How the EU’s personnel carousel affects its legitimacy

The EU’s institutions have a relatively high level of personnel turnover. If previous trends continue, for instance, up to a third of the ministers who participate in the Council of the EU this month will have moved out of their positions within a year. Drawing on a new edited volume, John A. Scherpereel examines the impact this personnel carousel has on the EU’s legitimacy

The Effects of Ministerial Turnover on the Vertical Articulation of Power in the Council of the EU

This paper seeks to determine how high levels of turnover at the apex of the Council of the European Union affect the relative strength of ministers and bureaucrats in the Council system. We test two rival hypotheses. One hypothesis, based in the general political science literature on legislatures, suggests that high rates of turnover will empower bureaucrats. A second hypothesis, based on previous studies of ministers and bureaucrats in the Council, implies that high rates of turnover will increase uncertainty and drive up ministerial involvement. The paper begins by presenting descriptive statistics on ministerial turnover in the Council. It shows that, by any metric, rates of Council turnover are very high. We then present statistical models that gauge the effects of turnover on the level at which Council decisions are made. We find support for the classical comparative hypothesis—higher levels of turnover are associated with lower levels of control by nominal principals. This finding generates new insights into Council dynamics and informs debates about the nature and conditions of accountability in the EU

Malignant mesothelioma

Malignant mesothelioma is a fatal asbestos-associated malignancy originating from the lining cells (mesothelium) of the pleural and peritoneal cavities, as well as the pericardium and the tunica vaginalis. The exact prevalence is unknown but it is estimated that mesotheliomas represent less than 1% of all cancers. Its incidence is increasing, with an expected peak in the next 10–20 years. Pleural malignant mesothelioma is the most common form of mesothelioma. Typical presenting features are those of chest pain and dyspnoea. Breathlessness due to a pleural effusion without chest pain is reported in about 30% of patients. A chest wall mass, weight loss, sweating, abdominal pain and ascites (due to peritoneal involvement) are less common presentations. Mesothelioma is directly attributable to occupational asbestos exposure with a history of exposure in over 90% of cases. There is also evidence that mesothelioma may result from both para-occupational exposure and non-occupational "environmental" exposure. Idiopathic or spontaneous mesothelioma can also occur in the absence of any exposure to asbestos, with a spontaneous rate in humans of around one per million. A combination of accurate exposure history, along with examination radiology and pathology are essential to make the diagnosis. Distinguishing malignant from benign pleural disease can be challenging. The most helpful CT findings suggesting malignant pleural disease are 1) a circumferential pleural rind, 2) nodular pleural thickening, 3) pleural thickening of > 1 cm and 4) mediastinal pleural involvement. Involvement of a multidisciplinary team is recommended to ensure prompt and appropriate management, using a framework of radiotherapy, chemotherapy, surgery and symptom palliation with end of life care. Compensation issues must also be considered. Life expectancy in malignant mesothelioma is poor, with a median survival of about one year following diagnosis

COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission vary with age and sex: results from the ISARIC prospective multinational observational study

Background: The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms. Methods: International, prospective observational study of 60 109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruited from 43 countries between 30 January and 3 August 2020. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate relationships of age and sex to published COVID-19 case definitions and the most commonly reported symptoms. Results: ‘Typical’ symptoms of fever (69%), cough (68%) and shortness of breath (66%) were the most commonly reported. 92% of patients experienced at least one of these. Prevalence of typical symptoms was greatest in 30- to 60-year-olds (respectively 80, 79, 69%; at least one 95%). They were reported less frequently in children (≤ 18 years: 69, 48, 23; 85%), older adults (≥ 70 years: 61, 62, 65; 90%), and women (66, 66, 64; 90%; vs. men 71, 70, 67; 93%, each P < 0.001). The most common atypical presentations under 60 years of age were nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain, and over 60 years was confusion. Regression models showed significant differences in symptoms with sex, age and country. Interpretation: This international collaboration has allowed us to report reliable symptom data from the largest cohort of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Adults over 60 and children admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to present with typical symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are common atypical presentations under 30 years. Confusion is a frequent atypical presentation of COVID-19 in adults over 60 years. Women are less likely to experience typical symptoms than men

"Absorbing the Shock: Enlargement’s Effects on the Committee of the Regions"

