Bicameral Systems and Representation of Regions and Local Authorities: the Role of Second Chambers in Europe”
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Discontinuity and European Lawmaking – Another Deficit of EU
Discontinuity: Another Source for the EU’s Democratic Deficit? Thomas König [email protected] Abstract: This study evaluates discontinuity that is induced by the two-stage lawmaking process of EU directives and discussed in the jurisprudential literature as another source for the EU’s democratic deficit. While directives must be transposed into national law, their lengthy transposition period has raised the normative question about the extent to which governments of today can politically and reliably commit domestic majorities of tomorrow. From a political science perspective, this jack-in-the-box-effect is particularly critical in systems with restrictive voting procedures and high agency loss because the parliamentary principal is unable to learn about the behaviour of the governmental agent and can hardly change or amend the decision of the former government. Hence, the empirical task is to identify the potential for discontinuity in EU lawmaking which requires measuring the governmental activities in the implementation process and to compare the preferences of the former and current majorities. This is the first study which empirically analyzes the potential of discontinuity by combining statistics on the implementation process in the 15 member states with preference indicators for their governments over a period of almost 20 years. The findings reveal that parliaments are almost excluded from this process. On closer inspection, the results show that the preferences of the former and the newly elected representatives differ drastically in about one third of all cases, in particular in Austria, Denmark, France, Sweden – and to a lesser extent – in Ireland, Greece and Luxembourg where public support for European integration has also notably decreased in recent years. -
Análisis Y Diseño
The European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD) Cortes Generales SEMINAR EUROPEAN CORTES GENERALES - CENTRE FOR PARLIAMENTARY RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION (ECPRD) INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY AREA OF INTEREST PARLIAMENTS ON THE NET X (Madrid, Palacio del Senado, 31st May – 1st June 2012) Mobility, Transparency and open parliament: best practices in Parliamentary web sites Agenda - Thursday, 31st May 9:00 - 10:00: Registration and Accreditation of Participants. (Entrance on Bailén Street). 10:00-10:30: Official opening of the Seminar. Welcome greetings - Statement by Rosa Ripolles, ECPRD correspondent at the Congress of Deputies - Statement by Ulrich Hüschen Co-Secretary ECPRD, European Parliament - Statement by Manuel Alba Navarro, Secretary General of the Congress of Deputies - Statement by Yolanda Vicente, Second Deputy Speaker of the Senate. Carlo Simonelli, ECPRD ICT Coordinator, Chamber of Deputies, Italy; Javier de Andrés, Director TIC, Congreso de los Diputados, España and José Ángel Alonso, Director TIC, Senado, España) take the Chair The European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD) Cortes Generales 10:30 to 12:00 Morning session 1: presentations. • Questionnaire for the ECPRD Seminar 'Parliaments on the Net X'. Miguel Ángel Gonzalo. Webmaster, Congress of Deputies. Spain • Mobility and transparency: Current status in the Congress of Deputies. Open Parliament: some remarks. Javier de Andrés. ICT Director Congress of Deputies. Spain. • New web site and mobility experience in the Senate of Spain. José Ángel Alonso ICT Director and José Luis Martínez, Analist. Senate. Spain • Debate 12:00 to 12:15 Coffee Break 12:15-13:00: Morning session (2) • Knocking on the Parliament´s door Rafael Rubio. -
00-190 Eng Briefing Notes Jan
ETA violence and the Basque Country: Does federalism offer a solution? BY GURUTZ JAUREGUI The Spanish system of regional and federal models of government. The problem of territory autonomies has had very positive effects Its complex and ambiguous nature is a The Basque region is located for the Basque Country. The progress constant source of clashes between the geographically in Spanish and French made over the years in the recovery of federal and community governments. territory. Traditionally, the strategic Basque identity has been very significant. Rather than a list of powers, the aspiration of Basque nationalism has The system, however, has been unable to Constitution establishes a distribution of been to establish an independent State solve the ‘Basque problem’. The conflict functions. In many areas, the Constitution that covers the whole territory. between Basque separatists and Spain qualifies the functions of the autonomous has left hundreds dead, and has caused Not only is the division between France regions with phrases such as ‘in the untold suffering. and Spain a contentious issue, but frame of’ or ‘according to’ (other there are also problems regarding the Today’s conflicts between the Basque authorities). The upshot is that the federal territorial boundaries of the Basque region and the Spanish government are government has established regulations, region inside Spain. chiefly, although not exclusively, based on directives and controls that have led to a three aspects: distribution of powers, terri- real reduction in the powers of the The Autonomy Statute identifies the tory, and the right to self-determination. autonomous regions. provinces of Alava, Guipuzcoa and Vizcaya as comprising the Basque region, The regions have very few possibilities and also mentions Navarra, giving it the Distribution of powers for participating in overall federal choice of joining this region. -
