Political Institutional Framework Research Articles

Informal economy in Tunisia

Informality has been a phenomenon that has existed in Tunisia for a long time; it expanded with the Tunisian revolution. The relationship between informal economy and GDP varies in only one direction, that is to say only informality has a negative effect on growth...The expansion of the informal sector comes back to the problem of economic freedom, Tunisia is among the least economically free countries also the political institutional framework such as the problem of government efficiency, the high level of corruption and political instability are among the explanatory variables of informality.

Foresight in public health: a tutorial on application and insights on challenges from the PHIRI foresight exercise.

The application of foresight to the field of public health is limited. There is growing need to anticipate uncertain future trends and to plan for them. Foresight provides tools to experts and policymakers to discuss and plan for possible futures. Hence, the aim of this study is to illustrate how the foresight six-step approach can be applied in public health, and to provide recommendations on dealing with challenges, drawn from the Population Health Information Research Infrastructure (PHIRI) foresight exercise. In this tutorial, we describe the six-step approach as part of foresight methodology and give examples of possible challenges. Step 1 comprises the formulation of study objectives. Step 2 focuses on developing a conceptual model and applying the Demographic Economic Sociocultural Technological Ecological and Political-Institutional (DESTEP) framework to identify and prioritize driving forces for the topic of interest. In Step 3, a time horizon and spatial level are defined. Step 4 discusses scenario logics. Steps 5 and 6 discuss different types of scenarios and associated tools for analyses. Possible challenges encountered whilst applying the foresight methodology at each of the steps, were drawn from experiences during PHIRI foresight exercise. Challenges associated with applying the foresight six-step approach included: formulating concise objectives, developing a conceptual model, understanding driving forces and uncertainty and difficulties in building scenarios. Understanding concepts used in the six-step approach and how they relate to each other remained difficult. Support from foresight experts, conducting more foresight exercises, tutorials and guidelines can enhance understanding and support building capacity.

Promotion of Associativism for Family Production in Argentina and Uruguay (2003-2019)

In both Argentina and Uruguay, the agricultural policy of the progressive governments has evidenced two facets: a sustained stimulus to the expansion of agribusiness and a series of compensatory policies for family production and rural wage earners. Within this set, the study focuses on policies to promote associativism in family farming. In particular, it reconstructs the objectives, recipients, and implementation strategies in the territory of rural development programs. The quantitative impact that these programs had on the construction of the network of associations of family producers is also preliminarily. The work is part of agrarian history in a comparative key. It allows a narration that advances in the recognition of the general tendencies that the progressive governments of both sides of the Río de la Plata evidenced for the attention of the most vulnerable sectors of the agrarian structure, based on the complexity of the political-institutional framework and the rural world of each one of the countries involved.

Business climate and global value chains: Insights from Africa

This paper provides insights on how business climate affect global value chains (GVC) participation in the panel of African nations. The study explores country-level data spanning over a period of 2006–2018. Using the novel method of moments (MM)-Quantile regression, system generalized methods of moments (SYSGMM) and Panel spatial consistent correlation (PSCC) techniques, the study finds that all aspects of business environment have significant impacts on GVC participation in Africa. In specific, information and communication facilities, getting electricity, getting credit, trading across border, enforcing contract, protecting investors and business start-up registration have positive and significant impact on GVC. We also discover that tariff reduces GVC participation while strong political institutions enhance participation. The study concludes that business environment factors are fundamental to ensure high level of GVC participation. Political institutional framework needs to be strengthened to further encourage GVC participation in Africa.

