Concentration of Decision-Making Power: Investigating the Role of the Norwegian Cabinet Subcommittee

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristoffer Kolltveit

AbstractThe empowerment of chief executives has been apparent in several parliamentary democracies in recent decades. However, few accounts have been produced of developments in recent Norwegian cabinets. The aim of this article is two-fold. First, changes regarding the concentration of decision-making power in Norwegian cabinets in the past 15 years are examined and, second, how political factors have contributed to the concentration of power is also examined. Drawing on interviews with 19 ministers from the Bondevik II and Stoltenberg II cabinets, the article finds that collegial elements of cabinets have been weakened, and there has been a centralization of power around an inner cabinet, the so-called subcommittee, consisting of the prime minister and the party leaders. The article also shows how political distances between coalition parties and the cabinet’s parliamentary basis have affected the concentration of power.

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick F. A. van Erkel

AbstractPrevious studies have found similarities with presidential candidates or party leaders to be an important factor in explaining voting behaviour. However, with the exception of gender, few studies have structurally studied voter-candidate similarities in intra-party electoral competition. This study investigates the Belgian case and argues that voter-candidate similarities play a role in the decision-making process of citizens when casting preferential votes. Moreover, it investigates whether underrepresented groups, and especially women, are more guided by these voter-candidate similarities than overrepresented groups. To achieve this aim voter and candidate characteristics are modelled simultaneously. This enables an investigation of the decision-making process of voters while taking into account structural inequalities at the supply side. The results demonstrate that citizens are indeed more likely to cast preferential votes for candidates similar to themselves and that these effects are stronger for underrepresented groups. Hence, preferential voting could ultimately pave the way for better descriptive representation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 125-145
Author(s):  
Lee Dalgon

A number of scholars and media in South Korea have recently raised questions regarding the necessity of a "government administrative control tower" (GACT) for dealing with crises. This paper aims to conceptualize GACT as a crisis management system and suggests administrative methods for improving this model by examining issues raised by its operation. Since the control tower is critical in times of crisis, this paper limits its focus to the role of GACT as a crisis management control tower. In crisis, an on-site control tower focuses especially on prevention, and on-site response and management must be synchronized with a higher-level administrative decision making control tower for the system to operate properly. While a fully authorized on-site control tower should serve as the central agent, a higher-level administrative decision making control tower should mobilize additional organizations and resources to support on-site capability. The operating principle for the latter should be to create an environment in which heterogeneous parties work together to make decisions about what to do rather than the president or the prime minister directly making orders and taking control.


Author(s):  
Rachel Thomas Tharmabalan

In the past, Orang Asli women and men were considered equal, even though their roles were very different. As modernization slowly crept into their lifestyles, the gender divide has gotten a lot bigger and the paternalistic culture has taken a hold of many. Some researchers have said the skewed depictions was influenced by both Christianity and Islam, whereby women were considered to be created by supernatural powers alongside the male species. However, there have been accounts of women being the village chief, but as more anthropologists targeted their research on the Orang Asli, the role of a women in the decision making process slowly got relegated. Hence, this review aims to provide the role of Orang Asli women in educating the general public on the usage of wild edibles found in Malaysia and how it could be incorporated into street food to preserve traditional dietary culture. Some of the key challenges, plans, and practical applications are discussed to improve rural development and prepare a holistic mediation guideline to buffer the health and safety of the population.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon L. Storch ◽  
Anna V. Ortiz Juarez-Paz

Use of media devices has evolved over the past 10–15 years and the resulting effects on family communication are of interest for this study. Through 26 semi-structured interviews, the authors sought to understand the role mobile devices play in family communication. Qualitative grounded theory analysis was used to find themes and interpret results (Creswell, 2013). One overarching paradoxical theme emerged from these data, family connect–family disconnect. In family connect, categories of across distance, reassurances, and boundaries are shared. Within family disconnect, distractions, misunderstandings, and negative emotional responses are conveyed. Future research avenues recommended are decision making related to mobile devices based on values and morals, in-depth social media and app usage, emoji emotional responses, individuals under 18 and between 18 and 30 years old, and a network analysis of one extended family.


2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Su Maddock

PurposeProposes that arguing for greater access for women is essential but not sufficient to drive equality or the spirit of diversity.Design/methodology/approachExplores the role that women and others can play in broadening agendas and in transforming managerial and regeneration practices.FindingsA few innovative chief executives are leading the way and showing what transforming leadership is about in practice. In spite of this the intransigent lack of diversity within decision‐making bodies produces a brake on positive social change.Originality/valueProvides an insight into the leadership role of women in social regeneration.


2006 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Slocomb

After regaining independence from France in 1953, Cambodia was ruled by successive regimes according to specific ideologies which were presented as charters for constructing a modern state. For the past 20 years, however, Cambodian politics has been dominated by the seemingly non-ideological Prime Minister Hun Sen. In his public rhetoric and the stated goals of the current regime, it may be possible to identify if not ideology, then ideas about how the Cambodian people are to be governed in a post-ideological era.


1984 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas T. Mackie ◽  
Brian W. Hogwood

Decision making in political executives is an oddly neglected subject in political science. The roles played by both formal institutions and less formal mechanisms in arriving at decisions in political executives are surprisingly understudied. There have been some important comparative studies of political executives but these have tended to focus on the role of the head of the political executive – the president or prime minister. The distinctive nature of cabinet systems as against presidential systems has been well brought out but a comparative framework for the analysis of variations among cabinet systems in the role of decision arenas other than the full cabinet has not been developed. Blondel in his wide-ranging survey of government structures gives only a passing mention to cabinet committees. Accordingly, in seeking to place the roles of cabinet committees in perspective, we have found it necessary to develop our own framework of decision arenas in cabinet systems.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Дина Пайгина ◽  
Dina Paygina

The article analyzes the role of political factors in integration processes. Their implementation is a key component of the foreign policy of any state. As is generally known, the strategy of mutual relations of various countries is determined by a number of political factors, taking into account the interests of the community or competition in various spheres of cooperation. At the same time political factors are seen as the driving force of any process imposed by a public authority. It seems that the effect of political factors in this context is reflected in the fact that during the decision-making the stakeholders of the international integration seek to satisfy their own interests. The condition of mutually beneficial relationships, which has a clear political and economic context, is one of the key conditions in resolving the issue of states’ entering into the integration process. The content of political factors includes not only the political nature of states’ activities at the international level, but also the causes and the circumstances under which these decisions were taken. Thus, political factors are one of the major reasons for making key decisions in the implementation of international integration processes.


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