Suchergebnisse

Today few people deny the existence of regional substate diplomacy (Criekemans 2010). But there is still no common agreement on a region's right to do so and, above all, on their scope of action. This question goes against what used to be the dominant approach in international relations, the state-centric approach that leads to the logic of speaking with one voice. Increasingly, a multilevel-governance approach has contested this state-centric view and proposes an alternative logic of multiple actors speaking with their voice, nuancing strongly the seminal distinction between "sovereignty-bound" and "sovereignty-free" actors (Rosenau 1990). From the 1970s, the world has seen the growing presence of sovereignty-free actors in international relations. Among these actors, non-central or, better, substate, governments of federal states have developed intensive foreign relations. These governments are using a range of techniques: from shaping the federal government's foreign policy to establishing themselves directly in the international arena (Blatter et al. 2008). For minority nation governments this is particularly a challenge, as they have to act internally – where they have developed full-fledged legislative powers within a multinational federation – and externally – where international and national laws are often still reluctant to recognise their right of action (Lejeune 2003). Yet some minority nations have thrived in developing their own international relations. Bavaria, Catalonia, Flanders, Quebec, Scotland and Wallonia are often seen as successful international players even if they are not fully sovereignty bound (Michelmann 2009; Criekemans 2010). The international actions of these minority nations have been characterised under the umbrella of "identity paradiplomacy" (Paquin 2003); that is, a willingness to use international relations to foster a nation-building process within a multinational state. This observation was particularly prevalent for minority nations strongly in competition with a federal government about their nationbuilding process, albeit for different reasons, namely Flanders, Quebec and Scotland (Paquin 2004). The case of Wallonia seems to fits less well into the identity paradiplomacy framework, which therefore raises the question of alternative roads to international relations. This is the core question of this chapter: is identity paradiplomacy the only way to go for minority nations? Quebec and Wallonia are both well known for their active foreign relations.

The participation of non-state actors to international politics has been investigated since the creation of international institutions. Yet, the rules, principles and norms of global governance are no more discussed in single, isolated institutions. Rather, with the proliferation of international regimes and organisations, international issues are now negotiated in a context of institutional interactions known as "regime complexes". This poses new questions, in particular on the negotiation burden that these new processes place on international actors. To answer this question, this contribution compares non-state participation in both contexts (single regimes and regime complexes), using the international forest negotiations as a case study. It uses quantitative methods to measure the negotiation burden of single regimes and compare it to the negotiation burden of regime complexes. The negotiation burden of single regimes is found insignificant with political interest being the major motivation for participation, while the negotiation burden of regime complexes is found relevant, requiring a certain type of material and organisational resources for non-state actors to participate. Yet a certain diversity of non-state representation is maintained within regime complexes, with non-governmental organisations being dominant with respect to business groups.

While a great deal of attention is devoted to the Pacific region as the new chessboard of international politics, Pakistan remains a key actor in terms of both threat and potential. Two observations back this argument: first, Pakistan's fundamental roles as a state are challenged by its ongoing conflict with India and internal insurgencies. Second, due to a power-status gap, Pakistan experiences difficulties in holding specific self-conceived roles. In addition to hampering its socio-economic potential, these developments prevent Pakistan's quest for normalization in the system. As a consequence, we argue that engaging with Islamabad should be a priority for Washington so as to prevent the country from further aligning with Beijing, thus reinforcing China's regional leadership and status as peer-competitor to the United States. Indeed, as the potential for deviance in the international system arises from its normative dimension, the US, as the global leader, counts among its roles that of norm-setter and primary socializer for most states. Our research proposes to look at an old puzzle with new theoretical insights. By addressing the question of Washington's engagement towards non-conforming states, we aim to document a set of socialization processes as intervening variables linking American global role as leader and primary socializer to Pakistan's process of social integration (normalization/deviance). Drawing from sociology and social psychology, the paper seeks to explore the ability of the leader to act as a primary source of role location and status recognition towards non-conforming states so as to integrate them (back) into the US-led system.

