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The implementation of the Bologna Declaration differs considerably across participating countries. This is most true with regard to the introduction of a two-tier study system. The varying rates of development within Europe present a unique opportunity for countries to learn from one another. This article focuses on the alternative design options available, on the one hand, & the concrete experiences with the implementation of these options at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, on the other.

This is a time when the nation expects every man to do his duty. The first duty of a learned profession is to determine how its members can be of greatest usefulness. This report is intended to be an analysis of possible and proper contributions which political scientists may make to the national effort. For the most part, it suggests ways and means to the individual; it makes few recommendations for action by the Association.This report examines the opportunities for public service which are available to political scientists in the following fields of activity: (1) in public employment; (2) in undertaking tasks for the federal government; (3) in undertaking needed research; (4) in training persons for the public service; (5) in advancing public understanding of war-time and post-war problems; and (6) in strengthening democratic institutions and ways. Much of what is said on each of these subjects will be applicable to other social sciences and to colleges and universities as a whole.

This paper explores the effect of political accountability on the size of the public sector in a principal-agent model of democratic government. Political accountability is the degree to which the electorate can control politicians through elections, and emphasis is put on the roles of transparency and political contestability. Increasing transparency and political contestability increases the control of politicians, which makes public goods provision more attractive to voters, increasing the size of government. The prediction of the model is strongly supported by robust empirical evidence from a cross section of 62 democratic countries in 1995.

Issue title: tribes & neighborhoods: the dynamics of subtlety ; This article contributes to the discussion about opportunities for and barriers to domestically-driven political reform in the Syrian Arab Republic. The argument is put forward in five sections. In the first section, relevant political science approaches analyzing the Syrian case from a domestic and global perspective are briefly discussed. The second section sketches the early political history of Syria between 1920 and 1970, while the third section explains how the regime led by Hafiz al-Assad was able to use the period after 1970 to consolidate Syrian statehood, establish a national security state, and emerge as a strong regional geopolitical player. Section four analyzes the period of the Presidency of Bashar al-Assad before the current crisis (from 2000 until March 2011). Lastly, section five discusses the recent escalation of the Syrian domestic crisis toward the largest armed conflict in the country's history. Section five also scrutinizes the domestic political reform program as advanced by the Syrian government since April 2011 (essentially the new 2012 Syrian constitution and the new multiparty system). A conclusion sums up both the theoretical and empirical arguments. ; Publisher PDF

The low level of the nation's health and physical activity highlights the need to find additional mechanisms for the development of the sports sphere, one of which is to increase its financing. This paper aims to investigate how an increase in general government expenditure on recreation and sports affects sports entrepreneurship (turnover or gross premium written in the sports industry; value added at factor cost of sports enterprises; sports industry market size) and the share of the population involved in sports (as an indicator characterizing the development of sports). The study used the panel unit root test and fixed and random effects models. Modeling proved that the increase in general government expenditure on recreation and sports by 1% largely determines the increase in value added at factor cost of sports enterprises (by 5.48%). A significantly less effect is for turnover or gross premium written in the sports industry (by 0.85%), and the smallest is for the sports industry market size (by 0.4%). A 1% increase in general government expenditure on recreation and sport has the greatest impact in the Czech Republic (by 2.37%) and Slovakia (by 2.44%) and the least – in Australia (by 0.4%). The share of the population involved in sports is almost independent of general government expenditure on recreation and sports in all 10 OECD countries.

This studyexamines Africa's newest political phenomenon of forced political marriagescalled Governments of National Unity (GNUs) or Inclusive Governments. Itendeavours to situate these governments in the continent's political landscapewith the view of assessing the phenomenon's contribution to the democraticdiscourse in Africa. It analyses the foundations of such governments with theview of examining the extent to which they have been conflict resolvers incountries where they have been established. While this study acknowledges thepositive contribution of GNUs in conflict management and resolution, the studyposits that by and large GNUs have had the effect of subverting the voices ofthe electorate in Africa. The study argues that where they have beenestablished, such governments have made the administrative systems of the countries fail to deliver desired services to the people as the political parties in the 'marriage' haggle for political supremacy. The study furtheravers that the foundation of these governments is lack of democratic traditionsof accepting electoral defeat and failure by African electoral supervisory machineries to operate impartially. Consequently, the implication of thefindings is that GNUs do not eliminate conflict but simply transform it thusonly partially solving the problem.

In an increasingly technology-dependent world, it is not surprising that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) graduates are in high demand. This state of affairs, however, has made the public overlook the case that not only computing and artificial intelligence are naturally interdisciplinary, but that a huge portion of generated data comes from human&ndash ; computer interactions, thus they are social in character and nature. Hence, social science practitioners should be in demand too, but this does not seem the case. One of the reasons for such a situation is that political and social science departments worldwide tend to remain in their &ldquo ; comfort zone&rdquo ; and see their disciplines quite traditionally, but by doing so they cut themselves off from many positions today. The authors believed that these conditions should and could be changed and thus in a few years created a specifically tailored course for students in Political Science. This paper examines the experience of the last year of such a program, which, after several tweaks and adjustments, is now fully operational. The results and students&rsquo ; appreciation are quite remarkable. Hence the authors considered the experience was worth sharing, so that colleagues in social and political science departments may feel encouraged to follow and replicate such an example.

Despite both unparalleled progress on and persistent backlash to LGBTI rights in world politics, LGBTIQ people are rarely centred in our work as political scientists. This article charts the status of LGBTIQ scholarship in political science, advocating the creation of new spaces for such scholarship in the field, including in the pages of journals like the European Journal of Politics and Gender. Drawing on recent studies of the profession and on the reflections of leading LGBTIQ thinkers on navigating their presence in the subfield, I argue that LGBTIQ scholars and their scholarship still face individual-level and structural discrimination in political science. This encompasses active and passive homophobia and transphobia in teaching, getting hired and promoted, gaining access to research funding, and the publication process.