Institutional Instability Research Articles

Temporal changes in a small-scale artisanal reef fishery in Brazil: Coastal development and its impacts

Small-scale artisanal fisheries perform great economic, social, cultural, and ecological roles worldwide. For fishers in adverse scenarios, resorting to alternatives such sustainable tourism is widely proposed. In this study, we investigate the long-term sustainability (1998–2020) of a small-scale artisanal fishery in Northeast Brazil, where transformations including intense coastal development, the establishment of a marine protected area, and the expansion of tourism occurred in addition to the region’s economic growth and the global trend of technological advancements. This study aims to understand how this fishery has changed over the last two decades while investigating a range of possible threats for its survival. Results demonstrated the impacts of technological innovation on fishing practices, such as the use of spearguns and small outboard motors; an increase in opportunistic fishing associated with a growing coastal population; fading of certain traditional fishing practices that often require fishers with greater experience; a shift for a fishery made up of more opportunistic amateur fishers, as artisanal, small-scale fishers switched to other income sources such as tourism. Although there are benefits from those transformations, which include the possibility of an alternative source of income and the use of technology, fisheries traditions have been affected negatively in terms of social and cultural aspects, and traditional fishing communities are left vulnerable in the absence of national fishery monitoring programs, reliable fishing data, and institutional instability. Local initiatives and empowerment of traditional fishing communities to strengthen fisher identity and participation in fisheries policy decision-making should be strongly encouraged.

The information content of conflict, social unrest and policy uncertainty measures for macroeconomic forecasting

It is widely accepted that episodes of social unrest, conflict, political tensions and policy uncertainty affect the economy. Nevertheless, the real-time dimension of such relationships is less studied, and it remains unclear how to incorporate them in a forecasting framework. This can be partly explained by a certain divide between the economic and political science contributions in this area, as well as the traditional lack of availability of timely high-frequency indicators measuring such phenomena. The latter constraint, though, is becoming less of a limiting factor through the production of text-based indicators. In this paper we assemble a dataset of such monthly measures of what we call “institutional instability”, for three representative emerging market economies: Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. We then forecast quarterly GDP by adding these new variables to a standard macro-forecasting model using different methods. Our results strongly suggest that capturing institutional instability above a broad set of standard high-frequency indicators is useful when forecasting quarterly GDP. We also analyse relative strengths and weaknesses of the approach.

Can institutions explain mass violence? Amhara ‘settler’ discourse and Ethiopia's ethnic federalism

AbstractThis paper begins by reviewing rational choice institutionalism's explanation of how political institutions incentivise patronage networks emphasising ethnic cleavage. Acknowledging the limits of rationalist institutionalism in explaining societal norm constructions and mass behaviour, the paper then adopts discursive institutionalism to analyse the social affects of institutional design. The case study of violence against Amharas deemed ‘settlers’ in Ethiopia's contemporary ethnic federation highlights how new cleavages create new norms and new historical narratives, influencing group dynamics. These dynamics result in group‐based mass violence when rents‐based orders and patronage networks collapse during times of institutional instability or change. Thus, precipitated by the discursive effects of hyper‐ethnicised institutional design, mass violence against Amhara in different ethnic regions in Ethiopia emerges as an unexpected outcome of regime change and democratic transition in the country. These incidents of targeted violence are not simply explained by institutions, but rather by the socio‐political climate effected by the interaction between institutions and discourse under ethnic federalism. In short, this study demonstrates how institutions go beyond incentivising or constraining elite behaviour, producing discursive markers that normalise violence during periods of institutional ‘lapse’, when formal provisions of social order temporarily collapse.

