Vivien A. Schmidt
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199266975
- eISBN:
- 9780191709012
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199266975.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This chapter argues that it would do better to conceive of the EU as a regional state in the making, and as such as a regional union of nation-states in which the creative tension between the Union ...
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This chapter argues that it would do better to conceive of the EU as a regional state in the making, and as such as a regional union of nation-states in which the creative tension between the Union and its member-states ensures both ever-increasing regional integration and ever-continuing national differentiation. It considers the EU’s move to regional sovereignty, the variability of the EU’s regional boundaries, the composite character of EU identity, the compound framework, and the fragmented nature of the EU’s democracy. It ends with a discussion of the real sources of the democratic deficit in the EU, linked to the lack of ideas and discourse about national democracy, and how this affects simple and compound national polities.Less
This chapter argues that it would do better to conceive of the EU as a regional state in the making, and as such as a regional union of nation-states in which the creative tension between the Union and its member-states ensures both ever-increasing regional integration and ever-continuing national differentiation. It considers the EU’s move to regional sovereignty, the variability of the EU’s regional boundaries, the composite character of EU identity, the compound framework, and the fragmented nature of the EU’s democracy. It ends with a discussion of the real sources of the democratic deficit in the EU, linked to the lack of ideas and discourse about national democracy, and how this affects simple and compound national polities.
Jochen Prantl
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199287680
- eISBN:
- 9780191603723
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199287686.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter analyzes the institutional setting of the United Nations. The underlying assumption is that the Security Council can best be described as a Janus-faced structure of both an open system ...
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This chapter analyzes the institutional setting of the United Nations. The underlying assumption is that the Security Council can best be described as a Janus-faced structure of both an open system and a closed shop. This notion reflects the Council’s sensitivity towards external change, while the restrictive provisions of the Charter constrain the possibilities of formal adaptation. The chapter examines: (1) the role of great powers in international organizations, (2) the role and function of the Security Council according to the Charter of the United Nations, and (3) the ‘constitutional practice’ of the Council, elaborating on certain variants of the collective security scheme as envisioned in the Charter.Less
This chapter analyzes the institutional setting of the United Nations. The underlying assumption is that the Security Council can best be described as a Janus-faced structure of both an open system and a closed shop. This notion reflects the Council’s sensitivity towards external change, while the restrictive provisions of the Charter constrain the possibilities of formal adaptation. The chapter examines: (1) the role of great powers in international organizations, (2) the role and function of the Security Council according to the Charter of the United Nations, and (3) the ‘constitutional practice’ of the Council, elaborating on certain variants of the collective security scheme as envisioned in the Charter.
Rupa Chanda
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198069959
- eISBN:
- 9780199080021
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069959.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, South and East Asia
This book analyses the prospects for services integration in South Asia, focusing on member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) — India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, ...
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This book analyses the prospects for services integration in South Asia, focusing on member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) — India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. SAARC turned to trade promotion in order to achieve greater regional integration, starting with the signing of the SAARC Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) in April 1993. The book discusses the role and performance of services within the region and identifies those services and areas which offer good and varied prospects for intra-regional integration. It also assesses the status of liberalization and reforms as well as current levels of intra-regional engagement in services in order to highlight the policy environment and existing opportunities and interests in the regional market. Furthermore, the book looks at multilateral and extra-regional/bilateral commitments made by the member countries of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) in services and their positions on key issues in order to evaluate their preparedness to commit under SAFTA. Finally, the book considers negotiating priorities in different services and on cross-cutting issues to point out possible modalities for negotiation.Less
This book analyses the prospects for services integration in South Asia, focusing on member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) — India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. SAARC turned to trade promotion in order to achieve greater regional integration, starting with the signing of the SAARC Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) in April 1993. The book discusses the role and performance of services within the region and identifies those services and areas which offer good and varied prospects for intra-regional integration. It also assesses the status of liberalization and reforms as well as current levels of intra-regional engagement in services in order to highlight the policy environment and existing opportunities and interests in the regional market. Furthermore, the book looks at multilateral and extra-regional/bilateral commitments made by the member countries of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) in services and their positions on key issues in order to evaluate their preparedness to commit under SAFTA. Finally, the book considers negotiating priorities in different services and on cross-cutting issues to point out possible modalities for negotiation.