The Red Devils, chocolate or beer and the King, such is the typical answers given to the oft-asked question of what is still holding Belgium together. To these three symbols, two extra elements are often added: the debt and Brussels, the capital of the country and of the Flemish Region/Community, the French Community (politically but not constitutionally the Wallonia-Brussels Federation), the European Union (to be more specific, one of the three capitals, along with Strasbourg and Luxemburg), while being as well the seat of the Brussels Capital Region. Generally, the list of factors of unity in Belgium ends with this short list. Is it already too long, or on the contrary, is it really too short? This is the main question of this chapter. Paradoxically, although this question often arises, there are very few scientific writings analyzing it. To do so, this chapter will discuss six sets of factors: historical, identity, socio-economic, political, international and symbolic. Nonetheless, it is important to take into account that such enterprise seeks to be informative and not prescriptive. This chapter does not assume that Belgium should be united. There are several points of view about what Belgium should be, and this contribution merely wishes to nurture the political debate by conveying an original approach on six types of factors.

After years of political crises and negotiations, the deep-rooted conflict between Dutch- and French-speaking parties recently led to the 2011 agreement concerning a further reform of the Belgian state. This reform mainly furthers decentralises the – already federal – state structure, including the allocation of additional competences and fiscal powers to sub-national entities (Regions and Communities). But this new state reform also brings about a radical reform of the upper house: the Belgian Senate. Since 1995, the Senate was composed of three different types of members: Senators directly elected by two linguistically separated electorate (the Dutch-speaking and the French-speaking electorates), Senators indirectly elected by the Community parliaments and Senators coopted by the two other types. The French- and German-speaking linguistic minorities had a fixed amount of seats in this assembly. The reform of the state radically changed the legislative competences of the Senate and its composition as its members will now be designated by Regional and Community parliaments (plus 10 coopted senators). Broadly speaking, the appointment of the majority of the Senators moved from a system of direct and language-based election to a system of indirect and mixed regional and language-based designation. This change is not without consequence for the representation of linguistic minorities. In May 2014, regional, community and federal elections will be organised in Belgium, testing for the first time this new system of designation of Senators by regional and community parliaments. This paper intends to present the 2013 reform of the Senate in Belgium and its consequence for the representation of linguistic minorities. The situations before and after the reform of the Senate will be compared, not only in terms of the way Senators are appointed but in terms of its consequence on the linguistic aspects of the regional and community elections campaign and of the profile of the appointed Senators.

زمینه و هدف: کمبود مواد غذایی، تغییرات اقلیمی و دیگر عوامل سبب شده تا تولید گیاهان تغییر شکل‌یافته ژنتیکی (محصولات تراریخته) از دهه 90 میلادی مورد توجه قرار گیرد. تولید این گیاهان همان‌گونه که موجب امیدواری در رفع گرسنگی بود، به دلیل تأثیر احتمالی بر محیط زیست موج نگرانی را نیز برانگیخت. هدف از این تحقیق، بررسی تعهدات زیست‌محیطی دولت‌ها در حوزه محصولات تراریخته در پرتو اصول حقوق بین‌الملل محیط زیست، اتحادیه اروپا و ایران است. مواد و روش‌ها: نوشتار حاضر به شیوه توصیفی ـ تحلیلی ابتدا اصول پیش‌گفته حاکم در حقوق بین‌الملل محیط زیست را بررسی می‌کند تا دریابد تعهدات زیست‌محیطی دولت‌ها درباره محصولات تراریخته از نظر اصول حقوق بین‌الملل چگونه است و سپس رویکرد اختصاصی اتحادیه اروپا را بررسی و تطبیق داده و بالاخره گذرا این وضعیت را در ایران مرور می‌کند. یافته‌ها: اتحادیه اروپا برخلاف ایالات متحده دیدگاهی احتیاط‌آمیز توأم با سخت‌گیری در حمایت از مصرف‌کننده و محیط زیست پیش گرفته که ریشه در اصول کلی حقوق بین‌الملل محیط زیست دارد. اصولی مانند توسعه پایدار، اقدام احتیاطی، ارزیابی و اطلاع‌رسانی که به جمع رعایت مصالح دولت‌ها در دستیابی به توسعه و پیشرفت و حفظ محیط زیست می‌انجامد، در حالی که در ایران از سویی قوانین حمایتی از محیط زیست به صورت کارآمد تصویب نشده است و یا این‌که در برخی موارد محیط زیست و حمایت از آن مغفول مانده است. ملاحظات اخلاقی: در تمام مراحل نگارش پژوهش حاضر، ضمن رعایت اصالت متون، صداقت و امانتداری، رعایت شده