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BACKGROUND Novel or new psychoactive substances (NPS), also known as designer drugs and research chemicals, represent a relatively recent phenomenon which can be traced back to the last decade or even earlier. The growth of this phenomenon and its electronic trade (e-trade) has been logarithmic and alarming; its aftermaths are not limited to; the economy, individual and public health, or illicit drug trade. The discipline of NPS has been extensively studied since 2010. However, there are still deficits in; data from the Middle East and the developing world including Arabic countries (1), application of data science and inferential hypothesis testing (2), implementation of the principles and theories of social science (3), utilization of experimental designs including randomised controlled trials (RCT) and quasiexperimental studies (4), and ultimately the enactment of real-time web analysis and the realization of tools of knowledge discovery in databases (5). AIM AND OBJECTIVES This study will implement an innovative research approach by combining observational analyses and data science; the aim is to provide generalizable (inferential) data in relation to NPS e-commerce activities on both divisions of the web, surface and deep. The pinnacle objective is to; assess the proportional magnitude of NPS e-commerce activity in the Middle East (1), provide a thorough analysis of the e-vendors on the darknet, both globally and regionally (Middle East) (2), correlate change in trends of e-commerce with time (3), provide recommendations for future studies in relation to the ecommerce activity in the Middle East (4), and to discuss the colossal potential of data mining technologies (5). MATERIALS AND METHODS This dissertation embodies the integrative and combinatorial approach towards the investigation of the e-trade (e-commerce) of NPS; it is made of integrated studies allocated into eleven results chapters. The utilised investigative tools represent a mixed-breed of observational web analytics including; literature review (1), cross-sectional studies and surveys (2, 3), internet snapshots (4), retrospective analyses (5), and critical appraisal (6). These analyses took place in both appendices of the web (surface web and the anonymous deep web); the analyses specifically involved; Google Trends database (1), literature databases (2), drug fora (3), social communication e-media (3), news and media networks (4), Grams search engine of the deep web (5), the darknet and its e-marketplace (6), Alphabay, Agora, Valhalla, Hansa, other dedicated e-markets for NPS e-trade (7). Additional extrapolations were concluded via the use of surveys and e-surveys in a population of medical students from Iraq. The potentials for knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) were also discussed in all chapters. Each chapter was thoroughly investigated via; data science tools (I), inferential statistics and hypothesis testing (II). The latter was dependent on using the Microsoft Excel 2016, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), and some online tools of data science. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A systematic review of approximately 600 PubMed-indexed articles of NPS literature showed; attempts of NPS research started to evolve after 2010, almost one-third of the research output (36%) was of relevance to toxicology and analytic chemistry, while reviews and cross-sectional studies were less common (15%, 18%). The analysis of the individual basis of power showed that NPS researchers, legislators, and policymakers are lagging behind, whereas terrorist possesses the highest possible power. Power scores of e-vendors scored highest in the UK, US, and eastern Europe, while being almost absent in the Middle East. The complimentary usage of PubMed, drug fora, and Google Trends was successful in extrapolating the most trending and high-risk NPS; the contribution from the Middle East to incidents of intoxications and fatalities was absent except for Israel. Deep web analysis, including the darknet emarketplace, has shown that the contribution of the Middle East never exceeded 7% of the total etrade, data were limited to; Iran, Israel, Turkey, Afghanistan, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. Other Arabic countries included; Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria. It was interesting to observe the e-vendors of NPS operating in the Middle East were highly involved in e-trade activities in other nations, primarily; the UK, Western Europe and Scandinavia, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Surveys and internet snapshots unveiled the lack of awareness and very low prevalence of (ab)use of NPS within the selected Iraqi population. Captagon was highly prevalent in the Middle East, unlike NBOMe and octodrine. In summary, the contribution from the Middle East was microscopic when compared to the developed world; it did not exceed 7% of the entire NPS phenomenon e-trade. Similarly, the NPS research in the region of the Middle East can be described to be in its infancy. The overall level-of-evidence of this dissertation is assumed to be of level-2b according to the classification system imposed by the Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine (2009). CONCLUSION The growth of the NPS phenomenon, including the e-commerce and its links to terrorism, are reaching unprecedented levels. Unless some reasonable efforts and ingenious upgrades of the current research methodologies, the NPS trade and e-trade will continue to prevail rendering all its counter-attempts fade into dust; these attempts are not only limited to NPS research but also into; legislative actions, policy planning, and counter-terrorism. Upgrades should affect these front lines; increasing the quality and quantity of studies in developed countries including Middle Eastern and Arabic countries (1), incorporation of efficient use of data science and advanced web analytics (2), compulsory training of data science, biostatistics, and basic neuroscience for all NPS researchers, chemists, and toxicologists (3), validation and incorporation of data mining and real-time analyses (4), inclusion of the rarely-used experimental studies including RCTs, pragmatic RCTs, and animal modelling (5), enhancement and potentiation of internet snapshot techniques (6), and full exploitation of trends databases of the surface web (7). Perhaps, the integration of real-time data mining and data crunching, and inferential data science technique will represent the climax armament to antagonise the alarming e-trade.

This thesis proceeds from the question: How can community participation facilitate a physically and socially sustainable development of Roald? It describes a process departing from the hypothesis that participation may strengthen the bonds between population and government and that ownership of place increases with increased influence upon the physical development of a landscape. The project area is Roald at Vigra island in Giske municipality, North-Western Norway, and the process has to goals: 1) To identify and perform an approach that is suited to the context of Roald, and 2) Arrive at a comprehensive plan for future development that empowers the community. The thesis is divided into five main sections. The first part of the thesis provides an introduction to the case area and relevant literature and craft an approach adapted to the case study. The following three parts address the conducting of the case study and its main findings. The final part is a discussion that addresses the research question and goals. The literature applied focuses on theories such as sustainability, the ladder of citizen participation and social capital. Based on The 12 Steps to Community Participation by Randy T. Hester Jr., the case study of Roald is divided into three main phases - explore, investigate, and develop. Each phase is introduced with a review of the participation methods applied. In Phase 1, Roald: Explored the image of Roald is formed: presently a suburb to Ålesund and a former prosperous fishing and agriculture community. The image has derived from the online survey, personal interviews, workshops, social events and the landscape analysis, and identify the three main challenges of Roald: 1) a rapid and uncontrolled residential development that threatens the natural qualities of the area, 2) a dead village center, and 3) decentralized social networks that lead to alienation and disclaiming of responsibility. The challenges underline the need for a comprehensive plan for development that can involve and empower residents during the development and implementation. In Phase 2, Roald: Investigated, a workshop focusing on setting goals for Roald and drawing anticipated activity settings is conducted, and this results in a spectrum of plans. Phase 3, Roald: Designed, addresses the presentation of the spectrum of plans and the design of the final plan adapted to the community feedback. This phase also includes an implementation plan, demonstrated through "The Bridging Model," which seeks to engage more members of the community. Roald community is not familiar with community participation, but The 12 Steps to Community Participation has proven to be an approach highly suitable for the community because it is flexible and makes it possible to adapt to a particular context. The conclusion confirms the hypothesis but simultaneously highlights that it, because of its simplicity, provides an inadequate representation of the outcome. Through The 12 Steps to Community Participation the bonds between power holders, the community and the landscape are strengthened, but in addition, the distances decrease. The Bridging Model is designed to ensure that the bonds remain strong, facilitating a more socially sustainable development. When individual citizens are provided with more responsibility through The Bridging Model, their connection to the landscape, and their urge to care for it, will grow stronger, thus resulting in a more physical sustainable development. ; Oppgaven utgår fra problemstillingen: Hvordan kan samfunnsdeltakelse legge til rette for en fysisk og sosialt bærekraftig utvikling av Roald? Den beskriver en prosess med opphav i hypotesen om at deltakelse kan styrke båndene mellom befolkning og myndighet, og at eierskap til et sted øker i takt med innflytelsen man har på den fysiske utviklingen av et landskap. Prosjektområdet er Roald på øya Vigra i Giske kommune i Nord-Vest Norge, og prosessen har to mål: 1) Å identifisere og utføre en tilnærming som er egnet i konteksten Roald, og 2) Komme frem til en helhetlig plan for fremtidig utvikling som myndiggjør samfunnet. Oppgaven er inndelt i fem hoveddeler. Første del av oppgaven gir en innføring i oppgaveområdet og relevant litteratur samt utformer en tilnærming for medvirkningen. De tre neste delene tar for seg utføringen av casestudien samt hovedresultatene. Avslutningsvis følger en diskusjonsdel. Litteraturen fokuserer på teorier som bærekraft, medvirkningsstigen og sosial kapital. Med utgangspunkt i fremgangsmåten 12 Steps to Community Participation av Randy T. Hester Jr., deles casestudiet Roald inn i tre hovedfaser - utforske, undersøke og utvikle. Hver fase innledes med en gjennomgang av medvirkningsmetoder som er benyttet. I fase 1, Roald: Utforsket dannes bildet av Roald: i dag en forstad til Ålesund og tidligere et velstående fiske- og jordbrukssamfunn. Bildet er formet gjennom funn fra en elektronisk spørreundersøkelse, personlige intervjuer, idéverksteder, sosiale arrangementer samt landskapsanalyser, og identifiserer de tre viktigste utfordringene i dagens Roald: 1) en rask og ukontrollert boligutvikling som truer naturkvalitetene i området, 2) et dødt sentrum, og 3) desentraliserte sosiale nettverk som fører til fremmedgjøring og ansvarsfraskrivelse. Utfordringene understreker behovet for en helhetlig plan for utvikling som kan involvere og myndiggjøre innbyggerne under utvikling og implementering. I fase to, Roald: Utdypet, utføres et idéverksted med fokus på å sette mål for Roald og tegne ønskede løsninger. Idéverkstedet resulterer i fire planforslag. Fase 3, Roald: Utviklet, omhandler presentasjonen av de fire planforslagene og presenterer det endelige forslaget med tilpasninger basert på samfunnets tilbakemeldinger. Denne fasen omfatter også en implementeringsplan som er demonstrert gjennom "Bromodellen" som søker å engasjere flere medlemmer av samfunnet. Samfunnet på Roald er ikke vant med medvirkning i planprosesser, men The 12 Steps to Community Participation viser seg å være en velegnet tilnærming fordi den er fleksibel og mulig å tilpasse til denne bestemte konteksten. Konklusjonen bekrefter hypotesen, men fremhever samtidig at den, på grunn av sin enkelthet, gir en utilstrekkelig representasjon av utfallet. Gjennom The 12 Step Process styrkes båndene mellom makthavere, samfunn og landskap, men i tillegg reduseres avstandene mellom dem. Bromoddelen er utformet for å sikre at båndene forblir sterke og tilrettelegger for en mer sosialt bærekraftig utvikling. Når hver borger får økt ansvar gjennom Bromodellen vil deres tilknytning, og ønske om å ta vare på landskapet, bli sterkere, noe som resulterer i en mer fysisk bærekraftig utvikling. ; Giske municipality. ; M-LA

