Attempts to measure UK influence within the EU are admirable, but it is questionable whether they really influence the public debate

UK citizens are traditionally considered to have an uneasy relationship with Europe. Prompted by the growing debate around the upcoming European elections, Giulia Pastorella reviews the 2014 Scorecard published by the pro-EU pressure group British Influence, which aims to provide an objective assessment of the British government’s influence in the EU. She writes that while this and other attempts to map the UK’s relationship with the EU provide valuable information, it is questionable whether such studies feed through into the wider public debate

Italy’s new electoral law proposal is unlikely to make Italian governments more democratic or stable

Proposals to reform Italy’s electoral system and alter the balance of power between the country’s two parliamentary chambers are currently being considered by a parliamentary committee. Giulia Pastorella gives an overview of the proposals, arguing that while the new electoral law would generate some benefits, it would be no more democratic than the current version, and is unlikely to solve the key problem of party system instability

When Europe is fashionable: the strange paradox of the Italian elections

The upcoming Italian election will be closely watched in other EU states. Giulia Pastorella writes that while on the face of it most parties running in the election are markedly pro-European, there is an undercurrent of Euroscepticism in the campaign which should prompt concern for those in favour of further European integration

Implementación y Sostenibilidad de las Radios Escolares en Educación Media

El presente trabajo se propone acompañar la puesta en marcha de una radio escolar en la Escuela Secundaria N° 25 de la ciudad de Monte Grande, en el partido de Esteban Echeverría, Provincia de Buenos Aires. Resulta importante acompañar a la comunidad educativa en el proceso de aprendizaje que les permitirá, a los actores, lograr una práctica territorial de comunicación comunitaria muy importante. Este trabajo será acompañado por un grupo que dirijo integrado por tres docentes y tres estudiantes del Instituto Universitario Nacional de Derechos Humanos, Madres de Plaza de Mayo, y brindaremos talleres de capacitación para el personal docente y los estudiantes. Además, será fundamental entender la problemática de la gestión y el sostenimiento dentro del contexto educativo, ya que es necesario acercarse desde las distintas dimensiones que intervienen en el desarrollo de esta actividad, tanto didáctica como comunicacional, para eso es importante tener en cuenta la tarea de recopilar toda la información posible, para garantizar la continuidad en el tiempo. Entendemos la Extensión como una forma de construir conocimientos con el otro y en ese sentido intentaremos reflexionar, pensar y replantear el funcionamiento de futuras radios escolares, sin pensar ya en un medio que salga al aire de la manera convencional, para empezar a hacerlo a través de un servidor de streaming, permitiendo una accesibilidad mejor y más actualizada; ya que hoy en día las escuchas de radio se hacen vía aplicaciones en los soportes de celulares o computadoras

Attitudes in established democracies show there is still a place for independent experts in politics

While recent political developments may paint a bleak picture of the role of unelected experts in democratic politics, Eri Bertsou and Giulia Pastorella argue that positive attitudes toward ‘technocrats’ remain prevalent in many established democracies. They explain that what drives citizen preferences for political decision-making by independent experts is distrust of representative political institutions and a belief in the merits of democracy as a system. This highlights the appeal of ‘non-political politics’, which has enjoyed a surge in the past decade

Technocratic governments in Europe: getting the critique right

In Europe, technocratic governments have become a popular topic of debate. Commentators have condemned them as a ‘suspension of democracy’ or even as ‘the end of democracy as we know it’. However, no academic analysis has assessed whether technocratic governments are indeed undemocratic. This article is intended to fill this gap by assessing technocratic governments’ democratic credentials. It compares them to party governments along the main dimensions of party democracy, including representation, deliberation, constitutionality and legitimacy. It concludes that technocratic governments in Europe are not undemocratic per se, but are still a worrying phenomenon insofar as they reveal shortcomings that remain hidden in normal party governments: a loosening of delegation and accountability ties between voters, parties and cabinets; increasing external pressures on domestic political actors; and the weakening of partisan ideology-based politics. The article will add further elements to reinforce the already vast literature on the crisis of – especially party – democracy in Europe

Will Italy’s post-Renzi government be led by a technocrat?

