NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Lawyers as gatekeepers

Good corporate governance is an enabling factor for the growth, development and success of corporations in this era of globalization and international competition. The corporate scandals of the early 2000s have reinforced the importance of corporate governance; they have stimulated research and experimentation with new modes of corporate governance.  Following the reforms introduced in North America in the last decade, lawyers have been formally integrated into the corporate governance regulatory framework. Canadian and U.S. regulation now clearly assigns a gatekeeping role to corporate lawyers. The legal qualification of corporate lawyers as gatekeepers has significant theoretical support in the literature. Yet criticism of this position raises doubts, or at least sensitive issues, regarding this qualification. We conclude that further empirical studies would be apposite to gain a finer grained understanding of the practice and contributions of corporate lawyers as gatekeepers and a better appreciation of the appropriateness of such role.

Keyphrases: Corporate governance, Gouvernance d'entreprise, Legal profession, Profession juridique, Gatekeepers, Gardien
A Comparative Investigation into The Effects of Party-System Variables on Party Switching using Individual-Level Data

Previous comparative electoral studies using aggregate data indicate the importance of party-system variables, such as polarization and the number of parties, with regard to the level of volatility between two elections. Research using individual level data has shown elements, such as political knowledge, political disaffection and party identification, explain why voters remained faithful to their party or not. Until now, no study has investigated these variables simultaneously on individual level data using a large set of elections. This study fills that important gap in the literature using data from 29,591 voters in 33 elections. We find polarization influences party-switching at the individual level, rather than the sheer number of parties, as aggregate-level analyses suggest.

Keyphrases: Élections, Partis politiques, Volatilité électorale, Polarisation
Norm Transmission in Peace- and State-building: Lessons from Democracy Promotion in Sudan and Lebanon

This article examines the transmission and reception of democratic norms in the context of liberal peace interventions. It identifies two reasons for the failure to promote democracy: the strategies favored by liberal peace actors and the agency of local elites. Drawing on field research in Lebanon and Sudan, the article argues that liberal peace projects systematically provide opportunities for local elites to overcome the apparent asymmetry of power between them and liberal peace actors. It identifies two strategies of resistance to the promotion of democracy—disengagement and recuperation— and suggests that, of the two, disengagement is more likely to produce a relapse into violence. democracy promotion, hybrid peace governance, norm transmission and recuperation, Sudan, Lebanon.

Keyphrases: Soudan, Liban, Démocratie, Libéralisme, Violence
Critical Junctures and Missed Opportunities: The Case of Lebanon's Cedar Revolution

This article addresses three shortcomings in the path dependency literature on critical junctures: the neglect of negative cases, non-state actors and of power asymmetries. The 2005 Cedar Revolution had the makings of a critical juncture. Yet despite the rise of alternative nongovernmental organizations (ANGOs) seeking to change the sectarian political system, a public ready for change, renewed donor interest and funds, little came of this juncture; Lebanon’s ANGOs are now inactive. This paper questions why. Building on fieldwork conducted between 2006 and 2010, it argues that the Cedar Revolution was a critical juncture and that this critical juncture was marked by a substantial power asymmetry between ANGOs and Lebanon’s sectarian political actors. Nonetheless, the renewed donor interest in promoting a stable and democratic Lebanon could have reduced this power gap; however, the politics of Western democracy promotion ultimately reinforced the hold of sectarian leaders on Lebanon’s political scene.

Keyphrases: Liban, Conjonctures critiques, Acteurs non-étatiques, Révolution du Cèdre
Sui Generis Rights on Folklore Viewed from a Property Rights Perspective

This paper looks at sui generis rights claimed for the protection of folklore. Since rights should not be created in any which way if one is to avoid privileges and rent-seeking, it is important to be clear about design constraints stemming from such rights being species of property rights, adapted to deal with the particular content of information structures that need special encouragement or protection. Examination of the logic of property rights in general and of intellectual property rights in particular reveals that intellectual property rights are sought because of their decentralised incentive and information effects, but that they need to be circumscribed because of the monopolistic effects they entail. The trouble with monopoly is that whilst it is in place, one does not realise the creativity that is prevented from emerging. All intellectual property rights reflect compromises of these contradictory tendencies and as a result, more and stronger intellectual property rights are not necessarily better from a general welfare point of view.  The forms of sui generis rights proposed for folklore appear modelled on copyright, but with the removal of several key features that define the equilibrium inherent in copyright: no originality requirement; no known creation date or creators; indefinite duration. Folklore kept secret is altogether taken out of commerce. As a result, these rights strike a balance very much more to the monopoly side of the spectrum than do existing intellectual property rights and hence risk severely constraining creativity. This may seem like an acceptable constraint given the objective of preservation, but one must realise that it will affect the future carriers of the protected information. Faced with severe restrictions on ways they can improve their lives within the protected setting, they may well opt for the exit option and head for greener pastures. This would severely strain efforts to preserve whatever the sui generis rights aim to protect. Information lock-up may not be the most promising formula for preservation.

