Suchergebnisse

RésuméTraditionally, the reign of Ivan IV "the Terrible" is seen in the Russian historiography as an era of deep reforms, including the currency, the police and the justice system. This article points to the limitations of such a view, based on an anachronistic understanding of "reform" as a conscious, planned, and well-considered effort. Sources rather reveal a host of local and temporary measures aiming at restoring the traditional order. From the study of the dynamics of those decisions, the role of the czar and the other political actors, and the conditions of local experimentations, a new image of 16th-century Russia emerges: that of a political system based on the practice of "corrections according to tradition."

Local governments have been involved in a continuous reform process during recent decades. In many cases, this process has focused on the introduction of performance measurement and management. Reforms have evolved from the mere use of indicators to integrated management systems. In this article, the Balanced Scorecard, a system designed to answer the need for integrated management systems, is used as the framework to analyse how local governments have managed the use of performance management systems. The demands for better public performance, for greater customer focus, for enhanced decision‐making and for increased responsiveness have an important role in the design of performance management systems. In addition, a perceived crisis in the area of management can act as catalyst for the implementation.

RESUMEN: Analizando el caso uruguayo, Conrado Ramos trata de perfilar el nuevo papel que va a desempeñar un Estado eficiente. Centrándose en un aspecto más concreto de la reforma de la Administración Pública, el autor analiza la relación que se establece entre la nueva burocracia y la élite política, y los apoyos que los diferentes gobiernos dan al proceso de implementación de la reforma.ABSTRACT: Studying the Uruguayan case, Ramos tríes to define the role to be played by an efficient State. In one more concrete aspect of the Administration Reform, the author analyzes the relationship between the new bureaucracy and the political elites, and the supports that the different governments give to the process of implementation reform.

В статье реформы начала царствования Александра I рассматриваются в связи с преобразовательными планами Павла I и как результат законодательной деятельности противоборствовавших групп реформаторов, окружавших молодого императора. Такой ракурс дает возможность понять противоречивую природу реформ 1801-1802 гг., представлявших сложное переплетение замыслов сторонников как эволюционного, так и радикального путей развития российской государственности. ; The article analyzes reforms of the beginning of Alexander I reign in connection with Paul I`s modernization plan and as a result of legislative activities of different opposite groups, encircled the young emperor. It gives the opportunity to understand the conflicting nature of reforms 1801-1802, representing complex interlocking designs supporters as an evolutionary and radical ways of development of Russian statehood.

ABSTRACTThis paper analyzes the effects of pension funding for a small open economy in which wages are subject to bargaining. Using an overlapping‐generations framework, we show that a reform away from a Pay‐As‐You‐Go towards a funded pension system will be Pareto improving only if the reform results in a reduction in the steady‐state unemployment rate. However, the reduction in the unemployment rate is by no means warranted: although for pension systems which involve a limited amount of intra‐generational redistribution this is likely, for systems displaying a high degree of intra‐generational redistribution the unemployment rate may well rise thus preventing the realization of welfare gains.

The unique characteristics of Germany's federalism have been long identified as one of the main obstacles to legitimate and efficient governance. In 2006, the grand coalition adopted a federal reform which aims to disentangle the intertwined levels of government by reducing the influence of the Lander governments in federal policy-making and strengthening the Lander by granting more legislative competences to the federal states. In this article, I summarize the reasons for the constitutional change, provide a short overview of the reform process, and evaluate its results. I argue that the achieved compromise will only lead to incremental changes in Germany's federalism and will not be sufficient to solve the perceived problems of Germany's federal structure. Adapted from the source document.

AbstractColombia and Peru made significant progress in reducing the institutional prerogatives of their respective militaries in the 1990s and 2000s while reforming their economies in a neoliberal direction. They accomplished this despite internal armed threats to state authority and stability. The end of the Cold War, U.S. promotion of "market democracies," and the international centrality of free markets and formal democratic governance coincided with the rise to power in Peru and Colombia of "neoliberal policy coalitions." The internal insurgency mitigated the emergence of antiglobalization or antidemocratic reform factions in the military and civil society. The armed forces unified behind their counterinsurgency mission, and opposition in civil society was weakened, creating greater space for neoliberal elites to reform their economies and reduce military prerogatives.

We describe the trajectory of pension reform in the United Kingdom, which focuses on restraining the cost of the public program as the population ages while maintaining adequate income security for low-income households in retirement. Methods for achieving these aims have been to target public benefits to low- income households, to permit individuals to opt out of the second tier of the public program into private retirement accounts, and to offer tax incentives to encourage additional private retirement saving. Frequent program reforms raise concerns as to whether households can make reasonable private saving provision in light of the growing complexity and potential shortcomings of individual decision-making. This paper sheds some light on these issues.

We describe the trajectory of pension reform in the United Kingdom, which focuses on restraining the cost of the public program as the population ages while maintaining adequate income security for low-income households in retirement. Methods for achieving these aims have been to target public benefits to low- income households, to permit individuals to opt out of the second tier of the public program into private retirement accounts, and to offer tax incentives to encourage additional private retirement saving. Frequent program reforms raise concerns as to whether households can make reasonable private saving provision in light of the growing complexity and potential shortcomings of individual decision-making. This paper sheds some light on these issues.

