A Theory of Judicial Constitutional Design

The purpose of this paper is to describe how judges engage in constitutional design, irrespective of legal tradition. I examine in great detail the role of the judge: as a conflict solver, as a member of an institution, as part of the political system and as a human being, for those are factors that intervene in the activities he makes. I later analyze the dynamics that a Constitution can have: the change in their structure conceptualized as interpretation, mutation and resistance and their relation. Interpretation is the determination of the scope of a norm, mutation is the change of meaning without amendment and resistance is a concept that bridges the first two, which is the capacity of the constitutional rule to adapt to the political game and to assume mutations. Finally, these concepts are intertwined in order to show how judges by means of their function, (re)design the Constitution by means of adjudication and policymaking (rule issuance by the stating of precedent)

Doctors with Borders? An Authority-based Approach to the Brain Drain

According to the brain drain argument, there are good reasons for states to limit the exit of their skilled workers (more specifically, healthcare workers), because of the negative impacts this type of migration has for other members of the community from which they migrate. Some theorists criticise this argument as illiberal, while others support it and ground a duty to stay of the skilled workers on rather vague concepts like patriotic virtue, or the legitimate expectations of their state and co-citizens. In this article, on the contrary, we suggest that the liberal conception of states’ legitimate political authority demands, and not just permits, that developing states from which migration of skilled workers occurs set up contractual mechanisms. These mechanisms will ensure that state-funded training in the health sector is provided against a commitment on the part of future professionals to reciprocate with their services for the benefits obtained. If one of the conditions for the state to maintain legitimate political authority is to provide basic services such as healthcare to its subjects (while respecting at the same time their autonomy and freedom), then this is what developing states affected by the brain drain ought to do. What we call the authority-based approach to the brain drain also helps to clarify the obligations that other states have not to interfere with these contractual mechanisms when they exist, and not to profit from their absence. Inspired by FIFA’s legal instruments of training compensation and solidarity mechanism for the transfer of players, we conclude by suggesting a plausible global policy to complement this authority-based approach

Impacto redistributivo desagregado del IVA actual en España: posibles vías de reforma

The VAT is the most revenue tax in the Spanish economy in the year 2000. The aim of this research is to develop an analysis dissintegrated of the distributional effect of the current VAT in Spain, that is to say, this paper assesses the capacity of redistribution of the tax treatment of each expenditure category. It proposes different approaches for the analysis of the redistributive impact differential of each expenditure concept, and it desires to advocate the method of total decomposition of isolated contribution to the global distributional effect of the VAT. In this sense, this study shows the possibilities to identify the guidelines for possible fiscal adjustments of the Value Added Tax to contribute positively to the objectives of social justice, and its respective consequences on the population's welfare.

MEMORANDUM: Calibration of Great Bay Estuary Hydrodynamic Model and Incremental Nitrogen Estimation

This technical memorandum summarizes the completion of the calibration of a hydrodynamic model of the Great Bay Estuary System (GBES) originally started as part of the Squamscott River modeling study. The Squamscott River modeling study was discontinued when it was realized that excessive levels of algae in the Exeter wastewater lagoons discharge had a significant effect on Squamscott River water quality. Because Exeter plans to upgrade its wastewater treatment system and eliminate excessive algal levels in its effluent discharge, it was decided not to develop a hydrodynamic water quality model with Squamscott River water quality data that is so atypical and different than expected future river water quality after the Exeter wastewater treatment system upgrade. However, it was recognized that the completion of the hydrodynamic model of the GBES would provide a useful tool for the cities of Dover, Rochester, and Portsmouth to relate present and future wastewater effluent nitrogen discharges to increases in GBES nitrogen levels. The following is a brief description of the hydrodynamic model framework and calibration analysis against salinity, temperature, and tidal elevation measurements at various locations throughout the GBES. Later sections in this document summarize the application of the GBES calibrated hydrodynamic model in computing incremental nitrogen levels in the Estuary as a result of multiple effluent nitrogen scenarios

Invariance principles for switched systems with restrictions

In this paper we consider switched nonlinear systems under average dwell time switching signals, with an otherwise arbitrary compact index set and with additional constraints in the switchings. We present invariance principles for these systems and derive by using observability-like notions some convergence and asymptotic stability criteria. These results enable us to analyze the stability of solutions of switched systems with both state-dependent constrained switching and switching whose logic has memory, i.e., the active subsystem only can switch to a prescribed subset of subsystems.Comment: 29 pages, 2 Appendixe

Análisis de las preferencias en el consumo de bebidas carbonatadas en los hogares del municipio de Tenancingo, Estado de México.

