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Rule Of Law (rule + of_law)
Selected AbstractsGlobalization, Sovereignty, and the Rule of Law: From Political to Economic Constitutionalism?CONSTELLATIONS: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CRITICAL AND DEMOCRATIC THEORY, Issue 4 2001Kanishka Jayasuriya First page of article [source] International Actors, Democratization and the Rule of Law.JCMS: JOURNAL OF COMMON MARKET STUDIES, Issue 3 2009Anchoring Democracy? No abstract is available for this article. [source] What Determines Rule of Law?KYKLOS INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, Issue 3 2009An Empirical Investigation of Rival Models SUMMARY In the growing literature on the creation of institutions, the theories emphasizing colonial origin (Mauro, 1995), legal origin and religious affiliation (La Porta et al., 1999), Western European influence (Hall and Jones, 1999), and settler mortality (Acemoglu et al., 2001), have been especially influential. The validity and influence of these studies rests heavily on empirical modeling, which, since the theories are obviously closely related, might actually capture the same primary mechanism. It is therefore unclear whether the empirical relationships found are the same or if they are different. Therefore, this paper takes the empirical models seriously in order to discriminate among the existing models and to identify the model and variables that best explain the variation in institutional quality. The aim of this paper is thus to provide answers to the following questions: (i) Is there one model which explains more of the variation in institutional quality than the other models? (ii) Do these models capture the same information? And (iii), if we let the information in the data decide, which combination of variables would be selected? [source] Judicial Performance and the Rule of Law in the Mexican StatesLATIN AMERICAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY, Issue 3 2006Caroline C. Beer ABSTRACT What determines how judicial institutions perform? Prominent theoretical approaches, such as international political economy, institutional rational choice, social capital, and structural theories, suggest that international economic actors, political competition, political participation, and poverty may all be important forces driving institutional behavior. This study analyzes these various theoretical approaches and uses qualitative and statistical analysis to compare judicial performance in the Mexican states. It provides evidence to support the institutional rational choice hypothesis that political competition generates judicial independence. Poverty, political participation, and an export-oriented economy seem to influence judicial access and effectiveness. [source] The Uneven Performance of Third Wave Democracies: Electoral Politics and the Imperfect Rule of Law in Latin AmericaLATIN AMERICAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY, Issue 3 2002Joe Foweraker ABSTRACT This article investigates the performance of the new democracies of the third wave by developing a conceptual model of the core elements of liberal democratic government and by constructing a new Database of Liberal Democratic Performance. The performance is shown to be uneven in two main ways. First, the institutional attributes of democratic government advance while individual and minority rights languish. Second, particular institutional attributes coexist uncomfortably, as do particular rights. A comparison of Brazil, Colombia, and Guatemala complements the big picture drawn from the database and focuses on the specific contextual conditions that can create the general political contours of the wave. The uneven democratic performance of these cases is mainly explained by the combination of persistent oligarchic power and a largely unaccountable military. Yet uneven performance, and the imperfect rule of law in particular, does not necessarily prevent democratic survival. [source] "Made in China" Label Won't Survive Without Rule of LawNEW PERSPECTIVES QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2007MINXIN PEI As it prepares to host the 2008 Olympics, China's authoritarian development model, which has sustained high growth for two decades, is entering a fragile new stage. Tainted toys and other products have made the American consumers on whom China relies wary even as the debt-and-deficit ridden American economy relies on China's massive foreign reserves to keep going. In the meantime, China's aggressive search for raw materials in Africa is causing a backlash while its cyberspying probes into Western defense systems are reviving Cold War-like tensions. The US treasury secretary, a top China expert and former intelligence officials offer their views. [source] Document: Qiao Shi on China's Long March to the Rule of LawNEW PERSPECTIVES QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2007QIAO SHI As it prepares to host the 2008 Olympics, China's authoritarian development model, which has sustained high growth for two decades, is entering a fragile new stage. Tainted toys and other products have made the American consumers on whom China relies wary even as the debt-and-deficit ridden American economy relies on China's massive foreign reserves to keep going. In the meantime, China's aggressive