Vivien A. Schmidt
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199266975
- eISBN:
- 9780191709012
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199266975.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the challenges faced by national democracies in Europe. It examines the concept of ‘Europeanization’, or how member states adapt their ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the challenges faced by national democracies in Europe. It examines the concept of ‘Europeanization’, or how member states adapt their democracies to the evolving European public sphere. A more helpful way of thinking about the EU is proposed, i.e., that the EU is best understood as a regional union of nation-states in which national differentiation persists alongside integration. An overview of the succeeding chapters is presented.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the challenges faced by national democracies in Europe. It examines the concept of ‘Europeanization’, or how member states adapt their democracies to the evolving European public sphere. A more helpful way of thinking about the EU is proposed, i.e., that the EU is best understood as a regional union of nation-states in which national differentiation persists alongside integration. An overview of the succeeding chapters is presented.
Vivien A. Schmidt
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199266975
- eISBN:
- 9780191709012
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199266975.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This chapter provides a brief recap of the argument about the EU as a regional state and the general question of its democratic legitimacy before considering, in turn, theories about the EU’s impact ...
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This chapter provides a brief recap of the argument about the EU as a regional state and the general question of its democratic legitimacy before considering, in turn, theories about the EU’s impact on national institutions, ideas, and discourse. It argues that European integration is at risk, not so much because of the institutional changes related to Europeanization, but because of the lack of new ideas and discourse that address those changes at the national level. Although the EU has had a greater impact on simple polities than on compound ones, both kinds of polities have nevertheless had to deal with EU-related changes in governance practices and challenges to traditional ideas about democracy. Moreover, even though simple polities may have an advantage with regard to addressing the issues through the communicative discourse, they have not used that ability to the fullest.Less
This chapter provides a brief recap of the argument about the EU as a regional state and the general question of its democratic legitimacy before considering, in turn, theories about the EU’s impact on national institutions, ideas, and discourse. It argues that European integration is at risk, not so much because of the institutional changes related to Europeanization, but because of the lack of new ideas and discourse that address those changes at the national level. Although the EU has had a greater impact on simple polities than on compound ones, both kinds of polities have nevertheless had to deal with EU-related changes in governance practices and challenges to traditional ideas about democracy. Moreover, even though simple polities may have an advantage with regard to addressing the issues through the communicative discourse, they have not used that ability to the fullest.
Richard Pomfret
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199248872
- eISBN:
- 9780191596797
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199248877.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, International
Regional trading arrangements have been a recurring, and often challenging, feature of the global trading system established after 1945. This book analyses the economic, historical, and political ...
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Regional trading arrangements have been a recurring, and often challenging, feature of the global trading system established after 1945. This book analyses the economic, historical, and political reasons behind these challenges, which arose even though the multilateral trading system was serving the world well over the second half of the twentieth century. The book's three main parts deal with the history, theory, and empirical evidence on the effects of discriminatory trade policies in general, and of regionalism in particular.Less
Regional trading arrangements have been a recurring, and often challenging, feature of the global trading system established after 1945. This book analyses the economic, historical, and political reasons behind these challenges, which arose even though the multilateral trading system was serving the world well over the second half of the twentieth century. The book's three main parts deal with the history, theory, and empirical evidence on the effects of discriminatory trade policies in general, and of regionalism in particular.
Thorlac Turville-Petre
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198122791
- eISBN:
- 9780191671548
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198122791.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This book pays attention to the earlier fourteenth century in England as a literary period in its own right. It surveys the wide range of writings by the generation before Geoffrey Chaucer, and ...
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This book pays attention to the earlier fourteenth century in England as a literary period in its own right. It surveys the wide range of writings by the generation before Geoffrey Chaucer, and explores how English writers in the half-century leading up to the outbreak of the Hundred Years War expressed their concepts of England as a nation, and how they exploited the association between nation, people, and language. At the centre of this work is a study of the construction of national identity that takes place in the histories written in English. The contributions of romances and saints' lives to an awareness of the nation's past are also considered, as is the question of how writers were able to reconcile their sense of regional identity with commitment to the nation. A final chapter explores the interrelationship between England's three languages, Latin, French and English, at a time when English was attaining the status of the national language. Middle English quotations are translated into modern English throughout.Less
This book pays attention to the earlier fourteenth century in England as a literary period in its own right. It surveys the wide range of writings by the generation before Geoffrey Chaucer, and explores how English writers in the half-century leading up to the outbreak of the Hundred Years War expressed their concepts of England as a nation, and how they exploited the association between nation, people, and language. At the centre of this work is a study of the construction of national identity that takes place in the histories written in English. The contributions of romances and saints' lives to an awareness of the nation's past are also considered, as is the question of how writers were able to reconcile their sense of regional identity with commitment to the nation. A final chapter explores the interrelationship between England's three languages, Latin, French and English, at a time when English was attaining the status of the national language. Middle English quotations are translated into modern English throughout.
