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Democracy developed mainly as a reaction to the secrecy of power & the openness imposed to private transactions. However, upon refection it seems increasingly clear that a certain balance & articulation should be applied to openness & secrecy as they relate to public action. This does not mean, however, that the dead angles of the institutional regulatory system should not be eliminated, nor that the technological revolution should overwhelm the law in its efforts aiming to set up the necessary openness while guaranteeing the protection of legitimate secrets. Adapted from the source document.

A review essay on a book by Eric Montpetit, Le federalisme d'ouverture. La recherche d'une legitimite canadienne au Quebec (The Federalism of Openness. Research on Canadian Legitimacy in Quebec) (Sillery: Septentrion, 2007).

Since the late 1970' s, China has set up a policy of reform and openness issuing in series of social, cultural, economical and political changes. Young people are the main protagonists in the dynamic, particularly in the educational and vocational fields.

In China, the present modalities of academic research and publication differ considerably from those of European and North American universities. This is particularly true within the field of political science, a discipline that has long languished due to the fact that it is entirely limited to the study of the canonical texts of Marxism-Leninism and the thought of Mao Zedong. The launching of the policy of reform and openness thirty years ago represented a turning point for the humanities and social sciences, which suddenly found themselves holding a place of honor in support of the reformist drive. An initial overview of the situation allows one to better grasp the contours of academic liberty and understand the status presently accorded to Chinese scholars and academics. Some engaged academics (particularly in the area of political reform) are torn between limitations on the liberty of research and publication, official requests to participate in the policy-making process, professionalization, growing market openness and internationalization, patriotism and intellectual commitment. Adapted from the source document.

This article tries to explain the exchange adjustment Egypt knew during the last three years. The Egyptian pound lost nearly 50 % of its value against the dollar. Beyond the explication of the causes and consequences of such fluctuations, it is a watershed that Egypt will have to cross in its economical regulation. In the field of exchange, the situation is unsatisfactory. On the one hand, that policy seems to answer pressures for greater currency convertibility and to foreign exchange market's liberalization, according to commercial openness politically expressed in many free-trade agreements. On the other hand, the reality of foreign exchange market is an administration and a qualitative control on currency offer that local operators can obtain according to tacit rules and covered instructions from Egyptian monetary authorities. It is therefore a hybrid system that does not remove the convertibility constraints which are very sensitive to foreign investors, but adds uncertainty to the future level of exchange. The constraints imposed by globalisation, the fall of custom duties on imported products, does not lead to economic policy that allows a transformation of economy regulations in order to match the openness. (Maghreb-Machrek/DÜI)

Albania : No Change in Sight, except..., by Thomas Schreiber
The upheavals in East European states have not passed unnoticed in Albania, the last Stalinist country of the continent. Officially there is no question of liberalising the regime, but nevertheless a certain easing of political rigidity is perceptible. The rulers do seem willing to implement certain reforms and in the field of foreign policy, Tirana is showing a new openness, Albania no longer wishes to remain isolated and internal change seem inévitable.

At a time when constitutional reform is on the agenda, is the Constitutional Council the only institution that could not be reformed? This institution should find a new equilibrium in the appointment of its members, a greater openness in its functioning and procedure which could come from a clarification of its relationships with administrative and judiciary magistrates. But the main stake remains the evolution of its competence given the growing influence of European Union and Council of Europe law. Adapted from the source document.

Defense Rresearch.
Defense research is defined in terms of scope, organization and openness. It consumes 1/3 of the total national research budget. A high degree of cooperation at ail levels is required between weapons designers and end users. Working relationships with the scientific community at large both in government and in research laboratories are expanding. The Ministry of Defense farms out over 60 % development to industry, thereby opening up a new two-way information flow that contributes to weapons development and benefits the national economy.