search for raw materials in Africa is causing a backlash while its cyberspying probes into Western defense systems are reviving Cold War-like tensions. The US treasury secretary, a top China expert and former intelligence officials offer their views. [source] Cosmopolitan Democracy and the Rule of LawRATIO JURIS, Issue 4 2002William E. Scheuerman The ongoing process of globalization calls out for novel forms of transnational liberal,democratic decision,making. In this spirit, David Held and a group of interlocutors (especially Daniele Archibugi) propose an ambitious model of "cosmopolitan democracy." Although the proponents of cosmopolitan democracy are right to insist that transnational liberal democracy must avoid the dangers of an excessively centralized world,state, their own efforts to do so ultimately fail. The weaknesses of their ideas about the notion of the "rule of law" generate unforeseen theoretical difficulties for their account. Any transnational network of liberal,democratic governance worth defending will need to do a better job preserving a substantial quotient of traditional rule of law virtues. [source] Sovereignty, Migration and the Rule of Law in Global TimesTHE MODERN LAW REVIEW, Issue 4 2004Catherine Dauvergne This article argues that in the present era of globalisation, control over the movement of people has become the last bastion of sovereignty. This is important both to theoretical accounts of globalisation and to policy decisions by governments. Nation states threatened with loss of control in other realms are implementing a variety of ,crackdown' measures in questions of immigration. Issues of refugee law, illegal migration and skilled migration each challenge sovereignty in specific ways. While international human rights standards have made few inroads in questions of migration, recent decisions in England and Australia suggest that the rule of law may be emerging as a counter to traditional executive free reign in matters of migration law. [source] Outcome, Process and the Rule of LawAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 3 2006Murray Gleeson AC In this address, marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Chief Justice Gleeson of the High Court speaks about several matters bearing upon decision-making in administration and the role of administrative review. These include the impact of policy in individual decisions, and the relationship of merits review tribunals to courts. He notes that ,one of the characteristic features of the context in which modern administrative law functions is a change in emphasis from the duties of public officials to the rights of citizens. [source] State Collapse and its Implications for Peace,Building and ReconstructionDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 5 2002Alexandros Yannis At the beginning of the twenty,first century, terms such as state collapse and failed states are becoming familiar, regularly used in international politics to describe a new and frightening challenge to international security. The dramatic events of September 11 have pushed the issue of collapsed states further into the limelight. This article has two aims. Firstly, it explains the contextual factors that gave rise to the phenomenon of state collapse. In the early post,Cold War period, state collapse was usually viewed as a regional phenomenon, and concerns were mainly limited to humanitarian consequences for the local population and destabilizing effects on neighbouring countries. Now, state collapse is seen in a more global context, and concerns are directed at the emergence of groups of non,state actors who are hostile to the fundamental values and interests of the international society such as peace, stability, rule of law, freedom and democracy. Secondly, the article offers some observations about the normative implications of the phenomenon of state collapse for peace,building and reconstruction. [source] The Making of a Market Economy in China: Transformation of Government Regulation of Market DevelopmentEUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 6 2007Qianlan Wu It is the administrative bureaucratic system that has played a leading role in the making of a market economy in China. In recent years, the Chinese Government has strived to establish a market economy based on the rule of law and has undertaken legal measures to rationalise government regulation of market economy development. However, the administrative bureaucratic system headed by the central government remains a strong party leading the market economy construction in China. This article argues that the administrative bureaucratic system and market economy development have evolved into a social institution. To transform the regulation of market economy development towards the rule of law is a social institutional change and is a slow and incremental process, as it is imbedded in the various formal and informal constraints in Chinese society. [source] Administrative and Court Reform in Central and Eastern EuropeEUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 3 2003Frank Emmert Only relatively recently, it was recognised that successful administrative and court reform would be just as necessary in order to achieve the desired goals, namely that the candidates would eventually be able to take on their obligations as