Lobbying Regulation

Lobbying regulation is a public policy approach capable of enriching participatory democracy while decreasing the dangers of corruption sometimes associated with lobbying. Here we present some insights into the state of lobbying regulations around the world today for scholars, practitioners and for society at large. We discuss the challenges in terms of defining lobbying and its regulation both academically and legislatively. We explore the broad context of lobbying regulation and the range of lobbying registers that have emerged over the years. The motivations for the introduction of lobbying regulations are also considered. The chapter finishes by comparing and classifying the robustness – the level of transparency and accountability – of contemporary lobbying regulations found in various jurisdictions. We will see from this chapter that lobbying regulations constitute part of the broader category of transparency regulations that aim to strengthen confidence in public institutions and enhance democratic accountability

Considerazioni teoretiche sul concetto di Interesse Pubblico

Quante volte, nei dibattiti e nei discorsi politici, o in discussioni accademiche riguardanti il settore pubblico, il ruolo dello Stato e dei gruppi di pressione, è possibile imbattersi nell’espressione ‘Interesse Pubblico’? L’obiettivo della mia ricerca è l’analisi, dal punto di vista della teoria politica ma in un’ottica multi-disciplinare, del concetto stesso di Interesse Pubblico. Partendo da un’analisi semantica dei concetti di interesse e di pubblico, cerco di riassumere lo stato della lettaratura sul tema e di sottolineare le difficoltà che hanno incontrato i diversi tentativi di una definizione chiara e completa del concetto, provando infine a costruire un nuovo schema tipologico che dia conto di cinque possibili concezioni di Interesse Pubblico (formalista, sostantiva, proceduralestipulativa, aggregativa, realista), delle quali provo a discutere i principali problemi teoretici e le implicazioni latenti, soprattutto riguardo ai quadri politici da esse delineati e al loro giudizio sull’attività dei gruppi di interesse e delle lobby nell’arena socio-politica

Lobbying in Europe: Public Affairs and the Lobbying Industry in 28 EU Countries

This is a 32 chapter guide to the workings of lobbying in the EU and associated debates.It is to aid transparencyFor those studying or working in the field of Public Affairs, in the wide area that connects politics, law, business and communication, Europe represents a fascinating challenge. The European continent provides an incredibly rich picture of political cultures, of institutional frameworks, of governmental styles, of different social, economic and historical traditions, which make up probably the most complex and variegated scenario we may find in the whole world. Even limiting our view to the twenty-eight European Union member states, and considering the unprecedented effort of convergence between different political and legal systems represented today by the EU and by an on-going integration process, we are in front of the most multifaceted Public Affairs arena on the planet, with a composite frame of political systems, a multi-level governance, a population of more than half a billion people speaking at least twenty-four different languages, and one of the most competitive and developed markets, representing around 25% of world GDP. To be able to comprehend how Public Affairs work in such a complex and unique environment can bring us to comprehend a lot about both the industry of Public Affairs in itself and that particular environment as well. That is why, in conceiving this volume, we chose to focus on Europe and on Public Affairs. We decided to narrow our perspective to the EU countries, for a twofold reason. Firstly, we needed a clear and objective criterion to select the cases to analyse and so decide what countries to include in our overview, and EU membership appeared a sufficiently good and definite one, leading us to twenty-eight different case studies (plus the one on the supranational environment of “Brussels bubble”): a size which certainly can be considered rather large in terms of empirical data collected, and – filling an existing gap in the existing literature on the subject – for the first time covering the whole range of national cases within the European Union itself. Secondly, unlike other European countries which are not members of the EU (in 2016 at least), such as Switzerland, Norway or Ukraine, all EU member states have witnessed a convergence and the development of common frameworks of values and institutional designs, due to the influence of the integration process and the shared belonging to a political union, thus allowing common references to be found and making some comparisons easier for an observer. We also chose a field, that of Public Affairs and lobbying, which is meaningful for a number of reasons. Study lobbying in order to study democracy What is democracy today? The world became too complex, trade unions and industry associations no longer enough Multiplicity of interests and policy networks Neo-corporatism, elitism and pluralism in political science History of lobbying (Phil?) Definition of lobbying, theoretical problems “the word lobbying has seldom been used the same way twice by those studying the topic” (Baumgartner and Leech 1998, 33) (Beyers, Eisin and Maloney 2008

Chi detta l’agenda? Le dichiarazioni pubbliche dei gruppi di interesse sul Recovery Fund

