The recognition of the right of political participation to the immigrants: some experiences

El objeto central de este artículo es el análisis del reconocimiento que diversos países han realizado del derecho al sufragio activo y pasivo a los no nacionales residentes. En las escasas situaciones donde se ha producido se ha vinculado con la residencia y circunscrito a las elecciones locales. En el caso de España, a excepción del reconocimiento para los residentes comunitarios, la regla es la reciprocidad entre países y ha sido muy poco aplicada

Organising for victory ... and defeat? The organisational strategy of the Spanish workers' socialist party (1975-1996)

From the transition to democracy in 1975 the Spanish Workers' Socialist Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español, PSOE) geared its organisational strategy towards the goal of victory, which occurred at the 1982 elections. In that short span of time it built a party organisation from scratch that contributed to its dominance in Spanish politics for nearly 15 years, until it was defeated in the 1996 elections. Although its defeat can be attributed to many other factors, its organisational form and strategy failed to improve its declining electoral prospects before defeat occurred and can be considered an important contributing factor. This thesis is about political parties, although it is only focused on one political party, the Spanish Workers’ Socialist Party. Moreover, it studies only certain aspects of political parties, namely the way they develop their organisation in the pursuit of their electoral goals. Yet, it is intended to be framed into questions that regard more general issues regarding the functioning and study of political parties and their organisation, and ultimately, democratic governance. The central role of political parties in democratic system has for long attracted political scientists to studying their organisation, functioning and interaction. Parties seem to be a good point of departure to speculate on the direction of current democratic political systems given that, as Katz and Mair (1995: 21) have noted, "each model of party organisation has an associated model of democracy

Do Clinical Trials Meet Current Care Needs? Views of Digestive Oncology Specialists in Galicia (Spain) Using the Delphi Method

Background: In recent years, abundant scientific evidence has been generated based on clinical trials (CT) in the field of oncology. The general objective of this paper is to find out the extent to which decision making is based on knowledge of the most recent CT. Its specific objectives are to pinpoint difficulties with decision making based on the CT performed and find out the motivations patients and clinicians have when taking part in a CT. Methodology: Combined, prospective study, based on the Delphi method. A lack of correspondence between the people who take part in CT and patients who come for consultation has been identified. A need for training in analysing and interpreting CT has also been identified and a lack of trust in the results of CT financed by the pharmaceutical industry itself has been perceived. Conclusions: There is a difficulty in selecting oncological treatment due to the lack of correspondence between the patients included in the CT and patients seen in consultation. In this process, real world data studies may be highly useful, as they may provide this group with greater training in interpreting CT and their results.S

Spread of a SARS-CoV-2 variant through Europe in the summer of 2020

[EN] Following its emergence in late 2019, the spread of SARS-CoV-21,2 has been tracked by phylogenetic analysis of viral genome sequences in unprecedented detail3,4,5. Although the virus spread globally in early 2020 before borders closed, intercontinental travel has since been greatly reduced. However, travel within Europe resumed in the summer of 2020. Here we report on a SARS-CoV-2 variant, 20E (EU1), that was identified in Spain in early summer 2020 and subsequently spread across Europe. We find no evidence that this variant has increased transmissibility, but instead demonstrate how rising incidence in Spain, resumption of travel, and lack of effective screening and containment may explain the variant’s success. Despite travel restrictions, we estimate that 20E (EU1) was introduced hundreds of times to European countries by summertime travellers, which is likely to have undermined local efforts to minimize infection with SARS-CoV-2. Our results illustrate how a variant can rapidly become dominant even in the absence of a substantial transmission advantage in favourable epidemiological settings. Genomic surveillance is critical for understanding how travel can affect transmission of SARS-CoV-2, and thus for informing future containment strategies as travel resumes.S