Comitology and Delegation System in the European Union

The article addresses the system of comitology and delegation in the European Union. It explores such issues like evolution of comitology, contemporary procedures of the control over the European Commission in the process of elaboration of implementing and delegated acts, preferences of legislators regarding control procedures, factors determining the final choice among these procedures. The article shows that the system is based on the “police patrol” model.Should we consider the comitology / delegation procedures as a mechanism of control or discussion (deliberation)? This question is of the greatest theoretical interest. The purpose of this article is to show based on the existing empirical studies, the actual preferences of EU institutions when choosing the procedures of comitology/delegation and the factors influencing the final decision. The article demonstrates that both prior to and after the Lisbon Treaty, the preferences of institutions in choosing procedures differ significantly and can be largely explained by the goal of maximizing their own influence. An empirical analysis of the results of the final choice of procedures demonstrates that the main factors that push toward stricter control procedures are institutional conflict and the complexity of the issue under discussion. These preferences and factors of the choice of procedures allow to conclude that the EU institutions consider the system of comitology and delegation primarily as a mechanism of control over the Commission in the logic of the principal-agent theory.

Pressing “rewind” and “forward” to negotiate a transcultural position

The transcultural artistic strategies formulated in the Fluxus network during the 1960s, spanning Europe, East Asia, and the USA, are an important reference when searching for ways how to write art history in a global way. These strategies challenged national framings of art informed by the Eurocentric legacy of modernism. In this paper, I focus on Nam June Paik’s (self)positioning in negotiation with the taxonomic mechanisms of the Guggenheim Museum New York in 1994. I will analyze the conditions and limits of his cultural mediation. The first part of my chapter shows how Paik drew a fine-grained picture of Japanese experimental art as a Korean who had studied in Tokyo during the 1950s and then re-visited in the 1960s. In his version, Paik employs transcultural discursive strategies directed towards rewriting art history in ways that take account of multiple agencies and cultural entanglements. The second part of my study analyzes the resulting institutional conflict between Paik and Guggenheim’s Japanese survey show, Scream against the sky, to which he contributed an essay but declined to participate with his work. This paper articulates the transcultural (counter-) potential of artists who work(ed) across borders, especially at moments when Western canonization was a double-edged sword.

Down from the “Ivory Tower”? Not so much…Italian political scientists and the constitutional referendum campaign

Academics are often accused of being secluded in their “ivory towers”, focused on research and teaching but uninterested in, or unable to engage with, the public debate. If this is actually the case, under what conditions and at what particular moment is this likely to change? Following on three relevant dimensions—the visibility of political scientists, their partisanship and their impact in the public sphere—and combining press analysis with original survey data, this article has two main aims: first, to assess Italian political scientists’ (IPSs) social relevance in a period of huge political and institutional conflict such as the constitutional referendum held in December 2016; second, to explore the potential factors leading IPSs to be more or less present in the public debate. For the former, we focus on the public visibility of IPSs during the referendum campaign, as well as on the content of their public interventions, both concerning their neutral/partisan stance and their attitudes towards the constitutional reform. For the latter, we empirically test a few personal and institutional factors that are likely to influence individuals’ participation in the referendum debate.

Stambulas konvencijas ratificēšana Eiropas Savienības personā pretēji visu Eiropas Savienības dalībvalstu piekrišanai

In the words of the Venice Commission, “[t]he added value of the Istanbul Convention [..] is that it is the first European instrument to deal with violence against women and domestic violence in a comprehensive manner. It introduces new provisions requiring a specific institutional setup [..] and foresees concrete prevention measures [..]; protection measures [..] and – under substantive law – civil, administrative and criminal law measures, as well as procedural safeguards for victims. It is also the first European instrument that links these phenomena expressly to harmful gender stereotypes.” However, accession to the Istanbul Convention has provided the backdrop for considerable tension both amongst the Member States and in the European Union. On the one hand, the participation of the former has been characterized by divergent approaches, tensions and controversy. On the other hand, there has been an inter-institutional conflict about the signature and conclusion of the Istanbul Convention on behalf of the European Union. This conflict is about everything a European Union external relations lawyer would like to talk about, namely, competences, procedure, and political disagreement. At the time of writing, these issues are examined by the European Court of Justice after the European Parliament requested an opinion under Article 218(11) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

Regional Landscape Planning and Local Planning. Insights from the Italian Context

Landscape has acquired great importance in the urban and territorial policies of European countries after the European Landscape Convention. Italy has a long tradition in the protection of landscape and cultural heritage, characterised by a particular attention to the history and the identity culture of the communities. The main rule in this field, the Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape of 2004 (Urbani Code), refers to a mix of environmental, cultural, and social factors belonging to different types of natural and urban landscapes that Regional Landscape Plans have to identify, sharing with local communities. The most important innovation concerns the attempt to overcome the binding and regulatory approach, only focused on protection constraints, in order to generate high awareness about the identity value of landscape and to encourage a more democratic community participation in the landscape policies. The ineffectiveness of landscape policies is often due to the lack of sharing of the landscape vision and planning approaches established at regional level, with local authorities and settled communities. This paper reflects on the topic of inter-institutional collaboration between national, regional, and local authorities, by focusing on the process of adaptation of urban local plans to the regional landscape plans and comparing different regional contexts. The article highlights a strong delay in the approval of regional landscape plans and a relevant inter-institutional conflict in the co-planning phase with the national authority, leading to the ineffectiveness of landscape plans in the transfer of regional landscape planning guidelines to the local landscape scale, with relevant consequences on territorial government, between conservative measures and transformation drivers.