new members of the Union. Unfortunately, it has now become evident that it is easier to write new laws than to get them properly applied in every day practice. This article describes a number of cases to illustrate the problem. It shows that administrators and judges in Central and Eastern Europe have significant difficulties with Western working methods, specifically the application of international norms in the national legal order, due process and procedural safeguards, treatment of precedents, resolution of ambiguities and lacunae in the law, etc., which may in turn result in unjust and sometimes absurd application of laws. These difficulties cannot be resolved merely by organising ever more training courses and other theoretical programmes. The author claims that the majority of efforts promoting administrative and court reform applied so far have rendered only meager results. Therefore, additional and more creative measures have to be designed and implemented and have to be continued for years beyond accession of most of these countries to the EU in 2004. Otherwise, rule of law deserving its name will not materialise in the new Member States. The author concludes by offering some ideas based on many years of experience in the region. [source] The Rule of Law in the Realm and the Province of New York: Prelude to the American RevolutionHISTORY, Issue 301 2006HERBERT A. JOHNSON British and American views of public law have diverged greatly over the past two hundred years. This article examines the evolution of New York's adherence to the rule of fundamental law and the use of colonial common law courts to protect the rights of New York subjects against the prerogative power of the crown. As a conquered province from 1664 to 1683, New York was denied a legislature. Thereafter the colonial legislative bodies were active in making unsuccessful attempts to claim their birthright as Englishmen. In England the Glorious Revolution represented a major step in the development of parliamentary supremacy. In New York, however, it facilitated an ethnic insurrection followed by the realization that English governmental policy mandated the denial of basic rights of Englishmen to colonial residents. The Glorious Revolution simply made it possible for parliament, as well as the crown, to regulate colonial affairs without any constitutional restrictions prior to 1774. In terms of constitutional dynamics in eighteenth-century England, continued imperial rule through an untrammelled royal prerogative substantially increased the political power and revenues of the crown. Failing to consider the impact of monarchial power in a growing empire, the 1688,9 Convention Parliament laid the foundation for an unbalanced British government in the middle of the eighteenth century. Deprived of patronage and extraordinary revenues at home, the monarchs turned to regulation of their empire and to reaping increased financial benefit. Both of these unintended consequences of the Glorious Revolution threatened parliamentary supremacy, even as parliament's new-found power began to undermine the rule of law in the empire. [source] Customary Law in Common Law SystemsIDS BULLETIN, Issue 1 2001Gordon R. Woodman Summaries How can the idea of the ,rule of law' be made a reality for ordinary people in African countries where customary law still underpins popular experience of ,law as practice'? It is argued that the idea of law itself should include all non-state ,normative orders' that are known, acceptable and pre-determined, as well as state law. What is called customary law is often closer to observed social norms (practised law) than the state law imported by colonialism, and indeed evolves in line with social and economic change, particularly in the field of land tenure. Any notion of the rule of law must support the institutions of customary law. One problem, however, is that in any country there are many different bodies of customary law particular to different localities, regions, cultures. This diversity must be both researched and recognised. [source] Transnational organized crime in West Africa: the additional challengeINTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, Issue 6 2007ANTONIO L. MAZZITELLI Despite its vast natural and human resources and the undisputed progress made in the last decade towards the establishment of democratic culture and governing systems, West African countries continue to occupy the bottom ranks of the UN Human Development Index. Similarly, many of them score poorly in World Bank and Transparency International indexes that measure good governance. The international mass media have recently highlighted the role played by the West African region in the transatlantic cocaine trade, as well as in the flow of illegal migrants to Europe. Drugs and migrants are, however, just two of the numerous illicit activities that feed the growth of local and transnational criminal organizations, and the establishing of a culture of quick and easy money that is progressively eroding the foundations of any sustainable and well balanced socio-economic development. The pervasive power of the corruption of criminal organizations, coupled with a general crisis by state actors in the administration of justice and enforcement of the rule of law, contribute towards the progressive diminishing of the