The evaluation of the backsliding in the democracies of Hungary and Poland within the framework of political institutions and international relations factors

Günümüzde pek çok ülke insan hakları, hukukun üstünlüğü, serbest ve adil seçimler ve çoğulculuk gibi demokratik değerleri kısıtlayan yasal ve idari girişimlerde bulunmaktadır. Bu bağlamda demokrasi uzun yıllardır küresel anlamda gerileme içindedir. Bu durum demokratik gerilemenin ampirik olarak tespit edilmesini ve nedenlerinin araştırılmasını teşvik etmektedir.
 Avrupa Birliği demokratik değerleri Birlik içinde yasal norm olarak kabul etmesine rağmen birden fazla üyesi hakkında demokratik gerileme içinde oldukları yönünde tartışmalar yürütülmektedir. Söz konusu üyelerden ikisi Macaristan ve Polonya olup iki ülkede hem Birlik içinde hem de uluslararası alanda anti demokratik uygulamaları nedeniyle eleştirilmektedir.
 Bu çalışmada da Macaristan ve Polonya’nın demokratik gerileme içinde oldukları ampirik veriler ile ortaya konulmakta ve bunun nedenleri siyasal kurumlar ve uluslararası faktörler çerçevesinde açıklanmaktadır.

REGULAÇÃO POR RESULTADOS E RECONFIGURAÇÕES EM ARRANJOS INSTITUCIONAIS ENDEREÇADOS AO GOVERNO DEMOCRÁTICO DA EDUCAÇÃO

ABSTRACT: In the context of the growing implementation of accountability measures in basic education identified with policies of regulation by results, this paper analyzes possible reconfigurations of institutional arrangements to account for democratic school government in terms of participation and social control. We conducted this documental research in two Brazilian capitals (Fortaleza [CE] and Palmas [TO]). We surveyed, examined, and systematized target documents, guidelines, measures, and conditions for the democratic government of public basic education, which were in line with result-based regulation policies carried out since the 2000s. Nonetheless, we conclude that the ensemble of changes in each capital may indicate some favoring of the institutional conditions of participation and social control. However, we highlight that the suggested potential of these changes seems to lose power when faced with a political-institutional framework that emphasizes measures identified with policies of regulation by results.

The “shkrinking” role of the Head of State during the years of transition

This paper aims to present the evolution of the role of the Head of State in the institutional and cultural context of post-communist Albania, especially in relation to his responsibility regarding the reasons of the state and as a representative and defender of the permanent interest of society (Schmitt, 1931). Dialectics and tension produced with majorities and Governments; the gradual erosion of the position of the head of state in favor of the executive; the effects on the political system and the ethical totality of the State, as well as the public opinion’s perception of the role of the Head of State (Hegel, 1998). From a theoretical stance, the various doctrines of the Theory of the State always make a clear distinction between the concept of the Head of State and the President of the Republic. Within this concept, we can distinguish the form of the state, the form of government and, as a result, the political and institutional power of the Head of State. In this context, based on a structuralist approach, in addition to the presentation of doctrine, facts and historical reasons, the article also seeks to present a perspective on the suitability of a strong or weak president in relation to the political-institutional framework as well as the hierarchy of values in their entirety. Can the democratic election of the President by the people be (re)considered or should the figure of the President be ultimately reinvented?!

How do basin committees deal with water crises? Reflections for adaptive water governance from South America

Adaptive water governance involves collaboration among multiple actors, social learning, and flexibility to deal with shocks and surprises. Crises thus become a useful context to assess how the institutional arrangements contribute to adaptation. However, an important part of the specialized literature has focused on these issues as they occur in highly institutionalized settings in the Global North. This paper, instead, analyzes basin organizations in settings with variable degrees of institutionalization in South America. The objective is to analyze the actions (or lack thereof) conducted or encouraged by basin committees in watersheds of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, in the face of water crises. We analyze three case studies, involving basin committees that faced different water crises (all affecting drinking water supply) at different scales: (1) Chubut River Basin committee and a turbidity crisis in the Lower Valley in 2017 (Chubut, Argentina), (2) Piracicaba-Capivari-Jundiaí (PCJ) River Basins committee and a drought that occurred in 2014–2015 (São Paulo, Brazil), and (3) Laguna del Cisne Basin commission and a crisis associated with a failure in the water treatment operation in 2019 (Canelones, Uruguay). In each case, we analyze the institutional design of the committee and the actions (or lack thereof) undertaken regarding the crisis, including the perceptions of key stakeholders of those actions. Findings showed that stakeholders tend to act and communicate through fast channels when water crises occur, referring to basin committees only for technical and additional support (Brazil), information sharing (Uruguay), or not convening the committee at all (Argentina). Our cases in South American countries with different contexts provided empirical evidence of the barriers that basin committees face as political–institutional frameworks to foster adaptive water governance (e.g., limited stability, centralization, lack of leadership).

