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132. No Exit from the Joint Decision Trap? Can German Federalism Reform Itself?
- Author:
- Fritz W. Scharpf
- Publication Date:
- 09-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Research Papers Archive
- Abstract:
- Germany's unique institutions of a 'unitary federal state', long considered part of the country's post-war success story, are now generally perceived as a 'joint decision trap' impeding effective policy responses to new economic and demographic challenges at both levels of government. Nevertheless, a high powered bi-cameral Commission set up in Autumn 2003 failed to reach agreement on constitutional reforms. The paper analyses the misguided procedural and substantive choices that explain the failure of reform, and it discusses the possibility of asymmetric constitutional solutions that might enhance the capacity for autonomous action at both levels.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Demographics, and Economics
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Germany
133. The Development and the Prospects of the Czech Left – the Role of the Communist Party
- Author:
- Vladimír Handl
- Publication Date:
- 12-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute of International Relations Prague
- Abstract:
- The parties of the Czech left have enjoyed a nominal majority in the House of Representatives of the Czech Parliament: the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) gained 70 seats and the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) 41 seats during the elections in June 2002. Both parties have so far used this political potential with caution.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Eastern Europe
134. The OSCE Between Crisis and Reform: Towards a New Lease on Life
- Author:
- Victor-Yves Ghébali
- Publication Date:
- 11-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- In the post-Cold War landscape of European security, four quite different type of multilateral institutions are operating with partially intersecting mandates: NATO, the European Union, the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). As a direct offspring of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), or the Helsinki process, the OSCE certainly illustrates a most original creation of multilateral security diplomacy. Its institutional identity is characterised by a number of features which actually represent proper assets.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, and Development
- Political Geography:
- Europe
135. Montenegro's Referendum
- Publication Date:
- 10-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Although there are some shoals still to be navigated, the narrow pro-independence victory in Montenegro's 21 May 2006 referendum should, on balance, increase rather than diminish stability in the western Balkans. It is in the interest of the European Union (EU), now that its previous policy of keeping Serbia and Montenegro together has run its course, to welcome the new state and speed its accession to international institutions. Podgorica still faces significant challenges associated with transition, but none should affect regional stability, and all can be resolved as the country moves forward with the Stabilisation and Association process towards EU membership. Given the positive international response to the referendum, Montenegro can aspire to becoming a “boring” country moving toward integration with Europe. But its opposition, and Belgrade, need to be persuaded not to renege on their commitments to the EU to accept the referendum result, lest this generate new uncertainties in the region as a Kosovo status decision approaches.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Relations, and Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Caucasus, Kosovo, Serbia, and Balkans
136. A Congo Action Plan
- Publication Date:
- 10-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- More than two years into the transition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the peace process remains at risk. As many as 1,000 people a day still die from war-related causes -- mainly disease and malnutrition, but also continuing violence. While the main belligerent leaders are all in the transitional government, their corruption and mismanagement threaten stability during and after the forthcoming national elections, now postponed from June 2005 to March 2006. The international community needs to maintain pressure on a wide front, making specific security sector reform, transitional justice and good governance measures prerequisites for the elections, not allowing them to be postponed until there is a new government.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Democratic Republic of the Congo
137. Constitution Writing and Conflict Resolution
- Author:
- Jennifer Widner
- Publication Date:
- 08-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Over 1975-2003 nearly 200 new constitutions were drawn up in countries at risk of conflict, as part of peace processes and the adoption of multiparty political systems. The process of writing constitutions is considered to be very important to the chances of sustaining peace, and The Commonwealth and the US Institute for Peace have developed good practice guidelines in this area. These emphasize consultation, openness to diverse points of view and representative ratification procedures. But assessing the impact of constitution-writing processes on violence is methodologically difficult, since there are many channels of influence in the relationship. This paper reports on preliminary findings from an ongoing research project into the effects of processes in constitution-writing. Regression analysis is used to control for important contextual features such as differences in income levels and ethnic diversity across countries. A key finding is that differences in the degree of participation in the drafting of constitutions has no major effect on post-ratification levels of violence in some parts of the world, such as Europe, but does make a difference in Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific together.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Peace Studies, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Africa, United States, America, and Europe
138. The Impact of Unemployment on Individual Well-Being in the EU
- Author:
- Namkee Ahn, Juan Ramón García, and Juan Francisco Jimeno
- Publication Date:
- 07-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Among the working-age population, one of the most damaging individual experiences is unemployment. Many previous studies have confirmed the devastating effects of unemployment on individual well-being, both pecuniary and non-pecuniary. Using the data from the European Community Household Panel survey, we examine the factors that affect unemployed workers' well-being with respect to their situations in their main vocational activity, income, housing, leisure time and health in Europe.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Economics, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- Europe
139. The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership: Regional and Transatlantic Challenges
- Author:
- Roberto Aliboni
- Publication Date:
- 01-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Transatlantic Relations
- Abstract:
- The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) held their annual meeting in Naples on December 2-3, 2003. The Naples conference was the sixth in the series of such meetings since the founding conference of the partnership, which took place in Barcelona in November 1995. With an annual budget of €1 billion, the EMP is a process of “multi-bilateral” cooperation in the political and security; economic and financial; and social and cultural areas. It involves the European Union (EU), and Cyprus, Israel, Malta, Turkey, as well as seven Mediterranean Arab countries (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, and Tunisia) and the Palestinian National Authority. In Naples, the Ministers delivered only general declarations regarding contentious issues such as the situation in Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian road map, and international terrorism. Predictable and incremental as it was, progress was nevertheless achieved on three main “baskets” of the partnership agenda.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, and Cyprus
140. Small Arms and Light Weapons Production in Eastern, Central, and Southeast Europe
- Author:
- Yudit Kiss
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- With the accession of ten states to the European Union (EU) in May 2004, Eastern Europe strode firmly into the international spotlight. A few months earlier, Bulgaria and Romania had joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), further extending the membership of Eastern, Central, and Southeast Europe in the alliance. These developments support the region's ongoing policy of integration into the West and its emergence as a socio-political landscape entirely distinct from that imposed by the Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO) until its demise in 1991. Not surprisingly, these drastic changes are vividly reflected in the national defence industries of the region.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Relations, and Arms Control and Proliferation
- Political Geography:
- Europe and North Atlantic