Substantive Dimensions Research Articles

International law as a common language across spheres of authority?

AbstractWhen actors express conflicting views about the validity or scope of norms or rules in relation to other norms or rules in the international sphere, they often do so in the language of international law. This contribution argues that international law’s hermeneutic acts as a common language that cuts across spheres of authority and can thus serve as a conflict management tool for interface conflicts. Often, this entails resorting to an international court. While acknowledging that courts cannot provide permanent solutions to the underlying political conflict, I submit that court proceedings are interesting objects of study that promote our understanding of how international legal argument operates as a conflict management device. I distinguish three dimensions of common legal form, using the well-knownEC–Hormonescase as illustration: a procedural, argumentative, and substantive dimension. While previous scholarship has often focused exclusively on the substantive dimension, I argue that the other two dimensions are equally important. In concluding, I reflect on a possible explanation as to why actors are disposed to resort to international legal argument even if this is unlikely to result in a final solution: there is a specific authority claim attached to international law qua law.

The Subnational Indigenous Quota in Peru: The Paradoxes of Political Representation

ABSTRACTThe objective of this article is to explain the territorial variation in indigenous political representation at the subnational level in Peru. The Peruvian state introduced a weak indigenous electoral quota, and its effects have varied across provinces. This article presents a typology that combines descriptive and substantive dimensions of political representation. Using a subnational comparative method, the four cases studied illustrate distinct dynamics. The article argues that these differing dynamics are explained by a combination of sociostructural variables (i.e., political articulation and cohesion of indigenous organizations as a result of a conflict) and individual variables (i.e., candidates’ political capital). This article demonstrates how, even in an institutionally adverse environment that does not feature ethnic parties, both descriptive and substantive indigenous political representation can be achieved, and that these two dimensions are not necessarily related. The article is based on fieldwork and interviews with key provincial political actors.

A Reflection on the Collapse of the Power of the Church and the Rise of Science Authority

This article explains that the Modern period marked by the collapse of the power of the church and the rise of science authority. At the next phase, the new image of man becomes inevitable. After modernist philosophers called on people to go away from the church, science in turn lock and catch the man, then he is traped in factories and industries. Substantive dimensions in man is eliminated, so that his presence in the world is subordinated by the industrial machines. Human in modern world is not more than a "the screw of industry.

A Reflection on the Collapse of the Power of the Church and the Rise of Science Authority

This article explains that the Modern period marked by the collapse of the power of the church and the rise of science authority. At the next phase, the new image of man becomes inevitable. After modernist philosophers called on people to go away from the church, science in turn lock and catch the man, then he is traped in factories and industries. Substantive dimensions in man is eliminated, so that his presence in the world is subordinated by the industrial machines. Human in modern world is not more than a "the screw of industry.

Legality and the Legal Relation

According to Immanuel Kant, legality means the quality of an action to be merely and simply in conformity with a law. The article defends the significance of this notion and explains how it in-dicates the existence of a legal relation. The legal relation, in turn, is the result of resolving an antinomy between the social and the substantive dimension of moral judgment.

Dimensi Religiusitas Agensi Pendidikan Politik Partai NasDem Jawa Timur

Religious discourse in political praxis always attracts the attention of many experts. Some of them consider that the use of religion represents more pragmatic interest of political parties for stimulating voters in general elections. This study argues that the use of religion in political praxis is not merely for the pragmatic purposes of the party, but also for the party’s idealistic goals. This is the reason that makes the implementation of political education important for integrating religious dimensions. NasDem Party of East Java is known for its concern in promoting its ideal image as a nationalist-religious party. In order to realize its image and political vision, NasDem carries religion-based politics in its political education. This article aims to study issues such as how religious dimensions are contained in political education and how the orientasions of the agency of political party are. This article found an important finding that there were two dimensions in the implementation of political education, namely the ritual-symbolic and substantive religious dimensions. The orientation of symbolic religious dimension is to strengthen the faith and the creation of nationality- religious intergated understanding, while the substantive dimension is oriented to shape a humanist-religious consciousness and God’s mandate in the political role.

