Suchergebnisse

The author of the article presents the review of the monograph written by Ewa Gorlewska. The monograph is based on research methods used in linguistics. E. Gorlewska classifies her book to the "language of values" (axiolinguistics). The author of the review simultaneously assigns it to constitutional juryslinguistics. The monograph consists of two parts. The first one contains an analysis of dictionary and textual meanings of the names of constitutional values. The second presents their colloquial understanding by young Poles. E. Gorlewska argues that the textual meanings of constitutional values differ from its colloquial understanding by twenty-year-olds and claims that there are some differences between the constitutional hierarchy of values and the hierarchy of values of young people. The author of the article finds the monograph very valuable, interesting and of significant importance for constitutional law.

The subject of the analysis is the language of fundamental laws, types of semiotic statements (directive, evaluative, formative, descriptive) and their occurrence in the texts of Polish constitutions with particular emphasis on the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997. Directive statements are characteristic of normative acts, they contain rules of conduct and tell what reality is supposed to look like. Evaluative statements express approval or disapproval of certain phenomena and facts. Formative statements make changes to reality, while descriptive statements show what the world around the narrator looks like. All the indicated types of statements appear in the fundamental laws. The paper discusses their meaning and functions.

THE COUNCIL FOR ADMINISTRATION OF COURTS IN ESTONIAThe Council for Administration of Courts in Estonia is not a typical national judicial authority that actively participates in the appointment of judges and which safeguards their independence and independence of the courts. It is the body that has been appointed to co administer the courts and control limit the competences of the Minister of Justice. This status of the Council results from the omission of this body in the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia. The position of the Council was shaped at the level of laws 10 years after the Estonian Constitution was adopted. Protection of courts is implemented as an additional function. The main task of the Council is to improve the management of courts.

Adapting to climate change in the urban setting requires cooperation across scales, levels of government, organisational boundaries and policy sectors. The study presented in the paper explores governance of urban adaptation policies through the conceptual lens of multi-level governance and boundary spanning. It focuses on the South Wing of the Randstad in The Netherlands, an urban region that is heavily exposed to the negative impacts of climate change, particularly to flooding, due to its location in the Rhine-Meuse delta and concentration of population and economic activity. Yet, it is also a region with strong traditions of cooperation and a track record of pioneering urban climate change measures. The study investigates how the features of the wider institutional context, in which this urban region operates shape the governance of urban adaptation policies and how the contextual factors constrain the scope for spanning horizontal, vertical and temporal boundaries needed for delivering those policies and making the cities of that region more climate-proof.

With this paper I aim at refining the understanding of mechanisms of postaccession Europeanisation in the new member states by investigating the impact of EU cohesion policy on the Polish subnational policy actors involved in its implementation. Drawing on recent empirical evidence on the influence of EU cohesion policy in three areas—administrative capacity, strategic planning, and governance—I show that adjustment to the EU cohesion policy norms initially tends to be stimulated by cost–benefit calculation or constraint, which may involve 'shallow' adjustment. However, the study also reveals that over time, provided that EU-imported norms are in line with the actors' preferences, socialisation and learning mechanisms become more prominent. Moreover, I demonstrate that the subnational impact of EU cohesion policy remains uneven and differentiated depending on the actors' preferences, attitudes, and capacity.

AbstractAs a result of a combination of political and economic crises engulfing the European Union (EU)since 2008 has deteriorated considerably its image among the citizens, undermining its legitimacy and future. Cohesion Policy, providing funding for a variety of investment projects across the European territories that have a direct impact on the lives of the EU citizens, is one the key instruments at the disposal of the EU that could positively influence that image. But does it? The paper probes the extent to which the regional performance in implementation of Cohesion Policy affected the perceptions of the EU before and after the apogee of the economic crisis to shed more light on the capacity of this policy shape the citizens' EU identity across different European regions.