Suchergebnisse

An argument for a reconceptualization of "human rights," examining the great eighteenth-century French & American texts in which generalized rights declarations contrasted with selective recognition of rights in the real world. It is contended that rights are social practices that must be understood in their historical & situational contexts, & that the subject of human rights is always the individual human being, but that the human being is a political/social animal. Thus the argument is made for a holism that recognizes the social richness of the individual subject. While abstract or idealist foundations (eg, natural law or rights) for human rights are insufficient because they ignore human beings as historical/social beings, so is the completely relativistic position, which totally gives up on the individual as the struggler for, & bearer of, human rights. Some problems posed for human rights by modern constitutional government & the new world order are explicated. AA

The conflict between the province of Quebec & the Canadian federal government over Quebec's claim to special recognition as a separate entity within Canada is examined. It is argued that this claim clashes with the rights of individuals to express themselves in the language of their choice (French or English) & questions the notion of a national Canadian identity. Quebec's majority population is French-speaking & Roman Catholic. To protect the English elite that had settled in Quebec, the province was declared bilingual under the British North America Act of 1867. Recurring conflicts over bilingualism & minority language rights since then are discussed. The Meech Lake Accord of 1990 proposed constitutional changes that would enable Quebec to add its signature to the 1982 Constitution & Charter of Rights & Freedoms. The subsequent debate over issues raised by the Accord reopened the question of a collective national identity, particularly how national communities are defined & redefined. S. Millett

Abstract
Despite significant scholarly disagreement about its definition, core meaning, and corresponding cases, ethnic cleansing has escaped careful conceptual examination. This article identifies five key areas of conceptual confusion that undermine the integrity and utility of the concept. These include discrepancies over the core meaning of ethnic cleansing; tension between ethnic cleansing as a practice and a policy; the lack of boundedness between ethnic cleansing and other related concepts; the universe of cases that belong together; and disparate subtype classification criteria. This conceptual confusion undermines effective comparative analysis and, in turn, our understanding of the causes of ethnic cleansing and associated policy recommendations. The solution is to abandon the social science usage of ethnic cleansing in favor of alternative concepts defined by the distinct intent of the perpetrator(s): massacre (to annihilate), mass expulsion (to remove), coercive assimilation (to eliminate a unique cultural identity), and control (to subjugate). This eliminates ambiguity, improves theoretical precision, and opens a promising new research agenda.

AbstractIn the wake of recent catastrophic natural disasters, the United Nations (UN) has developed an increasingly sophisticated network of collaborative partnerships to assist with humanitarian relief operations. The growing use of open-source technology such as crowd mapping and resource tracking—being universally accessible, collaboratively designed, subject to ongoing improvement, and responsive to on-the-ground needs—reflects in many respects the emerging UN governance mechanisms developed to support the creation of such technology. The 2008 meeting of the World Economic Forum called for increased documentation and 'dissemination of the work of humanitarian relief' and 'mapping of assets, non-food items' and resources to prevent duplication.1 However, as yet, little attention has been given to the role of open-source governance mechanisms in the context of disaster response. This article aims to fill this gap by examining the emerging mechanisms by which private sector collaboration is coordinated by international institutions such as the UN. It finds that the emergence of post-disaster open-source humanitarian relief reflects the observations of new governance legal scholars that coordination is increasingly the result of expanded participation and partnership on the part of governments and non-State actors, a learning-focused orientation, with the State increasingly acting as a convener, catalyst and coordinator.

Inflation and an addiction to debt characterize the U.S. economy. The author explains how the policies directed at avoiding deflation have yielded income and wealth redistribution and inequities; inflation; inordinate growth in government, the financial sector, money supply, and debt; currency debasement; fragility in the financial system; loss of international competitiveness; and distortions in interest rates, currency ratios, trade, labor and product pricing, and asset valuations. Whether through currency depreciation, unjust wage and price increases, the absence of real income gains for all through maximum price reductions from efficiency and technology gains, or other means, the unblessed are relatively impoverished by the wealth redistribution of the system courtesy of the distributional coalitions, big government, and the financial sector. The author provides a critical look at fundamental economic theory and practice in a nonmathematical, common sense presentation. He offers a new, insightful challenge to aspects of Keynesian and monetarist theories. These schools of thought have not been proffering solutions for our problems of debt, inflation, and relative poverty because they are unnecessarily anchored to a debt-based monetary system, interest rate management and inadequately competitive markets. The U.S. and capitalism should have been producing better results. Our imperfect system is so flawed and has become so fragile that a major financial collapse may well challenge the actual survival of our political institutions. Other writers have addressed such subjects as the business cycle, failures of the banking system, inflation, debt, potential financial collapse, distributional coalitions, and the desirability of a system translating productivity growth into lower output prices. This book is unique in offering a unified, comprehensive view of these subjects and others in a non-mathematical, nontraditional, yet compelling manner. It will be useful to students, teachers, policymakers and general readers who sense that something ails mainstream economics and seek a better understanding of the systemic deficiencies that have brought the U.S. to its fragile financial state and of the reasons so many past policies and programs have failed.

