Agustina Giraudy

CONCEPTUALIZING STATE STRENGTH: MOVING BEYOND STRONG AND WEAK STATES

La literatura especializada ha considerado a la capacidad estatal como unfactor importante para garantizar la viabilidad de diferentesfenomenos politicos y economicos como, por ejemplo, la consolidacion democratica, el estado de derecho, la adecuada provision de bienes publicos y el crecimiento economico. A pesar de la importancia de la capacidad estatal, solo algunos pocos trabajos academicos han explorado sistematicamente la definicion asi como las dimensiones constitutivas de este concepto. Este articulo busca (a) precisar la conceptualizacion de capacidad estatal, (b) echar luz sobre los efectos que tienen las reglas de agregacion a efectos de alcanzar diferenciacion entre casos empiricos (e.g., paises) y (c) brindar herramientas conceptuales para superar la clasica dicotomia entre estados debiles y estados fuertes.

Who Wants an Independent Court? Political Competition and Supreme Court Autonomy in the Argentine Provinces (1984-2008)

Political competition should protect judicial autonomy. A host of studies produce evidence that is consistent with this expectation. The influence of political competition operates through two distinct mechanisms: fragmentation and turnover. Most empirical studies treat them as mutually reinforcing. We explain why each of these effects should be most clear when the other one is inactive: when power is concentrated only the expectation of turnover may protect judicial autonomy; when turnover seems unlikely only fragmentation should prevent interferences on the judiciary. We test these hypotheses using an original data set comprising all justices that served in the 24 provincial supreme courts in Argentina between 1984 and 2008. Results of a survival model with competing risks support our argument. The effect of fragmentation is discernible when turnover seems unlikely. The expectation of turnover restrains incumbents particularly when power is concentrated.

ARGENTINA: VICTORIA PRESIDENCIAL OFICIALISTA Y TENSIONES EN EL ESQUEMA MACROECONÓMICO

The year 2007 was marked by the continuity of economic growth, the tensions stemming from the implementation of the macroeconomic model (i.e., inflation and ...