Suchergebnisse

Peace and Security Council Fourth Session 6 April 2004 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ; Conseil De Paix Et De Securite Quatrième session 6 avril 2004 Addis Abéba (Ethiopie) ; السلام والأمن التابع الدورة الرابعة 6 أبريل 2004 أديس أبابا، إثيوبيا ; Paz e Segurança sessão do Conselho Quarta 6 de abril de 2004 Adis Abeba, Etiópia

The subject of this study is the strategic cooperation of the permanent members in the Security Council in the period 1946 2000. Because of their right of veto the cooperation of the permanent members has a significant influence on the functioning of the Council. The most important aspects of the cooperation that were investigated are the intensity of the cooperation and the ef-fectiveness of this cooperation in preventing and ending wars. To investigate these aspects, for both the intensity and the effectiveness measuring instruments were constructed. These measuring instruments were based on comprehensive sets of so-called 'leading indicators' and statistical methods and techniques. The intensity of the cooperation increased gradually from 1946 until 1990 (the end of the Cold War). Then it started to increase rapidly until 1996. From 1996 a slight decrease can be discer-ned. The strong increase in the strategic cooperation of the permanent members in the security Council can be established in all the majors forms of cooperation in the Council: the numbers of adopted strategic resolutions and presidential statements, the numbers of employed means (like peacekeeping missions and enforcement actions) and the amounts of money that were spent on peacekeeping activities. Further it was established that the response times of the Council regarding potential and waged wars dropped significantly since the end of the Cold War. The effectiveness of the cooperation of the permanent members in the Council was, insofar this was measurable with the applied method, not good for many years, but after the Cold War a clear improvement can be discerned. This goes for the prevention of wars, as well as for post war peacebuilding and the ending of wars. Also the numbers of potential and waged wars in which the Council not intervened dropped significantly since the end of the Cold War, as well as the use of vetoes. The large number of potential and waged wars in which the Council did not intervene during the Cold War was nearly exclusively caused by 'non decisions' (the non placing of wars on the agenda), and not by the use of vetoes by permanent members, as is often assumed in literature. Further, a comparison of two phase classifications of the Cold War showed that the great powers, even when there are great tensions among them, are prepared to cooperate in the Security Council to resolve strategic matters, if they consider this in their interest. Analyses of the adopted strategic resolutions during the Cold War revealed that cooperation here was nearly exclusively limited to issues that were not core issues of the Cold War. From this it can be concluded that cooperation against third party states was a basis of cooperation of the great powers in the Security Council. Finally, the results of this study show clearly that the Security Council was regarded and used to a large extent by the permanent members in the period 1946 2000 as an instrument of foreign policy to pursue their national interests, and not as an instrument of the world community to prevent and end wars.

'Will the Netherlands be defended?' The debate about NATO's main lines of defence at the beginning of the 1950sAt the beginning of the 1950s, the Netherlands would not have been able to defend itself in the event of a Soviet attack. Despite the fact that NATO, under the leadership of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Eisenhower, and later General Ridgway, was in the process of rapidly building up its defences, it was still incapable of conducting a forward defence. The pivotal political and military issue in the short term centred on one question: Which areas in Western Europe could and should be kept and which not? Answers to this question exposed conflicting national interests and points of view, particularly those of the Dutch and the French. As it was taking a considerably long time to build up the Netherlands' defences, the Dutch government had very few trump cards to add weight to its demands. Indeed, in the summer of 1952, when Parliament asked to be given a precise account of how the Dutch defences were progressing, the government was practically boxed into a corner.

An at-a-glance illustrated guide to global and regional trends in human insecurity, the miniAtlas provides a succinct introduction to today's most pressing security challenges. It maps political violence, the links between poverty and conflict, assaults on human rights including the use of child soldiers and the causes of war and peace.

