Incomplete Transition

One of Latin America's leading sociologists, Manuel Antonio Garreton explores contemporary challenges to democratization in Latin America in this work originally published in Spanish in 1995. He pays particular attention to the example of Chile, analyzing the country's return to democracy and its hopes for continued prosperity following the 1973 coup that overthrew democratically elected president Salvador Allende. Garreton contends that the period of democratic crisis and authoritarian rule that characterized much of Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s was symptomatic of a larger breakdown in the way society and government worked. A new era emerged in Chile at the end of the twentieth century, Garreton argues--an era that partakes of the great changes afoot in the larger world. This edition updates Garreton's analysis of developments in Chile, considering the administration of current president Ricardo Lagos. The author concludes with an exploration of future prospects for democracy in Latin America.

This book offers a thorough reanalysis of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, which for many people represents the work that alone gave rise to evolutionism. Of course, scholars today know better than that. Yet, few resist the temptation of turning to the Origin in order to support it or reject it in light of their own work. Apparently, Darwin fills the mythical role of a founding figure that must either be invoked or repudiated. The book is an invitation to move beyond what is currently expected of Darwin's magnum opus. Once the rhetorical varnish of Darwin's discourses is removed, one discovers a work of remarkably indecisive conclusions. The book comprises two main theses: (1) The Origin of Species never remotely achieved the theoretical unity to which it is often credited. Rather, Darwin was overwhelmed by a host of phenomena that could not fit into his narrow conceptual framework. (2) In the Origin of Species, Darwin failed at completing the full conversion to evolutionism. Carrying many ill-designed intellectual tools of the 17th and 18th centuries, Darwin merely promoted a special brand of evolutionism, one that prevented him from taking the decisive steps toward an open and modern evolutionism. It makes an interesting read for biologists, historians and philosophers alike.

In the fight against organizational malpractice and organized crime, both international guidelines and national regulations have become stricter. Nevertheless, the results seem not to reach the expected change. Corruption scandals involving large companies, political parties, sports organizations, hospitals, etc. have not come to an end. In order to explain the collective illegality within and through organizations of different sectors and embedded in different cultures, this conference proceedings gathers articles about corporate and organized crime by international renowned scientists and experts. The focus is on similarities and differences in current corruption cases and other forms of crime as well as questions about conventional and alternative prevention measures.

The book addresses the control issues such as stability analysis, control synthesis and filter design of Markov jump systems with the above three types of TPs, and thus is mainly divided into three parts. Part I studies the Markov jump systems with partially unknown TPs. Different methodologies with different conservatism for the basic stability and stabilization problems are developed and compared. Then the problems of state estimation, the control of systems with time-varying delays, the case involved with both partially unknown TPs and uncertain TPs in a composite way are also tackled. Part II deals with the Markov jump systems with piecewise homogeneous TPs. Methodologies that can effectively handle control problems in the scenario are developed, including the one coping with the asynchronous switching phenomenon between the currently activated system mode and the controller/filter to be designed. Part III focuses on the Markov jump systems with memory TPs. The concept of σ-mean square stability is proposed such that the stability problem can be solved via a finite number of conditions. The systems involved with nonlinear dynamics (described via the Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy model) are also investigated. Numerical and practical examples are given to verify the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results. Finally, some perspectives and future works are presented to conclude the book.

Over the past several decades, civil and ethnic wars have undermined prospects for economic and political development, destabilized entire regions of the globe, and left millions dead. States, Scarcity, and Civil Strife in the Developing World argues that demographic and environmental stress--the interactions among rapid population growth, environmental degradation, inequality, and emerging scarcities of vital natural resources--represents one important source of turmoil in today's world. Kahl contends that this type of stress places enormous strains on both societies and governments in poor countries, increasing their vulnerability to armed conflict. He identifies two pathways whereby this process unfolds: state failure and state exploitation. State failure conflicts occur when population growth, environmental degradation, and resource inequality weaken the capacity, legitimacy, and cohesion of governments, thereby expanding the opportunities and incentives for rebellion and intergroup violence. State exploitation conflicts, in contrast, occur when political leaders themselves capitalize on the opportunities arising from population pressures, natural resource scarcities, and related social grievances to instigate violence that serves their parochial interests. Drawing on a wide array of social science theory, this book argues that demographically and environmentally induced conflicts are most likely to occur in countries that are deeply split along ethnic, religious, regional, or class lines, and which have highly exclusive and discriminatory political systems. The empirical portion of the book evaluates the theoretical argument through in-depth case studies of civil strife in the Philippines, Kenya, and numerous other countries. The book concludes with an analysis of the challenges demographic and environmental change will pose to international security in the decades ahead.

During the Cold War, a series of coups in Latin America resulted in a new form of military rule-the national security state-in which the armed forces ruled as an institution and drastically transformed state and society to conform to a messianic vision of national security. This book examines the lasting impact of institutionalized military power on Argentine state and society and the structural legacies of the national security state. Despite important steps toward democracy in the 1980s, security and intelligence forces acted to block democratizing measures and shape the emerging political system.

Can democratic states transplant the seeds of democracy into developing countries? What have political thinkers going back to the Greek city-states thought about their capacity to promote democracy? How can democracy be established in divided societies? This books answers these and other fundamental questions behind the concept known as 'democracy promotion.' Following an illuminating concise discussion of what political philosophers from Plato to Montesquieu thought about the issue, the authors explore the structural preconditions (culture, divided societies, civil society) as well as the institutions and processes of democracy building (constitutions, elections, security sector reform, conflict, and trade). Along the way they share insights about what policies have worked, which ones need to be improved or discarded, and, more generally, what advanced democracies can do to further the cause of democratization in a globalizing world. In other words, they seek answers to the question, Is democracy exportable?

The first-ever book on this subject establishes a rigid, transparent and useful methodology for investigating the material metabolism of anthropogenic systems. Using Material Flow Analysis (MFA), the main sources, flows, stocks, and emissions of man-made and natural materials can be determined. By demonstrating the application of MFA, this book reveals how resources can be conserved and the environment protected within complex systems. The fourteen case studies presented exemplify the potential for MFA to contribute to sustainable materials management. Exercises throughout the book deepen comprehension and expertise. The authors have had success in applying MFA to various fields, and now promote the use of MFA so that future engineers and planners have a common method for solving resource-oriented problems.