Suchergebnisse

This paper focuses on the principle of subsidiarity, which is one of the key principles in the European Union law and which along with other principles essential for democratic political systems, such as the principles of federalism, regionalism, local self-government, proportionality, legal certainty etc., is recognised in the EU law as an effective method (and criteria) of State governance as this principle is the basis for separation and allocation of powers at different levels of governance. This allows bringing decision making closer to citizens, promotes democratic processes in the country, increases the openness of the public sector to the needs of the society, and contributes to better protection and implementation of human rights. The work presents the analysis of national legislation which imposes the principle of subsidiarity, discusses the impact of the principle on the system of legal institutes, its use in the state governance and local self-government, analyses the practical problems of the application of this principle in the decentralisation and democratisation of state governance (distribution of powers to the governance entities). The principle of subsidiarity is used to defend the prerogatives of central governance and local community interests, and the result of its application is a rational consolidation of the management concept in the state organisation, when the allocation of institutional powers between different levels of governance is caused not by ambition of political governance but the effective exercise of powers conferred on the authorities in order to achieve that decisions are taken not only at the highest management level, but also that the local community is included in their making. It is important for Lithuania that during the application of the principle of subsidiarity in the management system, the level of decision-making is adequate to the scale and complexity of the arising problem, so that the assignment of functions is based on the need and ability to implement them in a specific level of state management, and that the state management functions are based not only on the political will but also on the financial resources necessary for the implementation of the functions. ; Straipsnyje pagrindinis dėmesys skiriamas vienam iš reikšmingiausių Europos Sąjungos teisės principų – subsidiarumo principui, kuris, kaip ir federalizmo, regionalizmo, savivaldos, proporcingumo principai, yra itin svarbus demokratiniam politinių sistemų funkcionavimui. Šio principo įtvirtinimas ES teisėje, leido jį pritaikyti kaip veiksmingą socialinių sistemų valdymo metodą (ir kriterijų), kuriuo vadovaujantis pasiekiamas valstybės valdymo decentralizavimas ir valdžios galių dekoncentravimas, paskirstant įgaliojimus skirtingo lygmens institucijoms. Tai skatina demokratinius procesus valstybėje, didina viešojo sektoriaus atvirumą visuomenės poreikiams, užtikrina sprendimų priėmimą arčiau piliečių, padeda geriau apsaugoti ir įgyvendinti žmogaus teises. Straipsnyje formuluojamas tikslas – atskleisti nacionalinėje teisėje įtvirtintą subsidiarumo principo sampratą ir jo taikymo praktiką decentralizuojant Lietuvos valstybės valdymą. Pasitelkus analitinį ir sisteminės analizės metodus straipsnyje siekiama pagrįsti, kad viena iš neefektyvaus valstybės valdymo priežasčių yra netinkamas Europos Sąjungos teisės principų – šiuo atveju subsidiarumo principo – sąvokos apibrėžimas nacionalinėje teisėje. Dėl to šio principo taikymas valstybės valdymo sistemai decentralizuoti neefektyvus.

Исследуются правовой статус, состав, структура, основные формы и методы работы Томского губернского революционного комитета, являвшегося чрезвычайным органом государственной власти на территории обширной Томской губернии на заключительном этапе Гражданской войны. Освещены причины, приведшие к его созданию, обозначены принципиальные отличия от конституционных органов власти, проанализирована нормативная база, положенная в основу деятельности органа. Показана руководящая роль губернского комитета партии в работе ревкома. ; After Tomsk province was freed from the White Guard troops in December 1919 Bolsheviks began to restore the provincial government. However, due to the unstable socio-economic situation and the possibility of anti-soviet action, state power was concentrated in hands of the provincial revolutionary committee formed on December 25, 1919 for ten months. The committee was an extraordinary organ of state power with extensive power in the field of civil and military administration. Its members were not elected but appointed by higher authorities and, above all, the Siberian revolutionary committee, which the Tomsk revolutionary committee was under the direct subordination to. The provincial committee had a right to form revolutionary committees of counties and administrate their activity. Functioning of the provincial revolutionary committee proceeded on the basis of the Statute of the revolutionary committees approved by the Central executive committee and the Council of Defence on October 24, 1919. However, the absence of the most important questions (regarding the structure, competencies, roles and responsibilities of the revolutionary committees) noticeably reduced the legal significance of this act and did not allow to apply its requirements in practice. In the period of the revolutionary committee administrative activity the centre of Tomsk Province was temporary moved to Novonikolayevsk. This required a very complicated organizational restructuring of the revolutionary committee. As a result, Novonikolayevsk revolutionary committee was turned into a province committee and Tomsk revolutionary committee reduced its authority to the county level. Periodical change of its members was a characteristic feature of the revolutionary committee. During the whole period of existence of the revolutionary committee some professional Bolsheviks were among its members: V. Shumkin, A. Karlov, F. Krylov, M. Levitin, N. Kalashnikov, G. Sobolevski, B. Shumyatsky, M. Sumetsky, A. Belenets, F. Orlov, J. Poznansky. Work forms of the revolutionary committee included meetings of the presidium, the revolutionary committee meeting with department heads and representatives of concerned agencies, the economic conference. All major actions that took place in the revolutionary committee were to have had the sanction of the provincial party committee. Possibility of party interference in the work of soviet authority was achieved by entry of the party members to the revolutionary committee and vice versa. By the autumn of 1920 the situation in the province allowed to move the administration from extraordinary organs of state power to the constitutional ones. At the first Congress of the provincial councils held on October 25-28 the provincial executive committee of soviets of workers, peasants and Red Army deputies was elected. The revolutionary committee gave full power to the new institution and ceased to exist.