One of the most pernicious effects of the Marxist schema of base and superstructure is that it posits the economy and ideology as two separate and distinct levels. The base is where the economy does its work, silently and materially, and the superstructure does its work reproducing the relations of production by remaining entirely separate and distinct from the economy, by addressing morals, religion, the nation, everything but economic necessity. This rigid division makes it difficult to think of the ideological dimension of the economy and the economic dimension of ideology. I have written before on what I could call the ideological dimension of the economy, the way that work, wealth, and capital function not just as economic relations but are coded are moralized, made into statements of virtue and worth. I am not taking credit for this idea, it can be found in Hegel, and, more critically, in Marx's discussion of primitive accumulation. I have a whole book coming out which discusses the way that work does a "double shift" as both a fundamental aspect of economic life under capitalism and a central term in capitalist ideology. Beyond that, I think that it might be useful to think of similar double shifts, where the economy functions as ideology, and ideology works in the economy. First example, in analyzing the much discussed, and hopefully fiercely fought cuts at West Virginia University one point comes up repeatedly. Which is that humanities courses like languages and literature, generally bring in more money than they cost. Humanities professors are cheaper than faculty in other departments, such as business, and generally courses involve less costly technology than courses in STEM. There have also been suggestions that other aspects of the university, like its football team, are not only more expensive, with something like fourteen assistant coaches, but cost more than they bring in. I am not sure about that last point, however, and am honestly not going that deep into the matter. There are also larger points about the general decline in state funding for higher education. I am not suggesting that one make an argument defending education primarily in terms of costs and returns--far from it. My main point here is that eliminating language programs is not the result of a simple cost/benefit analysis, a comparison of revenue in and out, but from what could be considered the ideology of economic rationality. Languages, culture, and even puppetry just seem to be extravagant even if they are not. While an instrumental calculation tells us that courses in such departments bring in more revenue, more students, our idea of what is economically rational tells us that they are expensive and not essential to whatever we think a university is, increasingly a job training center. Economical is often a representation of calculation, an idea of what is worthwhile or expensive, rather than an actual calculation based on costs and revenue. Second example: and this comes from Adam Kotsko's post about streaming, streaming services, like other app based transformations such as Uber and Airbnb, seem to be the very model of market efficiency. They have effectively eliminated the middle man, the cable provider, television network, or video store, bringing more profits directly to the studio and more choice to the audience. I am not going to get into the failure of the latter (better reserved for another post), but the truth of the matter is that streaming has not been profitable with most services working at a loss for years. Nonetheless, streaming seems profitable and a model of what it means to be successful capitalist enterprise. So much so that when my university was cutting programs a few years ago a member of the board said that he wanted the university to be like Netflix not Blockbuster, by which I assume that he meant efficient, new. and online. It is the idea, or ideal of disruption, of change and obsolescence that, explains the interest in streaming services and not their actual profitability. Of course it is possible to say that part of the fetishization of apps has more to do with the long game, with the role they play in deskilling work and making working conditions more precarious in order to replace employees with workers with even less security and lower wages. The long game, the overall social effect, is something that capitalist from Adam Smith to Milton Freeman have argued companies are not supposed to not consider--their only concern should be immediate self-interest (or in Freeman's case shareholder interest). Third example, by now you have probably heard of the viral online hit "Rich Men North of Richmond" by Oliver Anthony. I am not going recommend the song as a song, but I have copied some of the lyrics below to discuss it as a cultural moment (albeit one probably forgotten by the time you read this). Livin' in the new worldWith an old soulThese rich men north of RichmondLord knows they all just wanna have total controlWanna know what you think, wanna know what you doAnd they don't think you know, but I know that you do'Cause your dollar ain't shit and it's taxed to no end'Cause of rich men north of RichmondI wish politicians would look out for minersAnd not just minors on an island somewhereLord, we got folks in the street, ain't got nothin' to eatAnd the obese milkin' welfareWell, God, if you're 5-foot-3 and you're 300 poundsTaxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge roundsYoung men are puttin' themselves six feet in the ground'Cause all this damn country does is keep on kickin' them downI am going to skip right over the Qanon part about islands of minors and go straight to the representation of the economy. First, we get the usual demon of the right, the welfare queen or king, the song doesn't give us gender just height and weight. That this fiction persists long after the end of "welfare as we know it" is a testament to its power as a myth. To quote Jeff Sharlet, "You can't fact check a myth." Along with this myth that welfare is an incredibly easy life we get one of the other persistent themes of the right, the strange obsession with exactly what poor people consume, in this case fudge rounds, the Little Debbie snackcake that retails for less than three bucks for a nine ounce package. A cheap vice, all things considered. The song seems to suggest that at some particular body mass ratio it would be acceptable for the state to provide these snack cakes, but it is unclear where the cut off is. If you ask me we would be better worrying about the consumption habits of the wealthy than the poor: the former are going to private jet the planet to death while we are drawing cut off lines for snack cake consumption, but I digress.The real line that strikes me in this passage is "Cause your dollar ain't shit and it's taxed to no end." This passage is often cited as the real working class pain that is at the heart of this song. It is hard to deny the first part, the past few years of inflation have driven the buying power of the dollar down. The second part, however, is more dubious. There is no tax increase that explains that decrease. Rates have gone down nationally, but that varies by income bracket, and Virginia (where I assume this is coming from) has remained in the middle range of state income tax with a top rate of 5.75%, West Virginia is slightly higher at 6.50%. However, I would argue that as much as taxes cannot be the true cause of the economic anger at the core of this song, they are its necessary false cause. (To cite Spinoza, "inadequate ideas follow from the same necessity as adequate ideas)To discuss inflation, wages, and so on as causes of the decline of the dollar, of working class conditions, is to criticize capitalism, albeit obliquely. Capitalism, the economy, is not something one can critique, not because it is beyond reproach, held sacred, but because it is seen as a fact of life, the way of the world. To criticize capitalism would be to acknowledge it as an institution, as a human creation. Instead the critical force is reserved for politicians, for those rich men North of Richmond, who have imposed taxes.  Of course it is unclear why they would do this, the profit motive is a fairly clear motivating force for exploitation, taking it off of the table often means coming up with even more baroque explanations as to why the rich men are doing what they are doing. To some up briefly, my point here is not that there is nothing like economic determination, or material conditions and causes, but just that even material causes cannot be separated from their representation, how we grasp or image them. The economy, the other scene of politics, has effects only in and through that scene, and vice versa. 

This tenth edition of Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting eleven areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and employing workers. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 185 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why. This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Uzbekistan. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2012 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January - December 2011).

A review of races this fall in Bossier Parish government shows
an expected electoral quietude among executives, but perhaps having the chickens
coming home to roost for many of the incumbents on the Police Jury.

Parishes have four elective executive offices up
for grabs, but there will be next to no drama in Bossier for these. The
incumbent assessor, clerk of court, and coroner drew no challengers, letting
all three cruise to reelection. Republican Sheriff Julian Whittington did
receive a challenge from political unknown Republican Chris Green, a former
deputy who would seem to have little chance for the upset.

The Jury contests are another matter. In 2019, eight
incumbents walked back into office, with District 2 Republican Glenn Benton
being the only incumbent to receive a challenge. This time he avoided one,
along with Democrat Jimmy Cochran (unchallenged in District 7 since 1999) and
Republicans Doug Rimmer (unchallenged since 2011 in District 8) and Tom Salzer
(never challenged since being the only one to qualify for a special election for
District 11 in 2017) while the other eight incumbents all filed for reelection
against opposition.

Make that seven. District 10's independent Jerome Darby,
the longest serving juror in the state in his tenth term, shortly after
qualifying withdrew, perhaps because there still will be a Darby on the ballot.
Democrat former School Board member Julian Darby, his younger brother, signed up,
along with a pair retired military veterans Democrats James Carley and Mary
Giles. The Darby family machine, whose Samm Darby as a Democrat represents the
district Julian once did, despite having Jerome facing just one election in
2007 since 1987, should get cranked up enough to keep the seat in the family.

As for the other seven incumbents with a fight on
their hands – the most since 1987 – from the rhetoric of the challengers it seems
that has come at the expense of Jury actions over the past several years. Since
2016 jurors have served illegally on the parish Library
Board of Control, currently Benton, Republican Bob Brotherton from District
1, Democrat Charles Gray from District 9, Republican Julianna Parks from
District 5, and Rimmer. Jurors also tolerated inserting
themselves into another dual officeholding controversy when their appointee
to the Cypress Black Bayou Recreation and Water Conservation District Robert
Berry also became its executive director, which changed only last month when
jurors didn't reappoint Berry. Even so, three jurors – Gray, Parks, and District
12 Republican Mac Plummer – didn't go along with that.

Incumbent jurors also have courted
controversy with their management of its Consolidated Waterworks/Sewerage
District #1, its growing attempt to provide centralized water and sewerage provision
to areas outside of municipalities. Deliberate lowballing on rates that
taxpayers had to subsidize that may mushroom costs to all in the future and
problems in absorbing new systems have raised the ire of some parish residents.

The Jury and parish government also have done
little to make their dealings transparent, in contrast to every other major northwest
Louisiana local government. Meetings are narrowcast on a hard-to-view and
nearly impossible-to-hear Facebook Live channel, years
after a statement that it would move to a professional setup (last year's
meeting dealing with the budget wasn't delivered or archived at all). Online agendas
carry the barest of information so citizens prior to meetings have no idea about
the items being discussed and voted upon. Meeting minutes habitually are posted
well past their meeting dates.

Perhaps worst of all, incumbent jurors have stuck
by Parish Administrator Butch Ford as he continues apparently to violate state
law that says a parish chief executive must be a registered voter in that
parish, which means he must have his primary residence that would qualify for a
homestead exemption in that parish. Over the past 19 months – the first 10 of which
jurors ignored Ford's full-time residence at a Caddo Parish property with a homestead
exemption and his registration to vote in Caddo, a property he still maintains –
Ford has been unable to establish with certainty that he qualifies to register
to vote in Bossier Parish, yet the Jury reappointed him without dissent earlier
this year (and originally hired him the year before without a job search).

This pattern of obscurantism, questionable fiscal administration
of the water utility, and lawlessness likely provoked many, if not all challengers.
The most vulnerable perhaps is Brotherton, whose health problems have prevented
him from attending most Jury meetings this year and will make it difficult for
him to campaign. In a solidly Republican district, Republican small businessman
Mike Farris has a distinct chance to replace him, much likelier to do so than the
two Democrats running, retiree Mary Odom and trucking executive Andre Wilson.

District 3 Republican Philip Rodgers, who in 2019 ran on
addressing problems with the Berry-run CBB, even as Berry's
ouster – which also means by state law he must give up his executive
directorship – has occurred, created some more problems for himself when in the
process of criticizing District actions at one of its recent meetings opened
himself to charges that he sought and obtained 
with its Board's knowledge favorable treatment from Berry. He is opposed
by Republican Andy Modica, a District critic, parish constable, and recent
applicant to fill a vacant School Board slot, who complained at the meeting where
the Jury didn't reappoint Berry – at which Rodgers' campaign supporter Rodney
Madden received the nod – that the fix was in against him and other applicants
for the post that went to Madden. It wouldn't be hard for Modica to campaign
contrasting the sweet deals political insiders get with the reception others encounter.

If that seems at all vengeful, forget it when
compared to the fate suffered by District 6 Republican Chris Marsiglia. He drew
as a challenger none other than Berry, running as a Republican. There's no fury
like a scorned former CBB executive director/ex-commissioner, who lost both gigs
because the Jury didn't reappoint him – with good reason, of course, since the judiciary
declared a situation like his in violation of the law and the District was footing
legal bills in his defense equivalent to about an eighth of its total revenues
in a losing cause.

Marsiglia was one of three first-time electees
(although he had run for a seat unsuccessfully years ago) who faced opposition
then and now. District 4 Republican John Ed Jorden (who also ran years ago) turned
out to be another, and worse off since in 2019 he had just opponent and now
faces two. While district demographics suggest Democrat Donald Stephens can't
win, he might make a runoff against either Jorden or Republican appraiser Jack Harvill.

And one of the most polarizing figures on the
Jury, Parks who won a special election for the post in 2021, faces perhaps the
most quality challenger running, Republican Barry Butler who formerly served in
her spot from 2008-12. In his term, Butler distinguished himself by challenging
orthodoxy and refusing to get along and go along as so often happens among
jurors, often serving as the only voice willing to take up topics and bring out
information that didn't portray parish policies in only rosy hues. Parks, who through
her husband Republican Bossier City Judge Santi Parks has a considerable parish
political establishment network to fall back upon, can bring a lot of resources
to bear to retain office, but Butler, who suffered defeat through the efforts
of that network, has the capacity to knock her off.

At the other end of the parish, after three
straight elections without an opponent, Plummer will be forced to work for his
job against Republican small businessman Keith
Sutton. Also a critic of business-as-usual on the Jury with a desire for
greater Jury fiscal responsibility, transparency, and term limits, he hosts a
podcast with former School Board member Shane Cheatham that in part discussed
politics of the day.