Patrick Le Galès
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199247967
- eISBN:
- 9780191601088
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019924796X.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
An examination is made of how tensions that develop between supranational and national governance structures are resolved, given the institutionalization taking place at the European level. The focus ...
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An examination is made of how tensions that develop between supranational and national governance structures are resolved, given the institutionalization taking place at the European level. The focus is on two national policy domains – state aids and regional development – and the author explains how, since the mid-1980s, European Union (EU) officials have succeeded in inducing their French counterparts to alter legislation and administrative practices once assumed to be fundamentally immune to external influence – a process that is increasingly referred to as the ‘Europeanization of the nation state’. The view taken is that Europeanization took place in a series of ‘rounds’ that have followed a common sequence: disagreement about the nature and scope of EU rules in national regimes; open contestation between supranational and national officials; the fixing of a new or clarified rule on the part of EU officials; and, finally, the grudging acceptance of the rule by the French. After each round, new patterns of French resistance emerged, but the rules of the game governing these interactions are fixed by the results of previous rounds, and come to be more or less taken for granted by actors at both levels; it is argued that the overall process tends to favour the expansion and diffusion of EU modes of governance, and the weakening of specifically national modes. The chapter is divided into three main sections: the first provides a summary overview of the development of EU competition policy and its intersections with state aids and regional policy; the second focuses on state aids in two sectors (French regional and industrial policy), which are analysed against the backdrop of the development of European competition law; and the third part discusses conflicts over the meaning of European rules in relation to the process of ‘endogenous’ institutional change.Less
An examination is made of how tensions that develop between supranational and national governance structures are resolved, given the institutionalization taking place at the European level. The focus is on two national policy domains – state aids and regional development – and the author explains how, since the mid-1980s, European Union (EU) officials have succeeded in inducing their French counterparts to alter legislation and administrative practices once assumed to be fundamentally immune to external influence – a process that is increasingly referred to as the ‘Europeanization of the nation state’. The view taken is that Europeanization took place in a series of ‘rounds’ that have followed a common sequence: disagreement about the nature and scope of EU rules in national regimes; open contestation between supranational and national officials; the fixing of a new or clarified rule on the part of EU officials; and, finally, the grudging acceptance of the rule by the French. After each round, new patterns of French resistance emerged, but the rules of the game governing these interactions are fixed by the results of previous rounds, and come to be more or less taken for granted by actors at both levels; it is argued that the overall process tends to favour the expansion and diffusion of EU modes of governance, and the weakening of specifically national modes. The chapter is divided into three main sections: the first provides a summary overview of the development of EU competition policy and its intersections with state aids and regional policy; the second focuses on state aids in two sectors (French regional and industrial policy), which are analysed against the backdrop of the development of European competition law; and the third part discusses conflicts over the meaning of European rules in relation to the process of ‘endogenous’ institutional change.
Eli M. Noam (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195102017
- eISBN:
- 9780199854936
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195102017.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Information Technology
Telecommunications is becoming an essential infrastructure in the global economy. The electronic flow of information around the world favors those nations that have invested in the technology to ...
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Telecommunications is becoming an essential infrastructure in the global economy. The electronic flow of information around the world favors those nations that have invested in the technology to participate in this international commerce. This book provides a comprehensive view of what individual African countries are doing to build a telecommunications capability. Special attention is paid to telecommunications as a link in the chain of the regional development process.Less
Telecommunications is becoming an essential infrastructure in the global economy. The electronic flow of information around the world favors those nations that have invested in the technology to participate in this international commerce. This book provides a comprehensive view of what individual African countries are doing to build a telecommunications capability. Special attention is paid to telecommunications as a link in the chain of the regional development process.
Philip Nel
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199261437
- eISBN:
- 9780191599309
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199261431.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
The purpose is to trace and assess the ways in which the US has used multilateral institutions/organizations (both those international institutions/organizations of which it is a member and those ...