La presente investigación analiza las preferencias del consumidor y el consumo de bebidas carbonatadas en los hogares del municipio de Tenancingo, Estado de México para dar a conocer qué factores generan el consumo en la demanda de este tipo de bebidas. Se utilizó la encuesta como recolector de datos, se aplicaron un total de 100 cuestionarios a los representantes de las familias del municipio de Tenancingo en el mes de febrero del año 2016. Se describieron los resultados gráficamente, se utilizó el programa de Microsoft Excel en donde se analizaron los datos obtenidos de las encuestas que se aplicaron. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo con la finalidad de conocer el porqué del consumo de bebidas carbonatadas. En los resultados, de los encuestados el 71% consumen bebidas carbonatadas y el resto afirman no consumir, además el 26% consume con una frecuencia de 3 a 4 veces a la semana del total de encuestados, siendo la Coca-Cola el tipo de bebida que más prefieren, prefiriendo la presentación de lata. El 36% de la muestra asigna un gasto semanal de 40 a 50 pesos mexicanos a la compra de este tipo de bebidas, impactando de manera significativa a la economía de los hogares. Posteriormente se realizó una comparación entre género de los resultados obtenidos del trabajo de campo en forma gráfica y porcentual, el 51% de ellos que consumen este tipo de bebida son mujeres y el restante con el 49% hombres. Después se obtuvieron los datos estadísticos descriptivos se calculó las medidas de tendencial central (la media, mediana, moda, desviación estándar y error estándar) también haciendo una comparación entre hombres y mujeres. Por último, se realizó un análisis de correlación entre las variables que más se relacionaron con la finalidad de determinar los factores que inciden en el comportamiento del consumo de bebidas carbonatadas. Se utilizó el programa Minitab Statiscal software con el fin de obtener la relación de variables. Los resultados de la correlación indican que la elección del consumo de bebidas carbonatadas está basada en los gustos y preferencias de los hogares del municipio estudiado, así como de ciertos factores (la promoción que ofertan las distintas marcas en ciertas temporadas donde hay una alta demanda a precios más accesibles incrementando el consumo)

La religion dans l’espace public : Une enquête préliminaire sur les perceptions de quelques leaders juifs et musulmans en milieu montréalais

Ce texte se veut une réflexion autour de la religion, de sa présence publique et de son traitement par les institutions de l’État, dans une perspective qui cherche à mettre en lumière les opinions et représentations des acteurs du milieu religieux. Nous avons choisi d’explorer la gestion étatique du religieux à travers une enquête de type qualitatif basée sur des entretiens semi-directifs auprès de quelques leaders musulmans et juifs en milieu montréalais. Nous présentons d’abord le contexte des politiques qui encadrent le traitement du religieux au Québec. Nous discutons ensuite brièvement de quelques faits saillants relatifs au paysage religieux québécois, particulièrement au sujet des groupes que nous avons choisis pour les entretiens. Ces deux sections ont pour objectif de contextualiser les données empiriques et résultats que nous présentons finalement dans la suivante.This paper deals with religion, its public presence, and management by State institutions, from a perspective that highlights the opinions and representations prevailing in the religious milieu. I use a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with Muslim and Jewish leaders in Montreal. I first present the context of policies framing the management of religion in Quebec; this is followed by a short section presenting a few relevant facts on religion in Quebec, in particular as regards the groups selected for interviews. This provides the context for the more empirical section of the article, where the preliminary results of our research are presented

Crisis in Troya : Paris "the judge" seen by the Greeks

El Juicio de Paris es un evento crucial en la comprensión de la identidad griega antigua. Demarca una separación entre dioses y hombres, la caída de las glorias antiguas y el origen de lo positivo en lo negativo. Las representaciones artísticas y literarias muestran algunas diferencias formales cuando difieren en cuanto a algunos detalles de la trama, pero finalmente coinciden en cuanto a la apreciación que hacen de Paris. Las figuraciones del episodio tienen espacio para variaciones narrativas, argumentos racionales y la ridiculización del pastor y de las diosas. La meta de esta discusión es detectar las señales que dejaron tanto poetas cuanto artistas plásticas acerca de cómo valoraban a Paris. El príncipe troyano pudo ser juez de las diosas, pero él mismo ha de ser juzgado en incontables ocasiones durante toda la Antigüedad por escritores y artesanos. Delinear las coincidencias y divergencias de quienes representaron este evento durante la Antigüedad en un ámbito griego es el motor primario de este texto. La pluralidad de testimonios e interpretaciones muestra, preliminarmente, la riqueza simbólica y comunicativa de este mito.The Judgement of Paris is a key event in understanding the ancient Greek identity. It states a separation between gods and men, the fall of ancient glories, and the appearance of the positive out of the negative. Artistic and literary renderings of the Judgement exhibit some formal differences when they differ in regard to some aspects of the plot, but finally match in regard to how they assess Paris. Representations of the Judgement show narrative divergences, rational arguments, and mockery of both the shepherd and the goddesses. This paper’s goal is to perceive the signs that both poets and visual artists left on how they estimated Paris. The Trojan prince could have been the judge of the goddesses, but he himself shall be judged numerous times by writers and craftsmen of antiquity. The main inspiration of this text is tracing both coincidences and divergences of those who depicted the Judgement during antiquity in a Greek context. The plurality of both testimonies and interpretations suggests a symbolic and comunicative richness in this myth.Fil: Mancilla, Cristian. Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación (Chile