...‘Is there a democratic deficit at the heart of the EU?’ Plan: Intro: -What is a democratic deficit? The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political union of 27 member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU operates through a system of supranational independent institutions and intergovernmental negotiated decisions by the member states. Important institutions of the EU include the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the European Central Bank. The European Parliament is elected every five years by EU citizens. It is often implied that the EU has a withholds some elements of a democratic deficit. A democratic deficit can be described as when a democratic institution or organisation, is seen as not fulfilling its democratic foundations when the operations and practices of that organisation become potentially undemocratic. A good example of this in the UK would be the view that the House of Lords increases the UK Parliaments democratic deficit, as the peers that sit in the House of Lords are neither elected nor accountable. I shall depict in the following essay both the arguments that provide the basis for there being a democratic deficit within the EU, and those that suggest that the EU has become/is more democratic than made out to be. Main body: - Elite domination is often a widely discussed cause of the democratic deficit within the EU. Germany and France...
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...certainly brings many advantages to Europe. However, the political and economic instability that both caused and was caused by the Euro crisis threatens the further perpetuation of this currency. The onset of the Euro crisis came about when the Greek government admitted to a budget deficit much larger than they had previously divulged. Interest rates skyrocketed and, despite efforts to reduce spending, Greece ultimately fell bankrupt. Concerns over the decline of a state that represents only 2.5% of the EU’s GDP could have been redressed, had it not been for inflexible provisions of the Treaty on European Union. The “no-bailout clause” did not permit the EU or any national governments to undertake the debts of another state, a rational but perhaps detrimental provision in 2010. Moreover, one may argue that the Eurozone was in jeopardy from the start when more than half of its members did not meet the debt limits. The Stability and Growth Pact, an instrument created to monitor these debt limits, was quickly ignored. Even Germany and France, the EU’s most influential members, regularly exceeded deficit allowances and thus smaller states like Greece were able to build debt unchecked (see Appendix A). If the EU had taken more decisive actions in early 2010 to remit significant loans to impose austerity measures on Greece, the world’s confidence may have quickly revived. Instead, Greek bonds were downgraded and investors began to fear the subsequent decline of other southern states. Danger...
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...GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS The present constitution--which dates from 1848 and has been amended several times, most recently in 1983--protects individual and political freedoms, including freedom of religion. Although church and state are separate, a few historical ties remain; the royal family belongs to the Dutch Reformed Church (Protestant). Freedom of speech also is protected. Government Structure The country's government is based on the principles of ministerial responsibility and parliamentary government. The national government comprises three main institutions: the Monarch, the Council of Ministers, and the States General. There also are local governments. The Monarch. The monarch is the titular head of state. The Queen's function is largely ceremonial, but she does have some influence deriving from the traditional veneration of the House of Orange, from which Dutch monarchs for more than 3 centuries have descended. Her influence also derives from her personal qualities as Queen and her power to appoint the "formateur," who forms the Council of Ministers following elections. Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers plans and implements government policy. The Monarch and the Council of Ministers together are called the Crown. Most ministers also head government ministries, although ministers-without-portfolio exist. The ministers, collectively and individually, are responsible to the States General (parliament). Unlike the British system, Dutch...
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...South Africa - A Brief Overiew South Africa’s subtropical location, moderated by ocean on three sides of the country and the altitude of the interior plateau, makes South Africa a warm and sunny country. The country consists of nine provinces. Guateng province centred on Johnnesburg is the economic heart of South Africa and the largest inland city in the world not situated on a river. It is a multiparty democratic republic, home to 53m people (South African government 2013). Nobel prize winner Desmond Tutu called it the Rainbow Nation, because of its ethnic diversity (79.8% black, 8.9% white, 8.9% coloured, 2% Indian, 0.4% other e.g. Chinese, Malay). Diversity is a key feature of South Africa, where 11 languages are recognised as official, although English is the main language of government and business. The country was home to San bushmen, but in the 17th century Dutch and French Huguenot (Afrikaner) colonists settled in the Cape, whilst further east Zulus were migrating down from what is now Zimbabwe. British settlers started arriving in the 19th century; however the discovery of gold in the 1880s led to mass immigration. This created tensions between the Afrikaners and British culminating in the Boer war (1899-1902). Britain despite being victorious agreed to self rule in 1910, albeit only for European. Afrikaners came to monopolise government, whilst the British dominated the commercial world. Successive governments from 1948 operated an increasingly racist system (apartheid)...
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...ER E N U OP A E CON OMY E o o cP p r 3 1 Mac 2 0 c n mi a es 1 | rh 0 8 E o o c o en n ena e l gde r ae cn mig vra c i n na e uo ra r Ii B g a eg n E R P A C MMISO U OEN O S IN EMU@10 Research In May 2008, it will be ten years since the final decision to move to the third and final stage of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), and the decision on which countries would be the first to introduce the euro. To mark this anniversary, the Commission is undertaking a strategic review of EMU. This paper constitutes part of the research that was either conducted or financed by the Commission as source material for the review. Economic Papers are written by the Staff of the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, or by experts working in association with them. The Papers are intended to increase awareness of the technical work being done by staff and to seek comments and suggestions for further analysis. The views expressed are the author’s alone and do not necessarily correspond to those of the European Commission. Comments and enquiries should be addressed to: European Commission Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs Publications B-1049 Brussels Belgium E-mail: Ecfin-Info@ec.europa.eu This paper exists in English only and can be downloaded from the website http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications A great deal of additional information is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu) ...
