Suchergebnisse

"This book asks whether sovereignty can guarantee international equality by exploring the discourses of sovereignty and their reliance on the notions of civilisation and savagery in two historical colonial encounters: the French explorations of Canada in the 16th century and the domestic troubles linked to the Wars of Religion. Presenting the concept of 'civilised sovereignty', Mathieu reveals the interplay between the domestic and external claims to sovereignty, and offers a dynamic analysis of the theory and practice of the concept. Based on extensive archival research, this book provides an in-depth intellectual picture of the theory and practice of sovereignty in early modern France by focusing on the discourses deployed by French political theorists. Mathieu applies performativity in order to denaturalise these discourses of statehood and reveals how the domestic and international constructions of sovereignty feed into one another and equally rely on appeals to civilisation and savagery. Overall, the book questions the 'myth of sovereignty as equality' and reflects on the persistence of this association despite the overwhelming empirical evidence that it institutes international hierarchies and inequalities"--

RECENT BRITISH GOVERNMENT PROPOSALS AFFECTING LOCAL GOVERNMENT ARE CONTAINED IN WHITE PAPERS ON 'RATES' AND 'STREAMLINING THE CITIES'. THE SECRETARY OF STATE JUSTIFIES SUCH MAJOR PROPOSALS AS THE ABOLITION OF SEVEN MAJOR AUTHORITIES AND THE EFFECTIVE WEAKENING OF THE POWERS OF OTHER LOCAL AUTHORITIES WITH THE SOMEWHAT SIMPLISTIC ASSERTION THAT 'WE (IN BRITAIN) LIVE IN A UNITARY AND NOT A FEDERAL STATE'. WHEREAS THE STRUCTURE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD NEVER BE STATIC, A NEED FOR CHANGE IS NOW BEING ARGUED ON A SERVICE-EFFICIENCY BASIS, WHILE THE REQUIREMENT FOR DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS TO GOVERN THE CONURBATIONS IS ALMOST UNCONSIDERED. THE EFFECT OF GOVERNMENT PROPOSALS WILL BE TO WEAKEN THE POSITION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN RELATION TO CENTRAL GOVERNMENT AND AGAIN RAISE SIGNIFICANT QUESTIONS ON THE NATURE OF REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY WITHIN THE UNITED KINGDOM. THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES ARE A FUNDAMENTAL PART OF OUR DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM, FAR MORE REAL, RESPONSIVE AND PROXIMATE FOR MOST OF US, AND THE ONLY BODIES, APART FROM THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, WHICH ARE ELECTED.