Корупција представља једну од најважнијих тема међународне политике сузбијања криминалитета. Управо нас она упућује, заједно са савременим облицима коруптивног деловања, на потребу увођења одговорности правних лица за дела корупције. Дуго година владајућа максима societas delinquere non potest, која је одбацивала идеју о кривичној одговорности правних лица, у савременом кривичном законодавству је доведена у питање. О неопходности законског уређења проблематике одговорности правних лица за кривична дела говоре многобројни међународни документи које је наша земља ратификовала и на тај начин преузела обавезу имплементације норми међународног права. Овом приликом проблематизујемо питање које се односи на одговорност правних лица за кривична дела и кривичноправно сузбијање корупције. На овом месту размотрићемо да ли је потребно да се говори о кривичној одговорности правних лица, или је примереније терминолошки и са становишта теорије говорити о казненој одговорности правних лица. ; Corruption is considered a social problem not only in Serbia. This phenomenon is given more and more attention at the international level as well. This primarily means coordinated efforts in opposing this obstacle and threat to the development of every country. It is surprising how material-criminal legal norms were narrowly determined in the field of one of the most important topics of international and national policy of crime suppression. For decades, and particularly thanks to sensations of the last years, the practitioners, especially those in the field of judiciary and police, have been warning of corruption and the need of its suppression and limiting. The connection between corruption and organized crime has intensified even more the discussions on counter measures that could be incorporated into the existing laws and remove their weaknesses. Every country should undertake a number of measures and activities in the field of battle against corruption taking into account the international standards in this field. These measures may be of preventive or repressive character. This paper deals with criminal legal intervention that represents ultima ratio, i.e. the last resort that should not be used until all other means and manners to protect someone have been exhausted. Our legislator has responded in the meantime, removed the most important flaws that distort the picture about our criminal legal regulations and incriminated corruptive behaviour, taking into account at that the obligations undertaken based on international conventions. Very delicate field of the responsibility of legal persons for criminal act remains unregulated. In this paper we point out to the need and state the reasons, with parallel study of the achieved solutions in some countries and Anglo-Saxon and continental legal culture, why the issue of responsibilities of legal persons for acts of corruption and even more widely should be regulated by a separate law.

This paper - written for a conference held in Leuven (KUL) in 2001- offers a global analysis of the European Insolvency Regulation. At the time the paper was written, the Regulation was a very recent instrument. The paper reviews the Regulation based on previous experiences at harmonising the law of cross-border insolvencies (such as the European Insolvency Convention and the Istanbul Convention). Particular attention is paid to the issues of jurisdiction (which court has jurisdiction to open insolvency proceedings), jurisdiction conflicts (what happens if two courts decide to exercise jurisdiction simultaneously) and recognition and enforcement of foreign insolvency judgments.

In deze bijdrage wordt naar aanleiding van het gewijzigde voorstel voor een Europese betalingsbevelprocedure (2006) aandacht besteed aan de harmonisatie van het IPR en procesrecht in de Europese Unie, de totstandkoming van de Europese betalings-bevelprocedure, doelstelling en toepassingsgebied van de voorgestelde verordening, het verloop van de procedure en de gevolgen voor Nederland. Tot slot wordt gewezen op het belang van de coherentie van het Europees procesrecht, dat op deelgebieden en in ver-schillende instrumenten momenteel tot stand wordt gebracht. Abstract: [European Civil Procedure under Construction. The (amended) proposal for a European Order for Payment Procedure] On the occasion of the publication of the amended proposal for a European Order for Payment Procedure (2006) attention is paid to the harmonisation of Private International Law and Procedural Law in the European Union, the bringing about of the European Order for Payment Procedure, the objectives and scope of the proposed regulation, the course of the proceedings and its impact in the Netherlands. It is pointed out that it is important to ensure the coherence of European procedural law, since it is being brought about in pieces and in different instruments.

Response, Henk te VeldeDuring my research I have greatly benefited from the historiography of political parties and I agree with Bosmans that the relatively new approach of political culture should collaborate with classic political history. However, I am more interested in similarities between different political currents and how they compare with the international scene. Another area of particular interest for me is the public aspect of political leadership and how this relates to the time in which it takes place. The issue is, therefore, not the party political aspects of Colijn's leadership but rather the praise he received at that time from outside his own party. The most prominent political leaders were not modest administrators but 'partisan', controversial members of the best-organised and strongest parties, such as the orthodox Protestant ARP. Among many other things, I analyse the relevance of clichés about 'Calvinist' and 'religious' politics with regard to the public appeal of ex-orthodox Protestant Den Uyl. Unfortunately, however, Van Deursen seems to believe, unjustly, that I am expressing my own personal opinion on Calvinism.

