Peter Taylor-Gooby
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199546701
- eISBN:
- 9780191720420
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546701.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Economy
Recent reforms in welfare states generate new challenges to social citizenship. Social citizenship depends on the readiness of voters to support reciprocity and social inclusion and their trust in ...
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Recent reforms in welfare states generate new challenges to social citizenship. Social citizenship depends on the readiness of voters to support reciprocity and social inclusion and their trust in welfare state institutions as services that will meet their needs. Reform programmes in most western countries combine New Public Management, linking market competition and regulation by targets to achieve greater efficiency and responsiveness to service-users, and welfare-to-work and make-work-pay activation policies to manage labour market change. Both developments rest on a rational actor approach to human motivation. The UK has pursued the reform programme with more vigour than any other major European country and provides a useful object less of its strengths and limitations. The book provides a detailed analytic account of social science approaches to agency. It shows that the rational actor approach has difficulties in explaining how social inclusion and social trust arise. Policies based on it provide weak support for these aspects of citizenship. It is attractive to policy-makers seeking solutions to the problem of improving the efficiency and responsiveness of welfare systems in a more globalised world, in which citizens are more critical and the authority of national governments is in decline. Recent reform programmes were undertaken to meet real pressures on existing patterns of provision. They have been largely successful in maintaining mass services but risk undermining social inclusion and eroding trust in public welfare institutions. In the longer term, they may destroy the social citizenship essential to sustain welfare states.Less
Recent reforms in welfare states generate new challenges to social citizenship. Social citizenship depends on the readiness of voters to support reciprocity and social inclusion and their trust in welfare state institutions as services that will meet their needs. Reform programmes in most western countries combine New Public Management, linking market competition and regulation by targets to achieve greater efficiency and responsiveness to service-users, and welfare-to-work and make-work-pay activation policies to manage labour market change. Both developments rest on a rational actor approach to human motivation. The UK has pursued the reform programme with more vigour than any other major European country and provides a useful object less of its strengths and limitations. The book provides a detailed analytic account of social science approaches to agency. It shows that the rational actor approach has difficulties in explaining how social inclusion and social trust arise. Policies based on it provide weak support for these aspects of citizenship. It is attractive to policy-makers seeking solutions to the problem of improving the efficiency and responsiveness of welfare systems in a more globalised world, in which citizens are more critical and the authority of national governments is in decline. Recent reform programmes were undertaken to meet real pressures on existing patterns of provision. They have been largely successful in maintaining mass services but risk undermining social inclusion and eroding trust in public welfare institutions. In the longer term, they may destroy the social citizenship essential to sustain welfare states.
André Blais (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199539390
- eISBN:
- 9780191715761
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199539390.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Economy
The book addresses the following questions: What fosters or hinders reform of first past the post? When and why does reform emerge on the political agenda? Who proposes and who opposes reform? When ...
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The book addresses the following questions: What fosters or hinders reform of first past the post? When and why does reform emerge on the political agenda? Who proposes and who opposes reform? When and why do reform proposals succeed or fail? What kind of proposal tends to be put on the table? Are some types of proposal more likely to succeed? Why? The book offers a thorough examination of all these questions. A first chapter undertakes a comparative analysis of the conditions under which reform is initiated. The following chapters investigate in detail the politics of electoral reform in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and New Zealand, the debates that take place, the proposals that are advanced, and the strategies deployed by the actors. These analyses contribute to a rich and nuanced understanding of why first past the post is often challenged and sometimes replaced.Less
The book addresses the following questions: What fosters or hinders reform of first past the post? When and why does reform emerge on the political agenda? Who proposes and who opposes reform? When and why do reform proposals succeed or fail? What kind of proposal tends to be put on the table? Are some types of proposal more likely to succeed? Why? The book offers a thorough examination of all these questions. A first chapter undertakes a comparative analysis of the conditions under which reform is initiated. The following chapters investigate in detail the politics of electoral reform in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and New Zealand, the debates that take place, the proposals that are advanced, and the strategies deployed by the actors. These analyses contribute to a rich and nuanced understanding of why first past the post is often challenged and sometimes replaced.
Bob Hancké, Martin Rhodes, and Mark Thatcher (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199206483
- eISBN:
- 9780191709715
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199206483.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy
Since the early 1990s, Europe's economies have been facing several new challenges: the 1992 single market programme, the collapse of the Berlin wall and eastward enlargement, and monetary ...