Equity in the Academy? Examining Cyberbullying Victimization and Conflict Resolution Across Sexual and Gender Identity During COVID-19

Decades of research have examined bullying victimization during the K-12 years of schooling; yet limited research has explored cyberbullying victimization at the university level, and even fewer studies have examined cyberbullying of SGM (sexual and/or gender minority) individuals in higher education. As reliance on technology has increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, university members may have encountered increased victimization experiences. This report aims to expand the literature on SGM cyberbullying victimization and resource utilization in higher education. Findings resulted from a mixed-methods survey of 231 respondents (185 students, 28 staff, 18 faculty) at a large, research-intensive university in the northeast United States. In general, cyberbullying victimization was not attributed to one’s sexual or gender identity, and occurred primarily through educational communication tools (e.g., email) and social media; a majority of cyberbullying instances went unacknowledged by supervisors or campus resources. Though community members were aware of institutional conflict resolution resources, many of the reported instances were not resolved. Future research should focus on how cyberbullying in higher education continues to change as reliance on information and communication technology increases.

A JUDICIALIZAÇÃO FOI TELEVISIONADA: a relação entre mídia e sistema judiciário

<div class="trans-abstract"><p>Em que medida o Sistema de Justiça exerce protagonismo no atual processo de conflito institucional do Brasil? A partir de uma análise crítica do conceito de Judicialização da Megapolítica, proposto por Ran Hirschl, discutimos o papel das instituições do Sistema de Justiça na atual crise política brasileira. Mostramos que Hirschl é impreciso acerca do problema da legitimidade no conflito entre poderes e omisso acerca da função que a grande mídia tem de deslocar a legitimidade dos poderes eleitos para as instituições do Sistema de Justiça. Para testar nossa hipótese, comparamos a evolução da aprovação popular dos poderes de Estado com a cobertura que os jornais Folha de S. Paulo, Estado de S. Paulo e o Globo, além do Jornal Nacional dedicaram a elas, de 2014 até 2018, usando os dados da pesquisa do Manchetômetro. Concluímos sugerindo aprimoramentos ao estudo da judicialização e particularmente ao conceito de judicialização da megapolítica.</p><p><strong>Palavras-Chave: </strong>Judicialização da política; Sistema de justiça; Mídia; Opinião pública; Ministério Público</p></div><div class="trans-abstract"><p class="sec"><strong>THE JUDICIALIZATION WAS BROADCAST: the relationship between the media and the system of justice in Brazil</strong></p><p class="sec">ABSTRACT</p><p>What is the role of the Justice System in the current process of institutional conflict in Brazil? Through a critical analysis of the concept of the judicialization of megapolitics, proposed by Ran Hirschl, we discuss the role of the Judiciary and Public Prosecutor’s Office in the current Brazilian political crisis. We call attention to the lack of clarity in Hirschl’s analysis about the fundamental problem of legitimacy in the conflict between governmental branches, and then we show how there is strong evidence in the Brazilian case that the mainstream media had the function of shifting legitimacy from the elected powers to the institutions of the System of Justice. To test our hypothesis, we compare the evolution of the popular approval of the main institutions of Brazilian democracy with the coverage that the quality newspapers Folha de S. Paulo, Estado de S. Paulo and Globo, and the television news program Jornal Nacional have dedicated to them from the beginning of 2014 until now, using data from the Manchetometro project. We conclude by suggesting improvements to the study of judicialization and particularly to the concept of the judicialization of the megapolitics.</p><p><strong>Key words: </strong>Judicialization of politics; System of justice; Media; Public opinion; Attorney general</p></div><div class="trans-abstract"><p class="sec"><strong>LA JUDICIALISATION A ÉTÉ DIFFUSÉE: la relation entre les médias et le système de justice</strong></p><p class="sec">ABSTRACT</p><p>Dans quelle mesure le système de justice joue-t-il un rôle de premier plan dans le processus actuel de conflit institutionnel au Brésil? À partir d’une analyse critique du concept de Judicialisation Megapolitique, proposée par Ran Hirschl, nous avons discuté du rôle du pouvoir judiciaire et du ministère public dans la crise politique brésilienne actuelle. Nous attirons l’attention sur le manque de clarté dans l’analyse de Hirschl sur le problème fondamental de la légitimité dans le conflit entre les pouvoirs, puis nous montrons comment il existe de fortes preuves dans l’affaire brésilienne selon laquelle les médias traditionnels ont pour fonction de transformer la légitimité des pouvoirs élus en institutions des Système de justice. Afin de prouver notre hypothèse, nous comparons l’évolution de l’approbation populaire des principales institutions de la démocratie brésilienne avec la couverture que les journaux Folha de S. Paulo, État de S. Paulo et Globo et le journal Jornal Nacional leur ont consacré dès le début de 2014 jusqu’à présent, en utilisant les données d’enquête du Manchetomètre. Nous concluons en suggérant quelques améliorations à l’étude de la judiciarisation et en particulier à la notion de judiciatisation de la mégapolitique.</p><p><strong>Key words: </strong>Judicialisation de la politique; Système de justice; Médias; Opinion publique; Analyse d’évaluation</p></div>