credibility of the state as the institution entrusted with the prerogatives of guaranteeing security (of people and investments) and dispensing justice. In this context, the case of Guinea Bissau is probably the clearest example of what West African states may face in the near future if the issues of justice and security are not properly and promptly addressed. If primary responsibilities lie with West African governments and institutions, the international community as a whole should also review its approach to development policies by not only mainstreaming the issues of security and justice in their bilateral and multilateral agendas, but also by making it an essential cornerstone of policies and programmes aimed at supporting good governance and the establishment of states ruled by the law. [source] The Significance of Property Restitution to Sustainable Return in Bosnia and HerzegovinaINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 3 2006Rhodri C. Williams ABSTRACT The restitution of property to refugees and displaced persons (RDPs) who fled their homes during the 1992 to 1995 conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been highly successful on its own terms. After getting off to a slow start in the immediate post-war years, this process saw the return of more than 200,000 claimed properties to their pre-war residents by mid-2004. Although property restitution has facilitated durable solutions for RDPs who have benefited from it, these durable solutions have not exclusively taken the form of voluntary and permanent return. In many cases, RDPs have chosen instead to sell, exchange, or lease their restituted homes in order to finance voluntary internal resettlement in parts of the country other than their pre-war places of residence. In all cases, however, property restitution has been crucial to the viability and sustainability of either return or resettlement, facilitating free and informed choices by RDPs regarding their future. Property restitution in Bosnia and Herzegovina has often been held up as a model for other post-conflict settings characterized by mass-displacement. However, the utility of Bosnia and Herzegovina as an example must be assessed in light of favourable domestic and international factors that are unlikely to be repeated in other contexts. This paper argues that these factors should not disqualify Bosnia and Herzegovina as an example, but should instead underscore the importance that lessons learned in Bosnia and Herzegovina be incorporated early in the planning of other peace missions and implemented consistently. One of the foremost of these lessons was the efficacy of shifting the focus from the highly politicized concept of return to a more impartial "rule of law" approach, connoting an emphasis on individuals' rights to their former homes. The unusual level of resources that allowed the international community to correct its own early mistakes would not have been enough to guarantee property restitution in the absence of this successful implementation strategy. La restitution des biens aux réfugiés et aux personnes déplacées (RPD) ayant fui leurs foyers durant le conflit qui a sévi en Bosnie-Herzégovine entre 1992 et 1995 a été un vrai succès. Après un démarrage lent au lendemain immédiat de la guerre, ce processus avait permis la restitution, à la mi-2004, de plus de 200.000 propriétés à leurs occupants d'avant la guerre. Si la restitution des propriétés a apporté une solution durable aux RPD qui en ont bénéficié, cette solution durable n'a pas exclusivement pris la forme d'un retour volontaire et définitif. Dans de nombreux cas, les RPD ont plutôt choisi de rendre, d'échanger ou de mettre en location leurs logements restitués afin de financer une réinstallation volontaire dans d'autres régions du pays. Dans tous les cas, cependant, la restitution des propriétés a été cruciale pour la viabilité et la durabilité soit du retour soit de la réinstallation, facilitant des choix libres et en connaissance de cause de la part des RPD quant à leur avenir. La restitution des propriétés en Bosnie-Herzégovine a souvent été donnée en exemple pour d'autres contextes d'après-guerre caractérisés par des déplacements massifs. Cependant, l'utilité de la Bosnie-Herzégovine comme exemple doit être évaluée à la lumière des facteurs internes et internationaux favorables qui ont peu de chance de se produire dans d'autres contextes. L'auteur considère que ces facteurs ne doivent cependant pas disqualifier la Bosnie-Herzégovine en tant que modèle à suivre, mais qu'il faut plutôt souligner l'importance des enseignements tirés dans cette partie du monde pour les incorporer à un stade avancé dans la planification des autres missions de paix et faire en sorte qu'ils soient appliqués de manière cohérente. L'une des principales leçons à tirer en l'occurrence a été l'efficacité avec laquelle le concept hautement politisé du retour a opéré un glissement vers une approche plus impartiale favorisant la "primauté du droit", en ce sens qu'un accent particulier a été mis sur le droit des personnes à reprendre possession de leurs anciens logements. Le niveau de ressources inhabituel ayant permis à la communauté internationale de corriger ses propres fautes initiales n'aurait pas suffi pour garantir la restitution des biens en l'absence de cette stratégie positive de mise