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UK's relationship with the European Union has never been a bed of roses. In 1975, barely two years after joining, Harold Wilson's Labour government consulted the British population by referendum asking them whether they wanted to remain in the European Community. At that time 67% answered "yes". For the 42 years of membership, taking part in Europe has, for most British governments, comprised preventing Europe's institutions from having too much power and negotiating exemptions and derogations to protect national sovereignty. In 2015 this has led to a UK that has managed to escape both from the single currency and the Schengen Agreements on the free movement of people. There are three areas in which the UK has made a strong contribution to the European Union without playing a wild-card: the creation of the internal market, enlargement and defence. The British have always felt comfortable with a European Union defined as a vast market, but much less so with one of political union. Since a market can never exist without regulation the governments in London have accepted however, whether they have liked it or not, for the European Union to regulate trade, financial services and capital. Hence enlargements have often been viewed as positive extensions to the market. Since UK, along with France, are the only ones to have an army that can project itself outside of the European Union, it has been able to make a significant contribution to European Defence without committing strongly to the institutionalisation of a European Defence Policy, which might have competed against NATO.

118 páginas ; The idea that a private enterprise has a social function and some obligations to all stakeholders is not something that has always existed. Concepts like sustainable development and shared value appeared only after a long process of trial and error. Understanding the origins of the theory of corporate social responsibility and its evolution will allow us to be ever closer to solving the mystery of what should be the role of private capital in society. It will also help us determine its importance when facing significant challenges due to government absence or weakness in certain territories. This dissertation explores local content policies, one of the evolutions that corporate social responsibility has had as a response to social requirements. This study will endeavour to analyse the type of local content policies that should be implemented during the exploitation of natural resources, more specifically of mineral resources. This will be a challenge given the complexity of the mining industry and the potential impact of the exploitation activities on the nearby communities. The research will highlight the difficulties, advantages and disadvantages that arise during the implementation of local content policy. The alignment of corporate and government interests, as well as doing business for a common and coordinated purpose, are shown as possible solutions to the adverse effects of the general exploitation of mineral and natural resources. Other options presented that could offer a solution to government gaps and the unsatisfied needs of the communities include commitment on developing local capacities, supporting the private initiative and investing with the purpose of replicating the benefits produced by the mines.

The recent economic crisis has led to a deterioration of the social situation in the Western Balkans. Already before the crisis, a combination of war and conflict, legacies of economic underdevelopment, labour market problems, inadequate social expenditure, and faltering economic growth had produced lingering poverty, unemployment, and income inequality. These trends can be explained in the context of fragmented and uneven welfare regimes that do not approximate any of the available types of welfare capitalism. From 2009 to 2012, the economies of the region suffered from a 'double dip' recession, which exacerbated earlier adverse social effects. Poverty, which had been partly alleviated before 2008, became extensive again, while unemployment has been on the rise over the last five years. Extreme poverty, new poverty, and youth unemployment are examples of the crisis' effects. In spite of this situation, the policy responses of West Balkan governments to the social effects of the crisis have been haphazard, while international assistance never considered the fight against poverty to be a major priority. Such a fight, however, calls for a combination of new, socially sensitive priorities on the part of international donors, including international financial institutions and the eu, and a more systematic 'welfare effort' by national governments in the region. A human security-based strategy will also be needed in order to avoid further deterioration in the living conditions of the poverty-stricken categories of the Western Balkan populations. National governments will therefore need to reconstruct the welfare regimes of the West Balkan states, which have been left incomplete since the transitions of 1989.

