This chapter explores the possible influences of Sweden, Denmark and Finland on the Environmental Policy of the EU. We focus specifically on the reputation, expertise and role model behaviour of the Nordic EU members and their possibilities to use these factors as cognitive power resources.The chapter discusses several examples where the Nordic EU member states have successfully promoted their national environmental interests within the EU. We also make use of interviews with environmental representatives at the Swedish, Danish and Finnish Permanent Representations to the EU in Brussels, officials from other member states, DG Environment of the Commission and the European Environment Agency. The results indicate that the Nordic EU members have to some extent minimised their quantitative disadvantages, such as small administrations and limited voting powers, by successfully using the cognitive power resources in question within the Environmental Policy of the European Union.
When Nigeria got her independence in 1960 there were high hopes that she would become one of the greatest nations in the nearest future. Those who made this prediction were not wrong because Nigeria has what it takes to become great. In terms of population, it is not just the most populous but also one of the most talented in the continent. In natural resources, very few countries in Africa can boast of the resources the country parades. However, when these endowments are placed side by side with development in the country, the result becomes discouraging. Currently, one may assert that Nigeria is or at the point of becoming the poverty capital of the world looking at the rate her citizens are fleeing to other countries in search of greener pastures. Using the method of documentation and conceptual analysis, this study examines why Nigeria has not been able to translate its potentials into development indexes. The investigation centres around two research questions: 1) what is the relationship between the lack of development in Nigeria and electoral malpractice and 2) is Nigeria's inability to translate its potentials to development caused by executive abuse of powers. The paper discovered that moral decadence in the form of electoral malpractice and executive recklessness are the root causes of Nigeria's political and economic backwardness. It recommended the formation of an enlightened populace who will not only reject but also fight these two ills through civil resistance as the philosopher's stone that will save Nigeria
Icelandic politics are analysed from the perspectives of three normative models of democracy: the liberal, republican and deliberative democratic theories. While the Icelandic constitution is rooted in classical liberal ideas, Icelandic politics can be harshly criticized from a liberal perspective, primarily because of the unclear separation of powers of government and for the extensive involvement of politics in other social sectors. Despite strong nationalist discourse which reflects republican characteristics, rooted in the struggle for independence from Denmark, republicanism has been marginal in Icelandic politics. In the years before the financial collapse, Icelandic society underwent a process of liberalization in which power shifted to the financial sector without disentangling the close ties that had prevailed between business and politics. The special commission set up by the Icelandic Parliament to investigate the causes of the financial collapse criticized Icelandic politics and governance for its flawed working practices and lack of professionalism. The appropriate lessons to draw from this criticism are to strengthen democratic practices and institutions. In the spirit of republicanism, however, the dominant discourse about Icelandic democracy after the financial collapse has been on increasing direct, vote-centric participation in opposition to the system of formal politics. While this development is understandable in light of the loss of trust in political institutions in the wake of the financial collapse, it has not contributed to trustworthy practices. In order to improve Icelandic politics, the analysis in this paper shows, it is important to work more in the spirit of deliberative democratic theory ; Peer Reviewed
Bangladesh is performing better in the growth of GDP and experiencing remarkable progress in development indicators such as poverty alleviation, maternal mortality, infant mortality and enrollment in primary education. However, despite the restoration parliamentary democracy in 1990s, political governance is decaying in the country. The present study, taking dynamics of Bangladeshi politics into consideration, seeks to explore the interplay between business and politics and its impact on governance with supplementary evidence from public transportation sector as case example. Among others, the principal question of the paper is how business interest creates crisis in governance? It reveals that business elites are involved in all decision-making process in the government institutions and they make pro-business policy undermining people's interest that leads to a confrontation between government institution and business elites which ultimately generates crisis in governance in almost all other section of the nation like transportation sector.
This book presents a detailed and systematic investigation of poverty reporting in Wales, discussing the findings of a two-year research project funded by Exploring the Narrative Coalition (a group of 10 third sector organizations based in Wales ESRC and Cardiff University Exploring how poverty news is covered by broadcast, print and online news in English and Welsh, provides a detailed understanding of current journalism and communication practices on a critical issue. facing Wales. Following a decade of austerity policies, with official measures confirming that experiences of poverty and deprivation are on the rise, the book offers a timely intervention, critically exploring the mainstream media's narratives on poverty and how they experience it shape them. This book is based on original research conducted between 2016-7, during a turbulent period involving the Tata Steel crisis in Port Talbot. South Wales, Welsh Government elections and a referendum campaign for the UK's membership of the European Union. It covers how poverty was framed in the midst of nationally important news about politics, business and the economy as well as more local, personal or community-related stories about livelihoods and social issues. Quantitative analysis of the key features of the approaches across different media types provides a detailed evidence base for understanding how poverty news was represented. This includes looking at the major contextualization themes, social groups and geographical locations that are commonly addressed, the causes and consequences of poverty, and access to information. It demonstrates how the media in Wales responds differently to the more negative reports typical of some UK national press departments, particularly around discourses that cause unemployment and welfare stigma. Nevertheless, there are important questions to be raised about how news narratives convey meaning and in particular the disconnect between the coverage of macroeconomic trends or events and their impact on the lives of ordinary people. In addition, the book explores why coverage of poverty news is shaped as it is, drawing on the findings of in-depth interviews with journalists and editors about their practices. Through a look at professional values and experiences, the book explores the challenges that are likely to affect reporting poverty. Key issues include the use of specialist resources and expertise allocated to social issues journalism, the difficulties in identifying and potentially reaching vulnerable groups across Wales and representing case studies fairly and ethically. We undertook a set of interviews with third sector professionals about their engagement with news media practices and contacts. They offer more information on how news about poverty is shaped. Here, the pressures of reporting poverty are viewed from a different perspective, where trying to influence poverty coverage in the press and responding to news demands can create professional tensions between journalists and the third sector and / or positive productive co-operative relationships that affect news narratives. By providing a detailed picture of how and why poverty news narratives are shaped as they are, the book intends to create an evidence base that will inform more accurate, representative and meaningful reporting of poverty in Wales.
