Suchergebnisse

International institutions constitute the basis of global order. As they struggle to accommodate shifts in power and emerging threats, their legitimacy - their political authority and right to govern - often comes under fire, at times fuelling perceptions of crisis. Yet scholars seldom ask why some institutions are replaced while others are not. Blending theory with history, M. Patrick Cottrell examines some of the world's landmark security institutions, arguing that the possibility of replacement hinges on the sources of institutional legitimacy and the nature and timing of the challenges to it. The analysis not only reveals different pathways to replacement, but also offers a window into the future, including a potential dark side of too much legitimacy. Indeed, as global society becomes ever more dynamic, the fault lines of conflict with the most significant implications for order will not occur over territory, but rather over the legitimacy of international institutions.

International Perspectives on Welfare to Work Policy presents the latest available research on the various interpretations of "welfare-to-work" in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Hong Kong, and on the role social work plays in creating and implementing social welfare policies. Preeminent social work scholars from around the world address the changing nature of social work policy and practice, as welfare recipients are required to work in order to receive benefits. This invaluable book examines issues of importance to practitioners and policymakers, including Temporary As

This article examines the role of the United States in the international refugee regime. It argues that the United States generally leads in assistance and protection of refugees and displaced persons when three conditions are present: a strong link to US foreign policy; clear and highly visible humanitarian needs and important domestic constituencies in support of action; and strong congressional support. The United States manifests its leadership through its financial contributions, as the largest donor to the array of international organizations with responsibilities in this area; resettlement of the refugees; and the use of the convening power of the US government. Nevertheless, there are reasons to be cautious about US leadership. While it is unlikely that the United States will soon lose its status as principal donor and principal strategist on tackling displacement, its ability to generate new resettlement offers is less clear, as is its ability to increase its own resettlement levels. The asylum system still has significant gaps, making it difficult for the United States to lead by example. ; Cet article examine le rôle que jouent les États-Unis (É.-U.) vis-à-vis du régime international des réfugiés. Il défend l'idée que les États-Unis jouent généralement un rôle de leader actif en matière d'assistance et de protection apportées aux réfugiés et aux personnes déplacées quand trois conditions sont remplies: l'existence d'un lien solide avec la politique étrangère des É.-U., un solide soutien du Congrès, et la coexistence de besoins humanitaires manifestes et particulièrement visibles et d'importantes parties prenantes nationales pour soutenir leur action. En tant que principal donateur des organismes internationaux responsables dans ce domaine, les É.-U. expriment leur leadership par leurs contributions financières, mais aussi en réinstallant les réfugiés et en faisant appel au pouvoir de mobilisation de leur gouvernement. Il existe néanmoins des raisons d'être vigilant vis-à-vis de leur leadership. Même ...

Advocates of a global democratic parliament have expressed hopes that this would not only legitimize global governance in procedural terms, but also bring about more cosmopolitan policies. They point to the European Parliament as an example of a successful real existing democratic parliament beyond the state with cosmopolitan intent. We analyse plenary debates in the United Nations General Assembly and the European Parliament about the issues of climate change, human rights, migration, trade and European integration between 2004 and 2011 to study the nature of opposition to cosmopolitanism within these two assemblies. We find more vocal and better-organized opposition to cosmopolitanism in the European Parliament than in the United Nations General Assembly. We demonstrate the plausibility that direct and more proportional mechanisms of delegation and accountability in the case of the European Parliament account for this observed difference. Should further research confirm these initial findings, advocates of a global democratic parliament may find that an empowered democratic World Parliament would support less cosmopolitan policies than the current United Nations General Assembly.

Publicity about tax avoidance techniques of multinational corporations and wealthy individuals has moved discussion of international income taxation from the backrooms of law and accounting firms to the front pages of news organizations around the world. In the words of a top Australian tax official, international tax law has now become a topic of barbeque conversations. Public anger has, in turn, brought previously arcane issues of international taxation onto the agenda of heads of government around the world. Despite all the attention, however, issues of international income taxation are often not well understood. This Introduction outlines a collection of essays, written over the past two decades, that reveals how current international tax policy came into place nearly a century ago, critiques the inadequate principles still being used to make international tax policy, identifies and dissects the most prevalent tax avoidance techniques, and offers important suggestions for reform.

The maturation of emergency medicine (EM) as a specialty has coincided with dramatic increases in emergency department (ED) visit rates, both in the United States and around the world. ED crowding has become a public health problem where periodic supply and demand mismatches in ED and hospital resources cause long waiting times and delays in critical treatments. ED crowding has been associated with several negative clinical outcomes, including higher complication rates and mortality. This article describes emergency care systems and the extent of crowding across 15 countries outside of the United States: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Italy, The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Catalonia (Spain), Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The authors are local emergency care leaders with knowledge of emergency care in their particular countries. Where available, data are provided about visit patterns in each country; however, for many of these countries, no national data are available on ED visits rates or crowding. For most of the countries included, there is both objective evidence of increases in ED visit rates and ED crowding and also subjective assessments of trends toward higher crowding in the ED. ED crowding appears to be worsening in many countries despite the presence of universal health coverage. Scandinavian countries with robust systems to manage acute care outside the ED do not report crowding is a major problem. The main cause for crowding identified by many authors is the boarding of admitted patients, similar to the United States. Many hospitals in these countries have implemented operational interventions to mitigate crowding in the ED, and some countries have imposed strict limits on ED length of stay (LOS), while others have no clear plan to mitigate crowding. An understanding of the causes and potential solutions implemented in these countries can provide a lens into how to mitigate ED crowding in the United States through health policy interventions and hospital operational changes.