"¿Qué habría pasado si hubiéramos ganado?" Aproximaciones a las memorias de militancias y derrotas después del exilio

El presente artículo se propone explorar y comprender las distintas memorias y representaciones que, quienes vivieron su exilio en México, construyen acerca de lo político y de sus experiencias pasadas de militancia y derrota. Se trata de indagar en tiempo presente cuáles y cómo son las representaciones que elabora un grupo particular de migrantes políticos: aquellos argentinos que, una vez iniciada la apertura democrática en 1983, no regresaron al país de origen y que, actualmente, continúan residiendo en el que fue su país de refugio. Este trabajo parte de diez entrevistas realizadas entre 2009 y 2010 en la ciudad de México, para indagar en los imaginarios y las representaciones subjetivas referidas a un entramado de experiencias políticas particulares en las que se enlazan distintos sentidos del pasado en el presente. Recorriendo esas memorias se profundiza en algunas de las tensiones más significativas que constituyen sus representaciones presentes y las distintas posiciones que asumen frente a la posibilidad de obtener una reparación económica por el exilio vivido

"¿Qué habría pasado si hubiéramos ganado?" Aproximaciones a las memorias de militancias y derrotas después del exilio

El presente artículo se propone explorar y comprender las distintas memorias y representaciones que, quienes vivieron su exilio en México, construyen acerca de lo político y de sus experiencias pasadas de militancia y derrota. Se trata de indagar en tiempo presente cuáles y cómo son las representaciones que elabora un grupo particular de migrantes políticos: aquellos argentinos que, una vez iniciada la apertura democrática en 1983, no regresaron al país de origen y que, actualmente, continúan residiendo en el que fue su país de refugio. Este trabajo parte de diez entrevistas realizadas entre 2009 y 2010 en la ciudad de México, para indagar en los imaginarios y las representaciones subjetivas referidas a un entramado de experiencias políticas particulares en las que se enlazan distintos sentidos del pasado en el presente. Recorriendo esas memorias se profundiza en algunas de las tensiones más significativas que constituyen sus representaciones presentes y las distintas posiciones que asumen frente a la posibilidad de obtener una reparación económica por el exilio vivido

"¿Qué habría pasado si hubiéramos ganado?" Aproximaciones a las memorias de militancias y derrotas después del exilio

El presente artículo se propone explorar y comprender las distintas memorias y representaciones que, quienes vivieron su exilio en México, construyen acerca de lo político y de sus experiencias pasadas de militancia y derrota. Se trata de indagar en tiempo presente cuáles y cómo son las representaciones que elabora un grupo particular de migrantes políticos: aquellos argentinos que, una vez iniciada la apertura democrática en 1983, no regresaron al país de origen y que, actualmente, continúan residiendo en el que fue su país de refugio. Este trabajo parte de diez entrevistas realizadas entre 2009 y 2010 en la ciudad de México, para indagar en los imaginarios y las representaciones subjetivas referidas a un entramado de experiencias políticas particulares en las que se enlazan distintos sentidos del pasado en el presente. Recorriendo esas memorias se profundiza en algunas de las tensiones más significativas que constituyen sus representaciones presentes y las distintas posiciones que asumen frente a la posibilidad de obtener una reparación económica por el exilio vivido

The French Second Empire: an anatomy of political power

Price, Roger, The French Second Empire: an anatomy of political power (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), pp.x+507 RAE2008

Fighting a tobacco rollback : a political analysis of the 1994 contraband crisis in Canada

We identify factors that led a regional government (Quebec, Canada) to opt for a reduction of its tobacco tax to combat tobacco smuggling. Then we explore the fallout of Quebec's tobacco-tax rollback on its tobacco control policy. We conducted qualitative research using a case-study design and multiple sources of data. We applied the Advocacy Coalition Framework in respect of data collection and analysis. Advocates of the tobacco-tax rollback framed the contraband problem in a way that won the support of an array of actors. However, anti-tobacco activists succeeded in convincing the government to invest more in tobacco control. The new resources were instrumental in enhancing the activists' ability to promote legislative measures. Our approach sheds light on the tobacco industry's strategy to have governments reducing their tobacco tax. Quebec offers an example of how tobacco control activists can transform defeat into the cornerstone of a comprehensive tobacco control policy.

Problems of political transition in Ukraine : leadership failure and democratic consolidation

Democratisation and consolidation of a political system encompass a range of complex challenges, for which effective leadership is pivotal. However, the skills that a leader requires to break through and introduce change are not necessarily the same as those needed to maintain stability. This article examines the case of Viktor Yushchenko as president of Ukraine following the Orange Revolution. The negotiated transfer of power from the previous semi-authoritarian regime rendered consolidation difficult by limiting opportunities for a complete break. Within the residual 'grey area', a number of actors continued to participate and create tension. The regime that emerged was characterised by political infighting and instability, leading to the defeat of candidates associated with the Orange Revolution in the 2010 presidential elections. This article argues that the inability to move towards a consolidated democratic political system was due to the failure of the transitional leader, rather than the political and institutional configuration.