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... Euro(EUR) Real effective exchange rate index Base: 2005(100) Inflation rate 3.5% (As of May 2011) GDP per capita (2010) 30,782(US$ at PPP) Unemployment rate (2010) 20.1% Real GDP growth (2010) -0.1% 2. POLITICAL CONDITIONS AND EXTERNAL RELATIONS A member of the European Union, Spain, officially known as the Kingdom of Spain, is a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary form of democratic government. The head of state is King Juan Carlos 1 in whose reign Spain transitioned successfully to democracy in 1978. Spain is highly regarded for its measures to address gender equality and is...
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...The NeWer EntrantS Poland, Hungary & Romania The NeWer EntrantS Poland, Hungary & Romania As globalization of the market place continues, many companies that conduct within their nation’s boundaries will find it difficult to survive. Currently worldwide competition is influencing virtually every business in Canada, United States and other industrialized nations. One way to cope with this is to expand beyond a country’s own frontiers. Poland, Hungary and Romania are three countries that are very competitive in the skilled manual labour. This makes them a very attractive location for large corporations to outsource low, medium and sometimes even high levels of production. Multi-national firms can take advantage of cheap labour, high level of technical competence, and excellent infrastructure in these three nations. The Central Eastern European countries are part of the expanding Europe and the countries that fall within this area have opened up many opportunities for multi-national Firms. Many of these countries have recently joined the European Union and NATO have made formidable alliance and agreements that boost their investment opportunity value. History: Poland is a large country with a long and distinguished history. (Europe Global Studies, pg. 48) Poland's history as a state begins near the middle of the 10th century. By the mid-16th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ruled a vast tract of land in central and Eastern Europe. During the 18th century...
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...India and the Global Economy 14 CHAPTER The big story of the last decade for India has been its arrival on the global scene. The Indian economy had broken free of the low-growth trap from the early 1980s. By the mid-1990s, following the economic reforms of 1991-3, India began to appear as a player of some significance in the global economy. Then, following the East Asian crisis of the late 1990s, and from the first years of the first decade of the 21st century there was no looking back. India’s exports began to climb, its foreign exchange reserves, which for decades had hovered around 5 billion dollars, rose exponentially after the economic reforms and in little more than a decade had risen to 300 billion dollars. Indian corporations that rarely ventured out of India were suddenly investing all over the world and even in some industrialized countries. When, in 2009, the Group of 20 (G-20) was raised to the level of a forum for leaders, India was a significant member of this global policy group. 14.2 The globalization of India has given rise to new opportunities but it has also brought with it new challenges and responsibilities. It means that the global economy can no longer be viewed from a spectator’s standpoint. What happens there has large implications for India. Every time there is a major financial crisis anywhere in the world, there is need to take brace position. And, in turn, the rise and fall of India’s growth rate has an impact on global growth and there...
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...context of normative (International Society) and materialist approaches (World System’s Theory). First, European imperialism’s export of a flawed Westphalian state system is summarized. How Europe is “caught” between MENA and the US and co-opted into a division of labour toward the region is then surveyed. The gap between the normative rhetoric and actual inequitable outcomes and structures constructed under the Euro-Mediterranean partnership is examined, looking at the three “baskets” of economic developmental, political reform and cultural convergence. Four “hard cases,” EU policies toward Palestine, Iran, Syria and Turkey, illustrate the ambiguities of the EU’s approach to MENA. MENA public opinion’s ambivalence toward Europe reflects these realities. The conclusion is that the EU’sMENA policy is caught between the rhetoric of post-colonialism and practices of neo-colonialism. Keywords: EU, Middle East, Euro-Mediterranean partnership, neo-liberalism 1. Introduction Europe literally made the contemporary Middle East states system. International society approaches stress the export of institutions and norms, notably the modern nation-state, from the European core. As Little...
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...political and economic rise and what it means for the world is now a central preoccupation of analysts and policy-makers. Public awareness of China is likely to increase as the 2008 Olympics in Beijing draw near. This Research Paper is intended to act as a resource that Members of Parliament and their staff can draw upon when engaging with China’s remarkable transformation. Part I provides key facts and figures about China. Parts II and III review recent developments and future prospects by addressing four key questions. Is political authoritarianism sustainable? Can China’s development be peaceful? What are the main domestic economic challenges facing China? What is China’s impact on the world economy? Part IV summarises key aspects of UK and EU relations with China. The Paper ends with a select bibliography of key sources. The Research Paper is intended to act as a platform for a series of Library Standard Notes that will address in more depth specific issues about China that there is space here only to discuss briefly. Jon Lunn, Maria Lalic, Ben Smith and Claire Taylor INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE SECTION Ed Beale, Ed Potton, Ian Townsend and Dominic Webb ECONOMIC POLICY AND STATISTICS SECTION HOUSE OF COMMONS LIBRARY Recent Library Research Papers include: List of 15 most recent RPs 06/21 06/22 06/23 06/24 Unemployment by Constituency, March 2006 Direct taxes: rates and allowances 2006-07 The Northern Ireland Bill [Bill 169 of 2005-06] Social Indicators [includes article:...