The impact of an educational intervention on nursing students' critical thinking skills: A quasi-experimental study

AimIn this study, we identified the impact of educational activities that focused on improving the competence and critical thinking skills of university nursing students. DesignA prospective quasi-experimental study was conducted, and assessments were conducted before and after the educational intervention, which consisted of seminars, lectures, case studies, and problem-solving activities. MethodsThe Critical Thinking Questionnaire was used to collect data before and after the educational intervention between September 2017 and May 2018. The sample consisted of 112 first-year undergraduate students. To examine the data that were collected as a part of this quasi-experimental study, inferential statistics were used, and the results were tested against a significance level of P < 0.05. ResultsThe students obtained higher scores on the substantive dimension than on the dialogic one, and women scored higher than men. The educational intervention led to an improvement in every critical thinking skill across both dimensions, except listening and speaking skills, whereby men demonstrated a greater change in average scores for critical thinking skills. ConclusionsThe educational intervention improved the critical thinking skills of undergraduate students and had a greater impact on men than on women. This finding underscores the need for educational interventions that can enhance critical thinking skills. Developing these skills will improve future nurses' ability to make health care management decisions in a reflective, agile, and evidence-based manner.

Automated Scoring of Students’ Use of Text Evidence in Writing

AbstractDespite the importance of analytic text‐based writing, relatively little is known about how to teach to this important skill. A persistent barrier to conducting research that would provide insight on best practices for teaching this form of writing is a lack of outcome measures that assess students’ analytic text‐based writing development and that are feasible to implement at scale. Automated essay‐scoring (AES) technologies offer one potential approach to increasing the feasibility of research in this area, provided that the scores yield information about substantive dimensions of writing aligned to new standards and are sensitive to variation in literacy instruction. The authors describe an approach to using AES technologies to provide information about students’ skills at marshaling text evidence in the upper elementary grades. Specifically, the authors examined 1,529 responses to a response‐to‐text assessment (RTA) from 65 fifth‐ and sixth‐grade language arts classrooms, from which the authors also collected data on instruction via logs, text‐based writing assignments, and surveys. Through correlational, univariate, and multilevel multivariate analyses, the authors found validity evidence supporting automated scoring of the RTA: The authors found close correspondence of human and AES scores, alignment of AES scores with components of instruction that the authors expected would predict variation in students’ writing quality, and association between AES scores and other expected measures of student achievement. These findings provide encouraging evidence that AES technologies as applied to the RTA can generate valid inferences about students’ ability to marshal text evidence in writing and, thus, could be a useful tool for advancing large‐scale writing research.

Contingency as a Central Challenge in Research Processes: Methodological Aspects

Abstract This article focuses on the methodological meaning of the concept of contingency. I illustrate this with a study of doctoral qualification processes, which examines the methodological and substantive dimensions of the contingency paradigm. The study focuses on the way in which doctoral students perceive and conceptualize their research processes, and it crystallized the factors that influence the writing of their dissertations. Horizons of meaning and epistemic concepts, for example, play an essential role. These influence the areas of conflict that arise, the strategies for acting that the doctoral students opt for, and the consequences that result from these strategies. Dealing with contingency turns out to be the central challenge, especially in the supervision of dissertations. The study demonstrates the importance of developing competencies in “contingency encounter” in research and teaching.