Managing Parliamentary Documents and Data: Challenge to Improve Transparency in the Parliamentary Information Context
Managing Parliamentary documents and data: challenge to improve transparency in the parliamentary information context Marina Cueto Document Management Department Directorate of Technical Parliamentary Assistance Senate of Spain [email protected] The presentation contents: I. Document Management Department functions II. Official publications: from digitisation to Dublin Core III. Open data: Ballots in plenary sittings IV. Conclusions I. About Document Management Department functions Functions • Definition, planning and integrated management of parliamentary documentation • Providing access to all parliamentary information for citizens and other organizations through the website • Coordination of the thesaurus used by all the units (Directorate of Documentation) (topics) • Parliamentary initiatives and records at the core (Archive) • Videos, official publications, documents management Interconnection of both Houses through parliamentary information • The Spanish Parliament is composed of two Chambers: the Congress of Deputies and the Senate and the information is in both webpages. • The Senate’s website tries to make more familiar the approval of bills to the citizen bringing the corresponding data referred to the passing of bills from the Congress of Deputies, to complete the specific information about the Senate’s law-making process. e.g.: Shared data of both Houses to explain the adoption of the bill: III. Official publications: from digitisation to Dublin Core • Same structure maintained from 1977 to 2016: Official Bulletin and -
Standing Orders of the Congress of Deputies
CONGRESS OF DEPUTIES STANDING ORDERS OF THE CONGRESS OF DEPUTIES MADRID PRELIMINARY PART Constituent meeting of Congress 68, 67, 62, Section 1 1 23, 99, Following a general election to the Congress, a constituent 115 C meeting of the House shall be held in accordance with Section 68.6 Calling of the meeting 147 SO of the Constitution, on such day and at such time as specified in the 168 C Royal Decree issued to call the election. 5 SO Section 2 Provisional The constituent meeting shall be chaired initially by the oldest of Bureau the Members-elect present, assisted by the two youngest acting as Secretaries. Section 3 1. The Chairperson shall open proceedings and one of the 36 SO Secretaries shall read out the Royal Decree calling the election, the Procedure at roll of Members-elect and any appeals lodged against the election Meeting results, specifying the Members-elect who may be affected by the decision on such appeals. 2. The Bureau of the Congress shall then be elected in Election of accordance with the procedure described in Section 37 hereof. final Bureau 37 SO Section 4 Oath or pledge of 1. After the voting has concluded, those elected shall take an oath 9 C allegiance to or pledge to observe the Constitution, for which purpose their names 20, 59 SO the shall be called out in alphabetical order. The Speaker shall then Constitution declare Congress constituted, and shall adjourn the sitting. 2. The constitution of Congress shall be notified by the Speaker to the King, the Senate and the Government. -
Directorate-General for Research
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR RESEARCH W O R K I N G D O C U M E N T NATIONAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING INELIGIBILITY AND INCOMPATIBILITY WITH REGARD TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT "National Parliaments" Series W - 9 This document is available in : EN DE FR The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorized provided the source is acknowledged and the publisher is given prior notice and sent a copy. Publisher: European Parliament Directorate General for Research ECPRD Secretariat L - 2929 LUXEMBOURG Tel . : (352) 4300 2447 Fax : (352) 4300 9021 Editor: Marília CRESPO ALLEN in collaboration with the CORRESPONDENTS of the ECPRD, European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation Manuscript completed in February 1997 DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR RESEARCH W O R K I N G D O C U M E N T NATIONAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING INELIGIBILITY AND INCOMPATIBILITY WITH REGARD TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT "National Parliaments" Series W - 9 6 - 1997 PE 220.623 National provisions concerning ineligibility and incompatibility with regard to elections and membership of the european parliament Contents Page General remarks ............................................................ 3 1. Ineligibilities arising from: (a) the holding of certain posts or the exercise of certain activities (b) an individual criminal law or civil law decision Belgium................................................................. 8 Denmark................................................................ -