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...the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the author. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. 2 Abstract This dissertation analyses the problem of how to create more just and democratic global governing institutions, exploring the approach of a more formal system of collective decision-making by the three main actors in global society: governments, civil society and the business sector. The thesis seeks to make a contribution by presenting for discussion an addition to the system of international governance that is morally justified and potentially practicable, referred to as ‘Collective Management’. The thesis focuses on the role of civil society, analysing arguments for and against a role for civil society that goes beyond ‘soft power’ to inclusion as voting members in inter-governmental decision-making structures in the United Nations (UN) system, the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organisation...
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...BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Y/601/0546 MARKET ENVIRONMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR MOHAMED ABOOBUCKER JAZEER AHAMED Introduction Business environment is composed of two words ‘Business’ and ‘Environment’. In economic sense ‘Business’ means human activities like production, purchase or extraction or sales of products or services that are performed to earn money. Meanwhile ‘Environment’ means the aspect of surroundings. Business environment is the set of conditions institutional, political, economical, legal or social that is uncontrollable and affects the functions of the organization. Business environment consists of two components: external environment and internal environment. Internal environment includes of 5 M’s like management, money, machinery, material and man. On the other hand, External environment consists of demo-graphical factors, socio-cultural factors, political factors, geo-physical factors, government and legal factors. LO1 1.1 ------------------------------------------------- Different Types of Organizations Organizations A social unit of people that is structured and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals. All organizations have a management structure that determines relationships between the different activities and the members, and subdivides and assigns roles, responsibilities, and authority to carry out different tasks. Organizations are open systems they affect and are affected by their environment. Read more: http://www...
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...Berend (2000) – From Plan to Market, From Regime Change to Sustained Growth in Central and Eastern Europe * After the state socalism collapsed in Central and Eastern Europe in the early 1990s, the Washington consensus of 1989 (a broadly accepted set of criteria for a reform program) was adopted as a blueprint for the process of transformation. * Central elements: * Macro-economic stabilization (for countries with significant inflation and indebtedness) * New institutions * Legislation * Price and trade liberalisation * Radical privatization * Most of the “transformatology“ literature is based on the assumption that the elimination of deformed non-market economies, a restoration of market, and private ownership, paired with a laissez-faire free market system would automatically solve all major economic/social problems of the transforming countries. * The economic crisis within the Central and Eastern Europe area started much earlier – in the mid-late 1970s when growth slowed significantly and the terms of trade for the state socialist countries began to deteriorate (1973 first oil shock 20% decline, for some even 26-32%) Schumpeter’s theory of “structural crisis”: advancements in technology lead to decline of the old leading sectors and export branches based on old technology, generating wide-ranging slow-down and decline and causing an economic crisis even in rich, advanced countries. However, although rising new technology...
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...Labour and Constitutional Reform ✓ Labour’s Reforms ✓ The Changing Constitution ✓ Party Views and Manifestoes ✓ Assessment and Evaluation ✓ Evidence 1. Labour’s Reforms o The constitutional reforms initiated by the Labour Government elected in 1997 together promise to transform the institutional structure of the United Kingdom. ▪ The Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly are the most tangible signs of this transformation but other constitutional reforms are either in being or well under way …… ▪ including the Human Rights Act of 1998 (incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights), ▪ a directly-elected mayor and assembly for London, ▪ a reformed House of Lords ▪ and Freedom of Information legislation. ▪ Although reform of the electoral system for Westminster now seems a somewhat distant prospect, the 1999 elections to the Welsh Assembly, to the Scottish Parliament and to the European Parliament were all conducted using electoral systems very different from the traditional first-past-the-post method. ▪ Referendums have been widely used, and more promised o Lecture by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine of Lairg, to the Constitution Unit, Westminster. 8 December 1998 o No other Government this century has embarked upon so significant or wide-ranging a programme of constitutional reform as the New Labour Government...
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...voices about the way Zimbabwe should handle its future relations with the World Bank, IMF and donor community, and these represent a significant faction across the formal political divide. The views of these intellectuals will have to be considered even as the international community attempts to ease Zimbabwe out of its political and economic impasse. In the short term, it appears that the economic crisis has affected the domestic political balance of power in a number of ways. First, its effect on the living standards of the vast majority of Zimbabweans has created a groundswell of support for opponents of the current government, whose mismanagement and corruption are seen to be at the heart of the problem. Much of this discontent is manifested through the support given to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). There must obviously be a question about the viability of the MDC in a ZANU-PF dominated, post-Mugabe...
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