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Since the early 1990s, Europe's economies have been facing several new challenges: the 1992 single market programme, the collapse of the Berlin wall and eastward enlargement, and monetary unification. Building on the influential Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) perspective, this book critically analyses these developments in the European political economy and their effects on the continental European economies. The chapters include debate about how VoC can help understand the political-economic challenges that Europe is facing today, and how understanding these new challenges can in turn enrich and enhance the VoC perspective. Thematically, the contributions to this volume are organised in four sections: how the macro-economics of EMU influenced different European models of capitalism; how the Single Market programme was received in the different institutional regimes in European capitalism; how welfare and labour market reforms are debated and implemented; and how European capitalism travelled east after 1989. The book aims to demonstrate that the VoC approach remains — as the editors put it in their introduction — a rich seam to mine, capable of accommodating new developments, and theoretically flexible enough to branch out into new arguments.Less
Since the early 1990s, Europe's economies have been facing several new challenges: the 1992 single market programme, the collapse of the Berlin wall and eastward enlargement, and monetary unification. Building on the influential Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) perspective, this book critically analyses these developments in the European political economy and their effects on the continental European economies. The chapters include debate about how VoC can help understand the political-economic challenges that Europe is facing today, and how understanding these new challenges can in turn enrich and enhance the VoC perspective. Thematically, the contributions to this volume are organised in four sections: how the macro-economics of EMU influenced different European models of capitalism; how the Single Market programme was received in the different institutional regimes in European capitalism; how welfare and labour market reforms are debated and implemented; and how European capitalism travelled east after 1989. The book aims to demonstrate that the VoC approach remains — as the editors put it in their introduction — a rich seam to mine, capable of accommodating new developments, and theoretically flexible enough to branch out into new arguments.
Harry Brighouse
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199257874
- eISBN:
- 9780191598845
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199257876.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Defends a theory of social justice for education from within an egalitarian version of liberalism. The theory involves a strong commitment to educational equality, and to the idea that children's ...
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Defends a theory of social justice for education from within an egalitarian version of liberalism. The theory involves a strong commitment to educational equality, and to the idea that children's rights include a right to personal autonomy. The book argues that school reform must always be evaluated from the perspective of social justice and applies the theory, in particular, to school choice proposals. It looks at the parental choice schemes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and in England and Wales, and argues that they fall short of the requirements of justice, but that not all such schemes must do so. It elaborates an abstract voucher scheme that would combine choice with justice, and offers ways by which actual choice‐based reform can be modified to meet the requirements of justice.Less
Defends a theory of social justice for education from within an egalitarian version of liberalism. The theory involves a strong commitment to educational equality, and to the idea that children's rights include a right to personal autonomy. The book argues that school reform must always be evaluated from the perspective of social justice and applies the theory, in particular, to school choice proposals. It looks at the parental choice schemes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and in England and Wales, and argues that they fall short of the requirements of justice, but that not all such schemes must do so. It elaborates an abstract voucher scheme that would combine choice with justice, and offers ways by which actual choice‐based reform can be modified to meet the requirements of justice.
Alasdair Roberts
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195374988
- eISBN:
- 9780199776849
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195374988.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
The era of economic liberalization, spanning 1978 to 2008, is often regarded as a period in which government was simply dismantled. In fact, government was reconstructed to meet the needs of a ...
