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1192. Flexible Employment, Flexible Families, and the Socialization of Reproduction
- Author:
- Wolfgang Streeck
- Publication Date:
- 11-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- The progress of markets erodes traditional relations of social solidarity that are essential for the stability and performance of societies. As markets advance, pressures build on the state to replace informal social obligations with formal ones. Regulation may fail, however, which tends to give rise to demands for public services substituting for private reciprocity and compliance with institutionalized normative expectations. As a result, demands on public finances increase. The paper demonstrates this sequence by describing how the pressures and attractions of labor markets undermined the “Fordist family” of the 1960s; how the complex interaction between increasingly more flexible employment and loosening family structures resulted in declining fertility in a variety of modern societies; and how providing for societies' physical reproduction increasingly became a matter of public policy in some countries but not in others. Parallels are drawn to active labor market policy and the recent rescue of the money-making industry by Western governments. Moreover, special attention is paid to differences between countries, especially Sweden on the one hand and the United States on the other, in particular to the conditions under which governments apparently can afford not to heed calls for ever deeper and ever more expensive intervention in social relations. Exploring the increasingly negative relationship between fertility and “familialism,” the paper also shows how advanced commodification of labor and individualization of social life has effectively made it impossible to return to traditional social arrangements, such as the postwar family.
- Topic:
- Economics, Markets, Labor Issues, Sociology, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- United States
1193. Representative versus Responsible Government
- Author:
- Peter Mair
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- The changing circumstances in which parties compete in contemporary democracies, coupled with the changing circumstances in which governments now govern, have led to a widening of the traditional gap between representative and responsible government. Although it is generally seen as desirable that parties in government are both representative and responsible, these two characteristics are now becoming increasingly incompatible. Prudence and consistency in government, as well as accountability, require conformity to external constraints and legacies. This means more than just answering to public opinion. While these external constraints and legacies have become weightier in recent years, public opinion, in its turn, has become harder and harder for governments to read. Hence we see the growing incompatibility. Meanwhile, because of changes in their organizations and in their relationship with civil society, parties are no longer in a position to bridge or “manage” this gap, or even to persuade voters to accept it as a necessary element in political life. This growing incompatibility is one of the principal sources of the democratic malaise that confronts many Western democracies today.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Government, Politics, and Governance
1194. Just and Unjust Postwar Reconstruction: How Much External Interference Can Be Justified
- Author:
- Stefano Recchia
- Publication Date:
- 06-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Carnegie Council
- Abstract:
- This article seeks to reconcile a fundamental normative tension that underlies most international reconstruction efforts in war-torn societies: on the one hand, substantial outside interference in the domestic affairs of such societies may seem desirable to secure political stability, set up inclusive governance structures, and protect basic human rights; on the other hand, such interference is inherently paternalistic-and thus problematic-since it limits the policy options and broader freedom of maneuver of domestic political actors. I argue that for paternalistic interference in foreign countries to be justified, it needs to be strictly proportional to domestic impediments to self-government and basic rights protection. Based on this claim, I model different degrees of interference that are admissible at particular stages of the postwar reconstruction process. Extrapolating from John Rawls's Law of Peoples, I suggest that full-scale international trusteeship can be justified only so long as conditions on the ground remain "outlaw"—that is, so long as security remains volatile and basic rights, including the right to life, are systematically threatened. Once basic security has been reestablished, a lower degree of interference continues to be justified, until new domestic governance structures become entirely self-sustaining. During this second phase of postwar reconstruction, external actors ideally ought to share responsibility for law-enforcement and administration with domestic authorities, which implies in practice that domestic and international officials should jointly approve all major decisions. I discuss various approximations of such shared responsibility in recent international peace operations and speculate about how best to ensure a timely transition toward full domestic ownership.
- Topic:
- Government and Governance
1195. "On Global Order: Power, Values, and the Constitution of International Society"
- Author:
- Samuel M. Makinda
- Publication Date:
- 06-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Carnegie Council
- Abstract:
- "This is one of the finest books on the normative dimension of global governance published in the past decade," writes reviewer Samuel Makinda. "[It] should serve as a resource for a wide range of readers."
- Topic:
- Globalization and Governance
1196. "Democracy Across Borders: Dêmos to Dêmoi"
- Author:
- Barbara Buckinx
- Publication Date:
- 03-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Carnegie Council
- Abstract:
- Bohman notes the extensive interdependence that characterizes the new circumstances of global politics, and argues that states have reacted either by strengthening state boundaries and increasing centralized authority or by delegating political authority.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Politics, and Governance
1197. Report on the Selection Process for the Members of the Temporary Council on Citizen Participation and Social Control
- Publication Date:
- 02-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Carter Center
- Abstract:
- In mid-December 2008, the Second Vice President of the Legislation and Oversight Commission (CLF) – the contact between the legislative body and international contacts and supporters – invited the Carter Center to serve as one of the international observers to monitor the process of selection, evaluation, appeal and appointment for the members of the temporary Council on Citizen Participation and Social Control (CPCCS).
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
1198. Final Report: Observing the 2005 Ethiopia Elections
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Carter Center
- Abstract:
- Upon the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, The Carter Center observed the country's May 15, 2005, elections for the national and regional parliaments. The May elections marked an historic event in the country, as Ethiopia witnessed its first genuinely competitive campaign period with multiple parties fielding strong candidates. Unfortunately, what began with a comparatively open period of campaigning and an orderly voting process on election day was followed by flawed counting and tabulation processes in many areas; repeated incidents of serious postelection violence, including the killing of many dozens of people during electoral protests; a significant delay in finalizing election results; and an ineffective complaints review and investigation processes. In spite of the positive pre-election developments, therefore, The Carter Center concludes that the 2005 electoral process did not fulfill Ethiopia's obligations to ensure the exercise of political rights and freedoms necessary for genuinely democratic elections.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Democratization, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Ethiopia
1199. Arguing Democracy: Intellectuals and Politics in Modern India
- Author:
- Sunil Khilnani
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for the Advanced Study of India
- Abstract:
- The idea of democracy, brought into being on an Athenian hillside some 2,500 years ago, has travelled far, and today attaches itself to a growing number of political projects. In everyday political talk, as well as in the specialised fields of the political and social sciences, terms like “spreading democracy,” “promoting democracy,” and, of course – “imposing democracy” – have become ubiquitous. Underlying such talk is a belief in democratic universalism; the idea that, as Larry Diamond, erstwhile advisor to Paul Bremer in Iraq, has put it: “Every country in the world can be democratic.” Yet, even as the ambition is asserted to spread democracy across the globe, our conceptions of what democracy is have narrowed: to a “checklist” model, a prescriptive blueprint, based almost entirely on Western experience.
- Topic:
- Democratization and Governance
- Political Geography:
- India and Asia
1200. Haiti: the challenge of ending the transition to democracy
- Author:
- Tone Faret and Eduardo Colindres
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
- Abstract:
- The political scene in Haiti will be dominated by elections in 2010. The challenge is significant for the international community, which plays a prominent role and has a notable presence in the country, and for national actors, especially the much disputed Provisional Election Council (CEP).
- Topic:
- Democratization, Poverty, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Caribbean and Haiti