Search results

The question asked here is how the horizontal relationship between public and private actors, with the overall aim of delivering public service, is squared with the requirement of democratic accountability according to the traditional model of command and control. Empirical analysis of the European satellite navigation program (Galileo), the European Investment Bank and health, and the European Financial market (the Lamfalussy model) shows that efficiency is at the forefront of the collaborations. Democratic accountability is assumed to take place because there is a formal chain of delegation. However, the private actors are not part of that chain and their accountability is never addressed. The market turn in European Union governance has opened up for private authority and emphasis of output legitimacy. It has not opened up for democratic reforms according to the very authority system of governance. We are dealing with a governance turn and yet it is still government. Adapted from the source document.

This article analyses public-private partnerships (PPPs), which are characterized by shared public authority between public and private actors. The question asked is how well the officials handle the vertical and contractual relationship with the private actors, given the requirement of democratic accountability according to the hierarchical, liberal model of representative democracy. The case study is Galileo, Europe's satellite radio navigation system that can be regarded as a fairly technical and traditional European partnership in the infrastructure sector. The main conclusion is, however, that Galileo is highly complex in both political and economic terms. In spite of this complexity, or precisely because of it, officials are left with very little political guidance and directives. It is also surprising that the market actors seem to be given so much room for manoeuvre in the programme. It can be argued that the power of the officials in designing Galileo is problematic from a democratic perspective. There are basically two reasons for this. The first is that the general political goals for the partnership are too general and have little impact on and contact with the day-to-day activities. It is the officials rather than the politicians that have influence over the PPPs. The second reason is that the private actors do not only run the programme in an overall sense, they will also make important decisions in its daily management. The private actors thus have influence within important public infrastructure but are not democratically accountable for their decisions. Hence, the case of Galileo shows that a fairly simple task - the offering of satellite navigation signals - is highly complex. The conclusions from this study therefore suggest that PPPs in even more complex policy areas need to be analysed carefully before any decisions on a partnership are reached. Adapted from the source document.

Examines the process by which the European Community (EC) & several individual European governments initiated extensive technological research & development programs virtually simultaneously. It is argued that the individual states & the EC are linked to a broader European policy process, & that the convergence of their research & development was the result of policy diffusion. The EC's nonhierarchical & informal cooperation structure lends itself to such policy diffusion & has served as a step toward European integration in the European Union. The role & economic structure of the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development are also examined. 64 References. Adapted from the source document.

In this article we argue that organizations & organizing activities lie at the very heart of the European integration process. Cross-pillar issues require an analytical framework that allows one to study the interplay between the market & security spheres of European integration, including how supranational & intergovernmental actors, private & public, interact with each other. By using sociological institutionalism & its notion of how organizations are institutionalized, we analyze the organizational complexity in the multifaceted policy area of armaments, without losing theoretical clarity. 46 References. Adapted from the source document.

How the Swedish social democratic government & Swedish industrialists responded to the security policy challenge resulting from the US high-technology export control offensive of the early 1980s is discussed as an illustration of the use of different security-enhancing strategies by a small industrial state in a setting of adversarial interdependence. The persistent weight of interstate conflict within interdependence is illustrated, along with the webs of transnational relations affecting the governing capacity of states. Informal collaboration between industry & state in Sweden & the complementary lack of domestic debate over the technology control issue exemplify the traditional Swedish consensus-oriented style of handling critical policy questions. Sweden was able to adjust policies in ways acceptable from both international neutrality & domestic politics perspectives; a (trans)national mobilization strategy was exploited. 44 References. Adapted from the source document.

The article analyses what the third EU Directive on AML (anti-money laundering) and risk management means in terms of democratic accountability when the banking sector is given a role that is traditionally the prerogative of the public actors. The comparison between the UK and Sweden on the private actors' role in various stages of the risk-based decision process shows that the procedures used could jeopardize the traditional liberal understanding of democratic accountability. Adapted from the source document.

In addition to traditional established types of entities i.e., government, the marketplace, and civil society there has been a growing trend in recent years toward partnerships between organizations in the public and private spheres. Organizations can form partnerships but at the same time remain separate, autonomous entities. The manner in which such partnerships are organized and regulated is examined. For data-gathering purposes, plans are underway to conduct comprehensive interviews of private and public actors. Adapted from the source document.

While gender equality in Swedish political science has increased during the last two decades, the top university positions of the field are still dominated by men. While the time lag hypothesis predicts full equality, practical evidence has proven otherwise. Several juridical, collective and individual actions are suggested to alleviate the problem. L. Pitkaniemi