Suchergebnisse

Reforms introduced into local government with the objective of improving services have two aims that may be perceived as conflicting: efficiency & participation. An analysis of the implications of service improvement should concentrate on local "public goods" (ie, the kind of support services sometimes called "social utilities") -- on their nature, supply, & production. Certain local institutional characteristics that would be most suitable for the purpose of service improvement can be inferred. Certain authors who adopt this course anticipate a quasi-market model for local government services; but, critical examination shows that this model is not appropriate. A preferable model called "community coresponsibility" is presented. Modified HA.

An examination of how democratization studies have been influenced by neoinstitutionalism demonstrates the latter reoriented the former through the introduction of a renewed institutional variable into a domain where explanations were more typically expressed in terms of values, culture, or economy. In effect, the theoretical bubble of behaviorism & quantitativism was popped so that another approach that privileged the institutional variable could be introduced. New institutionalism can be divided into historical, sociological, & rational choice subsets, each with its unique theoretical approach, while democratization is itself composed of three analytical phases: transition, consolidation, & rupture. For historical institutionalists, focus is placed on institutional formulas, but actors & processes of diffusion & resistance are also acknowledged. Sociological institutionalists insist on conformity or social distortion in institutional models. The perspective of rational choice institutionalists is marked by its universalizing ambition to create behavior-based theories. It is noted, however, that democracy is never only a matter of choice & that it is only through staying aware of difference that it becomes possible to recognize both the amplitude & limits of the neoinstitutionalist contribution to the comparative study of democratization. D. Weibel

This article discusses several aspects of an ongoing French educational reform aimed at introducing open enrollment in public secondary education. In light of the most recent theoretical and empirical evidence on this topic, we attempt to clarify some of the confusion that surrounds the heated debated on school choice by showing that its impact depends crucially on a number of key institutional features. After briefly describing the rules that govern the allocation of students to public and private schools in France, we provide an overview of the multiplicity of school choice policies around the world. We then discuss the potential costs and benefits of such policies and insist on the importance of several institutional parameters in determining their success or failure in terms of efficiency and equity. Based on the lessons that can be drawn from existing empirical evaluations of school choice reforms, we conclude with a number of suggestions regarding the future of school choice in France. Adapted from the source document.

Contemporary changes to the welfare state can be effectively accounted for through the use of historical neoinstitutionalism, which allows certain flaws in existing scholarship, like its inability to account for the specific tenor of technical & ideological choices made in social policies, to be surpassed. Attention should be given to the socioeconomic aspects of the general framework of historical neoinstitutionalism, keeping in mind the relevant paradigms formulated by experts, reformers, & politicians. The notions of field & habitus described by Pierre Bourdieu (1986), for example, highlight both the autonomy & high degree of institutional & ideological structuration that exist in the world of politics. D. Weibel

The Australian constitutional system establishes a plural constitutional identity which borrows from both the historical principles of British parliamentary monarchy and the voluntarism of American federalism. The choice of institutional and constitutional syncretism means that the former British colony is a remarkable example of pacified federalism on a continental scale and allows for a useful reflection about the specific reception of the notion of political democracy by such a legal system. Such a reflection cannot be disconnected from an inquiry focusing on the genesis of the federal constitution, as well as on the current meaning of the defining principles of Australian constitutional identity. Adapted from the source document.

The weight of institutional investors in the European economy is proportional to the size of their outstanding: huge. Pension funds, insurers, banks or mutual to the French, but also the foundations and the churches are not a homogeneous group sharing the same values and the same investment strategies. But a movement is emerging around ten years of responsible investment. It brings together the financial players that have realized the need to incorporate in their investment choices of dimensions such as climate change or human rights. If one recognizes responsible investors the fact that they adhere to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) of the United Nations, they often follow different routes, depending on their culture, their priorities and the context to which they are face. Adapted from the source document.

