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The core literature on Latin American politics has stressed the existence of path dependency among presidential regimes in the region. However, this paper offers an alternative explanation, where dependence is found in values such as central power, authority, order and elite pre-eminence, which were transformed into formal institutions, principally the Constitution. Consequently, sub-optimal decisions taken at certain critical junctures aimed at maintaining the status quo are more relevant than lasting institutional agreements, as is the case in the United States. The lack of a constitutional agreement resembles what in economics has been described as the missing social contract, where elite or temporary political coalitions with other social sectors imposed structural reforms. In order to overcome this void, Chile's non-elite sectors pursued democratic means, whereas in Argentina this was considered only one of the available tools. Though the initial outcome for analysis is different, both countries currently share the lack of a constitutional agreement, forcing both to continue to search for lasting democratic institutions. ; La literatura predominante sobre política latinoamericana ha señalado la existencia de path dependency entre los regímenes presidenciales de la región. Sin embargo, este trabajo ofrece una explicación alternativa que incluye en el análisis los valores de poder centralizado, autoridad, orden y preeminencia de la élite, que fueron transformados en instituciones formales, principalmente la Constitución. En consecuencia, decisiones sub-óptimas tomadas en ciertas coyunturas críticas destinadas a mantener el status quo son más relevantes que acuerdos institucionales duraderos, como en el caso de Estados Unidos. La falta de un acuerdo constitucional en América Latina, donde coaliciones políticas coyunturales de la élite con otros sectores sociales impusieron las reformas estructurales, se parece a lo que en economía se ha descrito como el contrato social ausente. Para superar dicha falta, en ...

France, like other countries, seeks to promote its scientific excellence and to increase the competitiveness of its small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by taking full advantage of innovation to sustain economic growth and employment. In France as in other countries, there is no specific policy to support innovation in SMEs but both science and industrial research policies, especially for small businesses, and innovation policies, in which can be identified specific measures to promote technological development and innovation in SMEs. This study focuses on "how", in France, such public policies are defined and organized through different periods and it questions the effectiveness and impact of public interventions aimed at developing French SMEs' innovation capacity. The study is divided in three parts, following a historical chronology corresponding to major stages of political evolution from the years 1960-1970 till now. These three analytical parts are enriched by a case analysis of the French National Agency for Valorisation of the Research (Anvar). At the end of this study, we suggest that France is now entering a critical phase in which structural reforms have to be undertaken in order to ensure French SMEs' innovation and competitiveness. ; La France, comme d'autres pays, cherche à valoriser son excellence scientifique et à augmenter la compétitivité de ses petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) pour tirer plein profit de l'innovation et soutenir la croissance économique et l'emploi. Il n'y a pas, ni en France ni ailleurs, une politique spécifique de soutien à l'innovation dans les PME mais des politiques scientifiques et de la recherche industrielle, en particulier en faveur des petites entreprises, et des politiques d'innovation, dans lesquelles peuvent être identifiées des mesures spécifiques visant à promouvoir le développement technologique et l'innovation dans les PME. Cette étude s'intéresse à la façon dont en France, à travers les différentes époques, ces politiques publiques sont définies et ...

This article explores the role the military has played in the democratization processes of three 'young democracies' (Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines) in Southeast Asia. The issue of democratization vis-à-vis the armed forces is even more relevant for Southeast Asia as a region with historically powerful militaries and long traditions of political interventions and rampant human rights abuses. While Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines have historically struggled with deep entrenchments of the military - not only in the political arena, but also within the bureaucracy and the economy - their respective militaries played very different roles within democratization processes. The Indonesian military remained politically neutral after the fall of Suharto, the Philippines witnessed various failed coup attempts by mid-ranking officers, while the Thai military played a key role in the termination of democracy through a coup in 2006. The dominant literature on democratization tries to explain the different outcomes of democratization processes to democracy mainly by focusing on elite choices, new norms and values, shifts in conjunctural situations, the unraveling of the institutional structures of authoritarian regimes and the formation of new, democratic institutional structures. Likewise research on civil-military relations in new democracies has pointed to behavioral change, successful structural reforms (downsizing of the military, capacity-building, withdrawing the military from politics) and civilian leadership in defense and security matters as decisive factors for establishing civilian supremacy. Yet none of these factors fully explains why Indonesia's armed forces remained politically neutral after the fall of Suharto, while Thailand's generals launched a coup in 2006. To answer this question more general political dynamics of democratization processes need to be examined, especially with regard to the formation of new alliances of differing social forces and their impact on traditional power structures, in order to understand continuity and/or change in the military's attitudes towards democracy. (Pac Rev/GIGA)

