Suchergebnisse

This article explores the possibility of applying the tools of economic analysis of law, which are traditionally used in the field of private law, to public law as well. The first part investigates constitutional law issues, addressed by prevailing approaches through the social contract framework, by applying an agreement model to a general public good such as the State. This model is typically based on games with features of the 'prisoner's dilemma.' Through the analysis of constitutional preferences that may transform such dilemma in a game with full cooperation equilibrium, two types of preferences are compared: 'utilitarian based on impartiality principle' & 'rawlsian based on difference principle'; it is shown that this second type better facilitates the constitutional agreement. With the objective of utilizing more easily economic theory tools, the article then attempts to apply the distinction between private & public good to that between private & public rights. In particular, both public goods & public rights can be assimilated as they are non-excludable & non-transferable through exchanges or contracts. Moreover, an attempt is made to define an economic counterpart to the juridical notion of 'general interest' which is the basis for those norms in the fields of public & administrative law envisaging the direct intervention of the State to remedy market failures, both at constitutional & sub-constitutional level. Hence the question of what are the most efficient legal procedures to solve such problems is addressed. Using above all the case of negative externalities related to private goods, the article discusses in particular when it is more efficient to resort to administrative interventions rather than judicial ones; or otherwise allowing such problems to be dealt with through private bargaining between injured & injurers. In this respect the latest literature of economic analysis of law often favors private bargaining in the spirit of Coase's thinking. However, it is here put forward that in terms of cost-benefit analysis economic theory reaches much less radical conclusions often supporting the higher efficiency of legal rules & administrative types of intervention. In the final part of the article, different legal systems (minimal, neoliberal, welfarist) are compared by way of analyzing their rationale & limitations from an efficiency point of view. Adapted from the source document.

A report summarizing debates on proposals for European integration at the European Council of Laeken, on the eve of the introduction of the euro. Among issues discussed are the following: European defense & security policy; adding more countries to the EU; interventions (humanitarian & military) in Afghanistan; position on the war against terrorism; the general economic outlook; the Lisbon strategy; employment; sustainable development & quality of life; research & development; consolidation of the European social model; a common asylum & immigration policy; more efficient control of foreign borders; international cooperation in legal & law enforcement matters; foreign policy statements on the Middle East, the western Balkan nations, Africa, & Russia; & cooperation on development matters. 2 Appendixes. J. Sadler

This article contains an overview of how the study of human rights issues has developed into a separate multidisciplinary field of academic study & education in Sweden. Its relationship to the different fields of political science is outlined, as well as general problems of a multidisciplinary subject. Three contributions to an edited volume containing Swedish & foreign scholarship on human rights issues drawn from the Swedish Forum for Human Rights, a biannual gathering of practitioners & scholars, are discussed. Those contributions deal with the tensions between universalist & relativist approaches to the character of human rights, the tensions between the development of international law & power relations in international politics, & tensions between group rights & individual rights. 25 References. Adapted from the source document.

The specific object of this article is the agreement -- in accordance with the Italian decreto legislativo no. 517 of 21 December 1999 on the "regulation of relations between the national health service & universities according to article 6 of Law no. 419 of 30 November 1998" -- to be reached between the local health authorities & the University Vice-Chancellors over the nomination both of executives in Departments with mixed activities (composed, that is, of complex university & hospital managerial structures), & of executives of complex university managerial structures. The central point of this article is that, alongside the procedural duties specified in the individual regulations, the parties also have the duty to respect the general principles of loyal cooperation and reciprocal fairness in the seeking of an agreement, in line with the directives set out in judgment no. 379/92 of the Constitutional Court. Adapted from the source document.

This is the text of the opening lecture given by the author at the 2004 Conference of Italian Society of Political Science in Padua. In the first section the main definitions of democracy & democratic qualities, as rule of law, vertical accountability, horizontal accountability, responsiveness, freedom & equality/solidarity are discussed to set up the main notions that are necessary to address the key question in the second section: If we would like to explain the qualities of a democracy how much are the previous political traditions of the country relevant? The main other explanatory factors are suggested & complemented by the role of authoritarian legacy & a few key hypotheses are suggested. In the last section the essay does not provide any ultimate general reply, but the analysis of the impact of authoritarian legacy in a few countries of Southern Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy, but not Greece where it is not relevant) & of the Southern Cone of Latin America (Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil) with regard to the quality of contemporary democracies in those countries is suggested. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.