The future VAT system in the European Union

Varia

The future VAT system in the European Union     

Social Inequality and the Perceived Income Justice Gap

This paper attempts to answer the question whether justice evaluations of income inequality in a society are determined more by country differences or by the social position an observer occupies. In very general terms what we study is whether, in shaping justice beliefs, cultural factors are more important than social-structural ones, or vice versa. In view of transformation societies, country differences are conflated with differences in the transformation processes the countries are experiencing. This is why we distinguish different types of transmations with regard to the postcommunist countries of Eastern and Central Europe testing empirically whether these transformation types exert influence on the justice beliefs, and how this influence compares to that of positional effects. With International Social Justice Project (ISJP) data of 1991 and 1996, we study the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, Bulgaria, East Germany, and—as a western referent society—West Germany. Main results are that in the early phase of transformation the different transformation types as well as social positions matter in shaping justice evaluations, over time, however, the types of transformation clearly lose influence. In 1996, compared to 5 years earlier, the countries have become similar in that most of the variation in the perception of the income justice must now be attributed to the positional differences of individuals. We conclude that the characteristics of the transformation processes decrease in importance for determining public views about social justice. In this respect, the transformation societies of Eastern and Central Europe may well be on the route to becoming more like western societies.     

The Influence of Knut Wicksell on Richard Musgrave and James Buchanan

The schools of thought that Richard Musgrave and James Buchanan represent in the field of public finance differ a great deal. Musgrave represents the insider-Harvard vision of socio-political reality while Buchanan represents the outsider-Chicago-Virginia-public choice vision. The foundation of different schools of thought by Musgrave and Buchanan is surprising insofar as both Musgraveand Buchanan call Knut Wicksell their intellectual father and claim their own work to stand in the Wicksellian tradition. In this paper, the influence of Wicksell on the works of Musgrave and Buchanan is traced out. The paper comes to the conclusion that it is Buchanan on whose work Wicksell had the strongerinfluence.     

The role of social learning in adaptiveness: insights from water management

The article introduces the notion of adaptiveness and discusses the role of social learning in it. Adaptiveness refers to the capacity of a social actor or social–ecological system to adapt in response to, or in anticipation of, changes in the environment. We explore arguments both from a theoretical perspective and through illustrations from case studies of water management in the Alps of Europe and Mekong in southeast Asia. We propose and illustrate that social learning processes are important for building adaptiveness in several ways and at different scales. Social learning can help cope with informational uncertainty; reduce normative uncertainty; build consensus on criteria for monitoring and evaluation; empower stakeholders to take adaptive actions; reduce conflicts and identify synergies between adaptations; and improve fairness of decisions and actions. Findings in the case studies provide some support for these generalizations but often with caveats related to diversity of stakeholder interests, levels of shared understanding versus contested knowledge and scale of coordination. For this reason, we suggest that future work pays greater attention to issues of agency, knowledge and scale: What strategies have individuals and organizations pursued in successful examples of social learning? How are the boundaries and interactions between science, policy and practice managed? How does social learning occur across spatial and temporal scales?     

eGovernment Applications and Public Personnel Acceptance: An Empirical Analysis of the Public Servant Perspective

Given the importance of eGovernment applications as an integral part of modern public service provision, this contribution concentrates on the issue of continued technology acceptance of public servants. The goal of this article is to connect individual, technological, and organizational aspects in an explanatory model. Using Theory of Reasoned Action and the Technology Acceptance model, an extended model of continued end-user behavior is analyzed. The results show the importance of Ease of Use, Usefulness, Openness to IT, and Subjective Norm for Acceptance and a Continued Q4 Usage Intention. However, a significant influence of Bureaucratic Culture cannot be shown.     

Public Smart Service Provision in Smart Cities: A Case-Study-Based Approach

ABSTRACT

In view of the multitude of challenges urban public administration is struggling with, more and more cities are turning towards smart solutions using information and communication technology. Such Smart City approaches revert to data provided in the urban space by sensors, by citizens or by the archives of the authorities aiming at providing public services that increase the quality of life for citizens, optimize mobility within the city or enhance flexibility and responsiveness of public authorities. This article identifies such SC approaches as well as their basic technical requirements for the cities of Vienna, Singapore, and San Francisco and, by compiling the public service portfolios of these cities, creates an integrative, strategic overview of a SC’s range of services. This approach thus helps to create a scientific basis for the evaluation of SC services and to provide a strategic modular toolkit for public managers to plan and design SCs.     

The perils of empire: nationhood and citizenship in Portugal

After the demise of the Portuguese empire and even more after joining the European Union, the Portuguese state redefined the borders of national belonging. The shift was one from a multi-continental nation, which included parts of Africa, to a more restricted definition of nationhood, one that stressed Portugal's connection to Europe and thus defined belonging by descent. This article, based on research conducted in Lisbon, Portugal in 2003, discusses the impact of this shift on Portuguese citizens of ethnically diverse backgrounds. The Portuguese state, media, academia, and civil society are all involved in constructing, disseminating, and hence consolidating a notion of nationhood that treats ethnically diverse minorities as foreigners, placing them outside the national community. Not producing or disseminating information on ethnic minorities, the Portuguese academia, media, and the state are all actively involved in reproducing a process that perpetuates exclusion and obstructs the construction of political alliances to confront widespread discrimination.     

Social Structure and Ideology: Cognitive and Behavioral Responses to Servitude among the machube of Northern Dahomey

Les présidentielles de 2019 au Sénégal, pays considéré comme la vitrine de la démocratie en Afrique notamment pour ses alternances politiques pacifiques, semblent susceptibles de modifier cette perception. La transhumance politique, élevée au rang de religion au mépris de la moralité, pourrait aujourd’hui en menacer la stabilité. Les réseaux sociaux dominés par de jeunes militants engagés dans la société civile développent un plaidoyer auprès de l’électorat local centré sur la bonne gouvernance et la démocratie. Antisystèmes, ils proposent une rupture avec un système politique qu’ils qualifient de néocolonial, une justice accusée de partialité et un Conseil constitutionnel qui serait dévoué au gouvernement. Après avoir présenté les conditions de l’élection présidentielle de 2019, analysé les éléments en présence et leur évolution, nous présenterons le nouveau paradigme que représente cette nouvelle génération connectée et globalisée qui réactive sans complexes les théories de Frantz Fanon et de Sankara.     

The German Lander and EU enlargement: Between apple pie and issue linkage

While the government parties had blamed the lingering burden of unification and the global economic crisis for the bulk of Germany's troubles in the 2002 election campaign, the topic of gridlock and policy reform is re-entering the agenda of German politics. From a scientific view, the analysis of Schröder's potential for policy change imposes some challenges. Germany needs reforms in many policy areas, in particular in the economic and societal domains. We present a new method to measure the positions of political parties on many issues. To identify the structural causes for German gridlock we apply the spatial model for legislative choice, which uncovers the room for manoeuvre. More precisely, we intend to show how much potential for policy change the Schröder government will have in economic, societal and foreign policy, and which policy position will be promoted by the Red–Green coalition in these areas.     

Citizen and Open Government: An Empirical Analysis of Antecedents of Open Government Data

Given the lack of empirical research investigating citizens’ use of open government, this study examines the antecedents of citizens’ use of open government data. Based on technology acceptance and motivation theory, this article proposes and empirically tests a research model, applying structural equation modeling to survey data collected from 210 citizens. The findings show that ease of use, usefulness, intrinsic motivation, and Internet competence significantly determine citizens’ intention to use open government data. Overall, this study contributes to the understanding of citizens’ attitudes and behavior in the context of open government and offers implications for research and practice.