Keyphrases: Property rights, Droit de propriété, Intellectual property, Propriété intellectuelle, Copyright, Droit d'auteur, Sui generis, Folklore
The Economics of Life: Reflections on the Term of Copyright

Copyright, and indeed all intellectual property, reflects a compromise between the need for reward on creations we see – by reserving them to the creator – and the need to let information freely flow so as to permit further creations to emerge with as few encumbrances as possible. Over the past quarter century or so, all parameters of copyright have been moved towards more protection, disturbing the underlying compromise. The term of protection extends well beyond what is practically useful for the vast majority of creators, much as it may serve the needs of a small number of large players who hold important older copyrights still producing revenue. This paradoxical situation results from a few founding principles considered untouchable in the countries members of the Berne Convention: it is automatically obtained, without formality and for a uniform and rather lengthy term. If we want to redress the balance underlying copyright, we may have to call these principles into question and lead creators individually to reveal the value they attach to their right by renewing it, allowing it to lapse into the public domain when they no longer value it. Whilst this would reintroduce formalities into the structure of copyright, technological advances may make these less of a burden than they were at the time of their abolition. Alternatively, one might consider an interpretation of equitable exceptions to copyright (such as fair use and fair dealing) so as to expand them gradually as the copyright in question ages. Such approaches would have the fortunate effect of avoiding that lobbying by the happy few needlessly locks up culture for most of us.

Keyphrases: Intellectual property, Propriété intellectuelle, Copyright, Droit d'auteur, Fair dealing, Utilisation équitable, Term, Terme
Nouveau code civil néerlandais - Livre troisième - Du droit patrimonial en général

This is Book 3 of the trilingual edition and translation (Dutch to English and French) of the Netherlands Civil Code ("Burgerlijk Wetboek"), as it was published in 1990, now sold out and no longer reprinted. Book 3 deals with general aspects of patrimonial law, which comprises what in common law are called property rights, torts and contracts. In the English translation, special care has been taken to use civil law English, as it is used in Quebec, Scotland, South Africa and Louisiana. It was felt that using civil law terminology will put the common law reader on guard against creating "false friends" between civil law institutions and the more or less corresponding common law ones (such as hypothec and mortgage).

Keyphrases: Droit civil, Civil law, Code civil, Civil code, Pays-Bas, Netherlands, Traduction, Translation
Nouveau code civil néerlandais - Livre cinquième - Des droits réels

This is Book 5 of the trilingual edition and translation (Dutch to English and French) of the Netherlands Civil Code ("Burgerlijk Wetboek"), as it was published in 1990, now sold out and no longer reprinted. Book 5 deals with real rights or property rights in common law terminology. In the English translation, special care has been taken to use civil law English, as it is used in Quebec, Scotland, South Africa and Louisiana. It was felt that using civil law terminology will put the common law reader on guard against creating "false friends" between civil law institutions and the more or less corresponding common law ones (such as servitude and easement).

Keyphrases: Droit civil, Civil law, Code civil, Civil code, Pays-Bas, Netherlands, Traduction, Translation
Nouveau code civil néerlandais - Livre septième - Des contrats particuliers

This is Book 7 of the trilingual edition and translation (Dutch to English and French) of the Netherlands Civil Code ("Burgerlijk Wetboek"), as it was published in 1990, now sold out and no longer reprinted. Book 7 deals with special (or nominate) contracts, that is contracts for which the Code provides a detailed set of rules in addition to those provided in the general part of obligations (Book 6). In the English translation, special care has been taken to use civil law English, as it is used in Quebec, Scotland, South Africa and Louisiana. It was felt that using civil law terminology will put the common law reader on guard against creating "false friends" between civil law institutions and the more or less corresponding common law ones (such as action for eviction and recovery).