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The purpose is to trace and assess the ways in which the US has used multilateral institutions/organizations (both those international institutions/organizations of which it is a member and those regional institutions/organizations of which it is not) and multilateralism itself to pursue its interests on the African continent. The emergence of a noticeable multilateral dimension to American policy towards Africa is situated against two backgrounds: the first (Sect. 1 of the chapter) deals with the general features of American policy towards Africa since the Second World War and the role that multilateralism in general has played in that; the second (Sect. 2) deals with the rise of multilateralism (and multilateral regional institutions/organizations) on the African continent as a process that has a dynamic of its own. This perspective on Africa as an agent, and not simply as an object, of US policy is important for maintaining a critical perspective on the successes but also the contradictions and failures of US policy towards Africa. The final two sections offer a detailed description and evaluation of the dimensions of multilateralism in post‐cold‐war US policy, and, in particular, the Clinton era, which, in many respects, encapsulates much of what is right and wrong with US policy towards the continent. The evaluation made and the general assumptions used to approach the theme of US policy towards Africa are informed by a broadly neo‐Gramscian appraisal of the hegemonic function of the US in the current global political and economic order, and of the place of multilateralism within that hegemonic function.Less
The purpose is to trace and assess the ways in which the US has used multilateral institutions/organizations (both those international institutions/organizations of which it is a member and those regional institutions/organizations of which it is not) and multilateralism itself to pursue its interests on the African continent. The emergence of a noticeable multilateral dimension to American policy towards Africa is situated against two backgrounds: the first (Sect. 1 of the chapter) deals with the general features of American policy towards Africa since the Second World War and the role that multilateralism in general has played in that; the second (Sect. 2) deals with the rise of multilateralism (and multilateral regional institutions/organizations) on the African continent as a process that has a dynamic of its own. This perspective on Africa as an agent, and not simply as an object, of US policy is important for maintaining a critical perspective on the successes but also the contradictions and failures of US policy towards Africa. The final two sections offer a detailed description and evaluation of the dimensions of multilateralism in post‐cold‐war US policy, and, in particular, the Clinton era, which, in many respects, encapsulates much of what is right and wrong with US policy towards the continent. The evaluation made and the general assumptions used to approach the theme of US policy towards Africa are informed by a broadly neo‐Gramscian appraisal of the hegemonic function of the US in the current global political and economic order, and of the place of multilateralism within that hegemonic function.
Ralph A. Cossa
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199261437
- eISBN:
- 9780191599309
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199261431.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
An examination is made of US policy towards and participation in several key regional multilateral organizations in the Asia–Pacific area, with the aim of establishing how central these organizations ...
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An examination is made of US policy towards and participation in several key regional multilateral organizations in the Asia–Pacific area, with the aim of establishing how central these organizations are to the overall development of US policy and the extent to which, and how, they influence or constrain US behaviour. The first section of the chapter reviews US strategic goals and briefly discusses some of the domestic and external factors that have led to the development and implementation of these goals in East Asia. The next section discusses multilateral security cooperation in the region, and gives an overview of regional multilateral security organizations, focusing primarily on the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Regional Forum (ARF), given its all‐encompassing nature and relatively advanced (by Asian standards) stage of development; other US‐instigated multilateral institutions and initiatives (the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), and the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue (NEACD) are touched upon briefly to assess how these more narrowly focused approaches also serve American interests. The third section looks at Asia–Pacific multilateral economic cooperation, and here the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) provides the centrepiece of the discussion; its role both in creating an Asia–Pacific economic community and, more recently, as a vehicle for political cooperation through the institutionalization of the US‐instigated Leaders’ Meetings, which bring many of the region's heads of state and government together annually, ostensibly for economic discussions. The conclusion to the chapter briefly evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of these organizations from a US perspective in order to understand better how security and economic multilateralism fits with the largely bilaterally oriented US national security strategy.Less
An examination is made of US policy towards and participation in several key regional multilateral organizations in the Asia–Pacific area, with the aim of establishing how central these organizations are to the overall development of US policy and the extent to which, and how, they influence or constrain US behaviour. The first section of the chapter reviews US strategic goals and briefly discusses some of the domestic and external factors that have led to the development and implementation of these goals in East Asia. The next section discusses multilateral security cooperation in the region, and gives an overview of regional multilateral security organizations, focusing primarily on the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Regional Forum (ARF), given its all‐encompassing nature and relatively advanced (by Asian standards) stage of development; other US‐instigated multilateral institutions and initiatives (the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), and the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue (NEACD) are touched upon briefly to assess how these more narrowly focused approaches also serve American interests. The third section looks at Asia–Pacific multilateral economic cooperation, and here the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) provides the centrepiece of the discussion; its role both in creating an Asia–Pacific economic community and, more recently, as a vehicle for political cooperation through the institutionalization of the US‐instigated Leaders’ Meetings, which bring many of the region's heads of state and government together annually, ostensibly for economic discussions. The conclusion to the chapter briefly evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of these organizations from a US perspective in order to understand better how security and economic multilateralism fits with the largely bilaterally oriented US national security strategy.
