"Europe in Transformation: How to Reconstitute Democracy?"

Europeanization and globalization are frequently held to undermine national democracy; hence raising the democracy in the multi-level constellation that makes up the European Union? We present three models for how democracy can be reconstituted: (a) it can be reconstituted at the national level, as delegated democracy with a concomitant reframing of the EU as a functional regulatory regime; (b) through establishing the EU as a multi-national state based on a common identity(ies) and solidaristic allegiance strong enough to undertake collective action; or (c) through the development of a post-national Union with an explicit cosmopolitan imprint. These are the only viable models of European democracy, as they are the only ones that can ensure equal membership in a self-governing polity. They differ however with regard to both applicability and robustness

Representation through deliberation-The European case

This article shows that the main pattern of European democratization has unfolded along the lines of an EU organized as a multilevel system of representative parliamentary government and not as a system of deliberative governance as the transnationalists propound. But the multilevel EU has developed a structure of representation that is theoretically challenging. In order to come to grips with this we present an institutional variant of deliberative theory, which understands democracy as the combination of a principle of justification and an organizational form. It comes with the following explanatory mechanisms: claimsmaking, justification and learning which in the EU also program institutional copying and emulation mechanisms. We show that the EU has established an incomplete system of representative democracy steeped in a distinct representation-deliberation interface, which has emerged through a particular and distinct configuration of democratization mechanisms

Norway’s rejection of EU membership has given the country less self-determination, not more

Norway rejected membership of the European Union in a referendum in 1994, but participates in the single market through the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement. Erik O. Eriksen argues that while the referendum campaign was won largely on the basis of an appeal to democracy and the principle of the country retaining power over its own laws, the opposite has occurred in practice. He writes that Norway has become deeply entangled in the European integration project and is, for all intents and purposes, part of the EU, but without any influence

'You'll hate it': why the Norway option amounts to self-inflicted subservience to the EU

Why did David Cameron decline 'the Norway option', and why did the Norwegian prime minister warn Britain against Brexit, saying 'You'll hate it'? Erik O Eriksen (University of Oslo) argues that for the UK, the so-called Norway option of EEA membership would amount to self-inflicted subservience to the EU. Norwegians have traded any say in EU rules for all-important access to the Single Market. ..

Reactivity difference between protolytic forms of some macrocyclic chromium(III) complexes in ligand substitution and electron transfer processes

The review provides insight into the mechanism of ligand substitution and electron transfer (from chromium( III) to iron(III)) by comparison of the reactivity of some tetraazamacrocyclic chromium(III) complexes in the conjugate acid-base forms. Use of two geometrical isomers made possible to estimate the influence of geometry and protolytic reactions in trans and cis position towards the leaving group on the rate enhancement. Studies on the reaction rates in different media demonstrated the role played by outer sphere interactions in a monodentate ligand substitution

FRW Universe Models in Conformally Flat Spacetime Coordinates. III: Universe models with positive spatial curvature

We deduce general expressions for the line element of universe models with positive spatial curvature described by conformally flat spacetime coordinates. Models with dust, radiation and vacuum energy are exhibited. Discussing the existence of particle horizons we show that there is continual annihilation of space, matter and energy in a dust and radiation dominated universe, and continual creation in a LIVE domined universe when conformal time is used in Friedmann-Robertson-Walker models with positive spatial curvature. A general procedure is given for finding coordinates to be used in Penrose diagrams. We also calculate the age and the redshift of some universe models using conformal time.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figure

FRW Universe Models in Conformally Flat Spacetime Coordinates. II: Universe models with negative and vanishing spatial curvature

We deduce general expressions for the line element of universe models with negative and vanishing spatial curvature described by conformally flat spacetime coordinates. The empty Milne universe model and models with dust, radiation and vacuum energy are exhibited. Discussing the existence of particle horizons we show that there is continual creation of space, matter and energy when conformal time is used in Friedmann-Robertson-Walker models with negative spatial curvature.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figure

Computation of local exchange coefficients in strongly interacting one-dimensional few-body systems: local density approximation and exact results

One-dimensional multi-component Fermi or Bose systems with strong zero-range interactions can be described in terms of local exchange coefficients and mapping the problem into a spin model is thus possible. For arbitrary external confining potentials the local exchanges are given by highly non-trivial geometric factors that depend solely on the geometry of the confinement through the single-particle eigenstates of the external potential. To obtain accurate effective Hamiltonians to describe such systems one needs to be able to compute these geometric factors with high precision which is difficult due to the computational complexity of the high-dimensional integrals involved. An approach using the local density approximation would therefore be a most welcome approximation due to its simplicity. Here we assess the accuracy of the local density approximation by going beyond the simple harmonic oscillator that has been the focus of previous studies and consider some double-wells of current experimental interest. We find that the local density approximation works quite well as long as the potentials resemble harmonic wells but break down for larger barriers. In order to explore the consequences of applying the local density approximation in a concrete setup we consider quantum state transfer in the effective spin models that one obtains. Here we find that even minute deviations in the local exchange coefficients between the exact and the local density approximation can induce large deviations in the fidelity of state transfer for four, five, and six particles.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, final versio

Lessons from Norway: the case for a second referendum on Brexit

Britons did not vote over what type of relationship or association the UK should have with the EU post-Brexit. The UK should hold a second referendum over the final deal of the negotiations with the EU. In this blog, Erik O. Eriksen (ARENA Centre for European Studies) draws on Norwegian experiences in arguing that there should be a second referendum on Brexit. After all, he argues, the UK is a parliamentary democracy and referenda are only advisory