Aim of this work is, firstly, to produce a synthetic indicator able to identify the main factors that allowed the Photovoltaic ("PV" since now) diffusion from 1996 (PV wide diffusion starting date) to 2010, in 14 selected countries (on the basis of the best performance at EU level, showed by the time series considered) and, secondly, we want to evaluate the technical efficiency of these countries in terms of efficient resources utilization and cost efficiency. For this scope a two steps analysis is performed. In the first step, by using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique, we will identify specific weights of the variables considered for each year, and the roles (in terms of weight) played, by each of them, yearly. In the second step, by using a DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) model, we will calculate the efficiency scores of 14 EU Member States (EU codes: AT, BE, BG, CZ, DK, FI, FR, DE, EL, IT, NL, ES, SE, and UK). In the first step, we will consider a set of 20 indicators concerning the diffusion of PV, from those concerning the usual electricity demand level/sources, to specific indicators concerning the solar irradiation intensity, modules costs, PV market growth and government financial support schemes. Expected results of the work are, firstly, a detailed analysis able to explain the evolution trend in 14 EU countries (the best performers in the EU PV sector); second, the production of a synthetic indicator able to identify the main variables that allowed the PV diffusion during the years considered; third, a detailed overview on EU solar energy supporting schemes implemented by the 14 EU countries; finally, using the scores of efficiency, the production of a useful tool to be used to measure the attractiveness of PV investments within each EU country considered. Moreover, our work foresees the achievement of important socio-economic impacts: from the role played by the PV sector to produce new job opportunities, to the improvement of attractiveness of Foreigner Direct Investments above all in those sunrich EU countries. Strictly connected to this last point, is the discussion concerning the role of convergence regions (and structural funds available for them) and the related strategic use of structural funds towards the PV's goals. As a consequence of the heavy worldwide economic crisis, several EU countries are implementing spending review procedures; in this context we put our work, by informing policy makers about the economic potential of PV deployment as well as the government funding schemes role. A final consideration concerns the need to work towards a graduated match between PV labour demand and PV labour supply that, actually, results far to be reached: secondary schools and Universities are invited to play an active role in bridging the gap. Finally, the results reached with this work will fit with 2 of 7 EU 2020 flagships: from one hand, with the flagship an "Agenda for new skills and jobs" by equipping people with the right skills for the jobs of today and tomorrow and, from the other hand, with the flagship "Resource Efficient Europe".

Globalization is no longer a cliché. In the economic, political and social spheres the world is changing fast enough to bring up new paradigms and new competition in business structures. To strive and succeed, organizations need to face change as a source of new opportunities and innovation seems to be the response. For this dissertation, either bibliographic or empirical findings have confirmed that whether choosing for innovation, companies should look inside and analyse if their environments are supportive to idea generation. The paradigm shifts from the traditional stability the generation of a DNA of change. Technological, procedural or organizational, innovation must be the approach to think out of the box, based on people's potential. Around simple concepts, the status quo is questioned and companies create their visions based on high standards of excellence, achievable through the introduction of novelty in their genetic code. Both managers and lower-line employees must give their best to explore as much benefits as possible from their innovative initiatives. A culture of innovation and creative efforts must be the basis of all decisions and behaviours fostered by companies. Learning organizations appear in this context as the engines to which motivation and creativity are the inputs to develop the right climate, structure and support to produce what clients might desire. As Janszen says in his 2000 book, "we now live in the age of innovation" and it has to be part of the process of reaching success. ; A globalização deixou há muito de ser um cliché. Nas esferas económica, política e social o mundo está a mudar a um ritmo capaz de trazer novos paradigmas e nova competição às estruturas empresariais. Para rivalizar e vencer, as empresas precisam de encarar a mudança como uma fonte de novas oportunidades e a inovação parece ser a resposta. No âmbito desta dissertação, tanto as conclusões da pesquisa bibliográfica como do estudo empírico revelaram que, quando escolhendo o caminho da inovação, as empresas devem olhar internamente e avaliar se o seu ambiente é capaz de promover a geração de ideias. O paradigma altera-se da estabilidade tradicional ao ADN de mudança. Tanto tecnologicamente, processualmente, como organizacionalmente, a inovação deve ser a abordagem para que se pense out of the box, com base no potencial humano. Envolvendo conceitos simples, o status quo é questionado e as empresas desenvolvem as suas visões com base em altos padrões de excelência, possível de alcançar através da introdução de novidade no seu código genético. Tanto gestores de topo como colaboradores de baixa hierarquia devem dar o seu melhor na exploração de benefícios obtidos das suas iniciativas inovadoras. A cultura de inovação e o esforço criativo devem suportar todas as decisões e comportamentos promovidos pelas empresas. O conceito de Learning Organization aparece neste contexto como o motor para o qual motivação e criatividade são os inputs para desenvolver o ambiente, a estrutura e o suporte correcto para produzir o que os clientes poderão desejar. Como Janszen diz no seu livro de 2000, "vivemos na Era da inovação" e ela tem que faz er parte do processo para atingir o sucesso.