This study aims to give a general overview of the historical development, particularisms and main issues of the positive law of foreign direct investment, by looking at different areas of law, ranging from the history of law to the very content of foreign investment law, and through dispute settlement mechanisms for foreign investment. An exegetical study of laws and regulations on foreign investments is a necessary step for the understanding of the legal regime of foreign direct investment, but its knowledge of the law is not sufficient for an investor to succeed in his investment.Its development is undeniably linked to the elements of the political, cultural, social and economic aspects of the country. From the promotion of Marxist values of the Soviet system under the Mao Zedong period, to the adoption of legal pragmatism under the direction of Deng Xiaoping; from the policy of the planned economy to the market economy. In forty years, the government was able to create an entire legal system from almost nothing. However, the speed of legislative work is by no means a proof of its quality. Indeed, in order to catch up with the legal systems of the economically developed countries, the government had to implement foreign solutions, without carrying out any in-depth adaptation or harmonization work, thus reducing the value and the effectiveness of the law.Initially, the foreign direct investment law consisted only of three separate laws and their implementing regulations : Sino-Foreign EJV Law and its Implementing Regulation, the WFOE Law and its Implementing Regulation, and Sino-Foreign CJV and its Implementing Regulation. This was then competed by other laws and regulations, each governing only one specific form of foreign-invested enterprise.Litigation is part of everyday life which allows the legislator to measure the efficiency of justice within a State. Despite the fact that litigation is the ultimate means of testing the effectiveness a legal system, it is only a last resort, especially in states such as ...

This volume brings together innovative work from emerging and leading scholars in international law and political science to critically examine the impact of the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS). By leveraging a variety of theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches, the contributors assess the impact of the IAHRS on domestic human rights change in Latin America. More specifically, the book provides a nuanced analysis of the System's impact by examining the ways in which the IAHRS influences domestic actors and political institutions advancing the realisation of human rights. This work will be of interest to students and scholars of human rights and Latin American politics, as well as to those engaged with the nexus of international law and domestic politics and the dynamics of international and regional institutions.

Cover -- Contents -- List of Figures and Tables -- List of Abbreviations -- Preface and Acknowledgements -- 1 Relevance and Refinements of Case Studies -- 1.1 Case studies as cornerstones for theories and research programs -- 1.2 The case for case study research -- 1.3 The case for a non-fundamentalist and pluralist epistemology -- 1.4 Case study methodology: A brief history and recent contributions -- 1.5 Case studies: Toward a generic and multidimensional definition -- 1.6 Observations: Toward an adequate understanding of case studies -- 1.7 Three approaches to case study research: An overview -- 2 Co-Variational Analysis -- 2.1 Research goals and research questions -- 2.2 Ontological and epistemological foundations and affinities -- 2.3 Selecting cases -- 2.4 The functions of prior knowledge and theory -- 2.5 Drawing causal inferences for the cases under investigation -- 2.6 Measurement and data collection -- 2.7 Direction of generalization -- 2.8 Presenting findings and conclusions -- 2.9 Example of best practice: Zangl's Judicalization Matters! -- 2.10 Summary and conclusions -- 2.11 Appendix: How to make counterfactual analysis more compelling -- 3 Causal-Process Tracing -- 3.1 Research goals and research questions -- 3.2 Ontological and epistemological foundations -- 3.3 Selecting cases -- 3.4 Collecting empirical information -- 3.5 Drawing causal inferences for the case(s) under investigation -- 3.6 Examples -- 3.7 Direction of generalization -- 3.8 Presenting findings and conclusions -- 3.9 Summary -- 4 Congruence Analysis -- 4.1 Research goals and research questions -- 4.2 Ontological and epistemological foundations and affinities -- 4.3 Selecting theories and cases -- 4.4 Formulating expectations and collecting data -- 4.5 Data analysis - The congruence analysis proper -- 4.6 Direction of generalization.

