is yet mandatory.

Do Swiss adolescents perceive the negative effects of their illegal substance use?

This study explores adolescents' perceptions of adverse consequences linked to their illegal psychoactive substance (IPS) use, as they are often thought to minimise them. From a Swiss nationally representative sample of 8740 adolescents aged 16 to 20 pursuing post-mandatory education, 2515 participants reported IPS use in the past month on a self-administered anonymous questionnaire. The percentages of participants reporting problems in four areas (individual, school, relationships and sexual) were assessed, depending on the type of IPS consumption over the last 30 days: occasional cannabis users: ≤2 times; regular cannabis users: ≥3 times; and poly-consumers: cannabis plus at least one other substance used. The percentages varied significantly across these three groups with 26.9% of occasional users, 53.8% of regular users, and 73.3% of poly-consumers reporting at least one problem. Compared to occasional cannabis users, poly-consumers were more likely to report problems in all four categories [relative risk ratio (RRR): 3.38 to 5.44], while regular cannabis users often reported only school and relationship problems [RRR: 2.43 to 3.23]. Thus, many adolescents seem to perceive the negative effects of their IPS use, with heavier consumption being associated with increasing problems. Physicians should feel confident questioning adolescents on the adverse consequences of their IPS consumption, as they are likely to be responsive on this issue.

Els Actors de l’Euroregió Pirineus-Mediterrània. Xarxes, percepcions i expectatives

Segons la nostra hipòtesi, la viabilitat de l’Euroregió Pirineus Mediterrània (EPM) dependrà sobretot de la seva capacitat de mobilitzar, d’implicar i de connectar els actors públics i privats dels diferents nivells territorials als quals s’adreça aquesta iniciativa. Per tant, el grau de coneixement i el posicionament dels diferents actors respecte al projecte resulten essencials a l’hora de definir una estratègia de cooperació d’aquestes característiques. L’objectiu d’aquest document és explicar els resultats de l’enquesta duta a terme amb un miler d’actors públics i privats de l’EPM. Aquesta tenia per objectiu obtenir dades relatives a aspectes clau del context en el que s’insereix el projecte, així com informació rellevant per definir estratègies d’actuació que poden ajudar a desenvolupar les capacitats organitzatives i comunicatives necessàries per gestionar una organització complexa com aquesta. L’estudi empíric es va estructurar al voltant de tres línies d’anàlisi: 1r) el present de l’Euroregió; 2n) El posicionament respecte l’EPM i 3r) El futur de l’EPM

An Inquiry into the use of illegal electoral practices and effects of political violence

This article investigates whether vote-buying and the instigation of violence in the disputed 2007 Kenyan elections were strategically motivated, and whether those affected by electoral violence changed their views towards ethno-politics and the use of violence. To answer these questions, a panel survey conducted before and after the elections is combined with external indicators of electoral violence. We find that political parties targeted vote-buying towards specific groups to weaken the support of their political rivals and to mobilize their own supporters. Furthermore, parties instigated violence strategically in areas where they were less likely to win. Although the victims of violence would prefer that parties are no longer allowed to organize in ethnic or religious lines, they are more likely to identify in ethnic terms, support the use of violence and avoid relying on the police to resolve disputes. The overall findings suggest an increased risk of electoral-violence reoccurring.

Tri-sector partnerships in social entrepreneurship: discourse and practice of the actors from the circles of action and reflection

This article discusses the construction of tri-sector partnerships in three projects conducted in Brazil in different fields of intervention of public policy (access to water, basic education and performance of boards of rights of children and adolescents). Collaborative articulations involving the players from three sectors (the State, civil society and the market) are practices that are little studied in the Brazilian and even in the international context, as tri-sector partnerships are rare, despite the proliferation of lines of discourse in support of alliances between governments and civil society or between companies and NGOs in the management of public policy. As a research strategy, this study resorted to cooperative inquiry, a method that involves breaking down the boundaries between the subjects and the objects of the analysis. Besides working toward a better understanding of the challenges of building tri-sector partnerships in the Brazilian context, the article also tries to show the relevance to public policy studies of investigative methods based on the subjects studied, as a means of developing an understanding of the practices, lines of discourse and dilemmas linked to social action in social programs.

Policy Making in Divided Government. A Pivotal Actors Model with Party Discipline.

This article presents a formal model of policy decision-making in an institutional framework of separation of powers in which the main actors are pivotal political parties with voting discipline. The basic model previously developed from pivotal politics theory for the analysis of the United States lawmaking is here modified to account for policy outcomes and institutional performances in other presidential regimes, especially in Latin America. Legislators' party indiscipline at voting and multi-partism appear as favorable conditions to reduce the size of the equilibrium set containing collectively inefficient outcomes, while a two-party system with strong party discipline is most prone to produce 'gridlock', that is, stability of socially inefficient policies. The article provides a framework for analysis which can induce significant revisions of empirical data, especially regarding the effects of situations of (newly defined) unified and divided government, different decision rules, the number of parties and their discipline. These implications should be testable and may inspire future analytical and empirical work.