Search results for " Politics"
showing 10 items of 311 documents
Not Worth the Net Worth? The Democratic Dilemmas of Privileged Access to Information
2017
In this article, we discuss the democratic conditions for parliamentary oversight in EU foreign affairs. Our point of departure is two Interinstitutional Agreements (IIAs) between the Council and the European Parliament (EP), which provide the latter with access to sensitive documents. To shed light on this issue, we ask to what extent these contribute to the democratic accountability in EU foreign policy? It is argued that the IIAs have strengthened the EP’s role in EU foreign affairs by giving it access to information to which it was previously denied. This does not mean, however, that this increase in power equals a strengthening of the EP as a democratic accountability forum. First of a…
Introducing the Study of Nordic Cooperation
2020
To rediscover Nordic cooperation this article develops a ‘conceptual grammar’ that provides general theoretical ‘images’ of cooperation that are systematically applied. Being supplementary analytical constructs, moreover, these images capture great variety and differentiation in Nordic cooperation. Next, this article provides a review of two sets of literature that are of particular relevance to this thematic issue. The first is a broader literature on European integration. The second is studies of Nordic cooperation. The article closes with an overview of the contributions to this thematic issue.
Between Differentiation and (Dis)Integration – Theoretical Explanations of a Post-Brexit European Union
2021
The authors of this paper provide a critical analysis of the most prominent theoretical vehicles employed in studying differentiated integration in contemporary, post-Brexit Europe. They discuss the descriptive, explanatory, and interpretative potential of the selected theoretical approaches that are applied at the intersection of disintegration and European differentiation discourse. “The holy grail” of the theorising of the dynamic (and accelerating) processes of (dis)integration and differentiation remains undiscovered. Nevertheless, a constant search for theoretical explanation is needed in the in-depth analyses of the current state of the European Union.
The Invisible Violence of Celebrity Humanitarianism: Soft Images and Hard Words in the Making and Unmaking of Africa
2009
Through their actions to eliminate extreme poverty and preventable diseases in Africa, Irish musicians Robert (Bob) Geldof and Bono (Paul David Hewson) today form a visible and celebrated centre in the world of humanitarianism as political activists,' celebrity diplomats,' global Samaritans,' men who, to quote former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, rock the establishment' (TIME 13.11.2006). Their contemporary calls to make poverty history' in Africa are so widely repeated and commonsensical that questions about the exceptionality of this humanitarian action itself rarely arise. In fact, despite the increasing visibility of celebrity humanitarianism, no research on their representa…
Horizontal Competition Among Governments
2005
Governments situated on the same level of a multi-level governmental system compete with each other as well as with those placed higher or lower. This paper is concerned with horizontal competition only. It discusses both competition based on the mobility of agents (individuals, business firms, or factors) and competition related to the circulation of information. With regard to the first kind, it focuses on the capacity that governments keep to decide their policies and compete in spite of the mobility of agents. Some attention is also given to the implications of some non-standard assumptions about the underlying political setup. The discussion of information-based competition includes th…
La nación contra el fascismo: PSOE y SFIO, 1933-1936
2020
Este artículo propone un estudio del antifascismo socialista en España. Al respecto, se apuesta por situar la nación como referente cultural y político en el centro del análisis, y aplicar una perspectiva comparada con el caso de Francia. Dicho análisis se plantea para el período inmediatamente anterior a la Guerra Civil en España y toma como principal fuente a la prensa socialista.El artículo se desarrolla en dos grandes bloques, con la Revolución de Octubre de 1934 como hito. A partir de entonces emergió en el seno del PSOE un enfrentamiento por el control de la organización. El artículo se centra en el estudio de la corriente caballerista, considerada el ala izquierdista, a la cual se co…
A new political elite in France : the end of professionalization ?
2020
Actes du projet Parcit (Participation et citoyenneté), financé par les MSH Dijon et Besançon, co-dirigé par A. Alexandre-Collier, D. Andolfatto et A. Goujon, 2017-2019; International audience; Who governs? It is this classic question in political science (Dahl, 1961) that this chapter seeks to answer. It is based on a tradition of studying parliamentary elites (Best & Cotta, 2000 & 2007 ; Norris, 1997). It proposes to analyze the sociological make up of the French National Assembly elected in June 2017. Of course, this is not the sociology of government in the strict sense of the executive power but that of the parliamentary Assembly elected by direct universal suffrage and supposed to adop…
"I felt as if I was faced with a French Honecker" : The French Communist Party Confronted with a World that was Falling Apart (1985-1991)
2019
International audience; At the end of the 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev met Georges Marchais, the general secretary of the PCF (Parti communiste français, i.e. French Communist Party), leader of one of the most important Western communist parties. After the meeting with Marchais, Andrei Gratchev, Gorbachev’s political advisor, remarked: “I felt as if I were faced with a French Honecker. He didn’t listen to what we told him. The new direction taken by Moscow didn’t seem to interest him.” Fundamentally, confronted with Gorbachev’s reforms, the PCF leadership expressed a lot of skepticism. Initially, they seemed interested but it became rapidly clear that they were, in fact, quite critical of the S…
Ethics and Politics of the Built Environment: Gardens of the Anthropocene
2017
This book is a reflection on the role of gardens in our thinking about our environments, and on the role of urban gardening in our acting and for our environments. More generally, it is an exploration of the ethical and political station of individuals in the Anthropocene - this new epoch in which the Earth is being remade by human activity. The book argues that, in the new epoch, urban gardens and gardening are to become 1) conceptual models for reflecting on the human station within the wider workings of things; 2) contexts and practices of stewardship that enable the fulfillment of individual moral obligations against important global challenges - including food security, climate change,…
The Samjiyon Orchestra as a North Korean Means for Gender Based Cultural Diplomacy
2020
In 2018 it appeared that a peace process on the Korean Peninsula had got underway. Lots of publicity was produced on inter-Korean relations and many types of messages and diplomatic actors started to move across the border with South Korea. One important element in this process was cultural diplomacy, conducted partly by athletes and cheering squads during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games, and partly by musical ensembles. Selection of the Samjiyon Orchestra for the Pyeongchang events sheds light on the kind of image the North Korean leadership wanted to display of the country on the international stage. This article analyses the characteristics of the orchestra, where it came from, and …