است. نتیجه‌گیری: نتایج این جستار نشان می‌دهد که دولت‌ها در خصوص محصولات تراریخته متعهد به رعایت اصول کلی یا عرفی توسعه پایدار، اقدام احتیاطی، ارزیابی و اطلاع‌رسانی بوده و رعایت اصول مزبور بهترین راهکار جهت صیانت از حقوق مصرف‌کننده و حمایت از محیط زیست است. ; Background and Aim: Food scarcity, climate change and other factors have led to the production of genetically modified crops (transgenic crops) since the 1990s. The production of these plants, as they had hoped to eliminate hunger, also raised concerns about the potential impact on the environment. The purpose of this study is to examine the Governments' Environmental Obligations on Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) in the light of the International Environmetal Law, European Union and Iran. Materials and Methods: The present paper is descriptive-analytical paper and firstly examines the aforementioned principles of international environmental law in order to understand what is the environmental commitment and obligation of governments in the process of cultivation and supply for transgenic products from the perspective of international law. Then, it examines and applies the EU-specific approach and finally reviews this situation in Iran. Findings: The European Union, unlike United States, has taken a cautious approach to consumer and environmental protection. This approach is rooted in the general principles of international environmental law. Principles such as sustainable development, precautionary principle and the principle of notification that bring together the interests of governments in achieving development, improvement and environmental protection, while in Iran,It has not been enacted environmental laws effectively on the GMO or in some cases the environment and its protection have been neglected. Ethical Considerations: In order to organize this research, while observing the authenticity of the texts, honesty and fidelity have been observed. Conclusion: The results show that governments are committed to adhering to the general or customary principles of sustainable development, precautionary principle and the principle of notification in the process of cultivating and supplying for Genetically Modified Organism (GMO), and adhering to these principles is the best way to safeguard consumer rights. Cite this article as: Pouresmaeili A, keykhosravi M, Vaezi Kakhki MR. The Studying of Governments' Environmental Obligations on Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) in the light of the International Environmetal Law, European Union and Iran. Bioethics Journal 2020; 10(35): e16.

Transparency is a widely used concept in debates on international politics, from transnational anti-corruption campaigns to renewed requests for greater disclosure on health, finance, or even security issues. Calls for transparency date back at least to the League of Nations, when internationalists demanded open diplomacy. Yet, it is in the subfield of GEG, and its developments on nonstate actors as a key research topic (see introduction), where the practice and theory of transparency has made the most profound inroads (Gupta 2010a). GEG has been a particularly fertile ground for the development of informational governance (Mol 2008) and the rise of numerous transparency initiatives which have been analyzed in a rapidly developing literature. Importantly, current GEG research is also highly relevant for other IR subfields. For one, recent GEG research can help IR scholars to further refine the concept of transparency and to increase conceptual clarity and sophistication. Second, research on GEG has improved our understanding of the factors that determine the effectiveness of transparency as a governance tool in international politics.

The EUROSUR system is supposed to further the surveillance of external borders of European Union Member States. From this point of view, it can be considered an important step in the construction of a controlled space. Drawing inspiration from the Foucauldian attention to programs and technologies, and mobilizing the Actor- Network-Theory concepts of setting and actant, the paper investigates EUROSUR main methodological operations. It highlights how the making of a controlled space is, first and foremost, a mise-en-discours going well beyond surveillance and pro- hibition: a continuous effort to make sense of a disparate multiplicity, encompassing both human and nonhuman elements, both controlled and controlling ones. From a theoretical perspective, the chapter contributes to on-going endeavors to reinvigor- ate the post-structuralist studies of International Relations with approaches inspired by Actor-Network-Theory.