Republicans dropped the ball in the Darbys' District
10, which has been a plurality white district that has 41 percent black registration
that should give them a decent chance to win with relatively fewer black Democrats,
by not running a candidate there. They also blew it in 2019 in District 9, then
with a narrow white plurality, when the only Republican who qualified subsequently
was disqualified over not being a district resident, handing the victory to
Gray. Since then, the district has moved to a black plurality of around 47 percent.

This time, the GOP challenger should stick, and a
quality one at that – former Bossier City chief administrative officer Pam
Glorioso, who might well have run for and possibly won the mayoralty had her
boss Lo Walker not ran for a fifth term. She doesn't have the reform potential
that challengers in other districts have (in Berry's case, perhaps more out of
spite), having been a longtime part of the parish political establishment, and
she may not have the numbers on her side to knock off Gray in a district that
has become more secure for him.

If everything goes right for reformers, known quantities
such as Farris, Modica, Butler, and Sutton could form a solid bloc on the Jury.
If Berry and Glorioso also make it, matters become more interesting still.
Throw in Harvill and a Darby opponent and some real change could be on the way.
Even if turnover ends up minimal, clearly the challengers who have stepped up means
there's more of the grassroots upset at sitting jurors that there has been for
decades.

The hypothesis that the S allele of the 5-HTTLPR serotonin transporter promoter region is associated with increased risk of depression, but only in individuals exposed to stressful situations, has generated much interest, research and controversy since first proposed in 2003. Multiple meta-analyses combining results from heterogeneous analyses have not settled the issue. To determine the magnitude of the interaction and the conditions under which it might be observed, we performed new analyses on 31 data sets containing 38 802 European ancestry subjects genotyped for 5-HTTLPR and assessed for depression and childhood maltreatment or other stressful life events, and meta-analysed the results. Analyses targeted two stressors (narrow, broad) and two depression outcomes (current, lifetime). All groups that published on this topic prior to the initiation of our study and met the assessment and sample size criteria were invited to participate. Additional groups, identified by consortium members or self-identified in response to our protocol (published prior to the start of analysis) with qualifying unpublished data, were also invited to participate. A uniform data analysis script implementing the protocol was executed by each of the consortium members. Our findings do not support the interaction hypothesis. We found no subgroups or variable definitions for which an interaction between stress and 5-HTTLPR genotype was statistically significant. In contrast, our findings for the main effects of life stressors (strong risk factor) and 5-HTTLPR genotype (no impact on risk) are strikingly consistent across our contributing studies, the original study reporting the interaction and subsequent meta-analyses. Our conclusion is that if an interaction exists in which the S allele of 5-HTTLPR increases risk of depression only in stressed individuals, then it is not broadly generalisable, but must be of modest effect size and only observable in limited situations.Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, 4 April 2017; doi:10.1038/mp.2017.44. ; ALSPAC: Grant 102215/2/13/2 from The Wellcome Trust and grant MC_UU_12013- /6 from the UK Medical Research Council. The University of Bristol also provides core support for ALSPAC. LB receives funding as an Early Career Research Fellow from the Leverhulme Trust. MRM is a member of the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, a UK Clinical Research Council Public Health Research: Centre of Excellence. Funding from British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, and the National Institute for Health Research, under the auspices of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, is gratefully acknowledged. ASPIS: EKBAN 97 from the General Secretariat of Research and Technology, Greek Ministry of Development. ATP: Grants DP130101459, DP160103160 and APP1082406 from the Australian Research Council and The National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. CHDS: Grant HRC 11/792 from the Health Research Council of New Zealand. CoFaMS: Grant APP1060524 to BTB from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. We acknowledge the University of Adelaide for the provision of seed funding in support of this project. COGA: Grant U10AA008401 from the National Institutes of Health, NIAAA and NIDA. COGEND: National Institutes of Health grants P01CA089392 from NCI and R01DA036583 from NIDA. DeCC: Grant G0701420 from the UK Medical Research Council, and a UK MRC Population Health Scientist fellowship (G1002366) and an MQ Fellows Award (MQ14F40) to Helen L Fisher. EPIC-Norfolk: Grants G9502233, G0300128, C865/A2883 from the UK Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK. ESPRIT Montpellier: An unconditional grant from Novartis and from the National Research Agency (ANR Project 07 LVIE004). G1219: A project grant from the WT Grant Foundation and G120/635, a Career Development Award from the UK Medical Research Council to Thalia Eley. The GENESiS project was supported by Grant G9901258 from the UK Medical Research Council. This study presents independent research part- funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health. GAN12-France: Research Protocol C0829 from INSERM; Research Protocol GAN12 from Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris; ANR-11-IDEX- 0004 from Investissements d'Avenir program managed by the ANR, and RTRS Sante Mentale from Fondation FondaMental. GENESIS: Grant PHRC UF 7653 & ANR NEURO 2007 'GENESIS' from CHU Montpellier & Agence Nationale de la Recherche. Heart and Soul: Epidemiology Merit Review Program from the Department of Veterans Affairs; National Institutes of Health grant R01HL-079235 from NHLBI; Generalist Physician Faculty Scholars Program from the Robert Woods Johnson foundation; Paul Beeson Faculty Scholars Program from the American Federation for Aging Research; and a Young Investigator Award from the Bran and Behavior Research Foundation. MARS: Grant LA 733/2-1 from German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Federal Ministry for Education and Research as part of the 'National Genome Research Network'. MLS: National Institutes of Health grants R01 AA07065 and R37 AA07065 from NIAAA. MoodInFlame: Grant EU-FP7- HEALTH-F2-2008-222963 from the European Union. Muenster Neuroimaging Study: Grant FOR2107, DA1151/5-1 from the German Research Foundation (DFG). NEWMOOD: Grants LSHM-CT-2004-503474 from Sixth Framework Program of the European Union; KTIA_NAP_13-1-2013-0001, KTIA_13_NAP-A-II/14 from National Development Agency Hungarian Brain Research Program; KTIA_NAP_13-2-2015-0001 from MTA-SE-NAP B Genetic Brain Imaging Migraine Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Semmelweis University; support from Hungarian Academy of Sciences, MTA-SE Neuropsychopharmacology and Neurochemistry Research Group; and support from the National Institute for Health Research Manchester Biomedical Research Centre. NESDA/NTR: The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and MagW/ZonMW grants Middelgroot-911-09-032, Spinozapremie 56-464- 14192, Geestkracht program of the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMW 10-000-1002), Center for Medical Systems Biology (CSMB, NWO Genomics), Genetic influences on stability and change in psychopathology from childhood to young adulthood (ZonMW 912-10-020), NBIC/BioAssist/RK (2008.024), Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI -NL, 184.021.007), VU University's Institute for Health and Care Research (EMGO+) and Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam (NCA); the European Science Council (ERC Advanced, 230374). Part of the genotyping and analyses were funded by the Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN) of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (NIMH U24 MH068457-06), the Avera Institute, Sioux Falls, South Dakota (USA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH R01 HD042157-01A1, MH081802, Grand Opportunity grants 1RC2 MH089951 and 1RC2 MH089995). PATH: Program Grant Number 179805 from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. POUCH: Grants 20FY01-38 and 20-FY04-37 of the Perinatal Epidemiologic Research Initiative Program Grant from the March of Dimes Foundation; National Institutes of Health grant R01 HD34543 from NICHD and NINR; grant 02816-7 from the Thrasher Research Foundation; and grant U01 DP000143-01 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. QIMRtwin: Grants 941177, 971232, 339450, 443011 from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia; AA07535, AA07728, AA10249 from US Public Health Service; National Institutes of Health grant K99DA023549-01A2 from NIDA. Additional support was provided by Beyond Blue. SALVe 2001 and SALVe 2006: Grants FO2012-0326, FO2013-0023, FO2014-0243 from The Brain Foundation (Hjärnfonden); SLS-559921 from Söderström-Königska Foundation; 2015-00897 from Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research; and M15-0239 from Åke Wiberg's Foundation. Additional funding was provided by Systembolagets Råd för Alkoholforskning, SRA and Svenska Spel Research Council. SEBAS: National Institutes of Health grants R01 AG16790, R01 AG16661 and R56 AG01661 from NIA and grant P2CHD047879 from NICHD; and additional financial support from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Georgetown University. SHIP/TREND: This work was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the framework of the e:Med research and funding concept (Integrament) Grant No. 01ZX1314E. Study of Health in Pomerania is part of the Community Medicine Research net of the University of Greifswald, Germany, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research Grant Nos. 01ZZ9603, 01ZZ0103 and 01ZZ0403; the Ministry of Cultural Affairs; and the Social Ministry of the Federal State of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. Genome-wide data were supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research Grant No. 03ZIK012 and a joint grant from Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany and the Federal State of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. The Greifswald Approach to Individualised Medicine (GANI_MED) was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research Grant No. 03IS2061A and the German Research Foundation Grant No. GR 1912/5-1. TRAILS: Grants GB-MW 940- 38-011, ZonMW Brainpower 100-001-004, Investment grant 175.010.2003.005, GBMaGW 480-07-001 and Longitudinal Survey and Panel Funding 481-08-013 from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). Additional funding was provided by the Dutch Ministry of Justice, the European Science Foundation, BBMRINL and the participating centres (UMCG, RUG, Erasmus MC, UU, Radboud MC, Parnassia Bavo group): VAHCS: Grants APP1063091, 1008271 and 1019887 from Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC).

