Suchergebnisse

This paper focuses on the European Security and Defense Policy and tries to answer the question why the member states have deviating deepening preferences in this field. After discovering the supranational-intergovernmental divide, we will determine its possible causes. The Qualitative Comparative Analysis helps us to distillate the most valuable independent variables and reveals 'institutional culture' and 'balancing' as most important. Finally, we match our findings with the initial theories, used to derive the causal variables, and verify their explanatory power. Adapted from the source document.

This is a next, annual installment in a series, published regularly since 1978, of overviews of Belgian politics in a given year. This 2004 overview discusses the main topics & issues that preoccupied the government of Guy Verhofstadt, formed in a three-party coalition -- Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten ([VLD] Flemish Liberals and Democrats), Socialistische Partij Anders ([SP.A] Socialist Party Differently), & Sociaal, Progressief, Internationaal, Regionalistisch, Integraal-democratisch en Toekomstgericht ([Spirit]Social, Progressive, International, Regional, Integral-Democratic, and Future Justice) -- following the national election in May 2003: (1) immigrants' voting rights, (2) the controversy over Zaventem airport expansion requested by the German shipping company DHL, (3) redistricting/splitting of the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde electoral district, (4) unemployment compensation, family policy, tax restructuring, & other social & fiscal issues pertaining to the 2005 budget, (5) environmental policy, (6) the implications of the regional & EU elections of 13 June 2004, (7) public safety & defense matters, (8) regional government/jurisdiction & civil service reforms & other matters of home policy, & (9) internal party politics. Z. Dubiel

Reviews urban policy in Belgium, particularly Flanders, since 1991. The remarkable success of the extremist right-wing party, Vlaams Blok, in urban areas in both the 1991 & 1994 national elections has increased attention to urban renewal & social housing policies. Today's urban policy consists of two main elements: (1) levying taxes on empty & run-down buildings to promote renovation & reduce speculation & (2) establishing a structural & result-oriented fund that channels significant amounts of money to problem areas. Also, inner-city areas are placed in a regional framework, arguing that administrative city boundaries should include wealthy suburbs, inhabited primarily by people whose livelihood depends on the city, as well as inner-city problem areas. Adapted from the source document.

THE STUDY OF CORRUPTION IS PURSUED ALONG ECOLOGICAL LINES, FOCUSING ON THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF POLITICS & ADMINISTRATION. IF POLITICS IS DEFINED IN TERMS OF VALUES, POWER, & PUBLIC POLICY, THEN AN ADMINISTRATOR MAY BE CONSIDERED A 'POLITICIAN' IN MANY RESPECTS, ALTHOUGH HE IS OPERATING IN A MORE STRUCTURED CONTEXT & SUBJECT TO DIFFERENT NORMS (ADMINISTRATIVE OUTPUT-CULTURE, VS POLITICIAN'S INPUT-CULTURE). WHETHER CORRUPTION IS DEFINED AS THE VIOLATION OF NORMS, AS SELF-INTERESTED BEHAVIOR, OR AS A TRANSACTION, THE VARIOUS FORMS OF CORRUPTION MAY BE EXPLAINED BY THE CONFUSION & OVERLAP OF POLITICS & ADMINISTRATION. OFFICIAL POSITIONS MAY SERVE AS SPOILS, USED AS POLITICAL RESOURCE, OR CORRUPT LOYALITIES MAY GUIDE AN ADMINISTRATOR'S BEHAVIOR; THE LATTER MAY BE RELATED TO THE INFORMAL ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE BUREAUCRACY OR TO THE SOCIAL & POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT. IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, INTERNAL BUREAUCRATIC COMPETITION & ENVIRONMENTAL NEEDS FOR CORRUPT INFLUENCE ON PUBLIC POLICY ARE ESPECIALLY STRONG BECAUSE OF SOCIAL CONFLICTS, DISRUPTIVE CONTACT BETWEEN TRADITIONAL & WESTERN NORMS & ROLES, & BECAUSE OF AN INCREASING IMPACT OF THE NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION UPON THE CULTURALLY DISTANT LOCAL COMMUNITIES. CULTURAL CONFUSION & POLITICAL EXCLUSION OF MANY GROUPS LEAVE CORRUPTION AS THE ONLY EFFECTIVE MEANS TO INFLUENCE PUBLIC POLICY AT THE OUTPUT STAGE. MODIFIED HA.

It is often suggested that the nationalization of local elections has increased. As a result, a hypothesis could be that the mutual differences between policy programs of local divisions of the same national party decrease. In this contribution, we focus on the local election of October 8th 2006 in order to analyze these mutual differences. The aim of this contribution is to measure the homogeneity or heterogeneity of the policy positions of the local divisions of national political parties, on a range of substantive issues on which they have the freedom to differ. Therefore, we compare the opinions of local party agents within the different party families. We use the results of a survey among the representatives of the local departments of the different political parties in the run-up to the local elections. Our research shows that, regarding to the selected questions, in general the local divisions speak with one voice. Our analysis does not indicate that there is a large mixture of visions between divisions of the same national party. Besides, this analysis shows that in general, the size of the municipality can seldom be used in indicating the relative disagreement within political families. This level of agreement is the largest within the green party & the smallest within the liberal family. Those are also the two parties of which the local agents say that the influence of supra-local party levels is small, compared to representatives of other political families. Tables. Adapted from the source document.

A definition of the term `policy' is presented, followed by an analysis of a survey of persons closely involved in housing policy: it appears that party preferences play a role in the judgment of housing policy. Pol'al sci aims at telling what is the actual policy, & not what a policy should be. Gov approval is one of the most important means used in housing policy & this is studied with the help of examples. 'Policy adaptation,' 'expectations,' & 'principles' appear to play an important part in the housing policy of the Netherlands. IPSA.

This article examines the impact of European integration on national policy in the field of migration. Member States have since the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam (1999) power over immigration policy largely ceded to supranational institutions. The Governments of the Member States do not seem to give full account of this new situation. The same applies to the academic literature on the Europeanisation of migration policy which - still dominates the intergovernmental perspective - unlike in the wider EU study literature. This article focuses on the impact of the Family Reunification Directive of 2003 on policymaking in the Netherlands. And politics The Dutch case shows that the reality of migration policies in the EU are increasingly in conflict with intergovernmental assumptions and that it is high time that researchers of migration broaden their theoretical perspective. Adapted from the source document.