Functions and Problems of the Modern Ukrainian Literary Contests

Introduction. The basic functions and problems of the modern Ukrainian literary contests were drafted in this article. In Ukraine, the literary contests emerged in 1990th out of necessity to fill the national book market with books, written in the Ukrainian language. In the Ukrainian scientific discourse, they are still considered an advertising tool. Relevance and goal. Since one function of the literary contests gets too much attention, while the others are ignored, that negatively affects its institutional stability. This explains the importance of paying attention to the other different functions, the complex of which supplies institutional stability in crisis periods. This study’s purpose is to outline the functions of modern Ukrainian literary contests and the main problems affecting their institutional stability. Methodology. The results of the survey of the Ukrainian authors served as source data. Their answers were analyzed and systemized by statistical and content analysis methods. The results. The results show that the literary contests as an institution, except for the informational and advertising functions, perform expressive and motivational functions. The literary contests can also form reading preferences, provide communications, and monitor the book market trends. There are unique functions that belong only to the literary contests whose subject of evaluation is unpublished works. As was found, they work as a mediator between authors and publishers, as literary agencies do. They also support the Ukrainian language by establishing strict language requirements for submitted works. Determined three groups of problems of literary contests that stop the development of their functions: 1) the problems related to organizing processes; 2) the problems related to judges; 3) the problems, which are not under the control of the institution. Conclusions. Literary contests as an institution must maintain many different functions that are still not studied enough on the theoretical level. Their functions are also implemented not sufficiently on the practical level, which caused the institutional instability of the literary contests.

Revitalizing community forestry in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia: A property right perspective

Severe deforestation, land degradation, and the lack of forest products in Ethiopia have necessitated the implementation of a community forestry program since the 1980s by mobilizing the local communities. However, there have been incidents indicating that many of the community forests are either degrading or remaining unproductive. While community forests are, in principle, the collective property of the local community, empirical evidence concerning how property rights impact their management and their role in enhancing rural livelihoods and environmental rehabilitation is lacking. This study aims to investigate the performance of community forestry through the lens of property rights and tenure security, in order to uncover the challenges impeding community forestry in Ethiopia, with a focus on community forests in the Amhara Region. The study gathered primary data on community forest management from two community forests located in East Gojam and North Wollo, using questionnaires, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and field observations. Additionally, secondary data on legal frameworks were collected from institutions involved in community forestry. The data analysis employed descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The findings of the study revealed that a majority of respondents (91%) lacked clarity regarding the objectives of establishing community forests, and about 95% claimed that community forests belong to the state. These incidents have led to diminished interest in continuing the program. The study highlighted that the community forestry program suffers from inadequate policy and legal provisions, chronic institutional instability, overlapping mandates, and limited community engagement. These factors have weakened property rights, which are reflected in tenure insecurity and the absence of individual household benefit packages. Consequently, it can be concluded that community forest interventions have been promoted based on general belief in the importance of trees for rural livelihoods and ecosystem rehabilitation, rather than as part of a deliberate and directed policy and strategy. In summary, revitalizing community forestry in Ethiopia necessitates a thorough understanding of property rights and tenure security issues. In this regard, it is imperative for government agencies to enact a clear national strategy for community forestry development and adopt a supportive role to enable communities to establish robust community forestry institutions to safeguard their rights while fostering community forestry and environmental protection activities.

"Politicization of Public Administration in Romania and its Consequences for Governance in Turbulent Times"

The article aims to analyze the level of politicization of civil service in Romania, its goals, and consequences. We adopted a rather narrow perspective on politicization and we concentrated mainly on analyzing the recruitment, promotion, and dismissal of civil servants based on political criteria. The research findings were used to discuss the consequences of politicization on the governance of public institutions during turbulent times. In this regard, we conducted an email-based survey of the civil servants. The majority of the sample was composed of graduates of public administration programs at four major universities in Romania, who work in public institutions. We collected the data between May and November 2023 and we obtained 211 valid questionnaires. We found that appointments based on political criteria lower the work motivation of public employees, and increase the level of incompetence and instability of public institutions. The most affected are public employees in management positions, those who have longer work experience in the public sector, and those who work in public institutions that are part of central administration. Therefore, frequent changes based on political criteria lower the capacity of public institutions to respond to disruptive events by generating a loss of expertise, instability, and discontinuity in policy implementation. However, turbulent times require flexibility and adaptation to unexpected and unpredictable events, and political appointees might be more responsive and cooperative.