Dawn Brancati
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199549009
- eISBN:
- 9780191720307
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549009.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, International Relations and Politics
This chapter elaborates on the argument regarding how the effect of decentralization on intrastate conflict hinges on regional parties. Brancati argues that the negative effects typically associated ...
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This chapter elaborates on the argument regarding how the effect of decentralization on intrastate conflict hinges on regional parties. Brancati argues that the negative effects typically associated with decentralization are not an effect of decentralization directly, but that of regional parties. Specifically, it argues that regional parties create regional identities, advocate legislation that is harmful to other regions and regional minorities, and also mobilize groups to engage in ethnic conflict and secessionism and support extremist organizations that engage in these activities. The chapter also establishes in this chapter a number of conditions under which regional parties are likely to stimulate conflict and secessionism, and statewide parties are likely to reduce it. The chapter further argues that decentralization, in turn, increases the strength of regional parties depending on particular features of decentralization (i.e. the proportion of legislative seats a region possesses, the number of regional legislatures in a country, the upper house election procedures, the sequencing of national and regional elections). The chapter also offers a theoretical discussion in this chapter of the origins of decentralization and regional parties, arguing that neither is simply a product of the underlying ethnolinguistic, religious, and territorial differences in a country, but have an independent effect on these differences, and on conflict and secessionism.Less
This chapter elaborates on the argument regarding how the effect of decentralization on intrastate conflict hinges on regional parties. Brancati argues that the negative effects typically associated with decentralization are not an effect of decentralization directly, but that of regional parties. Specifically, it argues that regional parties create regional identities, advocate legislation that is harmful to other regions and regional minorities, and also mobilize groups to engage in ethnic conflict and secessionism and support extremist organizations that engage in these activities. The chapter also establishes in this chapter a number of conditions under which regional parties are likely to stimulate conflict and secessionism, and statewide parties are likely to reduce it. The chapter further argues that decentralization, in turn, increases the strength of regional parties depending on particular features of decentralization (i.e. the proportion of legislative seats a region possesses, the number of regional legislatures in a country, the upper house election procedures, the sequencing of national and regional elections). The chapter also offers a theoretical discussion in this chapter of the origins of decentralization and regional parties, arguing that neither is simply a product of the underlying ethnolinguistic, religious, and territorial differences in a country, but have an independent effect on these differences, and on conflict and secessionism.
Dawn Brancati
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199549009
- eISBN:
- 9780191720307
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549009.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, International Relations and Politics
This chapter presents the case study of Spain (1976–present). Spain is widely respected as a successful case of decentralization, which has not only avoided conflict among the country's major ethnic ...