Already before Matteo Renzi had lost his constitutional referendum, media around the world claimed that a ‘government of technocrats’ was the most likely option to follow Renzi in case of electoral defeat. Drawing on their analysis of all technocratic governments appointed in 30 European democracies after 1977, Christopher Wratil and Giulia Pastorella estimate a rather low probability of 12-18% for the next Italian administration to be led by a technocrat. A technocratic government is therefore definitely possible but not as likely as suggested by the media

Technocratic governments: power, expertise and crisis politics in European democracies

The aim of my thesis is to investigate the reasons for the appointment of technocratic governments in Europe. In order to do this, I conceptualise what technocratic governments are, both in terms of their own characteristics and in comparison with party governments. I problematize classic elements, such as independence, neutrality and expertise of ministers, and add further ones including the relation to electoral outcomes, their particular type of agenda, and the echo they have in the media. Having established that technocratic governments require a shift in politicians’ preferences away from typical office-seeking behaviour, I proceed to enquire as to the situations that make their appointment more likely. Through a statistical analysis on all European cabinets from 1977 to 2013, I identify situations of economic and political crises – in particular scandals - as the main variables influencing the likelihood of technocratic government appointments. I further examine how these crises have lead to these appointments by exploring cases of over 25 technocratic governments in a range of countries and years. The qualitative illustrative evidence highlights the importance of institutional characteristics of the given political system in which such governments were appointed. The status of the party system, the role of the Head of State and external pressures coming from international or supranational institutionas are thus shown to be important in technocratic cabinet appointments. Finally, I assess whether technocratic governments fit within the European democratic standards and conclude that technocratic governments are symptoms of the decline of party democracy, identifiable in the loosening of delegation and accountability ties between parties and cabinets, increasing external pressures on domestic political actors, and the weakening of partisan ideology-based politics. The thesis adds further elements to reinforce the already vast literature on the crisis of – especially party – democracy in Europe

Investigation of the electrochemical activity of chromium tolerant mutants of Geobacter metallireducens

Dissimilatory metal reducing bacteria (DMRB) can reduce insoluble electron acceptors, such as metals and electrodes, through extracellular electron transfer. The DMRB Geobacter metallireducens can reduce Cr(VI) to Cr(III) via direct electron transfer through transmembrane cytochrome complexes. Extracellular electron transfer is relevant to both energy production and Cr(VI) detoxification in subsurface environments and groundwater. However, the toxicity of Cr(VI) to G. metallireducens limits its application to field bioremediation, where Cr(VI) concentration may exceed the toxicity threshold (few mg L-1). In this study, we improved the G. metallireducens electroactivity and its tolerance to Cr(VI) through genome shuffling. The parent strain was exposed to nitrosoguanidine (NTG) for 60 minutes. Then, protoplasts obtained by lysozyme recombined their genomes. Following protoplast recombination, the mutants obtained are screened by biological, molecular, and electrochemical assays, to select those with higher Cr(VI) tolerance and electroactivity. After one round of genome shuffling, the best performing mutants could grow at 5 mM of Cr(VI), that is, two fold the Cr(VI) concentration tolerated by the wild type G. metallireducens. Most of the Cr(VI)-tolerant mutants obtained by genome shuffling showed a two-fold decrease of electroactivity when grown in potentiostat-controlled electrochemical cells. This suggests that resistance to Cr(VI) and electroactivity may be partially overlapping pathways, therefore a screening method based on resistance to Cr(VI) is not adequate to select only electroactive strains. Out of ten Cr(VI)-tolerant mutants, we select the M23 mutant that shows two-fold increase in electroactivity with respect to the wild type strain. In this study we show for the first time that genome shuffling can be applied to strict anaerobes, metal-reducing bacteria, to improve metal resistance and electroactivity. The mutants obtained could be applied to Cr(VI) bioremediation in highly contaminated soil and groundwater