From project to platform: a case study on evolving the software development team

PurposeAt the authors’ libraries, they consolidated two departments and attempted to find ways to increase productivity, reduce duplication and improve job happiness within their software development teams. The authors have lost institutional knowledge when developers leave the team, yet the authors remain responsible for critical library services. The merging of the authors’ departments provided the opportunity to rethink how their teams are structured and whether a different model could provide better professional development, more knowledge sharing and better stability of their services. This article presents a case study of moving from a project-centric approach to a platform-based model.Design/methodology/approachThe authors met with those responsible for establishing priorities for their services and developers to assess successful and unsuccessful implementations and pivoted based on those assessments.FindingsThe authors found that their developers were happier to increase their portfolios and professional development, and the librarians were satisfied with more stable services during a particularly unstable time within the authors’ institution.Originality/valueThis is a practical example of a positive way to structure development teams in libraries. Frequently, teams support a single service to the library because of the criticality of that service on a day-to-day basis, but that can create a lack of shared knowledge during institutional instability. This study reveals the benefits of a platform-based approach, including increased developer happiness, reduced disruptions due to staff turnover and improved system stability. It also discusses the challenges of managing product owners' expectations and balancing feature development with maintenance work.

“Weighed, not counted”: territorial (mis)representation in Italian metropolitan council elections

Metropolitan cities were established by Italian Law no. 56/2014 (commonly known as the “Delrio Law”) as a new level of government, replacing and redefining functions previously performed by provinces in selected major urban areas. One of their three key governing bodies is the metropolitan council, a representative assembly the members of which are elected via an indirect, second-level, proportional, list-based system in which the electorate comprises all sitting mayors and councillors from metropolitan city municipalities. The election mechanism applies a differential weighting scheme that reflects the population size of the municipalities in which voters serve as mayors or councillors. Using the outcomes of the metropolitan council elections held in the years 2021 and 2022 in eight metropolitan cities, this study highlights the variety of ways (many of which appear to be largely unintended) in which demographic weighting bestows significantly greater (and, arguably, unwarranted) power to larger cities’ representatives, essentially disrupting the principles of territorial representation that the weighting scheme intended to embody. The study also focuses on how the legal framework for metropolitan council elections generates institutional instability via mandatory forfeitures and ensuing substitutions of seat vacancies. Finally, the author identifies potential adjustments to the electoral system – especially a proposal for the attenuation of disproportionate territorial representation via demographic weighting based on the so-called “square-root method”.

Governing health service purchasing agencies: Comparative study of national purchasing agencies in 10 countries in eastern Europe and central Asia

This study discusses findings from comparative case studies of the governance of health services purchasing agencies in 10 eastern European and central Asian countries established over the past 30 years, and the relationship between governance attributes, institutional development, and the progress made in strategic purchasing. The feasibility and effectiveness of implementing international recommendations from the health sector and wider public sector governance literature and practice are also discussed. The study finds that only those countries that have transitioned from middle to high-income status during the study period have been successful in comprehensively and consistently implementing internationally recommended practices. Moreover, these countries have made varying progress in developing capable purchasers with technical and operational independence, as well as advancing strategic purchasing. However, the current middle-income countries (MICs) in the study have implemented only certain elements of recommended governance practices, often superficially. Notably, the study reveals that some international recommendations, particularly those related to higher degrees of purchaser autonomy and the associated governance structures observed in western European social health insurance funds, have proven challenging to implement effectively or sustain in the MICs. None of the MICs succeeded in strategic purchasing beyond a limited agenda or scale, and even then, only implementing and sustaining them during favorable conditions. Difficulties in maintaining these achievements can be attributed, in part, to governance deficiencies. However, setbacks are commonly linked to periods of political and economic instability, which in turn lead to fluctuations in policy priorities, institutional instability, and inadequacies in health budgets. The study findings point to some actions related to civil society and stakeholder engagement, accountability frameworks, and digitalization in MICs that can facilitate continuity in health reforms and the functioning of purchasing institutions despite these challenges. The findings of the study provide important lessons for countries designing or newly implementing health purchasing agencies and for countries reviewing the performance and governance of their health purchasing agencies with a view to developing or strengthening strategic purchasing.