Статья посвящена выяснению специфики концепции свободы личности в философии классического («раннего») славянофильтва. Автор полемизирует с мнением об отсутствии в славянофильском учении такой ценности, как свобода. Идея свободы у славянофилов рассматривается в соотношении с их ключевыми методологическими принципами народностью и соборностью. Показаны различия в понимании свободы между славянофильством и либерализмом: славянофилы, сохранив личную свободу, стремились полностью «преодолеть» индивидуализм. ; The article is devoted to clarifying the specifics of the concept of individual freedom in the philosophy of the classical ("early") Slavophilism. In Slavophil philosophy the public, no doubt, prevails over the personal and, moreover, appears as a condition for the existence of the latter. The author points out that this interpretation is fundamentally contrary to the classical liberal understanding of freedom of the individual in a civil society, but it argues against the view that there is no such value as freedom in Slavophil teaching. The Slavophil look at the freedom of the individ ual and its social function is based on the intrinsic qualities, which, according to the Slavophils Western and Russian types of persons have. According to the teaching of Slavophiles, the Western society and the state are built on personality, which set itself an absolute measure of everything, so they are artificial associations. For a real social cohesion in its progress towards moral perfection, the society needs the absolute norm, the law obligatory for everyone. If the society recognizes the need in higher law, according to which it must coordinate all its life, then, the Slavophiles emphasized, we must admit that before this law, the person should lose its absolute value. This consciousness is incompatible with the typical liberal sense of sovereignty of the individual and his/her values as a measure for everything. This provision of Slavophilism differs from the conservative philosophical and political tradition in the aspect that Slavophiles extend the absolute moral law to all members of any nation, without distinction of classes, education and personal qualities and abilities. The position of the existence of higher spiritual law, ruling in the life of the person, and in the life of a people, gives origin to the Slavophil theory of nationality in science, art, and politics in all the areas of human activity. Unlike the Westerners, who considered a people as a collection of autonomous individuals, the Slavophils perceived a people as an inseparable organic whole. In their understanding, each individual can find his/her own inner integrity, only by being a living, integral part of a people. The Slavophiles called the organic unity of the individual and the public "sobornost" (conciliarism). The idea of sobornost, put forward in opposition to the liberal idea of individualism is the main originality of the Slavophil philosophy. According to their theory, the society is a kind of congregational identity, a single organism. The person, in accordance with these views, renouncing some of his/her rights, just exalts oneself. The author concludes that in their socio-philosophical concept the Slavophiles did not consider personal liberty in isolation from the principles of nationality and sobornost. Thus, preserving the idea of freedom, they sought to completely "overcome" individualism.

Рассматриваются критические подходы к осмыслению творчества одного из авторов «деревенской прозы» Фёдора Абрамова. Утверждается, что это направление в целом оказало решающее влияние на ход литературной перестройки. Несмотря на появление в конце 1980-х гг. произведений более смелых и стилистически, и политически, наследие Ф. Абрамова помогало сохранить традиции русской классической литературы. ; During the period, which came right after the disintegration of Soviet Union, many realities of the Soviet reality were exposed to revision. Freedom, which was marked by perestroika and glasnost in the late 1980s, caused not only change of a literary canon. With the beginning of a new stage in the history of literature the reputation of writers making public success during the Soviet period began to be exposed to doubt. The most important blame of rural prose consisted in the fact that it became the literature that obtained an official recognition at the time of cruel censorship. In the article Commemoration for the Soviet Literature Victor Yerofeev even takes out charge to the rural literature in degradation though authors of this prose to his mind are more gifted and more socially worthy in comparison with representatives of the semi-official literature. Nevertheless, many western Slavists have appeared to be unanimous in a positive estimation of the literary heritage of the Russian authors writing in the Soviet period on the theme of village. For example, K. Parthe reminds in the days of stagnation rural literature was respected for truthfulness and honesty, and in the late eighties V. Rasputin, V. Belov and V. Astafyev began to be considered as conservatives coming back to patriarchal values and traditions. It is paradoxical doubly as their best works had been written more than twenty years ago in the most democratic traditions of the Russian literature. For the American researcher the main role played by rural prose in the post-Stalin revival of literature does not raise any doubt. Despite the seeming compromise with the authorities, rural writers made much, and most importantly they promoted the revival of traditions of the Russian literature. According to J. Billington creative work of rural writers was a new version of the protest against the Soviet system. These writers glorified the Russian village and province, but also convicted the Soviet bureaucracy, which destroyed their values and polluted earth and water. One of the writers, whose creativity has been reconsidered by the Russian criticism in the post-Soviet period, is Fyodor Abramov. The English critic David Gillespie, appreciating Abramov very highly, declares that the story The Trip to the Past would be enough to remember Abramov hundred years later and that his name has already entered the history of the Russian literature. Some critics draw a parallel between him and A. Solzhenitsyn. But, if telling about Solzhenitsyn the majority of western critics started with idealized perception of his creativity peculiar for all the West in the early eighties, the analysis of Abramovs creative heritage is characterized by that fact that ideological barriers of perception of the modern Russian literature were already removed.

