Over stressing the rights-safeguarding role of democracy has led to a widespread neglect of democracy's essential function: to ensure the legitimacy of elected rulers and by doing so, to ensure political stability. The effects of this neglect are apparent in the disputes that arise concerning media coverage of elections. This article examines the difficulties democratic statesmen face to justify and consistently implement arrangements that limit the freedom of expression of the media in order to minimize the challenges to the legitimacy of electoral outcomes that a biased coverage of elections could incite. Current democratic theory does not address this problem. Indeed its emphasis on safeguarding the rights of citizens can suggest that the freedom of expression of the media should prevail over considerations of legitimacy and stability. This study examines the justifications adduced, and the implementation of, arrangements that curtail the right to advocacy of broadcasters and limit their right to editorial discretion in order to provide political parties with what I refer to here as "fair media coverage." In particular, the article highlights and assesses the experiences in fair media coverage of election campaigns in the British General Election of 1997 and the Mexican Federal Election of 2000. In full view of these case studies, and on the basis of the theoretical guidelines I develop at the beginning of this article, I argue for limiting freedom of expression and stress the urgent need for democratic theories to address the practical problems that trouble democratic authorities. Copyright 2005 by The Policy Studies Organization.

Meropenem (MER), a carbapenem, is considered a last-resort antibiotic. Its presence in water bodies, together with other antibiotics, has brought about environmental problems related to the destruction of natural microorganisms and the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Herein, the degradation of MER by heterogeneous photocatalysis using TiO2 immobilized on fiberglass substrates is reported. Morphological characterization of the substrates was performed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Three pH values (4.0, 5.7, and 7.9) were tested for the treatment of MER solutions (100 mg/L). The best rate constants and MER removals were obtained at pH 4.0 (0.032 min−1; 83.79%) and 5.7 (0.032 min−1; 83.48%). Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) removals of 25.80% and 29.60% were achieved for the treatment at a pH value of 5.7. The reuse and regeneration of the plates were also tested. The activity of the substrates was maintained until the fourth cycle of reuse, nonetheless, a decrease in MER removal was observed for the 5th cycle. After the fourth cycle of reuse, the activity of the substrates was recovered by a regeneration procedure involving a wash stage of the substrates with a 1% H2O2 solution in an ultrasonic bath.

El propósito de este artículo es caracterizar la transición que vive El Salvador, a partir de la identificación de los principales desafíos que esperan a la sociedad salvadoreña. De algún modo, este artículo prolonga y profundiza otro previo de los autores, pero le cambia el sentido de la perspectiva: si allí analizábamos la coyuntura a la luz de la historia, en este pretendemos identificar el momento histórico a partir de las sucesivas coyunturas que han marcado nuestro pasado colectivo. ECA Estudios Centroamericanos, Vol. 48, No. 536, 1993: 527-544.

No abstract

Los contenidos de los acuerdos de Nueva York y Chapultepec y las reacciones de los diversos actores sociales salvadoreños demuestran la continuidad histórica de El Salvador. La coyuntura de los acuerdos puede ser el fin de un ciclo de más de sesenta años, marcado por la hegemonía del agrarismo en todos los órdenes de la vida nacional. Al finalizar la guerra, nos encontramos con un pacto implícito entre los sectores industrializantes y la insurgencia, por el cual se entrega la tierra, pero no el poder. El final del militarismo significa también despojar a la oligarquía de su instrumento más poderoso para impedir el desarrollo económico y la transformación social y política del país. ECA Estudios Centroamericanos, Vol. 47, No. 521, 1992: 213-225.