In 2009, Honduras was affected by a military coup, where the former president Manuel Zelaya was deposed. The coup was supported by the National Congress and the Supreme Court, with the arguments that the action was a necessary act for defending and maintaining the democracy in the country. It is therefore interesting to see what type of regime that has emerged afterwards. The study is analysed by Robert Dahl´s theory about polyarchy and Joakim Ekman´s theory about hybrid regimes since Honduras shows tendencies towards both types of regimes in the present state. The study has three different perspectives regarding the empirical data to obtain a comprehensive picture as possible of what kind of regime that Honduras is considered to be today. The material consists of the national constitution to get a glimpse of the formal aspects of the political shape in the country as well as reports provided by international organizations to get the view from the outside world but the primary material is from interviews with people determined important by the positions in the Honduran civil society. The results display that Honduras has significant democratic elements; free elections and a constitution that recognizes the basic liberties, which according to Dahl meets up with the criteria of a democratic polyarchy. However, the lack of accountability for government institutions, corruption and violations against freedom of speech - where the most affected groups are journalists, human right defenders and indigenous people, indicates that Honduras have more similarities to that what Joakim Ekman refers to as a hybrid regime.

I address the problem of the lack of academic attention to evidentiary issues in Honduras in comparison to Common Law Countries. I feel that Honduran law students need to be taught a working scheme to deal with issues of admissibility and weight of evidence in order to achieve the rational determination of facts. / Moreover, I draw such a scheme from the conceptual basis for admission of evidence and the probative processes identified by Wigmore. I think that if this scheme were applied to trial records, academicians would identify problems in the admission and weight of evidence and would develop approaches to make reason and justice prevail. / The scheme is presented in the form of a chart and because it is adapted to the Honduran context I consider that it will have a positive effect on academic research, theorization and teaching of issues of admission and weight of evidence in Honduras.

Zugl.: Berlin, Humboldt-Univ., Diss., 2007

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Reformed Theological Seminary, 2001. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 217-234).

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Reformed Theological Seminary, 2001. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 217-234).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Supervisor: Julia Guernsey. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Reformed Theological Seminary, 2001. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 217-234).

This study addresses the relationship between perceptions of cultural patrimony, socioeconomic realities, and interactions with archaeological sites in two rural communities in the Naco Valley, Honduras. Palmarejo and Palos Blancos are communities situated around the Naco Valley, that share their space with two major archaeological sites.The residents of these communities interact with the archaeological sites by using their area for farming, cattle grazing, and social/recreational activities. On several occasions, the mounds in the archaeological sites have been used as a source of raw materials for construction. Thus far, the damage to the ruins by these activities has been minimal. However, the discovery of an Ulúa marble vase in one of the sites has the potential to attract looting activities to the area. Marble vases have been a coveted item in the antiquities market due to their rarity and craftsmanship. Although the sites are protected under Honduran law, the government agency that enforces the law is sometimes unable to prevent the destruction of archaeological sites due several constraints, such as the lack of resourses and national discourses that support the preservation of Maya sites over others. Other sites in nearby areas have been destroyed by looters looking for marble vases. The communities were excavated by an archaeological project during the last decade and the creation of a community archaeological project has been considered to educate the community about the conservation and importance of the archaeological sites. However it has been argued that for the successful development of such a program, knowledge of the socioeconomic and cultural impacts of archaeological sites on the local population is needed. Thus expanding on the goals of a community-oriented archaeology, this study addresses the living context of two archaeological sites as an academic problem by applying ethnographic methods to the practice of archaeology. This approach called archaeological ethnography seeks to understand the socioeconomic context of communities that are impacted by the archaeological practice. Following this direction, this research responds the following question: In what ways and to what extent do social/cultural perceptions, socioeconomic realities, and archaeological practices influence the conservation of archaeological resources in the Palmarejo Valley, Honduras? In answering this question, the study found that although the damages to the site are minimal and the communities have their own rules of interaction with their respective archaeological sites, the practice of using the mounds as a source of raw materials for construction and the potential of subsistence looting are problems to consider in the area. In addition, the study obtained information about the meaning of the sites for the communities and the hopes of the residents that the sites may become tourist attractions, improving their livelihood and quality of life. The information obtained in this study may provide a baseline of information on how people perceive and interact with these sites, which may be used to consider an archaeological conservation community project in the future. In addition, the data obtained help us understand the reasons for the destruction of archaeological sites or the lack of interest by the communities in their archaeological sites, especially in a setting in which economic development often supersedes considerations of heritage and cultural patrimony. Finally, the data can be compared with other rural communities in Honduras that are adjacent to archaeological sites to evaluate the extent to which these issues are encountered elsewhere in the country.

TESIS PARA OPTAR AL GRADO DE MAGISTER EN POLÍTICA PÚBLICA / El objetivo principal de este estudio es analizar si la política fiscal en Honduras ha seguido una tendencia procíclica evaluando el desempeño del comportamiento presupuestario en el periodo 2000-2016. Este análisis se lleva a cabo a través de la descomposición de equilibrio presupuestario del gobierno en su parte cíclica y estructural. Las primeras diferencias de la parte estructural se ponen en relación con la brecha de producción para determinar si la política fiscal es pro o anti-cíclica. Por otra parte, la correlación de los gastos e ingresos del gobierno con el ciclo económico es también objeto de nuestro análisis. El documento concluye con evidencia empírica que la evaluación de la política fiscal en Honduras ha tenido una tendencia procíclica en el periodo de estudio. Dicho resultado es congruente con estudios de la CEPAL (1996-2001)1 donde la ejecución procíclica tiene mayor prevalencia. Esta conclusión tiene dos implicancias. En primer lugar, existe un margen de mejora importante en la utilización plena y coherente de la política fiscal para estabilizar la economía hondureña a lo largo de los ciclos económicos. En segundo lugar, la regla fiscal hondureña no limita el gobierno a la práctica de la política fiscal anti cíclica, la cual esta implementada en la elaboración, ejecución y evaluación del presupuesto hondureño a partir de 2015.

This essay aims to investigate and analyse the extent to which there are conditions in Guatemala and Honduras to introduce liberal democracy, how the countries conditions differ and to draw conclusions about which country  that has the most conditions and thus is the most likely to introduce liberal democracy. The theoretical framework that this essay is based on is Juan J. Linz and Alfred Stepan's four arenas; civil society, political society, the rule of law and the state bureaucracy. In order to reach the purpose, a comparative case study was done. The  conclusions  of  this  essay shows that both countries have, to some extent, conditions to introduce liberal democracy, however they also lack conditions within other areas.