The European Union and Belarus: democracy promotion by technocratic means?

Is Belarus an enviable constant in international relations: a maverick, isolated from the West and inseparable from the East? On the surface, there seems to be business as usual: Lukashenko's regime remains unchallenged; Belarus’ relations with the European Union – spasmodic at best; while its absorption into Russia's Eurasian project continues apace. Yet, some critical disjunctures – manifested in government tacit resistance to Russia's influence, and more instructively, in people's growing affinity with Europe – may indicate a sea-change transformation in the very fabric of society. This article, utilizing extensive and subject-focused research, conducted in the country between 2009 and 2013, examines the nature and causalities of the occurring change. It argues that democracy promotion, in Belarus’ case, may work better when depoliticized and inculcated, through norms, regulations, and practices of international order, into the daily lives of individuals. Through its continued technocratic, inclusive, and sector-level engagement, European Union governance, even under the conditions of limited bilateral dialogue, have succeeded in fostering much-needed space for reciprocal learning and critical reasoning, which may have far greater transformative potential than manufacturing a single collective will for democracy building.     

“Hand-to-mouth” citizenship: decision time for the UK Supreme Court on the substance of Zambrano rights,EU citizenship and equal treatment

UK benefit rules strip Zambrano residence rights, for UK national children and their third country national primary carers, of equal treatment entitlement. These rules are challenged in a case pending before the UK Supreme Court. This piece argues that Zambrano creates an EU-citizenship-based right to reside which necessarily entails equal treatment. UK national children in Zambrano families fall within the scope of EU law so are not prevented by the wholly internal rule from claiming equal treatment with EU national children in Teixeira families. And they are protected by equal treatment as a general principle of EU law, which requires equal treatment with other UK national children. The justifications for automatic unequal treatment put forward before, and accepted with alacrity by, the Court of Appeal, are poorly reasoned and ill-matched with the rules in question – most notably because Zambrano families may have strong connections with the UK. A CJEU reference is likely; a Zambrano right is the right to reside in the Union – it is the right to have EU rights. The substance of EU citizenship is at stake.     

Much Ado about nothing? A multilevel analysis of the relationship between voluntary associations' characteristics and their members' generalized trust

The last 20 years of research on the micro-level relationship between involvement in voluntary associations and generalized trust has been characterized by a growing theory–data gap. This gap is especially problematic in terms of including diversity across voluntary associations in empirical analyses. This article aims to bridge this gap by using a hierarchically clustered data set (active members nested in voluntary associations) and multilevel analyses to test several hypotheses drawn from prior studies about the relationship between voluntary associations' characteristics and members' level of generalized trust. Overall, the results indicate that in explaining the variability in individual generalized trust levels, differences among the associations in which individuals are involved could contribute marginally at best. Almost all variance (97.6%) in individual level of generalized trust lies between the individuals and not between the associations. Furthermore, the analyses show no correlations for most tested associational characteristics. As for membership diversity, the most pronounced result runs opposite to expectation—thus providing some support for a membership similarity hypothesis rather than for a diversity hypothesis. The article raises the question whether the search for associational differences that might explain the lack of a general relationship between membership in voluntary associations and individual level of generalized trust is in fact a dead end.     

A Systemic Approach to Security: Beyond the Tradeoff between Security and Liberty

The concept of security has shifted from territorial integrity to human security and, after 9/11, to pre-emptive security. Based on the massive implementation of surveillance-oriented security technologies (SOSTs), pre-emptive security emphasizes anticipation of threats and risk management. While liberty and security get framed as standing in a trade-off, SOSTs are massively deployed to increase security. Due to the mutually constitutive relationship between SOSTs and pre-emptive security, security gets framed as a function of surveillance, forcing increasingly monitored citizens to exchange liberty for security. In contrast, a systemic approach to security may enable security policies pursuing liberty and security.     