Linda Hawkins is the Director of the Institute for Community Engaged Scholarship (ICES). She provides leadership, strategic direction, knowledge brokering and facilitation of research teams for ICES and the Research Shop. She works collaboratively with community partners and institutional partners: faculty, staff, students in the College of Social & Applied Human Sciences, and the wider university. For more information about Linda Hawkins, please go to the ICES website at http://www.theresearchshop.ca/people Kim Chuong is a PhD Candidate in Applied Social Psychology and she is a Project Manager at the Research Shop (affiliated with the Institute for Community Engaged Scholarship). She was first involved in research with the City of Guelph when the City was developing the initial framework for the Guelph Well-Being Initiative. In 2012, she was involved in a research project that examined community engagement policies, frameworks and tools at national and international levels to support the development of an effective community engagement strategy for the City. The research helped inform the Community Engagement Framework, which was presented to the Community and Social Services Committee of Council in April 2013. This Framework was developed to ensure that the community has a voice in local government decision-making process, and decisions made reflect community needs and are sustainable. She is now working with the City to review leading practices in engaging university/college students in local government. For more information about Kim Chuong's research, please contact the Research Shop through their website at http://www.theresearchshop.ca/ ; Linda Hawkins is building collaborative community-university research partnerships to address complex social issues. Kim Chuong informed Guelph's Community Engagement Framework policy that ensures community needs are represented in local government decisions

The establishment of the Auckland 'Supercity', was billed as "New Zealand's bold experiment in local government" (AUT School of Social Sciences and Public Policy 2013). The high media profile nationally and locally, resulted in an Auckland voter turnout of 51 percent in the 2010 local government election. This was two per cent above the national average of 49 percent, already elevated by public interest in the Auckland reforms and Christchurch post-earthquake (Department of Internal Affairs 2013), and a further 13 percentage points up on the aggregate turnout of 37.9 per cent 3 years prior, in 2007. This apparent resurgence in local democracy was short-lived. Three years on, turnout in Auckland had resumed this pattern and dropped a further 2.5 per cent to 35.4 percent (Auckland Council 2013), in line with the trend of declining voter turnout in New Zealand, and many older democracies, since 1989. These results fuel the debate around what influences voter turnout and what constitutes effective local democracy. International scholars (Paxton 2002; Bevelander and Pendakur 2009; Abrams, Iversen et al. 2011; Ben-Bassat and Dahan 2012) have evidenced a positive correlation between social capital and democracy as a general concept and voter turnout more specifically. This paper provides an overview of research linking social capital and voter turnout; describes the governance arrangements following establishment of the Auckland supercity; examines voter turnout rates recorded in Auckland, during the 2010 and 2013 local government elections - the first two triennial elections since reforms; and poses social capital and reform-related explanations for the ongoing decline in Auckland's voter turnout (Royal Commission on Auckland Governance 2008).

Конституция РФ нормами ст.7,38 провозглашает Россию социальным государством, в котором семья, материнство, отцовство и детство находятся под защитой государства. По данным Переписи населения 2002 года численность населения России с 1989 по 2002 сократилась на 1,8 млн. Согласно ежегодному Докладу Фонда ООН в области народонаселения за 2004 год, в России продолжался демографический кризис. В этой связи государство стремительно начало активизировать демографическую политику. При этом круг мер социальной поддержки семьям, имеющим детей, ни как не расширяется, да и существующие программы планируют закрыть по причине нехватки средств в государственном бюджете. Данная статья посвящена изучению актуальных и острых вопросов семей, имеющих детей. Приведены пути разрешения существующих проблем, а также предложения по совершенствованию законодательства по данным вопросам. ; Articles 7, 38 of the Constitution of Russian Federation claims that Russia is a social government, where the family, maternity, paternity and childhood are under the protection of the government. According to Censure of enumeration 2002 the population of citizens in Russia from 1989 to 2002 decreased to 1,8 mln. Pursuant to the annual report 2004 of the United Nations Population Fund, Russia suffers demographical crisis. Therefore, the government immediately enhanced demographical policy. However, the measures of social support of families with children have not been extended and the current programs may be the subject to closure due to the absence of funds in state budget. This article covers the study of actual and critical issues if families with children. The measures for resolution of current problems and the suggestions on enhancement of legislation within them are described.