Access to the justice system, which is broadly defined in the article as the opportunity to resolve the merits of a legal claim, is declining. One source of this decline is the Civil Rules. This article examines how the institutional failings of the civil rulemaking process have allowed for the production of rules that diminish access. Rule 1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that the Civil Rules should facilitate the "just, speedy, and inexpensive resolution" of legal claims. While the Civil Rules Committee considers this timeworn mandate when drafting the rules, there is no agreement about how to interpret this three-part directive. The article argues that one interpretive principle should be access to the justice system. Examining the history, the article demonstrates that proponents of the Rules Enabling Act and court-based rulemaking envisioned and designed the rules with access firmly in mind. Indeed, although access was not the only concern, it was on equal footing with competing concerns, such as systemic efficiency. Over time, as the perception of a litigation explosion has created political pressure to reduce access to the justice system, rule makers have responded by creating rules that do just that. The article argues that access should be restored to its original status as a co-equal principle of civil rulemaking and that one way to do so is to modify the structure of the rulemaking process. Under the current institutional structure, the rulemaking body is more attuned to a view of litigation intent on reducing access. The article offers a spectrum of structural reforms that have the potential to reduce this bias. These proposals include modifying the Committee's composition to be more representative of litigants and passing legislation that mandates access will be considered in the rulemaking process.

Una parte central de las reformas estructurales está vinculada, por una parte, a la redefinición del papel del Estado en la economía al reducir la actividad empresarial pública y modificar su papel en la esfera distributiva y, por otra, a la aplicación de formas de gestión que buscan hacer racional, en términos de eficiencia en el uso de los recursos, los procesos administrativos desarrollados por las organizaciones públicas. Evidentemente, esas transformaciones tienen dos ejes: uno teórico, con raíces en la economía neoclásica y la economía de las organizaciones, que ponen énfasis en la introducción de la competencia y la disciplina del mercado en áreas controladas por el Estado y, otro empírico, que tiene que ver con la implementación en el aparato gubernamental mexicano de las técnicas y prácticas inherentes a lo que se conoce como la "nueva gestión pública" (a través de lineamientos estratégicos, como los establecidos en la Agenda de buen gobierno, por ejemplo). Es justamente al análisis de estos dos ejes que se encamina este trabajo. ; A central part of the structural reforms is linked, in one hand, to State role redefinition in economy, reducing Public business activities and its role in distribution sphere, and in the other hand, the application of negotiating forms that they seek to be rational, in terms of resources efficiency use and the administrative process developed by public organizations. These transformations have evidently two axes: (1) One is theoretical, based in neo-classic economy and organizational economy, so that they put attention in State control in competition introduction and market discipline, and (2) The second one is empirical, it is related to the Mexican government implementation of techniques and forms of the New Public Negotiation (through strategic procedures and rules, i. e. Good Government Agenda). This document analyses these two axes.

Una parte central de las reformas estructurales está vinculada, por una parte, a la redefinición del papel del Estado en la economía al reducir la actividad empresarial pública y modificar su papel en la esfera distributiva y, por otra, a la aplicación de formas de gestión que buscan hacer racional, en términos de eficiencia en el uso de los recursos, los procesos administrativos desarrollados por las organizaciones públicas. Evidentemente, esas transformaciones tienen dos ejes: uno teórico, con raíces en la economía neoclásica y la economía de las organizaciones, que ponen énfasis en la introducción de la competencia y la disciplina del mercado en áreas controladas por el Estado y, otro empírico, que tiene que ver con la implementación en el aparato gubernamental mexicano de las técnicas y prácticas inherentes a lo que se conoce como la "nueva gestión pública" (a través de lineamientos estratégicos, como los establecidos en la Agenda de buen gobierno, por ejemplo). Es justamente al análisis de estos dos ejes que se encamina este trabajo. ; A central part of the structural reforms is linked, in one hand, to State role redefinition in economy, reducing Public business activities and its role in distribution sphere, and in the other hand, the application of negotiating forms that they seek to be rational, in terms of resources efficiency use and the administrative process developed by public organizations. These transformations have evidently two axes: (1) One is theoretical, based in neo-classic economy and organizational economy, so that they put attention in State control in competition introduction and market discipline, and (2) The second one is empirical, it is related to the Mexican government implementation of techniques and forms of the New Public Negotiation (through strategic procedures and rules, i. e. Good Government Agenda). This document analyses these two axes.