2019 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in Tunisia Final Report
ELECTION REPORT ✩ 2019 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in Tunisia Final Report ELECTION REPORT ✩ 2019 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in Tunisia Final Report One Copenhill 453 Freedom Parkway Atlanta, GA 30307 (404) 420-5100 www.cartercenter.org Contents Map of Tunisia................................. 4 The Independent High Authority Executive Summary ............................ 5 for Audiovisual Communications .............. 40 Background ................................. 6 Conclusion ................................ 41 Legal Framework ............................ 7 Candidates, Parties, and Campaigns ........... 42 Election Management ........................ 7 Campaigning in the First Round Voter Registration ........................... 8 of the Presidential Election .................. 42 Voter Education ............................. 8 Conclusion ................................ 44 Citizen Observation .......................... 8 Campaigning in the Parliamentary Election .... 44 Candidate Registration ....................... 8 Campaigning in the Second Round of the Campaign .................................. 9 Presidential Election ........................ 46 Voting and Counting ........................ 11 Campaign Finance ............................ 47 Tabulation ................................. 12 Social Media Monitoring ...................... 49 Electoral Dispute Resolution ................. 12 Legal Framework ........................... 49 Results .................................... 13 Methodology ............................. -
THE RISE of a GLOBAL PARTY? American Party Organizations Abroad
PARTY POLITICS VOL 9. No.2 pp. 241–255 Copyright © 2003 SAGE Publications London Thousand Oaks New Delhi THE RISE OF A GLOBAL PARTY? American Party Organizations Abroad Taylor Dark III ABSTRACT In discussions of party organization, scholars have generally assumed that such organizations operate exclusively on the domestic level, seeking to alter electoral results by raising votes and money from constituencies at home. This research note shows that this assumption is outdated, because the US Democratic and Republican parties now maintain overseas branches in dozens of different countries. These branches seek through a variety of means to mobilize the votes and financial resources of Americans abroad in an attempt to change domestic political outcomes. An analysis of the rise of these groups demonstrates the value of the concept of globalization in an area where it is usually not considered relevant, and raises new normative and practical questions about how to regulate overseas political activity by US citizens and parties. KEY WORDS American politics globalization party organization One of the oldest and most resilient ways of conceptualizing political party activity has been to divide it into three components: the party in the elec- torate, the party in government and the party as an organization. The last of these components was, of course, defined in reference to the leaders and activists who worked through the party apparatus to gain members, finan- cial contributions and votes on behalf of party nominees. Naturally enough, this activity was assumed to take place entirely within the territorial bound- aries of the country where the party contested elections – American party organizations mobilized within the USA, British parties within Britain, and so on. -
Casanova, Julían, the Spanish Republic and Civil
This page intentionally left blank The Spanish Republic and Civil War The Spanish Civil War has gone down in history for the horrific violence that it generated. The climate of euphoria and hope that greeted the over- throw of the Spanish monarchy was utterly transformed just five years later by a cruel and destructive civil war. Here, Julián Casanova, one of Spain’s leading historians, offers a magisterial new account of this crit- ical period in Spanish history. He exposes the ways in which the Republic brought into the open simmering tensions between Catholics and hard- line anticlericalists, bosses and workers, Church and State, order and revolution. In 1936, these conflicts tipped over into the sacas, paseos and mass killings that are still passionately debated today. The book also explores the decisive role of the international instability of the 1930s in the duration and outcome of the conflict. Franco’s victory was in the end a victory for Hitler and Mussolini, and for dictatorship over democracy. julián casanova is Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Zaragoza, Spain. He is one of the leading experts on the Second Republic and the Spanish Civil War and has published widely in Spanish and in English. The Spanish Republic and Civil War Julián Casanova Translated by Martin Douch CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521493888 © Julián Casanova 2010 This publication is in copyright. -