Проблемы ливанской демократии: издержки конфессиональной системы

The article deals with the difficulties associated with the confessional system of government in Lebanon; the key characteristics of consociative democracy in Lebanon and its differences from other democratic systems are analyzed. A consociation is a system of governance that grants members of various faiths certain rights and political representation in government. In Lebanon, the confessional system was introduced in 1943 and has since played a key role in the country’s political system. The author of the article considers Lebanon as a consociative democracy and discusses the features of the confessional system of government. He also analyzes the problems associated with the application of consociative democracy in Lebanon, including restrictions on freedom of expression. In addition, the risks and consequences of consociationalism in a confessional context are discussed, such as skewed representation and preallocation of seats. The influence of the division of power on the stability of the Lebanese political system is considered. The division of power into executive, legislative and judicial branches is one of the key features of a democratic system of government. However, there are problems in Lebanon with a lack of efficiency and transparency in each of these branches of government, as well as cooperation between them. It is concluded that highly institutionalized consociative arrangements can lead to institutional instability of the state. Attention is drawn to negative confessional narratives at the local and regional levels and the conclusions that can be drawn from them are given. In general, the difficulties associated with the confessional system of government in Lebanon are revealed, and the influence of the division of power on the stability of the country’s political system is analyzed.

The road to recovery: the provision of health services to French, German and Italian children in the aftermath of the Second World War (1944–49)

ABSTRACT In the aftermath of the Second World War, the children of Western Europe were suffering. Millions of them were ill, anaemic, tired and deficient in vitamins and proteins. Houses, hospitals, sewers and other hygiene infrastructure was destroyed by the fighting and bombing across Europe. As a result of the material conditions that prevailed after Germany’s capitulation, child relief was a real challenge for experts, members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and state organizations alike, who tried to identify, treat and help sick children. In some countries, the task was made all the more difficult due to political and institutional instability, as was the case in France, Germany and Italy, where state structures had largely collapsed. By focusing specifically on these countries, all three of which shared an unprecedented institutional crisis despite profoundly divergent national contexts, this article examines how the various entities in charge of children and childcare – and voluntary organizations in particular – faced the challenges of the health emergency of the immediate post-war period. At the crossroads of the history of child welfare and humanitarianism, the aim of this article is to document and analyse the many roles these organizations took on – as care providers, information gatherers, parcel transmitters and so on – to help child victims of war, as well as understand the relationships they forged with other actors involved. The comparative approach will provide a stimulating opportunity to look more closely at the ways in which non-state actors participated in the post-war recovery of children’s health, and to point out common dynamics and specificities for each country.

La participación ciudadana en la primera activación constitucional de los mecanismos de democracia directa en México

The mechanisms of direct democracy involve the participation through voting, from the legal forms of enquiry such as referendum, plebiscite, revocation of mandate, though it can include other graded definitions that go from the minimalist to wider conceptions such as the intervention in fiscal resources and the civic audit. The legal system ensures order. Legal models are the first step to move on to the institutionalized use of DDM as a possibility of influence of the governed ones on public decisions. The ways to influence are different in each country, not only because of the legal model in its government levels, but also because of the citizenship and its characteristics, product of the historical context of construction of the state which brings distinctive features for its use. Can political power be shared? And what is the purpose? The mechanisms of direct democracy in the south of the continent with the exception of Chile and Uruguay, have been institutionalized due to political circumstances of social conflict (as in Bolivia and Ecuador), because of scarce social movilization (like Argentina and Peru), because of low institutional instability (as occurred in Colombia), medium (like Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina), and high (Ecuador and Peru), and just in Bolivia the clear incorporation took place due to a social demand. In this sense, What DDM are useful for? And for whom? Is it possible to influence public decisions based on the DDM? Legislating direct democracy mechanisms and activating them is not enough to give a sense of civic empowerment to these forms of participatory democracy. The method used is qualitative documentary, based on analysis of the political, legal, social, institutional, electoral dimensions, with the help of geographic information systems (GIS).