This paper presents an outcome evaluation of economic performances of Sweden since 1970. The first part analyses the evolution of Sweden in terms of sectorial specialization, international trade, social performances and business cycles. The second part describes the implementation of fiscal and monetary policies and the adopted measures in terms of structural reforms concerning the labour market and the production of public services. ; Depuis le début des années 1970, la Suède poursuit un processus d'ouverture internationale. Cette ouverture a provoqué une restructuration de la sphère productive et le déclin de certains secteurs traditionnels, alors que le remarquable dynamisme du secteur des services a permis de soutenir l'emploi et particulièrement l'emploi féminin.L'économie suédoise a connu plusieurs épisodes de crise économique aux conséquences variables. Seule la crise du début des années 1990 a fait entrer la Suède dans une ère de chômage de masse. La Suède semblait enfin guérie en 2001, mais une remontée du taux de chômage s'observe sur la période 2003-2005.De façon générale, les politiques économiques mises en place ont été particulièrement réactives. Les gouvernements successifs n'ont pas hésité à accepter d'importants déficits publics lorsque cela était nécessaire. Les dévaluations régulières de la couronne suédoise ont incontestablement apporté des débouchés à la production nationale. La lutte contre l'inflation est plus tardive que dans les autres pays développés et n'est engagée que dans les années 1990. Cette période marque aussi une prise de conscience de l'importance d'engager des politiques structurelles pour soutenir la croissance à long terme. Il en ressort une politique de dépenses publiques plus économe et plus attentive quant à leur efficacité ainsi que des mesures spécifiques en faveur du marché du travail.Comparée aux autres pays, la Suède continue de satisfaire un niveau relativement élevé d'équité et de bonnes performances économiques (croissance élevée, taux de chômage inférieur à la ...

Industrialize countries and most of the developing ones managed to impose a low inflation in a context of floating exchange rates. This study wonders if this phenomenon is everlasting. First, we carry out a retrospective analysis on the evolution of inflation. It is argued that following adverse supply shocks in the 1970's, the rise in inflation was favored by the collapse of Bretton-Woods that imposed a nominal anchoring for exchange rates and thus for inflation. Then, we expose the three main factors which allowed the reduction of inflation from the very beginning of the 1980's in industrialized countries: changes in monetary policy strategy, implementation of structural reforms on goods and labor markets and globalization. Lastly, the risks of a possible come-back of inflation are evaluated in a prospective section. ; Depuis le milieu des années 1990, l'inflation mondiale a enregistré une baisse significative et exceptionnelle dans le sens où elle concerne à la fois les pays industrialisés mais également les pays en voie de développement. De plus en plus de voix s'interrogent aujourd'hui sur la pérennité du phénomène et expriment la crainte d'un retour de l'inflation. L'objectif de cette étude est de revenir sur la réalité et l'ampleur de la désinflation mondiale en la resituant dans un contexte historique, et d'évaluer les causes du phénomène ainsi que les risques d'un retour des tensions. Nous avançons l'idée que, dans un contexte de chocs d'offre à répétition, la forte hausse de l'inflation des années 1970 a été favorisée par la remise en cause des accords de Bretton-Woods qui imposaient l'ancrage du taux de change nominal et permettaient de contenir les pressions inflationnistes. La désinflation qui commence dès le début des années 1980 dans les pays industrialisés a résulté de la combinaison de trois principaux facteurs : les orientations stratégiques de politique monétaire, la mise en œuvre de réformes structurelles sur les marchés des biens et du travail et le développement des échanges internationaux. ...

The issue of "patrimonialization of Parliamentary office" is at the core of the reflection on the mode of production and reproduction of Japanese political elites since the 1990s. Though the phenomenon may be relatively old, the increase of power of "hereditary members of parliament," both in the Diet and government, is often presented as one of the major elements of the Japanese political system and is largely criticized in the national media as a proof that the mode of formation of the political class is both archaic and hermetic. What reasons can explain among the political culture, the voting system and the electoral behaviors, the space occupied in the corridors of power by "heirs," and singularly big parliamentary dynasties? This paper questions the electoral results of hereditary members of Parliament, and analyzes the typological evolutions of their family and socio-professional backgrounds from a diachronic point of view. It also assesses the complexity of their political role, considering that they are both factors of stabilization for the conservative elites in a context of greater volatility of electoral attitudes, and specific but essential elements of political stimulation. Hereditary members of parliament are indeed the only ones to possess political and financial resources as well as a network of contacts that enable them to engage structural reforms without having to pay the electoral price. More than just a conventional image, there is a complex configuration: if these members of Parliament are numerous enough to offer a diversification of the political class excessively described as being dominated by the bureaucratic apparatus, they are not enough to be able to escape from the tacit rules of political promotion. But if they participate, in a way, to the consolidation of elites in power, the forces that sporadically have made things change in the Japanese political system came from their ranks. Adapted from the source document.

