Incrementalism and Path Dependence: European Integration and Institutional Change in National Parliaments

This article analyses the manner in which the Parliaments of France, the UK and Greece have reacted to the process of European integration. It is argued that their reactions display an incremental logic marked by slow, small and marginal changes based on existing institutional repertoires. In all three cases Parliaments have used familiar mechanisms and procedures which they have modified only marginally. This reaction was path dependent, i.e. it was consistent with long-established patterns reflecting the subordinate position of these Parliaments within national polities

Institutionalization of Imported Rules in the European Union's New Member States: Bringing Politics Back in the Research Agenda

This paper sets out to explore the puzzle of possible institutionalization or reversal of rules 'imported' by new member states from Central and Eastern Europe during their preparation for accession to the EU. It argues that the institutionalization of formal rules adopted as part of enlargement requirements is not automatic post accession. New formal rules can be reversed, supported by secondary rules and institutionalized or ignored and not implemented. The paper proposes a politics framework that suggests that these different outcomes will be influenced by the environment of weak post communist states and will depend on the area specific configuration of formal and informal veto players and on the EU's ability to impose sanctions. In the case of non acquis imported rules, reversal of formal rules would be possible without sanctions whereas in the case of acquis rules, the likely outcomes are institutionalization or 'empty shells'. Another outcome, 'capture' of the new rules is likely in areas with distributive implications.enlargement; East-Central Europe; acquis communautaire; institutionalisation; administrative adaptation

The Transposition of EU Law: ‘Post-Decisional Politics’ and Institutional Autonomy

The transposition of European Union (EU) law into national law is a significant part of the EU policy process. However, political scientists have not devoted to it the attention that it deserves. Here, transposition is construed as part of the wider process of policy implementation. Drawing on implementation theory from the field of public policy, the article outlines three sets of factors (institutional, political, and substantive) that affect transposition. Second, the article examines the manner in which eight member states transpose EU legislation, and identifies a European style of transposition. An institutionalist approach is employed to argue that this style is not the result of a process of convergence. Rather, it stems from the capacity of institutions to adapt to novel situations by means of their own standard operating procedures and institutional repertoires. It concludes by highlighting (a) the partial nature of efforts at EU level to improve transposition, themselves impaired by the politics of the policy process and (b) some ideas regarding future research

AN EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE USEFULNESS OF WEAKNESS PATTERNS IN BUSINESS PROCESS REDESIGN

Business Process Management (BPM) is a topic with growing relevance for businesses as well as public organisations. Until today, the analysis part of a BPM cycle is mostly done manually. Process modelling methods are not designed to allow for automated analysis. Our aim is to show that meaningful weakness patterns that support semi-automatic analysis of business process diagrams (BPD) can be defined when a semantically enhanced modelling method is used. We derive exemplary weakness patterns by analysing literature and interviews from a business process redesign project. These are applied to a set of process models, in which occurrences of these weaknesses are being searched automatically. A comparison of achieved and expected results indicates that our approach helps to identify weaknesses within the processes and therefore supports business process analysis endeavours

U.S. Human Rights Policy in the Post-Cold War Era

Historically, the implementation of US human rights policy has been a case of two steps forward, one step back. From its earliest days, the US has attempted, at least to some degree, to include morality, the protection of individual rights, and the spread of democracy in foreign policy calculations. These efforts became more prominent after World War II. By the late 1980s, human rights concerns were firmly embedded in US foreign policy rhetoric, policy making institutions, and global actions. Dietrich examines US human rights policy in the post-Cold War era

