Non-governmental Organisation Participation in the EU Law-making Process: The Example of Social Non-governmental Organisations at the Commission, Parliament and Council

Abstract:  This article explores the avenues used by non-governmental organisations working in the sector of EU social policy to influence the law-making process at the EU. The Commission's current transparency initiative has focused attention on the rules (or lack of) governing access to the Commission as the initiator of legislation. This article examines more broadly, on the basis of interviews, both the formal and informal means of accessing not only the Commission, but also the European Parliament (in particular through intergroups) as well as the Council. By using specific examples of legislation it illustrates the routes by which 'social' non-governmental organisations currently interact with these institutions, offering examples of how their work may impact on the output of the Commission, Council and Parliament. The article avoids an overly legalistic analysis with an original glimpse at the 'hidden' workings of the EU law-making process which has hitherto received little attention among legal academics and practitioners.     

政府与议会间立法互动关系之评价标准

政府与议会间的立法互动关系问题,不仅是一个立法问题,而且是一个宪政问题.评价政府与议会间立法互动关系的标准有三,即宪政民主的基本价值标准、产生良法的能力的标准和实效标准.其中宪政民主的基本价值主要包括:人权、民主、法治和控权;产生良法的能力的标准要求能产生基于可靠的信息基础性,具有及时性、融贯性、有效性和回应性的良法;实效标准,即实践检验标准,是指一种制度安排是否在现实中有效地运行,并实现其原初设计之功用和目标.     

Committee Inquiries in the Australian Parliament and their Influence on Government: Government Acceptance of Recommendations as a Measure of Parliamentary Performance

Committees in the Australian parliament often make recommendations to government and attempt to persuade the government to accept them. Using a sample of committee reports tabled between the 2001 and 2004 elections, this paper measures the government acceptance of committee recommendations as a proxy for committees' influence. On average, the government stated it accepted three majority recommendations out of 11 per report, although this figure drops to two and a half when viewed as recommendations implemented and not merely promised. The government accepted virtually no minority recommendations. The most important report characteristic is the extent to which it affects the government's reputation, but the breadth of political support that it can muster is also relevant.     

执行和解协议的效力分析及完善立法建议

执行和解是民事执行的一项重要制度,是当事人意思自治的体现和运用,能有效而及时地化解矛盾、维护社会稳定。执行和解协议的产生和履行必然会对执行程序产生影响。我国民事诉讼法对执行和解协议的效力和救济途径规定得不够完善,给司法实践造成了诸多问题。在对执行和解协议的效力进行分析的基础上针对现行立法提出建议。     

French MPs and Law-making: Deputies' Activities and Citizens' Perceptions

Legislative studies research often insists on the weakness of the French Parliament compared with the executive. Yet very little qualitative and quantitative empirical research has been done into the work of deputies in the French National Assembly, or into the institution's role in policy and law-making. This article addresses these research gaps by first analysing the characteristics and drivers of French MPs' involvement in law-making rather than in other parliamentary activities, either in the Parliament or in their constituency. Second, it takes an original approach by comparing MPs' perceptions of their activities with those of their electorate through the use of mixed-method analyses (open and closed questionnaires with 230 MPs; 13 focus groups with ordinary citizens). This is indeed a crucial issue in order to better understand the causes fuelling citizens' criticism of their representatives.     

Drugs, markets and criminal justice in Poland

Since 1989 drug situation in Poland has changed considerably. First, Polandhas become a major European producer of synthetic drugs. Second, it has becomea major transit country for smuggling drugs. Third, while its drug markets arenot yet fully developed, they offer now a much broader selection of drugs thanthe pre-1989 staple drug, the home-made ``Polish heroin'. Despite some alarmabout a growing drug problem, Polish drug policies remained for many years primarily public health oriented. The recent drug law reforms may signify, however, a shift towards a more punitive approach. This paper explores theconditions surrounding the emergence of both new markets and new controlstrategies.     

Strategic Behaviour in Parliament

Most research on roll call votes considers each voting decision by members of parliament (MPs) as an independent observation. Only recently have scholars (for example, Clinton, 2012, American Journal of Political Science, 56, 355–372; Clinton & Meirowitz, 2004, American Journal of Political Science, 48, 675–689) started to assess how knowledge about the sequence of votes may help us to understand the legislative process in more detail. Many of these analyses are, however, predicated on quite important assumptions regarding the forward-looking capacities of MPs. In this paper, this more recent literature is drawn on and brought to bear on an analysis of two bills adopted in the Swiss parliament. Having detailed information available on MPs’ preferences over various options voted upon, it is possible to test whether MPs behave strategically, and to what degree they are capable of anticipating the way forward through the agenda tree. Evidence is found that MPs behave strategically, but their foresight is not as perfect as one would expect from theoretical models.     

