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11. The Dutch Connection: The European Court of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Global Citizenship in the Netherlands

Author:
Erik Larson and Patrick Schmidt
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
For centuries, the Netherlands, seen by many as an island of toleration and liberal values, has drawn those escaping intolerance and repression. It remains as attractive a destination today as it was (at least initially) for the Puritans fleeing England. Recognizing the differences among nations, the abiding questions of political life search for normative prescriptions: What obligations do governments have toward individuals and what limitations to their authority must governments observe? The idiosyncrasies of the Dutch case provide well-trodden ground for the study of civil liberties and rights, most famously the libertarian approaches to drugs and prostitution. However, those arrangements, inflected with a voyeurism for cultural understandings of deviance, tell us relatively little about the most important development in the debate about government over the past century, namely, the problem that any attempt to answer fundamental political questions cannot reside solely within the Netherlands or the boundaries of any nation, but is shared across national boundaries in the search for unifying values and settlements.
Political Geography:
England, Netherlands, Island, and Dutch

12. What Type of Islamism for Europe? Islamism in Germany and the Netherlands

Author:
Gonul Tol
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
Despite the general tendency within the literature on Islamism to label all Islamist associations as undemocratic due to a shared Islamic ethos, this article suggests that Islamist groups vary in ideology and methods from one another. They can become a counter-hegemonic force that threatens the democratic order or a potential force for democratization of the Islamic community. The role Islamist associations play in society is determined by the role of Islam within the Islamist discourse that is shaped by the social, economic and political structure within which Islamists operate. By comparing the dominant Turkish Islamist movement Milli Gorus in Germany with its Dutch counterpart based on data collected during field research between the years of 2004 and 2007, this article argues that European states ultimately determine the form Islamism takes within the European public space.
Topic:
Islam
Political Geography:
Europe, Germany, Netherlands, and Dutch

13. From declaration to real protection: Biodiversity and local participation in the management of four protected areas in Nicaragua

Author:
Helle Munk Ravnborg
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This report presents the results of comparative research regarding local participation, floristic biodiversity and local knowledge of plants conducted in four protected areas in Nicaragua. The research has been financed as part of a Danish support programme for the environmental sector in Nicaragua, under the auspices of the programme management committee chaired by the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources.
Topic:
Environment
Political Geography:
Latin America, Nicaragua, and Dutch

14. Theories and core principles of Dutch democracy

Author:
Ank Michels
Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Research Papers Archive
Abstract:
Democracies in Europe differ in what they see as being at the core of the democratic system. In some countries, citizen participation constitutes the fundamental tenet of democracy; in others, democracy is closely linked to pluralism and the protection of minorities. This paper tries to identify certain core principles of the Dutch democratic system that are reflected in the institutions and political culture that have to come to define the democratic system and are derived from the intellectual context in which the system emerged. It does so by asking two questions. The first is: what are the core principles of Dutch democracy that are reflected in the democratic system? Five core principles are distinguished, each of which has been institutionalised in various ways. The second question is: which ideas on democracy of key political thinkers of the 19th and early 20th century are relevant to understanding the core principles of Dutch democracy? This paper explores the normative theories on democracy of a number of political thinkers in the Netherlands. Traces of different theories appear to be present in the core principles of the Dutch democratic system.
Topic:
Civil Society, Government, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Europe, Netherlands, and Dutch

15. Trail to Failure: History of the Constitutional Rejection and Implications for the Future

Author:
Richard Baldwin
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
The French and Dutch no-votes were a huge blow to the Constitutional Treaty. The deadline for ratification is suspended and as of early 2006, neither the French nor the Dutch government had a plan for reversing the fatal votes. In short, there is no plan for putting the Constitution into force.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
Europe and Dutch

16. Turkish–Dutch Encounters in Peace Operations

Author:
Joseph Soeters, Erhan Tanercan, Kadir Varoglu, and Ünsal Sigri
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
This article examines cooperation between the Dutch and the Turkish armed forces during two peacekeeping missions, respectively in Kosovo (KFOR, 1999-2000) and Kabul (ISAF, 2002-2003). It is based on a literature survey and interviews with officers and NCOs of both sides. The article deals with the collaboration between the two armed forces as well as the interaction with the local populations in both areas of operation. Differences in style and modes of operation are analysed, leading to some thoughts for reflection with respect to intercultural military cooperation and peacekeeping in Muslim countries. It is argued that commanders at all levels should be prepared for the intercultural dimension of working with military from other nations, especially if they are deployed in areas that are culturally distant from their own. In addition, it is stressed that the scope of CIMIC-activities may be expanded in order to win the hearts and minds of the local population.
Topic:
Islam and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Turkey, Kosovo, and Dutch