‘The universal rhythm of justice’: the Argentine Supreme Court and labor law before, during, and after Peronism

ABSTRACT The birth of labor law in Argentina is as intricate as it is fascinating. The emergence of a regulatory mosaic in the country occurred in the shadow of extreme institutional instability and ideological change. This process included the country’s first military coup; the rise of J.D. Perón, under whose aegis labor protections gushed; and the fierce backlash against his regime. In this story, the Supreme Court played a somewhat secondary but significant role, which this article, at the intersection of legal history and judicial politics, explores. The article uses an original dataset of 539 Court decisions in labor disputes from 1935 to 1960. It draws on descriptive statistics, a discussion of the main trends in the Court’s decision making, and network analysis. What emerges from the study is a saga of increasing protection of workers’ rights, punctuated by episodic retraction that did not amount to a denial of them. The Court under Perón was prominent in the vindication of workers’ rights. Even under the more restrictive periods before and after Perón, however, the Court recognized labor law as an emerging field for the protection of workers. While the Court’s work displays this combination of oscillation and permanence in its substantive output, it shows a more radical break in a more symbolic respect. After the coup that deposed Perón, the Court was adamant about neglecting the Perón Court’s role and intervention. This shows that legal ideology can manifest itself in diverging ways, particularly in times of regime and judicial instability. It can emerge in justices’ substantive opinions, but also in the recognition of their previous colleagues’ work.

The battle to achieve Sustainable Development Goal Two: The role of environmental sustainability and government institutions.

The current period marked by addressing environmental sustainability challenges and the instability of government institutions has heightened the issue of food security, especially in developing countries as they work towards achieving Zero Hunger as highlighted in the Sustainable Development Goals. To assess the effect of environmental sustainability and government institutions on food security in West Africa with data from 1990 to 2021, two models have been deployed. The Generalized Method of Moments was deployed as the main model and while Two-Stage Least Squares was used as the robustness check. The findings of the study reveal that carbon emissions which represent environmental sustainability has no direct significant effect on food security, while government institutions has negative effect on food security. The study also reveals that income and urbanization promote food security, while renewable energy and population growth reduce food security. The findings of the study could be a reflection of the current political instability and attitude towards tackling carbon emissions mitigation in the region. Government institutions are encouraged to exercise authority without fear to implement policies that would encourage food security and restrict the use of high-emission technologies.

Institutional and macroeconomic stability mediate the effect of auctions on renewable energy capacity

Renewable energy (RE) auctions have become an increasingly popular policy instrument for decarbonizing the global energy matrix, and have been rapidly adopted by several countries worldwide. Previous research has used data from higher-income countries and two-way fixed effects models to estimate the impact of auctions on RE capacity, mostly with favorable results. However, these studies did not account for heterogeneous treatment effects across units to explore whether auctions are also effective in countries with unstable business environments. We analyze whether auctions also foster RE in countries experiencing macroeconomic instability or poor institutional quality. For this purpose, this study has drawn from multiple publicly available databases to build a dataset comprising 98 countries from 2000 to 2020. Our definition of RE includes solar, wind, and biomass sources. We first cluster countries by the quality of their business environment and then perform a differences-in-differences analysis considering staggered treatment adoption. We find that auctions positively affect RE capacity, yet the average treatment effects are higher for countries with better business environments. Thus, governments should exercise caution in adopting this instrument, especially in countries that experience macroeconomic or institutional instability. At the same time, dynamic treatment effects suggest that the policy needs time to show results.

THE TRANSFORMATIVE EFFECT OF SOUTH AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY FRAMEWORKS THROUGH THE LENS OF MARGARET ARCHER’S SOCIOLOGICAL CONCEPTS

After the end of the apartheid regime, the South African Government and other stakeholders have made several commitments to enhance and transform the nation's educational system, particularly higher education. To achieve this, the government implemented several educational reforms, passed legislation, and established policies. Despite some discussions and debates surrounding educational improvement, there is still a lack of comprehensive analysis that examines the specific contributions, challenges, and potential challenges of these policy frameworks in driving positive transformations. Accordingly, this research examines the transformative impact of South African Higher Education policy frameworks using Margaret Archer's morphogenetic theory as an analytical framework. The study conducts a desktop document analysis of published literature, including policy documents from the South African government, to explore the contributions and challenges of these policy frameworks. The analysis reveals a lack of significant changes in agency, social, and cultural structures, indicating the absence of morphogenesis processes. Furthermore, there is a lack of commitment from various agents to the policy objectives, particularly evident in weaknesses in fulfilling mandates and the resulting institutional instability due to student protests. The study highlights that the anticipated impact of policies, strategies, and financial resources may have fallen short of expectations regarding the transformation process. The findings contribute to understanding the limitations and effectiveness of South African Higher Education policy frameworks, offering insights into the complex dynamics between structure, culture, and agency. This research informs policymakers, educators, and stakeholders involved in higher education by providing recommendations to enhance the transformative potential of these policy frameworks. The research has broader implications for understanding educational improvement and policy frameworks in other contexts, as the insights gained from this study can be applicable and valuable to similar settings facing challenges in educational reforms..

