Regionalization and Economic Crisis in Belgium: The Variable Origins of Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces

1986 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen Covell

AbstractThis article examines the impact of economic crisis on the process of regionalization in Belgium and the influence of both on the balance of centrifugal and centripetal forces in the Belgian political system. It argues that the usual approach to this suject, which identifies centripetal forces with the national government and centrifugal forces with regional governments, misses the possibility that important proponents of further fragmentation may be located at the national level. The economic crisis of the early 1980s did lead to an increase in centrifugal pressures in the system but not to an increase in the power of the new regional executives. Rather, it led to a major rearrangement of the economic policy-making process at the national level.

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-17
Author(s):  
Elena Blagoeva

The impact of the last global economic crisis (2008) on the European economy put a strain on higher education (HE), yet it also pushed the sector towards intensive reforms and improvements. This paper focuses on the “Strategy for the Development of Higher Education in the Republic of Bulgaria 2014-2020”. With a case study methodology, we explore the strategic endeavours of the Bulgarian government to comply with the European directions and to secure sustainable growth for the HE sector. Our research question is ‘How capable is the Bulgarian HE Strategy to overcome the economic and systemic restraints of Bulgarian higher education?’. Because the development of strategies for HE within the EU is highly contextual, a single qualitative case study was chosen as the research approach. HE institutions are not ivory towers, but subjects to a variety of external and internal forces. Within the EU, this is obviated by the fact that Universities obtain their funds from institutions such as governments, students and their families, donors, as well as EU-level programmes. Therefore, to explore how these pressures interact to affect strategic action on national level, the case method is well suited as it enabled us to study the phenomena thoroughly and deeply. The paper suggests the actions proposed within the Strategy have the potential to overcome the delay, the regional isolation and the negative impact of the economic crisis on the country. Nevertheless, the key elements on which the success or failure of this Strategy hinges are the control mechanisms and the approach to implementation. Shortcomings in these two aspects of strategic actions in HE seem to mark the difference between gaining long-term benefits and merely saving face in front of international institutions.


Author(s):  
Michelle Belco ◽  
Brandon Rottinghaus

The president serves dual roles in the political system: one who “commands” by pursuing his or her agenda using unilateral orders and one who “administers” and who works to continue proper government function, often with the support of Congress. In a reassessment of the literature on unilateral power, this book considers the president’s dual roles during the stages of the policy-making process. Although presidents may appear to act “first and alone,” the reality is often much different. Presidents act in response to their own concerns, as well as assisting Congress on priorities and the need to maintain harmonic government function. The authors find support for both the model of an aggressive president who uses unilateral orders to push his or her agenda, head off unfavorable congressional legislation, and selectively implement legislation, and they find support for a unifying president who is willing to share management of government, support Congressional legislative efforts, and faithfully implement legislation. At the same time, presidents self-check their actions based on the ability of Congress to act to overturn their orders, through a shared sense of responsibility to keep government moving and out of respect for the constitutional balance. The shared nature of unilateral orders does not preclude an active president, as presidents remain strong, central actors in the political system.


2022 ◽  
pp. 009539972110699
Author(s):  
Tracey Bark

Bureaucracies often provide information to legislatures in an effort to influence the agenda. This paper assesses whether data affects this influence, arguing quantitative support can increase the likelihood of legislative discussion and passage of bills related to a given topic. I also assess the impact of centralization on an agency’s ability to provide information and shape legislative agendas. I find including data in bureaucratic reports can significantly increase an agency’s influence on the legislature, but this effect is only present in a centralized setting. These results suggest centralized agencies are better equipped to marshal quantitative support for arguments to legislatures.


1991 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Risse-Kappen

The paper discusses the role of public opinion in the foreign policy-making process of liberal democracies. Contrary to prevailing assumptions, public opinion matters. However, the impact of public opinion is determined not so much by the specific issues involved or by the particular pattern of public attitudes as by the domestic structure and the coalition-building processes among the elites in the respective country. The paper analyzes the public impact on the foreign policy-making process in four liberal democracies with distinct domestic structures: the United States, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, and Japan. Under the same international conditions and despite similar patterns of public attitudes, variances in foreign policy outcomes nevertheless occur; these have to be explained by differences in political institutions, policy networks, and societal structures. Thus, the four countries responded differently to Soviet policies during the 1980s despite more or less comparable trends in mass public opinion.


1995 ◽  
Vol 141 ◽  
pp. 39-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murray Scot Tanner

Thirty years ago, in his landmark study of how “a bill becomes a law” in the United States, Daniel Berman reminded constitutional scholars that policy-making processes have an enormous impact on the content of the laws they produce, and are not mere “technical devices” designed to permit orderly Congressional lawmaking. This article begins from the assertion that 16 years after the beginning of China's post-Mao political and legal reforms, scholars of Chinese politics and law need to pay greater attention to the impact which lawmaking processes have on the content of the laws and policies that this system produces. Specifically, it asks the following questions. First, how are national-level laws drafted in post-Mao China, and what are the politics of the lawmaking process? Secondly, what factors in the process affect the “life chances” of a particular draft law? That is, why do some laws win a place on the legislative agenda, while most drafts languish in obscurity, and still others emerge briefly, only to disappear later into the bureaucratic swamp? And finally, what systematic impact, if any, do the politics of the lawmaking process have on the content of the laws which the system produces?


Author(s):  
Yovana Soobrayen Veerasamy

Situated within the context of globalization, the purpose of this historical policy analysis study is to identify and describe the ways in which multiple actors shape national higher education internationalization policy within the U.S., and to capture the emerging direction in higher education internationalization policy at the national level between 2000 and 2019. Data will be collected from multiple sources at the national level essentially from organizations within the public, private and voluntary policy-making sectors. The guiding theoretical framework for this study will rely on horizontal and vertical historical analysis. The study aims to describe (1) how policy is shaped in a pluralistic policy-making process, (2) identify factors that influenced policy trajectory, and (3) outline policy rationales between 2000 and 2019.


POLITEA ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Umi Qodarsasi ◽  
Abdul Ghofur

<p class="06IsiAbstrak">Islam is not limited to  religion that only talks about God. Islam has a comprehensive concept in all aspects of life, one of the aspect is politics (siyasa) that discusses the concept of the state, the exercise of power, who deserves to exercise power, how much power they can have, and the characteristics and objectives of Islamic politics itself. Political party is a superstructure in a political system that carries out several strategic functions, including political socialization, political recruitment, political articulation and aggregation of interests. Political party also has an important position in the policy making process. This paper aims to analyze how the dynamics of Islamic politics in Indonesia in the middle of multicultural society by carrying out its function as an articulator and aggregator of interests.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-30
Author(s):  
Cristina Bătușaru ◽  
Amelia Bucur

Abstract Analysis of the role and implications of the funds coming from the European Union have on the national economy is very complex and complicated at the same time, because of the multitude of issues and indicators that this process shapes and drives, depending on the source of funding, the modality of funding and on the destination for which it has been allocated. Using mathematical models to assess the impact of European funding on the national economy is paramount valuable as it brings important information that can be used by policy makers in decision making sewage inputs and financial resources, in view of adopting optimal economic policy


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