The Chinese Experiment: Lessons from the Regulation of Ridesharing in China

Turning on an app, finding a driver nearby with the help of GPS, and quickly catching a ride to your desired destination is now a daily activity for many people around the world. This arrangement, known as “ridesharing” or “ridehailing,” has especially transformed the way many American and Chinese citizens travel. In the United States, ridesharing is roughly an $18 billion industry, and in China it is an incredible $30 billion. And while ridesharing for many Americans might be synonymous with Uber and Lyft, in China the leading ridesharing company is Didi-Chuxing, which facilitates more rides each day in China than Uber does across the entire world. The so-called “sharing economy,” of which ridesharing and similar services like homesharing are a part, has unlocked the excess capacity in cars, homes, and schedules, leading to lower prices for consumers, higher incomes for suppliers, and the reduction of wasted resources. Despite these benefits and advances, however, the sharing economy has created an array of problems for communities of all sizes — from tax evasion and pollution to price gouging, deplorable worker protections, and consumer safety. The impact of these problems is exacerbated because sharing economy platforms shape-shift, move fast, and fight to avoid or find loopholes within current regulatory frameworks. As a result, the world has witnessed a barrage of lawsuits, strikes, bans, and rules in opposition to this zeitgeist. With many differing approaches to regulating the sharing economy, some jurisdictions have more effectively mitigated the novel economy’s negative externalities than others. Thus, it is helpful to look at legal experiments occurring across the globe to identify and understand best practices as they emerge. This Article does just that by examining China’s ridesharing regulations. China’s approach provides a useful point of comparison to the U.S.’s, because of its national recognition of ridesharing platforms, its two-tiered regulatory structure, and forward-thinking plans to incorporate many of the sharing economy’s benefits into the country’s strategic planning. Furthermore, this Article contributes to our overall understanding of the Chinese economy and its legal system, which too often goes unexamined in U.S. legal scholarship, despite the fact that the Chinese economy is second only to the U.S.’s. This Article advances a two-pronged thesis. First, it argues that China’s approach to ridesharing regulation — while not flawless — nevertheless addresses certain policy concerns in a more rational and effective manner than have U.S. laws. Chinese law appears to balance the country’s goal of encouraging the positive attributes of ridesharing with other practical social goals such as consumer protection and fair competition. Second, this Article argues that U.S. regulators can selectively borrow from China’s approach to ridesharing regulation for the benefit of the relevant stakeholders in the U.S. In this way, U.S. law could absorb and encourage the beneficial innovations of sharing economy platforms generally and better address the policy concerns they provoke. To build these arguments, this Article proceeds as follows. Part I provides the context for understanding the broad similarities and differences between the U.S. and Chinese sharing economies, especially with regard to their incorporation into national economic and political goals. Part II provides a brief overview of ridesharing in both the U.S. and China. Part III evaluates the utility of comparative legal analysis and argues that the functionalist method of comparison is best suited for our purposes. Part IV provides a functional analysis of the two countries’ regulatory approaches vis-a-vis their respective systemic and substantive dimensions of interest. Finally, Part V provides key insights for regulators considering a national approach to ridesharing regulation in their own country.

Freedom of Expression in the Age of Online Platforms: Operationalising a Human Rights-Based Approach to Content Moderation

In today’s digital public sphere, individuals have little choice but to participate on online platforms, whose design choices shape what is possible, content policies influence what is permissible, and personalization algorithms determine what is visible. Ensuring that online content moderation is aligned with the public interest has emerged as one of the most pressing challenges for freedom of expression in the twenty-first century. Taking this challenge as its focus, this Article examines the promise and pitfalls of a human rights-based approach to content moderation—with a specific focus on the choices and challenges that online platforms are likely to confront in adhering to their corporate responsibility to respect human rights in this context. The Article examines three dimensions of a human rights-based approach to platform moderation in particular: a substantive dimension, encompassing the alignment of content moderation rules with international human rights law; a process dimension, encompassing the standards of transparency and oversight that platforms should implement as part of their human rights due diligence processes; and a procedural-remedial dimension, encompassing the procedural guarantees and remediation mechanisms that platforms should integrate within their systems of content moderation. The Article concludes by reflecting on some of the limits of the human rights-based approach and cautioning against viewing human rights as a panacea.

La idea de los principios formales. El principio de proporcionalidad en el control de constitucionalidad

En este ensayo presento ideas acerca de cómo la dimensión autoritativa del derechopuede conciliarse con la corrección sustantiva en el control de constitucionalidad en el campo del principio de proporcionalidad. Para ello reconstruiré el principio de proporcionalidad por medio de la teoría principialista y sus elementos y rasgos distintivos para después enfocarme en explicar cómo los principios formales y sustanciales operan de acuerdo con la misma lógica, para así sostener que la ponderación conecta o reconcilia la dimensión formal con la sustantiva. Esto me permite concluir que por medio de los principios formales puede refutarse la objeción democrática al principio de proporcionalidad en el control de constitucionalidad.

The Devil in the Detail: Mitigating the Constitutional &amp;amp; Rule of Law Risks Associated with the use of Artificial Intelligence in the Legal Domain