Reputation of states is an important issue in the international arena. Especially today, since individuals and societies also have a say regarding foreign politics, reputation of a country before the international community has become an important variable. In consideration of the Turkish foreign politics under the Justice and Development Party (AKP), it is not hard to see that actually this period has been the period when the most important steps regarding soft power and public diplomacy were taken. However, despite all these efforts, the government's designation of rather authoritarian methods can be interpreted as concessions regarding foreign policy and the country's reputation in the international arena for the sake of domestic politics. Primarily the pressure of the AKP government on the traditional media channels and then the pressures on the social media and the internet, which comprise the subject of this study and have recently been intensely witnessed, are among the touchstones of such authoritarianization. In this study, reflections of the Twitter and Youtube ban of the AKP government in late March 2014 on the French press have been analyzed. As is known, access to Twitter was banned on March 21, 2014 and following that, to Youtube on March 27, 2014, then access to both was restored in the following days as a result of the appeals to the courts. However, the said bans were perceived as direct intervention in personal rights and freedoms both domestically and internationally during this period, and the AKP government in particular has left deep marks with respect to Turkey's reputation.Keywords: Internet, censor, reputation, reputation management, image, loss of image, foreign press, French press.

Affordable housing delivery for low and lower middle income families is a prominent problem in many developing countries; governments alone are unable to address this challenge due to diverse financial and regulatory constraints, and the private sector's contribution is rare and assists only middle-income households even when institutional and legal reforms are conducted to persuade it to go down market. Also, the market-enabling policy measures advocated by the World Bank since the early nineties have been strongly criticized and proven to be inappropriate to developing country contexts, where it is highly unlikely that the formal private sector can reach low income population. In addition to governments and private developers, affordable housing delivery systems involve an intricate network of relationships between diverse ranges of actors. Collaboration between them was proven to be vital, and hence, an approach towards partnership schemes for affordable housing delivery has emerged. The basic premise of this paper is that addressing housing affordability challenges in Egypt demands direct public support, as markets and market actors alone would never succeed in delivering decent affordable housing to low and lower middle income groups. It argues that this support would ideally be through local level partnership schemes, with a leading decentralized local government role, and partners being identified according to specific local conditions. It attempts to identify major attributes that would ensure the fulfilment of the goals of such schemes in the Egyptian context. This is based upon evidence from diversified worldwide experiences, in addition to the main outcomes of a questionnaire that was conducted to specialists and chief actors in the field.

Affordable housing delivery for low and lower middle income families is a prominent problem in many developing countries; governments alone are unable to address this challenge due to diverse financial and regulatory constraints, and the private sector's contribution is rare and assists only middle-income households even when institutional and legal reforms are conducted to persuade it to go down market. Also, the market-enabling policy measures advocated by the World Bank since the early nineties have been strongly criticized and proven to be inappropriate to developing country contexts, where it is highly unlikely that the formal private sector can reach low income population. In addition to governments and private developers, affordable housing delivery systems involve an intricate network of relationships between a diverse range of actors. Collaboration between them was proven to be vital, and hence, an approach towards partnership schemes for affordable housing delivery has emerged. The basic premise of this paper is that addressing housing affordability challenges in Egypt demands direct public support, as markets and market actors alone would never succeed in delivering decent affordable housing to low and lower middle income groups. It argues that this support would ideally be through local level partnership schemes, with a leading decentralized local government role, and partners being identified according to specific local conditions. It attempts to identify major attributes that would ensure the fulfillment of the goals of such schemes in the Egyptian context. This is based upon evidence from diversified worldwide experiences, in addition to the main outcomes of a questionnaire that was conducted to specialists and chief actors in the field.