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The era of economic liberalization, spanning 1978 to 2008, is often regarded as a period in which government was simply dismantled. In fact, government was reconstructed to meet the needs of a globalized economy. Central banking, fiscal control, tax collection, regulation, port and airport management, infrastructure development—in all of these areas, radical reforms were made to the architecture of government. A common philosophy shaped all of these reforms: the logic of discipline. It was premised on deep skepticism about the ability of democratic processes to make sensible policy choices. It sought to impose constraints on elected officials and citizens, often by shifting power to technocrat-guardians who were shielded from political influence. It placed great faith in the power of legal changes—new laws, treaties, and contracts—to produce significant alterations in the performance of governmental systems. Even before the global economic crisis of 2007-2009, the logic of discipline was under assault. Faced with many failed reform projects, advocates of discipline realized that they had underestimated the complexity of governmental change. Opponents of discipline emphasized the damage to democratic values that followed from the empowerment of new groups of technocrat-guardians. The financial crisis did further damage to the logic of discipline, as governments modified their attitudes about central bank independence and fiscal control, and global financial and trade flows declined. It was the market that now appeared to behave myopically and erratically, and which now insisted that governments should abandon precepts about the role of government that it had once insisted were inviolable. An account of neoliberal governmental restructuring across the world, The Logic of Discipline offers an analysis of how this undemocratic model is unravelling in the face of a monumental and ongoing failure of the market.Less
The era of economic liberalization, spanning 1978 to 2008, is often regarded as a period in which government was simply dismantled. In fact, government was reconstructed to meet the needs of a globalized economy. Central banking, fiscal control, tax collection, regulation, port and airport management, infrastructure development—in all of these areas, radical reforms were made to the architecture of government. A common philosophy shaped all of these reforms: the logic of discipline. It was premised on deep skepticism about the ability of democratic processes to make sensible policy choices. It sought to impose constraints on elected officials and citizens, often by shifting power to technocrat-guardians who were shielded from political influence. It placed great faith in the power of legal changes—new laws, treaties, and contracts—to produce significant alterations in the performance of governmental systems. Even before the global economic crisis of 2007-2009, the logic of discipline was under assault. Faced with many failed reform projects, advocates of discipline realized that they had underestimated the complexity of governmental change. Opponents of discipline emphasized the damage to democratic values that followed from the empowerment of new groups of technocrat-guardians. The financial crisis did further damage to the logic of discipline, as governments modified their attitudes about central bank independence and fiscal control, and global financial and trade flows declined. It was the market that now appeared to behave myopically and erratically, and which now insisted that governments should abandon precepts about the role of government that it had once insisted were inviolable. An account of neoliberal governmental restructuring across the world, The Logic of Discipline offers an analysis of how this undemocratic model is unravelling in the face of a monumental and ongoing failure of the market.
Tariq Ramadan
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195331714
- eISBN:
- 9780191720987
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331714.003.0018
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. The transformation reform proposed in the book involves multiple requirements: a new outlook on texts and human and social contexts, mobilizing ...
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This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. The transformation reform proposed in the book involves multiple requirements: a new outlook on texts and human and social contexts, mobilizing knowledge and skills, and rebalancing legitimacy and authority in the production of norms and ethics. It means refusing immobilism, formalism, blind imitation (of all kinds), or fatalism.Less
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. The transformation reform proposed in the book involves multiple requirements: a new outlook on texts and human and social contexts, mobilizing knowledge and skills, and rebalancing legitimacy and authority in the production of norms and ethics. It means refusing immobilism, formalism, blind imitation (of all kinds), or fatalism.
Dominik Zaum
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199207435
- eISBN:
- 9780191708671
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207435.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter analyses the statebuilding efforts of the international administration in Bosnia and Herzegovina, led by the Office of the High Representative (OHR). It is divided into three parts. The ...
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This chapter analyses the statebuilding efforts of the international administration in Bosnia and Herzegovina, led by the Office of the High Representative (OHR). It is divided into three parts. The first part outlines the political structures of the international administration and of the Bosnian state, to provide the necessary understanding of the institutions involved in the policymaking process in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The following two parts contain detailed case studies of statebuilding: the dismantling of the payment bureaux and the reform of the civil service. The case studies illustrate the influence of elements of the new ‘standard of civilisation’ on the objectives and policies of the international administration.Less
This chapter analyses the statebuilding efforts of the international administration in Bosnia and Herzegovina, led by the Office of the High Representative (OHR). It is divided into three parts. The first part outlines the political structures of the international administration and of the Bosnian state, to provide the necessary understanding of the institutions involved in the policymaking process in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The following two parts contain detailed case studies of statebuilding: the dismantling of the payment bureaux and the reform of the civil service. The case studies illustrate the influence of elements of the new ‘standard of civilisation’ on the objectives and policies of the international administration.
Dominik Zaum
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199207435
- eISBN:
- 9780191708671
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207435.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter analyses the statebuilding efforts of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) that was established after the Kosovo war in 1999. It is divided into three ...
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This chapter analyses the statebuilding efforts of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) that was established after the Kosovo war in 1999. It is divided into three parts. While the first part outlines the background to the intervention, analyses the scope of the international authority, and discusses the transition to local rule, the other two sections contain detailed case studies of statebuilding: the reform of the judicial system, and the privatization of socially owned enterprises, one of the most controversial reform efforts of UNMIK. The chapter not only shows the influence of norms on UNMIK's statebuilding policies, but also the problems of ‘statebuilding without statehood’: building political and administrative institutions if the future legal status of a territory remains unresolved.Less
This chapter analyses the statebuilding efforts of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) that was established after the Kosovo war in 1999. It is divided into three parts. While the first part outlines the background to the intervention, analyses the scope of the international authority, and discusses the transition to local rule, the other two sections contain detailed case studies of statebuilding: the reform of the judicial system, and the privatization of socially owned enterprises, one of the most controversial reform efforts of UNMIK. The chapter not only shows the influence of norms on UNMIK's statebuilding policies, but also the problems of ‘statebuilding without statehood’: building political and administrative institutions if the future legal status of a territory remains unresolved.
