The renaissance of territorial minorities in Western Europe

Renewed agitation by minority groups has been a feature of West European politics over the last decade. Minorities have very varied characteristics and this article is mainly concerned with those which have clear territorial identities. Territorial minorities often have specific linguistic practices: the political significance of these and the nature of their defence has changed with the emergence of left‐wing radical elements. The recent behaviour of minorities is probably symptomatic of broad changes in attitudes towards territory and towards the existing States, and there is a possibility of important new minorities emerging along the State boundaries.     

Public Sector Priority Setting Using Decision Support Tools

The public sector is in transition in many countries, including New Zealand, and many government departments have been restructured so as to increase transparency and accountability in their decision‐making by implementing fundamental changes to governance, accountability regimes and information systems. New frameworks are also needed for tasks such as priority setting, and this paper describes the framework developed to assist the then NZ Ministry of Agriculture (MAF) in setting priorities for the allocation of research funds. This comprised a participative process including a series of workshops using both GroupSystems software for electronic meeting support and Visual Interactive Sensitivity Analysis (VISA) software to facilitate a multi‐criteria decision analysis.     

Quebec medicare: policy formulation in conflict and crisis

Abstract. The introduction of a government program of the magnitude of health insurance presents the policy analyst with a case study that is closer to Lind-blom's innovative ‘ideal type’ than to the ‘incremental’ policy type. This paper, based on part of a larger work, examines the Quebec decisions to implement a medicare plan in 1970 by analysing the action imperatives, constraints, uncertainties, inputs, outputs, and outcomes of the policy. The Quebec case presents special issues of policy and strategy resulting from Quebec's unique federal relationship, the unusual power of organized consumer groups, the split in the ranks of the profession, and the diflicult negotiations with the specialists resulting in their going on strike. The coincidence of this contestation with the Octaber kidnapping crisis resulted in the first back-to-work legislation applying to individual members of a profession in Canada. Sommaire. Le lancement d'un programme gouvernemental de l'envergure de l'assurance maladie présente à l'analyste un cas d'espèce qui resemble plus au « modèle idéal « inédit de Lindblom qu'aux politiques «à caractère graduel ». Dans cette communication, qui s'appuie sur un ouvrage plus vaste, l'auteur examine les décisions du Québec pour mettre en vigueur une assurance maladie en 1970, en analysant les impératifs, les limitations, les incertitudes, les tenants, les aboutissants et les conséquences de sa politique dans ce domaine. Le cas de Québec présente des questions politiques et stratégiques particulières éant donné les rapports du Québec avec le fédéral, le pouvoir exceptionnel des groupes de consommateurs, le désaccord au sein de la profession médicale et les négociations difficiles avec les spécialistes à la suite de leur grève. La simultanéité de cette contestation avec la crise d'octobre eut pour résultat l'adoption, pour la première fois au Canada, d'une législation ordonnant le retour au travail d'individus membres d'une profession libérale.     

Bitcoin,crypto-coins,and global anti-money laundering governance

Crypto-coins (CCs) like Bitcoin are digitally encrypted tokens traded in peer-to-peer networks whose money laundering potential has attracted the attention of regulators, firms and the wider public worldwide. This article assesses the effectiveness of the global anti-money laundering regime in balancing both the challenges and opportunities presented by these novel ‘altcoins’. Two main arguments are advanced. First, the implications that crypto-coins presently pose for global anti-money laundering efforts stem less from the threats of their illicit uses as digital currencies and more from the opportunities presented by their underlying blockchain technologies. Second, despite several shortcomings, the risk-based approach pursued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) strikes an effective balance between the existing threats and opportunities that crypto-coins currently present. Rather than a conclusive evaluation however this article stresses the need for continual monitoring and investigation of the wider ethical implications raised by CCs for global efforts to combat money laundering in an era of rapid technological change.     

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006: A Legitimisation of Age Discrimination in Employment

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations, which implement theFramework Directive on Equal Treatment and Occupation, takeeffect in October 2006. Tackling age discrimination is seento be a means of achieving a more diverse workforce, yet intrying to achieve this objective there have been compromiseswith the principle of non-discrimination. During the consultationexercises preceding the Regulations there have been importantdifferences of approach between employers and trade unions.The Government has, mostly, adopted the approach supported byemployers. The result is a set of Regulations, which, althoughan important step forward in tackling age discrimination, havenumbers of exceptions which effectively legitimise some aspectsof age discrimination at work.