Il primo capitolo offre un sommario della letteratura teorica ed empirica relative ai cicli di bilancio a livello nazionale e locale, iniziando dai primi cicli politici di bilancio detti “tradizionali” fino ad arrivare ai modelli detti di “political agency”. Viene discusso il filone di letteratura che scaturisce da quest’ultimo tipo di modellistica, cominciando dai primi modelli di segnalazione fino ai più recenti modelli teorici sull’effetto di selezione e di disciplina svolto dalle elezioni politiche. Un’enfasi particolare viene data alla rassegna dei test empirici basati su quest’ultimo tipo di modellistica e, in particolare, sul nesso tra decentralizzazione e trasparenza a livello locale. Il secondo capitolo è incentrato sulle tematiche del ciclo elettorale relativo alla tassazione e alla spese in un campione di comuni italiani. Le stime econometriche indicano un forte ciclo elettorale relativo alla tassa comunale sugli immobili (ICI) e, utilizzando le predizioni teoriche dei modelli a informazione incompleta sul differente comportamento dei sindaci che possono correre per un secondo turno e di quelli che sono invece impossibilitati a ricandidarsi, viene mostrato come i sindaci al primo turno che possono ricandidarsi manipolano in maniera più intensa l’imposta comunale sugli immobili applicata alla prima casa. Le stime effettuate sul comportamento differente dei sindaci con limite di mandato e senza limite di mandato, relative alle scelte di tassazione applicate alla base imponibile ICI ordinaria, indicano pure la presenza di un effetto di disciplina di partito. Questo capitolo, inoltre, compie un passo avanti rispetto a precedenti stime sui cicli elettorali fondati solo sulla dinamica delle spese correnti e in conto capitale senza tenere in considerazione la natura di competenza o cassa delle poste di bilancio corrispondenti. Sono presentate alcune evidenze in merito all’esistenza di un ciclo elettorale nella spesa in conto capitale registrata in contabilità come di cassa. Viene fornito anche un test econometrico sull’effetto dei vincoli del patto di stabilità interno sui comportamenti di spesa dei comuni. Nell’ultimo capitolo, sono ulteriormente approfonditi i risultati presentati nel secondo capitolo relativi alle scelte differenti dei comuni sulle aliquote ICI ordinaria e prima casa, esplorando il nesso tra cicli opportunistici razionali e trasparenza degli strumenti fiscali. Viene presentato un modello formale a informazione incompleta che predice come gli incentivi politici per usare due diversi strumenti fiscali possono essere diversi, a seconda delle caratteristiche di trasparenza annesse ai medesimi strumenti. Le predizioni teoriche sottoposte a stima empirica sono le seguenti: 1) i sindaci al primo mandato utilizzano maggiormente l’addizionale IRPEF introdotta per i comuni nel 1999 rispetto ai sindaci che non possono più correre; 2) il turnover politico dovrebbe diminuire dopo la riforma che ha introdotto l’addizionale IRPEF e, in particolare, per i sindaci che usano maggiormente tale strumento; 3) la riforma dovrebbe agevolare la decisione dei sindaci di correre per un secondo mandato, essendo agevolata la probabilità di rielezione. I test empirici presentati utilizzando un campione di comuni italiani confermano le predizioni teoriche contenute nel modello. / The first chapter reviews the theoretical and empirical literature about political budget cycles at national and local level, starting from earlier traditional political business cycles models to political agency models. This last strand of literature is discussed, starting from earlier signalling models to the more recent advancements in theoretical predictions about the selection and disciplining effect of elections on politicians. A particular emphasis is given to the full review of empirical tests based on political agency models predictions about the links between accountability and decentralization, especially at the local level. The second chapter focuses on the issues of electoral cycles in taxes and expenditures for a sample of Italian municipalities. Econometric estimates show a strong electoral cycle on municipal property tax, and extending political agency models' implications about the differences in tax-setting behavior between first- and second-term mayors, evidence is shown of a stronger electoral manipulation of property rates applied to main residence tax base when mayors run for re-election. Estimation of property tax rates' sensitivity to term-limited mayors' fiscal behaviors also uncovers a party discipline effect on tax rates applied to business and non homeowner property tax base. Furthermore, this chapter goes beyond previous econometric estimates of expenditure cycles focusing solely on the dynamics of current and capital expenditures without taking into account the basis on which outlays are recorded in local budgets. Some preliminary evidence points to the existence of an electoral cycle in cash-recorded budgetary investment outlays. An econometric test on the effect of formal expenditures restraints on municipal spending behaviors concludes the chapter. In the last chapter, results from the second chapter relative to business and main residence property tax rates’ choices are further investigated, exploring the link between opportunistic rational cycles and accountability of tax instruments. A formal political agency model predicts that the political incentives for using the two different property taxes may be different, according to their level of transparency. Three empirically testable implications derives from theoretical predictions: 1) first-term mayors should use a local income tax surcharge, introduced in 1999 in Italy, more than second-term mayors; 2) political turnover should be lower following the reform, and in particular for mayors using more the local income tax surcharge and 3) the reform might also affect the decision to run again by mayors, as it should be easier to get re-elected after the reform. Empirical estimates using a sample of Italian municipalities are presented, confirming theoretical predictions of the model.