en ,uvre. La restitución de propiedades de refugiados y desplazados que tuvieron que abandonar sus hogares durante el conflicto de Bosnia y Herzegovina entre 1992 y 1995, ha tenido mucho éxito de acuerdo con lo estipulado en su propio mandato. Tras un inicio sumamente lento en los primeros años de posguerra, a mediados de 2004 el proceso dio lugar a la restitución, de más de 200.000 bienes reclamados por sus residentes de antes de la guerra. Si bien la restitución de bienes ha facilitado soluciones duraderas para los refugiados y desplazados que se han beneficiado de la misma, estas soluciones duraderas no se han traducido exclusivamente en un retorno voluntario y permanente. En muchos casos, los refugiados y desplazados han decidido vender, intercambiar o alquilar las propiedades restituidas a fin de financiar su reasentamiento interno voluntario en otras partes del país, distintas de aquéllas donde residían antes de la guerra. En cualquier caso, la restitución de propiedades ha sido fundamental a la viabilidad y sostenimiento del retorno o reasentamiento, facilitando así las opciones libres e informadas de los refugiados y desplazados con relación a su futuro. La restitución de bienes en Bosnia y Herzegovina se considera como un modelo para otros entornos posconflicto caracterizados por desplazamientos masivos. Ahora bien, la utilidad de Bosnia y Herzegovina como ejemplo debe evaluarse a la luz de factores nacionales e internacionales favorables que probablemente no se den en otros contextos. Este estudio arguye que estos factores no descalifican a Bosnia y Herzegovina como ejemplo pero deben poner de relieve la importancia de las enseñanzas extraídas de la experiencia de Bosnia y Herzegovina en la planificación temprana de otras misiones de paz y llevarse a cabo de manera consecuente. Otra de las principales lecciones fue la eficacia de transferir el centro de atención del concepto altamente politizado del retorno a una perspectiva más imparcial de imperio de ley, que hizo hincapié en los derechos individuales de cara a sus ex hogares. El nivel inusual de recursos que permitió que la comunidad internacional corrigiese sus propios errores anteriores, y no habrían sido suficientes para garantizar la restitución de propiedades si no hubiera habido una estrategia acertada de puesta en práctica. [source] Averting Forced Migration in Countries in TransitionINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 3 2002Susan Martin Many countries of emigration are in transition from conflict to peace and from authoritarian to democratic governments. Addressing population movements from these countries requires more than economic opportunities; equally important is the establishment of the rule of law, respect for human rights, and, in countries recovering from conflict, reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure and housing. Otherwise, fragile peace and democratization processes can easily break down, creating new waves of forced migrants and hampering efforts towards repatriation and reintegration of already displaced populations. This background paper discusses the nature of forced migration, pointing out that the end of the Cold War has produced new pressures and new opportunities to address these flows. While extremism, particularly rampant nationalism, has provoked massive forced migration in many parts of the world, the changing geopolitical relations has also led to peace settlements in some countries and humanitarian intervention to reduce suffering in others. Addressing forced migration pressures in countries in transition requires comprehensive policy approaches. Four types of best practices are considered in this paper. First, mechanisms to ameliorate the causes of forced movements, including the role that expatriate communities can play in strengthening the rule of law and respect for human rights, particularly minority rights. Second, mechanisms that enhance refugee protection while minimizing abuses of asylum systems, including enhanced respect for the refugee convention, adoption of complementary forms of protection when the refugee convention does not apply, strengthened regional protection, and the establishment of in,country processing of refugee claims. Third, mechanisms to resolve the longer,term status of forced migrants, including decisions on when to cease refugee status and temporary protection and encourage/permit return or integration. Fourth, mechanisms for more effective repatriation when return is possible, particularly programs to help returnees reintegrate and communities reconstruct themselves. [source] Human Rights of Migrants: Challenges of the New DecadeINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 6 2001Patrick A. Taran This review summarizes main trends, issues, debates, actors and initiatives regarding recognition and extension of protection of the human rights of migrants. Its premise is that the rule of law and universal notions of human rights are essential foundations for democratic society and social peace. Evidence demonstrates that violations of migrants' human rights are so widespread and commonplace that they are a defining feature of international migration today. About 150 million persons live outside their countries; in many States, legal application of human rights norms to non-citizens is inadequate or seriously