В статье рассмотрены проблемы финансирования генерирующих компаний в условиях внешнеполитической и экономической нестабильности. Выявлены причины низких темпов реноваций в электроэнергетической отрасли, которые ставят под угрозу срыва выполнение государственной программы ее развития.Показано, что обеспечение реализации проектов развития отрасли требует усиления государственной финансовой поддержки, а также поиска рыночных инструментов ее финансирования. Для решения поставленных проблем предлагается использовать средства негосударственных пенсионных фондов (НПФ) с одновременным расширением перечня финансовых активов, разрешенных этим организациям для инвестирования. Разработаны механизмы применения конкретных финансовых инструментов для финансирования электроэнергетических компаний. Приведены практические рекомендации, направленные на повышение эффективности реализации по реализации ряда мероприятий, способствующих повышению эффективности программы развития электроэнергетики в РФ. ; The article discusses problems of financial support of power generating companies in the environment of the foreign policy and economic instability. The causes of low renewal rates in the power sector are exposed that threaten the implementation of the government program of its development. The article is based on the budget-funded research carried out under the State Assignment of the Financial University for 2014.It is shown that the implementation of industry development projects requires a more effective government financial support along with the search of market financing tools.To solve the above problems, it is proposed to use non-government pension funds (NGPF) with simultaneous expansion of the list of their financial assets allowed for investment. Mechanisms of applying particular financial tools to financing the power companies are developed. Practical recommendations on how to make the program of the power industry development in the Russian Federation more effective are provided.

Материалы периодической печати являются важным источником по изучению общественного мнения и политики власти в отношении судьбы русских пленных. Анализ печати доказывает, что несмотря на патриотический подъем, который охватил прессу в годы Первой мировой войны, проблема положения русских военнопленных не была широко представлена. В статье анализируется характер публикаций о русских пленных и выявлены причины невнимания прессы к их проблемам. ; The materials of periodicals are an important source for the study of public opinion and policy of the government regarding the fate of Russian prisoners of War. The analysis of print proved that despite the Patriotic fervor that swept the press during the First World War, the plight of Russian prisoners of war was not well represented. The article analyzed the nature of the publications about the Russian prisoners and identified the reasons for the neglect of the press to their problems. Among these reasons, the author calls an unprecedented scale of captivity the millions of War prisoners from each warring sides. The government and their controlled press, instead of analyze the causes of mass captivity and to understand and to correct the generals errors, they tried to forget the prisoners. The theme of captivity was not a separate issue in the national press, and it was used only as illustrative material for the formation of the "enemy image", to illustrate violations by the Germans of the international humanistic principles. This was largely due to the position of the government and the military for their own prisoners they were seen as traitors, they were blamed for the failures that have dogged the Russian army in the first years of the War.

PurposeThe purpose of this exploratory study is to examine whether performance of microenterprises located in a microenterprise zone (MEZO) in China is positively related to key management practices, entrepreneurial orientation, marketing capability, and technology capability. The paper aims to introduce the concept of MEZOs as a supplemental tool for governments to strengthen microenterprise activity.Design/methodology/approachA total of 150 randomly selected microenterprises located in a MEZO in Changchun, an industrial city in Northeast China, completed a survey consisting of a three‐part measure of microenterprise performance developed by Zingeret al.and entrepreneurial orientation. Factor analysis was performed on 11 management issues and correlation analysis was performed.FindingsThe study found that key management practices, marketing capability, and technology capability of microenterprises in MEZOs do have a positive impact on performance sales, net profit, and growth.Research limitations/implicationsThe study's results are limited by a sample in one city in one province of China collected in one month. The data are cross‐sectional rather than longitudinal. Sample bias may exist.Practical implicationsThis study is valuable to government officials, policy makers, non‐government organizations and consulting firms as they examine new measures to unleash the economic power of microenterprises.Social implicationsMEZOs need to be explored as one solution to aide microenterprise development to improve the poverty level, create jobs, and stimulate economic activity.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, this is the first exploratory study of the performance of microenterprises located in a MEZO in China. Through research, the factors that contribute to microenterprise performance and success can be better understood and the impact that the MEZO model has on microenterprises can be better delineated.