This study examines how gender influences the performance practice of calypso, soca, steel band music, and other related musical genres in contemporary Trinidad. I address the history of these musical genres in this nation, and how they developed into their present form. My study of women in contemporary Trinidadian music examines how popular musicians bring together personal opinion, public persona, and musical structure, to create commentaries upon the contemporary moment (instrumental political agency) as well as emotional bonds with their intended audiences and show that an alternate way of organizing gender representations and inter-gender relations is possible (constitutive political agency). I use a performance based approach to studying various aspects of musical practice within Trinidad, and how this enhances women's agency within the public sphere of popular music, creating new kinds of cultural capital for previously underrepresented members of the population. Many different aspects of Trinidad’s expressive culture are discussed and related to the musical genres discussed therein. Trinidad Carnival, its history and aesthetics, receives particular attention. Performance practice within the musical genres of calypso and soca and the music of the steel orchestra are discussed in detail. Within Trinidad, expressive culture, including popular music, is a strong forum for communicating possible inter-personal and inter-gender relations. Thus, music in the Trinidadian context takes an important place alongside larger political projects and concerns. / text

Essa pesquisa analisou os sentidos do conceito de liberdade difundidos pelo Fórum da Liberdade de Porto Alegre no período de 1988 a 1993, isto é, durante as primeiras seis edições do encontro que é anual. Organizado pelo Instituto de Estudos Empresariais (IEE), instituição voltada à formação de lideranças empresariais, o Fórum revelou-se como um espaço privilegiado para a compreensão do neoliberalismo e do perfil relativamente novo de atuação de uma “elite orgânica” durante o período da Nova República (1985 – ). Por meio de aspectos teórico-metodológicos da História dos Conceitos alemã de Reinhart Koselleck e da História do Pensamento Político de Quentin Skinner, foi possível perceber a centralidade política do conceito em questão. “Liberdade” foi um instrumento indispensável para a tradução da necessidade econômica neoliberal e para a difusão de um estímulo de predisposição à luta política pelos discursos realizados no Fórum. Desse modo, o conceito de liberdade disseminado relacionou eventos e processos históricos coetâneos a uma projeção específica e limitada de futuro proposta pelo neoliberalismo, configurando-se em elemento discursivo indispensável para a imposição dessa expectativa. / This research has analyzed the meanings of the concept of liberty put forth by the Fórum da Liberdade of Porto Alegre in the period from 1988 to 1993, in other words, during the six firsts editions of that annual encounter. Organized by the Instituto de Estudos Empresariais (IEE), an institution dedicated to the formation of entrepreneurial leadership, the Fórum became a privileged space for the understanding of neoliberalism and the relatively new operational profile of an “organic elite” in the Brazilian New Republic. Using theoretical and methodological aspects from Reinhart Koselleck‟s Germanic Conceptual History and Quentin Skinner‟s History of Political Thought, it was possible to identify the political centrality of the studied concept. “Liberty” was an indispensable instrument for the translation of neoliberal economic needs and for the propagation of a stimulus to the predisposition for political struggle by the Fórum speeches. In this manner, the concept of freedom disseminated by the Fórum conected historical events and processes to a specific and limited projection of future, becoming an imperative discursive aspect for the impositition of this expectation.