[From the Introduction]. The Committee of the Regions (CoR) is a novel, infrequently studied node in the EU’s system of governance. Established by the Maastricht Treaty, the CoR was designed to recognize the voice of regional and local authorities in the Union’s policy-making process. In addition to embodying the Union’s commitment to subsidiarity, the CoR was meant to address the democratic deficit by offering representatives of sub-national bodies a formal place on the EU’s policy-making stage. Scholars debated the practical and theoretical implications of the Committee in the years immediately following its establishment. They wondered, among other things, whether the CoR could overcome the diversity of its membership, whether it could establish an effective niche within the EU’s decision-making system, whether it could truly help to overcome the democratic deficit, and whether sub-national authorities across the EU would appreciate the body as an effective channel of representation. After ten years of CoR activity and in the wake of 2004’s historic enlargement, the moment is fortuitous to address some of these questions anew. This paper briefly analyzes the first decade of CoR activity and pays particular attention to the possible effects of enlargement on the Committee’s modus operandi. What role has the Committee struck for itself within the EU’s policy-making game? Has it succumbed to the bickering and immobility that some early analysts predicted? How will enlargement affect the CoR’s emerging position within EU politics? Will it reinforce, detract from, or otherwise transform the CoR’s roles? Might it bury the CoR in acrimony and (further) discredit the body in the eyes of the Union’s more powerful and established institutions? The paper attempts to throw light on these questions

Ratchets and See-Saws: divergent institutional patterns in women’s political representation

Women’s representation in legislative and executive offices has increased in recent decades. We show, though, that while global legislative and executive trend lines have positive slopes, the two institutions experience distinctive temporal dynamics. When levels of women’s legislative representation rise, they tend not to slip back beyond their newly achieved level—women’s legislative representation tends to be characterized by a ratchet effect. This effect is relatively rare in cabinets, where increases in women’s representation are often followed by decreases. We call the latter phenomenon the see-saw effect: Countries experience one or more steps back for every step forward. These differences have normative and analytical implications. Normatively, we suggest that cabinet see-sawing is particularly problematic when domestic power balances are weighted toward executives. Analytically, we encourage researchers to use indicators of women’s empowerment that account for time and inter-institutional balances and identify factors that affect cross-country variation in temporal trends

Will rising powers undermine global norms? The case of gender-balanced decisionmaking

Will rising world powers tilt global norms in less progressive directions? While there has been much theoretical speculation on this question, few scholars have explored it empirically. This article uses existing empirical evidence to test the extent to which countries compromise their own values to gain favor with influential countries. We analyze the gender of ambassadors sent to rising powers and established powers and suggest that this analysis generates insight into the likely effects of rising powers on global norms. We find that the probability that a country will send a woman ambassador to a rising power is significantly lower than the probability that it will send a woman ambassador to an established world power. We show that this difference increases when the sending country exhibits high levels of international economic dependence. Our findings imply that the rise of countries like China, Russia, and India may undermine the global gender-balanced decision-making norm and progressive global norms more broadly

Gender norms and Women's political representation: a global analysis of cabinets, 1979-2009

What role does the international diffusion of gender norms play in determining recent increases in women's political representation? We argue that norm diffusion has larger positive effects on women's cabinet representation than on women's legislative representation. We also show that within cabinets, norm diffusion affects low‐prestige appointments more than high‐prestige appointments. We test these arguments using an original database of ministers from 1979 to 2009 and find that the association of women's representation with three separate indicators of international diffusion—levels of women's representation among neighboring states, levels of women's representation among intergovernmental organization partners, and time since ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women—is consistent with our arguments

Gender-Balanced Representation and the Erosion of Global Liberal Norms

behaviour-shaping power of global liberal norms? The paper uses updated dyadic data on ambassadorial appointments to address this question. It focuses on the fate of a global liberal norm on gender-balanced representation. It argues that when powerful international partners discount the importance of gender balance, governments become less likely to prioritise gender balance themselves. The pattern of nodding toward partners’ norms is particularly pronounced for governments of structurally dependent, poorer countries. We find that the gender-balanced representation norm has eroded in the last five years. In this period, countries like Sweden and Germany have increased their support for global liberal norms, but China has become an increasingly vocal opponent. We also find that countries’ international power positions—not their broad cultural value systems (e.g. ‘Asian values’)—affect partner countries’ approaches. We suggest that the pressure for states to prioritize women’s political representation will weaken further unless rising powers dramatically reorient their current behaviour