The so-called «Recovery Fund» represented a perhaps unrepeatable opportunity for Italian interest groups to see their own requests transformed into public policies. This article focuses on how the most important organized interests mobilized and contributed to the public debate on the Recovery Fund by attempting to answer three main research questions: which interests have received greater media visibility with respect to the RF? Which issues those same interest groups brought to the at-tention of public opinion? With what consequences (if any) to the main contents of the plan itself? We focus on the 20 most important Italian interest groups, recon-structing their lobbying activity and public frames through the coding of their media interventions and press coverage from September 2020 to the end of April 2021

Computational Morphogenesis

IASS-IACM 2008 Session: Computational Morphogenesis Session Organizers: Makoto OHSAKI (Kyoto University), Hiroshi OHMORI (Nagoya University) -- Plenary Lecture: Abstract, Slides and Video: "Computational morphogenesis: Its current state and possibility for the future" by Hiroshi OHMORI (Nagoya University) -- Keynote Lecture: "Linear mixed integer programming for topology optimization of trusses and plates" by Makoto OHSAKI, Ryo WATADA (Kyoto University) -- "Optimal design of glass grid shells with quadrilateral elements by means of a genetic algorithm" by Mario SASSONE, Alberto PUGNALE (Politecnico di Torino) -- "Development of intelligent truss optimization system" by Seung-Chang LEE, Jung-Keun OH (Samsung Corporation) -- "Shell surface with curved fold lines inspired by paper folding art" by Rohamezan ROHIM (Universiti Teknologi MARA), Kok Keong CHOONG (Universiti Sains Malaysia), J. Y. KIM (Hyupsung University) -- "Modeling of clothing and interactions with the body using continuum degenerated shell finite elements" by Colby C. SWAN, Xiaolin MAN, Rob W. WILLIAMS (University of Iowa) -- "Structural analysis for multi-folding and deployable structures" by Masatoshi NAKAZAWA (Tohoku Gakuin University), Ichiro ARIO (Hiroshima University), Andrew WATSON (Loughborough University) -- "Structural behaviour of shell surface in the form of Mobius strip" by Kok Keong CHOONG, Min Sheng KUAN, (Universiti Sains Malaysia) -- "On the interaction between architecture and engineering: the acoustic optimization of a reinforced concrete shell" by Mario SASSONE (Politecnico di Torino), Tomas MENDEZ (Caracas, Venezuela), Alberto PUGNALE (Politecnico di Torino) -- "Singularities" by Peter MACAPIA (Pratt Institute/Columbia University), Frank BITONTI, Robert BAKER, Charles KWAN (Pratt Institute) -- "Optimal structural shapes for shells using hybrid GA" by Nidur SINGH, C.V. RAMAKRISHNAN, D.K. SEHGAL (IIT Delhi

Endometriosis shows no impact on the euploid blastocyst rate per cohort of inseminated metaphase-II oocytes: A case-control study

Objective: To evaluate the true impact of endometriosis on oocytes' competence defined as blastulation, euploidy and implantation rates. Design: Retrospective multicenter case-control study involving infertile couples undergoing ICSI with qPCR and trophectoderm biopsy-based PGT-A. Patients affected from endometriosis (n = 210) were diagnosed through transvaginal sonography or surgical history with histological confirmation. Each case was matched to two controls (n = 420) according to IVF clinic, maternal age at retrieval (38.6 ± 2.7 yr), number of previous failed IVF treatments (0.5 ± 0.8) and number of metaphase-II oocytes retrieved (6.1 ± 3.7 per patient). The primary outcome was the mean euploid blastocyst rate per cohort of inseminated metaphase-II oocytes. Other embryological, clinical, obstetric and neonatal outcomes were also evaluated. Results: The mean euploid blastocyst rate per cohort of inseminated metaphase-II oocytes was identical in the two groups (18 %±22 %) independently of maternal age. No difference was shown for all embryological outcomes investigated. The live birth rates per vitrified-warmed single euploid blastocyst transfer were also similar (67/158, 42 % in patients affected from endometriosis versus 132/327, 40 % in matched-controls). No difference was reported in the gestational and neonatal outcomes. The cumulative live birth delivery rates among completed cycles were also identical (61/201, 30 % versus 117/391, 30 % in endometriosis and matched-control groups, respectively) independently of maternal age. Conclusions: Endometriosis might not impair oocyte developmental and reproductive competence, although its potential impact on the number of metaphase-II oocytes retrieved cannot be ignored. This information is critical for clinicians during counseling to outline an effective strategy to treat infertile patients affected from this condition. Future prospective studies are needed to evaluate the impact of endometriosis stage on euploidy rates