The prospects for successful implementation of the TLM approach in Poland depend on numerous factors, and it is important to remember that the impact of these factors will rarely be one-dimensional. TLMs would entail a series of both advantages and disadvantages for employers, employees, the self-employed, non-paid workers, the unemployed, trainees and older workers facing retirement. Moreover, the unique mix of economic, social, technological and demographic changes found in Poland will have a substantial impact on the prospects for implementing TLMs. There is no conclusive answer to the question formulated in the title. A number of arguments suggest that the reply might be positive: the prospect of social and political approval for TLMs, EU membership, the need to combat widespread unemployment and illicit employment, the rising level of education, the high rate of economic growth, and many others. There are also, however, many potential obstacles: the poor level of agreement between the social partners, the lack of funds for ALMP, inadequate links between different employment statuses on the labour market, the scale of poverty, inadequate mobility, structural reforms, poor implementation of labour law, etc. ; Es gibt eine Vielzahl von Faktoren, die die Chancen einer effizienten Implementierung des Konzepts der Übergangsarbeitsmärkte (ÜAM) in Polen beeinflussen und die sich zudem selten in nur eine Richtung auswirken. ÜAM würden eine Reihe von Vor- wie Nachteilen für Arbeitgeber, Arbeitnehmer, Selbständige, Unbezahlte, Arbeitslose, Auszubildende und ältere Beschäftigte vor dem Ruhestand mit sich bringen. Darüber hinaus werden die Perspektiven für die Realisierung von ÜAM in Polen auch stark von den Besonderheiten des ökonomischen, gesellschaftlichen, technologischen und demographischen Wandels in diesem Lande bestimmt. Die im Titel formulierte Frage lässt sich nicht endgültig bejahen oder verneinen. Etliche Argumente sprechen für eine positive Antwort: die Aussicht auf gesellschaftliche und politische Zustimmung zu ÜAM, die EUMitgliedschaft, die Notwendigkeit, die hohe Arbeitslosigkeit und die weit verbreitete Schwarzarbeit zu bekämpfen, das steigende Bildungsniveau, das hohe Wirtschaftswachstum und vieles mehr. Es existieren jedoch auch viele potentielle Hindernisse: fehlendes Einvernehmen zwischen den Sozialpartnern, mangelnde finanzielle Mittel für aktive arbeitsmarktpolitische Maßnahmen, keine adäquaten Brücken für Übergänge in eine andere Erwerbsform, Armut, zu geringe Mobilität, Strukturreformen, schlechte Umsetzung des Arbeitsrechts usw.

Aus einer Betrachtung des historischen Entwicklungsweges der Verschiebebahnhofpolitik zwischen der Rentenversicherung der Arbeiter und Angestellten, der Bundesanstalt für Arbeit und dem Bundeshaushalt für den Zeitraum von 1964 bis 2000 schlussfolgert der Beitrag, dass jegliche Strukturreform, die sich nur auf einen Sozialversicherungszweig bezieht, die Krise des Sozialversicherungssystems noch mehr verschärft, anstatt ihr entgegenzuwirken. Die Verschiebebahnhofpolitik sollte nicht nur als Stabilisierungs- und Konsolidierungspolitik den Bundeshaushalt von konjunkturabhängigen Sozialausgaben entlasten, sondern wurde seit Ende der siebziger Jahre auch als Politik der Belastungsverschiebungen zwischen den Haushalten der Rentenversicherung und der Bundesanstalt für Arbeit durchgeführt. In den neunziger Jahren hat sich der Trend verstärkt, die Sozialversicherungshaushalte zu Lasten des Bundeshaushaltes zu konsolidieren (Rekonsolidierungspolitik). Der Verschiebebahnhof ist unabhängig von der parteipolitischen Färbung der Bundesregierung und hat Veränderungen in der Interessenvermittlung zwischen Staat und Sozialpartnern überdauert. Aus einer Konfrontation der in der Verschiebebahnhofpolitik betriebenen fiskalischen Koordinierung zwischen der Renten- und der Arbeitsmarktpolitik mit den konzeptionellen Überlegungen der Policy-Analyse und meso-korporatistischen Diskussion wird behauptet, dass die empirische Politikforschung, wenn sie auf diese Ansätze Bezug nimmt, die genetische Leistungsfähigkeit des Verschiebebahnhofes für die Interessen von Staat und Sozialpartnern nicht erklären kann. ; After examining the historical development of shifting expenditure burdens between the Federal Public Employment Service, the pension insurance funds and the federal budget for the years from 1964 to 2000 in Germany, the paper shows that any structural reform based only on one branch of social insurance merely exacerbates the crisis in the social insurance system overall instead of counteracting it. Shifting the burden was used not only to relieve the federal budget of cyclical social expenditures through stabilization and consolidation, but since the end of the 1970s was also implemented as a way to shunt expenditures between the budgets of pension insurances and the Federal Public Employment Service. In the 1990s, there was an increasing tendency to consolidate the social insurance budgets at the expense of the federal budget (reconsolidation policy). The practice of shunting expenditures occurs irrespective of the political hue of the federal government and has survived changes in interest mediation between the state and the social partners. Confronting the fiscal coordination of pension and labor market policy with conceptual approaches used in policy analysis and the mesocorporatist discussion, the author concludes that empirical policy research - when it draws on these approaches - cannot explain the inherent efficiency of shifting the expenditure burden with regard to the interests of the state, labor, and management.