Fragmented Pragmatism: On Sungmoon Kim’s Pragmatic Confucian Democracy

Fragmented Pragmatism: On Sungmoon Kim’s Pragmatic Confucian Democracy

Политическая институционализация конфликтов: основные подходы и проблемы исследования

The paper presents the results of a research of ideas about the political institutionalization that have developed within the framework of the conflict theory and the neo-institutional theory. This article aims to determine the correlation between theoretical approaches in the study of the problems of political institutionalization of conflicts, in particular, in the interaction of institutions of various types. The research method is a comparative analysis of the main provisions of these two approaches. It was revealed that the problem of conflict regulation is most often solved in a normative way. The main methodological differences are associated with the choice of the research objects. In the theory of conflict, researchers focus on the possibilities giving the conflict a regulated and constructive character. The nature of the regulatory impact is not critical. From the neoinstitutionalists' point of view, the nature of political institutions and the possibility of combining different types of institutionalization are of decisive importance. Conflicts are considered along with other processes that need to be regulated. The possibility of overcoming them within the framework of political institutions is included. Simultaneously, a conflict can be stimulated by a clash of norms, and the process of institutionalization itself has a potential for conflict.

Projeto neoliberal e justiça de transição: as consequências de suas intersecções para a concretude democrática brasileira

O presente trabalho analisa o processo de transição da forma de Estado ditatorial, implantada durante o regime cívico-militar no Brasil (1964-1985), para a forma de um Estado Democrático de Direito embasado pelo princípio dos direitos humanos. Ele o faz através da ótica da Justiça de Transição, buscando compreender as nuances de seu uso no Brasil e sua real capacidade de intervenção no plano político-institucional. Percebendo a transversalidade da questão de disputa por hegemonia e suas consequências, como a organização de blocos no poder para implementação de projetos político-econômicos, o artigo trata de identificar o papel do neoliberalismo nesse processo transicional, da ditadura para a democracia, identificando para tal, suas perspectivas teóricas acerca da democracia, dos direitos e das atribuições do Estado. Identifica-se com esse esforço, que as intersecções entre neoliberalismo e Justiça de Transição terminam por potencializar uma “excepcionalidade continuada” no Estado brasileiro, fazendo com que se mantenham, ainda que sob a forma de Estado Democrático de Direito, estruturas antidemocráticas.

Políticas e intervención institucional sobre producción y empleo en municipios del Conurbano Bonaerense

El trabajo busca caracterizar el entramado político- institucional de apoyo al desarrollo productivo y el empleo local en municipios del noroeste del Conurbano Bonaerense (San Miguel, Malvinas Argentinas y José C. Paz) durante el período 2009- 2017. Se pretende analizar cómo se reconfigura allí la matriz de políticas orientadas a la producción a partir del cambio de administración nacional y provincial ocurrido en 2015. Se parte del supuesto que si bien los factores económicos y sociales del territorio condicionan el despliegue de las políticas, el alcance de dichas intervenciones varía sustantivamente en función de otros factores, como las relaciones intergubernamentales entabladas por el gobierno local, las redes de organizaciones/actores a nivel territorial y las capacidades o grados de consolidación institucional de la gestión municipal.

Profesión e identidad en la agricultura familiar española

Este artículo analiza las posibilidades y límites de la profesionalización agraria en España desde el punto de vista de las opiniones y actitudes de los agricultores que tienen la agricultura como actividad principal. El artículo permite identificar un núcleo de agricultores más bien jóvenes, con explotaciones medio-grandes y de orientación preferentemente hortofrutícola, que se autoidentifican como profesionales o empresarios y que presentan un relativo cumplimiento del ideal profesional. Se trata, sin embargo, de un proceso incipiente que tropieza con todo tipo de limitaciones, no solo actitudinales, sino también institucionales, relativas, por un lado, a la propia naturaleza de la agricultura familiar y, por otro, a la ausencia de un marco político-institucional adecuado.