Voce: Prelievi e analisi di campioni

Con la legge 30.6.2009 n. 85 l'Italia ha ratificato l'adesione al Trattato di Pr\ufcm, in vista del rafforzamento della cooperazione tra Stati nella lotta al terrorismo, alla criminalit\ue0 transfrontaliera e alla migrazione illegale, tramite lo scambio di informazioni genetiche. La novit\ue0 pi\uf9 saliente che l'adesione al Trattato ha importato nell'ordinamento interno concerne l'introduzione di un'inedita disciplina dei prelievi coattivi di materiale biologico, volta alla tutela dei diritti individuali nell'impiego processuale di strumenti tecnico-scientifici che consentano di non disperdere il materiale probatorio relativo ad un fatto criminoso. Il tema rievoca la tradizionale distinzione che attribuisce all'imputato la duplice funzione di \u201corgano\u201d ed \u201coggetto\u201d nella formazione della prova, a seconda del contributo attivo o passivo che lo stesso apporti alla vicenda processuale. Questi \ue8 considerato \u201corgano\u201d di prova nell'espletamento di attivit\ue0 che costituiscono esercizio del diritto di difesa, nelle due componenti, positiva e negativa, del diritto di difendersi provando e del diritto al silenzio. Viceversa, si parla di imputato come \u201coggetto\u201d di prova allorquando gli sia richiesto un mero pati rispetto all'attivit\ue0 di istruzione probatoria, come accade nelle ispezioni, nelle perquisizioni, nelle ricognizioni personali, nonch\ue9, pi\uf9 in generale, negli accertamenti che si espletano sul corpo del giudicabile, il quale viene in rilievo non come parte processuale, ma come mera entit\ue0 fisica. Il regime di nuovo conio \ue8 intervenuto a colmare la lacuna normativa lasciata dalla sentenza n. 238 del 1996 con cui la Corte costituzionale aveva dichiarato l'illegittimit\ue0 dell'art. 224, comma 2, c.p.p. nella parte in cui consentiva interventi peritali sul corpo della persona, in violazione del principio di riserva di legge che presidia, ex art. 13 Cost., la libert\ue0 personale. La pronuncia ha individuato un \u201cnocciolo duro\u201d rappresentato dalla libert\ue0 corporale, indissolubilmente legata ai principi di libert\ue0 morale, integrit\ue0 psico-fisica e salute della persona, non comprimibili a fini processuali. La Carta fondamentale prevede un'unica ipotesi di lesione del diritto alla salute nell'ambito dei trattamenti sanitari obbligatori, per finalit\ue0 estranee all'accertamento penale; la libert\ue0 morale, peraltro, rappresenta il quid pluris che sopravvive alla compressione del potere statale, persino durante la pi\uf9 intensa restrizione della libert\ue0 personale. Se questo \ue8 il quadro costituzionale di riferimento, \ue8 evidente come il previgente regime in materia di prelievi biologici coattivi abbia disatteso le indicazioni provenienti dalla Consulta. Difatti, a distanza di quasi un decennio dal monito del Giudice delle leggi, il legislatore intervenne (con la legge 31 luglio 2005, n. 155) \uabin un modo persino pi\uf9 imbarazzante dell'inerzia sino ad allora mantenuta\ubb, attribuendo un potere di intrusione corporale (attraverso il prelievo di capelli o saliva nel corso delle indagini) alla polizia giudiziaria, previa autorizzazione - anche orale, purch\ue9 confermata per iscritto - del pubblico ministero, a soli fini identificativi e purch\ue9 sussistesse il pericolo di alterazione o dispersione della res. Non era contemplato il potere giudiziale di disporre un prelievo biologico a fini peritali e l\u2019esclusivo orientamento teleologico dell\u2019atto d\u2019indagine ne limitava fortemente l\u2019utilit\ue0. Veniva, pertanto, inopinatamente elusa la doppia riserva, di legge e di giurisdizione, che presidia la materia. La riforma realizza una netta soluzione di continuit\ue0 rispetto alla normativa precedente, attraverso l'individuazione nell'organo giurisdizionale del baricentro del micro-sistema normativo dedicato ai prelievi biologici coattivi. Se la libert\ue0 personale pu\uf2 subire restrizioni per atto motivato dell'autorit\ue0 giudiziaria, pertanto anche del pubblico ministero, l'intrusione nella sfera corporale esige l'egida di un soggetto super partes, indifferente rispetto all'esito del processo. Il legislatore ha costruito una disciplina minuziosa, concernente sia l'an che il quomodo dei prelievi, in ossequio alla riserva di legge dettagliata (nei \u201cmodi\u201d e nei \u201ccasi\u201d) imposta dalla Consulta. Ne \ue8 derivato un apparato \uabmulti-livello\ubb, calibrato sulla sistematica del codice e diversificato in base all'orientamento teleologico dell'accertamento \u2013istituzionale, probatorio, investigativo o identificativo-, in cui ogni tipologia \ue8 rigidamente separata dalle altre