Building something beautiful with stones: How regions adapt to,shape and transform the EU opportunity structure

The literature on the relationship between regions and the European Union (EU) has generated three important insights. First, research has found that the EU empowers as well as disempowers regions. Second, studies have demonstrated that regions adapt to the EU opportunity structure. Third, scholars have discovered that regions also change the EU opportunity structure. However, the three dimensions are rarely brought together. To examine the mutual influence and constant interaction between the three, the article applies a strategic-relational approach to regional action within the EU. Using the empirical example of the EU macro-regional strategy for the Alpine region, the article shows how regional motivations, differential opportunities and constraints and strategies of adaptation and transformation interact. The conclusions imply that both opportunity structures and regional strategies together produce the mosaic of rules, resources, relationships and ideas that makes up the EU.     

Delegation of Clinical Authority,Administrative Culture and Policy Adoption: A Comparative Analysis

Numerous countries have adopted reforms that allow medical personnel other than physicians to engage in tasks that traditionally were exclusively performed by physicians. This policy is controversial because it challenges the medical profession’s traditional boundaries. This study is an exercise in comparative policy research based on the experience of 18 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. It evaluates the contribution of different structural factors – socioeconomic, cultural, and institutional – to policy adoption. Based on both quantitative analysis and an examination of how delegation unfolded in Israel, the role of administrative culture is highlighted: a category that combines cultural legacies and institutional properties in explaining policy adoption. It is argued that because, in entrepreneurial administrative cultures, administrators are more likely to possess a managerial mindset than in Rechtsstaat cultures, and also have more institutional leeway for action, delegation is more likely to be adopted in the former.     

Introduction: Authority Building in International Administered Territories

This introduction to the special section on “Authority Building in International Administered Territories” begins by summarizing the relevant literature on international administrations. To conceptualize authority building as an ongoing process in which international and local actors confirm – or refuse – authority claims, secondly, two types of authority are differentiated: ‘interpretative authority’ and ‘performing authority’. This sociological conceptualization of authority building allows, thirdly, a discussion on the restrictions and challenges that international administrations face in their attempts to establish authority on the ground. Finally, an overview of the section’s articles is provided.     

透视权力多元化时代的法律权威

权力不仅仅是国家或政府的属性,权力在分化过程中趋于多元化.为了在这种权力多元化时代实现有效的社会控制,建立稳定的社会秩序,我们就更需要一个统一的权威来协调人们的利益冲突,组织人们进行统一的行动--这就是法律.     

L’érosion de l’autorité musulmane à Ouagadougou: le discours de militants de l’Association des Elèves et Etudiants Musulmans au Burkina

Abstract

Whilst religious radicalism is at the heart of media and scientific preoccupations, this study shows that, in Burkina Faso, Muslim authority has experienced a steady regression in the urban environment of Ouagadougou. On the basis of interviews conducted with young Muslims at the University of Ouagadougou, the article proposes a reflection on the factors that are causing such an erosion of authority. If the spiritual dimension of this authority is not being called into question, the temporal dimension is undergoing a process of de-legitimisation, which is increasing in line with the interpenetration of the religious and political spheres as well as the discrediting of the semi-authoritarian regime of Blaise Compaoré. In addition to highlighting the fragmentation of the sectors of authority, the study allows for better identification of the position of youths (“cadets sociaux”) in the religious field.     

Democratisation and control: fast track and local government reforms in Zimbabwe

Fast track land reform in most instances has been treated as a process only entailing the redistribution of formerly white-owned land to blacks. However, there are other deeper changes that have not yet been coherently analysed, such as the nature of local power relations and the local government system; especially the manner in which it balances the interests of traditional authority and elected authorities. The local government system in fast track areas is in a state of flux. On the one hand, there is potential for a more inclusive and participatory model of local government, and on the other hand, however, official processes through legal enactments suggest that policy craftsmen are still intent on continuing with policies that promote the establishment of two competing sites of power. This paper explores the manner in which rural local government has been treated in the literature, and how it is being re-established in the aftermath of the ‘jambanja’, a period in which the ‘rule of law’ was literally suspended. Rather than depending only on official processes, the field evidence that analyses the actual practice of local government is also utilised. The paper contributes towards a more coherent understanding of the links between the colonial state's control imperative and the post-colonial's ambition to exert similar control, albeit under different political conditions.     

我国职务犯罪司法预防之探析

我国职务犯罪司法预防的主要问题在于：罪刑平等原则没有得到全面贯彻;“以罚代刑”现象一定程度上存在;没有严格执行法律面前人人平等原则;注重功利目的实现而忽视执法的严肃性;审判的及时性、公开性未能得到很好的贯彻;司法业务指导工作仍需加强。为有效地惩治职务犯罪,应坚决贯彻罪刑平等原则;坚持法律面前人人平等原则,正确执行惩处与宽大相结合的政策;加强司法解释、司法指导工作。     

依法治国与宪法权威

依法治国是以有法可依为基本前提的 ,依法治国应有公开的、明确的、稳定的、协调一致的法律体系。宪法作为国家的根本大法 ,是法律体系统一的基础。一个国家的法治状况和法治水平如何 ,与该国宪法的规定在实践中得到实现的程度密切相关。依法治国的核心是依宪治国 ,树立宪法权威是依法治国的必然要求 ,具有高度权威性的宪法是依法治国的基础。由于某些原因的存在 ,宪法在实施中尚有许多不足 ,宪法权威还没有真正树立起来。因此 ,采取相应措施来保障和加强宪法权威 ,是依法治国方略面临的主要任务。     

无效婚姻制度探析

无效婚姻制度是2001年《中华人民共和国婚姻法》新增设的一项制度,填补了立法空白,是婚姻立法上的重大进步.无效婚姻是指违反婚姻成立要件的违法婚姻,本文对无效婚姻的法定事由、宣告机关及法律后果等方面的缺陷进行了分析,提出了完善的立法建议:1、建立结婚登记公示制度;2、应缩小自始无效婚的范围,扩大可撤销婚的范围;3、确认和宣告婚姻无效的机关应仅限于人民法院;4、自始无效婚有溯及力,可撤销婚无溯及力;5、当事人所生子女视同婚生子女;6、增设无效婚姻的侵权制度.     

证券交易所自律管理行为的司法审查标准——评叶伟钢诉新加坡证券交易所案

现代公共管理不再由政府部门和法定机构大权独揽,未经公法授权的私人机构亦能占据一席之地。一些机构的公法职权与私法职权界限日渐模糊,导致难以判断这类机构实施的行为究竟属于公法范畴还是私法范畴。新加坡证券交易所即属于此种情况的机构。叶伟钢诉新加坡证券交易所案是一个具有里程碑意义的案件,新加坡高等法院通过此案确立了司法审查中的渊源标准与实质标准。即使决策机构未经公法授权,但只要该机构在事实层面上履行了公共职能,其决策就可能需要受到司法审查。叶伟钢诉新加坡证券交易所案中确立的司法审查标准,对于讨论我国证券交易所自律管理行为的行政可诉性问题具有借鉴意义。