Einleitung: Da im Fokus einer nachhaltigen Entwicklungsstrategie die grundlegende Transformation der Gesellschaften und der politischen Systeme steht, stellt sich die Frage, welche Rolle in einem solchen Prozess, der primär von den Gesellschaften selbst getragen werden muss, externen Akteuren wie der EU zukommen kann und vielleicht sogar zukommen muss. Für Europa begründet sich der eigene Anspruch, durch die Anbindung der arabischen Staaten an das westliche Wirtschaftssystem ein höheres Wohlstandsniveau dieser Staaten zu erreichen und so zu Stabilität beizutragen, sowohl aus der geschichtlichen Verflechtung mit der Region, als auch aus der geographischen Nähe. Während letztere die Möglichkeiten einer intensiven Austauschbeziehung und einer Ausweitung europäisch-arabischer Handelsverflechtungen impliziert, birgt sie gleichsam die Gefahren illegaler Migration und eines Überschwappens der regionalen Konflikte nach Europa. Es ist daher im ureigensten Interesse der EU, die Probleme der Region nicht zu ignorieren. Ein stärkeres europäisches Engagement in der Region wird auch von arabischer Seite gefordert, die die EU zunehmend als alternativen Verhandlungspartner zu den USA wahrnimmt. Dass die EU bereit ist, die Rolle des externen Förderers der Region zu übernehmen, bekräftigte sie in einem 2004 veröffentlichten Papier zur "Strategischen Partnerschaft der EU mit dem Mittelmeerraum und dem Nahen Osten". Darin wird die Ambition zum Ausdruck gebracht, die Erkenntnisse und Erfahrungen, die man in der "Euro-Mediterranen Partnerschaft" seit 1995 gesammelt hat, auf den größeren arabischen Raum östlich von Jordanien auszuweiten. Die Frage, ob durch dieses Partnerschaftsprogramm tatsächlich ein effektiver Handlungsrahmen geschaffen wurde, macht eine eingehende Analyse der Kooperations- und Prozessstrukturen dieser Partnerschaft notwendig. Die "Euro-Mediterrane Partnerschaft" stellt daher nicht nur das Kernkonzept der "Strategischen Partnerschaft" dar. Es dient auch in der vorliegenden Arbeit als Analysemodell, anhand dessen aufgezeigt werden soll, unter welchen Bedingungen ökonomische Zusammenarbeit als integratives Element in einem Prozess inter-regionaler Kooperation fungieren kann. Die zentrale Fragestellung dieser Diplomarbeit lautet daher: Kann die EU über den Weg der wirtschaftlichen Kooperation die Weichen stellen für anhaltendes Wachstum in den arabischen Entwicklungsländern? Eröffnet sich dadurch auch die Möglichkeit, politisch Einfluss zu nehmen auf den Prozess der Demokratisierung, der für eine gesellschaftliche und politische Transformation als Grundlage betrachtet wird? Dazu werden in einer kritischen Auseinandersetzung mit der Entstehung, der Art und der Entwicklung der Euro-Mediterranen Partnerschaft zunächst die Schwachpunkte des Kooperationskonzepts identifiziert. In einem nächsten Schritt werden die Schwierigkeiten, die sich bei der Implementierung des Konzepts ergeben haben, auf ihr Reformpotential untersucht, um in einem abschließenden Kommentar auf Erfolg versprechende Entwicklungsmöglichkeiten des Partnerschaftsprogramms hinzuweisen. Gang der Untersuchung: Bevor in Kapitel 3 mit einem historischen Rückblick auf die euro-mediterranen Beziehungen seit den frühen sechziger Jahren die Grundlagen für ein besseres Verständnis der Entstehung und Entwicklung der Euro-Mediterranen Partnerschaft geschaffen werden, wird im zweiten Kapitel ein theoretischer Analyserahmen aufgestellt. Dieser dient dazu, die deskriptive Darstellung der historischen Prozesse und Muster um eine analytische Perspektive zu erweitern. Zur Unterstützung der Argumentationslinie dieser Arbeit wurden mit der Interdependenztheorie, der Integrationstheorie sowie der Friedensforschung spezifische Erklärungsansätze internationaler Interaktion gewählt, die der idealistischen Denkschule zugeordnet werden können. Die Theorien unterstützen sich in ihrer Aussage gegenseitig und stellen für den Versuch, die Motivation des europäischen Handelns zu beleuchten und die normative Handlungsorientierung der EU aufzuzeigen, ein hilfreiches Instrument dar. Dass durch die Begrenzung auf drei Theorien der idealistischen Strömung bestimmte Verhaltens- und Erklärungsmuster betont werden, andere jedoch unberücksichtigt bleiben, liegt in der Natur der Sache. Die Wahl der theoretischen Ausrichtung hat somit einen stark instrumentellen Charakter, so dass eine alternative Deutungsweise der europäischen Politik im mediterranen Kontext denkbar, angesichts der Fragestellung dieser Arbeit aber nicht Ziel führend wäre. Im dritten Kapitel wird zunächst der inkrementelle Charakter der euro-mediterranen Kooperationsbeziehung herausgestellt und die Dynamik beleuchtet, die der europäische Integrations- und Erweiterungsprozess auf die Entwicklung der euro-mediterranean Beziehungen überträgt. Als erste gesamteuropäische Kooperationsinitiative wird die "Globale Mittelmeerpolitik" vorgestellt, die sich als ein umfassender Ansatz mit handelspolitischen, finanziellen und technischen Kooperationselementen auszeichnet. Die kritische Betrachtung der einzelnen Elemente führt jedoch zu der Feststellung, dass der Nutzen für die arabischen Kooperationspartner aufgrund wesentlicher Einschränkungen im Handelsbereich, und hier vor allem im Agrarsektor, begrenzt bleibt. Die Einordnung dieser ersten Phase der Zusammenarbeit in den größeren historischen Kontext sowie die Auseinandersetzung mit den staatlichen Strukturen der arabischen Mittelmeerpartner, führen in einem nächsten Schritt zu der Erkenntnis, dass eine erfolgreiche Kooperation nicht nur ökonomische Elemente beinhalten darf, sondern dass zivilgesellschaftliche Reformen ebenso in die europäische Strategie einbezogen werden müssen wie die Aspekte Rechtstaatlichkeit, Transparenz und "Good Governance". Mit der Barcelona-Deklaration wird im November 1995 die "Euro-Mediterrane Partnerschaft" ins Leben gerufen, die die Etablierung einer Region des Friedens und des Wohlstands anstrebt. Kapitel 4 erläutert, wie mit der Gliederung der Zusammenarbeit in einen politischen, einen wirtschaftlichen und einen sozialen Bereich die Defizite der "Globalen Mittelmeerpolitik" behoben und dem gewandelten Sicherheitsverständnis der EU Rechnung getragen werden soll. Das Konzept der Konditionierung finanzieller Unterstützung auf politische Reformen ist dafür wegweisend. Da das europäische Interesse an der Mittelmeerregion jedoch nicht auf dessen "Potential" als Sicherheitsrisiko beschränkt ist, wird in einem nächsten Schritt das ökonomische Potential der Region analysiert. Aufgrund der Klassifizierung der arabischen Partnerländer als Entwicklungsländer wird dafür ein Ansatz der endogenen Wachstumstheorie herangezogen. Die in diesem Kontext angewandte Definition von ökonomischem Potential besteht demnach in der Fähigkeit der Mittelmeerpartnerstaaten, durch die Einführung von "Good Governance"-Strukturen die Bedingungen für Investition und Wachstum zu generieren. Aus einem Vergleich des in diesem Sinne definierten, ökonomischen Potentials mit dem der AKP-Staaten wird zwar das relativ größere Gewicht der Mittelmeerpartner für die EU deutlich. Die Marginalität im Gesamtverhältnis lässt allerdings erkennen, dass die euro-mediterrane Zusammenarbeit im wirtschaftlichen Bereich primär unter dem Gesichtspunkt der Stabilisierung der Region gesehen werden muss. Kapitel 4 schließt mit dem Projekt der euro-mediterranen Freihandelszone, das als Kernstück der Partnerschaft unter den Aspekten der Vereinbarkeit mit bestehenden WTO-Regelungen und der ökonomischen Folgewirkungen betrachtet wird. Das fünfte Kapitel setzt sich schließlich mit den konkreten Problemen auseinander, die eine effektive Umsetzung des Partnerschaftsprogramms behindern. Die unterschiedlichen Hemmnisse werden zu diesem Zweck vorwiegend auf ihre Wirkungsweise sowie auf ihr Reformpotential untersucht. Die Hauptaufgabe besteht dabei weniger in der Klärung der Schuldfrage, als vielmehr in der Herausarbeitung der Bedingungen, die für eine erfolgreiche und effiziente Arbeit der Partnerschaft in Zukunft geschaffen werden müssen. Die Flexibilisierung des Partnerschaftskonzepts steht dabei im Zentrum eines jeden Reformvorschlags. Das Fazit stellt zunächst die vielfältigen Interdependenzverhältnisse, die die EU zu den arabischen Mittelmeerpartnern in Bezug setzen, dar. Dabei wird vor allem der stets an der Euro-Mediterranen Partnerschaft geübten Kritik, eine asymmetrische Beziehung zu einer partnerschaftlichen Beziehung zu stilisieren, Rechnung getragen. Positive Betonung findet dagegen das Reformpotential, das in der gegenseitigen Ergänzung des euro-mediterranen und des innereuropäischen Integrationsprozesses steckt. Optimistische Erwartungen für die Umsetzung der unterschiedlichen Reformvorschläge werden vor allem mit der "Strategischen Partnerschaft der EU mit dem Mittelmeerraum und dem Nahen Osten" verbunden, da diese die zukünftigen europäisch-arabischen Beziehungen als inhaltlich und geographisch ausgeweitetes Konzept durchaus Erfolg versprechend abbildet. Die zentrale Frage, ob die EU durch ihr ökonomisches Gewicht eine politische Rolle im Nahen Osten übernehmen kann, lässt sich letztlich nur bedingt beantworten: "Ja", wenn die EU im Konzert mit den USA als gemeinsamer und somit in der Sache glaubhafter Akteur auftritt; "Nein", wenn die EU diese Glaubwürdigkeit aufs Spiel setzt, indem sie innereuropäische Interessenkonflikte die außenpolitische Verantwortung der gesamten EU dominieren lässt.Inhaltsverzeichnis:Inhaltsverzeichnis: InhaltsverzeichnisI TabellenverzeichnisIII AbbildungsverzeichnisIV AbkürzungsverzeichnisV 1.Einleitung1 2.Theoretischer Analyserahmen10 2.1Problematik nationalstaatlicher Rhetorik11 2.2Interdependenztheorie13 2.3Integrationstheorie15 2.4Friedensforschung18 2.5Universalismus vs. Regionalismus21 3.Historische Entwicklung der Beziehungen der EU zum Mittelmeerraum24 3.1Bilaterale Abkommen (Phase I: 1957 – 1972)24 3.2Globale Mittelmeerpolitik (Phase II: 1972 – 1990)27 3.2.1Struktur und Umsetzung des Globalansatzes28 3.2.2Problematische Partnerschaft31 3.3Multilaterale Initiativen zur Formulierung einer Mittelmeerpolitik33 3.3.1Konferenz für Sicherheit und Zusammenarbeit im Mittelmeerraum34 3.3.2"5 plus 5"-Gespräche35 3.4Zusammenfassung36 4.Die Euro-Mediterrane Partnerschaft – der Barcelona Prozess ab 199539 4.1Barcelona Deklaration – Programm, Motivation und Zielsetzungen43 4.2Bedeutung des Wirtschaftsraums für die EU48 4.2.1Grundlagen neoklassischer und endogener Wachstumsmodelle49 4.2.2Stabilität als Wachstumsfaktor51 4.2.3Analyse des ökonomischen (Entwicklungs-) Potentials54 4.2.4Vergleich zu AKP-Staaten67 4.3Freihandelszone als Kernstück der EMP73 4.3.1Europa-Mittelmeer-Abkommen73 4.3.2Freihandel im Rahmen der WTO/GATT 199475 4.3.3Ökonomische Implikationen des Freihandelskonzepts77 4.4Zusammenfassung83 5.Spannung zwischen Konzeption und Implementierung85 5.1Defizite in der europäischen Marktöffnungspolitik88 5.2Institutioneller Dualismus93 5.3Demokratisierung vs. Stabilisierung96 5.4EU als "Global Payer" oder "Global Player"?99 5.5Regionalkonflikte als Kooperations-Determinante102 5.6Nahost-Konflikt und dessen Auswirkungen auf die EMP105 5.7Zusammenfassung107 6.Fazit109 Literaturverzeichnis113 Aufsätze, Monographien und Sammelwerke113 Dokumente123 Institutionen126 Online-Publikationen129 Anhang134Textprobe:Textprobe: Kapitel 5., Spannung zwischen Konzeption und Implementierung: Dass das Fazit, das 2005 anlässlich des zehnjährigen Bestehens der Euro-Mediterranen Partnerschaft auf beiden Seiten des Mittelmeers gezogen wurde, weder ausschließlich positiv, noch ausschließlich negativ ausfiel, kann angesichts der Langfristigkeit der Konzeption und der Vielzahl der Einfluss nehmenden Interdependenzen nicht überraschen. Bestritten werden kann allerdings auch nicht, dass sich der Barcelona Prozess zum bedeutendsten Rahmenwerk für die politischen, wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Beziehungen, für Dialog und regionale Kooperation entwickelt hat. So resümiert die EU 2005 positiv, dass die Verhandlungen der Europa-Mittelmeer-Abkommen mit allen Partnerländern abgeschlossen werden konnten. Mit Ausnahme von Syrien besteht ein vollständiges, bilaterales Vertragsnetzwerk, im Rahmen dessen Assoziationsräte und Ausschüsse auf Experten- und Ministerebene regelmäßig tagen und die praktische Implementierung der Kooperationsziele begleiten. Besonders hervorzuheben sind darüber hinaus die institutionellen Erweiterungen des Partnerschaftskonzepts: Im Rahmen der Europäischen Investitionsbank wurde 2002 die "Investitionsfazilität und Partnerschaft Europa-Mittelmeer" (FEMIP) gegründet, deren Schwerpunkt die Finanzierung und Entwicklung des Privatsektors bildet. Ausdruck einer egalitären Beziehung ist die paritätisch besetzte und im Jahr 2004 ins Leben gerufene "Parlamentarische Versammlung Europa-Mittelmeer" (EMPA), deren Vertreter vom Europäischen Parlament und von den nationalen Parlamenten berufen werden und die ihre erste Plenarsitzung im März 2005 in Kairo abhielt. Als Parlament des Barcelona Prozesses hat die EMPA allerdings nur beratende Funktion. Im sozialen Bereich wurde mit der "Anna Lindh Stiftung für den Dialog zwischen Kulturen Europa-Mittelmeer" 2005 die dritte Institution im Rahmen der Euro-Mediterranen Partnerschaft gegründet. Als "Network of Networks" fungiert sie als verbindendes Element der Kulturen und soll zur intensiveren Teilnahme der Zivilgesellschaften am Partnerschaftsprozess beitragen. Positiv ist ebenso zu vermerken, dass der Mittelmeerraum bewusst in den Bereich europäischer Verantwortung gerückt wurde. Denn mit der EU-Osterweiterung im Jahr 2004 bestand die Gefahr einer Verschiebung auf der europäischen Prioritätenliste. Man fürchtete, dass die umfassende Förderung der politischen und institutionellen, euro-mediterranen Infrastruktur nicht die erhofften Wirkungen entfalten und sich der Graben, die den südlichen Teil des Mittelmeers vom nördlichen vor allem unter Wohlstands- und Wachstumsaspekten noch deutlich trennt, vertiefen könnte. Um die Vorteile der EU-Erweiterung in Bezug auf Stabilität, Sicherheit und Wohlstand auch den Mittelmeerpartnerländern angedeihen zu lassen, wurde die ursprünglich im Hinblick auf die neuen östlichen Nachbarn der erweiterten EU konzipierte "Europäische Nachbarschaftspolitik" auf die Mittelmeerdrittländer ausgedehnt. Somit steht auch die Europäische Nachbarschaftspolitik in der Tradition der europäischen Mittelmeerpolitik, die Dynamik des EU-Erweiterungsprozesses durch Modifizierung der bestehenden Kooperationsvereinbarungen auf die Mittelmeerpartnerschaft zu übertragen. Sie soll die Euro-Mediterrane Partnerschaft allerdings nicht ersetzen, sondern vielmehr den erweiterten Rahmen bilden, innerhalb dessen die Partner vollständigen Nutzen aus den vorhandenen Strukturen ziehen können. Gemäß der Vision eines "Größeren Europas" intendiert die Nachbarschaftspolitik, einen "Ring verantwortungsvoll regierter Staaten" zu bilden, die die grundlegenden Werte und Ziele der EU teilen und daher enger an die EU herangeführt werden sollen. Dazu werden differenzierte, bilaterale Aktionspläne in enger Abstimmung mit den Mittelmeerdrittländern erstellt, die die Zielvorgaben der Europa-Mittelmeer-Abkommen zwar widerspiegeln, diese aber durch eine bewusste Verbindung zu nationalen Politikprogrammen bzw. zu EU-Politiknormen und –standards stärker operationalisierbar gestalten. Als bedeutende Reformpriorität wird die Einbeziehung in den EU-Binnenmarkt durch Annäherung von Rechts- und Verwaltungsvorschriften anvisiert. Um die dafür nötigen Reformen im Bereich der Regierungsführung zu beschleunigen, wird die Mittelzuweisung durch das MEDA-Programm im Sinne eines Benchmark-Konzepts einem stärkeren Wettbewerb ausgesetzt. Die Einhaltung von Menschenrechten und den Prinzipien von Demokratie und Rechtsstaatlichkeit soll dadurch verstärkt gewährleistet werden. Angesichts der Langfristigkeit dieser Maßnahmen wird jedoch deutlich, dass man der 1995 gesetzten Zielvorgabe, einen Raum des Friedens, der Stabilität und des Wohlstands zu schaffen, auch nach zehn Jahren der Kooperationsbemühungen kaum näher gekommen ist. Kritiker wie Befürworter der europäischen Mittelmeerpolitik ziehen daher gleichermaßen ein enttäuschtes Fazit : In der politischen und Sicherheitspartnerschaft scheiterte bereits 2002 das Vorhaben einer "Euromediterranen Charta für Frieden und Sicherheit". Trotz des wiederholten Bekenntnisses, Friede und Stabilität durch vertrauens- und sicherheitsbildende Maßnahmen schaffen zu wollen, enthält das im November 2005 verabschiedete fünfjährige Arbeitsprogramm keine Ambitionen, das Charta-Projekt wiederzubeleben. Lediglich die Absicht, den Dialog über eine Europäische Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik zu vertiefen und einen Verhaltenskodex für den Kampf gegen den Terrorismus zu implementieren, ist in das Programm aufgenommen worden. Die Sicherheitspartnerschaft entbehrt jedoch weiterhin konkrete Pläne, den Mittelmeerraum zu einer massenvernichtungswaffenfreien Zone zu machen. So wie die verschiedenen regionalen Konflikte nicht eingedämmt werden konnten, wurden nach eigenen Angaben der Kommission auch im Demokratisierungsprozess keine signifikanten Fortschritte verzeichnet. Im wirtschaftlichen Bereich besteht trotz der Erfolge, die im Rahmen der Einrichtung einer euro-mediterranen Freihandelszone in Bezug auf den Abbau der Außenprotektion der Mittelmeerdrittländer erzielt wurden, weiterer Reformbedarf. So vor allem bei der Anpassung der politischen und institutionellen Strukturen, beim Abbau bürokratischer Schwerfälligkeit, bei der Harmonisierung und regionalen Angleichung technischer Standards und Regelwerke sowie bei der Reformierung des öffentlichen Sektors. Trotz der Zusage finanzieller Mittel von annähernd 9 Mrd. EUR im Rahmen der MEDA I und MEDA II-Programme und von EIB-Krediten von knapp 10 Mrd. EUR hat das durchaus beachtliche jährliche Wirtschaftswachstum von durchschnittlich 4% bis 6% weder zu einer nennenswerten Verbesserung des Lebensstandards weiter Bevölkerungsteile der Mittelmeerdrittländer geführt, noch konnte die Wohlstandskluft zwischen dem südlichen und nördlichen Mittelmeerufer verringert werden. Als "Roadmap" bezeichnet das Arbeitsprogramm die Summe der Zielvorgaben, die bis zur vollständigen Umsetzung der Freihandelszone im Jahr 2010 angestrebt werden. Dazu zählt primär die stufenweise Liberalisierung des Agrar- und des Dienstleistungshandels sowie die Beschleunigung des intra-mediterranen Integrationsprozesses. Sozial und kulturell ist die Partnerschaft weiterhin durch einen Mangel an einem bewussten Partnerschaftsdenken gekennzeichnet. Die Förderung zivilgesellschaftlicher Organisationsformen führte weder zur erhofften Dynamisierung des interkulturellen Dialogs, noch zu einer Verbesserung der sozioökonomischen Verhältnisse. Auch gelang es nicht, durch die Einbindung zivilgesellschaftlicher Eliten eine Brücke zu schlagen zwischen der Ebene der Regierungen und der breiten Öffentlichkeit. Der Informationsstand bezüglich der Euro-Mediterranen Partnerschaft ist daher völlig unzureichend, um von einer tatsächlichen Wirkung auf die Menschen sprechen zu können. Zwar wurden durch Med-Programme wie "Euromed Heritage", "Euromed Audiovisual" und "Euromed Youth" aktive Dialog- und Kooperationsforen geschaffen. Und auch das "Euromed Civil Forum", das als Plattform nicht-staatlicher Organisationen seit Anbeginn des Partnerschaftsprogramms die jährlichen Außenministerkonferenzen begleitet, leistet in Zusammenarbeit mit der 2005 gegründeten "Euro-Mediterranean non-governmental Platform" durch Reflektion und Kommunikation einen Beitrag zum zivilgesellschaftlichen Charakter der Partnerschaft. Doch bleiben die Resultate dieser Anstrengungen sowohl aufgrund mangelnder ideeller Unterstützung der jeweiligen Regierungen als auch der begrenzten Mittelausstattung durch die EU hinter den Erwartungen zurück. Das einmütige Urteil der unterschiedlichsten – europäischen wie arabischen – Beiträge zum Jubiläum lautet, dass trotz der bisherigen Errungenschaften das Potential der Partnerschaft bei weitem nicht ausgeschöpft ist und daher Ansatzpunkte für die Erweiterung, Verbesserung und Intensivierung der euro-mediterranen Beziehungen bestehen. Im Folgenden soll daher dazu übergegangen werden, einige strukturelle Schwierigkeiten, die eine erfolgreiche Umsetzung der Partnerschaft behindern, zu diskutieren und gleichsam auf ihr Reformpotential hin zu analysieren. Melanie Noetzel. Studium der Betriebswirtschaftslehre an der Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg sowie der Außenpolitik an der American University, Washington DC. Abschluss 2007 als Diplom-Kauffrau. Anschließender Aufenthalt zu Sprachstudien an der Universität von Damaskus, Syrien. Momentan tätig als Doktorandin im Bereich europäischer Integrations- und Erweiterungspolitik mit Blick auf die arabischen Nachbarstaaten der EU.