Intentional and Unintentional Injuries;Healthy ApproachReferences Haddon WJr, Suchman E, Klein D. Accident Research: Methods and Approaches. Harper & Row Publishers, Chicago, IL, USA. 1964.Global Burden of Diseases, World Health Organization, http://www.who.int/topics/global_burden_of_disease/en/ Date of access, Sept. 2012.Iranian Census Center. http://www.amar.org.ir/, Date of Access August 2012.Iranian Legal Medicine Organization, www: lmo.ir/ Date of access, Sept. 2012.Hargarten, J.W.R.a.S.W. (2002). Principles of the Disease of Injury. Rosen's Emergency Medicine. J.A. Marx. St. Louis, Missouri, Mosby Inc. 1:821-828.Jones BH, Canham-Chervak M, Sleet DA .An evidence-based public health approach to injury priorities and prevention recommendations for the U.S Military. Am J Prev Med. 2010 Jan; 38(1 Suppl):S1-10.Khorasani-Zavareh D. System versus traditional approach in road traffic injury prevention: a call for action. J Inj Violence Res. 2011 J; 3(2): 61.Peden M, Scurfield R, Sleet D, Mohan D, Hyder A, Jarawan E, MathersC: World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention Geneva: World Health Organization; 2004.H. Soori, S.J. Hussain and J.A. Razzak.Road safety in the Eastern Mediterranean Region – findings from the Global Road Safety Status Report. EMHJ 2011; 17 (10): 770-76.World Health Organization. Data systems- A road safety manual for decision-makers and practitioners. World Health Organization. Geneva 2010.Margie Peden, Richard Scurfield, David Sleet, Dinesh Mohan, Adnan A. Hyder, Eva Jarawan Colin Mathers. World report on road traffic injury prevention: summary .World Health Organization Geneva 2004. Economic Commission for Europe. Glossary of transport statistics, 3rd Ed. New York, NY, United Nations Economic and Social Council, 2003 (TRANS/WP.6/2003/6) (http:// www.unece.org/trans/main/wp6/pdfdocs/glossen3.pdf, accessed 16 September 2012. 2008). World Health Statistics 2008. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2008 (http://www.who.int/whosis/ whostat/2008/en/index.htm, accessed 16 September 2012.Mathers C, Loncar D. Updated projections of global mortality and burden of disease, 2002–2030: data sources, methods and results. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2005.Kopits E, Cropper M. Traffic fatalities and income growth. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 2005, 37:169–178.Vincenten J, Michalsen A. Priorities for child safety in the European Union: agenda for action. Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 2003, 9:1–8.WHO mortality database: tables. Geneva, World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/healthinfo/morttables/en/index.html, accessed 21 September 2012).Rahman A. Bangladesh health and injury survey: report on children. Dhaka, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, ICMH, UNICEF and TASC, 2005.Sitthi-amorn C. Child injury in Thailand: a report on the national injury survey. Bangkok, Institute of Health Research, TASC and UNICEF, 2006 (http://www.tasc- gcipf.org/downloads/Thai%20child%20report.pdf,accessed 22 August 2012).Bener A. The neglected epidemic: road traffic accidents in a developing country. State of Qatar. International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 2005, 12:45–47.Pedem M, Oyegbite K,Ozanne-Smit J, Hyder AA, Branche c, Rahman AKMF and et al. Mortality due to injuries in Maputo city, Mozambique. International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 2006, 13:1–6.Hyder AA, Labinjo M, Muzaff ar SSF. A new challenge to child and adolescent survival in urban Africa: an increasing burden of road traffic injuries. Traffic Injury Prevention 2006, 7:381–388.World Health Organization. Global status report on road safety: time for action. Geneva. 2009.World Health Organization. TEACH-VIP curriculum [electronic resource]. Users' manual. 2005.David R. Meddings, MHSc, FRCP(C), Lyndee M. Knox, Matilde Maddaleno, Alberto Concha-Eastman, Joan Serra Hoffman. World Health Organization's TEACH-VIP Contributing to Capacity Building for Youth Violence Prevention. Am J Prev Med 2005; 29(5S2):259–265.Akbari M, Naghavi M, Soori H. Epidemiology of Deaths from injuries in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Eastern Medietr Health J 2006; 12(3/4): 50-58.Falls. Geneva, World Health Organization, Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability Department (http:// www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/other_injury/falls/en/index.html, accessed Sept 2012.Christoffel KK, Scheidt PC, Agran PF, Kraus JF, McLoughlin E, Paulson JA. Standard definitions for childhood injury research: excerpts of a conference report. Pediatrics, 1992, 89:1027–1034.Khambalia A, Josh P, Brussoni M, Raina factors for unintentional injuries due to falls in children aged 0–6 years: a systematic review. Injury Prevention, 2006, 12:378–385.Bartlett SN. The problem of children's injuries in low income countries: a review. Health Policy and Planning, 2002, 17:1–13.Morrison A, Stone DH. Unintentional childhood injury