Keyphrases: Droit civil, Civil law, Code civil, Civil code, Pays-Bas, Netherlands, Traduction, Translation
Nouveau code civil néerlandais - Livre huitième - Des moyens de transport et du transport

This is Book 8, dealing with Transport Law, of the trilingual edition and translation (Dutch to English and French) of the Netherlands Civil Code ("Burgerlijk Wetboek"), as it was published in 1995, now sold out and no longer reprinted. Part I sets out General Provisions, common to all forms of transport; Part II deals with Maritime Law or Admiralty Law, Part III, with Inland Waterway Law, Part IV, with Road Transport Law; Part V gives some provisions of Air Law, Part VI, some provisions of Transport on Rails, with Part VII stating Final Provisions. The Parts dealing with Maritime Law, Inland Waterway law and Road Transport Law are self-contained expositions of these fields of law. The Dutch codifiers felt practitioners in these fields should be able to know the state of the law by consulting only the Part specifically dealing with the mode of transport in question. In this English translation of the Netherlands Civil Code, special care has been taken to use civil law English terminology, as it is used in Quebec, Scotland, South Africa and Louisiana. It was felt that using civil law terminology will put the common law reader on guard against creating "false friends" between civil law institutions and the more or less corresponding common law ones.

Keyphrases: Droit civil, Civil law, Code civil, Civil code, Pays-Bas, Netherlands, Traduction, Translation
Covariation between variables in a modelling process: The ACODESA (collaborative learning, scientific debate and self-reflection) method

Semiotic representations have been an important topic of study in mathematics education. Previous research implicitly placed more importance on the development of institutional representations of mathematical concepts in students rather than other types of representations. In the context of an extensive research project, in progress since 2005, related to modelling mathematical situations in Québec secondary schools (grades 8 and 9), we have addressed the problem of constructing a specific mathematical concept: covariation between variables as a prerequisite for the concept of function and its graphical representation. However, our research differs from previous studies as we attempt to take into consideration, in a cultural semiotic perspective, the spontaneous non-institutional representations that students produce when solving a problem situation in mathematics. We report our results with a group of students in grade 9, discussing the evolution of the representations the students produced to solve a problem situation, and the key role that the concept of covariation seems to play in helping students grasp the graphical representation of functions. We also discuss the different stages of the teaching method used, based upon collaborative learning, scientific debate and self-reflection (the ACODESA method of teaching) which aims to help the students acquire a cultural semiotic system.

Keyphrases: Covariation between variables, Functional representations, Cultural semiotic system, ACODESA method, Goal-directed thinking, Diversified thinking
Didactic Situations and Didactical Engineering in university mathematics: cases from the study of Calculus and proof

This paper discusses the use of the Theory of Didactic Situations (TDS) at university level, paying special attention to the constraints and specificities of its use at this level. We begin by presenting the origins and main tenets of this approach, and discuss how these tenets are used towards the design of Didactical Engineering (DE), particularly adapted at the tertiary level. We then illustrate the potency of the TDS-DE approach in three university level Research Cases, two related to Calculus, and one related to proof. These studies deploy constructs such as didactic contract, milieu, didactic variables, and epistemological analyses, among others, to design Situations at university level. We conclude with a few thoughts on how the TDS-DE approach relates to other approaches, most notably the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic.

Keyphrases: university mathematics education, Theory of Didactic Situations, didactical engineering, didactic contract, milieu
The introduction of real numbers in secondary education. An institutional analysis of textbooks

In this paper we analyse the introduction of irrational and real numbers in secondary textbooks, and specifically the propositions on how these should be taught, in a sample of Brazilian textbooks used in state schools and approved by the Ministry of Education. The analyses discussed in this paper follow an institutional perspective (using Chevallard's Anthropological Theory of Didactics). Our results indicate that the notion of irrational number is generally introduced on the basis of the decimal representation of numbers, and that the mathematical need for the construction of the field of real numbers remains unclear in the textbooks. It seems that textbooks used in secondary teaching institutions develop mathematical organisations which focus on the practical block.

Keyphrases: real numbers, irrational numbers, textbooks analysis, praxeology, mathematical organisation
“I Do This, You Do That:” mass consumption and subversive protopolitics in Frank O’Hara’s poetry