Trotz der hohen innovationspolitischen Bedeutung der außeruniversitären Forschungseinrichtungen (AUF) sind sie bisher selten Gegenstand empirischer Untersuchungen. Keine der bisher vorliegenden Arbeiten legt ihren Fokus auf die Zusammenarbeit von Wissenschaftler:innen in Forschungsteams, obwohl wissenschaftliche Zusammenarbeit ein weitgehend unerforschtes Gebiet ist. Dies verwundert insofern, da gerade innovative und komplexe Aufgaben, wie sie im Bereich der Forschung bestehen, das kreative Potenzial Einzelner sowie eine gut funktionierende Kooperation der einzelnen Individuen benötigen. Die Zusammenarbeit von Wissenschaftler:innen in den AUF findet in einem kompetitiven Umfeld statt. Einerseits stehen die AUF auf Organisationsebene im Wettbewerb zueinander und konkurrieren um Forschungsgelder und wissenschaftliches Personal. Andererseits ist die kompetitive Einwerbung von Drittmitteln für Wissenschaftler:innen essentiell, um Leistungen, gemessen an hochrangigen Publikationen und Drittmittelquoten, für die eigene Karriere zu erbringen. Ein zunehmender Anteil an Drittmittelfinanzierung in den Einrichtungen hat zudem Auswirkungen auf die Personalpolitik und die Anzahl befristeter Arbeitsverhältnisse. Gleichzeitig wird Forschungsförderung häufig an Kollaborationen von Wissenschaftler:innen geknüpft und bei Publikationen und Forschungsergebnissen zeigen Studien, dass diese überwiegend das Resultat von mehreren Personen sind. Dieses Spannungsfeld zwischen Zusammenarbeit und Wettbewerb wird verstärkt durch die fehlenden Möglichkeiten für den wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchs in der Wissenschaft zu bleiben. Auch wenn die Bundesregierung auf diese Herausforderungen reagiert, muss der Einzelne seinen Weg zwischen Zusammenarbeit und Konkurrenz finden. Zielsetzung dieser Arbeit ist es, nachfolgende Forschungsfragen zu beantworten: 1. Wie können naturwissenschaftliche Forschungsteams in AUF charakterisiert werden? 2. Wie agiert die einzelne Forscherin/ der einzelne Forscher im Spannungsfeld zwischen Kooperation und Wettbewerb? 3. Welche Potentiale und Hemmnisse lassen sich auf Individual-, Team- und Umweltebene für eine erfolgreiche Arbeit von Forschungsteams in AUF ausmachen? Um die Forschungsfragen beantworten zu können, wurde eine empirische Untersuchung im Mixed Method Design, bestehend aus einer deutschlandweiten Onlinebefragung von 574 Naturwissenschaftler:innen in AUF und qualitativen Interviews mit 122 Teammitgliedern aus 20 naturwissenschaftlichen Forschungsteams in AUF, durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Teams eher als Arbeitsgruppen bezeichnet werden können, da v.a. in der Grundlagenforschung kein gemeinsames Ziel als vielmehr ein gemeinsamer inhaltlicher Rahmen vorliegt, in dem die Forschenden ihre individuellen Ziele verfolgen. Die Arbeit im Team wird überwiegend als positiv und kooperativ beschrieben und ist v.a. durch gegenseitige Unterstützung bei Problemen und weniger durch einen thematisch wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisprozess geprägt. Dieser findet vielmehr in Form kleiner Untergruppen innerhalb der Arbeitsgruppe und vor allem in enger Abstimmung mit der Teamleitung (TL) statt. Als wettbewerbsverschärfend werden vor allem organisationale Rahmenbedingungen, wie Befristungen und der Flaschenhals, thematisiert. Die TL nimmt die zentrale Rolle im Team ein, trägt die wissenschaftliche, finanzielle und personelle Verantwortung und muss den Forderungen der Organisation gerecht werden. Promovierende konzentrieren sich fast ausschließlich auf ihre Qualifizierungsarbeit. Bei Postdocs ist ein Spannungsfeld zu erkennen, da sie eigene Projekte und Ziele verfolgen, die neben den Anforderungen der TL bestehen. Die Gatekeeperfunktion der TL wird gestärkt durch ihre Rolle bei der Weitergabe von karriererelevanten Informationen im Team, z.B. bei anstehenden Konferenzen. Sie hat die wichtigen Kontakte, sorgt für die Vernetzung des Teams und ist für die Netzwerkpflege zuständig. Der wissenschaftliche Nachwuchs verlässt sich bei seinen Aufgaben und den karriererelevanten Faktoren sehr auf ihre Unterstützung. Nicht-wissenschaftliche Mitarbeitende gilt es stärker zu berücksichtigen, dies sowohl in ihrer Funktion in den Teams als auch in der Gesamtorganisation. Sie sind die zentralen Ansprechpersonen des wissenschaftlichen Personals und sorgen für eine Kontinuität bei der Wissensspeicherung und -weitergabe. Für die Organisationen gilt es, unterstützende Rahmen-, Arbeits- und Aufgabenbedingungen für die TL zu schaffen und den wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchs bei einer frühzeitigen Verantwortung für wissenschaftliche und karriererelevante Aufgaben zu unterstützen. Dafür bedarf es verbesserter Personalentwicklungskonzepte und -angebote. Darüber hinaus gilt es, Kooperationsmöglichkeiten innerhalb der Einrichtung und zwischen den Gruppen zu schaffen, z.B. durch offene Räume und Netzwerkmöglichkeiten, und innovative Arbeitsumgebungen zu fördern, um neue Formen einer innovationsfreundlichen Wissenschaftskultur zu etablieren. ; Despite the high importance of non-university research institutions for innovation policy, they have rarely been the subject of empirical studies. None of the existing studies focuses on the cooperation of scientists in research teams, although scientific teamwork is a largely unexplored field. This is surprising, since especially innovative and complex tasks, as they exist in the field of research, require the creative potential of individuals as well as a well-functioning cooperation between individuals. The cooperation of scientists in the non-university research institutions takes place in a competitive environment. On the one hand, non-university research institutions compete with each other at the organizational level and compete for research funds and scientific personnel. On the other hand, the competitive acquisition of third-party funding is essential for scientists in order to perform well for their own careers, as measured by high-ranking publications and third-party funding quotas. An increasing share of third-party funding in institutions also has an impact on personnel policy and the number of fixed-term employment contracts. At the same time, research funding is often linked to cooperation between scientists, and studies show that publications and research results are predominantly the result of several people. This tension between cooperation and competition is exacerbated by the lack of opportunities for young scientists to remain in academia. Even as the federal government responds to these challenges, individuals must find their own way between cooperation and competition. The objective of this dissertation is to answer the following research questions: 1. How can scientific research teams in non-university research institutions be characterized? 2. How does the individual researcher act in the field of tension between cooperation and competition? 3. Which potentials and obstacles can be identified on the individual, team and environmental level for a successful work of research teams in non-university research institutions? To find answers to the research questions, an empirical investigation was carried out in a mixed method design, consisting of a Germany-wide online survey of 574 natural scientists in non-university research institutions and qualitative interviews with 122 team members from 20 natural science research teams in non-university research institutions. The results show that the teams can rather be described as working groups, since especially in basic research there is no common goal, but rather a common content framework in which the researchers pursue their individual goals. The team work is predominantly described as positive and cooperative. It is mainly characterized by mutual support in case of problems and less by a thematic scientific knowledge process. This usually happens in small subgroups within the working group and, above all, in close coordination with the team leader (TL). Organizational framework conditions, e.g. fixed-term contracts, are primarily seen as exacerbating competition. The TL assumes the central role in the team, bears scientific, financial and personnel responsibility, and must meet the demands of the organization. PhD students focus almost exclusively on their qualification work. In the case of postdocs, a tension can be seen as they pursue their own projects and goals that coexist with the demands of the TL. The gatekeeper function of the TL is strengthened by her/his role in passing on career-relevant information within the team, e.g. at upcoming conferences. She or he has the important contacts, provides networking opportunities for the team, and maintains the network. Young scientists rely heavily on her or his support for their tasks and career-relevant factors. Non-scientific employees must be given greater consideration, both in their function in the teams and in the overall organization. They are central contact persons for the scientific staff and ensure continuity in the storage and transfer of knowledge. For the organizations it is important to create supportive work environments for the TL and to support young scientists in taking responsibility for scientific and career-related tasks at an early stage. This require improved personnel development concepts and offers. It is also important to create opportunities for cooperation within the institution and between groups, e.g. through open spaces and networking opportunities, and to promote innovative working environments in order to establish new forms of an innovation-friendly scientific culture.