The misconception of political lessons : how UMNO perceives the fall of LDP in Japan

2012 marks the thirtieth anniversary of Malaysia’s Look East Policy (LEP). This article argues that the strong relationship between Malaysia and Japan is stimulated by symbiotic ties binding together both countries’ respective major political parties, viz. the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). UMNO, especially under the leadership of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (1981-2003), derived political lessons from developments affecting LDP in Japan. Two forms of lessons may be discerned. First, emulation of Japan’s success in economic development, which become the basis of LEP launched in 1981. Second, on which our article focuses, lessons from the failure of LDP to retain power twice in 1993 and 2009. Since 1993, DP’s defeat has been a poignant reminder for UMNO to be in alert mode in facing any electoral possibility. When LDP was again ousted from power in 2009, UMNO was a most psychologically affected party owing to the unprecedented setback it suffered at Malaysia’s Twelfth General Elections (GE) of 2008. Yet, although LDP’s reversal of fortunes served as a landmark for UMNO in situating changes to its trajectory since 1999, the analogical reasoning and political lessons applied by UMNO leaders were, to a large extent, flawed. Arguably, politicians frequently do misjudge in analogising between different situations which at a glance seem to be comparable.

An Exercise in Legal Honesty: Re-writing the Court of Justice and the Bundesverfassungsgericht. IHS Political Science Series No. 136, February 2014

At a time of crisis – a true state of emergency – both the Court of Justice of the European Union and the German Federal Constitutional Court have failed the rule of law in Europe. Worse still, in their evaluation of the ersatz crisis law, which has been developed in response to financial and sovereign debt crises, both courts have undermined constitutionality throughout Europe. Each jurisdiction has been implicated within the techocratisation of democratic process. Each Court has contributed to an incremental process of the undermining of the political subjectivity of European Citizens. The results are depressing for lawyers who are still attached to notions of constitutionality. Yet, we must also ask whether the Courts could have acted otherwise. Given the original flaws in the construction of Economic and Monetary Union, as well as the politically pre-emptive constraints imposed by global financial markets, each Court might thus be argued to have been forced to suspend immediate legality in a longer term effort to secure the character of the legal jurisdiction as a whole. Crisis can and does defeat the law. Nevertheless, what continues to disturb is the failure of law in Europe to open up any perspective for a return to normal constitutionality post crisis, as well as its apparent inability to give proper and honest consideration to the hardship now being experienced by millions of Europeans within crisis. This contribution accordingly seeks to reimagine each Judgment in a language of legal honesty. Above all, this contribution seeks to suggest a new form of post-national constitutional language; a language which takes as its primary function, proper protection of democratic process against the ever encroaching powers of a post-national executive power. This contribution forms a part of an on-going effort to identify a new basis for the legitimacy of European Law, conducted jointly and severally with Christian Joerges, University of Bremen and Hertie School of Government, Berlin. Differences do remain in our theoretical positions; hence this individual essay. Nevertheless, the congruence between pluralist and conflict of law approaches to the topic are also readily apparent. See, for example, Everson & Joerges (2013).

Austria’s thrilling elections will have far-reaching impact on political developments in the EU. EPIN Commentary No. 32, May 2016

After a passionate two-day election, Alexander Van Der Bellen (supported by the Greens) narrowly defeated his far-right wing opponent, Norbert Hofer (Freedom Party of Austria or FPÖ), thereby becoming Austria’s new President (50.3% vs 49.7%). Notably, the ecologist candidate only managed to win thanks to the postal votes counted on the day after the polls closed, whereas anti-EU Hofer was still leading by some 144,000 votes on the previous evening. Such a narrow defeat is likely to have long-term implications for Austrian and European politics.

Venezuela's Movimiento al Socialismo : from guerrilla defeat to innovative politics /

Includes index.

Human Security and Crime in Latin America: The political Capital and Political Impact of Criminal Groups and Belligerents Involved in Illicit Economies

Organized crime and illegal economies generate multiple threats to states and societies. But although the negative effects of high levels of pervasive street and organized crime on human security are clear, the relationships between human security, crime, illicit economies, and law enforcement are highly complex. By sponsoring illicit economies in areas of state weakness where legal economic opportunities and public goods are seriously lacking, both belligerent and criminal groups frequently enhance some elements of human security of the marginalized populations who depend on illicit economies for basic livelihoods. Even criminal groups without a political ideology often have an important political impact on the lives of communities and on their allegiance to the State. Criminal groups also have political agendas. Both belligerent and criminal groups can develop political capital through their sponsorship of illicit economies. The extent of their political capital is dependent on several factors. Efforts to defeat belligerent groups by decreasing their financial flows through suppression of an illicit economy are rarely effective. Such measures, in turn, increase the political capital of anti-State groups. The effectiveness of anti-money laundering measures (AML) also remains low and is often highly contingent on specific vulnerabilities of the target. The design of AML measures has other effects, such as on the size of a country’s informal economy. Multifaceted anti-crime strategies that combine law enforcement approaches with targeted socio-economic policies and efforts to improve public goods provision, including access to justice, are likely to be more effective in suppressing crime than tough nailed-fist approaches. For anti-crime policies to be effective, they often require a substantial, but politically-difficult concentration of resources in target areas. In the absence of effective law enforcement capacity, legalization and decriminalization policies of illicit economies are unlikely on their own to substantially reduce levels of criminality or to eliminate organized crime. Effective police reform, for several decades largely elusive in Latin America, is one of the most urgently needed policy reforms in the region. Such efforts need to be coupled with fundamental judicial and correctional systems reforms. Yet, regional approaches cannot obliterate the so-called balloon effect. If demand persists, even under intense law enforcement pressures, illicit economies will relocate to areas of weakest law enforcement, but they will not be eliminated.