The first aim of the paper was to explain a cross-sector differences in evolution of gross product of Slovenian manufacturing sectors in the period 1992-98 using different short and long-term factors. Results pointed out great importance of initial conditions (sector orientation to convertible or non-convertible markets, and distorted production structure), as well as structural reforms and macroeconomic and institutional environment. Added long-term factors revealed positive association with short term output growth during the transition period – it is obvious that these factors (FDI, exports, imports of inputs, cooperation) create channels for the transfer of technology, improving the efficiency of production. It turned out also that quality improving exports to the EU countries is significantly positively correlated with the sector output performance. The paper further studies the importance of both direct and indirect means of technology transfer for transition countries and its impact on productivity growth of local firms. Using firm-level data for eight transition countries for the period 1994 - 1998 and employing growth accounting approach, the paper explores the importance of FDI, intra-industry knowledge spillovers from FDI, firm's own R&D accumulation and of international R&D spillovers through trade for firm's TFP growth. Time-invariant firmspecific effects are taken into account using panel data techniques, and potential selection bias for foreign investment decisions is corrected by using a generalized Heckman two-step procedure. After controlling for common economic policy influences and industry effects, our results confirm for five advanced transition countries that technology is being transferred to domestic firms primarily through direct foreign linkages. Evidence on some international R&D spillovers through arm-length trade has been found for four transition countries. Our results also suggest that FDI do not generate positive intra-industry spillovers for domestic firms. Moreover, for three transition countries FDI were found to have significant crowding-out effects for local firms in the same industry.

International audience ; In France schooling is based on two principles : the desire for a democratization of education and the will to integrate individuals into modernity. Throughout the XXth century, schooling has historically been concerned with making education more democratic by endeavouring to base selection uniquely on criteria of merit and by attempting to turn individuals into full citizens. Today, these two principles are still considered as fundemental aims. But their meaning has changed and the school has to resolve problems of another nature. The democratization of the system no longer refers to the access of all pupils to secondary education (an aim which has practically been fulfilled). Rather it entails the administration and management of an extremely diverse population-both from the point of view of its educational level and of its relationship to schooling and knowledge. Integration no longer raises only the question of citizenship. It also raises questions regarding the recognition of the individual and his or her subjectivity. It is no longer simply a question of transmitting the universal values which help to mould individuals. On the contrary, the question today is how to preserve the specificity of each individual of each in order to protect him or her from a system which, in many respects, appears to brutalize them. Today, changes in French schools result not so much from structural reforms, as from transformations in society's relationship to the school system and in expectations regarding education. Presently school has become part of everyday life and debates over education are in fact discussions about society itself. Discussions about violence or immigration in schools, (in the case, for example, of the Muslim girls wearing 'headscarfs'), convey both the decline of the school as an institution and the need for it to face social problems. In this paper, I shall first present the organisation of the school system. Then I shall go on to discuss three major topics which reflect the ...

As Puerto Rico enters the legal debt restructuring process, this paper examines the future prospects for an economy that has had no growth over the last ten years — a lost decade. The facts indicate that the fiscal plan approved by Puerto Rico's Financial Oversight Board will not lead to an economic recovery in the foreseeable future and that another lost decade, or worse, is a much more likely outcome. Nor will the proposed restructuring satisfy creditors, who may then further impede economic recovery by taking legal action in an attempt to collect the full value of the bonds they hold. The paper also notes the recent historical and structural causes of the economy's decline, which led to the debt crisis; and that these, too, will need to be addressed if Puerto Rico is ever to have a sustainable recovery.