Review of the Balance of Competences Between the United Kingdom and the European Union Evidence
Review of the Balance of Competences between the United Kingdom and the European Union Evidence Voting This document is a record of all of the evidence submitted to the Voting section of the Voting, Consular and Statistics Call for Evidence. The Report is part of the UK Government’s Review of the Balance of Competences between the United Kingdom and the European Union. 1 Contents Anonymous (1)……………………………………………………………………………….5 Anonymous (2)……………………………………………………………………………….8 Association of Electoral Administrators……………………………………………………9 Atterbury, Lyn……………………………………………………………………………….11 Anthony, Melvyn……………………………………………………………………………13 Birmingham City Council, Senior Electoral Administrators…….……………………….18 Blackmore, Dr Michael…………………………………………….……………………….21 Cave, Brian………………………………………………………….………………………25 Casini, Dr Carlo…………………………………………………….……………………….30 Chantrey, Christopher……………………………………………………………………..31 Chase, Robert………………………………………………………………………………34 Chief Electoral Officer for the Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland……………..…….36 Chief Executive, Manchester City Council……………………………………………….38 Christian Concern…………………………………………………………………………..40 Electoral Reform Society…………………………………………………………………..45 Forsyth, David………………………………………………………………………………48 Gill, Lizzie……………………………………………………………………………………49 Golding, Jane……………………………………………………………………………….50 Halarose…………………………………………………………………………………….56 Human Rights Consortium Scotland……………………………………………………..57 Ironside, Julian JNA………………………………………………………………………..60 King, Toby…………………………………………………………………………………..61 King’s College London……………………………………………………………………..64 -
The Administrative and Financial Autonomy of Parliamentary Assemblies
The administrative and financial autonomy of parliamentary assemblies Report prepared by Mr Michel Couderc (France), adopted at the Moscow Session (September 1998) The autonomy of parliamentary assemblies is a question which one might describe as "cross-disciplinary" since it touches on all aspects of the organisation and functioning of parliaments. Even when limited to its administrative and financial dimensions, the question might seem too broad and as a result to elicit responses which are too general to be relevant. In fact the reverse is the case. I sincerely thank my fifty-two colleagues (Annex 1) for the quality and detail of their responses. This embarrassment of riches has led me to present a first report which will be at the same time both overfull and inevitably incomplete . I would therefore ask everyone to forgive me if they do not find an analytical discussion of their own response. Apart from in the Tables, I have only mentioned in particular the Assemblies which conveyed a viewpoint with especial clarity on some aspect of the problem or those which were an exception to the majority of responses. Autonomy is not therefore an "empty shell" but a concrete reality which expresses in some way and to various degrees depending on the country, the shared specificity of the parliamentary phenomenon throughout the world. This is not surprising since autonomy is defined in effect by on the one hand non- dependence and non-subordination of Assemblies in relation to the Executive, and, on the other, by the possibility of the Assembly freeing itself at least partially from the rules of ordinary law so as to follow instead its own regulations. -
Assocation of European Senates
Association of European Senates/Association des Sénats d’Europe 15th Meeting, London/XVème Réunion, Londres Friday 15 June 2013/vendredi 15 juin 2013 The meeting opened at 9.28 am. The Relationship between Upper and Lower Chambers Baroness D’Souza, Lord Speaker of the House of Lords, United Kingdom Good morning, everyone. Thank you all so very much for being on time. In the history of these conferences, we are making history by starting two minutes early. Welcome to Westminster for this 15th meeting of our association. It is a great honour for me to be able to host this year’s meeting. In making arrangements for today, I thought that it was very important that we should meet in the Houses of Parliament and, more particularly, in this beautiful room, the Queen’s Robing Room. Let me take a few minutes to explain the significance of our location. Since the first half of the 16th century, the two Houses of Parliament—the Commons and the Lords—have met here in the Palace of Westminster, which in the times of King Henry VIII had ceased to be a royal residence. What you see now is not the original palace, because in 1834 it was seriously damaged by fire. Our Victorian predecessors were nothing if not ruthless. Much of what remained of the earlier buildings was pulled down and the new Houses of Parliament were erected in the 1840s and 1850s. The architect was Charles Barry and the interior designer was Augustus Pugin, a church architect devoted to the gothic revival style.