Fifty Years of European Integration: A Remarkable Achievement

The following sections outline four main phases in the history of European integration. First, this Article examines the decisive contribution that European integration made in the immediate postwar years to solving the German question and achieving Franco-German rapprochement. Second, it looks at the steps taken in the mid-1950s to launch the broader European Economic Community (“EEC”). The next section explains the difficulties encountered in completing the single market, which were eventually overcome in the late 1980s. The mixed record of the EU, launched in 1993 following ratification of the Treaty on European Union ( Maastricht Treaty ), is then examined. The final sections provide a brief assessment of the achievements of European integration and an overview of the integrative opportunities and individual initiatives that have characterized the process so far

Learning lessons? The registration of lobbyists at the Scottish parliament: a reply to Coldwell

The Scottish Parliament was founded on principles of openness and accessibility and signalled the potential for a new style of politics post devolution. In the aftermath of allegations of political sleaze early in the life of the new institution, the Standards Committee of the Scottish Parliament conducted an inquiry into the registration of lobbyists. This process attracted much comment and criticism from public affairs practitioners and the Scottish media. Based on original empirical research, numerous interviews and first hand observation, this paper offers a response to some of these criticisms and suggests the efforts by parliamentarians to regulate their relations with lobbyists need to be grounded in principles which apply to all outside interests seeking to influence the democratic process

Doing the Business? Newspaper reporting of the business of football

This research draws upon a growing interest within media sociology in the ways in which news is shaped by information flows between sources; it focuses on how the media, and newspapers in particular, report on the business aspects of the UK football industry. Media interest in the workings of the City and issues of corporate governance extend beyond the conventional business pages to encompass the sports pages, commentary and even editorializing. The case study in this article centres on the Scottish club, Celtic, and serves to illustrate how public interest in sport can help illuminate aspects of how financial news is produced and reported in the print media. The article argues that much of the growing and complex business side of the game goes largely unreported and that there is evidence of an over-reliance on celebrity sources by journalists and a lack of knowledge or experience among sports reporters in reporting business stories

Submission to standards committee consultation on lobbying the Scottish Parliament, 28 February

The Stirling Media Research Institute has been engaged in an ongoing programme of research into the public relations and lobbying industry in Scotland, the UK and Europe since 1996 . We have been encouraged by the Standards Committee's recognition of the importance of lobbying as a matter of both professional and public concern, and we welcome the opportunity to respond to the consultation paper. Our contribution is offered in the spirit of independent academic analysis. We have monitored the growth and development of the lobbying industry in Scotland and interviewed a wide range of lobbyists and public relations professionals ranging across the commercial (consultancy and in-house) and voluntary sectors. As part of our research activity, the SMRI has been a corporate member of ASPA since its inception. When we joined, it was made clear we were researchers and not in any way engaged in professional lobbying. Our research at the UK and European levels has also brought us into contact with commercial and voluntary sector lobbyists who work in other jurisdictions, and has broadened our perspective on the issues relating to lobbying

Italy seen through British eyes: a European middle power?

This article analyses the British perceptions of contemporary Italy and Italian politics. Through the use of a number of sources (parliamentary debates, governmental documents, newspaper articles and interviews) it argues that Italy is not perceived, within Great Britain, as a great power within the European system nor it is viewed as a peripheral actor. Rather, it suggests that Italy seems to have finally found in the post-Cold War scenario its proper role–a European middle power, with important responsibilities within a regional sub-system. A frequent request–and expectation–coming from British politics and society is that Italy should take on more international responsibilities, even in the sphere of defence–as the different readings of Italy's role and leadership in Afghanistan and Lebanon reveal. However, Italy's ability to play this role is believed to be hampered by several factors: its uncertain political situation, its unwillingness to engage in military operations, its reluctance to respect international commitments and its structural economic problems. As a result, further possibilities of cooperation with other international partners as well as its potential for autonomous action on the international stage are, in several cases, precluded. Moreover, if the relations between Italy and the UK are usually seen in a positive way, and Italy is viewed as a reliable partner, the nature of the cooperation between the two countries is often considered to be fragile and based on short-term common interests and strategies

Two Steps Forward and Three Steps Back: The "Cliff Effect" - Colorado's Curious Penalty for Increased Earnings

Simply being employed does not mean economic self-sufficiency for women in Colorado. In fact, it may actually work against them. Currently in Colorado, public assistance for the working poor isn't designed to allow women the opportunity to incrementally increase their wages to work toward self-sufficiency. In fact, as a family's earnings increase and they rise above the official poverty level, they begin to lose eligibility for tax credits, childcare subsidies, health care coverage and food stamps even though they are not yet self-sufficient. So although parents may be working and earning more, their families can't reach financial security. This is called the Cliff Effect, and it results in many women refusing pay increases, forcing them to live a life of dependence. We conducted groundbreaking research to learn more about the causes of the Cliff Effect and lay the groundwork for solutions

Retrieve and Refine: Improved Sequence Generation Models For Dialogue

Sequence generation models for dialogue are known to have several problems: they tend to produce short, generic sentences that are uninformative and unengaging. Retrieval models on the other hand can surface interesting responses, but are restricted to the given retrieval set leading to erroneous replies that cannot be tuned to the specific context. In this work we develop a model that combines the two approaches to avoid both their deficiencies: first retrieve a response and then refine it -- the final sequence generator treating the retrieval as additional context. We show on the recent CONVAI2 challenge task our approach produces responses superior to both standard retrieval and generation models in human evaluations

Frontier Democracy: Constitutional Conventions in the Old Northwest

Review of: Frontier Democracy: Constitutional Conventions in the Old Northwest, by Silvana R. Siddali

1996 Survey of Bald and Golden Eagles in Nebraska

John Dinan, Nongame Bird Program Manager, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, 2200 N. 33rd st., Lincoln, NE 68503-0370 (phone: 402/471-0641; Fax: 402/471-5528), supplied the results of the 1990 (January 3-15) Bald and Golden Eagle surveys. Nine organizations and twenty-one individuals participated in the survey. Conditions for 1996 survey: Temperatures 10 to 50 0 F. The Niobrara River had 70 to 100% ice cover, while the unchannelized portion of the Missouri River was mostly open. The channelized portion of the Missouri was open but had floating ice. The Platte River had 50 to 90 % ice cover; the South Platte, 30 to 80 %; and the North latte was only 10 % ice-covered west of the Bridgeport area, but 50 to 90 % ice-covered east of there. The Loup River was 50 to 90 % ice-covered. Most lakes and reservoirs were 95 to 100 % ice-covered except for Lake McConaughy, which had 30% ice cover