Suchergebnisse

The EU's political system represents European citizens via three different channels: through the European Parliament, indirectly through their Governments in the Council, and through domestic elections, which hold these last democratically accountable to National Parliaments or citizens. However, these channels involve different and incompatible types of representation and forms of democracy, reflecting divergent conceptions of political community which, following Philip Pettit, we term solidarism, singularism and civicity respectively. The first channel seeks to represent the common good of a European people; the second the mutual self-interest of the single Member States. We argue the first lacks social and political legitimacy, while the second proves insufficient to tackle collective European problems equitably or effectively. We propose reinforcing the third channel so as to modify these other two and produce a European 'demoi-cracy' able to sustain the form of representative democracy we associate with a civicity. We contend such a system fosters an `ever closer Union among the peoples of Europe' by allowing the construction of shared policies that treat the different demoi with equal concern and respect.

By raising fundamental questions about the methods and ultimate goals of European integration, Maastricht forced supporters and opponents alike to confront the legitimacy both of the Union and - as has become apparent with the crisis of the Santer Commission - of the institutional architecture put in place to steer it. The strategic-oriented action and normative argument avoided for so long by the main political actors, are inescapable when tackling this issue. Thus, national politicians and European authorities have self-consciously, though perhaps confusedly, been obliged to start discussing the future shape of what Jacques Delors once called 'un object politique non-identifié.' Academics, for their part, have discovered that the integration process depends not simply on functional efficiency and certain given economic and national interests, but also on people's ideals and perceptions. Consequently, explanation and justification have proved less easily distinguishable than earlier positivistic and behaviouralist models assumed. Hence, the 'normative turn' in European studies. In this essay we wish to clarify certain aspects of the normative turn (section 1) and to explore some of the substantive issues that emerge from subjecting the European integration process to normative scrutiny (sections 2, 3 and 4). In the conclusion, we shall sketch the kind of normative politics we feel best suits the emerging European polity.

Ackerman, Bruce: We the people : Foundations. - Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard Univ. Press 1991. + Enthält Rezensionen von: Rawls, John: Political liberalism. - New York : Columbia Univ. Press, 1993

Summary: An age–period cohort model was fitted to analyse time effects on hip fracture incidence rates by sex (Portugal, 2000–2008). Rates increased exponentially with age (age effect). Incidence rates decreased after 2004 for women and were random for men (period effect). New but comprehensive fluctuations in risk were coincident with major political/economic changes (cohort effect). Introduction: Healthcare improvements have allowed prevention but have also increased life expectancy, resulting in more people being at risk. Our aim was to analyse the separate effects of age, period and cohort on incidence rates by sex in Portugal, 2000–2008. Methods: From the National Hospital Discharge Register, we selected admissions (aged ≥49 years) with hip fractures (ICD9-CM, codes 820.x) caused by low/moderate trauma (falls from standing height or less), readmissions and bone cancer cases. We calculated person-years at risk using population data from Statistics Portugal. To identify period and cohort effects for all ages, we used an age–period–cohort model (1-year intervals) followed by generalised additive models with a negative binomial distribution of the observed incidence rates of hip fractures. Results: There were 77,083 hospital admissions (77.4 % women). Incidence rates increased exponentially with age for both sexes (age effect). Incidence rates fell after 2004 for women and were random for men (period effect). There was a general cohort effect similar in both sexes; risk of hip fracture altered from an increasing trend for those born before 1930 to a decreasing trend following that year. Risk alterations (not statistically significant) coincident with major political and economic change in the history of Portugal were observed around birth cohorts 1920 (stable–increasing), 1940 (decreasing–increasing) and 1950 (increasing–decreasing only among women). Conclusions: Hip fracture risk was higher for those born during major economically/politically unstable periods. Although bone quality reflects lifetime exposure, conditions at birth may determine future risk for hip fractures.

L'entrata nella seconda Repubblica è stata scandita dalla marcia trionfale della sinistra in predicato di vincere le elezioni politiche. I risultati elettorali più gratificanti della sinistra sono stati la traballante vittoria del 1996 e le non vittorie (sostanziali pareggi) del 2006 e del 2013, al contrario erano certe nelle previsioni e nei fatti le vittorie berlusconiane del 2001 e del 2008.