deficient, especially regarding irregular migrants. Extensive hostility against, abuse of and violence towards migrants and other non-nationals has become much more visible worldwide in recent years. Research, documentation and analysis of the character and extent of problems and of effective remedies remain minimal. Resistance to recognition of migrants' rights is bound up in exploitation of migrants in marginal, low status, inadequately regulated or illegal sectors of economic activity. Unauthorized migrants are often treated as a reserve of flexible labour, outside the protection of labour safety, health, minimum wage and other standards, and easily deportable. Evidence on globalization points to worsening migration pressures in many parts of the world. Processes integral to globalization have intensified disruptive effects of modernization and capitalist development, contributing to economic insecurity and displacement for many. Extension of principles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights culminated in the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. With little attention, progress in ratifications was very slow until two years ago. A global campaign revived attention; entry into force is likely in 2001. Comparative analysis notes that ILO migrant worker Conventions have generally achieved objectives but States have resisted adoption of any standards on treatment of non-nationals. A counter-offensive against human rights as universal, indivisible and inalienable underlies resistance to extension of human rights protection to migrants. A parallel trend is deliberate association of migration and migrants with criminality. Trafficking has emerged as a global theme contextualizing migration in a framework of combatting organized crime and criminality, subordinating human rights protections to control and anti-crime measures. Intergovernmental cooperation on migration "management" is expanding rapidly, with functioning regional intergovernmental consultative processes in all regions, generally focused on strengthening inter-state cooperation in controlling and preventing irregular migration through improved border controls, information sharing, return agreements and other measures. Efforts to defend human rights of migrants and combat xenophobia remain fragmented, limited in impact and starved of resources. Nonetheless, NGOs in all regions provide orientation, services and assistance to migrants, public education and advocating respect for migrants rights and dignity. Several international initiatives now highlight migrant protection concerns, notably the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights of Migrants, the Global Campaign promoting the 1990 UN Convention, UN General Assembly proclamation of International Migrants Day, the 2001 World Conference Against Racism and Xenophobia, anti-discrimination activity by ILO, and training by IOM. Suggestions to governments emphasize the need to define comprehensive, coordinated migration policy and practice based on economic, social and development concerns rather than reactive control measures to ensure beneficial migration, social harmony, and dignified treatment of nationals and non-nationals. NGOs, businesses, trade unions, and religious groups are urged to advocate respect for international standards, professionalize services and capacities, take leadership in opposing xenophobic behaviour, and join international initiatives. Need for increased attention to migrants rights initiatives and inter-agency cooperation by international organizations is also noted. [source] The changing landscape of European liberty and security: the mid-term report of the CHALLENGE projectINTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 192 2008Didier Bigo The article offers a critical assessment of the liberties of citizens and others living in the EU and the way in which they are affected by the proliferation of discourses about insecurity, and government and transnational agencies practices of reassurance, protection and coercion enacted in the name of the safety of citizen or their collective security, in which information about their identity is exchanged through new techniques of surveillance and control. It analyses first the apparent radicalisationisation of specific forms of transnational political violence and its effects on liberal policies. Next it assesses the threat assessments produced through technologies of risk management and the development of new technologies of surveillance. Third it describes the changing forms taken by the logic of suspicion and practices of exception and derogation, especially in relation to established understandings of the rule of law, to the multidimensional and continuous reframing of the enemy. It then discusses the impact of this on the rights and freedoms of citizens and foreigners, and finally it assesses the relation between the internal and external impact of illiberal practices, especially in the context of transatlantic relations but also of an increasingly interconnected world order, and the place of the EU in this world. [source] The alien tort and the global rule of lawINTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 185 2005Ruti Teitel This paper traces the genealogy of legal developments regarding the expansion of civil jurisdiction for human