Докторска дисертација «Русија на почетку XXI века – геополитичка анализа» је рад који се састоји из шест делова. У првом делу «Теоретско – методолошки увод» је постављена методолошко појмовна основа рада, извршен преглед досадашњих истраживања на ову тему и сабрани и анализирани потребни извори и литература. Други део «Физичко – географске одлике територије данашње Русије» се бави анализом и вредновањем рељефа и педолошког покривача, климе, хидрографског потенцијала, биљног и животињског света, те рудног и енергетског блага на подручју савремене Русије. Док су први и други део рада квантитативно невелики (слично петом и шестом делу), трећи и четврти део обухватају највећи део дисертације. Трећи део «Историјска анализа геополитичке позиције Русије» се бави територијалним развојем руске државе кроз историју, при чему су анализирани и остали геополитички значајни фактори генезе њеног историјског положаја. Посебно је посматран утицај који су на Русију кроз историју имали континенти на којима се распростире, а извршена је и анализа билатералних историјских односа са најзначајнијим суседима и светским силама, где су уочене и извесне геополитичке правилности (по историчару Броделу то би биле историјске појаве «средњег» и «дугог трајања»). Четврти део «Геополитичка позиција савремене Русије» анализира данашњу Русију са унутрашње и међународне позиције. У оквиру унутрашње позиције се анализира економија, демографија, социолошка структура, култура и унутрашњо – политичка позиција савремене руске државе. У односу на окружење се анализира укупна позиција Русије у свету и посебно у односу на суседе и поједине важне државе (са свим државама Европе и Азије и са најважнијим силама на другим континентима). Пети део «Перспективе Русије у следећим деценијама XXI века» садржи основне елементе предвиђања унутрашњег развоја земље, као и њену позицију у светским токовима. Шести део је прегледни «Закључак». ; Doktorska disertacija «Rusija na početku XXI veka – geopolitička analiza» je rad koji se sastoji iz šest delova. U prvom delu «Teoretsko – metodološki uvod» je postavljena metodološko pojmovna osnova rada, izvršen pregled dosadašnjih istraživanja na ovu temu i sabrani i analizirani potrebni izvori i literatura. Drugi deo «Fizičko – geografske odlike teritorije današnje Rusije» se bavi analizom i vrednovanjem reljefa i pedološkog pokrivača, klime, hidrografskog potencijala, biljnog i životinjskog sveta, te rudnog i energetskog blaga na području savremene Rusije. Dok su prvi i drugi deo rada kvantitativno neveliki (slično petom i šestom delu), treći i četvrti deo obuhvataju najveći deo disertacije. Treći deo «Istorijska analiza geopolitičke pozicije Rusije» se bavi teritorijalnim razvojem ruske države kroz istoriju, pri čemu su analizirani i ostali geopolitički značajni faktori geneze njenog istorijskog položaja. Posebno je posmatran uticaj koji su na Rusiju kroz istoriju imali kontinenti na kojima se rasprostire, a izvršena je i analiza bilateralnih istorijskih odnosa sa najznačajnijim susedima i svetskim silama, gde su uočene i izvesne geopolitičke pravilnosti (po istoričaru Brodelu to bi bile istorijske pojave «srednjeg» i «dugog trajanja»). Četvrti deo «Geopolitička pozicija savremene Rusije» analizira današnju Rusiju sa unutrašnje i međunarodne pozicije. U okviru unutrašnje pozicije se analizira ekonomija, demografija, sociološka struktura, kultura i unutrašnjo – politička pozicija savremene ruske države. U odnosu na okruženje se analizira ukupna pozicija Rusije u svetu i posebno u odnosu na susede i pojedine važne države (sa svim državama Evrope i Azije i sa najvažnijim silama na drugim kontinentima). Peti deo «Perspektive Rusije u sledećim decenijama XXI veka» sadrži osnovne elemente predviđanja unutrašnjeg razvoja zemlje, kao i njenu poziciju u svetskim tokovima. Šesti deo je pregledni «Zaključak». ; The doctor dissertation named "Russia in the beginning of the 21th century – geopolitical analyses" is the work which is consisting of the six parts. In the first part "Theoretical methodological introduction" is a setup of the methodologicaly conceptual basis of this work and noticed previous researches of this subject matter and summarized and analyzed the resources and literature. The second part of the work "Phiysical and geographical attributes of the nowdays Russian territory" engages in analyzing and valuing relief and soil cover, climate , hidrographycal potential, wildlife, mineral and energy resources of nowdays Russia. While the first and the second part of this work quantitative are a small (alike the fifth and the sixth parts of the work ) the third and the fourt parts borders is the largest part of dissertation . The third part of the work "An historical analyses geopolitical positions of Russia" engages in territorial development of the Russian Government trough its history whereat are analyzed another geopolitically important factors of genesis its historical position. Especially is observed influence to Russia by continents of its broadcasting and noticed some analyses of the bilateral historical attitudes to the most important neighbourhood and other major world powers , where is noticed some geopolitically regularities (accordin to a famous historian Brodel there are a historical apparations named a period of medium-sized duration and a period of long- sized duration) . The fourth part of the dissertation "Geopolitical position of modern Russia" analyzes nowdays Russia in domestic policy and international context .Within interior position is analysing economy, demography, social structures, culture, and domestic policy position of modern Russia. Concerning to surroundings is analysing position of Russia in wholle especially concerning to the neighbourhood and some important countries ( and all countries of Europe, Asia, and the most important powers of other continents). The fifth part "Perspective of Russia in the next decades of the 21 th century" conteins a basic elements of the anticipations of internal development and Russia's position in the world. The sixth part is a previewed "Epilogue".