This paper explores the history of Namaqualand and specifically the Komaggas community. By taking note of the major developments that occurred in the area, the effects on this community over the last 200 or so years have been established. The focal point follows the history of land; its usage, dispossession and importance to the survival of Namaqualanders. Using the records of travellers to the region, the views of government officials, local inhabitants as well as numerous analyses of contemporary authors, a detailed understanding of this area has emerged. Among other things, the research has attempted to ascertain whether the current Komaggas community has a claim to a greater portion of land than it currently holds. Overwhelming evidence exists that supports the idea that the Khoi grouping known as the Nama did indeed make use of a large portion of Namaqualand practicing transhumance in order to survive. Centuries of beneficial use led to local systems of understanding whereby certain tribes had predominance in particular areas and assumed a right to these lands through continual usage. Following colonisation, the movement of Europeans away from the original settlement at Cape Town, slowly but steadily began to undermine the original inhabitants of the Cape. While Namaqualand was able to withstand this push longer than other areas by virtue of its location, its inhabitants began to be negatively affected by the 1800s. The Nama began to lose their most important commodity, cattle, suffered disease, and were pushed off their ancestral lands and denied access to water sources. A lack of understanding and rationalisation of aboriginal practices relating to land usage and various other customs, as well as a growing racially-charged landscape meant that the Nama, like other Khoi groups, while not explicitly relegated to second class citizens by government, were certainly not supported or given equal treatment. As Europeans were able to secure title and tenure to the best lands in the region, the Nama were sidelined. When Namaqualand became profitable because of copper in the 1850s, the quest for land became even more fervent. The building of an infrastructure over the next decades would facilitate the diamond industry that began in the 1920s, a defining moment that signalled the end of any autonomy of movement for the people of Komaggas. Apartheid further relegated their position in society and today Komaggas is a poor and underdeveloped place with few prospects. However, given the importance of the land agenda in post-1994 South Africa and the success of the Richtersvelders in gaining compensation for loss of land, there is hope for Komaggas. The evidence will show that the Komaggas community certainly made use of lands outside its current boundaries. Examining the doctrine of aboriginal title it will be argued that they certainly have a claim to some form of land redistribution or restitution. This is based on historical evidence as well as the present need to increase agriculture production and to have access to more land for their livestock.

OZET İnsan güvenliği, oldukça tartışmalı ve son zamanlarda uluslararası güvenlik alanında yeniden önem kazanmış bir kavramdır. Kavramın kendisi yeni olmamasına rağmen uluslararası çevrede meydana gelen değişiklikler kavramı hem akademik düzeyde hem de siyasal düzeyde yeniden tartışmaya açmıştır. Kavram, genel olarak BM'nin yapmış olduğu insanların temel özgürlükleri ve korunmaları ekseninde tanımlanmıştır. Buna göre, yokluktan arî olmak ve korkudan arî olmak gibi iki temel özgürlük ekseninde beliren kavram, birinci tanımlamada kalkınma ekseninde ikinci tanımlamada ise saldırı ve tehdit unsurlarından korunma olarak ifade edilmiştir. Bu tezin temel argümanı, öncelik insan güvenliği kavramının 'yokluktan arî olma' kısmına verildiğinde- ki bu insan onuru, insan yaşamının devamı ve insan potansiyelinin geliştirilmesi anlamına gelmektedir- Avrupa Birliği (AB) kalkınma ekseninde gerçekleştirdiği çalışmalar neticesinde uluslararası arenada insan güvenliği konusunda uluslararası işbirliğini sağlayabilecek küresel bir lider konumundadır. Kısaca söylemek gerekirse, AB'nin insani kalkınma konusunda yıllarca gösterdiği çabalar, özellikle insan haklarına saygı, demokratikleşme, liberalizasyon, hukukun üstünlüğü, iyi yönetişim ve çevresel koruma gibi alanlarda başarılı bir örnek olarak görülmektedir. Ancak, insan hayatına yönelik ani ve tahmin edilemez tehditler karşısında bir başka deyişle insan güvenliğinin 'korkudan ari olma' kısmında ise AB nispeten zayıf ve daha az aktif bir aktör olarak değerlendirilmektedir. Bu nedenle özellikle kriz yönetimi ve kriz anlarında anında müdahale gibi konularda AB'nin Avrupa Güvenlik ve Savunma Politikası (AGSP) ve Ortak Güvenlik ve Savunma Politikası (OGSP) alanlarında kapasitesini iyileştirmesi gerekmektedir. ABSTRACTHuman security is a highly debated concept which has recently regained attention in the international security agenda. The concept itself is not a new one; however the changes in the international environment made the concept to be re-interpreted and discussed thoroughly both at the academic and the political level. The concept is mainly identified through the UN definition of the basic freedoms for the protection and empowerment of individuals. There are two main components of the human security; the freedom from want and freedom from fear. While the first one mainly deals with the development aspect of human beings and the latter is all about the protection of individuals from vital and pervasive threats. The main argument of this thesis is that when the prior attention is given mostly to the 'freedom from want' part of human security, the support of human dignity, human survival and increasing of human potential and human betterment, the EU in the field of development can be a leading actor in order to stimulate international support. Thus, it is argued that for many years that the EU has shown a great endeavour to sustain and spread the values that it appreciates the most for human development, such as the respect for human rights, democracy, liberalisation, good governance, the rule of law and environmental protection. However, it can also be argued that the EU is rather less active in the field of 'freedom from fear' which is mostly related with the sudden and pervasive threats to the human lives. There are many efforts are needed under the CFSP and ESDP pillars to improve the EU's role in the 'freedom from fear' aspect of human security.