rights abuses. It endeavours to illuminate the relation between these civil remedy developments in alien tort action and globalisation. It elucidates the dimensions of this development, implied by the transformations in substantive and procedural jurisdiction, as well as in legal personality, and subjectivity, reflecting upon the ways that these normative changes help to constitute global rule of law. It ends by concluding that, whatever their contribution, these transnational remedies are best conceived as complementary to the protections offered by state legal systems. [source] Mechanisms for intergovernmental relations in federationsINTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 167 2001Brian R. Opeskin Federations employ a large variety of mechanisms for conducting relations between central, regional, and local levels of government. These mechanisms span the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government within each level. Executive involvement ranges widely in degree of formality, from the making of formal intergovernmental agreements to informal liaison between governmental officers. Executive mechanisms have also evolved for correcting vertical and horizontal fiscal imbalances in federal systems. Legislatures play an important role in giving the force of law to cooperative policies initiated by the executive. These legislative mechanisms include reciprocal schemes, complementary schemes, mirror legislation, and the reference or delegation of powers from one level of government to another. The judiciary, though often undervalued, is significant for its role in establishing the legal framework within which other branches of government conduct their intergovernmental relations, through articulation of powers and competencies. The article concludes that policy makers should exercise care in selecting mechanisms that are appropriate to their task. In particular, regard should be had to the efficiency of each mechanism, and its conformity with federal values and the rule of law. [source] Governance and Agricultural Production Efficiency: A Cross-Country Aggregate Frontier AnalysisJOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2009Mon-Chi Lio O13; O47; Q17 Abstract This study uses a stochastic frontier approach to investigate the relationship between six governance indicators and agricultural efficiency. We find that improvements in rule of law, control of corruption and government effectiveness enhance agricultural productivity significantly if each indicator enters the inefficiency equation independently. When all six indicators are included in the equation, we find that an improvement in rule of law raises agricultural efficiency significantly, but increases in voice and accountability and political stability appear to significantly reduce agricultural efficiency. Grouping the six indicators into three dimensions, we find that an improvement in ,respect for institutional framework' raises agricultural efficiency significantly, but an enhancement in ,selection of authority' reduces agricultural efficiency significantly. Our results imply that poorer countries can enhance their agricultural efficiency substantially by strengthening the state and citizens' respect for institutional framework. However, our results show that greater democracy is associated with lower agricultural efficiency. This finding is consistent with interest group capture and political failure arguments of the political economy literature. [source] The Internal Security Acts of 1798: The Founding Generation and the Judiciary during America's First National Security CrisisJOURNAL OF SUPREME COURT HISTORY, Issue 1 2009ARTHUR H. GARRISON It is a truism that a nation must protect itself from internal enemies as well as foreign threats of aggression and invasion. But that is not the entire matter. Our American democracy has striven, with mixed success, to be careful that the justified ends of the American experiment,freedom, justice, and the rule of law,are not sacrificed on the altar of the means to protect these ends. [source] Institutional Quality and the Gains from TradeKYKLOS INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, Issue 3 2006Axel Borrmann SUMMARY While theoretical models suggest that trade is likely to increase productivity and income levels, the empirical evidence is rather mixed. For some countries, trade has a strong impact on growth, whereas for other countries there is no or even a negative linkage. We examine one likely prerequisite for a welfare increasing impact of trade, that is, the role of institutional quality. Using several model specifications, including an instrumental variable approach, we identify those aspects of institutional quality that matter most for the positive linkage between trade and growth. We find that, above all, labour market regulation is the key to reducing trade-related adjustment costs. Market entry regulations, the efficiency of the tax system, the rule of law and government effectiveness do play a role too. In essence, the results demonstrate that countries with low-quality institutions do not benefit from trade. [source] Ideational Origins of Progressive Judicial Activism: The Colombian Constitutional Court and the Right to HealthLATIN AMERICAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY, Issue 3 2010Rodrigo