Y. Kleistra, Hollen of stilstaan. Beleidsverandering bij het Nederlandse ministerie van buitenlandse zaken P.R. Baehr, M.C. Castermans-Holleman, F. Grünfeld, Human rights in the foreign policy of the Netherlands E.M. van den Berg, The influence of domestic NGOs on Dutch human rights policy. Case studies on South Africa, Namibia, Indonesia and East Timor. The role of human rights in post-1945 Dutch foreign policy: Politicological and historical literature, Maarten KuitenbrouwerThe second Dutch government under Prime Minister Kok fell in 2002 following the publication of a critical report by the Dutch Institute for Wartime Documentation (NIOD) on the Srebenica issue. This event forms the starting point for a review of the recent literature on the role of human rights in Dutch foreign policy during the last few decades in both political science and history. Both disciplines share the 'decisionmaking analysis' in international relations theory as a common background. In addition, political scientists and historians have often found themselves researching the same human rights issues that affect Dutch relations with a series of non-Western countries. An explanation of Dutch policy is usually sought based on a combination of internaland external factors. In general, comparative analyses and research into its effectiveness are still conspicuous by their absence. All in all, there are more similarities than differences between recent political and historical studies on the role of human rights in Dutch foreign policy.

26. jula 1963. godine katastrofalni zemljotres u Skoplju u kome je stradalo mnoštvo Ijudskih života i porušen ogroman broj zgrada, teško je pogodio i članove skopske Jevrejske opštine, a opštinsku zgradu demolirao i onemogućio njeno korišćenje. Zahvaljujući udruženim naporima i moralnoj podršci društveno-političkih faktora grada Skoplja, Saveza jevrejskih opština Jugoslavije, kao i jevrejskih međunarodnih humanitarnih organizacija i zajednica, jevrejska zajednica u Skoplju dobila je ponovo svoj dom, Jevrejski dom "dr Albert Vajs". Njegovo svečano otvaranje obavljeno je 11. oktobra 1966. godine, kao jedno od niza svečanosti organizovanih na dan jubilarne 25-godišnjice ustanka makedonskog naroda protiv fašističkog okupatora. Time su simbolizovani nastavak i obnavIjanje kontinuiranog rada ove Opštine i njena utkanost u kulturnu, političku i ekonomsku istoriju grada Skoplja. ; On July 26, 1963, the disastrous earthquake in Skoplje, which caused many human losses and destroyed the better part of the town, hit severely the members of the Jewish Community and demolished the Community building which had to be put out of use. Due to the united efforts, the moral and material assistance tendered by the social-political organizations of the city of Skoplje, the Federation of Jewish Communities in Yugoslavia, as well as by Jewish international humanitarian organizations and Jewish communities, the Skoplje Jewish Community received again its Home, the "Dr Albert Vajs Community Centre". The inauguration ceremony took place on October 11, 1966, in the frame of the celebrations honouring the 25th anniversary of the Uprising of the Macedonian people against the fascist occupation forces. This symbolized the continuation and renewal of this Community's activities and her kinship with the cultural, political and economic history of the City of Skoplje. ; Während seiner jahrzehnten langen Zrenjaniner und Banater Heimatforschungen wurde der Publizist und Historiker-Amateur Dragoljub Čolić (1908-1982) am meistens mit der Vergangenheit der jüdischen Volksgemeinschaft in diesem Gebiet beschaftigt. Er sammelte eifrig die auf die Banater Judentum bezüglichen historischen Quellen, sowie mundlichen Zeugnisse seiner jüdischen Mitbürgern; er verfasste verschiedenen statitischen auf die Juden betreffenden Übersichten und Listen, sowie zahlreiche Werke uber das Zrenjaniner und Banater Juden. In diese riesigen Forschungs- und Schaffungsprozessen, trat Čolić in Verbindung mit den bedeutenden gleichgesinnten und gleichwirkenden Personlichkeiten des judischen kulturellen und öffentlichen Lebens, nicht nur in Jugoslawien, sondern auch im Ausland (Israel). Aus dieser Kontakten entwickelte sich eine rege, inhaltsreiche und regelmaßige Korrespondenz, die heute innerhalb Čolić'schen Nachlass im Historischen Archiv Zrenjanin aufbewahrt ist (Archivbestand Nr. 667). Er wechselte Briefe mit dem Verein der jüdischen Kultusgemeinden Jugoslawiens, ferner mit Kuratorin des Jüdischen historischen Museum in Belgrad Vidosava Nedomački, sowie mit Yakir Eventov und Zwi Asaria aus Israel. Alle bis heutzutage hintergebliebenen Briefe zeigen eine rastlose und unermudliche Forschung- und Schaffungsnatur, sowie ein unerschopfendes Enthusiasmus für die Geschichte der Banater Juden, deren entsprechende Anerkennung jedoch bis heute ausgeblieben ist und deren Fruchte leider wenig bekannt und sehr unterschatzt sind. Deswegen ist die Herausgabe von Čolić'schen sehr interessanter jüdischen Korrespondenz, womit jüdische Kultusgemeinde in Zrenjanin ein Vierteljahrhundert-Jubilaum ihrer 1994-er Erneuerung feiert, nur ein Pladoye für die Veröffentlichung seiner sammtlichen Werken über die hiesigen Juden. Zweifellos wurde damit die große Lücke in ihrer Heimatgeschichte ausgefüllt worden sein.