Effects of the host-country institutional environment on the operation mode change of international construction enterprises

PurposeThe operation mode of enterprises will affect its resource commitment in the host country, involving different costs and time, as well as risks. Yet, the current state of knowledge about how the institutional environment affects the operation mode change of international construction enterprises is equivocal. This study aims to explore the impact of a host country's institutional environment on the operation mode change of international construction enterprises.Design/methodology/approachFirst, this study proposes a model on the impact of the institutional environment on the operation mode change of international construction enterprises. Second, this study used the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) published by the World Bank and a questionnaire survey to collect data. Finally, the study employs a multiple regression methodology to test the hypothesis and discusses the results.FindingsResults highlight that the important impact of the institutional environment on the operation mode change of international construction enterprises. The results showed that enterprises are more willing to increase resource commitments under the condition of stable institutional environment. In addition, enterprises' market-specific experience and general international experience, as moderating variables, weaken the impact of the institutional environment on the operation mode change. However, general international experience has no significant moderating effect.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study provide practical implications for the investment risk assessment of international construction enterprises. Enterprises need to consider the change in institutional quality and institutional instability of the host country, as well as their own international experience when changing operation mode.Originality/valueThis study extends internationalization theory to the international construction field and provided theoretical guidance for the mechanism of operation mode change of international construction enterprises.

Violated Frames: Armando Bó and Isabel Sarli’s Sexploits by Victoria Ruétalo

Reviewed by: Violated Frames: Armando Bó and Isabel Sarli’s Sexploits by Victoria Ruétalo Carlos G. Halaburda Keywords Victoria Ruétalo, Carlos G. Halaburda, Armando Bó, Isabel Sarli, Exploitation Cinema, Adult Cinema, Film History, Cultural Politics, Argentina, Censorship ruétalo, victoria. Violated Frames: Armando Bó and Isabel Sarli’s Sexploits. U of California P, 2022, 264 pp. Victoria Ruétalo has written an exceptional work of Latin American sexploitation film history in Violated Frames: Armando Bó and Isabel Sarli’s Sexploits. Carefully researched, theoretically bold, and elegantly written, the book is a page-turner, a captivating history of Latin American adult cinema. Violated Frames focuses on the legendary film couple, director Armando Bó and actress Isabel Sarli. Ruétalo engages with a torn film archive fragmented by decades of state censorship, military dictatorships, and preservation mismanagement to examine “remnants of relocated materials to debate questions of performance, authorship, stardom, sexuality, and circulation in the Sarli–Bó films” (3). Violated Frames constitutes a vital contribution to exploitation cinema, a much-undervalued subfield in Latin American film scholarship. The considerable significance of this book stems from the scarcity of critical literature and primary documentation of the state’s responses to the Sarli–Bó films in a context of political turmoil, proscription, censorship, and [End Page 147] militarism in Argentina (1955–1984). Jorge Abel Martín’s Los films de Armando Bó con Isabel Sarli (1981), Octavio Getino’s Cine argentino: modernidad y vanguardias (1998) and Cine argentino: entre lo posible y lo deseable (2005) are key scholarly precedents. However, Violated Frames is the first exhaustive analysis of how Sarli–Bó’s experimental cinema dared to reinvent social realism through a camp aesthetic and naïve erotica that conquered local and international publics. The book explores multiple angles concerning the Sarli–Bó cooperation, from the birth of Bó’s authorial signature of fast and low-cost productions, spontaneous realism, and new “clumsy montage” (8) to the role of censorship in delaying film production as much as creating anticipation. The story of an archival loss that recorded the censorship of all films screened in Argentina during an age of strict control is a salient concern of the book. The disappearance of a large number of documents concerning the Sarli–Bó legacy makes it difficult to investigate the cultural politics of screen sexuality in 1960s and 1970s Argentina. And yet Ruétalo puts together an extensive collection of press clippings, surviving film versions, press releases, official laws, and surviving secondary literature to write a provocative work that will fascinate scholars in fields where marginal cinema, political science, and gender and sexuality studies intersect. Part I organizes the first two chapters under the subtitle “Bodies and Archives.” It begins with an investigation of the political context under which the Sarli–Bó partnership operated, and closes with a discussion of the challenging conditions of undertaking film research in Argentina due to the unfortunate circumstances of its audiovisual archives. Chapter one discusses the period between 1955 and 1973, the years of Juan Domingo Perón’s political proscription and exile, military governments, and institutional instability, all sociopolitical aspects that impacted the production of twenty-three of the twenty-seven Sarli–Bó films. Bó’s filmmaking practices, the birth of youth movements, the films’ popular audience, and the aesthetics of “belonging and excess” configure one of the key theoretical proposals in the book: Peronism’s “affective mode” (30). Through a history of a popular spectatorship of “working-class males” (36), the chapter traces an affective commonality between Perón’s movement and the male audience subscribed to Sarli–Bó films. The political place of female nudity on the screen and the social attitudes toward marginal cinema constitute a significant debate about popular culture and taste formation. Chapter two tells a riveting story of the “disappearance” [End Page 148] of the files contained in the Ente de Calificación Cinematográfica [Film Classification Board], the body from which censorship was exercised through various mechanisms that included partial cuts and prohibitions under Law 18,019 of 1969. The archive’s vanishing act happened during the late 1990s and evidences an act of technological mismanagement and negligence that ended in the...

