Beyond ethnoculturalism? German citizenship in the new millennium

This article examines the content of Germany's new citizenship laws against the background of previous policy, which was influenced by the original Wilhelmine goal of maintaining an ethnically and culturally pure citizenry. However, immigration has made this goal unsustainable and necessitated a more inclusive citizenship law. Based on an analysis of the new provisions in detail, it is argued that the new law marks a significant, though not complete departure from its ethnocultural past, which brings German citizenship policy into the European mainstream.     

Miraculous or mired? Contrasting Japanese and American perspectives on Japan's economic problems

The evolving bank crisis in Japan provides a stage for the current phase of a contest over whether contrasting forms of capitalism will converge into one predominant neoliberal variant. While the US government has pressured Japan to encourage massive bank reform predicated on neoliberal principles, Japanese bankers and policy makers have resisted such pressures adopting traditional policies increasingly effectively.     

Ten years in the United Nations: Where does Switzerland stand?

Prior to its full membership in the United Nations, Switzerland was an active observer and even an active member of many specialized UN agencies. However, ten years ago, Swiss voters finally approved full UN membership and in 2002, behavioral data started to become available on Switzerland's involvement in the major UN assemblies. Switzerland was admitted to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) as a full member on September 10th, 2002 and was elected to the newly created UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in 2006. Switzerland wished to be an active partner in both of these assemblies. In this research note we describe, based on novel data collected on the UNGA and the UNHRC, how Switzerland positions itself in the “orchestra of nations.”     

Die Selbstbehauptung und Selbstgefährdung des Friedens als Herrschaft des Rechts

Peace is conceivable only as a legal order. According to Hans Kelsen, a legal order is by its very nature a ‘coercive order’. Thus, peace and coercion are not mutually exclusive, but refer to each other in the concept of law. In this contribution, we elaborate and problematize the paradoxical relationship between coercion and peace in theoretical and historical perspective. For this, we differentiate between arbitrary force and legal enforcement in the context of world-order politics. While we argue in favor of peace through law enforcement, we also emphasize the element of arbitrariness in the concept and historical formation of law. This is to say that the stabilization of peace through legal coercion goes hand in hand with its simultaneous destabilization. The text unfolds this dilemma with reference to the evolution of the theory and practice of legitimizing the use of force from past to present. We argue that the dilemma cannot be overcome, but it can be mitigated through the creation of a rule of law, which allows for a reflexive treatment of the tension between peace and coercion.     

The Agrarian question in Mexico: Debate in a Cul‐de‐Sac

The theme of this review essay is Mexico's unresolved agrarian question and the possibility of a distinct ‘Mexican Road’. Four books on the Mexican peasantry are considered: in turn, by John Gledhill, Jonathan Fox, Frank Cancian and Roger Bartra. They all deal with the relationships that connect that peasantry to the Mexican state within a tradition of rural development that has been punctuated and characterised by revolution and state‐building agrarian reform. It is argued that our understanding of the agrarian question in Mexico continues to be bogged down by unfocused monographs on the one hand (the books by the first three of the authors named) and schematic assumptions on the other (as exemplified by Bartra); and that much research needs to be done before the ‘Mexican Road’ can be seen as an accepted option among substantive agrarian alternatives. That research needs to appraise two assumptions frequently made: first, that the hacienda economy was pre‐capitalist; and secondly, that the agrarian programme in Mexico ushered in the rural transition to capitalism.

Casi Nada: A Study of Agrarian Reform in the Homeland of Cardenismo, by John Gledhill, Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1991. Pp.xv + 420. NP. ISBN 968 7230 68 1

The Politics of Food in Mexico, by Jonathan Fox. Ithaca, NY and London: Cornell University Press, 1993. Pp.xii + 280. $43.95 (hardback). ISBN 0 8014 2716 9

The Decline of Community in Zinacantdn, by Frank Cancian. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1992. Pp.xxi + 300. $42.50 (hardback) ISBN 0 8047 2040 1

Agrarian Structure and Political Power in Mexico, by Roger Bartra. Baltimore, MD and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. Pp.xvii + 221. £37 (hardback); £12.50 (paperback) ISBN 0 80184 4398 7 and 4542 4     

Improving legislative surveillance of provincial public expenditures: the performance of the Public Accounts Committees and Auditors General

Abstract. Public disquiet over rapidly rising government expenditures makes control of the public purse a matter of continuous concern. While studies have shown that control improvements are needed at the federal level, the provincial experience has been virtually ignored. This study hopes to fill this void, making several observations on the conjoint roles of the ten provincial Public Accounts Committees and provincial Auditors General. A study of the standing operating procedures of the committees, the role of the Auditors, their inter-relationship, and other factors which affect the ability of the committees to do their job reveals the unevenness of provincial legislative audit surveillance. The rapid expansion in the areas of historic government responsibility and the increasing involvement by government in activities hitherto the responsibility of the private sector raise the crucial question as to whether management audits should be added to conventional financial auditing. The paper concludes that the major participants in the structures of provincial financial administration must ensure that the role of the committees and Auditors does not diminish in relation to those of cabinet and treasury, else the public image of responsible government may become tarnished. A number of reforms to the committees and Auditors may do much to restore the role of the legislatures in the years to come. The paper makes a number of recommendations to this end. Sommaire. L'inquiétude du public devant l'augmentation rapide des dépenses gouvernementales fait du contrǒle du Trésor public une question de preoccupation constante. Des études ont indiqué qu'il fallait améliorer les contrǒles au niveau fédéral, mais elles ont pratiquement laissé de cǒté l'expérience provinciale. Le but de cette étude est de remédier à cette carence en présentant diverses observations sur les roles conjoints des dix comités provinciaux des comptes publics et des auditeurs-généraux provinciaux. Un examen des procedures d'opération en usage, du rǒle des auditeurs, de leurs     

Immigrant meanings of citizenship: mobility,stability, and recognition

ABSTRACT

Based on interviews with 21 immigrants in Norway, including both naturalized citizens and ‘denizens’, this article addresses immigrant meanings of citizenship and naturalization. The findings show that the interviewees attributed three meanings to citizenship. First, Norwegian citizenship served as a powerful means of spatial mobility, thereby facilitating transnational connections. Second, citizenship signified a legal stability that may guard precarious immigrants against ‘liminal legality’, i.e. enduring legal uncertainty. Third, citizenship was conceptualized as a formal recognition of equality and belonging, although ‘race’ and ethnicity persisted as salient markers of inequality and alienage. The article contributes empirically to the growing literature on the experiencing side of citizenship and naturalization by delineating what citizenship means to different groups, and to whom it matters the most. Theoretically, it contributes by demonstrating that citizenship acquisition may not only be strategic, but also rooted in needs of symbolic sanctioning of equality and belonging, particularly important to individuals debarred from naturalization.