It is hard to overstate the impact of digital transformation on democracies and the daily lives of citizens around the world. The developing world is coming online at an extraordinary pace; there are places in which NDI works that are receiving the most significant innovation of the 20th century – electrification – at the same time as that of the 21st – instant global communications. Past technology revolutions such as the printing press or broadcast media have transformed democracy and politics in rapid, profound, and hard to anticipate ways. While disruptive, innovations can reinforce existing power structures: dominant languages are magnified; usage reflects traditional gender imbalances surveillance is automated. Recognizing this incredible rate of change, NDI is changing the toolkit of approaches we use in our programs, embracing new forms of political engagement, and changing the ways we manage the nuts and bolts of international development.
Technology is as much a social, economic, and political phenomenon as it is code or engineering. The democracy community, therefore, cannot afford to treat it as a single issue and must approach it with a nuanced understanding of the range of ways it is changing society and democracy:
The internet has become critical infrastructure for democracy, – and it is under attack. Organizing, advocacy, and political communication are increasingly digital, and so preserving a democratic internet is core to the success of all other social change goals - however, many of the trends are negative. The internet needs to be accessible and available to all, free of unjustified censorship, surveillance, or punitive taxes. Organizations need to be able to maintain a digital presence without fear of having their content destroyed or confidential data shared. An information space choked with disinformation and the chilling effects of hate speech robs individuals of informed choice. The digitization of all human activity as data creates new potential for authoritarians to track citizens and perpetuate discriminatory systems. Incredible power is now vested in the hands of the major technology platforms. Through NDI's work with the Design 4 Democracy Coalition, grassroots civic groups around the world are working together to ensure that the technology sector plays a role in supporting democracy.
Policymakers and citizens need to be better informed. Making the internet safe for democracy requires supportive digital policy at the global, corporate and domestic level. Legislators and political leaders are often lacking in basic knowledge of technology to regulate them appropriately or to procure tech; easy solutions often include subsidized Chinese surveillance state-in-a-box tools or commercial offerings that may turn around and monetize citizen data. Tech companies may not understand the impacts of their products. Too often, new regulation is used as a trojan horse for anti-democratic legislation, as with cybersecurity or "fake news." Successful political engagement in the internet age requires digital literacy of citizens: effectively using tools, understanding rights, keeping themselves safe, and to be intelligent consumers of information. As with most things in the technology space, the details of the topic may be new but the concept is not; NDI has always focused on education on citizen's rights in a democracy and how to engage with existing power structures.
New forms of democracy, governance and citizen engagement are possible. There are radically new capabilities for partners who are pillars of democracy using new communication systems, more data applied in radically different ways, and new ways to gather and sort citizen preferences. Further, new forms of human organization have emerged, such as Hong Kong's leaderless protest movement, that would have been impossible without the internet. Any new innovations, even if well-meant, will have unintended consequences that NDI and partners need to be able to foresee and if possible avoid. Other technologies will may provide compelling features for citizens or governments -- but entrap them with built-in surveillance capabilities, the monetization of citizen data by corporations, or new forms of government control. NDI works with civic innovators around the world, including shepherding the Code for All Network and engaging with leaders who are building new forms of citizen engagement such as Audrey Tang in Taiwan.
Tech specifics matter but there are no easy solutions. The difference between an accurate understanding of how a technology works instead of a general one can make the difference between having a positive impact and an extremely negative one. Often, emergent technologies are misunderstood based on conceptual oversimplification or slick sales pitches. Given the trend toward integrated data, mass surveillance, and ever more powerful analysis tools, it is critical for organizations that hope to make change or mitigate democratic harm to have the ability to understand technical specifics. Conversely, changemaking organizations must be wary of tech solutionism and create internal capacity to tie technology to mission. The complexity of technology requires cultivating relationships with new actors, including academic institutions and corporations – but communicating with them requires mastery of the technology under discussion, the ability to speak to them in their language, and to engage at their cadence. The internet is privately owned, from cables in the ground to the servers on which systems run to the devices in our pockets and the apps sitting on them. Therefore, tech firms are critical to the conversation -- though engagement does not imply approval of all their activities.
Change will continue. A new range of technologies such as AI, augmented reality, voice assistants and ubiquitous sensors are here today. When widely applied, this new generation of tools will continue to reshape politics and the relationships between citizens and their governments. In the period when they are emerging, there is time to mitigate foreseeable negative consequences and aid positive ones.
Conclusion. It can be tempting to ignore the technology transformations sweeping the world in the context of international development and democracy, attempting to continue with traditional programs. Alternatively, one can look at technology as an unalloyed evil, focusing on the negatives and attempting to push back in as many ways as possible. NDI has taken a more realistic approach. The tech revolution is here to stay, and the pace of change will only continue. As our lives change based on the tools we use, so does the nature of democracy – and the threats it faces. NDI will continue engaging with our partners on the ground and helping them build more just societies based on the realities of life in the digital age.


Women in Zambia during the 2016 General Elections.

Democracy and Technology, #NDI #National Democratic Institute #democracy #technology