The strategy of venue creation: Explaining health policy change in Greece

How do policy entrepreneurs affect policy change in environments of institutional instability? The literature has predominantly explored policy entrepreneur strategizing in contexts with established institutional settings. In this paper, we argue that under conditions of institutional fluidity and a weak and politicized public administration, venue creation is the more frequently encountered and the more likely successful strategy. We define venue creation as the entrepreneurial strategy of setting-up institutional arrangements of finite duration, predominantly in the form of committees, delegated exclusively with designing reforms. We test our hypothesis in the Greek health policy sector. We explore two policy instances: the unsuccessful attempt at a public health reform in 1992 and the successful introduction of radical policy change for public health in 2003. We employ a process tracing approach spanning thirty years, processing primary data (elite interviews and documents) applying the Multiple Streams Framework (MSF). We find that under conditions of institutional fluidity and administrative weakness, policy entrepreneurs failed in their pursuit of change using venue shopping in 1992 but succeeded through venue creation in 2003, confirming our hypothesis. We conclude with insights for contingent policy entrepreneurship success, the MSF and patterns of policymaking in Greece.

Исламское государство Индонезия (1949–1962 гг.) как параллельная и альтернативная форма развития индонезийской государственности

The purpose of the article is to analyze the history of the Islamic State of Indonesia. It is as-sumed that ideological contradictions stimulated the proclamation of the Islamic State in 1949. The novelty of the study lies in the analysis of the attempts of radical political Islam to institutionalize the state alternative to the secular model of modernization. The author analises 1) the features and main directions of the political history of the Islamic State, 2) the features of its social structure and politics, 3) the historical significance and the role of the Islamic State in the context of the devel-opment of Indonesian society in the conditions of institutional instability of the late 1940s – early 1960s. The author presumes that historically the Islamic State project stems from the previous histo-ry of Indonesian nationalism and the Ummah. The results of the study suggest that radical Islam had a consolidating value for the Islamic State as an alternative to the growth of political authoritar-ianism. It is assumed that Islam, as the basis of the state model of the Islamic State, developed as a systemic and institutional alternative to the secular model, subjected to erosion and transformation in authoritarianism. The author analyzes the attempts of radicalized Muslims to synthesize the val-ues of the Ummah and actualize the democratic values of both Indonesian nationalism and Islam in the conditions of the crisis of the democratic model of development.