Der Autor weist auf den dringenden Reformbedarf bei der Zulassung zu juristischen Berufen (Anwälte, Richter) in Polen hin und skizziert die Vielschichtigkeit des Problems, die nach seiner Ansicht zu einer differenzierten Bewertung führen muss. Dabei räumt er ein, dass die PiS bzw. Kaczyński-Regierung auf existierende Missstände hinwies, aber ungeeignete Lösungsvorschläge machte, um die Fehlentwicklungen zu beheben. Die beabsichtigte Reform des Anwaltsberufs hat demnach die Gefahr herauf beschworen, anstatt einer Reform, die neben der notwendigen Öffnung des Berufs seine Selbständigkeit und Unabhängigkeit gewährleisten würde, eine dem Staat untergeordnete und abhängige Gruppe von Anwälten zu schaffen. Man kann nach der Bestandsaufnahme des Autors auch nicht leugnen, dass das Ernennungsverfahren der Richter in Polen ein Legitimationsdefizit aufweist. Es muss nicht nur ihre Unabhängigkeit garantieren, sondern ihnen auch eine ausreichende Legitimation im Rahmen der demokratischen Gesellschaft verleihen. Das effektiv bestehende »Klon-System« ist in dieser Hinsicht nicht ausreichend bzw. schädlich. Es verstärkt die Tendenz, dass die Richter eine abgeschlossene, sich selbst schützende Struktur ausbilden. Die Reformvorstellungen von PiS bzw. des amtierenden Präsidenten Lech Kaczyński auch in diesem Bereich wie auch der Interventionismus des seinerzeitigen PiS-Justizministers Ziobro in seiner Funktion als Generalstaatsanwalt in laufenden Verfahren (»Schaujustiz«) wiesen bzw. weisen in die falsche Richtung bei der Bekämpfung der unzweifelhaften Defekte des polnischen Justizsystems.

Most new EU member states (NMS) need further fiscal adjustment to support economic growth and macroeconomic stability. In this context, achieving income convergence with other EU members rests more with maintaining productivity growth, attracting foreign savings, and improving investment efficiency than with increasing government spending (including for infrastructure). Additional institutional fiscal reforms, aimed at improving expenditure efficiency and facilitating private sector investment, will be needed to support these objectives. However, further fiscal adjustment and reforms do not necessarily need to depress public investment. New financing options for public investment - including from various EU funds and through public-private partnerships - can ease existing fiscal and macroeconomic constraints, but present both new opportunities and challenges that need to be handled carefully.

Elections are the hallmark of democracy. In this article the author critically examines the election of delegates to the Beijing People's Congress in 1993, 1998, and 2003 as a case study of the present stage of electoral reforms in China. The Chinese have moved toward democratic principles in elections, introducing secret ballots and allowing multiple candidates to run for office. However, political elites still select which candidates can and cannot run for office and, to a lesser extent, the outcome of the elections. The Chinese public embraces democracy, but they still harbor traditional values that undermine the realization of democratic ideals. The Beijing elections demonstrate the degree that elections are embedded in Chinese society and the difficulties of electoral reforms. (Asian Aff/GIGA)

"Die Euro-Mediterrane Partnerschaft (EMP), deren Grundstein 1995 in Barcelona gelegt wurde, umfasst die institutionalisierten Beziehungen der EU zu den nordafrikanischen und im Nahen Osten gelegenen Mittelmeeranrainerstaaten. Orientiert am normativen Leitbild einer Zivilmacht sind die Stärkung der Wirtschaftsbeziehungen, die sicherheitspolitische Zusammenarbeit sowie der kulturelle und soziale Austausch erklärte Ziele und Politikfelder dieser Partnerschaftspolitik. Nach mehr als zehn Jahren werden die Erfolge dieses ambitionierten Projektes eher mit Skepsis betrachtet: Trotz dem Aufbau einer vertrauensvollen Kooperation und der Intensivierung der Wirtschaftsbeziehungen bleiben die demokratischen Entwicklungen in den Partnerländern, die durch den so genannten 'Barcelona-Prozess' gefördert werden sollen, hinter den Erwartungen zurück. Gerade die Demokratisierungspolitik lässt zu wünschen übrig. Die Mittelmeerdrittländer (MDL) weigern sich, Reformen in Angriff zu nehmen, und die EU zögert, ihnen ernst gemeinte Reformen abzuringen. Annette Jünemann bilanziert die Euro-Mediterrane Partnerschaftspolitik und lotet dabei Möglichkeiten einer besseren Umsetzung aus. Der Schwerpunkt ihrer Analyse gilt der EU, die als Initiatorin der Euro-Mediterranen Partnerschaftspolitik einen nicht unerheblichen Teil der politischen Verantwortung trägt, und konzentriert sich auf die Politikfelder der Äußeren und Inneren Sicherheit und die damit zusammenhängenden Bereiche der Demokratisierungs- und Menschenrechtspolitik." (Autorenreferat)

В статье в сопоставительном ключе анализируется нормативно-правовое обеспечение деятельности общественных организации и политических партий современной РФ. Выявляются тенденции становления отечественного законодательства, адресованного третьему сектору и политическим институтам. Обозначаются ресурсы взаимодействия политических партий и общественных объединений в ходе административной реформы и реформы местного самоуправления на федеральном и региональном уровнях. The article reveals the standard legal activities of public organisations and political parties of the modern Russian Federation in a contrastive key. The article interprets the establishment of domestic legislation addressed to the third section and political institutions. The resources of the interaction of political parties and public organisations in the course of administration reforms and the reforms of local government on federal and regional levels are cleared up in this work.