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This chapter presents the case study of Spain (1976–present). Spain is widely respected as a successful case of decentralization, which has not only avoided conflict among the country's major ethnic groups, but has also held secessionism at bay since Spain's transition to democracy in the late 1970s. This chapter attributes Spain's success to the relatively small presence of regional parties in the country, which have advocated legislation harmful to other regions in India and have supported violent separatist organizations in the country. This chapter attributes the party system to the structure of decentralization in Spain (i.e. the proportion of national legislative seats regions hold individually, the direct election of most of the country's upper house, and the appointment of Spain's first regional legislatures based on national level representation). This structure has reduced the incentive for politicians to form regional parties and prevented them from blocking the adoption of a new political system during the transition era as in Czechoslovakia. In teasing out the relationship between decentralization and regional parties, the chapter points out that statewide parties decentralized Spain in the transition period, and that regions with the strongest regional parties in Spain are not necessarily those that are economically or ethnolinguistically distinct, and that the distinct regions are not necessarily those with strong regional identities.Less
This chapter presents the case study of Spain (1976–present). Spain is widely respected as a successful case of decentralization, which has not only avoided conflict among the country's major ethnic groups, but has also held secessionism at bay since Spain's transition to democracy in the late 1970s. This chapter attributes Spain's success to the relatively small presence of regional parties in the country, which have advocated legislation harmful to other regions in India and have supported violent separatist organizations in the country. This chapter attributes the party system to the structure of decentralization in Spain (i.e. the proportion of national legislative seats regions hold individually, the direct election of most of the country's upper house, and the appointment of Spain's first regional legislatures based on national level representation). This structure has reduced the incentive for politicians to form regional parties and prevented them from blocking the adoption of a new political system during the transition era as in Czechoslovakia. In teasing out the relationship between decentralization and regional parties, the chapter points out that statewide parties decentralized Spain in the transition period, and that regions with the strongest regional parties in Spain are not necessarily those that are economically or ethnolinguistically distinct, and that the distinct regions are not necessarily those with strong regional identities.
Yezid Sayigh
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198295518
- eISBN:
- 9780191599217
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198295510.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
The main strategic, economic, and political changes in the Middle East since the end of the cold war are outlined, and an attempt made to account for the linkages between them. It is argued, first, ...
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The main strategic, economic, and political changes in the Middle East since the end of the cold war are outlined, and an attempt made to account for the linkages between them. It is argued, first, that a combination of external and internal factors has reinforced the fragmentation of the Middle East state system, and further undermined prospects for regional cooperation or integration in the security, economic, and political spheres. The record of economic liberalization is examined, before analysing the process of political liberalization. In both cases the focus is on the state, since that is the level at which management of the domestic and external environments is conducted. This allows consideration in the conclusion of the extent to which changes in the region can be directly attributed to the end of the cold war, and of the assumptions about the relationship between the international system and its regional and national units, particularly with regard to the impact of globalization on the nation state and domestic structures of political power.Less
The main strategic, economic, and political changes in the Middle East since the end of the cold war are outlined, and an attempt made to account for the linkages between them. It is argued, first, that a combination of external and internal factors has reinforced the fragmentation of the Middle East state system, and further undermined prospects for regional cooperation or integration in the security, economic, and political spheres. The record of economic liberalization is examined, before analysing the process of political liberalization. In both cases the focus is on the state, since that is the level at which management of the domestic and external environments is conducted. This allows consideration in the conclusion of the extent to which changes in the region can be directly attributed to the end of the cold war, and of the assumptions about the relationship between the international system and its regional and national units, particularly with regard to the impact of globalization on the nation state and domestic structures of political power.
Olivier Cadot, Antoni Estevadeordal, Akiko Suwa-Eisenmann, and Thierry Verdier (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199290482
- eISBN:
- 9780191603471
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199290482.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, International
Rules of Origin (RoO) are among the most important instruments in the negotiation and functioning of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs), designed to determine the eligibility of goods for preferential ...
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Rules of Origin (RoO) are among the most important instruments in the negotiation and functioning of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs), designed to determine the eligibility of goods for preferential treatment among RTA members. Ostensibly meant to prevent the trans-shipment of imported products across RTA borders after only superficial assembly, they may act as complex and opaque trade barriers in practice. This book suggests that RoO do this with intent rather than accidentally. In other words, RoO are truly trade policy instruments. The book’s overall message for the policy community is that RoO are a potentially powerful and new barrier to trade. Their design should hold centre-stage in trade negotiations rather than being relegated to closed-door technical meetings.Less
Rules of Origin (RoO) are among the most important instruments in the negotiation and functioning of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs), designed to determine the eligibility of goods for preferential treatment among RTA members. Ostensibly meant to prevent the trans-shipment of imported products across RTA borders after only superficial assembly, they may act as complex and opaque trade barriers in practice. This book suggests that RoO do this with intent rather than accidentally. In other words, RoO are truly trade policy instruments. The book’s overall message for the policy community is that RoO are a potentially powerful and new barrier to trade. Their design should hold centre-stage in trade negotiations rather than being relegated to closed-door technical meetings.
Gianluca Raccagni
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264713
- eISBN:
- 9780191734847
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264713.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
The Lombard League was an association created by the city republics of northern Italy in the 12th century in order to defend their autonomy and that of the papacy in a struggle against the German ...
