Separation of powers and political budget cycles

Political budget cycles (PBCs) arise when the electorate is imperfectly informed about the incumbent’s competence and the incumbent has discretion over the budget. Focusing on the second condition, we study how separation of powers affects PBCs in the composition of government spending. We find that the details of the budget process, namely, the bargaining rules, the status quo’s location, and the degree of compliance with the budget law, are critical for the existence and the amplitudes of PBCs. In particular, when the status quo is determined by the previous budget and there is high compliance with the budget law, separation of powers acts as a commitment device which solves the credibility problems that drive PBCs.     

Keine Berücksichtigung von mietvertraglichen Wartungs-/Instandhaltungspflichten des Mieters als Zu- bzw Abschlag zum Richtwertmietzins

Die in § 16 Abs 2 Z 1 bis 6 MRG enthaltene Aufz?hlung jener Kriterien, die Zuschl?ge oder Abstriche zum bzw vom Richtwert begründen, ist taxativ und betrifft neben der Zweckbestimmung der Wohnung – bis auf § 16 Abs 2 Z 3 MRG – durchwegs die tats?chliche Beschaffenheit des Hauses und der Wohnung, nicht aber die im Mietvertrag enthaltene Verteilung (übernahme) von Verpflichtungen, insb betreffend Wartungs- und Instandhaltungspflichten. § 16 Abs 2 Z 3 MRG und Abs 7 MRG bieten keine tragf?hige Analogiegrundlage, um eine mietvertragliche Verteilung (übernahme) von (einzelnen) Wartungs- und Instandhaltungspflichten durch Zuschl?ge oder Abstriche im Richtwertzinssystem zu berücksichtigen.     

Ellen Krüsemann: Biotopverbund im Naturschutzrecht

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Decentralization, Subsidiarity, Rodney King and State Deification: A Libertarian Analysis

This paper posits that the government is indistinguishable from a robber gang except for the fact that it enjoys exceedingly good public relations (supplied to it, symbiotically, by the intellectual classes) and thus legitimacy. The paper attempts to see beyond this superficiality, and thus to interpret cases in which the state and an ordinary criminal interact not in this manner, but rather as the interaction of two criminal organizations.     

Constitutional Limitations on State Tax Exportation

The notion that there are constitutional limitations on the power of the states to export their tax burdens to residents of other states has been the predicate of recent court challenges to state taxing schemes. The concept of state tax exportation and its implications for constitutional analysis have not, however, been systematically explored by the courts. The economics of state tax exportation suggest that a judicial inquiry into the extent of state tax exportation would be a formidable if not an insuperable task. And the Supreme Court, when recently confronted with an opportunity to constitutionalize a principle of excessive state tax exportation, flatly declined to do so. It is nevertheless possible that the concept of state tax exportation may have a role to play in constitutional analysis as a vague admonition to the states not to transgress some yet to be defined norms of fiscal balance in our federal system.     

Use of drugs among Senegalese school going adolescents

Though it may appear more severe and dramatic in most industrialized nations, drug addiction has also become a matter for concern in some developing nations. The problem is even more complex when, prior to the advent of colonialism and the adoption of Western values by those countries, there already existed traditional forms of drug addiction. This paper examines the attitudes of Senegalese school-going adolescents to the problem of drug addiction. It describes the nature, development, and perception of drug addiction in the country from an historical and sociological point of view. It shows the tolerance of Senegalese society toward drugs — some were used in traditional medicine — and its rejection of hard and intermediate drugs, as they are viewed negatively by the society. The authors finally analyze the motivations of the drug addicts which also indicate, in Africa as in the West, a crisis of identity reflecting a global crisis of civilization.We are profoundly grateful to the Belgian Cooperation Service for the material assistance they kindly provided us.Master's degree in Psychopedagogy and a postgraduate in Psychosociology. Research interest is cross-cultural adolescent psychology.Doctor of mathematics and post-graduate in psychopedagogical science. Research interest is cross-cultural adolescent psychology.