The Asia-Europe meeting: contributing to a new global governance architecture -- ASEM 8 summit texts -- The negotiation history -- ASEM 8: the narrative -- ASEM working methods reform: an identity issue -- Perception and ASEM visibility in the European media -- IMF: the road from rescue to reform -- In search of a new global financial architecture: China, the G20 and ASEM -- Banking regulations at a Crossroads -- Asia and Europe: meeting future energy security challenges -- Enhancing maritime security governance: European and Asian naval missions against Somali Piracy -- Bridging Asia and Europe? Australia and New Zealand membership in ASEM -- ASEM's future enlargement: the way forward

Doing Business 2010 is the seventh in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies--from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe--and over time. Regulations affecting 10 stages of a business's life are measured: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business. Data in Doing Business 2010 are current as of June 1, 2009. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why.

Why should business decision-makers study government performance data? The international collection of articles in this symposium illustrates the type of issues and data that managers should consider in making business decisions.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the demands of the core stakeholders and how these stakeholders drive the information disclosure behaviors of the enterprise and local government.


Design/methodology/approach
Content analysis was conducted. The authors collected and analyzed information disclosure laws and regulations regarding environmental emergencies in China, as well as related media reports and official accident investigation report about the oil pipeline leakage and explosion accident in City Q. The authors divided the whole process of the accident into four stages, i.e., the prodromal stage, acute stage, chronic stage, and resolution stage, and then analyzed the different demands of stakeholders and the different information disclosure behaviors of the enterprise and local government during these four stages.


Findings
During the environmental emergency, the enterprise and local government exhibited information disclosure behaviors for their own benefits. There was severe information asymmetry between the enterprise and local government. Local government acted more positively in terms of information disclosure than the enterprise due to the demands of stakeholders. There were significant differences between the driving effects of different stakeholders. The effects of central government and local communities were the strongest, followed by news media and environmental organizations, whereas general public had the weakest impact. In addition, the effects of stakeholders on the information disclosure varied throughout different stages.


Originality/value
This paper considered a Chinese typical case study, thereby providing details of information disclosure behaviors of the enterprise and local government during an environmental emergency, and making comparative analysis on the driving effects on information disclosure by different stakeholders.

The typical cases of funded development projects are donor-funded. One of the major problems faced by donor-funded projects is that after the withdrawal of donor funding, the projects are not sustainable. Literature has identified some of the factors that cause lack of sustainability including low stakeholder ownership and commitment, lack of understanding of community context, lack of community empowerment, leadership, technology choice, and over-ambitious objectives. I use the social constructivist approach to study the Limpopo IDC Nguni Cattle Development Project in Limpopo Province of South Africa which I got in contact with through student supervision. The project is based on a livestock pass-on system using the indigenous Nguni cattle. The objectives of the project are to reintroduce the Nguni cattle to their original owners, to contribute to livelihoods, to alleviate poverty, and to contribute towards food security. I collected data from three key informants who have been involved with project formation and management and are still involved with it. I collected data through recorded interviews and analyzed them using thematic analysis. I concluded that this project, not only demonstrates the ability of the government to take over projects from donors and run them successfully/sustainably, but it also provides a model of how this can be done. The critical question is: Can the projects for which this model is appropriate be identified a priori as this would increase their sustainability.

Los estudios comparativos han sido el objetivo de los gobiernos y de las organizaciones multilaterales, adquiriendo cada vez más relieve en el actual proceso de globalización. En la evaluación de las políticas, especialmente las educativas, la comparación se utiliza para delimitar los parámetros de calidad y los modelos de eficiencia. Este artículo tiene como objetivo presentar un estudio de las políticas en materia de formación y desarrollo profesional para profesores de enseñanza secundaria de España y Brasil, con las categorías de análisis de la descentralización, la financiación, la evaluación y cambios del perfil del profesor, bajo la influencia de los procesos de globalización y reforma del Estado en la educación, con el fin de identificar las tendencias en curso.Comparative studies have been widely used by governments and multilateral organizations and have been getting increasingly attention in the current process of globalization.In the evaluation of policies, especially the educational ones, the comparison is used to demarcate the parameters ofquality and models of efficiency. This article aims to present a study of professional formation policies and professional development of secondary teachers from Spain and Brazil.The categories of analysis used in this study are decentralization, financing, evaluation and the changes in the teachers'profiles as a result of the influence of the globalization processes and there formin education lead by the State, in order to identify ongoing trends.