mortality in Europe 1984–93: a report from the EURORISC Working Group. Injury Prevention, 1999, 5:171–176.A league table of child deaths by injury in rich countries (Innocenti Report Card No. 2). Florence, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, 2001 (http://www.unicef-icdc. org/publications/pdf/repcard2e.pdf, accessed Sept 2012.Hyder AA, Sugerman D, Ameratunga S, Callaghan J A, Falls among children in the developing world: a gap in child health burden estimations? Acta Paediatrica, 2007, 96:1394–1398.Bangdiwala SI, Anzola-Pérez E, Romer CC, Schmidt B, Valdez-Lazo F, Toro J, D'Suze C. The incidence of injuries in young people: I. Methodology and results of a collaborative study in Brazil, Chile, Cuba and Venezuela. International Journal of Epidemiology, 1990, 19:115–124.Del Ciampo LA, Ricco RG, De Almeida CA, Mucillo G. Incidence of childhood accidents determined in a study of home surveys. Annals of Tropical Paediatrics, 2001, 21:239–243.Savitsky B, Aharonson-Daniel L, Giveon A. Variability in pediatric injury patterns by age and ethnic groups in Israel. Ethnicity and Health, 2007, 12:129–139. Bener A, Hyder AA, Schenk E. Trends in childhood injury mortality in a developing country: United Arab Emirates.Accident and Emergency Nursing, 2007, 15:228–233.Facts about injuries: burns. Geneva, World Health Organization and International Society for Burn Injuries, 2006 (http://www.who.int/entity/violence_injury_prevention/publications/other_injury/en/burns_factsheet.pdf, accessed Sept 2012.Davies JW. Toxic chemicals versus lung tissue: an aspect of inhalation injury revisited. Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation, 1986, 7:213–222.Saffle JR, Davis B, Williams P. Recent outcomes in the treatment of burn injury in the United States: a report from the American Burn Association patient registry. Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation, 1995, 16:219–232.Moritz AR, Henriques FC. Studies of thermal injury II: the relative importance of time and surface temperature in the causation of cutaneous burns. American Journal of Pathology, 1947, 23:695–720. Lund C, Browder N. The estimation of areas of burns. Surgical Gynecology and Obstetrics, 1944, 79:352–358.MacLennan N, Heimbach D, Cullen FB. Anesthesia for major thermal injury. Anesthesiology, 1998, 89:749–770. Walton J, Mandara AR. Burns and smoke inhalation. Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, 2005, 6:317–321. WHO mortality database: tables. Geneva, World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/healthinfo/ morttables/en/index.html, accessed 21 April 2012). Barrow RE, Spies M, Barrow L N, Herndon D N. Influence of demographics and inhalation injury on burn mortality in children. Burns, 2004, 30:72–77. Achebe UJ, Akpuaka FC. Chemical burns in Enugu. West African Journal of Medicine, 1989, 8:205–208. Chuang SS, Yang JY, Tsai FC. Electric water heaters: a new hazard for pediatric burns. Burns, 2003, 29:589–591. Nursal, T Z, Yildirim S, Tarim A, Caliskan K, Ezer A, Noyan T. Burns in southern Turkey: electrical burns remain a major problem. Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation, 2003, 24:309–314.

Energy as one of the most important factors of production, today has a great contribution to the economic growth and development of countries and has played the greatest role in the development of recent human civilization. This role, from transportation to food production and the provision of medical and health services, is becoming more prominent day by day. In order to continue the supply of energy in order to continue to use it, a lot of investment must be made. That is why energy security has been so much the focus of energy policymakers around the world. In this book, we first address the issue of defining and examining the importance of energy security then we talk about fossil fuels. In the following, we will discuss the effects of fossil fuels on the Earth's climate and biosphere. The issue of international agreements, including the Paris Agreement, will also be considered, as well as providing solutions to fossil fuel damage by introducing renewable energy sources, which will be one of the chapters of this book. Finally, we will examine the disadvantages and disadvantages of renewable energy to realize that these energies are not perfect in themselves! Instead of fearing, or sitting and calculating, that there are a few years left until the end of the life of oil reserves, the world needs a policy that thinks about the available alternatives. Much more and better alternatives to the fossil fuels that have driven the world and industry for years. Renewable energy sources are another proposition facing human societies. A way to overcome the energy crisis and the time bomb that seems to be tuned to announce the end of energy at any moment. In fact, we should listen to the proposal of the Saudi Minister of Energy in the 1970s, who said: "The Stone Age did not end because the stone ran out. The age of oil must end much sooner than the end of oil."

