(English) Cosmopolitan democracy: paths and ways (Italiano) Cosmopolitan democracy: paths and ways
(English) One of the recurrent criticisms to the cosmopolitan democracy project has been that it has not highlighted which are the political and social forces that will have an interest to pursue this agenda. This criticism is addressed in this paper, showing that there are a variety of actions that, in its own right, will contribute to more democratic global governance. The paper also identifies the political and social agents that may have an interest and contribute to the pursuit of each of these actions. (Italiano) One of the recurrent criticisms to the cosmopolitan democracy project has been that it has not highlighted which are the political and social forces that will have an interest to pursue this agenda. This criticism is addressed in this paper, showing that there are a variety of actions that, in its own right, will contribute to more democratic global governance. The paper also identifies the political and social agents that may have an interest and contribute to the pursuit of each of these actions.
Bringing the State Back into Cosmopolitanism: The Idea of Responsible Cosmopolitan States
When surveying the cosmopolitan literature one is often struck by the ease with which the state is rendered morally and empirically otiose and by resulting ambiguities about the role states could play in creating a cosmopolitan condition. In response to these ambiguities, the purpose of this article is to examine some recent cosmopolitan arguments and to see what answers, if any, they have for bridging the gap between cosmopolitan theory and state practice. By doing so, this article will map out the recent relationship between cosmopolitanism and the state while also suggesting that cosmopolitans should reconsider a research agenda based on the idea of responsible cosmopolitan states as a means to create stronger links between cosmopolitan theory and contemporary international practice.
Influence of inducers and inhibitors on the metabolism in vitro and neurochemical effects in vivo of MDMA.
(S)-(+)- and (R)-(-)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) were metabolized in vitro by rat liver microsomes via N-demethylation to 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA). Whereas no difference was found in the biotransformation of the two enantiomers in the male rat or in the phenobarbital (PB) treated animals of either sex, more than twice as much MDA was formed from (S)-(+)- than from (R)-(-)-MDMA in the untreated female rat. Although 3-methylcholanthrene (3MC) pretreated rat liver microsomes were less active than those from the untreated rats of the same sex, they formed more MDA from (+)- than from (-)-MDMA. The enantioselective metabolism thus appears to be associated with the relative abundance of individual cytochrome P-450 isozymes. (S)-(+)- and (R)-(-)-MDMA.HCl (20 mg/kg) were about equipotent in depleting serotonin (5-HT) levels in the frontal cortex at 3 hrs and 1 wk following oral administration to female rats. Pretreatment of rats with SKF-525A attenuated and that with PB enhanced the 5-HT depleting potential of either isomer at 3 hrs. The 5-HT depleting potency of (+)-MDMA was significantly greater than that of its (-)-antipode at 3 hr in PB pretreated, but not in SKF-525A pretreated animals. The results suggest that the neurochemical effects of MDMA are caused by the formation of an active metabolite in vivo, and since both enantiomers were N-demethylated in vitro to approximately the same extent by PB pretreated rat liver microsomes, the active metabolite may be other than MDA.