Essa pesquisa analisou os sentidos do conceito de liberdade difundidos pelo Fórum da Liberdade de Porto Alegre no período de 1988 a 1993, isto é, durante as primeiras seis edições do encontro que é anual. Organizado pelo Instituto de Estudos Empresariais (IEE), instituição voltada à formação de lideranças empresariais, o Fórum revelou-se como um espaço privilegiado para a compreensão do neoliberalismo e do perfil relativamente novo de atuação de uma “elite orgânica” durante o período da Nova República (1985 – ). Por meio de aspectos teórico-metodológicos da História dos Conceitos alemã de Reinhart Koselleck e da História do Pensamento Político de Quentin Skinner, foi possível perceber a centralidade política do conceito em questão. “Liberdade” foi um instrumento indispensável para a tradução da necessidade econômica neoliberal e para a difusão de um estímulo de predisposição à luta política pelos discursos realizados no Fórum. Desse modo, o conceito de liberdade disseminado relacionou eventos e processos históricos coetâneos a uma projeção específica e limitada de futuro proposta pelo neoliberalismo, configurando-se em elemento discursivo indispensável para a imposição dessa expectativa. / This research has analyzed the meanings of the concept of liberty put forth by the Fórum da Liberdade of Porto Alegre in the period from 1988 to 1993, in other words, during the six firsts editions of that annual encounter. Organized by the Instituto de Estudos Empresariais (IEE), an institution dedicated to the formation of entrepreneurial leadership, the Fórum became a privileged space for the understanding of neoliberalism and the relatively new operational profile of an “organic elite” in the Brazilian New Republic. Using theoretical and methodological aspects from Reinhart Koselleck‟s Germanic Conceptual History and Quentin Skinner‟s History of Political Thought, it was possible to identify the political centrality of the studied concept. “Liberty” was an indispensable instrument for the translation of neoliberal economic needs and for the propagation of a stimulus to the predisposition for political struggle by the Fórum speeches. In this manner, the concept of freedom disseminated by the Fórum conected historical events and processes to a specific and limited projection of future, becoming an imperative discursive aspect for the impositition of this expectation.

Essa pesquisa analisou os sentidos do conceito de liberdade difundidos pelo Fórum da Liberdade de Porto Alegre no período de 1988 a 1993, isto é, durante as primeiras seis edições do encontro que é anual. Organizado pelo Instituto de Estudos Empresariais (IEE), instituição voltada à formação de lideranças empresariais, o Fórum revelou-se como um espaço privilegiado para a compreensão do neoliberalismo e do perfil relativamente novo de atuação de uma “elite orgânica” durante o período da Nova República (1985 – ). Por meio de aspectos teórico-metodológicos da História dos Conceitos alemã de Reinhart Koselleck e da História do Pensamento Político de Quentin Skinner, foi possível perceber a centralidade política do conceito em questão. “Liberdade” foi um instrumento indispensável para a tradução da necessidade econômica neoliberal e para a difusão de um estímulo de predisposição à luta política pelos discursos realizados no Fórum. Desse modo, o conceito de liberdade disseminado relacionou eventos e processos históricos coetâneos a uma projeção específica e limitada de futuro proposta pelo neoliberalismo, configurando-se em elemento discursivo indispensável para a imposição dessa expectativa. / This research has analyzed the meanings of the concept of liberty put forth by the Fórum da Liberdade of Porto Alegre in the period from 1988 to 1993, in other words, during the six firsts editions of that annual encounter. Organized by the Instituto de Estudos Empresariais (IEE), an institution dedicated to the formation of entrepreneurial leadership, the Fórum became a privileged space for the understanding of neoliberalism and the relatively new operational profile of an “organic elite” in the Brazilian New Republic. Using theoretical and methodological aspects from Reinhart Koselleck‟s Germanic Conceptual History and Quentin Skinner‟s History of Political Thought, it was possible to identify the political centrality of the studied concept. “Liberty” was an indispensable instrument for the translation of neoliberal economic needs and for the propagation of a stimulus to the predisposition for political struggle by the Fórum speeches. In this manner, the concept of freedom disseminated by the Fórum conected historical events and processes to a specific and limited projection of future, becoming an imperative discursive aspect for the impositition of this expectation.

