338,036 research outputs found

    Continental visions: Ann Seidman, Reginald H. Green and the economics of African unity in 1960s Ghana

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    Ongoing Pristina – Belgrade Talks: from Decentralization to Regional Cooperation and Future Perspectives. EDAP 4/2012

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    On 17 February 2008, Kosovo declared independence, ending its nine years unresolved status. The principal goal was, and remains, the need to involve different communities in the state structures. The new state, which aims to fulfil all the obligations set by the Ahtisaari plan, is trying to complete the decentralization process the implementation of which continuous to face obstacles in the two main communities: the Serbs and the Albanians. This article discusses matters related to community acceptance of the decentralization process, the functioning of the parallel structures, the situation in North Kosovo and the on - going talks between Pristina and Belgrade. The article provides evidences that while the implementation of the decentralization process is the best possibility for Kosovo, it must not follow only an ethnic line

    The European Union and monetary integration in West Africa. ZEI Discussion Paper No. C206, 2011

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    This paper argues that developments in Europe have been the most important variable in monetary integration in West Africa. It shows how monetary integration in West Africa has historically been influenced by two colonial powers: Britain and France and the state of the relationship between these two European countries. The consequence of the above is that Britain and France have become major stakeholders in West Africa and failure to consult them in monetary integration matters in the region has always led to suboptimal results in the integration process. The modest monetary integration success that has been achieved by the Francophone West African countries for instance have been extensively aided by France which has acted as the agency of restraint to the arrangement. On the other hand ECOWAS wide regional integration arrangements have been mainly unsuccessful because of the sometimes divergent interests of France and Britain in the region. The consequence is that the idea of a unified West African monetary area has always failed to gain the support of the two powerful European stakeholders. Specifically, neither Britain nor France is willing to act as an agency of restraint for the entire West Africa. The absence of an agency of restraint also explains the inability of Nigeria and Ghana to achieve the establishment of a second monetary zone in the region. The new program, unfortunately, has provided no institutional framework for dealing with outside stakeholders. Despite the above shortcomings, the paper argues that the changing political landscape in Europe may alter the nature of incentives behind the interest of foreign stakeholders in the region. This in itself could create new opportunities for a region wide monetary integration program in West Africa. To achieve its aim, this paper, including the current introductory section (Part One), is divided into seven parts. Part Two traces the origins of monetary integration in the West African sub-region while Part Three critiques the post-independence ECOWAS wide monetary integration programs in the sub region. Part Four analyses the operations of the monetary integration program in post independence Francophone West Africa while Part Five examines the origins and operational modalities of the Second Monetary Zone. Part Six attempts an analysis of the future direction and opportunities for an ECOWAS-wide monetary integration Program while Part Seven concludes the paper

    The new EU economic governance: vertical and horizontal power shifts

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    The euro crisis made visible the omitted stage in the European integration process. The EU jumped from the common market straight to the monetary union, neglecting the formation of the economic union. The new EU economic governance is a combination of a vertical shift of competences, i.e. from one level of government to another level, and a horizontal shift of powers and competences, i.e. from elected governments to unelected government bodies entrusted with (parts of) government policies, from discretionary policy towards rules. In both types there is a risk of accountability problems, although of a different kind. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the new EU economic governance within the conceptual framework of these vertical and horizontal shifts. This two-dimensional approach offers a better analytical tool than the more traditional one-dimensional fiscal federalism approach. In the first part of the paper the focus is on the policy domains that are the objects in the shifting process. Budgetary policy mainly is at stake, but also banking regulation and monetary policy are partly involved. The second part of the paper deals with the relevant aspects of the theories on the division of powers along vertical and horizontal lines. The fiscal federalism approach to vertical separation and the time consistency theory on the horizontal distribution of power are briefly exposed. In the third part the power shifts occurring within the new EU economic governance are presented and defined in terms of our framework of vertical and horizontal power shifts. Finally the accountability problems of these shifts are analyzed

    'Quadratic Nexus' and the Process of Democratization and State-Building in Albania and Kosovo:A Comparison

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    <jats:p>This paper examines the interplay between internal and external actors in the process of democratization and state-building in Albania and Kosovo. It does so by using David J. Smith's “quadratic nexus” that links Brubaker's “triadic nexus” – nationalizing states, national minorities and external national homelands – to the institutions of an ascendant and expansive “Euro-Atlantic space”. The main argument of this paper is twofold. First, it argues the nexus remains a useful framework in the study of state-and nation-building provided that it moves beyond the “civic vs. ethnic” dichotomy. Today, many states with a mixture of civic and multi-ethnic elements involve this relational nexus. Second, while comparing Albania and Kosovo, this paper argues that all the four elements of the nexus have a different impact on the process of state- and nation-building and their relationship is more conflictual in Kosovo than in Albania.</jats:p

    Extra care housing: a paradigm shift

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    This paper sets out to investigate if and how a spatial typology for extra care housing (ECH) can be defined within the context of housing for older people in the UK. In particular, it focuses on the concept of domesticity in relation to the perception of public, semi-public and private domains. Four sheltered housing schemes that have been remodelled into ECH within the past four years, have been selected as case studies. The spatial distribution of various public, semi-public, and private domains of the pre-remodelled and remodelled schemes have been analyzed quantitatively and interpretively, to determine how their distribution might help bolster or undermine the ethos behind ECH. Likewise, the spatial layouts of the sheltered, as well as the extra care schemes have been analysed syntactically, to determine how different spatial morphologies and their probabilistic functions might begin to help define ECH as a new type of group housing for older people. The findings of the paper suggest that the extent to which the spatial configuration of a scheme affects one’s notions of self-containment and control, has a direct impact on whether the scheme performs as a building or as a settlement. It is furthermore argued that the more a scheme functions as a settlement, the less institutional it may feel. Thus, as a typology, a successful extra care scheme can be defined as a building that works as a settlement
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