The Nancy N. Boothe papers, 1980-2009 [bulk 1990-1997], are composed of articles, notes, reports and a wide variety of feminist publications. Much of the material documents the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women, which Ms. Boothe attended as Executive Director of Atlanta's Feminist Women's Health Center. Artifacts, artwork and textiles relate to the conference and to other women's and health issues. ; Born in Battles Wharf, Alabama (1948), Nancy N. Boothe graduated from the University of South Alabama as a registered nurse (1971). She received a B.S. in nursing from the Medical College of Georgia (1976), and a master's degree in Counseling from Troy State University [Florida Region] (1981). Boothe served in the U.S. Nurse Corps in the U.S. and Korea (1970-1984), and worked as clinical director and consultant at a number of health facilities in Louisiana and Florida. She became Executive Director of the Atlanta Feminist Women's Health Center in 1994. In 1995, she attended the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, where she taught the workshop, ""GYN Self-Help."" Boothe has served on the boards of All Women's Health Services in Portland and Eugene, Oregon; the Sexual Assault Center, Atlanta, Georgia; and the Jeanette Rankin Foundation, Athens, Georgia. She is also a member of the Feminist Majority Foundation's ""Women's Commission for Congressional Oversight"" and A.P.D. Citizen Review Panel.; Founded in California in 1971 by Carol Downer (1933-) and Lorraine Rothman (1932-2007), the Feminist Women's Health Center was established to empower women through self-knowledge, education and self-help groups. The Atlanta Feminist Women's Health Center was established in 1977. Its mission is to ""provide accessible, comprehensive gynecological healthcare to all who need it without judgment. As innovative healthcare leaders, [they] work collaboratively within [their] community and nationally to promote reproductive health, rights and justice. [They] advocate for wellness, uncensored health information and fair public policies by educating the larger community and empowering [their] clients to make their own decisions.""; The United Nations convened the Fourth World Conference on Women, September 4-15, 1995, in Beijing, China, with a Platform for Action that aimed at achieving greater equality and opportunity for women. Three previous World Conferences were held in Mexico City (International Women's Year, 1975), Copenhagen (1980) and Nairobi (1985). 189 governments and more than 5,000 representatives from 2,100 non-governmental organizations participated in the Beijing Conference. The principal themes were the advancement and empowerment of women in relation to women's human rights, women and poverty, women and decision-making, the girl-child, violence against women and other areas of concern. The resulting documents of the Conference are The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women manifested a global women's movement for change and has been called ""the Woodstock of the women's movement.""; The World Conference on Women was also accompanied by an informal meeting (August 30-September 8) of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This NGO Forum on Women, Beijing '95, brought together thousands of women from around the world to exchange information and ideas, celebrate women's achievements and contributions and draw attention and develop solutions to discrimination facing women world-wide.

The hereafter following is abstract of the discourse held by Prof. dr. ir. C. L. Temminck Groll in honour of the jubilee 1899-1989 of the KNOB on September 23th 1989. The KNOB (Royal Antiquarian Society of the Netherlands) exists 90 years. A respectable age after human standards. Although a society depends on human devotion it does not know age limitations. This is an excellent moment to reflect upon our centenary. Then, in 1999, we will have to present an extremely good manifest for the coming millennium! We have been spoiled very much during the past 90 years. Which of the founders would have expected so many people professionally involved at the protection of monuments? Which of them could have estimated the money available to realize restoration activities? Still, despite of all we obtained, we are rightly concerned about our country and especially that part of the world beyond our borders. These concerns are formulated by the National Geographic Society which hereby stated: 'Can we save this fragile earth?' This society aims at the earth herself as well as at human achievements. Co-operation between the protection of nature and the protection of monuments certainly is sensible and could be one of our future actions. How much nature, how much culture is not already 'dead'! Wren's St. Benet in London f.e. seems saved, but surrounded by flowing thoroughfares the church misses every relation with the original urban structure. Thus in fact the monument has not been saved. At Liège, Belgium, 20th century traffic and concrete buildings overran the medieval Place St. Lambert. And what about the European countryside? How much harmonious farmer's land has not been industrialized yet? Old structures disappear everywhere. Instead of the newly made our Society had to study more and more the continuous changes of the already extant. As to our foreign activities, we can distinguish three angles of incidence. First of all: what can we learn from other countries? Our founder mr. dr. J.C. Overvoorde already realized the importance of study of the way monuments are protected in different European countries. ICOMOS at present is the platform to discuss organizational and substantial aspects. Second: stock-taking of Dutch cultural influences to other regions in Europe, which subject used to attract more attention than it does now. At last: Dutch influences beyond European borders. Like our founder in 1910-11 studied Hindu-Buddhistic antiquaries and the monuments of the Dutch East-Indian Company our Foundation Social History of the Dutch Oversea studies these treasures now. One of her working-groups tries to solve Indonesian problems with respect to the protection of monuments and started stocktaking of especially younger architecture and town-planning. Still, a lot remains to be done on this field in the 'West'! Borders fade. But with the introduction of new fields of work we may not forget the old. Not the older monuments, since we are occupied with the young, not the Dutch, being directed at the whole world. After the question of what we study, the question rises how. Our purpose always was protection. Unlike nature culture cannot renew herself: we have to 'maintain'. And then mankind also is a piece of nature with continuous new desires to which the extant has been adapted. 