Suchergebnisse

Most attempts at parliamentary reform in Belgium are prompted by the desire to support a Parliament which is being marginalized by political actors such as the government and the parties. These efforts are inspired by traditional constitutional thinking. Initially parliaments were designed as democratie bodies which should challenge the aristocratie government. Nowadays, parliament has quite another function. It has to facilitate the political information and to counteract the incompetence (and alienation) of citizens who are willing but unable to participate in an increasingly complex political system.Reform should aim at restoring the significance ofpublic debates in parliament.In order to be informative these debates should focus on important issues of the political agenda and catch the attention of the general public. Within the constraints of our political system it should be possible to upgrade the early debates on budget allocations and the late debates on the evaluation of public policy effectiveness.

Fund in Africa have been the subject of intense debate in the la st two decades. However, the process whereby the leaderships of African states come to accept that economic reforms as required by SAP's are indeed necessary, or alternately come to reject such reforms, has not been well documented and studied. It is suggested that the prospect of economic aid is a powerful incentive for African leaderships to agree to SAP's, but whether such reforms are actually implemented depends on whether the leadership of the given state considers them desirable. African governments can turn such programs into an adversarial relationship with the International Financial Institutions (IFI's), particularly when programs are agreed upon, only to be reneged upon once the initial tranches of payments have been received. It is also argued that the internal political process within the leadership (the executive branch) of a given state, is of critical importance if such programs are to be successfully implemented. It examines the relationship between the leadership of Tanzania and the IFI's between 1980 and 1986 to illustrate how economic reform was only undertaken in earnest once reform-minded members of the leadership achieved predominance in the government.

THE ROLE OF VALUES IN THE PROCESS OF CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMIn the constitutional debate currently taking place in South Africa, a point raised more often than not, is that the "values of Christian civilisation" should be central to the process of constitutional reform. The author defines "civilisation" as something which has been acquired by mankind, usually called the quality of life.Putting a premium on values of civilisation and acquisition entails deliberate efforts to distribute opportunities and civilised values evenly, particularly where statutory and structural factors previously prevented such distribution.Seen from a moral point of view, and in the light of what is required by justice and civilised values, this situation should be remedied by a programme of constitutional reform. The disadvantaged members of society should also be given the chance to benefit from opportunities, and the author suggests that the Old Testament idea of "reparation payments" be introduced as part of a social policy of redistribution.The crucial question South Africa is facing is not how power should be retained of acquired, but how a legitimate constitutional dispensation can be brought about. The choice for the latter option implies a choice for a process of negotiation in which consensus on basic values is sought.

1996 was a y ear of both gridlock and reform for the European Union. The EU experienced one of its major institutional crises with the Mad Cow Disease. ltwas equally confronted with only minor progress in the ongoing Intergovernmental Conference for institutional reform as no major breakthroughs could be expected before the UK elections of May 1997. However, some major achievements occured as well. The adoption of the Stability Pact at the Dublin Summit in December increased the credibility of the EMU-project seriously. At the same time, the EU intensified its efforts to improve its trade relations with different parts of the world, especially South and South-East-Asia. At the same time however, the Commission bas been confronted with increasing disputes on the way in which it uses its prerogatives in competition policy and the enforcement of implementation.

The purpose of this essay is to briefly portray the development of the present structure and composition of the Security Council of the UN, summarise the arguments of the non-western powers, including South Africa, the common African and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) for the reform of the Security Council and offer some comments regarding this position. The principal comment of the essay is that these positions on the reform of the UN Security Council is a wonderful gesture and imminently democratic proposals. But it is unlikely to be successful. The experience of the last 11 years with the Open Working Group (regarding the reform of the Security Council) is adequate evidence. The Security Council will only be reformed or adapted if the international structural circumstances so require. That is, only the advent of a new and powerful international power, or a powerful bloc of states, whose influence cannot be ignored, will cause the Security Council to be enlarged.