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The Lombard League was an association created by the city republics of northern Italy in the 12th century in order to defend their autonomy and that of the papacy in a struggle against the German Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa. The League has enjoyed an iconic status, and in the nineteenth century was glorified as a precursor of the Italian struggle for independence in political and historical pamphlets as well as in paintings, novels, and even operas. The League played a crucial role in the evolution of Italy’s political landscape, but it did more than ensure its continued fragmentation. Historiography, in fact, has overlooked the collegial cooperation among the medieval Italian polities and this volume examines the League’s structure, activity, place in political thought, and links with regional identities. Using documentary evidence, histories, letters, inscriptions, and contemporary troubadour poems as well as rhetorical and juridical treatises, the book argues that the League was not just a momentary anti-imperial military alliance, but a body that also provided collective approaches to regional problems, ranging from the peaceful resolution of disputes to the management of regional lines of communication, usurping, in some cases, imperial prerogatives. Yet the League never rejected imperial overlordship per se, and this book explains how it survived after the end of the conflict against Frederick I, one of its most lasting legacies being the settlement that it reached with the empire, the Peace of Constance, which became the Magna Carta of the northern Italian polities.Less
The Lombard League was an association created by the city republics of northern Italy in the 12th century in order to defend their autonomy and that of the papacy in a struggle against the German Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa. The League has enjoyed an iconic status, and in the nineteenth century was glorified as a precursor of the Italian struggle for independence in political and historical pamphlets as well as in paintings, novels, and even operas. The League played a crucial role in the evolution of Italy’s political landscape, but it did more than ensure its continued fragmentation. Historiography, in fact, has overlooked the collegial cooperation among the medieval Italian polities and this volume examines the League’s structure, activity, place in political thought, and links with regional identities. Using documentary evidence, histories, letters, inscriptions, and contemporary troubadour poems as well as rhetorical and juridical treatises, the book argues that the League was not just a momentary anti-imperial military alliance, but a body that also provided collective approaches to regional problems, ranging from the peaceful resolution of disputes to the management of regional lines of communication, usurping, in some cases, imperial prerogatives. Yet the League never rejected imperial overlordship per se, and this book explains how it survived after the end of the conflict against Frederick I, one of its most lasting legacies being the settlement that it reached with the empire, the Peace of Constance, which became the Magna Carta of the northern Italian polities.
Alec Stone Sweet
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199275533
- eISBN:
- 9780191602009
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019927553X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
The law and politics of European integration have been inseparable since the 1960s, when the European Court of Justice rendered a set of foundational decisions that gradually served to ...
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The law and politics of European integration have been inseparable since the 1960s, when the European Court of Justice rendered a set of foundational decisions that gradually served to ‘constitutionalize’ the Treaty of Rome. In this book, the author, one of the world's foremost social scientists and legal scholars, blends deductive theory, quantitative analysis of aggregate data, and qualitative case studies to explain the dynamics of European integration and institutional change in the European Union (EU) since 1959. He shows that the activities of market actors, lobbyists, legislators, litigators, and judges became connected to one another in various ways, giving the EU its fundamentally expansionary character. The first chapter, ‘The European Court and Integration’, provides an introduction to the book. The second, written with Thomas Brunell, assesses the impact of Europe's unique legal system on the evolution of supranational governance. The following three chapters trace the outcomes in three policy domains: free movement of goods (written with Margaret McCown), sex equality (written with Rachel Cichowski), and environmental protection (written with Markus Gehring). There is also a concluding chapter. The book integrates diverse themes, including: the testing of hypotheses derived from regional integration theory; the ‘judicialization’ of legislative processes; the path dependence of precedent and legal argumentation; the triumph of the ‘rights revolution’ in the EU; delegation, agency, and trusteeship; balancing as a technique of judicial rulemaking and governance; and why national administration and justice have been steadily ‘Europeanized’.Less
The law and politics of European integration have been inseparable since the 1960s, when the European Court of Justice rendered a set of foundational decisions that gradually served to ‘constitutionalize’ the Treaty of Rome. In this book, the author, one of the world's foremost social scientists and legal scholars, blends deductive theory, quantitative analysis of aggregate data, and qualitative case studies to explain the dynamics of European integration and institutional change in the European Union (EU) since 1959. He shows that the activities of market actors, lobbyists, legislators, litigators, and judges became connected to one another in various ways, giving the EU its fundamentally expansionary character. The first chapter, ‘The European Court and Integration’, provides an introduction to the book. The second, written with Thomas Brunell, assesses the impact of Europe's unique legal system on the evolution of supranational governance. The following three chapters trace the outcomes in three policy domains: free movement of goods (written with Margaret McCown), sex equality (written with Rachel Cichowski), and environmental protection (written with Markus Gehring). There is also a concluding chapter. The book integrates diverse themes, including: the testing of hypotheses derived from regional integration theory; the ‘judicialization’ of legislative processes; the path dependence of precedent and legal argumentation; the triumph of the ‘rights revolution’ in the EU; delegation, agency, and trusteeship; balancing as a technique of judicial rulemaking and governance; and why national administration and justice have been steadily ‘Europeanized’.