'Maintain' as well as 'adapt to' means: to change. We can let nature change the made - how beautifully weathered the ruins are! - but we can also preserve the weathering - until now. Replacement of weathered material by new in the shape of colour it used to have is another possibility. Also opinions about this sort of alterations are constantly changing. Thus a platform like the KNOB at national level or ICOMOS at international level will always be needed. That's why: an extremely good manifesto in 10 years. One that states that we are occupied with changing instead of static affairs. Alterations must be directed professionally in a careful and modest way. For the real is infinitely more valuable than the copy.

POLITICS BY PROVINCE: Goal-oriented rational action or value-oriented rational action in closed debate on the Wadden region and public consultation on the ecological infrastructure General This thesis is a study of political conduct, and of provincial politics in particular. It is based on three research projects. The first two research projects are empirical studies that examine, respectively, the functioning of the discussion platform for government bodies relating to the Wadden Islands area and the relationship between the regional press and provincial political organs. Each of these two projects is based on a defined problem, a theoretical framework, methodology and conclusions. Although both case studies deal with provincial politics, they are completely separate from each other. The third case study is theoretical. It seeks to clarify the rationalization theories of Max Weber and Karl Mannheim, and place the concepts of goaloriented rational action and value-oriented rational action in their theoretical context. This theoretical chapter produces a number of research questions that can be used as a 'rationality grid' to be applied to the two empirical case studies in order to determine what form of action, goal-rational or value-rational, characterizes provincial politics. Chapter One describes the background to the studies and gives a short introduction to the research themes. This chapter also presents a view of contemporary provincial politics and discusses the scientific position from which this thesis has been written, emphasizing the unique role of the sociological vision. How does the government manage the Wadden Sea? The first section examines the way in which the government manages the Wadden Sea. The study is based on an evaluation study of the functioning of the Coördinatiecollege Waddengebied (CCW) in the period 1987 to 1994. The CCW (a platform for administrative consultation between the government, the Wadden provinces and the Wadden municipalities) was set up in 1980 for the purpose of "ensuring coherent administration and an coordinated policy by the government, provinces and municipalities with regard to the Wadden region." The study is based on a bottleneck analysis; in other words, by identifying problems, concrete solutions can be proposed. The evaluation study employed a combination of two popular lines of research in organizational sociology literature – the 'whole-system approach' and the 'parties approach'. In the whole-system approach, shared values or a feeling of solidarity are what unites the organization. In the parties approach, the organization is seen as a coalition of parties with different interests and aims. The parties work together for their own benefit, or because negative sanctions force them to do so. Both approaches are integrated in the 'parties-withina-system' perspective, which focuses on the relationships between the parties and the organization as a whole. This integral approach was used to evaluate the functioning of the CCW because the CCW places great emphasis on shared values and responsibilities, which are the core elements of the whole-system approach. At the same time, however, the CCW is composed of different parties which all have their own tasks, powers and interests – the core elements of the parties approach. This perspective has been tailored to the evaluation of the CCW using the following criteria: shared values, support base, differing interests, power structure, sense of purpose, and success/failure factors. The study is based on qualitative interviews with participants in the CCW platforms, telephone interviews with councillors and members of the States General, dossier analyses and reconstructions from minutes from the CCW consultations on the following cases: enlarging the scope of the Nature Conservation Act; delegation of powers with regard to inspection and control; co-ordination of international activities, problems relating to 'traditional brown shipping'; the review of the Waddenzee II Key Planning Decision, and gas extraction in the Wadden Sea. This treatment of the original research report emphasizes a systematic description of conduct within the context of the administrative co-ordination of the Wadden region, which is usually of a closed nature. The main problem areas are the following:  a lack of shared values due to the fact that the purpose of the Wadden consultation platform is given a different interpretation depending on the interests in question;  by way of preparation for the Wadden consultations, a process of harmonization takes place within the various authorities, thereby creating an administrative support base. However, this process of preliminary consultation and feedback reveals the other side of the bureaucratic coin – this circuit is, administratively and politically speaking, strongly inward-looking;  there are no substantial conflicts of interest between the layers of government. However, mutual suspicion exists with regard to the extent to which other parties are committed to the Wadden policy. Each party suspects that the other parties will ultimately allow economic interests