Suchergebnisse

In stable democracies, radical electoral changes necessitating the alteration of the type of electoral system are very rare. That is why the typological electoral reforms in New Zealand, Italy, & Japan in the 1990s generated huge scientific & public interest. In all three cases, the reforms were brought about by profound political crises, primarily by the electoral system crises. The reforms were carried out according to different patterns. The New Zealand electoral reform was an expression of a highly sophisticated intellectual design of political institutions legitimized by a referendum. The Italian reform was exacted through the initiatives & actions of the political & the civilian actors & was also confirmed by a referendum. The Japanese reform was a result of a contingently exacted party arrangement. In all three cases -- to the biggest extent in Italy, & to the smallest extent in Japan -- the reforms were implemented regardless of the will of the main political parties & most politicians. 3 Tables, 56 References. Adapted from the source document.

As an expression of China's eagerness to modernize its foreign policy in line with the modified global conditions at the start of the 21st century, a new official Chinese foreign policy doctrine has emerged -- the theory of "peaceful rise." After the top echelon of the Chinese leadership have adopted this doctrine, now it is being peddled to the international public. The fundamental tenet of the theory of "peaceful rise" is that a vigorous long-term growth of Chinese economy & China's affirmation in the arena of international relations does not represent a regional or global threat; on the contrary, China's rise may be good for its neighbors (by bringing economic opportunity & strengthening their security) & the global community in general. After the successful resolution in the 1990s of the border disputes with Russia, Kazakhstan & Tajikistan, & the settlement of the issue of the land border with Vietnam, China has directed its efforts to the resolution of the remaining territorial disputes with Japan & India. China joined the ASEAN in October 2003, a sign of the continued improvement of China's relations with the countries in this region. China has also been very keen on improving its -- primarily economic -- relations with Russia & Japan that will bring economic benefits to all the parties. It is interesting that most China's neighbors, unlike the countries of the EU & the US, have a trade surplus with China. China's most important bilateral relation, that with the US, has been marked with the strategic rapprochement of those two great powers after "September 11" concerning the fight against international terrorism, but is nevertheless still burdened with an array of troublesome issues: Taiwan, criticisms of China due to its violation of human rights & intellectual property, the huge American trade deficit with China. The main challenges to the process of China's "peaceful rise" are the following: the imbalance of its economic growth, particularly its overdependence on exports, the deteriorated relationships with Taiwan after President Chen Shui-bian, a strong advocate of Taiwan's independence, won the 2000 elections. The author concludes that the Chinese foreign policy doctrine of "peaceful rise" is a welcome effort to allay the fears that have been fueled by China's prominence & to explain its new role in international relations. 12 References. Adapted from the source document.

A Croatian translation of an English paper delivered at the conference, "The New Dialog between Central Europe and Japan. Part Five. The Countries of Southeastern Europe in Transition: Between Globalization, Integration, and Fragmentation," held in Zagreb, 12-14 Sept 2002. Although the condition of democratization has never been precisely spelled out by the European Union (EU) for candidate states & the organization has no clear concept of democratic consolidation for the continent, the postcommunist countries desiring EU membership have made serious efforts to develop democratic institutions & legislative frameworks to accommodate EU democratic standards. Thus, there is a palpable link between the process of EU enlargement with new members & the spread of democracy in Central & Southeastern Europe. A comparison of Slovakia & Romania demonstrates, however, that individual candidate countries achieved these objectives through different paths, on their own timetable, & with different end results. The Slovak experience during the third term of Vladimir Meciar's government, 1994-1998, shows that pressures for the implementation of democratic political conditions are ineffective if a national government does not consider EU membership a priority. However, the new Dzurinda government reacted positively to the EU political conditioning & implemented a series of democratic reforms, overcoming occasional difficulties in achieving consensus on contentious issues. In Romania, the impact of democratic conditionality was rather negligible before the change of government in 1996, while slow at best during the Centrist-Right government that followed. Although the return to power of social democrats in 2000 accelerated democratization in this country, progress overall was impeded by economic hardships & the ineffectiveness of state administration. 32 References. Adapted from the source document.