Seul l’État disposait d’une personnalité juridique au sortir de la Révolution de 1789. Déduite de la formule « [l]’État est la personnification juridique d’une nation », la personnalité sus-évoquée dote le premier (l’État), au détriment de la seconde (la nation), de droits subjectifs. Qu’en est-il après la Révolution démocratique de 1989, c'est-à-dire quelque deux siècles plus tard ? La présente étude tente de démontrer la revanche de la nation dans la théorie du droit à partir d’un contexte où elle a été particulièrement brimée. D’une part, la nation bénéficie d’une double représentation médiate et immédiate du fait qu’elle participe, par un pouvoir normatif initial, à la formation de la volonté générale. On sait aussi que le renouveau démocratique a imposé la question de la légitimité par laquelle la nation peut contrôler, médiatement (par l’intermédiation du juge constitutionnel) ou immédiatement (par référendum), l’action des autres organes y compris le pouvoir constituant dont l’ensemble des compétences est encadré par la constitution. L’investissement des organes supranationaux qu’on découvre de plus en plus dans le commerce juridique national rend cette question de la légitimité plus efficiente dès lors que la nation, mais aussi ses différentes composantes (par la capacité de saisir les instances régionales, communautaires ou même internationales), peut requérir la condamnation de l’État pour manquement à une obligation juridique. L’idée de légitimité suppose ainsi, pour la nation, la possibilité d’évaluer l’action des organes classique de l’État à partir d’un vaste ordre juridique.D’autre part, la reconnaissance constitutionnelle de la diversité nationale et mieux encore sa prise en compte dans la gestion publique de l’État a profondément reconfiguré le principe d’une souveraineté (nationale) une et indivisible entretenu par le droit constitutionnel révolutionnaire. À partir des principes de personnalité et de territorialité, le contexte africain apporte l’évidence de ce que la nation et les communautés infranationales sont désormais titulaires de droits (politiques, socioculturels) subjectifs ; ce qui modifie le paysage de l’État moderne. On parle de plurijuridisme pour caractériser un agencement politique pluriel. Il suit que la nation (pas seulement elle, mais toutes les composantes sociologiques de l’État) jouit d’une double personnalité juridique (nationale et internationale) qui s’oppose à celle de l’État. Celui-ci reste à la quête d’une nouvelle identité qui traduira la somme des compétences infra et supra nationales des acteurs du système juridique ; laquelle identité devrait par ailleurs indiquer le sens définitif de la théorie postmoderne de la personnalité juridique de l’État. / Only the State had a legal personality at the end of the 1789 Revolution. Derived from the phrase "[t] he State is the legal personification of a nation", the above-mentioned personality endows the first (state), to the detriment of the second (the nation), subjective rights. What about after the democratic revolution of 1989, that is to say, some two centuries later? This study attempts to show the revanche of the nation in legal theory from a context in which it was particularly bullied. On the one hand, the nation has a double mediate and immediate representation of the fact that it participates, with an initial legislative power, the formation of the general Will. We also know that the democratic renewal imposed the issue of legitimacy which the nation can control mediately (by the intermediation of the constitutional Court) or immediately (by referendum), the action of other organs including the constituent whose power skill set is framed by the constitution. Investment supranational bodies we discover more and more into the national legal trade makes the question of legitimacy more efficient when the nation, but also its various components (the ability to capture the regional, community or even international Instances), may require the condemnation of the State for breach of legal obligations. The idea of legitimacy is thus assumed for the nation, the opportunity to evaluate the work of state bodies from a large legal system. On the other hand, the constitutional recognition of national diversity and even taking into account the governance of the State profoundly reconfigured the principle of (national) sovereignty maintained by the revolutionary constitutional Law. Based on the principles of personality and territoriality, the African context provides evidence that the nation and sub-national communities are now holders of rights (political, socio-cultural) subjective, which changes the landscape of the modern State. We talk about plural juridical ways to characterize a plural political arrangement. It follows that the nation (not only her but all the sociological components of the State) has a dual legal personality (national and international) that opposes that of the State. The State remains in search of a new identity that will reflect the sum of the sub skills and supranational actors in the legal system which identity should also indicate the final direction of the postmodern theory of the legal personality of the State.