Mon mémoire propose d’analyser la poésie de Frank O’Hara comme étant une réponse subversive, quoi que « protopolitique, » à la montée de la surconsommation aux États-Unis, plus précisément à New York, dans les années cinquante et le début des années soixante. C’est en passant par la philosophie et la sociologie du quotidien d’Henri Lefebvre et l’art de la flânerie exemplifié par Charles Baudelaire et Walter Benjamin que je développerai une compréhension de la poésie du quotidien de l’auteur et des effets de l’inclusion d’objets anodins dans ses poèmes. Dans un deuxième temps, j’utiliserai des peintres de l’expressionisme abstrait et du mouvement «pop art» pour tisser un lien entre leur désir mutuel d’empêcher la surconsommation de s’établir comme stratégie économique de base. En dernier lieu, la poésie et les essais littéraires de plusieurs auteurs modernes américains tels Charles Olson et William Carlos Williams et des Futuriste et Formaliste Russes Vladimir Mayakovsky et Viktor Shklovsky m’aideront à approfondir la poétique subversive d’O’Hara et son effet sur la surconsommation et le sentiment d’éloignement qu’il en ressent. Pour conclure, j’élargirai le spectre de ma recherche pour montrer que mon analyse de l’œuvre d’O’Hara me servira d’assise pour un projet futur qui tentera de comprendre l’effet de la poésie d’autres auteur(e)s américain(e)s reconnu(e)s et de leur propre œuvre beaucoup plus engagée politiquement que celle du New Yorkais. In my thesis, I analyze Frank O’Hara’s poetry as a subversive, albeit protopolitical, response to the rise of mass consumption in the United States, more specifically in New York City, from the 1950s until his premature death in 1966. Through Henri Lefebvre’s sociologic and philosophic theories on the everyday and Charles Baudelaire’s and Walter Benjamin’s representations of the flâneur, I develop an understanding of O’Hara’s mundane poetics and of the numerous echoes of banal objects in his oeuvre. Secondly, I contend that pop artists Claes Oldenburg and Andy Warhol and the abstract expressionist movement share a mutual desire to critique mass consumption as the main economic doctrine of the epoch. Furthermore, O’Hara’s passion for the essays and poetics of American modernists such as Charles Olson and William Carlos Williams and Russian Futurist and Formalist Vladimir Mayakovsky and Viktor Shklovsky proves an essential component of O’Hara’s subversive poetics and in the “enstranging” effects it exemplifies with regard to mass consumption. To conclude, I argue that O’Hara’s work is but the foundation of my argument and points to a larger discussion on mass consumption and the post- war poetic response to it.

Keyphrases: Frank O’Hara, Surconsommation, Quotidienneté, Protopolitique, Expressionisme abstrait, Pop art, Futurisme Russe, Formalisme Russe, Poésie, Pop art, Frank O’Hara, Banal, Pop art, Mass consumption, Everyday, Protopolitics, Mundane, Abstract expressionism, Pop art, Russian Futurism, Russian Formalism, Poetics
Étude comparative sur les manifestations du genre dans les crimes d’empoisonnement au Québec à la fin du XIXe siècle

Au XIXe siècle émerge une criminologie naturalisante qui définit l’empoisonnement comme un crime féminin. L’étude proposée explore le lien qui s’établit entre le sexe de la personne criminelle, son genre et le moyen de perpétration de son acte meurtrier par l’analyse des procès pour empoisonnement répertoriés au Québec pour la période allant de 1867 à 1900. Comparant les procès d’empoisonneurs aux procès d’empoisonneuses, confrontant les acteurs historiques à leurs situations vécues, la recherche parcourt les manifestations du genre dans les méthodes criminelles employées par les accusé-e-s ainsi que dans les discours produits à leur endroit tout au long du processus judiciaire. Les résultats sont révélateurs des normes sexuelles en vigueur dans la société québécoise à la fin de l’époque victorienne et s’insèrent dans la lignée des études sur la régulation sociale au Québec. In the nineteenth century emerges a naturalizing criminology which defines poisoning as a female crime. The proposed study explores the relationship developed between the gender of the criminal person, the kind and the commission of his murderous act and that, through the analysis of trials for poisoning listed in Quebec from 1867 to 1900. Comparing the male poisoners’ trials to the female poisoners’ trials as well as the historic players to their life situations, the search runs through the events of its kind in the criminal methods employed by defendants and in the resulting speeches concerning them throughout the judicial process. The results are indicative of sexual norms in Quebec society at the end of the Victorian era and fit into the tradition of social regulation studies in Quebec.

Keyphrases: Genre, Criminalité, Empoisonnement, Québec, XIXe siècle, Normes sexuelles, Normes criminelles, Régulation sociale, Hommes, Stéréotypes sexuels, Comparaison, Discours, Ordre social, Crime, Men, Femmes, Gender, Crime, Poisoning, Quebec, Nineteenth century, Sexual norms, Criminal norms, Social regulation, Women, Gender stereotypes, Comparison, Speech, Social order