M. Nunes ABSTRACT Why do some constitutional transitions trigger the emergence of progressive judicial activism? This article addresses this question through an analysis of the creation of the Colombian Constitutional Court and its subsequent activism toward rights in general and the right to health in particular. This research suggests that ideational variables are crucial to explain this outcome. On the one hand, the Constitutional Court's behavior reflects the dominance of the institutional conception that it is the judiciary's role to help fulfill the promises of the constitutional text. On the other, programmatic beliefs about the relationship between the rule of law and market-driven economic growth led powerholders to create the court and appoint judges with this orientation. The emergence of progressive judicial activism in Colombia, this analysis suggests, was the unexpected outcome of purposeful political choices made by proponents of neoliberal economics. [source] Horizontal Accountability in Transitional Democracies: The Human Rights Ombudsman in El Salvador and GuatemalaLATIN AMERICAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY, Issue 4 2004Michael Dodson ABSTRACT Postwar El Salvador and Guatemala have undertaken to reform and democratize the state and to support the rule of law. Each country entered the 1990s hobbled by a legacy of authoritarian rule, while a corrupt and politicized judiciary offered virtually no check on the abuse of power. Because the judiciary has performed poorly as an institution of horizontal accountability, this article examines the performance of a new "accountability agency," the Human Rights Ombudsman. The article discusses the context in which the office was established and developed in each country, perceptions of its performance, and political responses as the office began to perform its function of holding public officials accountable in their exercise of power. Unfortunately, this new office may fall prey to the same weaknesses that have plagued older institutions in both countries. [source] The Uneven Performance of Third Wave Democracies: Electoral Politics and the Imperfect Rule of Law in Latin AmericaLATIN AMERICAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY, Issue 3 2002Joe Foweraker ABSTRACT This article investigates the performance of the new democracies of the third wave by developing a conceptual model of the core elements of liberal democratic government and by constructing a new Database of Liberal Democratic Performance. The performance is shown to be uneven in two main ways. First, the institutional attributes of democratic government advance while individual and minority rights languish. Second, particular institutional attributes coexist uncomfortably, as do particular rights. A comparison of Brazil, Colombia, and Guatemala complements the big picture drawn from the database and focuses on the specific contextual conditions that can create the general political contours of the wave. The uneven democratic performance of these cases is mainly explained by the combination of persistent oligarchic power and a largely unaccountable military. Yet uneven performance, and the imperfect rule of law in particular, does not necessarily prevent democratic survival. [source] Calling the Judiciary to Account for the Past: Transitional Justice and Judicial Accountability in NigeriaLAW & POLICY, Issue 2 2008HAKEEM O. YUSUF Institutional and individual accountability is an important feature of societies in transition from conflict or authoritarian rule. The imperative of accountability has both normative and transformational underpinnings in the context of restoration of the rule of law and democracy. This article argues a case for extending the purview of truth-telling processes to the judiciary in postauthoritarian contexts. The driving force behind the inquiry is the proposition that the judiciary as the third arm of government at all times participates in governance. To contextualize the argument, I focus on judicial governance and accountability within the paradigm of Nigeria's transition to democracy after decades of authoritarian military rule. [source] Legal Accountability in the Service-Based Welfare State: Lessons from Child Welfare ReformLAW & SOCIAL INQUIRY, Issue 3 2009Kathleen G. Noonan Current trends intensify the longstanding problem of how the rule of law should be institutionalized in the welfare state. Welfare programs are being redesigned to increase their capacities to adapt to rapidly changing conditions and to tailor their responses to diverse clienteles. These developments challenge the understanding of legal accountability developed in the Warren Court era. This article reports on an emerging model of accountable administration that strives to reconcile programmatic flexibility with rule-of-law values. The model has been developed in the reform of state child protective services systems, but it has potentially broad application to public law. It also has novel implications for such basic rule-of-law issues as the choice between rules and standards, the relation of bureaucratic and judicial control, the proper scope of judicial intervention into dysfunctional public agencies, and the justiciability of "positive" (or social and economic) rights. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||