The Belgian Agendas Project

Author(s):  
Stefaan Walgrave ◽  
Jeroen Joly ◽  
Julie Sevenans

The Belgian Agendas Project started in 2001 and has been funded by four different research grants. Initially, the Belgian Project used a codebook other than the common CAP codebook widely used right now. The bulk of the data has been coded manually and now mostly covers the 1999–2010 period (with many datasets going back to earlier periods). A peculiarity of the Belgian data is the fact that it comes from two, largely separate political systems that ‘clash’ on the national level. Party and media systems, for example, are entirely separate. The Belgian media agenda is coded particularly extensively, as the Belgian team started from an interest in the media’s effect on politics. The Belgian team has also played a pioneering role in the party manifesto coding and the protest coding.

Politeja ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (6(57)) ◽  
pp. 215-229
Author(s):  
Vitaliy Tereshchuk

In the newly shaped post‑WWI Europe the CEE region was an integral part of the pan‑European media system. The iron curtain that split Europe into two parts in the bipolar period, inevitably led to the emergence of two separate media systems, i.e. the Western European one and the one driven by the USSR (and existing predominantly in Eastern‑European states). These systems were institutionalized by the establishment of separate broadcasting alliances and corresponding TV programme exchange networks. At the same time, in the context of the Cold War, the CEE region was a key target of Western broadcasting with the aim to counter Soviet propaganda and political influence. This factor reinforced by the willingness of the CEE countries to preserve their European identity caused the socialist media system (as well as other Soviet integration projects) to remain artificial and to be rejected in the region. It was clearly confirmed at the beginning of the post‑bipolar period, when, after the collapse of the socialist camp and the USSR, the Soviet‑driven International Radio and Television Organization ceased to exist, and the CEE countries integrated into the European Broadcasting Union, unleashing their desire to “return to Europe”. At the same time, in the context of a policy aimed at preserving control over the post‑Soviet space, Russia makes efforts which could be regarded as an attempt to restore (preserve) the common media space in the post‑Soviet territories. In the paper the CEE region is regarded in the broadest way, including all states which were in socialist bloc, and appropriate former European Soviet republics.


Policy-Making in the European Union explores the link between the modes and mechanisms of EU policy-making and its implementation at the national level. From defining the processes, institutions and modes through which policy-making operates, the text moves on to situate individual policies within these modes, detail their content, and analyse how they are implemented, navigating policy in all its complexities. The first part of the text examines processes, institutions, and the theoretical and analytical underpinnings of policy-making, while the second part considers a wide range of policy areas, from economics to the environment, and security to the single market. Throughout the text, theoretical approaches sit side by side with the reality of key events in the EU, including enlargement, the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, and the financial crisis and resulting Eurozone crisis, focusing on what determines how policies are made and implemented. This includes major developments such as the establishment of the European Stability Mechanism, the reform of the common agricultural policy, and new initiatives to promote EU energy security. In the final part, the chapters consider trends in EU policy-making and the challenges facing the EU.


2012 ◽  
pp. 143-172
Author(s):  
Gaetano Chinnici ◽  
Biagio Pecorino ◽  
Alessandro Scuderi

The common agricultural policy over the years has expanded the tools of promotion and protection of farm produce quality. At the national level but also from Europe we are witnessing a change in consumer behavior: they become more and more relevant information needs, safety and food security, increasing demand for quality products and the willingness to pay for those products that meet consumer expectations. The paper focuses on the perceived quality of local products in order to identify those variables that influence purchasing decisions and dietary habits and consumer group. The survey was conducted using a principal components analysis to summarize the information that characterizes the choices of consumption, followed by cluster analysis which allowed us to confirm the presence of different segments of consumers of local products.


Author(s):  
Catherine E. De Vries ◽  
Sara B. Hobolt ◽  
Sven-Oliver Proksch ◽  
Jonathan B. Slapin

The Introduction argues that to understand European politics there are two premises that need to be accepted. Firstly, the interplay between European and national-level politics must be taken seriously. The two cannot be studied independently. Secondly, a theoretical model of politics is necessary to help us to make assumptions about politics explicit and to ensure that the arguments used are logically consistent. Models help us to zoom in on a particular aspect of politics and apply our analysis to real-life examples. It also helps us to spot the similarities and differences across political systems and governments so we can make comparisons. The Introduction answers the question: why focus on Europe? One of the most obvious reasons is that Europe is the home to the largest number and variety of democratic governments anywhere in the world.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 59-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanha Patel ◽  
Julie Rainwater ◽  
William M. Trochim ◽  
Julie T. Elworth ◽  
Linda Scholl ◽  
...  

AbstractThe purpose of the article is to describe the progress of the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program to address the evaluation-related recommendations made by the 2013 Institute of Medicine’s review of the CTSA Program and guidelines published in CTS Journal the same year (Trochim et al., Clinical and Translational Science 2013; 6(4): 303–309). We utilize data from a 2018 national survey of evaluators administered to all 64 CTSA hubs and a content analysis of the role of evaluation in the CTSA Program Funding Opportunity Announcements to document progress. We present four new opportunities for further strengthening CTSA evaluation efforts: (1) continue to build the collaborative evaluation infrastructure at local and national levels; (2) make better use of existing data; (3) strengthen and augment the common metrics initiative; and (4) pursue internal and external opportunities to evaluate the CTSA program at the national level. This article will be of significant interest to the funders of the CTSA Program and the multiple stakeholders in the larger consortium and will promote dialog from the broad range of CTSA stakeholders about further strengthening the CTSA Program’s evaluation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 167 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-40
Author(s):  
Ivor Gaber ◽  
Rodney Tiffen