POLICIES FOR THE LOCATION OF INDUSTRIAL DISTRICTS IN ITALY AND

Recent global trends have affected significantly territorial and economic policies, especially in advanced-economy democracies, weakening frequently their national sovereignty. This paper, through published data, documentary sources, and interviews, offers a comparative perspective of industrial localisation’s policies in Israel and Italy, focusing on the dualism national decision-making/local practice. Although they have two different political structures, both countries have shifted to greater decentralisation, increased deregulation, and more privatisation. Since the beginning of the State, Israel industrial localisation policy used tools as national and regional planning and fiscal incentives, with the objective of the industrial dispersal. But last years’ profound economic, political, and social changes have led to a transformation of Israeli industrial geography, shifting changes in the government policies, and reinforcing the local-government assertiveness. Developing industrial parks has become a top priority even for rural regional council, with the risk of over-investment in too many industrial parks of too small a size. Similarly, since post-war years Italy concentrated on regenerating the economic periphery, the southern regions, through the “Cassa per il Mezzogiorno”, helping finance and developing irrigation, agriculture and industrial development in the most disadvantaged areas with a policy of investments in infrastructures and financial supports to the localisation of large firms. The change of industrial models, now based on more flexible structures, has brought, almost spontaneously, the “Third Italy” phenomenon, a proliferation of ‘local production systems’ (LPS) where SMEs represent an high share of total employment. Based on an endogenous development model, the success of LPS is not guaranteed unless change and innovation take place among local SMEs and institutions and between the local production system and the external environment, competing areas and other spatial system. For both countries is necessary a comprehensive, strategic and flexible planning and a stable, efficient and no-bureaucratic decision-making process, at an intermediate scale between regional and local.

Regulations, institutions, and economic performance : the political economy of the Philippines'telecommunications sector

The author addresses the puzzle of sluggish investment in the Philippines'dominant telecommunications firm, PLDT. This case allows a study of the underlying causes of success or failure in a privately owned infrastructure sector in a developing country. Since its inception, PLDT has been privately owned and has had direct access to international capital markets. But its services have been deficient, in quality and quantity, since the early 1960s. Using a transaction costs approach, the author hypothesizes that contracting problems between various economic players are important determinants of observed outcomes. Poor services are attributed to factors that impede implementation of performance - improving implicit or explicit contracts, including regulatory rules and regulations. After reviewing PLDT's responses to events in the last six decades, the author demonstrates that the problem can be traced to lack of commitment to regulatory policies beyond the term of each administration - because a relatively weak legislature and judiciary are dominated by the executive branch. This system of governance is linked to the nature of Philippine society: a small elite engaged in competitive politics among themselves tries to bar the rest of the population from active participation, without actually denying their citizenship. The president of the coutry has great leeway in setting and implementing regulations, so the elite group associated with the president can unilaterally modify telecommunications policy in a way that serves its interests. Those in control of PLDT find investing in the company's highly capital-intensive facilities risky if they are not connected to the president's circle. As a result, the government has an incentive to redistribute quasi-rents through regulatory mechanisms. This imposes a strong"political business cycle"on PLDT's growth pattern: investment rises only in the early years of"friendly"administrations and remains low at all other times. The author establishes this relationship by empirical analysis. Despite the failure of cyclical investment, no attempt has been made to reform the regulatory system because most solutions require an institutional commitment to a set of rules and procedures that are either infeasible or contrary to the interests of the elite. Certain reforms are becoming increasingly feasible, however, as a new middle class develops and elite alliances shift.National Governance,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,ICT Policy and Strategies,Public Sector Economics&Finance

Survival through networks: the 'grip' of the administrative links in the Russian post-Soviet context

© 2014 Taylor & Francis. Based on an analysis of the post-Soviet transformation experience of four defence sector organizations in a Russian region where the defence sector occupies a substantial part of the local economy, this article develops a typology of network relationships: Grooved Inter-relationship Patterns (Gr’ip) networks and Fluid Inter-relationship Patterns (Fl’ip) networks. This typology can be applied to a range of transition/emerging market and low system trust contexts. Gr’ip networks, in this case, represent the persisting legacy of the Soviet command-administrative system. Fl’ip networks are here an attempt by the defence companies to link into the civilian supply chains of a developing market economy. This article argues that Gr’ip networks had and still have a crucial role to play in Russian enterprises’ survival and development

Global communication and political culture in the semi-periphery: The rise of the Globo corporation

This article will offer a description and explanation of the rise of the Brazilian media corporation Globo by situating it in the context of the periphery and semi-periphery of the World System and the globalisation of communication. In particular it focuses upon the changing role that Globo has played in the construction of an elite-led political culture in Brazil that has moved through phases of authoritarian and democratic government. The article sets out an historical account of the emergence of Globo from being a regional media organisation in the periphery of the world system to a global broadcaster in the semi-periphery. It moves through three phases: First, 1925–1964, the colonial legacy and Brazil in the periphery; second, 1964–1985, a period of transition and conservative modernisation, into the semi-periphery; and finally, 1985 onwards, the age of globalisation