Public Hearings in the Supremo Tribunal Federal: speech, practice and lobby

A audiência pública realizada no Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) é conhecida por ser um mecanismo com múltiplas funções: produzir instrução no controle concentrado de constitucionalidade; possibilitar a participação social no poder Judiciário; oportunizar a democratização do Tribunal e gerar maior legitimidade às suas decisões. Pelo menos, essas são algumas das funções anunciadas pelo discurso oficial produzido pelos ministros e ministras do Tribunal. Sua prática, contudo, revelam dados que invalidam parte desse discurso. Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo entender qual é a verdadeira função exercida pelas audiências públicas, revelada a partir da observação e análise de documentos ligados à prática do Tribunal. Logo, a pesquisa possui natureza empírica de cunho majoritariamente qualitativo e descritivo. No primeiro capítulo apresento as bases para os meus pressupostos teóricos e que ajudam a refinar as lentes de leitura para os indicadores de observação para a parte empírica da pesquisa. Apresento, em primeiro lugar as bases para a compreensão do STF como ator central na tomada de decisões de políticas públicas. Em seguida, discuto os principais elementos sobre a atuação de grupos de interesse em geral e, depois, mais especificamente, apresento e analiso os resultados de estudos sobre lobby no poder Judiciário. Também discuto os resultados de algumas vertentes de estudos sobre audiências públicas no Brasil. No segundo capítulo, apresento as legislações que disciplinam as audiências públicas e as transformações que elas provocaram no controle de constitucionalidade brasileiro. No terceiro capítulo, apresento a metodologia utilizada na pesquisa e, principalmente, descrevo o universo 19 audiências públicas ocorridas no STF. A partir desta descrição, faço a análise sistemática dos discursos e das práticas das audiências. No capítulo 4, faço uma descrição geral do cenário das audiências públicas e apresento quais as conclusões sobre as funções por elas exercidas. As conclusões a que chego indicam para a existência de três funções existentes na prática do STF: (i) produção de informações; (ii) espaço para o comportamento estratégico por parte dos atores envolvidos (participantes fazem lobby e julgadores estudam atoreschave e os possíveis impactos de suas decisões para as suas esferas de interesse) e (iii) exercício do discurso-instrumento de natureza autolegitimadora.The public hearing that is conducted in the Supremo Tribunal Federal - STF (Brazilian Supreme Court) is known as a mechanism with multiple functions: it brings information to the Judicial Review process; it enables social participation in the Judiciary Branch; it democratizes the Court and it generates greater legitimacy to its decisions. These are some of the goals very often vocalized by the Brazilian Justices in their official speeches. However, the reality reveals some features and practices that invalidate part of the official speech. The objective of this research was to understand the true functions of the public hearings carried out by the STF, which has been achieved through the observation and analysis of official documents related to the practice of the Court. The research has empirical foundations and is mainly descriptive and qualitative. In the first chapter, I present the basis for my theoretical assumptions. It adjusts the reading lens that help to conduce the construction of my observation indicators to the empirical conduction of the investigation. Thereby, at first, I present the pillars for the comprehension of the STF as an important actor in the public policy decision making arena. Then, I discuss the main elements about the action of interest groups in a general frame and, with greater specificity, I present and analyze the results of some studies regarding the lobbying in the judicial system. I also discuss some findings related to studies on Brazilian public hearings. In the second chapter, I present the existing legislation of the Brazilian public hearings and the transformations they fostered in the Judicial Review system. In the third chapter, I present in detail the methodology used in the research, and, specially, I describe the nineteen experiences of public hearings so far carried out by the STF. From this description, I advance towards a systematic analysis on the speeches and practices concerning the public hearings. In the fourth chapter, I describe the bigger picture and, then, I present the conclusions about the true roles played by the public hearings. The results that may be observed indicate the existence of three roles played by the Brazilian public hearings in the daily practice of the STF: (i) they produce information; (ii) they work as a space to strategic behavior of all actors involved (participants make lobby and justices study key actors and the possible impacts of their decisions to their interests); (iii) they provide a stage for speeches with a self-legitimation nature

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Growing knowledge: an overview of Seed Plant diversity in Brazil

Abstract An updated inventory of Brazilian seed plants is presented and offers important insights into the country's biodiversity. This work started in 2010, with the publication of the Plants and Fungi Catalogue, and has been updated since by more than 430 specialists working online. Brazil is home to 32,086 native Angiosperms and 23 native Gymnosperms, showing an increase of 3% in its species richness in relation to 2010. The Amazon Rainforest is the richest Brazilian biome for Gymnosperms, while the Atlantic Rainforest is the richest one for Angiosperms. There was a considerable increment in the number of species and endemism rates for biomes, except for the Amazon that showed a decrease of 2.5% of recorded endemics. However, well over half of Brazillian seed plant species (57.4%) is endemic to this territory. The proportion of life-forms varies among different biomes: trees are more expressive in the Amazon and Atlantic Rainforest biomes while herbs predominate in the Pampa, and lianas are more expressive in the Amazon, Atlantic Rainforest, and Pantanal. This compilation serves not only to quantify Brazilian biodiversity, but also to highlight areas where there information is lacking and to provide a framework for the challenge faced in conserving Brazil's unique and diverse flora