The Viseu and Lamego clergy : clerical wills and social ties

From the documentation collated under the auspices of the Fasti Ecclesiae Portugaliae project, we selected as the object of this paper the as yet unpublished series of wills of the Viseu and Lamego Sees, penned between the years 1147 and 1325.We focusfocused on the analysis of the final wills inscribed in the testaments of the bishops, dignitaries, canons and other clergy of these two cathedrals, with a particular interest in the bequests through which these clergymen reveal some type of connection to their family group or to other social groups or networks. By means of these data, we study whether the entrance of these clergymen into the Church of Viseu and Lamego implied a breaking off from kinship ties, replacing them with new bonds of confidence and dependence established within the clergy or whether, on the contrary, these men simultaneously continued with distinct levels and modes of relationship, whether within or beyond the Church. Should this latter position be confirmed, we seek to identify the various relational networks and evaluate the influence they exerted on the clergymen’s social life, through the importance that, as testators, they ascribed to these relationships at the moment of preparing for death and dividing up their worldly possessions.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologi

Regulating Interstate Passenger Transport By Means Of Independent Agencies: Challenges To The Institutional Development Of Road Passenger Transport In Brazil

The aim of this paper is to analyse the present situation regarding interstate road passenger transportation in Brazil. The emphasis is put in the changing institutional context of the industry, once Federal Government recently achieved the Congress approval for an administrative reform that maintains the public service concept in approaching transportation service but introduces a regulatory agency with duties related to market regulation and services monitoring. Beginning with a historical approach to long distance passenger transport in Brazil, the current situation of the industry is described and its development under the new institutional and regulatory arrangements is discussed. Conclusions highlight the political risks that public transport policy and planning come to be captured by colluded industry with severe negative effects on economical efficiency and public benefits

Regulatory Reform Of The Urban Bus System In Recife (Brazil): Stakeholders And The Constituency-Building Process

The integrated metropolitan administration of the bus system in Recife is almost thirty years old and has survived a number of different perils. Even the most recent municipal administration of the city of Recife has dropped its plan to bring back the management of the municipal lines under its roof and has accepted cooperating with the State Government of Pernambuco, provided that a new cooperation contract basis is adopted. This paper begins with an explanation of the administrative and operator structure of the Metropolitan Recife bus system, which has been run by the Metropolitan Urban Transportation Company of Recife (EMTU - Empresa Metropolitana de Transportes Urbanos do Recife), a public corporation owned by the state of Pernambuco, but actually an administrative autarchy. Despite its success in ensuring coordination on the entire metropolitan level, which is still a rare example in Brazil, the EMTU has not been able to ensure a competitive environment in the bus industry under its control and the sector has been following a continuous path in direction of area-based monopolies. This paper describes this process as well as the different attempts by the EMTU to introduce benchmark regulation and the reaction of the operators against such attempts. In spite of these efforts, the legal expiration of the contracts and the organization of the legally required tendering procedure have been subsequently postponed. Different tender studies have been prepared and have been subsequently dropped. When the current municipal administration of the City of Recife came to power, a tender procedure was promised and expected, but the city government only managed to regulate (actually repress and substantially quell) the local informal operators. Most recently, the state attorney has pressed the state and municipal authorities to organize the procedure, but response is still slow. This paper describes these studies and the reactions of different stakeholders (operators, public servants, politicians, consultants, attorneys, press and the population) throughout this long process towards the tender procedure and also outlines the recent negotiations for reforming the EMTU.Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne

Trust Building in Passenger Transport Concession Contracts And Procurement Procedures: The Case Of Brazilian Urban Bus Transport

According to the Federal Constitution the transport of passengers in municipalities is an essential public service and should be rendered directly by the State or through delegated private operators selected by means of previous public tender. Regardless of the existence of these legal requirements, in the great majority of towns and cities, public tender does not occur or is just very slow. This study aims to analyse factors which hinder tender processes in Brazil and in particular, the case of Recife. The research found that there is a relationship of constant competition and a lack of trust between those involved in rendering this public service: public power, private operators and users. The results of this research point to the need to establish an institute to mediate as a modern instrument, consistent and effective in nurturing trust between parties, favouring reciprocal cooperation among those involved in serving the public interest. The conclusions point to the regulatory agency as having the role of mediator. It is hoped that this new mediator can contribute to undertaking public tender processes so that quality public transport services may be offered to the population.Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne

The Brazilian Urban Bus Industry: Present Challenges and Future Perspectives

The aim of this contribution is the description and understanding of the present crisis in the Brazilian urban bus sector and to point out new perspectives for the development of this industry. At the beginning, the present structure of the industry as well its modernisation and concentration level is explained. A further section deals with the challenges this industry is now facing, especially due to the rapid motorization the country is now undergoing as well to the invasion of the transport market by illegal operators, and the reaction the regular operators are offering to these challenges. Following this, the new legislation on public procurement procedures for administrative and concessions contracts is presented, which will oblige that these contract are preceded by competitive bidding procedures. On the ground of this analysis, the perspectives for the further development of the urban bus industry are discussed.Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne

O Amazonas: sua história (ensaio antropogeográfico e político)

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A well-equipped passing away

A morte, principalmente na cultura ocidental, sempre foi encarada com muita resistência.Essa realidade pode ser comprovada no cotidiano onde as crianças são, cada vez mais, afastadas do convívio com a morte. Para fugir desta realidade, a medicina, com o auxílio da alta tecnologia, busca alternativas para afastar o “fantasma” da morte. A proposta deste artigo é refletir sobre o uso da tecnologia que, ao mesmo em que tempo prolonga a vida, acarreta sofrimentos ao paciente, familiares, profissionais e àqueles que devem arcar com os custos da hospitalização. Neste sentido, o autor do artigo chama atenção dos leitores para o seguinte fato: enquanto se gasta muito tempo e dinheiro tentando evitar a morte física, pouco ou quase nada se faz para evitar os outros tipos de morte que muitas vezes, são piores do que a morte física.Death, mainly in the occidental culture, was always faced by a strong reaction. This reality can be confirmed everyday, where we can see that children are more and more separated from the death intimacy. To escape from that reality, medical science, with the help of the high technology, searchs for options to remove the “ghost”of death. The proposal of this article is to consider the use of technology, which at the same time that extends life, brings also suffering to the patient, family, professionals, and to all those who are responsible for the costs of the hospitalization. The author calls the attention to the following: While one expends a lot of time and money trying to avoid physical death, little or almost nothing is done to avoid other types of death that frequently are worse than the physical death

Regulation Of Alternative Transport In Brazil An Assessment Of Bus/Minibus Integration In Recife

Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne