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302. An American in Paris? A Guided Tour of Sarkoland
- Author:
- Mira Kamdar
- Publication Date:
- 06-2007
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- World Policy Institute
- Abstract:
- The boundless jubilation on this side of the Atlantic over the recent election of Nicholas Sarkozy as the new president of France says more about the American malaise than it does about the French. True, a record number of voters turned out to help Sarkozy handily beat his opponent, Socialist candidate Segolene Royal, by a margin of 53 percent to 47 percent in the second round of the presidential election in May. But, the legislative elections held about one month later demonstrate that French voters may be more wary of Sarkozy than are American observers. Though Sarkozy's party, the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP), maintained a solid majority in the National Assembly, it unexpectedly lost 45 seats. The Socialists, still in the minority, picked up 36 seats. This still leaves the UMP with 314 out of a total of 577 seats, versus the Socialist's 185, and Sarkozy has underlined the fact that he considers himself to have no less of a strong mandate for this disappointing result. However, the legislative elections did produce one major casualty for Sarkozy: the man he had named to run the ambitiously titled new Ministry of Environment, Transportation and Energy, Alain Juppe, lost his seat in Bordeaux and had to resign his post. Sarkozy was forced, under the rules of France's democracy, to dissolve his brand new government and reshuffle his cabinet. This cast an embarrassing shadow over what might otherwise have been a thorough rout, and gave hope to France's Left that not all had been lost.
- Political Geography:
- America, Paris, and France
303. Two Europes vis-à-vis Enlargement: A comparative study of two competing approaches regarding the EU enlargement project in the case of Turkey
- Author:
- U. Sercan Gidisoglu
- Publication Date:
- 04-2007
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Insight Turkey
- Institution:
- SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
- Abstract:
- Today, we can mainly make reference to two different main projections of future for the EU: (a) the position defended by France and Germany, which presupposes that there should be 'not a geographically very big but politically and economically strong social Europe', and the projection of the UK and Sweden, which aims to construct a bigger and liberal Europe driven by intergovernmental procedures. According to these two different projects, the attitudes of those four countries vis-à-vis enlargement certainly differ and shape two contrasting camps. The first camp, Franco-Germanique alliance, insists that the Union should first solve its major problems such as the Constitution, budgetary issues (percentage of annual contributions, le chèque britannique, CAP) and institutional reforms before proceeding to any further enlargement. The second camp that is more liberal and pro-enlargement is represented by the UK and Sweden. These two countries put emphasis on the overall positive contributions of the enlargement, especially regarding economic issues and stability problems, and underline the negative consequences that a possible slow down or break in the enlargement process might engender for the Union.
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, France, Germany, and Sweden
304. Recalcitrance, Inefficiency, and Support for European Integration: Why Member States Do (Not) Comply with European Law
- Author:
- Tanja A. Börzel, Meike Dudziak, Tobias Hofmann, Carina Sprungk, and Diana Panke
- Publication Date:
- 01-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- This paper seeks to explain inter-state variation in non-compliance with European law. While non-compliance has not significantly increased over time, some member states violate European law more frequently than others. In order to account for the variance observed, we draw on three prominent approaches in the compliance literature–enforcement, management, and legitimacy. In the first place, we develop a set of hypotheses for each of the three theories. We then discuss how they can be combined in theoretically consistent ways and develop three integrated models. Finally, we empirically test these models drawing on a unique and comprehensive dataset, which comprises more than 6,300 instances of member-state non-compliance with European law between 1978 and 1999. The empirical findings show that the combined model of the enforcement and the management approach turns out to have the highest explanatory power. Politically powerful member states are most likely to violate European law while the best compliers are small countries with highly efficient bureaucracies. Yet, administrative capacity also matters for powerful member states. The UK and Germany are much more compliant than France and Italy, which command similar political power but whose administrations are ridden by bureaucratic inefficiency and corruption.
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom, Europe, France, and Italy
305. The Writer's Responsibility in France: From Flaubert to Sartre
- Author:
- Gisèle Sapiro
- Publication Date:
- 03-2007
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- French Politics, Culture Society
- Institution:
- Conference Group on French Politics Society
- Abstract:
- As Michel Foucault observed in his famous essay, “Qu'est-ce qu'un auteur?” before discourse was a product, it was an act that could be punished. The author's appropriation of discourse as his personal property is secondary to its ascription to his name through penal responsibility. In France, authorial responsibility was introduced in 1551 through royal legislation directed at controlling the book market. The Chateaubriant edict made it compulsory to print both the author's and the printer's names on any publication. The notion of responsibility is thus a fundamental aspect of the emergence of the figure of the modern writer. The state first imposed this conception of responsibility in order to control the circulation of discourses. But after writers internalized the notion, they deployed it against the state in their struggle to establish their moral right on their work and to have literary property recognized as individual property, a struggle that culminated in 1777 with a royal decree recognizing literary compositions as products of labor from which authors were entitled to derive an income. This professional development reinforced the writer's social prestige and status, in Max Weber's sense.
- Political Geography:
- France
306. Transfers from Migrants to their Children: Evidence that Altruism and Cultural Factors Matter
- Author:
- Seymour Spilerman, François-Charles Wolff, and Claudine Attias-Donfut
- Publication Date:
- 12-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University
- Abstract:
- This paper focuses on the determinants of financial inter vivos transfers by migrants living in France in 2003 to their adult children. From a theoretical viewpoint, such transfers may be explained either by altruism or by exchange. While parents would direct their assistance to their less well off children under altruism, support should be channeled to children who live nearby their parents under the exchange motive. We assess the relevance of these two motives using the French PRI survey. Unequal sharing is frequently observed and children are more likely to receive financial transfers when they are in poor circumstance, but not necessarily when living in proximity to parents. We also emphasize the role of cultural factors as determinants of the parental allocation among children. Muslim parents, in particular, are more likely to make transfers to sons than to daughters.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, Migration, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- France
307. The German Presidency and the EU's Constitutional Malaise
- Author:
- Andreas Maurer and Daniela Schwarzer
- Publication Date:
- 03-2007
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The International Spectator
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- The "pause for thought" decreed by the heads of state and government for themselves and their citizens after the voters in France and the Netherlands rejected the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe has been extended for at least another year. By the end of 2008, decisions will have to be taken on how to continue the reform process, yet a concrete strategy for implementing the Constitutional Treaty or an alternative treaty still appears out of reach. Before even beginning to agree on how to move forward, all 27 European Union member states will have to state clearly what goals they are pursuing in the process of institutional reform (a process which all sides agree is necessary) and what steps they believe are required for achieving these goals. In this context, clear statements on the importance of the Treaty and its fate are needed. Consensus on these issues among all 27 member states is unlikely to be achieved. In order to foster a constructive discussion, the German EU Presidency could move member states to agree on shared criteria for assessing the reform proposals that are on the table, and on the options for resolving the constitutional crisis.
- Political Geography:
- Europe, France, Germany, and Netherlands
308. Informalising Readmission Agreements in the EU Neighbourhood
- Author:
- Jean-Pierre Cassarino
- Publication Date:
- 06-2007
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The International Spectator
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- A number of factors explain why some EU member states, particularly France Italy and Spain are gradually opting for informal patterns of cooperation on readmission issues with Mediterranean and African countries. This adaptive inclination is more of a necessity than an option. It reflects the more urgent need of some EU member states to find flexible solutions for cooperation on readmission rather than to conclude bilateral readmission agreements. The agenda remains unchanged, but there has been a shift in priority actions with regard to these countries. The operability of cooperation on readmission has been prioritised over formalisation.
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Canada, Shanghai, France, Spain, and Italy
309. Exploring the EU's social constituency: Patterns of public claims-making in constitutional debates in France and Germany
- Author:
- Hans-Jörg Trenz, Erik Jentges, and Regina Vetters
- Publication Date:
- 01-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Research Papers Archive
- Abstract:
- This article explores public voice formation and its potential impact on EU constitution making. A comprehensive perspective is introduced which analyzes the constitutionalization of the EU as a simultaneous and interacting process of polity building and constituency building. The EU's social constituency is referred to as a particular constellation of public voice and resonance in the media in relation to European constitution making. Mass media are analyzed as the principal arena for amplifying 'constitutional voice' in the member states. Starting from a comparative outline of constitutional claims-making in quality newspapers in France and Germany between 2001 and 2005, the article focuses on ratification as a period of intense politicization on EU constitutional affairs. The article systematically compares how the signal for participation in the ratification process is taken up and transformed into plural voices and debates, and what kind of concerns and demands are put forward by different actors and affected parties within such debates. Finally, justificatory practices of defending particular visions of the EU as a legitimate order will be categorized. The main findings point to a domestically focused French media sphere in which the constitutional debate turned into a prime example of 'contentious politics'. In contrast, German media took the position of an alert but passive observer of the debates in other member states. In this sense, the French debate assumed, at least partially, a substitute function in the German media.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Civil Society
- Political Geography:
- Europe, France, and Germany
310. L'invention de l'aide française au développement Discours, instruments et pratiques d'une dynamique hégémonique
- Author:
- Julien Meimon
- Publication Date:
- 09-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
- Abstract:
- Dans le contexte international mouvementé de la fin des années 1950, la Ve République et ses dirigeants mettent en scène la fin du système colonial, c'est-à-dire de l'ensemble de ses institutions emblématiques : ministre et ministère de la « France d'outre-mer », corps administratifs de fonctionnaires coloniaux, et filière de recrutement (École nationale de la France d'outre-mer) disparaissent au profit d'un nouveau dispositif relativement complexe labellisé « coopération », et dont le ministère éponyme jouera un rôle important jusqu'à la fin du XXe siècle. La naissance de ce nouveau dispositif, résultant de l'éclatement de l'empire colonial, est largement associée à la problématique de l'aide au développement, et repose essentiellement sur des agents formés par les institutions coloniales, en quête de reconversion. C'est ce paradoxe d'une « nouvelle politique » incarnée par des agents imprégnés d'une culture coloniale que nous analyserons ici, en centrant notre regard sur ses modalités pratiques et discursives. On y décèlera l'une des faiblesses initiales de la politique africaine de la France, et l'une des raisons de son effritement progressif jusqu'à aujourd'hui.
- Topic:
- Post Colonialism
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, and France