European Parliament and Executive Federalism: Approaching a Parliament in a Semi-Parliamentary Democracy

Abstract: The European Parliament has often been understood along the lines of theories of European integration—compared to regular parliaments by Federalists or belittled as merely an international assembly by intergovernmentalists. This paper proposes an understanding of the European Parliament not along theories about what the EU should become, but what it is and surely will continue to be, that is a very distinct federal structure. The European Parliament is a parliament in an executive federalism—with far‐reaching consequences for its form and functions. After outlining the characteristics of this federal structure, these consequences will be demonstrated by analysing the European Parliament in contrast with two ideal types of parliaments: the working parliament, separated from the executive branch and centred around strong committees (like the US Congress), and the debating parliament, characterised by the fusion of parliamentary majority and government as well as plenary debates (like the British House of Commons). Dwelling thus on a comparison to a legislature in a non‐parliamentary federal system, like the US Congress, this paper argues that the European Parliament might best be understood as a special case of a working parliament. Finally, it will be proposed to consider the influence of executive federalism not only as fundamentally shaping the European Parliament but also as rendering the EU generally a semi‐parliamentary democracy.     

论近代中国公司立法中商会的角色与作为

在近代中国,商会扮演着工商制度安排和变迁的参与者角色.具有制度供给和需求双重身份的性质和特征.商会参与公司立法取决于内外因的交互作用:商会本身所具有的参与法制现代化所必需的基本素质和能力是其参与立法的根本前提;而政府对商会的职能定位是影响商会参与程度和效果的重要因素.商会通过自拟商法活动和其他参与形式,积极推动公司立法的健全完善,从而改变了中国传统的单一主体(政府)立法模式.国家力量与民问力量的交互作用,决定了近代中国公司制度移植具有以强制性为主、诱致性为辅的制度变迁特质.     

Parliamentary Questions,Oversight, and National Opposition Status inthe European Parliament

This study examines when and why members of the European Parliament (EP) use parliamentary questions as a form of fire alarm oversight. We argue that the multilevel nature of the EU political system allows members of the EP from national opposition parties to use parliamentary questions to alert the European Commission to governments' failures to implement EU policy. Representation in the EP provides the only avenue for such oversight for national opposition parties. Using a new sample of EP parliamentary questions, we demonstrate that MEPs from national opposition parties are more likely to alert the Commission to violations of EU law in their own member states. These parliamentary questions may lead the Commission to take legal action against member‐state governments.     

Privatization in Poland: Politics,Society, and the Law*

The paper presents the beginning and the initial results of the process of privatization in Poland. Starting from the summer of 1990 it examines the political debate on the Privatization Act and corresponding social reaction. It shows how the society answers such important questions as: who, and on what principles, is to take over the hitherto state-owned property? The next question is on the content of the “social contract on privatization”: the legal starting point and the first empirical results. It appears that the most visible social effect was the growth in the inequalities between workers and the elites of the society. The role of workers in the process of transformation is also of special interest. Finally, the paper examines the role of privatization law, which on the one hand presents a compromise between the ruling class and the society and on the other hand has been replaced by current privatization policy.     

Brazilian Parliament and digital engagement

ABSTRACT

This paper examines how new technologies are employed by the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies to stimulate experiences of digital engagement. It also evaluates how new technologies are put in practice by the institution, considering its potentialities and limitations in mediating the relationship between the parliament and the citizens. This analysis is anchored in concepts put forth by Polsby about arena parliaments and transformative parliaments, in order to evaluate which of these models of engagement tools have greater potential. The study concludes that the use of digital technologies by the Brazilian Parliament is very diverse, with a variety of tools that allow for the interaction and engagement of citizens, although these tools have the greatest potential for the arena parliament model.     

Social-Nationalists in the Ukrainian Parliament

Disillusionment with the leaders of the Orange Revolution and their successors, combined with rhetorical and symbolic adjustments made by the ultraright party Svoboda, led to its electoral success in the 2012 parliamentary elections in Ukraine. As a result, xenophobia and anti-Semitism have become part of the public political discourse.