Keith Robbins
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205852
- eISBN:
- 9780191676819
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205852.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter sums up the key findings of this study on regional diversity and unity in Great Britain. The results suggest that Britain was a unity in diversity. The analyses of various indicators of ...
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This chapter sums up the key findings of this study on regional diversity and unity in Great Britain. The results suggest that Britain was a unity in diversity. The analyses of various indicators of national identity indicate that through the 19th century the ‘British nation’ was made. Though there was no uniform tendency operating in all fields simultaneously, England, Scotland, and Wales were in certain respects more closely bound together than they ever were in the past.Less
This chapter sums up the key findings of this study on regional diversity and unity in Great Britain. The results suggest that Britain was a unity in diversity. The analyses of various indicators of national identity indicate that through the 19th century the ‘British nation’ was made. Though there was no uniform tendency operating in all fields simultaneously, England, Scotland, and Wales were in certain respects more closely bound together than they ever were in the past.
Allen J. Scott
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198296584
- eISBN:
- 9780191685255
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198296584.003.0009
- Subject:
- Business and Management, International Business, Political Economy
The geographical contours of political world economy can be discussed through a continuously changing structure of both core and peripheral areas on an international and intra-national scale and a ...
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The geographical contours of political world economy can be discussed through a continuously changing structure of both core and peripheral areas on an international and intra-national scale and a collection of states and their corresponding national economies. Regional economies imply that the competitive advantages and economic fate of individual firms are linked to those of all the other local firms. Regional economies can also be considered as political entities since it take structures of collective order into account. This chapter summarises the author's insights regarding how the revival of regions as the focus of economic and political activity may be able to result in the rethinking of issues that concern citizenship and democracy in local society.Less
The geographical contours of political world economy can be discussed through a continuously changing structure of both core and peripheral areas on an international and intra-national scale and a collection of states and their corresponding national economies. Regional economies imply that the competitive advantages and economic fate of individual firms are linked to those of all the other local firms. Regional economies can also be considered as political entities since it take structures of collective order into account. This chapter summarises the author's insights regarding how the revival of regions as the focus of economic and political activity may be able to result in the rethinking of issues that concern citizenship and democracy in local society.
Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- November 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199261185
- eISBN:
- 9780191601507
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199261180.003.0017
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
Besides decentralization to executive agencies and social organizations, public management reform involves devolution to sub-national units of activities and the corresponding fiscal resources to ...
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Besides decentralization to executive agencies and social organizations, public management reform involves devolution to sub-national units of activities and the corresponding fiscal resources to finance them. It involves also making public managers more autonomous and more accountable. In synthesis, decentralization–delegating authority to lower levels–is crucial to managerial public administration. Decentralization is a public management strategy, but devolution is a political decision with managerial consequences. Decentralization is often decided top-down and is a strategy for increasing the head-offices’ capacity to achieve proposed objectives, but devolution is usually a response to demands for more local or regional autonomy to which government officials in the central government reluctantly accede.Less
Besides decentralization to executive agencies and social organizations, public management reform involves devolution to sub-national units of activities and the corresponding fiscal resources to finance them. It involves also making public managers more autonomous and more accountable. In synthesis, decentralization–delegating authority to lower levels–is crucial to managerial public administration. Decentralization is a public management strategy, but devolution is a political decision with managerial consequences. Decentralization is often decided top-down and is a strategy for increasing the head-offices’ capacity to achieve proposed objectives, but devolution is usually a response to demands for more local or regional autonomy to which government officials in the central government reluctantly accede.