Some states are widely recognized by policy makers and scholars as middle powers. The characteristics that were highlighted for these countries have become the basic guidelines for understanding middle powermanship and developing the corresponding theory. While those analyses offer rich in-depth insights into the foreign policy of specific countries, they have so far lacked a further step of generalization. When establishing such power-based rankings, we assume the possibility to determine states' capacities so as to identify their position in said ranking. As appealing as this theoretical model may be, the reality of international politics increasingly challenge it. Thus, we argue that this theoretical inadequacy is due to the fact that middle power theory as it has been developed so far should be understood as an inductive, not a deductive, approach . Consequently, the contemporary reality calls for yet another stage of development in this theory. The choice of Pakistan as our case study arises from the observation that while Pakistan can hardly fit into the current classification(s) of middle powermanship due to its poor economic and development performances, it is a nuclear state and is –at least– in the top twenty armies of the world. Moreover, we find several cases in which Pakistan has used the diplomatic tools characterizing middle powers, such as mediation or niche diplomacy. Our paper aims at answering two questions: (1) can middle power theory bring some light on Pakistan's positioning in world politics? (2) Alternatively, what does the case of Pakistan tell us about the (ir)relevance of middle power theory? We build upon role theory to develop the case of middle powermanship as a status-role bundle, by analyzing three specific cases of Pakistan's foreign policy: Pakistani nuclear posturing, its Afghan policy and its posturing vis-à-vis the Saudi-Iranian regional competition.

From the beginning of the 1990's onwards, political analysts in all Western European countries discovered the contours of what they thought to be a widespread crisis of democracy. The alleged decline of political trust and public participation, and the rise of electoral volatility pointed out that the gap between politicians and citizens had never been wider. This political climate characterized by a deep-rooted crisis of democratic legitimacy offered an excellent breeding ground for critical reflection on the role, shape and function of democracy in modern societies. It gave rise to a fruitful quest for new and innovative ways of governing a democracy. It is in this turbulent period that the ideal of a deliberative democracy was coined (Dryzek 2000). A community of international scholars and philosophers, inspired by the work of Jürgen Habermas, became more and more convinced that a vibrant democracy is more than the aggregate of its individual citizens, and that democratic politics should be about more than merely voting. The quality of a democracy and the quality of democratic decisions, according to them, did not depend on the correct aggregation of individual preferences, but rather on the quality of the public debate that preceded the voting stage. Democratic decisions were thus no longer considered a function of mere compliance with aggregation rules. Instead, they were determined by extensive argumentation about political choices before voting on them. Because of its strong focus of public involvement in politics, this deliberative model of democracy started out in life as a theory of legitimacy (Benhabib 1996; Cohen 1997; Dryzek 2001; Parkinson 2006). By including everyone who is affected by a decision in the process leading to that decision, deliberation has important political merits: it is capable of generating political decisions that receive broad public support, even when there is strong disagreement on the aims and values a polity should promote (Geenens & Tinnevelt 2007, p. 47). After all, talking about political issues allows citizens to hear other perspectives to a problem and to see their own perspectives represented in the final decision. However, deliberation's beneficial effects do not come about easily. If deliberative democracy wants to contribute to increasing the legitimacy of the political system as a whole, it has to be legitimate in itself. In other words, deliberative events have to reflect the principles of legitimacy in their own functioning before their outcomes can generate legitimate political decisions. It is therefore crucial to assess the internal legitimacy of deliberative mini-publics before making claims about their contribution to the legitimacy of the political system as a whole. Our research question is therefore: to what extent can deliberative mini-publics live up to the criteria of democratic and political legitimacy? In this paper, we set out to assess the internal legitimacy of one specific deliberative event, namely the G1000 project in Belgium (Caluwaerts & Reuchamps, 2012). The G1000 project takes a particular place in the world of deliberative practice because it was not only grassroots in its process and its results, but also in its organization. Most deliberative events are introduced and funded by either public administrations or scientific institutions. The G1000 was rather considered a genuine citizens' initiative from its very inception. All of the organizers of the event were volunteers, and all of the funds were gathered using crowd funding. So instead of a scientific experiment, the G1000 was more of a democratic experiment by, through, and for citizens. This grass-root structure makes it a very interesting case for students of legitimacy, because as we will see later on it situated at the heart of the democratic trade-off between input and output legitimacy.