Australia and Britain share many common aspects in their democratic political and media systems, but there are also important differences. Perhaps the single most important media difference is that television has been a much more important element in the UK political communication system than it has been in Australia. The British Broadcasting Corporation is a much bigger and more central institution than the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and commercial TV in Britain has a much stronger public service mandate. The British press has a national structure which can give it a substantive collective role, although its right-wing dominance means it has been a less-than-benign influence on public life. Both countries are facing rapid changes, with partisan political divisions in flux and the digital environment disrupting traditional media models. In this article, we seek to interrogate the commonalities and differences between the media and political systems operating in Australia and the United Kingdom. After tracing some important differences in their institutional structures, the dominant theme of our later analysis is that in both systems, and in both countries, the overarching narrative is one of disruption. And we pose the question – Will the current disruptions widen or narrow these differences?


1956 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. N. Eisenstadt

THE purpose of this article is to analyze in a preliminary way some of the basic sociological problems of bureaucratic political systems—legitimation, autonomy, and political struggle. For reasons which will be specified later—not least among them, reasons of space—we shall limit our discussion to pre-modern, historical societies, such as the ancient empires (especially the Egyptian), the Byzantine, Chinese, and Ottoman Empires, and some of the European countries in the age of absolutism. By way of introduction, we shall endeavor to discern some common characteristics in all these political systems, and the main differences among them; and then inquire into some of the sociological conditions that are related to both the common features and the chief differences.


1958 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. N. Eisenstadt

Centralized bureaucratic polities can be defined as those political systems with the following major characteristics: first, the political sphere is relatively autonomous and distinct from other social institutions and second, there exist special permanent administrative organizations. We shall base our analysis on a number of pre-modern historical examples: the ancient Egyptian Empires, the Sassanid Empire of Persia, the Chinese Empires from the period of Han onwards, the Roman and Byzantine Empires, certain European countries (especially France) in the age of Absolutism, and the Spanish American Empire. Our purpose is to bring out the common characteristics of the political process in these historical societies, especially as it effects their continuity and stability. In the following pages we shall present some preliminary hypotheses and analyses about the political process in these polities. These hypotheses and analyses are derived from a larger and more detailed study which is in progress.


Author(s):  
Oliver Gerstenberg

This book addresses the question of social constitutionalism, especially with regard to its role in the contemporary European project. For reasons of history and democracy, Europeans share a deep commitment to social constitutionalism. But at the same time, Europeans are concerned about an overconstitutionalization and the balancing-away of less-favoured rights, leading to the entrenchment of the status quo and stifling of the living constitutionalism and democracy. The book challenges the common view that constitutionalization means de-politicization. Without claiming for themselves the final word, courts can exert a more indirect—forum-creative and agenda-setting—role in the process of an ongoing clarification of the meaning of a right. In exerting this role, courts rely less on a pre-existing consensus, but a potential consensus is sufficient: courts can induce debate and deliberation that leads to consensus in a non-hierarchical dialogue in which the conflicting parties, state actors, civil society organizations, and the diverse stakeholders themselves develop flexible substantive standards that interpret constitutional requirements, often over repeat litigation. The CJEU and the ECtHR—as courts beyond the nation state—in their constitutionalizing jurisprudence are able to constructively re-open and re-politicize controversies that are blocked at the national level, or which cannot be resolved at the domestic level. But, crucially, the understanding of constitutional framework-principles is itself subject to revision and reconsideration as the experience of dealing with the diverse national contexts of discovery and application accumulates. This democratic-experimentalist process lies at the heart of the distinctive model of contemporary Euroconstitutionalism.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Magaudda ◽  
Romina D’Ascanio ◽  
Serena Muccitelli ◽  
Anna Laura Palazzo

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was established by the European Community in the 1950s to provide financial support to farmers in member states, increase agricultural productivity by promoting technical progress, and ensure a fair standard of living for farmers. Over time; awareness about the externalities of intensive farming would prompt environmentally friendly practices. These include, in the current programming period 2014–2020, the so-called “greening”, which consists of: (i) crop diversification; (ii) the maintenance of permanent grassland surfaces; and (iii) the availability of 5% of arable land for ecological focus areas devoted to agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment. These provisions, spurred by a decades-long debate that also stresses the importance of creating/restoring ecological connectivity on different scales to counter land fragmentation, are in tune with spatial planning initiatives throughout Europe. Here the point is how to combine these directions with either “ecological networks” (EN), designed as physical corridors to be preserved and enhanced for plants and animals’ mobility needs; or “green infrastructure” (GI), defined on the European level as a “strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas with other environmental features designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services” (European Commission; 2013). While in several European countries environmental measures targeting farmers and ecological networks directed at specific areas have been merged in a place-based approach, Italy is lagging behind. In general, no guidelines have been provided on the national level to support regional paths, while regions and municipalities lack the resources to implement GI. Conversely, while greening policies in the framework of the CAP are properly funded, they lack directions to be efficiently allocated. Against the backdrop of such concerns, this paper frames and reflects upon ongoing practices in three pilot areas in different Italian regions, selected based on desk analysis, in-depth interviews, and direct knowledge. Here, despite or thanks to the legislative framework, experimental approaches have been adopted to harness performance issues in targeted areas through broad participation by public and private stakeholders and multilevel governance schemes, opening possible pathways in view of the forthcoming programming period.


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