From ECSC to European Union: An Analysis of the Evolution of the Institutions of European Integration

The policymaking process of the European Union (EU) is particularly convoluted and reflects an institutional structure that is unique among governance entities. The institutional structure of the Union is complex, with a multitude of co-decision making and advisory bodies. The ways in which these institutions interact in the Union’s policymaking process (i.e., the EU’s organizational structure) is governed by a complex set of treaties. We argue that institutional and organizational structures have normative content because they embody specific ideologies of integration. A historical analysis of the evolution of European integration reveals that the peculiarities of the European Union's institutional and organizational structure are a result of the influence of three distinct ideologies about the desired nature of international organization: functionalism, intergovernmentalism, and federalism. The Union's roots as the European Coal and Steel Community and the ideas of Jean Monnet concerning the shape and path of European integration, moderated by federalist and intergovernmentalist ideas, were fundamental in determining the European Union’s institutional structure and shaping its policymaking process

Energy as a functional area for European integration

policy has historically played an important role in the development of the European Union (EU). This study examines the reasons for the choice of coal and atomic energy as the bases for constructing community institutions of governance and analyzes their successes and failures as functional areas of integration.Functionalist theory has provided the ideological foundations for the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. Functionalist theorists advocate technocracy as the means for overcoming the conflicts inherent in traditional political processes. Coal and atomic energy were chosen as regimes of integration because of their technocratic character and the importance attached to them, respectively, as the dominant energy source of the time and the perceived source of energy abundance in the proximate future. This vision of a process of technical integration paving the way for political union was predicated on the assumption that the political and technical functions of governance could and should be separated. In fact, energy regimes could not be removed from the political context of national governance. Hard energy regimes, which include coal and atomic energy, are technocratic polities which exclude ordinary citizens from the exercise of power and intensify international conflict. Their choice as regimes of integration bestowed on the institutions of the EC a technocratic character and made it difficult for them to claim political legitimac

An experimental study of plane jets issuing at various angles into a cross-flow

An experimental study of the properties of plane jets issuing at various angles into a cross-flow of air was conducted to obtain information relating to the momentum diffusion properties of the jet flow in order to provide a background for predicting the feasibility of the preswirl concept of the Volumetric Air Heating Receiver, an advanced solar central receiver concept. The properties investigated included the deflection of the jet axis, the decay of velocity along the jet axis, and the determination of similarity characteristics of the jet velocity profiles. Experiments were carried out for three different jetto- cross-flow velocity ratios (R = 4.0, 5.1, 6.2) and angles (θ = 90°, 75°, 60° ). Hot film anemometry was used to determine velocity magnitudes. Correlation of the data obtained revealed that the jet axes for the 90 degree angle correlated very well when the non-dimensional spatial coordinates were reduced by R² whereas the axes for the 75 and 60 degree angles correlated well when their coordinates were reduced by R. This suggested that there was a prominence of momentum effects for the smaller angles, as opposed to a prominence of energy (inertia) effects for the normal jet. The decay of excess non-dimentional velocity for all experimental conditions was very well correlated when the non-dimentional natural coordinate (jet axis) was reduced by R, the relationship between the two being very nearly linear with a -0.77 power of s/hR. The velocity profile data obtained proved to be impossible to correlate and no conclusions on velocity profile similarity could be drawn. The jet axis and velocity decay correlations proved useful in concluding that the preswirl concept for the V.A.H.R. could be feasible given large enough velues of jet velocity ratio and jet orifice apperture, in order, however, to be possible to draw any definite conclusions for the receiver design, a scaled model of the V.A.H.R. would need to be constructed and tested

The Long Path to European Union: A Historical-Institutional Analysis of Proposals for European Integration from 800 to 1938

From the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century CE, until the establishment of the first truly supranational European institutions after the Second World War, many attempts were made to unify and bring peace to Europe. While the first attempts were for hegemonic unification, from the fourteenth century on, several plans were put forth for a civil unification. Each of these plans proposed specific institutions which were to bring together the sovereigns and (later) the nations of Europe for a peaceful coexistence. This study describes these numerous proposals, identifying the values and goals underlying the institutional structures each proposal set up. We argue that institutional structures have normative content, in that they embody specific ideologies of the European integration. Our analysis shows that the various proposals embody three distinct ideologies: integration through, and for the purpose of enhancing national sovereignty, integration through federation which limits national sovereignty, and integration through arrangements for free commerce that bypasses national sovereignty

A rational model for assessing and evaluating complex interventions in health care

Background: understanding how new clinical techniques, technologies and other complex interventions become normalized in practice is important to researchers, clinicians, health service managers and policy-makers. This paper presents a model of the normalization of complex interventions.Methods: between 1995 and 2005 multiple qualitative studies were undertaken. These examined: professional-patient relationships; changing patterns of care; the development, evaluation and implementation of telemedicine and related informatics systems; and the production and utilization of evidence for practice. Data from these studies were subjected to (i) formative re-analysis, leading to sets of analytic propositions; and to (ii) a summative analysis that aimed to build a robust conceptual model of the normalization of complex interventions in health care.Results: a normalization process model that enables analysis of the conditions necessary to support the introduction of complex interventions is presented. The model is defined by four constructs: interactional workability; relational integration; skill set workability and contextual integration. This model can be used to understand the normalization potential of new techniques and technologies in healthcare settingsConclusion: the normalization process model has face validity in (i) assessing the potential for complex interventions to become routinely embedded in everyday clinical work, and (ii) evaluating the factors that promote or inhibit their success and failure in practic

Writing the Land: An Interdisciplinary Experiential Approach

Written assignments in college courses are most often analytical in nature (i.e., essays—expository or persuasive, book or research paper reviews, annotated bibliographies, research pa-pers, etc.). The one notable exception is creative writing, where assignments are typically fiction, literary nonfiction, and poetry. While the crea-tive approach to writing is rarely utilized outside this specific area, there is mounting evidence that it has much to offer to learning in all areas of study. Studies show that reflective writing (pieces in which the student writes about the per-sonal element of his or her learning experience) is an important component in a successful learn-ing process, regardless of the subject or field of study. Reflective writing facilitates deep-level processing and has been shown to be an im-portant positive element of experiential learning. This paper will discuss these findings and present an example of the use of reflective writing in the context of an experiential field-based environ-mental studies course