Over the last decade increased emphasis has been placed on the role that artificial intelligence (AI) will play in disrupting the practice of law. Although considerable attention has been given to the practical task of designing a computer to ‘think like a lawyer’, a number of related issues merit further inquiry. Of these, the risks that AI presents to the constitutionally protected procedural and substantive dimensions of justice deserve particular attention. In this paper, we consider the public and private application of AI in the administration of justice and the provision of legal services. We observe that the imposition of AI in certain legal contexts and settings has the potential to silence discourse between actors and agents, subvert the rule of law, and directly and indirectly threaten constitutional rights. In substantiating these observations, in Part I we begin by contextualizing recent developments in legal technology. Tracing the evolution of rule-based AI approaches through to modern data-driven techniques, in Part II we explore how AI systems have sought to represent law, drawing on the domains of: (a) judicial interpretation and reasoning; (b) bargaining and transacting, and; (c) enforcement and compliance, and we illustrate how these representations have been constrained by the AI approach used. In Part III we assess the use of AI in legal services, focusing specifically on implications that are posed in respect of the protection of constitutional rights and adherence to the rule of law. Finally, in Part IV we examine the pragmatic challenges that arise in balancing the risks and rewards of AI technologies in the legal domain, and we consider the issues that should shape and that are likely to shape use. We conclude by proposing the development of a ‘rule of legal AI’ designed to solidify the shared values that ought to govern future development in the field.

Network Structure and Substantive Dimensions of Improvised Social Support Ties Surrounding Households during Post-Disaster Recovery

AbstractInformal social support plays a crucial role in post-disaster recovery, but are there systematic patterns of inequality in individuals’ mobilization of social support? This study examines t...

Participation and inclusiveness in the Intergovernmental Science–Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

The Intergovernmental Science–Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) aims to bridge between science and policy by assessing and synthesizing diverse forms of knowledge about biodiversity. With its explicit ambition to include not just natural science, but also social science and humanities as well as indigenous and local knowledge systems, IPBES is operating as a pioneer in uncharted territory. This Review assesses the state of research on IPBES processes in order to identify the challenges and lessons to be drawn from its efforts to include different kinds of experts, stakeholders and knowledge systems. The Review discusses both procedural and substantive dimensions of inclusiveness and identifies a paradox between on the one hand IPBES’ demand for diversity and on the other hand its aim of achieving consensus. Specifically, it illustrates how IPBES’ orientation towards consensus in decision-making and in assessment work shapes and constrains diversity and inclusiveness. This finding has implications for environmental assessment processes within and beyond IPBES and suggests a need to open up procedures and practices of participation and inclusion in order to accommodate pluralism, contestation and incommensurable perspectives and knowledge systems. Review of how a multilateral negotiation platform on biodiversity is championing diversity in both participants (by gender and ethnic groups) and forms of knowledge, such as traditional or indigenous.

Incorporating international biodiversity law principles and rights perspective into the European Union Timber Regulation

This article assesses the synergies and conflicts between the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR), and the potential role of the CBD principles and rights perspective in improving coherence across these diverse forest-related agreements. We find that both the EUTR, which aims to eliminate illegal wood from EU supply chains, and the CBD, with its core focus on biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, share the stated goals of safeguarding biodiversity and local livelihoods. However, the principle of inclusive governance and sustainable use embedded in the CBD conflicts with the EUTR. The EUTR focus on law enforcement asserts the primacy of state laws independently of their sustainability content and alignment with international human rights law. We find that the EUTR risks reinforcing legal frameworks that preference large-scale export production over local forest access, use and benefits. Better aligning the EUTR with CBD safeguards firstly requires opening-up the EUTR rule-making process to broader engagement with affected groups. Secondly, our analysis of both the procedural and substantive dimensions of the EUTR and the CBD safeguards, suggests that opportunities for better alignment lie in the nexus between procedural rights, of which law enforcement forms part of a broader vision of rule of law and conflict resolution, and the strengthening of substantive rights that benefit local forest use and conservation.

Bernard Lonergan and Alberto Guerreiro Ramos: dialogues between the existential subject and the parenthetical man

Abstract Bernard Lonergan has addressed, among other topics, the issue of human and ethical action, considering the possibility of a path of authenticity and moral achievement that occurs in a specific type of subject, whom he has called the existential subject. Based on this concept, we considered the possibility of a dialogue with Alberto Guerreiro Ramos, who has created the concept of parenthetical man, defined as a being that is rational par excellence, in his substantive dimension. The conception of this model of man goes in an opposite direction of the management theories based on instrumental rationality. Although Lonergan has not explicitly created a substantive theory, his concept of ethics and human good highlights aspects that relate to the substantive rationality. Thus, this theoretical essay aims to identify the possible connection between the parenthetical man and the existential subject, based on the perspective of human action and ethics. We identified that the authors have a similar comprehension of the world and of human relations, especially regarding the critical consciousness of the parenthetical man and the awareness of responsibility of the existential subject.