From the beginning of the 1990's onwards, political analysts in all Western European countries discovered the contours of what they thought to be a widespread crisis of democracy. The alleged decline of political trust and public participation, and the rise of electoral volatility pointed out that the gap between politicians and citizens had never been wider. This political climate characterized by a deep-rooted crisis of democratic legitimacy offered an excellent breeding ground for critical reflection on the role, shape and function of democracy in modern societies. It gave rise to a fruitful quest for new and innovative ways of governing a democracy. It is in this turbulent period that the ideal of a deliberative democracy was coined (Dryzek 2000). A community of international scholars and philosophers, inspired by the work of Jürgen Habermas, became more and more convinced that a vibrant democracy is more than the aggregate of its individual citizens, and that democratic politics should be about more than merely voting. The quality of a democracy and the quality of democratic decisions, according to them, did not depend on the correct aggregation of individual preferences, but rather on the quality of the public debate that preceded the voting stage. Democratic decisions were thus no longer considered a function of mere compliance with aggregation rules. Instead, they are determined by extensive argumentation about political choices before voting on them. Because of its strong focus of public involvement in politics, this deliberative model of democracy started out in life as a theory of legitimacy (Benhabib 1996; Cohen 2002; Dryzek 2001; Parkinson 2006). By including everyone who is affected by a decision in the process leading to that decision, deliberation has important political merits: it is capable of generating political decisions that receive broad public support, even when there is strong disagreement on the aims and values a polity should promote (Geenens & Tinnevelt 2007, p. 47). After all, talking about political issues allows citizens to hear other perspectives to a problem and to see their own perspectives represented in the final decision. As such, deliberative democracy seeks to score high on input, throughput and output legitimacy. However, deliberation's beneficial effects do not come about easily. If deliberative democracy wants to contribute to increasing the legitimacy of the political system as a whole, it has to be legitimate in itself. In other words, deliberative events have to reflect the principles of legitimacy in their own functioning before their outcomes can generate legitimate political decisions. It is therefore crucial to assess the internal legitimacy of deliberative mini-publics before making claims about their contribution to the legitimacy of the political system as a whole. In this paper, we set out to assess the internal legitimacy of one specific deliberative event, namely the G1000 project in Belgium (Caluwaerts & Reuchamps, 2012a). Our research question is therefore: to what extent does the G1000 live up to the criteria of input, throughput and output legitimacy? The G1000 project takes a particular place in the world of deliberative practice because it was not only grass roots in its process and its results, but also in its organization. Most deliberative events are introduced and funded by either public administrations or scientific institutions. The G1000 was rather considered a citizens' initiative from its very inception. All of the organizers of the event were volunteers, and all of the funds were gathered using crowd funding. So instead of a scientific experiment, the G1000 was more of a democratic experiment by, through, and for citizens. This grass-root structure makes it a very interesting case for students of legitimacy, because as we will see later on it situated at the heart of the democratic trade-off between input and output legitimacy.