International audience ; This issue of Transtext(e)sTranscultures is consecrated to diverse reflections on ways of seeing and interrogating homogenizing and totalizing practices and ideologies of our world. Jean Chesneaux poses directly the question of renovating universal principles, a re-inventing that would challenge ethnocentric certainties that cannot but bring into question dominant shibboleths of the past and present. Albert Ch'en's contribution reflects both on past appropriations of French political philosophy in China, and what may be new ways forward. Martha Huang examines how the Westernized pictorial gaze was, at times painfully, assumed by China's cultural producers in the first half of the twentieth century. Evelyn Ch'ien writes of the recent work of the extraordinary Chinese artist Xu Bing whose oeuvre poignantly interrogates both the linguistic and visual dominant codes by which we live, as do the Taiwanese exponents of visual, concrete poetry discussed here by Marie Laureillard. As Geneviève Azam, reminds us, what prevents a real universalisation of shared possibilities is the ideology of the "universal" that is constituted by, and imbricated in, the ideology of economics, for in a "society constructed according to the so-called 'universal' principles of the formal economy, anonymity and massification inhibits the constitution of free and equal individuals, and the unending quest for the production of material wealth to satisfy unlimited needs only makes sense (but what sense?) for a minority of Humanity and destroys the concrete and material possibility of universalizing basic human rights." ; Ce numéro de Transtext(e)s Transcultures est consacré à des réflexions diverses sur les manières de voir et d'interroger les pratiques et idéologies homogénéisantes et totalisatrices de notre monde. Jean Chesneaux pose directement la question du renouvellement de principes universaux, une réinvention qui défierait les certitudes ethnocentristes qui ne peuvent que remettre en question les sacro-saintes doctrines présentes et passées. La contribution d'Albert Ch'en s'interroge à la fois sur les appropriations de philosophie politique française que la Chine a effectuées dans le passé et sur ce qui pourrait constituer de nouvelles avancées. Martha Huang examine comment la vision artistique occidentale fut adoptée, parfois difficilement, par les producteurs artistiques chinois du début du vingtième siècle. Evelyn Ch'ien décrit les récents travaux du remarquable artiste chinois Xu Bing dont l'oeuvre interroge de manière poignante les codes visuels et linguistiques dominants dans lesquels nous vivons, tout comme le font les représentants de la poésie visuelle concrète dont traite ici Marie Laureillard. Comme nous le rappelle Geneviève Azam, ce qui fait obstacle à une réelle universalisation de nos possibilités partagées c'est l'idéologie de « l'universel » constituée par et imbriquée dans l'idéologie de l'économie, car « dans une société construite selon les principes dits « universels » de l'économie formelle, l'anonymat, la massification empêchent la constitution d'individus libres et égaux, et la recherche infinie de production de richesses matérielles pour satisfaire des besoins illimités, n'a de sens (et encore) que pour une part restreinte de l'Humanité et ruine la possibilité concrète et matérielle d'universalisation des droits humains fondamentaux. »