Dominik Zaum
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199207435
- eISBN:
- 9780191708671
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207435.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This third case study chapter analyses the statebuilding activities of the United Nations Transitional Administration of East Timor (UNTAET). It is divided into three parts. The first part outlines ...
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This third case study chapter analyses the statebuilding activities of the United Nations Transitional Administration of East Timor (UNTAET). It is divided into three parts. The first part outlines the background to the intervention, the scope and evolution of international authority, and the transition to self-governance and Timorese independence. The remaining two sections are case studies of statebuilding in East Timor: the establishment of a new judicial system, and the reform of the civil service. The case studies show how these reforms are informed by the new ‘standard of civilisation’, and how these norms compete with other, local traditional normative frameworks and understandings of authority, compromising the effectiveness of the reforms.Less
This third case study chapter analyses the statebuilding activities of the United Nations Transitional Administration of East Timor (UNTAET). It is divided into three parts. The first part outlines the background to the intervention, the scope and evolution of international authority, and the transition to self-governance and Timorese independence. The remaining two sections are case studies of statebuilding in East Timor: the establishment of a new judicial system, and the reform of the civil service. The case studies show how these reforms are informed by the new ‘standard of civilisation’, and how these norms compete with other, local traditional normative frameworks and understandings of authority, compromising the effectiveness of the reforms.
Russell J. Dalton
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199268436
- eISBN:
- 9780191708572
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199268436.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Most democratic citizens today are distrustful of politicians, political parties, and political institutions. Where once democracies expected an allegiant public, citizens now question the very ...
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Most democratic citizens today are distrustful of politicians, political parties, and political institutions. Where once democracies expected an allegiant public, citizens now question the very pillars of representative democracy. This book documents the erosion of political support in virtually all advanced industrial democracies. Assembling a large array of cross-national public opinion data, this book traces the current challenges to democracy primary to changing citizen values and rising expectations. These dissatisfied democrats are concentrated among the young, the better educated, and the politically sophisticated. At the same time, the evidence debunks claims that such trends are a function of scandals, poor performance, and other government failures. Changing public opinion is born from the successful social modernization of these nations. A creedal passion for democracy is sweeping across the Western democracies, and people now expect more of their governments. This book concludes by examining the consequences of these changing images of government. The book finds that these expectations are making governing more difficult, but also fuelling demands for political reform. The choices that democracies may in response to these challenges lead to a further expansion of the democratic process and a new relationship between citizens and their government.Less
Most democratic citizens today are distrustful of politicians, political parties, and political institutions. Where once democracies expected an allegiant public, citizens now question the very pillars of representative democracy. This book documents the erosion of political support in virtually all advanced industrial democracies. Assembling a large array of cross-national public opinion data, this book traces the current challenges to democracy primary to changing citizen values and rising expectations. These dissatisfied democrats are concentrated among the young, the better educated, and the politically sophisticated. At the same time, the evidence debunks claims that such trends are a function of scandals, poor performance, and other government failures. Changing public opinion is born from the successful social modernization of these nations. A creedal passion for democracy is sweeping across the Western democracies, and people now expect more of their governments. This book concludes by examining the consequences of these changing images of government. The book finds that these expectations are making governing more difficult, but also fuelling demands for political reform. The choices that democracies may in response to these challenges lead to a further expansion of the democratic process and a new relationship between citizens and their government.
Jochen Prantl
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199287680
- eISBN:
- 9780191603723
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199287686.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This book examines the dynamics between informal groups of states and the UN Security Council in the management of conflicts in Namibia, El Salvador, and Kosovo. It sets forth three main arguments. ...