to prevail;  with regard to the delegation of authority, the balance of power between the government and the provinces is seen as unacceptable. The continuous lack of consensus, whether manifest or otherwise, is a barrier to discussion on a equal footing;  there are various problems relating to the sense of purpose, including the role of the Chairman and the lack of a clear definition/delegation of tasks. This analysis shows that the problems are not related to the structure of the Wadden consultative platform but rather to its culture, and more specifically to the participants' perceptions of the role and responsibilities of the platform. In addition, there appears to be a distinct lack of leadership. The main conclusions are as follows:  harmonization within the various Wadden authorities (government, provinces and municipalities) hampers harmonization between the Wadden authorities;  the representatives from the three layers of government do not present the role and purpose of the consultative platform in a consistent and uniform way;  the CCW is hampered in its work by an ongoing debate about how powers are delegated between the layers of government. Because the analysis of success and failure factors revealed that clearly defined relationships between the government authorities are essential for successful consultation, possible solutions aim to create that clarity. Recommendations have been laid down, for example, relating to the role of the Chairman, drawing up the agenda, and clearly defining the tasks of the various bodies. Although, as far back as 1995, the CCW largely acknowledged the problem areas and supported the proposals for improvement, none of the recommendations will actually be implemented before 2001. Politics and the press on the ecological infrastructure in Friesland and Drenthe Section 2 describes a study of the relationship between the regional press and northern provincial politics. The basis for the study is the political decision-making regarding the establishment of the ecological infrastructure in the provinces of Friesland and Drenthe in the period 1989 to 1996. The conclusion of a survey of the relationship between the printed press and parliamentary democracy is that the main function of the press is to provide information, criticism and comment. The role of information-provider is examined on the basis of the following:  actual report of a meeting of the Provincial Councils;  a news report giving information about matters relating to the ecological infrastructure in both provinces;  a background article describing the context, history and/or different interpretations of matters relating to the ecological infrastructure. The role of critic is examined on the basis of the following:  editorial comment;  a column in which one of the editors gives his opinion under his own name;  opinions of third parties, in which a third party, who is not an editor, is given the opportunity to express an opinion. Using four recent examples, it is then argued that the central question relating to the relationship between politics and the press is one of management – who controls political communication or, put another way, is the relationship determined by 'party logic' or by 'media logic'? The study will compare decision-making on the ecological infrastructure (as this was perceived in decision-making meetings of the provincial councils) with reporting by the regional press in both provinces. The decision-making process of the provincial councils was reconstructed for this purpose. The result is not only an analytical reconstruction of the decision-making surrounding the ecological infrastructure in Friesland and Drenthe, but also a chronicle of provincial political customs and morals. A quantitative and qualitative analysis subsequently shows how the regional press fulfils its role as information provider and critic. The quantitative analysis addresses the question of how often the press fulfils its role as information provider and critic with regard to decision-making on the ecological infrastructure. The qualitative analysis addresses the question of how the press fulfils those roles. It is argued that the quality of the information provided is determined by the degree of objectivity, but that the best measure of quality is a clear standpoint. These conclusions were used to formulate an 'ideal' against which the quality of informative and critical articles can be measured. A factual report is as objective as possible when:  it deals not only with the decision itself, but also with the opinion-forming process;  it gives the opinion not only of the representatives of official bodies, but also of opponents or those outside such bodies;  the reporter does not give his own opinion. A news report or background article is as objective as possible when:  it presents more than one perspective and/or quotes more than one authority on the subject. An editorial or column makes a constructive critical contribution when:  the author adopts a clear standpoint;  the context (history, background or current event) of that standpoint is given;  the author describes how the standpoint was reached, and on which information or authorities it is based. Conclusions about the information function:  in almost half of the cases, the regional newspapers do not report on provincial council meetings relating to the ecological infrastructure. The people who live in the province, but fall outside a given environmental or agricultural target group, will not become informed about the ecological infrastructure by reading their local newspaper. Neither will they become informed about the role of the provincial government in this;  in the reports which do deal with meetings of the provincial councils, there is a lack of balance. Generally speaking, no effort is made in such reports to show the full palette of political colours represented in the provincial council;  there is only relatively wide newspaper coverage on occasions when political emotions are running high. Examples are: Friesland in 1993, when an agreement was reached with the agricultural sector, and Drenthe in 1993, when an amended programme of intent for the soil-protection areas was introduced (the agricultural lobby also played an important role in this). This attention from the press can be