Democratic experimentalism in comparative constitutional social rights remedies

Arguments in favor of democratic experimentalism in the adjudication of social rights focus on its ability to foster democratic engagement through deliberation and learning about party preferences in litigation, while also decentering the court and permitting the representation of a broader range of stakeholders and interests in the judicial process. However, experimentalist processes can be normatively weak, reinforce deliberative inequalities between parties, and can expose the limits to localized solutions. The academic literature on experimentalism in social rights cases has focused on discrete, but related strands of the adjudicative process, focusing on forms of dialogic remedies, catalytic remedial practices, and empowered participatory jurisprudence. In this article, I locate recent adjudicative practice by the judiciaries in India and South Africa within the democratic experimentalist framework. Part I of the article lays out the general theoretical framework to understand democratic experimentalist practices which helps us spot what is - and is not - judicial practice that adheres to such a framework, while also laying out the strengths and weaknesses of such approaches. I claim that a democratic experimentalist framework is an analytic, rather than a descriptive category of judicial approaches. Part II offers a novel framework to understand democratic experimentalist approaches to the adjudicative enterprise by suggesting that they are best understood as: a) ways of arriving at a remedy in social rights litigation (experimentalist remedial design), b) ways of following up, monitoring, and evaluating compliance with the judgments and orders of a court (experimentalist remedial oversight). Parts III and IV use the framework developed in Part II to describe two cases each from South Africa and India, which used, with varying degrees of success, democratic experimentalist approaches to adjudication. I conclude by reading the tealeaves and sketching the prospects for such an approach in future cases in these two courts, as well as courts around the world – when adjudicating social rights.   Keywords: Democratic experimentalism – Socioeconomic rights – Judicial review –Separation of powers – Comparative constitutional studie

Determinants of poverty in Mozambique (1996-97)

This report presents an analysis of the structural determinants of living standards and poverty in Mozambique, which is based on nationally-representative data from the first national household living standards survey since the end of the civil war: Poverty in Mozambique is predominantly a rural phenomenon and is pervasive, with over two-thirds of the population falling below the poverty line. The degree of regional variation of poverty within the country is striking. The policy simulations that illustrate the impact that changes in the levels of determinants of poverty have on poverty levels allow us to identify six possible elements of a prospective poverty alleviation strategy for Mozambique. These include (1) increased investment in education, (2) sustained economic growth, (3) a sectoral pattern of growth favoring faster growth in the industrial and services sectors, (4) measures to raise agricultural productivity, (5) improved rural infrastructure, and (6) reducing fertility and dependency load within households. In conclusion, any meaningful poverty reduction strategy in Mozambique must give the highest priority to rural areas and must address these macro-level and household-level determinants of poverty in its policy formulations.Economic development. ,Agricultural policies. ,Education Economic aspects. ,Living standards Mozambique. ,Poverty Mozambique. ,

Rebuilding after war: micro-level determinants of poverty reduction in Mozambique

"Rather than looking at the association between poverty and various household and individual characteristics on a one-to-one basis (bivariate analysis), which often oversimplifies complex relationships and can lead to erroneous conclusions, this report uses multiple regression to analyze poverty and living standards econometrically. As methodological choices can have a strong influence on the results,much of the report is given over to a detailed discussion of the methodology used to conduct the analysis and sensitivity analysis to assess the robustness of the findings to alternative methodological choices. These include the construction of region-specific poverty linesand the empirical model of poverty determinants used. Estimates of poverty levels and the results of the model are presented, followed by simulations that indicate the impact on poverty of specific policy interventions." from Text of AbstractConflict, Poverty alleviation, Living standards Mozambique,

Information Technology Capability and Firm Performance: The Role of Strategic Orientation

A key strand of IT business value research is concerned with the measurement of IT capability of firms and the impact of IT capability on the accounting-based measures of firm performance. Previous empirical studies examining this relationship in the context of developed economies have reported mixed results, and there is a dearth of studies in the context of emerging economies. In this study, we seek to employ archival data from the emerging economy context of India, and replicate the findings from the earlier studies, in order to examine the existing theory. We also propose to extend the existing theory by incorporating the role of strategic orientation (indicated by the Miles and Snow strategy types) of the firms while examining the impact of IT capability on firm performance. Thus, the results of this study offer possibilities of both theoretical and practical implications

Effective remedies & structural orders for social rights violations

This briefing document has been prepared for the Nuffield Foundation project on ‘Access to Justice For Social Rights: Addressing The Accountability Gap’, led by Dr. Katie Boyle. After setting out in brief the motivations behind the overall project, this writeup addresses the following using a comparative law lens: a) the meaning of an effective remedy for social rights violations (Part I), b) the conditions for the grant and success of structural remedies for social rights violations (Part II), c) possible models for structural remedies (Part III), d) design principles for such structural remedies (Part IV). The experience of social rights litigation and the strategies used by litigants in courts around the world for social rights violations can help inform approaches in the UK

The ‘Disabled’ as a Subject of Law: Utopian Discourse or Pragmatic Paradigm?

Legal systems across the world have envisaged the ‗subjects of law‘ on the basis of gender, race or disability. The feminist school of thought opines that appropriate interventions are necessary on the identified structures that have the male non disabled as the subject of its legal discourse. The critical legal school believes that legal systems are built in ways that benefit certain groups of persons who seek to perpetuate the status quo. This paper seeks to understand the prevailing law in relation to the access to justice for individuals with disability and answer whether accommodations have been made to comply with India‘s international obligations vis-à-vis the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It shall also be the endeavour of this paper to compare as to how the developed and developing nations fare with relation to their United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities obligations to ensure that persons with disability have effective access to justice within the boundaries of the legal framework. The paper also demonstrates how the Indian legal system might be altered in order to make better procedural and substantive accommodations by drawing lessons from other nations

Effective remedies & structural orders for social rights violations

This briefing document has been prepared for the Nuffield Foundation project on ‘Access to Justice For Social Rights: Addressing The Accountability Gap’, led by Dr. Katie Boyle. After setting out in brief the motivations behind the overall project, this writeup addresses the following using a comparative law lens: a) the meaning of an effective remedy for social rights violations (Part I), b) the conditions for the grant and success of structural remedies for social rights violations (Part II), c) possible models for structural remedies (Part III), d) design principles for such structural remedies (Part IV). The experience of social rights litigation and the strategies used by litigants in courts around the world for social rights violations can help inform approaches in the UK