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This book examines the dynamics between informal groups of states and the UN Security Council in the management of conflicts in Namibia, El Salvador, and Kosovo. It sets forth three main arguments. Firstly, that informal groups of states are agents of incremental change. They proliferated in the 1990s out of the increasing demands on the United Nations to adapt to the new security environment of the post-bipolar world, without formally changing the constitutional foundation of the Organization. Secondly, that informal mechanisms may narrow the operational and participatory gap growing out of the multiple incapacities that prevent the Security Council from formulating an effective response to crisis situations. Informal groups of states may enhance Council governance if they strike a balance between competing demands of inclusiveness, efficiency, informality, transparency, and accountability. Thirdly, that the post-Cold War era has fostered an environment where the substance of conflict resolution and the process of its legitimation have become increasingly detached. The former tends to be delegated to informal groups or coalition of states, while the Security Council provides the latter. The successful merger of right process and substantive outcome may strengthen the legitimacy of the Council and make actions taken by informal settings more acceptable.Less
This book examines the dynamics between informal groups of states and the UN Security Council in the management of conflicts in Namibia, El Salvador, and Kosovo. It sets forth three main arguments. Firstly, that informal groups of states are agents of incremental change. They proliferated in the 1990s out of the increasing demands on the United Nations to adapt to the new security environment of the post-bipolar world, without formally changing the constitutional foundation of the Organization. Secondly, that informal mechanisms may narrow the operational and participatory gap growing out of the multiple incapacities that prevent the Security Council from formulating an effective response to crisis situations. Informal groups of states may enhance Council governance if they strike a balance between competing demands of inclusiveness, efficiency, informality, transparency, and accountability. Thirdly, that the post-Cold War era has fostered an environment where the substance of conflict resolution and the process of its legitimation have become increasingly detached. The former tends to be delegated to informal groups or coalition of states, while the Security Council provides the latter. The successful merger of right process and substantive outcome may strengthen the legitimacy of the Council and make actions taken by informal settings more acceptable.
Alicia Hinarejos
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199569960
- eISBN:
- 9780191721977
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199569960.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, EU Law
The EU's activity under its intergovernmental pillars — The Common Foreign and Security Policy and Justice and Home Affairs — has traditionally been beyond the scope of judicial control offered by ...
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The EU's activity under its intergovernmental pillars — The Common Foreign and Security Policy and Justice and Home Affairs — has traditionally been beyond the scope of judicial control offered by the central EC legal system. The increasing importance of this activity, and its growing intrusion into the lives of individuals, has led to a sense that the level of judicial oversight and protection is insufficient and that the constitutional balance of the Union stands in urgent need of reform. While the need for reform is widely recognised, wholesale constitutional change has been stalled by the failure to ratify the Constitutional Treaty and the delay in ratifying the Treaty of Lisbon. This book charts the attempts to develop more satisfactory judicial control over the intergovernmental pillars in the face of such constitutional inertia. It examines the leading role played by the European Court of Justice in reforming its own jurisdiction, and analyses the ECJ's development as a constitutional court in comparison with more established constitutional adjudicators. Throughout the book the current constitutional position is compared extensively to the reforms introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon, offering a timely snapshot of the EU's federal structure in a state of flux.Less
The EU's activity under its intergovernmental pillars — The Common Foreign and Security Policy and Justice and Home Affairs — has traditionally been beyond the scope of judicial control offered by the central EC legal system. The increasing importance of this activity, and its growing intrusion into the lives of individuals, has led to a sense that the level of judicial oversight and protection is insufficient and that the constitutional balance of the Union stands in urgent need of reform. While the need for reform is widely recognised, wholesale constitutional change has been stalled by the failure to ratify the Constitutional Treaty and the delay in ratifying the Treaty of Lisbon. This book charts the attempts to develop more satisfactory judicial control over the intergovernmental pillars in the face of such constitutional inertia. It examines the leading role played by the European Court of Justice in reforming its own jurisdiction, and analyses the ECJ's development as a constitutional court in comparison with more established constitutional adjudicators. Throughout the book the current constitutional position is compared extensively to the reforms introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon, offering a timely snapshot of the EU's federal structure in a state of flux.
Benjamin Reilly
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199286874
- eISBN:
- 9780191713156
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199286874.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
In examining the relationship between political reform and the redesign of Asia-Pacific electoral systems, this chapter argues that many of the political reforms undertaken across the region in ...
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In examining the relationship between political reform and the redesign of Asia-Pacific electoral systems, this chapter argues that many of the political reforms undertaken across the region in recent years have, at their heart, the objective of promoting the development of more aggregative, centrist, and stable politics by encouraging cohesive political parties and limiting party fragmentation. It also highlights several distinctive patterns of electoral reform across the region, including the increasing prevalence of ‘mixed member’ systems in Asia; the spread of alternative vote systems in the Pacific Islands; the distinctively majoritarian nature of these reform trends; and the increasing willingness of many Asian and Pacific states to borrow from each other in the search for appropriate models of electoral system design.Less
In examining the relationship between political reform and the redesign of Asia-Pacific electoral systems, this chapter argues that many of the political reforms undertaken across the region in recent years have, at their heart, the objective of promoting the development of more aggregative, centrist, and stable politics by encouraging cohesive political parties and limiting party fragmentation. It also highlights several distinctive patterns of electoral reform across the region, including the increasing prevalence of ‘mixed member’ systems in Asia; the spread of alternative vote systems in the Pacific Islands; the distinctively majoritarian nature of these reform trends; and the increasing willingness of many Asian and Pacific states to borrow from each other in the search for appropriate models of electoral system design.