Spazi mediali delle migrazioni. Framing e rappresentazioni del confine nell’informazione italiana

Abstract – Media play a central role in the process of symbolic and social construction of reality; the news trace the outlines of the spaces defining the identities – who is in , the belonging, who is the other , as well as the explanatory dimensions and the attributions of responsibility that prelude the formation of public policies – what happens and what should be done . In the decades-long experience of Italy and other advanced countries, this role is particularly evident in the representation of migratory phenomena. Many researches, over the years, have investigated the ability or (more often) the inability of journalism to read the complexity of this phenomenon, providing a panorama drawn by some consolidated frames, a repertoire of recurring images, iconic representations of the foreigner, of the ‘evil’, of the ‘enemy’ and of the ‘different’. Given the diversification of situations, events, political-institutional frameworks, this landscape maintains consistency in the construction of a discursive space that regenerates national and community membership and legitimate policies of exclusion. Adopting a sociological perspective on communication and media studies, the contribution explores the contours of this cultural horizon through data and case histories from empirical paths and the international literature on the subject. Our conclusion is that there are three prevalent frames – ‘security’, ‘crisis’, ‘pietistic’ – in which iconic, linguistic and metaphorical apparatuses define the most common interpretative keys in the journalistic representation of the migratory phenomenon.

A Remedy for All Sins? Introducing a Special Issue on Social Enterprises and Welfare Regimes in Europe

The paper serves as an introduction to a special issue discussing social enterprises historical development and functions against welfare regimes across six European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Scotland, Serbia). While discussing convergences and diversities among them, the introduction proposes a comparative analytical framework for understanding social enterprises and welfare state as contingent phenomena developed at different point in time, within a broader political-institutional framework regulating states-peoples’ relationships.

Perquin: party and territorial development

The Winter Festival Perquin (FIP) developed for 25 years in the Department of Morazán in El Salvador seeks to preserve the historical memory salvadoreña through different cultural activities that remember what lived during the Salvadoran armed conflict. Perquin has been developing territorially establishing relationships between local cultural, social system actors and political-institutional framework of the municipality as well as the different state institutions that meet in the territory. These relationships between the local and the national are made explicit in the festival and have developed a brand destination that contributes to a systemic and sustainable territorial development.Realidad: Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades No. 149, 2017: 37-49

Do Political Institutions Influence International Trade? Measurement of Institutions and the Long-Run Effects

The past literature presents ambiguous evidence about the bidirectional and causal influences between countries’ institutional framework and their trading activity. In our analysis, we investigate the relationship between institutions and trade constructing a measure of institutions from the information given by the International Country Risk Guide and using a methodology that can control for omitted variables bias, endogeneity in the regressors, as well as cross-country heterogeneity. We examine the long-run effects of the political institutional framework on trade for a panel of 87 countries for the period from 1990 to 2007. We employ recent panel econometric methods for testing and estimating in the presence of non-stationarity, investigate panel causality and use methods that are robust to slope heterogeneity. Our results imply that an improved political institutional framework is a cause of increased trading activity.

MODERNIZING POLITICS:SPECIFICS FOR THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

This paper examined the concepts relevant to and specif-ics of modernizing politics in the Russian Federation, and substantiated urgency to implement it and showed the part taken by the Russian State in reforming the society paradigm. The paper mentioned the part taken by the legislature in the framework of political institutions of the country. The review made an inference upon the study outcomes that political and cultural progress in social and political systems depended on the course and nature of political developments in general, on the ways the country had optioned to follow. The key issue lays in realizing that renewal of life may occur only on the grounds of freedom, self-reliance and participation of the public in making legislation and in exercising supervision over the executive branch of power.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Conscience for the World ed. by Felice D. Gaer & Christen L. Broecker (review)