explained by incident politics. Political groups hold widely different opinions; they make no effort to hide their differences and journalists are keen to pick up on this. Another possible explanation is that, in these cases, ecological policy is heavily influenced by the farming lobby, which itself is strongly supported by influential political groups;  the news reports are usually brief and present an event from only one perspective, without a journalistic contribution from the author. This leads to the inevitable conclusion that press releases sent to the newspapers have been published without any further interpretation;  the most common simple perspective is that which opposes the ecological infrastructure;  there are very few background articles. Background articles that clarify the situation, and outline the problems confronting provincial politicians, are indispensable with regard to a far-reaching and complex plan such as the development of the ecological infrastructure of the two provinces;  it is notable that most of the background articles are only written from one perspective, with very little informative context. On the basis of these findings, it appears that the way in which the regional press fulfils its role as information provider leaves room for improvement. Scant attention is paid to council decision-making and the quality of reporting also leaves something to be desired. Little can be said about how the press fulfils the role as critic because so few articles appear in this context. The question Who controls political communication? cannot therefore be answered because the press pays too little attention to provincial politics. Goal-oriented or value-oriented rationality: which form of rationality determines political action? Section 3 examines which form of rationality (i.e. goal-oriented or value-oriented rationality) occurs most in the closed discussions between government bodies in the Wadden study, or in public discussions on the ecological infrastructure from the study of the relationship between politics and the press. For this purpose the rationalization theories from the work of Weber and Mannheim were used. Both Weber and Mannheim recognise increasing instrumental and formal rationality (Weber) and functional rationality (Mannheim) in all areas of life, and a decrease in material rationality (Weber) and substantial rationality (Mannheim). Weber and Mannheim identify the rise and influence of a specific form of instrumental rationality, particularly within economic, legal and bureaucratic institutions. Within such institutions, actions are characterized by goal-oriented rationality. This means that the prevalent institutional pattern of norms and values that more or less prescribes how people should act within the institutions (role-related behaviour) places great emphasis on goal-rational behaviour. In order to establish whether this also applies in provincial politics and administration, a study was made of the conception of rationality in the work of Weber and Mannheim. The question of whether goal-oriented or value-oriented rationality is dominant is addressed by a secondary analysis of the material. The secondary analysis takes the form of a 'rationality grid' that is applied to the material from the two empirical studies. The grid has a coarsely meshed structure that can separate out goal-oriented and value-oriented rationality. Following the study of Weber and Mannheim's concepts of rationality, goal-oriemted rational action is defined in this study as action that is geared towards finding the most appropriate means to achieve a goal that is considered as given. When action is successful in terms of the defined goal, we speak of goal-oriented rational action and formal rationality. Success or effectiveness is therefore the measure for goal-rational behaviour. The essence of this concept is expressed in the following questions:  is conduct geared towards resources and procedures within the given of administrative co-ordination or within the structured political (provincial) discussions?  are the goals open to discussion? If action is a logical extension of or derives from a higher value or ideal, we speak of 'valueoriented rational action' and 'material rationality'. The extent to which an action is valueoriented is therefore the measure for value-rationality. In this study, value-oriented rational action is defined as action that is based on the assessment of the desirability of a given goal by means of a party-political value system. The essence of the concept, as used in the present context, is expressed in the following question:  is the action geared towards assessing the desirability of a particular goal, based on a political value system? Conclusions: 1. With regard to discussion between government bodies on the subject of the Wadden region, the hypothesis was that, within the sphere of formalised and regulated administrative co-ordination in the Wadden region, actions are largely determined by goal-oriented rationality. The purpose of the discussion platform is, after all, to co-ordinate and realise goals defined elsewhere. The hypothesis is confirmed – the Wadden discussion platform is characterized by goal-oriented rational action. But this type of action is not related to the ultimate goal of the discussion platform but rather to another goal: the increasing of the influence and governance of the government layer in question. 2. With regard to the decision-making on the ecological infrastructure in Friesland and Drenthe, the hypothesis was that political decision-making debates are characterized by the discussion of values to be lived up to and aims to be realised. It is therefore to be expected that such debates are mainly characterized by value-oriented rationality. However, the findings do not confirm this hypothesis. The discussions of the provincial councils of Drenthe and Friesland are certainly not goal-rational in nature, yet neither can they be described as valuerational. Actions are indeed geared towards assessing the desirability of a particular goal, but that assessment is not based on a political value system. It is not party-political principles that determine political conduct; it would be more true to say that conduct is based on notions of consistency in terms of policy and support.