Jan Zielonka
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199292219
- eISBN:
- 9780191603754
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199292213.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This chapter traces the initial gap between the current and the new member states. It tries to establish to what degree various domestic reforms undertaken by individual post-communist countries have ...
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This chapter traces the initial gap between the current and the new member states. It tries to establish to what degree various domestic reforms undertaken by individual post-communist countries have succeeded in rendering them more compatible with the former EU-15. It argues that the overall success of the reform process is beyond doubt in all eight countries that joined the Union in 2004, and even in the so-called “pre-ins”: Romania and Bulgaria. However, although new members have made considerable progress in securing peace and building democracy and free markets, their progress is uneven across individual fields and countries, thus increasing diversity within the EU as a consequence of enlargement.Less
This chapter traces the initial gap between the current and the new member states. It tries to establish to what degree various domestic reforms undertaken by individual post-communist countries have succeeded in rendering them more compatible with the former EU-15. It argues that the overall success of the reform process is beyond doubt in all eight countries that joined the Union in 2004, and even in the so-called “pre-ins”: Romania and Bulgaria. However, although new members have made considerable progress in securing peace and building democracy and free markets, their progress is uneven across individual fields and countries, thus increasing diversity within the EU as a consequence of enlargement.
Elizabeth Lira
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199291922
- eISBN:
- 9780191603716
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199291926.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This paper describes the reparations programs implemented in Chile from 1990 to 2004. These programs target the victims of human rights violations committed during the military regime (1973-1990). ...
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This paper describes the reparations programs implemented in Chile from 1990 to 2004. These programs target the victims of human rights violations committed during the military regime (1973-1990). These include the relatives of the missing and executed persons; people who were dismissed from their jobs for political motives; peasants who participated in land reform and were expelled from the land for political reasons; and Chilean exiles returning to the country. Political prisoners and torture victims were considered only in 2003. The creation of the Commission for Political Imprisonment and Torture (2003-2005) was followed by a law which provides pensions to political prisoners and torture victims identified by the Commission. Created with different kinds of victims in mind, these programs were based on pensions, social services, educational benefits, and public recognition of the violations of the victims’ rights, monuments, sites of memory, and health assistance, mainly in the form of mental health services. The Program for Reparation and Integral Health Assistance for Victims of Human Rights Violations, created in 1991 and reinforced by a law at the end of 2004, has been the reparation measure for all kinds of victims of human rights violations, including third-generation relatives.Less
This paper describes the reparations programs implemented in Chile from 1990 to 2004. These programs target the victims of human rights violations committed during the military regime (1973-1990). These include the relatives of the missing and executed persons; people who were dismissed from their jobs for political motives; peasants who participated in land reform and were expelled from the land for political reasons; and Chilean exiles returning to the country. Political prisoners and torture victims were considered only in 2003. The creation of the Commission for Political Imprisonment and Torture (2003-2005) was followed by a law which provides pensions to political prisoners and torture victims identified by the Commission. Created with different kinds of victims in mind, these programs were based on pensions, social services, educational benefits, and public recognition of the violations of the victims’ rights, monuments, sites of memory, and health assistance, mainly in the form of mental health services. The Program for Reparation and Integral Health Assistance for Victims of Human Rights Violations, created in 1991 and reinforced by a law at the end of 2004, has been the reparation measure for all kinds of victims of human rights violations, including third-generation relatives.
Debra L. Dodson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780198296744
- eISBN:
- 9780191603709
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198296746.003.0012
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter deconstructs gender differences to explore the contested issues surrounding gender difference, when the politics of presence converged with partisan politics in the struggle over health ...