Women's Movements Institutionalization and Impact on Policy. The Case of the Bolivian Movement of Domestic Workers

Several authors have analysed how institutionalized women's movements impact policy, but research has devoted little attention to the differentiated impact of institutionalized movements on the substantive and symbolic dimensions of the same policy. I investigate this issue by focusing on the Bolivian movement of domestic workers, a paradigmatic case of an institutionalized women's movement that had a sound impact on the symbolic dimension of the policy on domestic workers' rights but a much weaker impact on its substantive dimension. The research is based on qualitative content analysis of documents produced by the movement and the government, and semi-structured interviews with key actors. I have reached three main findings. First, institutionalization facilitates the achievement of symbolic policy outcomes, but does not necessarily allow the achievement of substantive policy outcomes. Second, the inclusion of movements in deliberative processes that imply the joint elaboration of policy seems to be the form of institutionalization that allows the strongest impact on the substantive dimension of policy, while the appointment of movement members to official positions is less effective. Third, a form of institutionalization that was not included in existent typologies has been identified: the recognition of the importance of a movement by the government.

КОГНИТИВНО-ПОВЕДЕНЧЕСКИ СХЕМИ И ОТРАЖЕНИЕТО ИМ В ОБУЧЕНИЕТО НА ЛИЧНОСТТА ПРИ ТРЕВОЖНОСТ

This scientific work addresses two important aspects of personality with anxiety disorders - cognitive-behavioral patterns and the ability of the anxious person to deal with them. The specific research objective is focused on clarifying the substantive dimensions of negative automatic thoughts, positive thoughts such as the contraversion of negative thoughts and coping strategies in persons with anxiety disorders (panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder) and in subjects studied without or with mild anxiety. Identifying relationships between automatic thoughts, anxiety, self-efficacy, and coping strategies. The results obtained are entirely oriented towards consultative practice and training technologies. Based on theoretical analysis and empirical research, the main goal is to: study the influence and interconnections between negative automatic thoughts, the influence of positive thoughts such as the contraversion of negative thoughts, anxiety, coping assessment - strategies for coping with unwanted thoughts in teens with anxiety disorders and in persons without anxiety or mild anxiety. This would lead to a better understanding of the problematic of cognitive-behavioral schemes and the identification of individual strategies to deal with unwanted negative thoughts and the creation of more appropriate individual and group therapeutic interventions to assist learners. In support of the accepted hypothesis, there is an association between personal inability and desire for change and the negative self-concept in students. The low self-esteem and powerlessness of teenagers in new conditions has been confirmed. A statistically significant correlation between these factors was found in the subjects with anxiety disorders.

Institucionalidades do sistema de proteção social em linhas de frontera: experiência metodológica e resultados obtidos

Este texto apresenta o processo metodológico e os principais resultados de uma avaliação realizada para o Instituto Social do MERCOSUL (ISM) sobre os sistemas de proteção social em seis pares de cidades-gêmeas situadas nas fronteiras dos países do Mercado Comum do Sul (MERCOSUL). Com este intuito foram resgatadas informações sobre os dispositivos jurídicos e político-administrativos do MERCOSUL e Estados Parte, serviços, ações programáticas e demandas locais abrangendo os setores saúde, previdência social, educação e assistência social, cujos indicadores impactam negativamente as áreas de fronteiras internacionais do MERCOSUL. Em termos metodológicos utilizou-se a abordagem construída pela Comissão Econômica para América Latina e o Caribe para avaliar a institucionalidade das políticas sociais, a qual assinala quatro dimensões que concretiam o nível de cidadania em espaços regionais, nacionais e locais – a jurídico-normativa, organizacional, técnico-operativa e fiscal. Os resultados apontam em relação à dimensão jurídico-administrativa a lentidão na concretização das normativas e de acordos bilaterais entre os Estados Parte. Sobre a dimensão orgânico-ministerial destaca-se a forma distinta de organização pública nacional na proteção social nos países do bloco. Na dimensão substantiva as controvérsias em relação aos critérios de acesso de nacionais e não nacionais aos serviços no campo da saúde e proteção social foram frequentes, o que sinaliza para a divergência entre os gestores quanto ao grau de universalidade a ser obtido. Conclui-se que a abordagem metodológica utilizada favoreceu a construção do diagnóstico proposto favorecendo a elaboração de um plano de ação para superar os desafios identificados.