The Institutional Interplay Regarding the New Architecture for the EC's External Assistance

Abstract:  The article concerns the inter-institutional relations and describes the dynamics between the main EC institutions in the decision-making process regarding the adoption of the new external action instruments. In 2004, the Commission had proposed a set of new external action instruments as base for the delivery of the Community's external assistance. By that time, the existing instruments amounted to more than 30 different legal instruments, which implicated a loss of efficiency in the management of the EC's external assistance. After 2 years of inter-institutional negotiations between the European Parliament, Council and the Commission, the new set of instruments was finally adopted. Compared to the initial Commission proposals, the design of the new instruments got significantly reshaped in the course of the inter-institutional decision-making procedure. In particular, the European Parliament had gained an unprecedented degree of power over the legislative framework for external spending.
Compared to the former range of geographic and thematic regulations, the new external action instruments fundamentally reform the delivery of external financial assistance with their streamlined and simplified structure. They consist of three horizontal instruments to respond to particular needs or crisis situation: an Instrument for Stability, an Instrument for Nuclear Safety Co-operation) and a European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights. With regard to geographic coverage, four instruments will implement particular policies: the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance, the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument and the Instrument for Development Co-operation and an Instrument for Co-operation with Industrialised Countries.     

STATE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SURFACE MINING CONTROL AND RECLAMATION ACT OF 1977

The implementation of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) of 1977 in coal producing states is guided by a partial preemption policy approach t h a t establishes a balance between federal and state decision-making authority. The usefulness of this approach is assessed by analyzing state enforcement actions in relation the institutional capacity of states to shoulder regulatory responsibilities and the propensity of the federal Office of Surface Mining (OSM) t o oversee state enforcement actions and, if necessary, to undertake corrective action. Our results indicated that state administration of SMCRA was canstrained by the lack of effective federal oversight but was largely unaffected by interstate differences in political, economic, or administrative characteristics.     

Intimate partner violence during pregnancy and mothers' child abuse potential

This research examines whether women who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy have a higher child abuse potential than women who have not experienced IPV. Data were analyzed from a longitudinal investigation of IPV during pregnancy. This study recruited 88 pregnant women during prenatal care and followed them for 1(1/2) years. IPV was assessed using the Conflict Tactics Scale 2 (CTS2). The woman's potential for child abuse was assessed using the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAPI). There was a significant positive association between IPV and child abuse potential scores (p = .003), even after controlling for sociodemographics. The odds of having a high level of child abuse potential were 3 times greater for women who were victims of IPV compared to nonvictims. Higher child abuse potential scores of the victimized women resulted mainly from the Distress and Problems with Others CAPI scales.     

In Principle <Emphasis Type="Italic">and</Emphasis> in Practice: Learning Political Tolerance in Eastern and Western Europe

Political tolerance is a key democratic value believed to undergird successful and healthy democracies. In nascent democracies especially, citizens must tolerate the views and participation of opposing groups in order to ensure methodical transfers of power with successive elections. Yet, despite its importance, little research considers tolerance outside established democracies. In this paper, we compare political tolerance across eight Eastern European countries and six Western countries. We demonstrate that mean levels of tolerance are lower in the newly democratized countries of Eastern Europe and then examine whether they are a function of East Europeans’ limited experience with democracy. We also test whether established individual-level theories of tolerance replicate across this wide range of new and old democracies. We find some support for theories of democratic learning and also show that models of tolerance operate differently across the range of countries in our sample.

What do Australian consumers think about current advertising standards?

The concept of community standards is the cornerstone of advertising self‐regulation in Australia. However, there is a dearth of research on current attitudes towards advertising and a virtual absence of such data in an Australian context. A questionnaire was developed to assess consumer attitudes towards advertising; respondents were 872 adults residing in New South Wales. We found high levels of concern regarding advertising standards in general and a consistent perception that advertising should not, for example, use coarse language or violent images, portray women or men as sex objects or show nudity, stereotype or make fun of groups of people, or convey messages that undermine parental authority. In relation to specific appeals and executional elements, although we identified numerous statistically significant demographic differences, there was a clear majority view as to what elements are unacceptable. That is, rather than the posited vocal ‘moral minority’, there is a consistency of views across the community on key issues of advertising standards. The finding that only a very small proportion of community‐based respondents knew how to make a complaint to the correct organisation suggests that studies utilising complainant samples are unlikely to be representative of those who are concerned about advertising. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.