For over 20 years, the partnership between the European Union and the Council of Europe in the field of youth (hereinafter EU–Council of Europe youth partnership) has been gathering, analysing and disseminating knowledge for better youth policy and practice. It functions as a "think tank" and a laboratory, gathering and producing knowledge, translating it for its effective use in youth policy and practice, developing and testing new approaches and considering traditional themes and innovative trends. The EU–Council of Europe youth partnership has supported knowledge-based youth policy development in a variety of ways, including by organising thematic events and training on youth policy, publishing the Youth policy manual, a youth knowledge book on cross-sectoral youth policy, and "Youth policy essentials", as well as by organising the massive open online course (MOOC) on youth policy and other activities focused on the same theme. The EU–Council of Europe youth partnership collects, analyses and publishes information on the conditions of young people and on youth policy and practice in the European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy (EKCYP), supported by a network of EKCYP correspondents and the Pool of European Youth Researchers (PEYR). Yet little is known in Europe about the national realities of youth policy monitoring and evaluation. Based on the principle of promoting knowledge-based youth policy and taking into account the benefits of youth policy evaluation, this review aims at supporting those involved at diverse levels in evaluating youth policy design and implementation, in order to enhance youth policy's relevance, effectiveness and impact. The 2018 Annual Meeting of EKCYP correspondents undertook a first reflection on approaches to youth policy evaluation based on case studies at country level. The conclusions of that reflection were that youth policy evaluation is very complex – it involves a variety of stakeholders, each with their own perspectives on the purpose of such exercises – and there is little knowledge of how it takes place at country level. DefinitionsPage 6 ► Youth policy evaluation review In 2019, EKCYP correspondents pursued this objective of gathering knowledge on how youth policy evaluation takes place and analysing how it can better support youth policy and practice. This review is the first result of that process. This study provides an overview of youth policy evaluation at national level, including a selection of nine national and two European level case studies to help the readers better understand different approaches, methods and aspects of youth policy evaluation. The mid-term evaluation of the current EU Youth Strategy and the series of international reviews of national youth policies undertaken by the Council of Europe are integrated into Chapter 4, which presents case studies for several countries, highlighting the added value of international initiatives in the field. It concludes with a section explaining concepts, theoretical approaches and methods of policy evaluation, as well as with a practical checklist. Monitoring and evaluation of public policies, including youth policy, contribute to ensuring accountability as they offer the information needed to understand how each policy is planned and implemented and allow the sharing of different perspectives on the same policies, thus helping to understanding the resulting benefits, shortcomings and even losses. Monitoring and evaluation of polices also support the dialogue held during policy formulation and implementation and contribute to legitimating policies by allowing public participation, including youth participation. Therefore, monitoring and evaluation support the development of knowledge-based youth policy and interinstitutional and public communication. They support the dissemination of the learning outcomes, results and impact of youth policy. All these benefits of monitoring and evaluation of youth policies are important reasons for learning more about how youth policy evaluation is conducted in Europe. The needs of young people are evolving even faster than the context of public policies. The learning outcomes of monitoring and evaluation of youth policy are extremely valuable to support decision makers in amending and adapting youth and all policy targeting young people to better answer those changing needs. This review pays special attention to impact evaluation because it contributes to the accountability, learning and communication of youth policy, offering policy makers, stakeholders and young people information on the meaningful and lasting (short- or long-term) change generated by youth policy. Impact evaluation informs about the results achieved by the policy, which is relevant when planning new policies, so as to ensure their future impact, and provides data to decision makers when planning budgets. The horizontal, trans-sectoral nature of the youth policy and the numerous correlations needed with other sectoral policies, such as education, social inclusion, employment, health, sport and housing, should also be kept in mind. In this context, monitoring and evaluation are needed to increase the accountability of each institution and stakeholder involved and they allow the promotion of specific results in the field of youth to all relevant policy makers. Participation of young people in the policy process is an important principle in the youth field and the review also takes into consideration participation in evaluation. The participation of policy beneficiaries in the policy process, including its monitoring Introduction ► Page 7 and evaluation, is very important for each sectoral policy in a democratic society. By participating in youth policy evaluation, young people learn to exercise active citizenship. This is an investment that they take with them as they make the transition to informed, active and involved adults. The review includes the result of a survey conducted among the EKCYP and PEYR on the evaluation of national youth policy across Europe, followed by expert discussions in June 2019 and November 2019. The publication presents several good practices of concrete ways youth policy or elements of youth policy are evaluated throughout Europe. Definitions are presented at the beginning to clarify the meaning of the most important concepts used. A final section of the review presents the conceptual framework underlining the idea of knowledge-based policy and provides short presentations of the main theoretical and conceptual approaches in policy evaluation, when they can be used and for what purpose, as well as what advantages and challenges each of those perspectives entail. This review concludes with a practical checklist on youth policy evaluation. The checklist and the whole content of this review should be seen as a complementary resource and not as prescriptive methodology for youth policy evaluation initiatives.

For over 20 years, the partnership between the European Union and the Council of Europe in the field of youth (hereinafter EU–Council of Europe youth partnership) has been gathering, analysing and disseminating knowledge for better youth policy and practice. It functions as a "think tank" and a laboratory, gathering and producing knowledge, translating it for its effective use in youth policy and practice, developing and testing new approaches and considering traditional themes and innovative trends. The EU–Council of Europe youth partnership has supported knowledge-based youth policy development in a variety of ways, including by organising thematic events and training on youth policy, publishing the Youth policy manual, a youth knowledge book on cross-sectoral youth policy, and "Youth policy essentials", as well as by organising the massive open online course (MOOC) on youth policy and other activities focused on the same theme. The EU–Council of Europe youth partnership collects, analyses and publishes information on the conditions of young people and on youth policy and practice in the European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy (EKCYP), supported by a network of EKCYP correspondents and the Pool of European Youth Researchers (PEYR). Yet little is known in Europe about the national realities of youth policy monitoring and evaluation. Based on the principle of promoting knowledge-based youth policy and taking into account the benefits of youth policy evaluation, this review aims at supporting those involved at diverse levels in evaluating youth policy design and implementation, in order to enhance youth policy's relevance, effectiveness and impact. The 2018 Annual Meeting of EKCYP correspondents undertook a first reflection on approaches to youth policy evaluation based on case studies at country level. The conclusions of that reflection were that youth policy evaluation is very complex – it involves a variety of stakeholders, each with their own perspectives on the purpose of such exercises – and there is little knowledge of how it takes place at country level. DefinitionsPage 6 ► Youth policy evaluation review In 2019, EKCYP correspondents pursued this objective of gathering knowledge on how youth policy evaluation takes place and analysing how it can better support youth policy and practice. This review is the first result of that process. This study provides an overview of youth policy evaluation at national level, including a selection of nine national and two European level case studies to help the readers better understand different approaches, methods and aspects of youth policy evaluation. The mid-term evaluation of the current EU Youth Strategy and the series of international reviews of national youth policies undertaken by the Council of Europe are integrated into Chapter 4, which presents case studies for several countries, highlighting the added value of international initiatives in the field. It concludes with a section explaining concepts, theoretical approaches and methods of policy evaluation, as well as with a practical checklist. Monitoring and evaluation of public policies, including youth policy, contribute to ensuring accountability as they offer the information needed to understand how each policy is planned and implemented and allow the sharing of different perspectives on the same policies, thus helping to understanding the resulting benefits, shortcomings and even losses. Monitoring and evaluation of polices also support the dialogue held during policy formulation and implementation and contribute to legitimating policies by allowing public participation, including youth participation. Therefore, monitoring and evaluation support the development of knowledge-based youth policy and interinstitutional and public communication. They support the dissemination of the learning outcomes, results and impact of youth policy. All these benefits of monitoring and evaluation of youth policies are important reasons for learning more about how youth policy evaluation is conducted in Europe. The needs of young people are evolving even faster than the context of public policies. The learning outcomes of monitoring and evaluation of youth policy are extremely valuable to support decision makers in amending and adapting youth and all policy targeting young people to better answer those changing needs. This review pays special attention to impact evaluation because it contributes to the accountability, learning and communication of youth policy, offering policy makers, stakeholders and young people information on the meaningful and lasting (short- or long-term) change generated by youth policy. Impact evaluation informs about the results achieved by the policy, which is relevant when planning new policies, so as to ensure their future impact, and provides data to decision makers when planning budgets. The horizontal, trans-sectoral nature of the youth policy and the numerous correlations needed with other sectoral policies, such as education, social inclusion, employment, health, sport and housing, should also be kept in mind. In this context, monitoring and evaluation are needed to increase the accountability of each institution and stakeholder involved and they allow the promotion of specific results in the field of youth to all relevant policy makers. Participation of young people in the policy process is an important principle in the youth field and the review also takes into consideration participation in evaluation. The participation of policy beneficiaries in the policy process, including its monitoring Introduction ► Page 7 and evaluation, is very important for each sectoral policy in a democratic society. By participating in youth policy evaluation, young people learn to exercise active citizenship. This is an investment that they take with them as they make the transition to informed, active and involved adults. The review includes the result of a survey conducted among the EKCYP and PEYR on the evaluation of national youth policy across Europe, followed by expert discussions in June 2019 and November 2019. The publication presents several good practices of concrete ways youth policy or elements of youth policy are evaluated throughout Europe. Definitions are presented at the beginning to clarify the meaning of the most important concepts used. A final section of the review presents the conceptual framework underlining the idea of knowledge-based policy and provides short presentations of the main theoretical and conceptual approaches in policy evaluation, when they can be used and for what purpose, as well as what advantages and challenges each of those perspectives entail. This review concludes with a practical checklist on youth policy evaluation. The checklist and the whole content of this review should be seen as a complementary resource and not as prescriptive methodology for youth policy evaluation initiatives.

This paper is dedicated to the history of the Women's International Democratic Federation (further WIDF), the influential transnational organization of the period of the Cold War. The scholars who were dealing with the history of this organization have different opinions about its activities and historical role. Indeed, several researches have shown that the federation realized a lot of solidarity work; the federation was important not least with respect to the anti-colonial and anti-racist struggles as well for cooperation between women from inside and outside Europe. But on the other hand, historically this organization was seen as dependent from the Soviet Union or as the organization where Communist ideas and Soviet bloc's geopolitical interests have played an important role. The aim of this paper is to explore some of the contradictory aspects of the WIDF's ideology and activities. I use the WIDF's official publications, first of all, the federation's journal Women of the Whole World/ Zhenshchiny mira (published from 1951 in English, French, Russian and, later on German, Spanish and Arabic) vis-à-vis the material from the archive in Moscow, belonging to the WIDF's member organization from the Soviet Union (GARF, Fond of the Committee of the Soviet Women). In this paper I discuss the federation's use of the achievements of the state socialist countries on the way to women's emancipation as well as WIDF's main political concepts and some of their interpretations. Thus, I explore the contradictions with respect to how the concepts as human rights, democracy and women's rights were used in WIDF's documents from different periods as well as discuss conflicts connected to their use. ; Artykuł poświęcony jest historii Światowej Demokratycznej Federacji Kobiet (ŚDFK), wpływowej międzynarodowej organizacji okresu zimnej wojny. Badacze zajmujący się jej funkcjonowaniem prezentują zróżnicowane opinie na temat działalności i roli historycznej federacji. Z dotychczasowych ustaleń wynika, że ŚDFK oprócz inspirowania Europejek i kobiet z pozostałych kontynentów do walki o ich prawa realizowała wiele projektów solidarystycznych. Niektóre z jej inicjatyw miały wpływ zarówno na proces dekolonizacji, jak i postępy w walce z rasizmem. Jednocześnie organizacja była postrzegana jako zależna od Związku Sowieckiego, jako struktura propagująca idee komunistyczne i geopolityczne interesy bloku wschodniego. Celem tego artykułu jest zbadanie pewnych sprzeczności pomiędzy bazą ideologiczną a praktyczną działalnością ŚDFK. Podstawą do opracowania tematu są z jednej strony publikacje zaczerpnięte z oficjalnego organu prasowego federacji, którym od 1951 r. był periodyk "Kobiety Całego Świata" (ukazywał się w języku angielskim, francuskim, rosyjskim, a później niemieckim, hiszpańskim i arabskim), a z drugiej strony materiały zrzeszonego w ŚDFK Komitetu Kobiet Sowieckich (dostępne w zasobie Archiwum Państwowego Federacji Rosyjskiej, w zespole Komitetu Kobiet Sowieckich). W artykule scharakteryzowano główne koncepcje polityczne ŚDFK, jak też skalę wykorzystania do celów propagandowych przez federację osiągnięć państw socjalistycznych. Ukazano też poprzez pryzmat oficjalnych dokumentów federacji z różnych okresów jej działalności zmieniające się interpretacje takich pojęć, jak: demokracja, prawa człowieka, prawa kobiet oraz wynikłe z tego sprzeczności związane z użyciem tych terminów. ; Stockholm University and Mid-Sweden University ; Yulia Gradskova – pracownik Uniwersytetu w Sztokholmie. Jej naukowe zainteresowania ogniskują się wokół rosyjskiej, sowieckiej i posowieckiej historii społecznej i historii płci. Interesuje się także postsocjalizmem, historią dekolonialną i transnarodową. W swojej rozprawie doktorskiej (obronionej w 2007 r.) zajmowała się zmianami dyskursu dotyczącego macierzyństwa i urody w ocenie kobiet mieszkających w Moskwie, Ufie (Baszkirii) i Saratowie. Habilitacja (Uniwersytet Södertörn, 2010–2012) dotyczyła krytycznej rewizji sowieckiej polityki "emancypacji" i "kulturalizacji" kobiet na dawnych cesarskich kresach. Brała udział w kilku wspólnych projektach badawczych na Uniwersytecie Södertörn, w tym jeden z nich poświęcony był transformacji rodziny z okresu socjalizmu państwowego do okresu posocjalistycznego ("Rodzina i silne państwo: emancypacja czy przymus", 2008–2009). Obecnie prowadzi badania na temat Światowej Demokratycznej Federacji Kobiet – dużej międzynarodowej organizacji założonej w 1945 r. w Paryżu. ; yulia.gradskova@historia.su.se ; 172 ; 2(9) ; 185 ; State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF), fond 7928, Committee of the Soviet Woman. ; Women of the Whole World, 1960–1981. ; Za ravnopravie, schastie, mir, (Berlin : WIDF, 1953). ; Zhenshchiny mira, 1958–1981. ; Between Protest and Nation-Building, Chen Jian, Martin Klimke, Masha Kirasirova et al. (eds.), (London : Routledge, 2018), 230–242. ; Bonfiglioli, Chiara. Revolutionary Networks. Women's Political and Social Activism in Cold War Italy and Yugoslavia (1945–1957), PhD diss., (Utrecht, 2012), https://dspace.library.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/1874/254104/Bonfiglioli.pdf?sequence. ; Djagalov, Rossen. Salazkina, Masha. "Tashkent' 68, a cinematic contact zone", Slavic Review, Vol. 75, No. 2, 2016. ; Donert, Celia. "Whose Utopia? Gender, Ideology and Human Rights at the 1975 World Congress in East Berlin", in: Jan Eckel, Samuel Moyn (eds.), The Breakthrough: Human Rights in the 1970s, (Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014), 68–87. ; Edelman, Fanny. Banderas, Pasiones, Camaradas (Buenos Aires : Ediciones Dirple, 1996), 142. ; Gallo, Maria Theresa. "Today, a Woman is a President of the Republic of Uzbekistan", Women of the Whole World, No. 2, 1959, 9–21. ; Ghodsee, Kristen. Second World, Second Sex, (Durham : Duke University Press, 2018). ; Gradskova, Yulia. Soviet Politics of Emancipation of Ethnic Minority Woman. Natsionalka, (Cham : Springer, 2018). ; de Haan, Francisca. "Continuing Cold War Paradigms in Western Historiography of Transnational Women's Organizations: The Case of the Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF)", Women's History Review, Vol. 19, No. 4, 2010, 547–573. ; de Haan, Francisca. "The Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF): History, Main Agenda and Contributions (1945–1991)", in: Thomas Dublin, Kathryn Kish Sklar (eds.), Women and Social Movements (WASI) Online Archive, 2012, http://alexanderstreet.com/products/women-and-social-movements-international ; de Haan, Francisca. "The Global Left-Feminist 1960s. From Copenhagen to Moscow and New York", in: The Routledge Handbook of the Global Sixties, (London : Routledge, 2018), 230–242. ; Kamp, Marianne. New Woman in Uzbekistan, Islam, Modernity and Unveiling under Communism, (Seattle : University of Washington Press, 2006). ; Kanet, Roger. "Soviet Propaganda and the process of national liberation", in: Roger Kanet (ed.), Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and the Third World, (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1988), 84–114. ; McGregor, Katherine. "Opposing Colonialism: the Women's International Democratic Federation and Decolonization Struggles in Vietnam and Algeria 1945–1965", Women's History Review, Vol. 25, No. 6, 2016, 925–944. ; Mohanty, Chandra. Feminism without borders: decolonizing theory, practicing solidarity, (Durham : Duke University Press, 2003). ; Moyn, Samuel. The Last Utopia. Human Rights in History, (Cambridge, MA : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010). ; Tlostanova, Madina. Gender Epistemologies and Eurasian Borderland, (Basingstoke : Palgrave, 2010).