2013 Spring. ; Includes bibliographical references. ; Native plant diversity in riparian systems is currently threatened by the invasive Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.) replacing woody riparian species, including plains cottonwood (Populus deltoides Marsh), used for centuries by the Apsáalooke or Crow Tribe of south-central Montana. The Dawes Act of 1887, also known as the Allotment Act, created a land tenure system that restricted ownership rights and forced an unfamiliar agro-economy on the Crow people. Land cessations, illegal land sales and/or leases over the last century resulted in a mosaic of private non-Indian land ownership parcels interspersed within Crow tribal and individual allotment lands. Crow Tribe and individual land allotments are held in trust by the federal government and managed by the federal trust agent, U.S Department of Interior-Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Elaeagnus angustifolia was intentionally planted in the early 20th century along the floodplains of the Little Bighorn and Bighorn Rivers to support a largely non-Indian owned agro-economy. Mapped presence points of E. angustifolia trees within land use type and land ownership status were used as an indirect measure of policy induced invasion. Stem density of E. angustifolia (stem/km2) varied significantly by land use type (13 predictor variables) (p 1.0) suggesting that near-term climate changes may influence the spread of E. angustifolia, particularly downstream from diversion dams used for irrigation purposes. Personal interviews of Crow Elders overwhelmingly agreed (~80%) that sub-adult cottonwood trees were the most difficult to find now compared to 25 years ago. Maximum distances to travel to obtain sub-adult size classes used exclusively in ceremony increased in present-day by 30 km compared to recent history. Plot data comparing near and far from ceremonial and Crow Fair campground sites indicated that cottonwood stem heights (from 7.32 m plots where n=10) were significantly shorter near ceremony sites ( 2.4 km away; p 55 years) had higher knowledge than younger age groups. Taken in total, I conclude that E. angustifolia is displacing culturally important native biota harvested by the Crow people, and has heavily invaded private or fee-patent lands. Density of this species in allotted lands, however, is not managed by the Crow, as approximately two thirds are leased to non-Indians for farming or ranching operations. Lack of access and management oversight by the Crow Tribe for all lands within the reservation boundaries resulted in drastic changes in vegetation from the once dominant plains cottonwood to an almost mono-culture of E. angustifolia. Growth of this thorny shrub severely restricts the ability to harvest important woody species used in the expression of Crow culture through ceremony. Traditional Crow knowledge related to harvesting practices of culturally important native biota may be in the initial stages of erosion. Future land policy should reflect the ability of the Crow Tribe to manage invasive species within reservation boundaries, regardless of ownership class. To preserve traditional knowledge of native biota, E. angustifolia removal projects coupled with re-vegetation of culturally important species closer to Crow communities will allow access by Elders, and hence preserve their rich cultural knowledge for generations to come.

International audience ; This issue of Transtext(e)sTranscultures is consecrated to diverse reflections on ways of seeing and interrogating homogenizing and totalizing practices and ideologies of our world. Jean Chesneaux poses directly the question of renovating universal principles, a re-inventing that would challenge ethnocentric certainties that cannot but bring into question dominant shibboleths of the past and present. Albert Ch'en's contribution reflects both on past appropriations of French political philosophy in China, and what may be new ways forward. Martha Huang examines how the Westernized pictorial gaze was, at times painfully, assumed by China's cultural producers in the first half of the twentieth century. Evelyn Ch'ien writes of the recent work of the extraordinary Chinese artist Xu Bing whose oeuvre poignantly interrogates both the linguistic and visual dominant codes by which we live, as do the Taiwanese exponents of visual, concrete poetry discussed here by Marie Laureillard. As Geneviève Azam, reminds us, what prevents a real universalisation of shared possibilities is the ideology of the "universal" that is constituted by, and imbricated in, the ideology of economics, for in a "society constructed according to the so-called 'universal' principles of the formal economy, anonymity and massification inhibits the constitution of free and equal individuals, and the unending quest for the production of material wealth to satisfy unlimited needs only makes sense (but what sense?) for a minority of Humanity and destroys the concrete and material possibility of universalizing basic human rights." ; Ce numéro de Transtext(e)s Transcultures est consacré à des réflexions diverses sur les manières de voir et d'interroger les pratiques et idéologies homogénéisantes et totalisatrices de notre monde. Jean Chesneaux pose directement la question du renouvellement de principes universaux, une réinvention qui défierait les certitudes ethnocentristes qui ne peuvent que remettre en question les sacro-saintes doctrines présentes et passées. La contribution d'Albert Ch'en s'interroge à la fois sur les appropriations de philosophie politique française que la Chine a effectuées dans le passé et sur ce qui pourrait constituer de nouvelles avancées. Martha Huang examine comment la vision artistique occidentale fut adoptée, parfois difficilement, par les producteurs artistiques chinois du début du vingtième siècle. Evelyn Ch'ien décrit les récents travaux du remarquable artiste chinois Xu Bing dont l'oeuvre interroge de manière poignante les codes visuels et linguistiques dominants dans lesquels nous vivons, tout comme le font les représentants de la poésie visuelle concrète dont traite ici Marie Laureillard. Comme nous le rappelle Geneviève Azam, ce qui fait obstacle à une réelle universalisation de nos possibilités partagées c'est l'idéologie de « l'universel » constituée par et imbriquée dans l'idéologie de l'économie, car « dans une société construite selon les principes dits « universels » de l'économie formelle, l'anonymat, la massification empêchent la constitution d'individus libres et égaux, et la recherche infinie de production de richesses matérielles pour satisfaire des besoins illimités, n'a de sens (et encore) que pour une part restreinte de l'Humanité et ruine la possibilité concrète et matérielle d'universalisation des droits humains fondamentaux. »

