Suchergebnisse

Abstract.  The allocation of resources between the federal and state levels of government is a key institutional variable explaining the congruence or similarity of party systems. It affects the incentives voters and parties face, and opportunities for cleavage mobilization. This article pioneers measures for comparing congruence across federations. Evidence from state and federal elections in six federations produces clear evidence that party systems are least congruent in decentralized federations and most congruent in centralized federations. Voter behaviour, indicated by the variation of electoral support for parties across units of the federation and the similarity of swings in support between the state and federal levels, is most responsive to the allocation of resources. Party system structure is less responsive to this variable.

{I}United Kingdom Federation for Culture Collections, Issue 29, 1998{/P} {/I}{B}{P}United Kingdom Federation for Culture Collections{/B}{/P} {I}{B}Newsletter{/I}{/B}{/P} {P}Edited by Dr. John Day {B}{P} Code Number:NL98005 {BR} Sizes of Files: {BR} Text: 49K {BR} Graphics: No associated graphics files {/P} {P}Editorial{/P} {/B}{P}Amongst other important subjects, this issue of the UKFCC Newsletter contains an update on the development of the United Kingdom National Culture Collection (UKNCC). {P}A further subject covered in this issue is the proposed changes to the UKFCC Statutes. {/P} {B}{P}The United Kingdom National Culture Collection (UKNCC){/B}{/P} {/B}{P}The Initiative to implement the UK Govermnents strategy for UK microbial collections has now been running for over two years. Just to remind you it brings together 9 National Collections (one on two sites) under the UK National Culture Collection (UKNCC). The Office of Science and Technology established the UKNCC following the Governments response to an independent Review of UK Microbial Culture Collections. {B}{P}World Federation for Culture Collections: associate membership for UKFCC members{/P} {/B}{B}{P}The WFCC: Its Present Activities and Plans for the Millennium{/B}{/P} {P}The WFCC has had an active period promoting the work of the Federation, operating both through its executive board and committee members, and in a general consultancy capacity to other organisations. It is now planning for the new millennium.{/P} {B}{P}UKFCC Bursary Competition{/P} {/B}{P}The UKFCC Bursary to attend the XVIIth European Culture Collection Organisation (ECCO) meeting at VTT, Espoo, Finland from 24th - 26th June 1998 was awarded to Dr RA Fleck. An abstract of the paper he presented "{I}Development of effective preservation procedures for use in culture collections"{/I} is published {/P} {P}{B}Report on the UKFCC Student Bursary (Summer 1998){/P} {/B}{P}Morphological and temperature studies on a selection of{I} Ganoderma {/I}isolates from the CABI BIOSCIENCE Genetic Resources Collection, formerly IMI.{/P} {B}{P}Report on: World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC) Workshop: {BR} The economic value of microbial genetic resources{/P} {/B}{P}The Workshop was held at the Eighth International Symposium on Microbial Ecology (Halifax, Canada, August 12th 1998){/P} {P}NOTE: A full report with extended abstracts, bibliography, background documents etc will be published by the WFCC; this will also be made available on the WFCC Web Site {B}{P}MOSAICC Developments{/P} {/B}{P}The EU supported project to develop guidelines (or a voluntary code of conduct) for the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) by culture collections and microbiologists in general is reaching its final stage. The second meeting of the steering group takes place at the beginning of February 1999 in Brussels and additional participants will be invited to attend and contribute to the final development of the guidelines.{/P} {B}{P}Future UKFCC Meetings{/P} {B}{P}Meetings of Interest{/P} {B}{P}UKFCC Committee Members{/P} {B}{P}UKNCC Service Culture Collections {/P} {B}{P}Sustaining Members{/P} {B}{P}STATUTES OF THE UK FEDERATION for CULTURE COLLECTIONS{/A}{/P} {B}{P}UKFCC Training Course on the Preservation and Maintenance of Microorganisms and Cell Lines {/B}{BR} 26-28 April 1999{/P} {P}Copyright UKFCC 1998

Due to its geographical position and its cultural links, Russia has always had a special relation with Europe. In its attempt to shape its own place on the global stage, the Russian Federation has sometimes seen itself as an authentic European state, while in other cases and circumstances, it strongly supported and claimed its "Eurasian" features. Due to the enlargement of the European Union and its rise as a heavy international player, the European Union has turned into a geographical neighbor of the Russian Federation. From this perspective, it is not a surprising fact that the Russian Federation is to develop specific relations and shape a foreign policy with strategic features regarding the European Union. The institutional cooperation between the European Union and the Russian Federation aims at shaping a series of common objectives regarding the relations between the two sides and defining the actions needed in order to reach the proposed objectives, the implementation of the common projects considering the agreed order of priorities.