17. Oversight and Guidance: the Relevance of Parliamentary Oversight for Security Sector Reform

Author:
Hans Born and Philip Fluri
Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
There is a widespread belief that security policy is a 'natural' task for the executive as they have the requisite knowledge and ability to act quickly. The decision to go to war, to contribute troops to multinational peace support operations, to conclude international treaties or to raise defence spending, to mention just some of the most important governmental security responsibilities, are regarded to be executive decisions. The stubborn perception exists that parliaments should be kept out of these decisions. Parliament tends to be regarded as a less suitable institution for dealing with security issues, especially given its often time-consuming procedures and lack of full access to the necessary expertise and information. Additionally, parliaments are regarded as ill-suited institutions for keeping classified information secret. However, this is a misperception. The past teaches us that parliaments do play a major role in matters of security in democratic states, both in times of war and peace. In the times of the Roman Republic, the Dutch Republic in the sixteenth century, Great Britain in the Second World War, or, more recently at the outbreak of the Second Gulf War, Parliaments across the globe have debated, influenced and exercised oversight over security policy and security sector reform, even in the middle of war.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Government
Political Geography:
Europe, Romania, and Dutch

18. IMF Model and Resource-Abundant Transition Economies: Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

Author:
Richard M. Auty
Publication Date:
11-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
The IMF model of the economic transition stresses the role of macro policy reform. It concludes that rapid reform to a market economy is preferable to slow reform because late reformers experience very steep transition recessions and severe contractions in government revenues. However, the predictive power of the IMF model has weakened through the late-1990s. This is because it under-estimates the role of initial conditions that include the natural resource endowment as well as institutional capital and the legacy of produced capital. This paper demonstrates how the predictive power of the IMF model can be improved by taking account of the impact of natural resource abundance for the transition. Resource abundance can feed corruption and diminish the urgency of reform, thereby intensifying the adverse effect of a retarded transition. It can also amplify the contraction of the non-booming tradeable sector due to Dutch disease effects. These adverse features are likely to be more severe where the resource endowment creates point source socio-economic linkages, as in mining, as opposed to the diffuse linkages associated with crop production by yeoman farmers. The detrimental effects of resource abundance are also likely to be more severe where institutional capital is deficient. Consistent with such a resource-constrained variant of the IMF model; resource-abundant Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan both delayed their reforms and both exhibit high levels of corruption relative to the transition economies as a whole. Also, economic recovery in Kazakhstan is slower than the original IMF model predicts because investment in minerals strengthened the exchange rate and retarded economic diversification. In the case of Uzbekistan, a natural resource endowment that yielded especially buoyant crop revenues (that eased the foreign exchange constraint) helps to explain why the growth collapse is less than the unadjusted IMF model predicts for such a slow reformer. This explanation is still too simple, however. Uzbekistan also benefits from robust social capital and limited obsolete industry, both of which retard the decline in government revenue. Finally, the resource-constrained IMF model suggests that the Uzbek policy of gradual reform represses exports and intensifies economic distortions. This will lock the economy into a staple trap and lead to a growth collapse, as the experience of many resource-abundant developing market economies testifies
Topic:
Emerging Markets, Environment, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Kazakhstan, Asia, Uzbekistan, and Dutch

19. Natural Resources and Economic Growth: A Nordic Perspective on the Dutch Disease

Author:
Thorvaldur Gylfason
Publication Date:
10-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
The paper begins by offering a quick glance of the Nordic economies and of some aspects of their economic growth performance and natural resource dependence since 1970. Thereafter, it reviews some of the main symptoms of the Dutch disease, and then considers whether these symptoms are observable in some of the Nordic countries in view of their abundant natural resources. The experience of Iceland and its fish seems an obvious point of departure. The paper then discusses the less obvious case of Norway and its oil (and fish!) and, at last, also reviews some possible linkages between forest resources and economic growth in Finland.
Topic:
Economics, Environment, and Government
Political Geography:
Europe, Finland, Norway, and Dutch