Assessing the “Quality of Democracy” in Turkey

Turkey is a case of a Muslim-majority country that has known an experience of representative democracy almost uninterrupted since the Second World War. The historical passages that have characterized the path to democracy in Turkey have configured the current set of powers. The aim of this article is to explore how the democratization process in Turkey is relevant in procedural, substantive, and result terms. In the first part is undertaken a historical overview from the perspective of modernization and democratic consolidation carried out by Turkey, also on the basis of the ability to meet the requirements of the Copenhagen political criteria. The second part investigates eight dimensions in which democracy spreads its effects in order to assess the quality of democracy of Turkey.     

Private Interest Governments are Dead. Long Live Private Interest Governments? Lessons from Swiss Cows

This article looks at the most recent developments of the interest associations in the Swiss dairy sector. In the past, these had become famous as so‐called “Private Interest Governments” (PIGs) in which interest associations were equipped with public authority. The initial abolition of the PIG of the Swiss dairy sector in 1999 resulted in a significant and disruptive weakening of the traditional actors which were consequently transformed into liberalised service‐oriented organisations, and it seemed that the Swiss dairy sector could be an example of a long‐time “path” which had come to an end. However, more recent developments, which were partially induced by the associations themselves and partially coincidental, have led to the emergence of a “differentiated PIG”. Although associational governance has not been completely re‐introduced, and the sector remains largely liberalised, the example shows that a path which has been followed for more than 80 years cannot simply be reversed and replaced by a new path, and that deeply institutionalised structures can partially survive if a “window of opportunity” opens.     

中欧关系演进的内在逻辑:基于欧盟对华援助的视角

欧盟对华援助的主要表现在援助资金呈递增趋势、援助领域由早期的农业援助转向经济和社会改革领域、援助项目要按照"标准化"要求操作等三个方面。从援助特征可以看出欧盟对华援助背后的政治经济逻辑正好吻合了新自由主义对国际政治经济生活进行必要干预的主张,把欧盟成员国和欧盟内部的社会经验在援助国得以拓展,使其经济运行和社会秩序朝着欧盟所拟定的方向发展,这也恰好表明欧盟对华援助的行为不可能偏离自利立场。但是,中国在坚持独立的外交政策和方针下,使得中欧关系逐步朝务实性方向发展,在合作基础上解决面临的共同难题,谋求长期的战略性合作伙伴关系依然符合中欧关系发展的趋势。     

欧盟食品安全法律体系评析

欧盟经过近50年的改革和发展,逐步建立起完善而严谨的食品安全法律体系,《食品安全白皮书》以及第178／2002（EC）号法规即《食品基本法》是欧盟关于食品安全的基本法律,同时欧盟还制定有大量具体的食品安全法规及指令以及完整而详细的技术标准体系。欧盟对食品链实行从“农场到餐桌”的全程监管,欧洲食品安全管理局在食品安全监管中发挥着重要的作用。中国最近颁布实施了《食品安全法》及其实施条例,对于食品安全监管制度进行了改革,欧盟关于食品安全的法律体系、法律制度以及监管模式对于中国具有重要的借鉴意义。     

经济社会发展新常态下工会的新挑战与新作为 一2015年中国工会·劳动关系论坛纪要

当前我国经济社会正在进人一种新常态,稳增长、调结构、惠民生、防风险的任务十分繁重。工会作为 党的重要群团组织,作为劳动关系中劳动者一方合法权益的代表者、维护者,在推动构建和谐劳动关系过程中应积极 应对新挑战,展现新作为。工会作为党的群团组织,应更加注重推进和诣劳动关系建设,发挥社会稳定器的作用。在 国家大力推动供给侧改革的形势下,各级工会组织有必要行动起来,为经济转型和产业升级做出积极的贡献。经济社 会发展新常态下全面推进依法治国,构建和谐劳动关系要求工会工作必须加强法治化建设。面对新挑战,基层工会要 以独具特色的工作模式,主动寻求破解现实挑战的最佳途径。