Following an overview on the fast changing global context of agriculture, and food and nutrition security, this paper provides a framework for identifying the set of essential international public goods for a well-functioning world agriculture and food system: natural resource management related to biodiversity, water, and soils; climate change adaptation and mitigation; trade and food reserves; competition policy and standards for foreign direct investment; international research and innovation; responding to and preventing food and nutrition emergencies; and trans-boundary food safety and health related investments and standards. The deficiencies of the current institutional arrangements in support of agricultural development and food and nutrition security are reviewed and a perspective for re-design is presented. It comprises three focal clusters of organizational setups under a global platform: a cluster on food and nutrition security for the poor; a second one on protection of natural resources; and a third one on enhanced sustainable intensification and productivity growth. A gradual approach toward re-design based on current building blocks of international organizations is proposed, allowing for more involvement of non-government global actors as well as intensified government-to-government (G-to-G) networking in order to improve international public goods delivery in support of development goals. Some re-design actually occurs already in this direction, but it is rather ad hoc. To move the re-design process forward more strategically, and less ad hoc needs a high-level, broad based, legitimized time-bound dialogue forum that embraces the whole set of international public goods for agricultural development and food and nutrition security, and addresses the organizational implications.

PurposeThe aim of the article is to elucidate the political factors which motivated Zimbabwe's land reform that was forcibly initiated by the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) government in 2000.Design/methodology/approachThe research makes use of primary and secondary sources. The government of Zimbabwe parliamentary debates highlight the grievances raised by the people over land redistribution as early as 1980. The newspapers, internet and published material provide evidence pointing out to the political nature of the land reform.FindingsIt is apparent that the ZANU PF government was reluctant to address the land question despite the fact that many rural people were crowded in the reserves. It was in 2000 that ZANU PF awakened to its waning popularity after the referendum defeat which coincided with the formation of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in 1999. Land reform was used as a political weapon to thwart the MDC as evidenced by the brutal suppression of MDC activities countrywide.Social implicationsThe research proves that the victimisation of MDC members in Zimbabwe has made opposition politics a disastrous game. Starting in 2000, ZANU PF embarked on a mission to thwart opposition activism and the effects were deeply felt. Paramilitary groups such as the Second Chimurenga war veterans, Border Gezi "youths" and ZANU PF supporters took the lead in torturing and killing real and alleged MDC supporters. The MDC retaliated but with very limited success.Originality/valueThe paper provides unique insights into the political motives which encouraged Zimbabwe's land reform programme. The implications for practice provided herein are useful for policy makers in the country.

The study is on Macroeconomic Determinants of Economic Growth in Ghana using cointegration approach. The main objective of this study is to examine the major macroeconomic determinants of economic growth in Ghana between the periods 1970 and 2011 applying the Johansen method of cointegration. All the variables are integrated at first order, as a result the Johansen's cointegration approach was used. The study find out that physical capital and foreign aid had a positive effect on growth in real gross domestic product per capita. In the long run, physical capital, labour force, foreign direct investment, foreign aid, consumer price index, government expenditure and military rule are the significant determinants of growth in real gross domestic product per capita in Ghana. Also, in the short run, foreign direct investment and government expenditure are significant determinants of growth in real gross domestic product per capita. The result shows that there is unilateral directional causality between labour force and physical capital, physical capital and foreign direct investment, foreign aid and physical capital, physical capital and consumer price index, physical capital and military rule, labour force and foreign direct investment, consumer price index and labour force, foreign direct investment and foreign aid. Also, there is bidirectional causality between consumer price index and foreign direct investment. Base on the findings the following policy recommendations are made: Policies should be put in place to increase physical capital and foreign aid. Educational institutions should link up with the corporate organizations to train productive larbour force. Military rule had negative impact on growth in real GDP per capita, therefore, the Government must put in place strategies to protect and sustain democratic rule in Ghana.