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This chapter deconstructs gender differences to explore the contested issues surrounding gender difference, when the politics of presence converged with partisan politics in the struggle over health care reform during the Democratic-controlled 103rd Congress. The impact of the institutional environment on women’s agenda and actions, along with differences in environmental pressures across parties and committees, are explored. The analysis attempts to move beyond the simple question of whether women make a difference to an understanding of how political environments, structured by partisanship and steeped in masculinist values, affect and can be affected by the feminale. The case study suggests that one cannot truly understand gender differences in an institutional vacuum, even as it forces us to confront the relationship between gender difference and substantive representation of women, and to consider the value of the concept of feminist protest in understanding partisan differences in gender difference and women’s impact.Less
This chapter deconstructs gender differences to explore the contested issues surrounding gender difference, when the politics of presence converged with partisan politics in the struggle over health care reform during the Democratic-controlled 103rd Congress. The impact of the institutional environment on women’s agenda and actions, along with differences in environmental pressures across parties and committees, are explored. The analysis attempts to move beyond the simple question of whether women make a difference to an understanding of how political environments, structured by partisanship and steeped in masculinist values, affect and can be affected by the feminale. The case study suggests that one cannot truly understand gender differences in an institutional vacuum, even as it forces us to confront the relationship between gender difference and substantive representation of women, and to consider the value of the concept of feminist protest in understanding partisan differences in gender difference and women’s impact.
Debra L. Dodson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780198296744
- eISBN:
- 9780191603709
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198296746.003.0013
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The story of health insurance reform in the 104th brings to life many of the contested issues surrounding gender difference in impact. It illustrates the importance of going beyond quantitative ...
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The story of health insurance reform in the 104th brings to life many of the contested issues surrounding gender difference in impact. It illustrates the importance of going beyond quantitative evidence of gender difference to look carefully at the substance of those differences that emerge, to understand their relationship to the broader political context, and to explicitly consider the motivations belying difference. That those who were seen as advocates for women in the health care reform battles of the 103rd played little role in health insurance reform, while some of the more visible vocal women critics of the Clinton plan led the effort some saw as ‘radical’, that the prime [female] motivator and facilitator of the effort was not seen as driven by gendered forces or even connected with women’s organizations, and that Republican women who had supported women’s health also supported a measure likely to have reversed state mandates protecting women’s health benefits all make health insurance reform a unique laboratory for addressing the contested issues that surround difference. The conclusions suggest a growing gap between gender difference and the standards of third wave feminism, the need for an active engaged women’s movement to counter the threat posed by essentialist assumptions that grant legitimacy to any pronouncement women make on behalf of women, the contribution differences in the masculinist cultures of parties may make toward partisan differences in the manifestation of feminist protest, and they caution against the gendered consequences of ostensibly gender-neutral institutional procedures.Less
The story of health insurance reform in the 104th brings to life many of the contested issues surrounding gender difference in impact. It illustrates the importance of going beyond quantitative evidence of gender difference to look carefully at the substance of those differences that emerge, to understand their relationship to the broader political context, and to explicitly consider the motivations belying difference. That those who were seen as advocates for women in the health care reform battles of the 103rd played little role in health insurance reform, while some of the more visible vocal women critics of the Clinton plan led the effort some saw as ‘radical’, that the prime [female] motivator and facilitator of the effort was not seen as driven by gendered forces or even connected with women’s organizations, and that Republican women who had supported women’s health also supported a measure likely to have reversed state mandates protecting women’s health benefits all make health insurance reform a unique laboratory for addressing the contested issues that surround difference. The conclusions suggest a growing gap between gender difference and the standards of third wave feminism, the need for an active engaged women’s movement to counter the threat posed by essentialist assumptions that grant legitimacy to any pronouncement women make on behalf of women, the contribution differences in the masculinist cultures of parties may make toward partisan differences in the manifestation of feminist protest, and they caution against the gendered consequences of ostensibly gender-neutral institutional procedures.
Jochen Prantl
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199287680
- eISBN:
- 9780191603723
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199287686.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter summarizes the causes of informal groups of states and their effects on Security Council governance. It argues that those informal settings are changing the role of the UN Security ...
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This chapter summarizes the causes of informal groups of states and their effects on Security Council governance. It argues that those informal settings are changing the role of the UN Security Council in the international system. The functions of diplomatic problem-solving and its collective legitimization have become separate from one another. This has implications for the understanding of power, legitimacy, and change in the theory of international relations.Less
This chapter summarizes the causes of informal groups of states and their effects on Security Council governance. It argues that those informal settings are changing the role of the UN Security Council in the international system. The functions of diplomatic problem-solving and its collective legitimization have become separate from one another. This has implications for the understanding of power, legitimacy, and change in the theory of international relations.