This Master's thesis' purpose is to analyse the challenges that the offshore finance/economy causes to the modern state sovereignty. The offshore finance consists of tax havens, flags of convenience registers, export processing zones, offshore financial centres and international banking facilities, and has grown to such an extent that if we want to understand the international political economy the offshore simply cannot be left unnoticed. I approach the concept of sovereignty by adopting Giorgio Agamben's idea of the close link between sovereignty and the ability to issue a state of exception. Agamben argues that sovereignty is defined by the ability to issue a state of exception and that in contemporary world the exception takes increasingly often the form of a camp. Albeit Agamben's theory focuses mostly on his idea of biopolitics, I find it imperative to extend its reach. Ronen Palan has shown how offshore jurisdictions commercialise their sovereignty by turning the right to draft legislation into a tradable asset. I will analyse the phenomenon of commercialised sovereignty by using Agamben's theory. The question is who has the de facto power to issue and control the commercialised states of exception within the offshore world? Can we see some kind of shift of sovereignty from states to non-traditional actors of politics? My methodological approach to this question comes from international relations' constructivism. In line with Nicolas Onuf's constructivist method that operates around the concepts of structures and agents, I start by setting focus on how different types of offshore jurisdictions (structures) establish and use the states of exception. I will then analyse role of the agents that benefit from the special legislation, with particular focus transborder corporations. Onuf argues that the relationship between agents and structures is not mechanical or rigid relation. I agree with him on this. I will take Onuf's point into account by presenting the connections that the politics of offshore has with larger trends of contemporary economical and financial globalisation Susan Strange's theory of the competition state will be extremely helpful in this research process. After focusing on some empirical case studies I conclude that control of the state of exception within the offshore has, at least in some cases, partially shifted to transborder corporations. Therefore, there are some grounds for analysing transborder corporations as participants in politics and bearers of sovereignty. I argue that these kinds of corporations should be called transnational, while their competitors that do not have significant offshore businesses are essentially multinational. Too often these terms are used interexchangeably and without proper definitions. I end my dissertation by suggesting that our fixation on modern state sovereignty is badly outdated in face of the tremendous rise of the offshore world. In the final chapter I introduce one solution for overcoming the difficulties in combining national regulation with increasingly transnational corporations: the new accounting standards proposed by accountant Richard Murphy. The proposed standards would tax transborder corporations as global entities, thus making the regulatory or tax shopping in offshore by and large useless.

Vieth v. Jubelirer is a significant setback to efforts to challenge partisan gerrymandering in court. Four members of the Supreme Court repudiated Davis v. Bandemer and concluded that partisan gerrymanders present a nonjusticiable question, while the fifth, Justice Kennedy, determined that the Court ought to "refrain from intervention" at this time, although he left open the hope that gerrymandering might become justiciable if the right standard of proving a gerrymander is ever found. Yet, strikingly, all nine members of the Supreme Court agreed that, justiciable or not, partisan gerrymanders do raise a constitutional question and some partisan gerrymanders are unconstitutional. Indeed, Justice Scalia's plurality opinion noted that "severe partisan gerrymanders" are incompatible with "democratic principles" and are presumptively unconstitutional. Justice Scalia analogized "severe partisan gerrymanders" to a decision by the Senate to "employ, in impeachment proceedings, procedures that are incompatible with its obligation to 'try' impeachments." Such an action would "violate the Constitution" even though it might not be "for the courts to say when a violation has occurred, and to design a remedy." Justice Kennedy apparently agreed with the unconstitutionality of gerrymandering as, of course, did the four dissenters. Presumably because the plurality concluded that gerrymandering claims are nonjusticiable, Justice Scalia said very little about why partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional. The concurring and dissenting justices also focused on the linked questions of justiciability and standard of proof of gerrymandering, and said relatively little about what makes gerrymandering unconstitutional. Professor Daniel Lowenstein, in his article, Vieth's Gap: Has the Supreme Court Gone from Bad to Worse on Partisan Gerrymandering?, differs with the plurality on the question of justiciability and with the Court as a whole on the question of constitutionality In his view, partisan gerrymandering does present a justiciable question, but, on the merits, he finds that gerrymandering is almost never unconstitutional. Only when gerrymandering is aimed at a "pariah" group subject to the "pervasive kind of discrimination" comparable to that inflicted on African- Americans in the Jim Crow South or when it is used to "permanently" exclude a majority group from control of a state legislature would Professor Lowenstein find that gerrymandering violates the Constitution. Professor Lowenstein rightly concludes that the likelihood of the first type of claim arising is "small" and of the second "even smaller." He emphatically rejects the "excessive partisanship" theory of the unconstitutionality of gerrymandering. He asserts as a matter of principle – and not just out of a pragmatic concern about "manageability" – that excessive partisanship in legislative apportionment is not only constitutional but is also consistent with both the letter and spirit of the Constitution. The heart of his argument on the constitutionality of gerrymandering is that "the Constitution does not try to prevent political competition from going 'too far.' It depends on competition to preserve the balanced structure of the government." I agree with Professor Lowenstein on two key points – that the substantive merits of the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering must be given much greater attention than they have so far received, and that excessive partisanship is the most important constitutional argument against partisan gerrymandering.

