Does politics crowd out professional competence? The organisation of ministerial advice in Denmark and Sweden

The use of politically appointed ministerial advisors has increased noticeably in many Western countries, but we know little about how this development has affected the civil servants recruited on merit. The article asks whether political appointees accentuate or blur the line between politics and administration. Do political appointees take over political-tactical advice and leave policy advice to the permanent civil service, or do they cause permanent civil servants to be even more influenced by political considerations? And do political appointees make it easier or more difficult for the permanent civil service to be politically responsive? A Most Similar Systems Design comparison of Denmark and Sweden allows an assessment of the effects of political appointees. It is found that a large number of political appointees decreases functional politicisation of the permanent civil service; that functional politicisation tends to crowd out tasks related to more classic policy advice; and that functional politicisation increases political responsiveness.     

2000年以来的欧盟条约改革进程——欧洲联盟宪政化进程中的曲折起伏

2000年至2008年期间,欧洲联盟付出了巨大努力以正式推进宪政化进程。基于欧洲一体化进程长期以来形成的传统,成员国在谈判《尼斯条约》的政府间会议的最后阶段首次提出了制宪这一议题,从而开启了所谓的莱肯进程:就欧洲的未来展开正式而公开的辩论、设立制宪大会,以及谈判起草一部《欧洲宪法条约》。然而,《欧洲宪法条约》遭遇否决使得整个改革计划受到质疑。经过一段时间的反思和重新谈判,各国政府就一部新条约达成了一致。该条约在很大程度上保留了原宪法条约的实质内容,但不再使用一些象征性用语。这次条约修改的成果《里斯本条约》自2009年12月1日生效。本文详尽列举了2000至2008年期间条约改革进程中的曲折起伏,提出应将欧盟的宪政化视为一个长期而渐进的过程。即使今后一段时间内不会重提通过一部欧盟宪法的正式计划,这一过程仍将继续。     

Dissolution Threats and Legislative Bargaining

Chief executives in many parliamentary democracies have the power to dissolve the legislature. Despite a well‐developed literature on the endogenous timing of parliamentary elections, political scientists know remarkably little about the strategic use of dissolution power to influence policymaking. To address this gap, we propose and empirically evaluate a theoretical model of legislative bargaining in the shadow of executive dissolution power. The model implies that the chief executive's public support and legislative strength, as well as the time until the next constitutionally mandated election, are important determinants of the use and effectiveness of dissolution threats in policymaking. Analyzing an original time‐series data set from a multiparty parliamentary democracy, we find evidence in line with key empirical implications of the model.     

Muhamesheen activism: enacting citizenship during Yemen’s transition

Political divides often take center stage in studies of Yemen, but the social fabric of Yemeni society is also highly heterogeneous, governed by norms that sharply define boundaries between different social strata. The Muhamesheen, or the marginalized are assumed to have an African origin, and constitute a class of untouchables who in a moralizing discourse on the Mohamesheen prevalent in Yemeni society, claims their inability to practice or possess moral virtues. Along with other groups active during the uprising of 2011, the Mohamesheen demanded equal citizen and an equal state, demands that were accompanied by a new solidarity that recognized the diversity of identities among Yemenis. This possibility for new overarching solidarities was soon closed again during the subsequent transition phase outlined in an agreement known as the GCC agreement, lasting from March 2012 to February 2014. It was supposed to lead towards a ‘new Yemen’, but failed utterly to do so. During the transitional phase, however, in conventional political activism and in subversive acts in public arenas, citizenship was enacted by Muhamesheen activists who did not accommodate a Muhamesheen women’s agenda; neither did Yemeni women’s organizations.     

Contested Terrains and Regime Politics: Thinking about America's Trial Courts and Institutional Change

Institutional change in America's trial courts is poorly understood. Herbert Jacob in his 1982 presidential address to the Law and Society Association recommended that future research might consider intensive studies of single courts over time to trace the causal links between the courts and sociopolitical events outside the courtrooms. This essay explores Jacob's recommendation but ultimately takes a different tack. Instead of conducting natural histories of particular trial courts, this essay speculates that trial courts can be viewed as contested terrains made up of various sites. Proponents of particular ideas, interests, and institutions struggle to impose their policy preferences on these sites. These disputes, which wax and wane over time, constitute the regime politics that shape the probabilities of who wins in America's trial courts. The outlines of this perspective are sketched using the political science literature on agenda politics and on how policy ideas become institutionalized. Illustrations of this perspective are drawn from studies of civil and criminal court reforms.     

A Negotiated Economy? Public Regulation of the Manufacturing Sector in Denmark

The concept of the negotiated economy intuitively catches important developments in state-market relations. The fruitfulness of the recent development of the negotiated economy as a macro concept is questioned. Two theses deduced from the concept are tested against public regulation of the Danish manufacturing sector. Although regulatory demands on manufacturing firms have increased the complexity of the political environment of firms. the negotiated economy is not an adequate theoretical concept for describing and explaining the increased interdependence of state and market. The negotiated economy might be useful at the sector or sub-sector level, but for empirical analysis the concept should be more precisely defined.     

Customizing a commercial laboratory information management system for a forensic genetic laboratory

The need for high-throughput laboratories to comply with regulatory requirements makes data management an important aspect of forensic genetics. A Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) enables efficient workflows and ensures traceability if designed and implemented properly. We customized a commercial LIMS to support STR typing of reference samples according to in-house defined requirements. The customization focused on data validity, traceability and automated solutions.