Tito Boeri, Micael Castanheira, Riccardo Faini, Vincenzo Galasso, Giorgio Barba Navaretti, Carcillo Stéphane, Jonathan Haskel, Giuseppe Nicoletti, Enrico Perotti, Carlo Scarpa, Lidia Tsyganok, and Christian Wey
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199203628
- eISBN:
- 9780191708169
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199203628.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
This chapter introduces the first part of the book, which examines the question: do product market reforms contribute to Europe's poor growth and productivity record? The key finding is that although ...
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This chapter introduces the first part of the book, which examines the question: do product market reforms contribute to Europe's poor growth and productivity record? The key finding is that although reforms are difficult to implement and do not always deliver the expected gains, particularly in the short term, deregulation of services in all three countries analysed is found to be associated with faster productivity growth and competitiveness both in the service sector and in the rest of the economy. This latter result is largely due to the fact that services play a much more pervasive role in the overall economy than generally acknowledged as they have a significant input into non-service activities like manufacturing and agriculture. Consequently, changes in efficiency, quality, and costs of services delivered trickle down to large competitive gains in the overall economy. The bottom line is that liberalization in services has the potential to bring large welfare gains and governments need to persevere in their effort to reform the service sector.Less
This chapter introduces the first part of the book, which examines the question: do product market reforms contribute to Europe's poor growth and productivity record? The key finding is that although reforms are difficult to implement and do not always deliver the expected gains, particularly in the short term, deregulation of services in all three countries analysed is found to be associated with faster productivity growth and competitiveness both in the service sector and in the rest of the economy. This latter result is largely due to the fact that services play a much more pervasive role in the overall economy than generally acknowledged as they have a significant input into non-service activities like manufacturing and agriculture. Consequently, changes in efficiency, quality, and costs of services delivered trickle down to large competitive gains in the overall economy. The bottom line is that liberalization in services has the potential to bring large welfare gains and governments need to persevere in their effort to reform the service sector.
Adrienne Heritier
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199298129
- eISBN:
- 9780191711633
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199298129.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This book poses the question: how and why do institutions change? Institutions, understood as rules of behaviour constraining and facilitating social interaction, are subject to different forms and ...
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This book poses the question: how and why do institutions change? Institutions, understood as rules of behaviour constraining and facilitating social interaction, are subject to different forms and processes of change. A change may be designed intentionally on a large scale and then be followed by a period of only incremental adjustments to new conditions. But institutions may also emerge as informal rules, persist for a long time and only be formalized later. The causes, processes, and outcomes of institutional change raise a number of conceptual, theoretical, and empirical questions. While we know a lot about the creation of institutions, relatively little research has been conducted about their transformation once they have been put into place. Attention has focused on politically salient events of change, such as the Intergovernmental Conferences of Treaty reform. In focusing on such grand events, it is easy overlook inconspicuous changes in European institutional rules that are occurring on a daily basis. Thus, the European Parliament has gradually acquired a right of investing individual Commissioners. This has never been an issue in the negotiations of formal treaty revisions. Or, the decision-making rule(s) under which the European Parliament participates in the legislative process have drastically changed over the last decades starting from a modest consultation ending up with codecision. The book discusses various theories accounting for long-term institutional change, and explores them on the basis of five important institutional rules in the European Union. It proposes typical sequences of long-term institutional change and their theorization which hold for other contexts as well, if the number of actors and their goals are clearly defined, and interaction takes place under the ‘shadow of the future’.Less
This book poses the question: how and why do institutions change? Institutions, understood as rules of behaviour constraining and facilitating social interaction, are subject to different forms and processes of change. A change may be designed intentionally on a large scale and then be followed by a period of only incremental adjustments to new conditions. But institutions may also emerge as informal rules, persist for a long time and only be formalized later. The causes, processes, and outcomes of institutional change raise a number of conceptual, theoretical, and empirical questions. While we know a lot about the creation of institutions, relatively little research has been conducted about their transformation once they have been put into place. Attention has focused on politically salient events of change, such as the Intergovernmental Conferences of Treaty reform. In focusing on such grand events, it is easy overlook inconspicuous changes in European institutional rules that are occurring on a daily basis. Thus, the European Parliament has gradually acquired a right of investing individual Commissioners. This has never been an issue in the negotiations of formal treaty revisions. Or, the decision-making rule(s) under which the European Parliament participates in the legislative process have drastically changed over the last decades starting from a modest consultation ending up with codecision. The book discusses various theories accounting for long-term institutional change, and explores them on the basis of five important institutional rules in the European Union. It proposes typical sequences of long-term institutional change and their theorization which hold for other contexts as well, if the number of actors and their goals are clearly defined, and interaction takes place under the ‘shadow of the future’.