The biodiversity crisis has gained political attention on a global level. The "2010 Target" of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) aims to significantly reduce the loss of biodiversity by 2010. In order to achieve this, a network of representative and effectively managed protected areas is to be established. The effectiveness of protected areas thus represents one indicator for progress towards the CBD's 2010 Target. However, indicators require information. The present study, in a first step, reviews the availability of open access long-term ecological data for assessing protected area effectiveness. This review shows two parallel – though contradictory – phenomena: data overkill and data scarcity. While the number of online databases providing open access data on biodiversity has grown tremendously, no long-term ecological data for a larger set of protected areas can be openly accessed. Reasons for this data scarcity are discussed. Based on this lack of information, in a second step, a method to bridge information gaps through social science research is aspired. An innovative Conservation Success Framework is developed, which defines and relates conservation needs, conservation capacity and conservation actions, its three main components. The basic assumption is that conservation can only be successful where the conservation capacity exists that is required to implement the conservation actions determined by the conservation needs. The framework was used to develop open and closed questionnaires for application in two Mexican biosphere reserves, the Sierra Gorda and the Sierra de Manantlán. As "conservation success" is often immeasurable in protected areas in practice due to unspecific conservation objectives the term is for the case studies substituted by "conservation achievements", i.e. clearly noticeable effects from conservation actions. Overall, almost 60 interviews were conducted with different stakeholder groups. The gained information is validated through social science research techniques, such as triangulation of perspectives and active and passive observation. Based on this, conservation needs are identified and conservation capacities summarised and discussed for both case study sites. Implemented conservation actions addressing identified conservation needs and conservation capacity constraints are then analysed. In addition, noticeable effects from conservation actions on the state of biodiversity at case study sites, i.e. the conservation achievements, are described. Where locally available, non-open access data (as opposing open access data) are used to verify the findings from the social science research. Identified conservation achievements at both case study sites are evident both from quantitative information (for example forest cover increase according to non-open access data) and qualitative information (for example perceived change in the occurrence of illegal activities according to interviews). In addition, rather "intangible" indicators that can only be revealed through qualitative surveys are identified for both sites. This study thus highlights the crucial importance of integrating different types of data, ecological and socio-economic, as well as quantitative and qualitative ones. The present study concludes with a series of recommendations 1) to local practitioners at the two case study sites, and 2) to the international conservation community. Local practitioners may benefit from the present study because its results provide for each site a) an overview of existing conservation needs and implemented conservation actions; b) an easy way to identify action gaps; c) a baseline to identify progress indicators; and d) an overview of diverse perspectives on the current effectiveness of the biosphere reserves. These benefits are considered of particular importance as they can be influential in the revision of the site's management plans, which both are now approximately ten years old and will soon be revised. The international conservation community will not be able to make a clear statement in the year 2010 about the effectiveness of protected areas on a global level due to a lack of information and transparency. However, the year 2010 should not be considered an end point for measuring progress in in-situ conservation; instead protected area quality standards must be created, effectiveness evaluations institutionalised and efforts to foster regular reporting must continue. Consequently, a scheme of consolidated actions from local to national and international level is proposed that could help to sustainably bridge existing information gaps and close them on the long run. In the end, progress reporting on the effectiveness of protected areas, and other indicators, can only improve if different governance levels "mind the information gaps" in cooperation, until continued information gathering and sharing hopefully closes these gaps one day. ; Die Biodiversitätskrise unserer Zeit hat mittlerweile global politische Aufmerksamkeit erlangt. Das "2010-Ziel" der Konvention zur biologischen Vielfalt ist es, den Verlust der Biodiversität bis zum Jahr 2010 signifikant zu reduzieren. Zur Zielerreichung soll bis dahin ein Netzwerk aus effektiven Naturschutzgebieten etabliert sein. Die Effektivität von Schutzgebieten ist somit ein Erfolgsindikator des 2010-Zieles. Die Messbarkeit von Indikatoren ist jedoch abhängig von der Verfügbarkeit entsprechender Informationen. Die hier präsentierte Studie befasst sich im ersten Teil mit der Verfügbarkeit offen zugänglicher ökologischer Langzeitdaten, die eine Abschätzung von Schutzgebietseffektivität zulassen. Diese Revision zeigt zwei parallele – und dennoch gegensätzliche – Phänomene auf: ein Übermaß an Daten und zugleich einen Mangel an Daten. Während insgesamt die Zahl im Internet frei zugänglicher Biodiversitätsdatenbanken innerhalb der letzten zwei Dekaden immens gestiegen ist, so gibt es bis heute keine Datenbank, die aktuelle ökologische Langzeitdaten von Schutzgebieten zur Verfügung stellt. Infolge dieser Erkenntnis wird im zweiten Teil der Studie eine Methode zur Überbrückung von Informationslücken durch sozialwissenschaftliche Forschung erarbeitet und angewandt. Es wird ein innovatives Bezugssystem für Naturschutzerfolg entwickelt, welches Naturschutzbedarf, Naturschutzkapazität und Naturschutzaktionen, die drei Hauptbestandteile des Systems, in Relation setzt. Die zugrundeliegende Annahme ist, dass Naturschutz nur erfolgreich sein kann, wenn ausreichend Naturschutzkapazität besteht, um alle jene Naturschutzaktionen umzusetzen, die aufgrund des Naturschutzbedarfs erforderlich sind. Das Bezugssystem bildet die Basis für die Entwicklung von offenen und geschlossenen Fragebögen zur Anwendung in den mexikanischen Biosphärenreservaten Sierra Gorda und Sierra de Manantlán. In der Praxis ist Naturschutzerfolg jedoch häufig nicht messbar, da die Ziele von Schutzgebieten oftmals sehr unspezifisch formuliert sind, weshalb der Begriff "Naturschutzerfolg" in den Fallstudien durch den Begriff "Naturschutzergebnisse" substituiert wird. Insgesamt wurden fast 60 Interviews mit verschiedenen Interessengruppen durchgeführt. Basierend auf den Interviews werden für beide Fallstudiengebiete Naturschutzbedarf und Naturschutzkapazitäten identifiziert und diskutiert. Umgesetzte Naturschutzaktionen werden analysiert und deutlich erkennbare Folgen von Naturschutzaktionen, die "Naturschutzergebnisse", beschrieben. Sofern möglich, werden lokal verfügbare (im Gegensatz zu öffentlich zugänglichen) Daten benutzt, um die Ergebnisse der Sozialforschung und die entwickelte Methode zu verifizieren. Naturschutzergebnisse sind in beiden Regionen sowohl durch quantitative Informationen, als auch durch qualitative Informationen nachweisbar. Hierdurch unterstreicht die Studie die Wichtigkeit, verschiedene Daten zu integrieren, sowohl ökologische und sozioökonomische, als auch quantitative und qualitative. Die hier präsentierte Studie schließt mit einer Reihe von Empfehlungen 1) für lokale Akteure auf der Ebene der Fallstudien, und 2) für die internationale Naturschutzgemeinschaft. Lokale Akteure können von der vorgestellten Studie profitieren, da sie für beide Fallstudien a) einen Überblick über existierenden Naturschutzbedarf und implementierte Naturschutzaktionen bietet; b) eine einfache Methode zur Identifikation von Lücken in Naturschutzaktivitäten vorstellt; c) eine Basis schafft, von der aus Erfolgsindikatoren entwickelt werden können; und d) verschiedene Blickwinkel auf die momentane Effektivität der Biosphärenreservate gesammelt darstellt. Die Ergebnisse sind zudem von Bedeutung, da sie die Überarbeitung der Schutzgebiets-Managementpläne, welche nun beide fast zehn Jahre alt sind und baldige Überarbeitung erfordern, beeinflussen können. Die internationale Naturschutzgemeinschaft wird im Jahr 2010 keine klare Aussage zur globalen Schutzgebietseffektivitaet machen können, da es an entsprechenden Informationen mangelt. Das Jahr 2010 sollte jedoch nicht als Endpunkt für die Messung von Fortschritt im in-situ Naturschutz verstanden werden; stattdessen sollten Qualitätsstandards für Schutzgebiete entwickelt und etabliert, Effektivitätsevaluierungen institutionalisiert, und Bemühungen um regelmäßige Fortschrittsberichte vorangetrieben werden. Hierfür wird ein Schema sich gegenseitig ergänzender Aktionen vorgestellt, welches die lokale, sowie nationale und internationale Naturschutz-Ebene einschließt. Dieses Schema kann helfen, existierende Informationslücken nachhaltig zu überbrücken und langfristig zu schließen. Schlussendlich kann die Messbarkeit von Schutzgebietseffektivität, und anderen Indikatoren, nur verbessert werden, wenn verschiedene Governance-Ebenen kooperativ Informationslücken überbrücken, bis diese Lücken eines Tages durch fortschreitende Datenaufnahme und –kommunikation geschlossen werden können.

Doing business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 10 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. In a series of annual reports 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, over time. This economy profile presents the doing business indicators for Hungary. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2011 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January December 2010).

This tenth edition of Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting eleven areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and employing workers. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 185 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why. This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for New Zealand. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2012 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January - December 2011).