Reviewed by: The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Conscience for the World ed. by Felice D. Gaer & Christen L. Broecker Matheus de Carvalho Hernandez (bio) The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Conscience for the World ( Felice D. Gaer & Christen L. Broecker eds., Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2014), 398 pages (incl. index), ISBN 978-90-04-25424-4. The position of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was created at the end of 1993 by a unanimous vote in the United Nations General Assembly. The creation of this office was preceded by strong lobbying by NGOs (particularly Amnesty International) and state delegations (primarily the United States) during the Second World Conference on Human Rights, known as the Vienna Conference, in June of 1993. Throughout the Cold War, several negotiation attempts to create this office were hampered, on the one hand by the bipolar conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union—and consequently between the so-called “generations” of human rights—and on the other hand by the still incipient institutional strengthening of the international human rights system. The end of the Cold War, the “thawing” of the UN, and the consolidation of NGOs as international political agents established the conditions for the emergence of this position, which from then on assumed primary responsibility for human rights within the entire political-institutional framework of the UN. Despite the centrality of the position for the institutionalization of human rights within the UN and the fact that, bureaucratically, it has the rank of Under-Secretary General, there are very few studies and analyses on the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the office in the international literature. In this respect, this book is an extremely welcome addition to the small number of other titles on the topic, such as the works of Bertrand Ramcharan and the pioneering doctoral thesis by Roger Clark in 1972. As stated above, the book has its merits. The first, doubtlessly, is its originality. The second is the attempt to cover the most varied aspects of the High Commissioner and the office. In addition to the introduction written by the editors, the book is divided into five well balanced parts. The first part discusses the expectations concerning the work of the mandate holder and the office, analyzing its twenty five years of existence and making recommendations for its future. Besides the articles by the current High Commissioner, Navi Pillay, and the former High Commissioner, Ramcharan, the reflections of Michael Ignatieff on the possibilities for increasing the duties of the High Commissioner and of Harold Koh on the personification and institutionalization process contribute to the literature in the area. The second part addresses a recurring theme in the literature on human [End Page 971] rights: universality. The authors in this section, Michael O’Flaherty and Sunila Abeysekera, focus on how the High Commissioner operationalizes and promotes the principle of universality, or fails to do so, in its work, particularly in relation to the committees that monitor compliance with international human rights treaties (known as Treaty Bodies). In the third part, one of the main contributions of the collection starts to emerge: the little known or studied responses of the Office of the High Commissioner to systematic human rights violations. Felice Gaer, who is extremely knowledgeable about the UN human rights system, recommends that there should be more synergy and cooperation and less disputing and rivalry between the work of the High Commissioner and the Special Procedures. Christen Broecker and William O’Neill make a panoramic analysis of the work conducted by the High Commissioner’s national offices, located in several different countries around the world, demonstrating the political-institutional potential and difficulties of giving local significance to international human rights standards. Tseliso Thipanyane wraps up the third part by describing the relationship between the National Human Rights Institutions and the High Commissioner, the leading enthusiast of these institutions within the institutional framework of the UN. The fourth part is interesting in that it responds to the more skeptical literature concerning the political influences of the UN human rights bodies. Suzanne Nossel and Broecker show how the institutional maturity of the position of High Commissioner...

Explaining successes and failures of river Basin committees in Brazil

A new political-institutional framework for water management was inaugurated in Brazil with the promulgation of Federal Law no 9.433 of 1997. The model defined by the legislation was the result of a complex debate between political agents, specialists and service users, and generally received very positive reactions celebrating the fact that Brazil was carrying out a reorganisation of the sector attuned to contemporary global trends – more horizontal, decentralised, participatory and... effective. This model would allow for the environmental, economic, political, social and territorial dimensions of water use to be coordinated all at once. Hence, a river basin is defined as a territorial unit for implementing the water resources policy and a basin committee as a managing body for this territorial unit, with important responsibilities including conflict resolution, approval and monitoring of water resources plans, and setting up of systems for charging for water use.