Suchergebnisse

The article discusses the role of independent research institutes (think tanks) in the Italian political system. We first argue why ajveus on think tanks can add to our understanding of Italian politics and policy change, and then provide information on research institutes and the challenge they face. We find that they face a more competitive environment than in the past. Next, we draw on the advocacy coalitions approach to examine the role of think tanks in major political and policy change. We present two stylised case studies, that is, the change of the electoral laws and the run-up to the Euro. Think tanks as organisations have not played a significant role in electoral reforms, although some think tank leaders have been personally engaged. We explain why think tanks have been somewhat at the periphery of this debate. By contrast, in the arena of economic policy, think tanks have operated as policy fora. They have thus facilitated social interaction amongst intellectuals and the emergence of an economic policy discourse based upon the paradigm of 'sound finance' and EMU (Economic and Monetary Union) convergence. We conclude with some suggestions for further research on think tanks: we think that the analysis of research institutes and policy-oriented knowledge should be integrated in theoretical approaches to policy change, rather than fuelling yet another 'cottage industry' of studies on a specific and very limited topic.

Umberto Gori is an eminent representative of the first wave of international studies in Italy. Throughout the past decades he has constantly been engaged in a number of research projects – ranging from international organization to the theory of international relations, from strategic studies to forecasting – and has taught not only at the University of Florence but also at many other Italian and foreign institutions. The present collection of essays is meant to celebrate his outstanding career. The contributors are students of his who, in turn, have followed his path in teaching and research, and who acknowledge an intellectual debt to him. The volume is arranged according to three general themes that are consistent with Gori's interests: the competitive and cooperative dimensions of the international system; foreign policy and regional governance; the contemporary international order.

The discipline of International Relations (IR) for a long time of its history has developed in the form of Great Debates that involved competing paradigms and schools. More recently, it has been described as a cacophony of voices unable to communicate among themselves, but also incapable to provide keys to understand an ever more complex reality. This collection aims at evaluating the heuristic value of a selection of traditional paradigms (realism and liberalism), schools (constructivism), and subdisciplines (security studies and international political economy) so as to assess the challenges before IR theory today and the ability of the discipline to provide tools to make the changed world still intelligible.

Chapter 1. The EU migration system and global justice: An Introduction -- Chapter 2. EU's Normative Ambivalence and the Migrant Crisis: (in)Actions of (in)Justice -- Chapter 3. The Immigration Policy of the United Kingdom: British Exceptionalism and the Renewed Quest for Control -- Chapter 4. Justice at the edge of Europe: migration, asylum policy and global justice in Greece in the context of the European Migration System of Governance -- Chapter 5. From this side of the Mediterranean: Italy, migration and justice perspectives -- Chapter 6. Between logistification and minimalism: migration policies in France and global justice -- Chapter 7. Constraints on global justice. Insecurity and national repositioning in the case of Hungary -- Chapter 8. Out but still in: Norway's approach to migration and asylum as a non-EU state -- Chapter 9. Germany's 'Atypical' Leadership in the EU Migration System of Governance and its Normative Dimension -- Chapter 10. The EU Migration System and Global Justice: An Assessment.