In February 2001 the Swedish National Rail Administration (Banverket) commissioned the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) to carry out a study of railway access conditions in a few countries. The study should deal with access conditions in general with special focus on responsibilities, financing, regulation and pricing of the so-called services facilities mentioned in the European Union (EU) Directive 2001/14, Annex II, 2. The purpose of the study was to highlight these matters as input in the ongoing work of implementing the new EU Directives. In the railway field the EU aims at making access for international (freight) traffic easier in various ways. Standardisation, co-ordination, simplification etc. are some important key words. The EU member states have not only different safety regulations, signalling, ATP, electrical traction systems ? but they also have an astonishing range of organisational peculiarities topped up by different access regimes and ?charges. Finally the regimes for the services facilities (terminals etc.) mentioned in the EU Directive?s Annex vary a lot. It is therefore very difficult for a potential international operator to get a clear picture of the whole chain of events from loading in one country to unloading in another, especially if he wants to operate the service with his own traction and staff all the way. Denmark has a generally liberal attitude towards new entrants. All licensed operators may run train services on the Danish Railway Agency?s infrastructure. Their web-site gives a very good step-by-step description of the Danish approval process. The information is, however, only available in Danish. The liberal attitude towards new entrants is fairly recent and has not yet led to any major changes on the operator scene. Germany differs from most other Member States in the way that apart from Deutsche Bahn, DB, there are more than 150 non-federal railways. About 50 of these operate passenger services. There are reciprocal rights to use each others infrastructure demanded by federal legislation and fairly elaborate systems of access charges for running lines and some services facilities. The terms of use for other facilities must be agreed between the parties concerned. A potential operator may have to deal with both federal and regional authorities to get all the necessary permits. The Netherlands resembles Denmark but there is already a handful of new operators. These new companies either operate regional passenger services or freight trains to the big Dutch ports. In Great Britain the railway sector is privatised ? although with state support. Infrastructure and operations are in the hands of private companies, often listed on the stock exchange. The infrastructure manager Railtrack has a wider brief than its counterparts in other EU Member States. Railtrack owns land, tracks, traffic control facilities, rolling stock maintenance facilities, stations and some freight terminals. These facilities are let to the operators on commercial terms agreed between Railtrack and operators or other parties concerned. As a rule the Office of the Rail Regulator must approve all agreements. Railtrack is also responsible for timetable construction, train path allocation, traffic control and the public passenger traffic timetable.

This study starts out with the hypothesis that the integration process in Europe is connected to cross-border régionalisation, a process which supports the institutionalization of subnational cross-border cooperation - region-building. Cross-border régionalisation is characterized by the decentralisation of vertical links and enhanced opportunities for horizontal links across state borders. In addition, political integration is expected to have some impact on the cross-border institutional forms that emerge at the subnational level. Three different approaches are utilized in order to establish the empirical connection between political integration and region-building. These are: an analysis of the factors which determine the general pattern of cross-border cooperation in Europe, an analysis of the policy network related to the regional and structural policies of the European Union (EU), and case studies of cooperation in the heartland of Europe, the Regio Basiliensis along the external border of the EU, and the EUREGIO along one of the internal borders. Two institutional factors are found to have a significant impact on the number of subnational cross-border cooperations, EU-membership and centrality. Federal constitution was shown not to be significant. It is suggested that the interaction between actors at different politico- administrative levels creates network relations, which typically bring both private and public actors together. More precisely, region-building is described as the outcome of the interaction which takes place between actors. A closer examination of the emerging policy network shows that community initiatives, the Interreg-programme in particular, improve the prospects for multi­level interaction. The EU plays a crucial role in providing the incentives for cooperation by increasing resource dependency and by establishing direct ties between the European Commission and a large number of subnational actors through partnerships. It appears as if the Commission wishes to demonstrate its capacity to deal with problems relevant to individual citizens. By, in part, bypassing central governments, it seems to increase its own importance vis- à-vis member states. The modus vivendi of cross-border region-building and régionalisation is the degree to which institutional actors at different levels share the same objectives. As shown by the case studies, there is a common interest in cross-border cooperation up to the point were public statues are introduced. Interests seem to coincide as long as the structures and contents of cross-border cooperation do not ultimately challenge the authority of state institutions. Therefore, it is not surprising that it seems impossible to give cross-border regions any rights under international law. Functional cooperation, rather than regionalist manifestations of cultural or political unity across borders, constitutes the backbone of region-building. Activities transcending borders are less controversial than those that may contribute to the establishment of new borders. It is concluded that region-building is a process which is embedded in the institutionalization of a multi-level interaction pattern. More favourable multilevel relations have been achieved through the transfer of some authority to the supranational level. This is the main reason why traditional integration theory fails to explain why there is a connection between political integration and cross-border cooperation. ; digitalisering@umu