In 2019,  Movice and CT created a mural that depicts faces of  high-ranking military officers who were in command when more than 6.000 civilians were killed by soldiers and were presented as guerilla members. After being censored by the military, the mural was reproduced on hundreds of walls in Colombia and other cities such as  New York, Berlin, Paris. On Twitter, the hashtag was used at least three times a day for two years.  Then, how could the contents of ¿Quién dio la orden? (Who gave the order? - WGO)  contribute to social change in the digital society while others go unnoticed? Through in-depth interviews and online participant observation, the organisational practices that produced WGO and the practices of social appropriation are analysed. In particular, the role played by affects and connective action. The research approach is from a non-media-centric perspective, a holistic view of the online/offline communication process of meaning-making. The study relies on the Latin American Theory of Mediations with some components from the theories of Collective Action, Connective Action and Affective Intensity. The findings mainly show that, first, the production of WGO was a permanent negotiation of collective meanings to reach the common goal. Second, WGO was appropriate when the citizens participated in the production of WGO and were able to  identify themselves subjectively. Third, the production of WGO increased affective intensities that triggered exchanges of discourse and action between diverse groups of social actors. In terms of social change, the alternative narrative of WGO was partially legitimised for Colombian society, turning it into a collective referent that challenged the hegemonic narrative of “rotten apples”. / En 2019, Movice y la Campaña por la Verdad crearon un mural que muestra los rostros de militares de alto rango que estaban al mando en el periodo en el que más de 6.000 civiles fueron asesinados y presentados como miembros de la guerrilla. Tras ser censurado por miembros del Ejército, el mural fue reproducido en cientos de paredes de Colombia y otras ciudades como Nueva York, Berlín o París. En Twitter, el hashtag se utilizó al menos tres veces al día durante dos años. Entonces, ¿cómo pudieron los contenidos de ¿Quién dio la orden? (QDO) contribuir al cambio social en la sociedad digital mientras otros pasan desapercibidos? A través de entrevistas en profundidad y observaciones participantes online, se analizan las prácticas organizativas que produjeron QDO y las prácticas de apropiación social. En particular, el papel desempeñado por los afectos y la acción conectiva. El enfoque de la investigación toma una perspectiva no mediático-céntrica, una visión holística del proceso de comunicación online/offline de producción de sentido. El estudio se basa en la Teoría Latinoamericana de las Mediaciones con algunos componentes de las teorías de la Acción Colectiva, la Acción Conectiva y la Intensidad Afectiva. Los resultados muestran principalmente que, en primer lugar, la producción de QDO fue una negociación permanente de significados colectivos para alcanzar el objetivo común. En segundo lugar, QDO fue apropiado desde la participación de los ciudadanos en la producción y cuando éstos lograron identificarse subjetivamente. Tercero, la producción de QDO aumentó las intensidades afectivas que desencadenaron intercambios de discurso y acción entre diversos grupos de actores sociales. En términos de cambio social, la narrativa alternativa de QDO fue parcialmente legitimada por la sociedad colombiana, convirtiéndose en un referente colectivo que desafió la narrativa hegemónica de las "manzanas podridas".

This thesis analyzes how caring relationships and an emancipatory approach to law related education (LRE) within juvenile justice facilities can cultivate political agency. I focused specifically on Camp Afflerbaugh-Paige, an LA County juvenile probation facility, in La Verne, CA, as a case study. During three months of teaching a law related education class and embedding myself at the facility with an asset-based framework, I encountered a wealth of knowledge that incarcerated juveniles possess, not from formal education or research, but based in their own lived experiences. Los Angeles County Probation spends $233,000 per student per year; assuming best intentions of those in charge and the actors, the students, with a wide array of expertise, should be thriving within these institutions and set up for success upon their release. Unfortunately, though, students’ academic, entrepreneurial, and legal expertise are criminalized rather than cultivated by the juvenile justice system. Through a policy class, the students created reforms to address the challenges of a paramilitary camp that neglects students’ emotional, physical, and mental health. The challenges in the environment complicate the political agency of students within the camp and post-release. I am making the claim that the political agency of the students is visible and the assets are tangibly cultivated by an emancipatory pedagogy, ethic of care, and the law related education curriculum.