Backgrounds and Aims: Using Geographical Information System (GIS) can decreases the burden of road traffic injuries effectively by identification of hot spot to modification in hazardous areas. The aim of the study was determining geographical distribution of human risk factors associated with road traffic injuries by using Geographical Information System (GIS) in Iran. Materials and Methods: The national database of road traffic injuries registered by the Iranian traffic Police (Rahvar NAJA) was used. The human risk factors were investigated by recognition of the hazardous points and geographical distribution of associated risk factors. The Hot Spot Analysis and Map clustering approaches were employed to meet the objectives. Results: The mean age of injured subjects was 34 years and the most affected age group was 20-39 years. Death and injury occurrence within out of cities ways were 0.3 % and 28% respectively. Geographical distribution of risk factors also showed that roads of Northern provinces i.e. (Gilaan and Mazandaran) were the hazardous rising as well as Qazvin to Rasht and Qom to Tehran roads. Sistan and Balochestan Provinces and Tehran had the highest (4.8%) and the lowest (0.1%) rates of road traffic injuries leading to death in the country. Conclusions: Northern provinces and its leading axes by hazardous rising and Sistan and Balochestan province with fatal injuries need to identify the cause of injuries' and, if necessary, more tighten regulations and more controls by the traffic police must be applied. REFERENCESPeden M, Scurfield R, Sleet D, Mohan D Hyder A A, Jarawan E . (2004).World report on road traffic injury prevention: World Health Organization Geneva. 2004.Kopits E, Cropper M. Traffic fatalities and economic growth. Accid Anal Prev 2005;37(1): 169-78.Channa R, Jaffrani H A, Khan A J, Hasan T, Razzak J A. Transport time to trauma facilities in Karachi: an exploratory study. Int J Emerg Med 2008; 1(3): 201–4. Soori H, Hussain S, Razzak J. Road safety in the Eastern Mediterranean Region–findings from the Global Road Safety Status Report. East Mediterr Health J 2011;17(10):770-6.Soori H. Descriptive study (Chapter 8) in Basic applied epidemiology. Percian text book 2nd edition.Tehran: Arjmand publisher; 2008.Gesler W. The uses of spatial analysis in medical geography: a review. Social Science & Medicine 1986; 23(10): 963-73.Ameratunga S, Hijar M, Norton R. Road-traffic injuries: confronting disparities to address a global-health problem. The Lancet 2006;367(9521): 1533-40.Akbari M, Naghavi M, Soori H. Epidemiology of deaths from injuries in the Islamic Republic of Iran. East Mediterr health J 2006;12(3/4): 382-90.Rasouli M R, Nouri M, Zarei M R. Saadat S, Rahimi-Movaghar V. Comparison of road traffic fatalities and injuries in Iran with other countries. Chin J Traumatol 2008;11(3): 131-4.Ainy E, Soori H, Mahfozphoor S, Movahedinejad AA. Presenting a practical model for governmental political mapping on road traffic injuries in Iran in 2008: a qualitative study. J R Soc Med Sh Rep 2011; 2(10):79.Khorasani-Zavareh D, Mohammadi R., Khankeh H R, Laflamme L, Bikmoradi A, Haglund B J A. The requirements and challenges in preventing of road traffic injury in Iran. A qualitative study. BMC Public Health 2009; 23(9): 486-91.Nantulya V M, Reich M R. The neglected epidemic: road traffic injuries in developing countries. BMJ 2002; 324(7346): 1139-41. Elvik R. Road safety management by objectives: A critical analysis of the Norwegian approach. Accid Anal Prev 2008;40(3): 1115-22.Liang L Y, Mo'soem D, Hua L T. Traffic accident application using geographic information system. Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies 2005;6(1): 3574–89.Braddock M, Lapidus G, Cromley E, Cromley R., Burke G, Banco L. Using a geographic information system to understand child pedestrian injury. Am J Public Health. 1994;84(7): 1158-61. Lascala E A, Gerbe D, Gruenewald P J. Demographic and environmental correlates of pedestrian injury collisions: a spatial analysis. Accid Anal Prev 2000;32(5): 651-8.Lightstone A, Dhillon P, Peek-Asa C, Kraus J. A geographic analysis of motor vehicle collisions with child pedestrians in Long Beach, California: comparing intersection and midblock incident locations. Inj Prev 2001;7(2): 155-60.Daum M L, Dorsch W R. Managing Land Use and Institutional Controls with GIS . Journal of Map & Geography Libraries: Advances in Geospatial Information, Collections & Archives2008 ;4(1): 163-73.Erdogan, S, Yilmaz I, Baybura T, Gullu, M. Geographical information systems aided traffic accident analysis system case study: city of Afyonkarahisar. Accid Anal Prev 1998; 40(1): 174-81.Al-Kharusi W. Update on Road Traffic Crashes. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. 2008;466(10): 2457-64.Fars news. Saturday 5th October 2012.Mwatelah J. Application of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to Analyze causes of Road traffic Accidents (RTAs)–case Study of Kenya. International Conference on Spatial Information for Sustainable Development Nairobi, Kenya. 2–5 October 2001.Cusimano MD, Chipman M., Glazier R. H, Rinner C, Marshall S P. Geomatics in injury prevention: the science, the potential and the limitations. Inj Prev 2007;13(1): 51-6.Rezaeian M, Dunn G, St Leger S, Appleby L. Geographical epidemiology, spatial analysis and geographical information systems: a multidisciplinary glossary. J Epidemiol Community Health 2005;61(2): 98-102.