An effort to determine what research about institutional order owes to its use of the notions & analytical methods imposed in the critical sociology of Pierre Bourdieu reveals that his work is essential because it serves as an insistent warning against the temptation to put the theories that result from an exclusive choice to "explain" practices through structural determinism, or from the utilitarian research of profiles, or from the effects of creative interactions between subjects considered to have an almost unlimited freedom, into hypostasis. Bourdieu's work helps demonstrate that an institution is not a thing in itself, but the product of social practices. An effort must be made to understand the social logic that brings the institution into existence & to grasp the social practices that permeate the institution. 25 References. D. Weibel

This article characterizes the political and coalitional system in the Belgian federal governments. It underlines the ways governmental coalitions function and their impact on public policies' conception and implementation as well as on the law-making process. Based on a veto players analysis (which refers to the institutional and partisan actors whose agreement is required to change a policy), it also considers the institutionalization of the political practices facilitating the reaching of an agreement. The rules of the political game, which have been progressively formalized by actors, do not only influence the capacity to implement reforms, but above all the choice of the procedures mobilised and the selection among diverse alternatives. In Belgium, those rules reveal the tensions between coalitional constraints and compromises necessary to overcome the disagreements between parties and linguistic groups. Adapted from the source document.

European Security and Defence Policy is constantly developing, in tandem with and in support of the UN and of an international order based in law. Following in logical progression the first attempts at dialogue and operational cooperation between 2000 and 2003, the EU and the UN have formalised a close institutional relationship as a move towards successful global crisis management and effective multilateralism. The EU today is a partner of choice for the UN in crisis management activity, to which it brings support that is both diverse and evolving in the light of lessons learned on the ground. The EU-UN relationship should continue to deepen in order to respond more effectively to the common threats, notably in Africa, and should contribute to the credibility and support necessary to successful peacemaking and peacekeeping. In this area the EU can serve as an example to other security organisations.

How can we explain that the use of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) in food and horticulture is an issue in France and in Europe, where they are hardly used, and yet seems to be taken for granted in the US, where their use is widespread? Many observers see this as a sign that American consumers have accepted transgenic foods, due to a different attitude to risks, food and nature. This explanation has been discussed since with a focus on the institutional dynamics of the public debate. Our paper can be considered as an extension of these previous researches, although we criticize the "bias assimilation and polarization hypothesis" about a public opinion split on this issue. Our data come from the 2000-2010 ISSP (International Social Survey Program) on environment. The heterogeneous choice (aka location-scale) model helps us to separate the effects of time and country. For some countries, we show a gentle increase of risk perception of GM crops (measured on a Likert scale) but a small decrease of the variance, suggesting a fall in the extremist view. Adapted from the source document.

As the Cuban regime transitions from "Fidelism" to "Raulism," questions arise concerning the Catholic world's place in "Post-Communism." However, after many years of confrontation with a power that dominates the greater part of the political, social & cultural fields, the resumption of real influence over Cuban society is far from given. In spite of a unique institutional position vis-a-vis the regime, the Catholic Church remains marginalized. The Church's lack of social grounding & difficulty overcoming its colonial past both contribute to its isolation. In these circumstances, the Catholic hierarchy draws on fieldwork that is more pastoral than political. Some Catholics are nevertheless seeking to contribute to the emergence of a hypothetical "civil society" by transforming the religious institution into a para-political actor capable of preparing the way for "post-Communism." This effort endeavors to rehabilitate Catholicism vis-a-vis the Cuban past & Cuban present alike. It also seeks to redefine civic & moral norms in order to actively participate in future efforts at national reconciliation. These efforts nevertheless remain limited by the structural weaknesses of the Cuban church & the ambivalence of its choices. Adapted from the source document.

Over the last 20 years or more, the ways in which public action is organized have been subject to change. The development of contracts between the State, its various services & the local authorities is a very good example of this process. On the one hand, the State imposes ways of working & the framework within which the negotiations are to take place, on the other, it leaves the choice of the problems to be dealt with & their resolution to local "community workers." Could this be conceived of as a sort of "laissez-faire" which will inevitably lead to the fragmentation of welfare policy? The setting up of the local "Contrat Educatif" in Toulouse, shows that quite the opposite is true, & that the State's initiatives bring about the reorganization of territorial relations on a political & institutional level, leading to important changes in the way public policy is carried out. On a more general level, this research investigates the setting up, the basic principles & the impact of a "non directive" implementation of welfare action. The ways in which this type of policy is administered is an extremely fruitful subject for research. Adapted from the source document.