Search

Begin New Search Topic Government

3301. Private Governance and Democracy in International Finance

Author:
William D. Coleman
Publication Date:
07-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
The governance arrangements in international finance mirror, in part, those found domestically by featuring a partnership between relatively autonomous state agencies and private actors. Where they depart from domestic arrangements is in the relatively stronger position of private actors, particularly global financial conglomerates, in decision-making. Given the importance of the governance arrangements in international finance for the welfare of individuals and firms throughout the world, it is important to ask whether these arrangements conform to accepted criteria for democratic decision-making. Five criteria are identified that might be applied to international sites of governance. These criteria are then applied to three groups of institutions, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), and “private regimes” especially predominant in the derivatives subsector. Based on this analysis, important gaps are found when these governance institutions are held up to democratic principles.
Topic:
Globalization, Government, International Cooperation, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
United States

3302. State Power and the Asian Crisis

Author:
Linda Weiss
Publication Date:
11-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
The Asian financial crisis has re-opened the debate about the role of the state in the region's industrialisation. Just when there seemed to be growing acknowledgment across the economic and political disciplines that certain kinds of state involvement were vital to the rapid upgrading of the Northeast Asian economies and that understanding what made states effective or ineffective was a crucial issue, along came the financial hurricane. Profound disarray of an economic and social nature has been the most immediate and important consequence of this watershed event. Theoretical disarray has followed closely in its path. This paper seeks to inject some theoretical rigour into the discussion of the Asian crisis. State power in the Asian setting - whether and in what way the state's transformative capacity is weak or robust - and how it relates to the impact of international markets is central to the argument that follows.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
Asia and Northeast Asia

3303. Coming to Terms with Globalisation: Non State Actors and Agenda for Justice and Governance in the Next Century

Author:
Richard Higgott
Publication Date:
02-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
Globalisation is now a near ubiquitous phenomenon. Indeed, it is the most over used and under specified term in the international policy sciences since the passing of the Cold War. However, as most actors in the international policy domain recognise, it is a term that is not going to go away. Policy responses--of state and non state actors alike--are increasingly coming to terms with globalisation, however defined.
Topic:
Democratization, Globalization, Government, Non-Governmental Organization, and Political Theory
Political Geography:
Europe

3304. International Institutions, Globalisation and Democray: Assessing the Challenges

Author:
Tony Porter and William D. Coleman
Publication Date:
07-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
The advance of globalization has involved additional governance capacity at supranational levels and thereby raised concerns about democracy, which has traditionally been based on the nationstate. For the most part, these governance arrangements take the form of intergovernmental fora, where nation-states are the principal players. In some policy areas where globalization is more pronounced, such as international finance, governance appears to feature some autonomous institutional development. Autonomy may come in the form of a relatively strong international organization with a mandate anchored in international law such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), or of the institutionalization of norms and values that give the intergovernmental forum an autonomous and distinct global perspective. As Held (1995) has observed, democratic theory has assumed that the nation-state is the relevant decision-making unit. The migration of political authority to supranational levels thus has the potential to undermine long-standing democratic arrangements.
Topic:
Globalization, Government, International Law, International Organization, International Political Economy, and Political Theory

3305. Cooption and Repression in the Soviet Union

Author:
Dmitriy Gershenson and Herschel I. Grossman
Publication Date:
12-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
The Soviet ruling elite, the nomenklatura, used both cooption and political repression to encourage loyalty to the communist regime. Loyalty was critical both in defusing internal opposition to the rule of the nomenklatura and in either deterring or defeating foreign enemies of the Soviet Union. The cost of coopting people into the communist party was a decrease in the standard of living of members of the nomenklatura, whereas the cost of political repression was the danger that members of the nomenklatura would themselves be victimized. We assume that the nomenklatura determined the extent of cooption and the intensity of political repression by equating perceived marginal benefits and marginal costs.
Topic:
Cold War and Government
Political Geography:
Russia and China

3306. Germany: Migration Policies for the 21st Century

Author:
Philip L. Martin
Publication Date:
04-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC)
Abstract:
As immigration and integration become subject to heightened public debate and policy attention, Germany and the United States must rethink the policy process in order to promote policy consistency and awareness of its international repercussions. Recent German and U.S. debates and policy changes point to the need for agencies to monitor developments and suggest policy options, and administrative structures that permit some flexibility in administering immigration and integration policies.
Topic:
Government, Migration, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and Germany

3307. Federalism in Russia: How Is It Working

Publication Date:
02-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
This conference was sponsored by the National Intelligence Council and the Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the US Department of State. John Battilega of the Science Applications International Corporation served as rapporteur. The views expressed in this conference summary are those of individuals and do not represent official US Government positions or views.
Topic:
Security, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
Russia and United States

3308. Yet Another Transition? Urbanization, Class Formation, and the End of National Liberation Struggle in South Africa

Author:
David Everatt
Publication Date:
02-1999
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
Comparative Urban Studies Project Policy Brief Yet Another Transition? Urbanization, Class Formation, and the End of National Liberation Struggle in South Africa Presented February 8-9, 1999, at the Woodrow Wilson Center for the Comparative Urban Studies Project's Research Working Group on Urbanization, Population, the Environment, and Security funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. These policy briefs do not represent an official position of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars or the U.S. Agency for International Development. Opinions expressed are solely those of the authors. South Africa's negotiated settlement is widely hailed as a small miracle. What is the state of the miracle five years on?
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, and Government
Political Geography:
Africa and South Africa

3309. Water for Big Cities: Big Problems, Easy Solutions?

Author:
Richard Middleton, John Kalbermatten, and Peter Rogers
Publication Date:
02-1999
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
In large urban area of developing countries, about 30% of the population does not have access to safe water, and 50% does not have adequate sanitation. That means that over 500 million people do not have safe water, and 850 million people do not have proper sanitation. By the year 2020, there will be nearly 2 billion more people in urban areas needing these services. Putting it another way, in the next 20 years water supply coverage will have to more than triple, and sanitation coverage more than quadruple, if everyone in these countries is to be adequately served. To do this, even at a low consumption figure of 100 liters/person/day, will require an additional 88 BCM/year - both of water to be supplied and of wastewater to be safely disposed of.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, Government, and Industrial Policy

3310. Urbanization and Security

Author:
Alan Gilbert
Publication Date:
02-1999
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
This paper will argue that no consistent or meaningful relationship exists between urbanization and security. For a start, the words urbanisation and security do not mean a great deal because they embrace too many cross-cutting ideas and processes. Second, researchers have found few consistent correlations between the numerous dimensions of security and urbanisation. Third, insofar as one can find a close correlation, independent variables usually account for the statistical relationship. Fourth, even when a direct correlation between security and urbanisation exists, the direction of causation is by no means obvious. Finally, every country and every city contains so much internal variation that most generalisations across nations, let alone across regions, are rendered meaningless.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Civil Society, Development, and Government