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Anna Bellavitis. Identite, mariage, mobilite sociale: citoyennes et citoyens a Venise au XVIe siec1e (Collection de 1'Ecole Francaise de Rome, 282.) Rome: Ecole Francaise de Rome, 2001. 419 pp. ISBN: [...]

This article questions the relevance of the use of participatory democracy, in order to build a new theoretical frame for the understanding of the government of French cities. The nature of local actors, the way they are organized and deal with common issues, will be assumed to challenge the spreading of participatory democracy. The analysis will consider the problem of the adoption of the word « governance » from corporate and development patterns to urban ones, the structural shackles due to French municipal organization, and some special weaknesses in the way associations try to get involved in urban government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the Quebec referendum on sovereignty-association in 1995, many political observers assumed that immigrant voters would support the federalist option, and that only a minority among them would vote for the Parti Québécois option. However, in view of the considerable changes in the linguistic integration of immigrants since the 1980's, electoral behavior became less predictable. Focusing on a survey in the spring of 1996, the authors confirm the existence of increased pluralism among immigrant voters. Moreover, the data emphasize factors in favor of a social vote among those citizens, especially in the Montreal region. Diversification of electoral choice was supported by the percentage of those who learned French and who identified themselves as Quebecers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the process of slave insurrection, emancipation and re-enslavement during the revolutionary period in Guadeloupe. Need to understand the slave resistance of the period as the expression of a political project which created its own political culture; Transformation of the language of rights and the meaning of citizenship; Failure of the political imagination of metropolitan administrators to maintain fairly conservative regimes involving labor coercion.

Copyright of African Studies Review is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of African Studies Review is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue Canadienne de Science Politique is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of African Studies Review is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue Canadienne de Science Politique is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue Canadienne de Science Politique is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of African Studies Review is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue Canadienne de Science Politique is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Analyzing three timely Canadian cases, this article develops an important relationship between the theory and practice of deliberative democracy. The Canadian Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), Nova Scotia Power Incorporated (NSP), and Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) recently held consultative initiatives appearing to seek the democratic empowerment of citizens. In each case, we see institutional features of deliberative democracy. But only the TCHC's participatory budgeting process begins to fulfill the promise of deliberative empowerment, that is, inclusive, informed, and equal public deliberation focused on a common good at the policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation stages. Why is the case of the TCHC characterized by greater deliberative empowerment than the cases of NSP and the NWMO? I explore possible explanations, all of which focus on the political context in which deliberation takes place. My overarching finding is that the motivation of policy elites within these organizations is key in the deliberative empowerment of citizens at the institutional level. I conclude by identifying factors that might account for the presence or absence of this motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In developing his theory "Justice as Fairness," John Rawls imagined a hypothetical initial situation designed to yield principles of justice to regulate society's main institutions, or what he called the "basic structure." The positing of citizens as fully capable in this hypothetical "original position" allowed Rawls to consider advantage in terms of the primary social goods (all-purpose means) a citizen held. Rawls reasoned that the representatives of free and equal citizens would design principles of justice that yield equal liberties and "a fair equality of opportunity," while ensuring that permissible inequalities are those which "contribute effectively to the benefit of the least-advantaged" citizens (2001: 64). This essay considers two criticisms of the Rawlsian approach to distributive justice made by capability theorists (principally, Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum). Sen's criticism is that primary social goods will not be equally usable by citizens because of variances in functional capabilities. Extending Sen's criticism, Nussbaum argues that disadvantaged citizens are not represented in the selection of the principles of justice, and this is problematic for a theory that emphasizes a fair equality of opportunity, especially for society's least advantaged members. This paper argues that the Rawlsian approach can successfully respond to and accommodate these concerns. The main ideas are as follows: (1) The representatives in "the original position" are to represent the known range of citizen capability rather than the normal range. (2) Rawls's two principles of justice would still be chosen, but these would be preceded by a lexically prior principle of basic citizen capabilities, which Rawls characterized as the "two moral powers" (rationality and reasonableness). (3) The desirability of other functional capabilities (those which enable persons to use primary social goods to realize their ends) and their development are to be publicly debated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I show that the strong electoral success of the Liberal party in Canada stems in great part from the strong support of Catholics and Canadians of non-European origin. In the absence of the fervent backing it enjoys among these two groups, the Liberals would not be among the most successful democratic parties in the world. Yet, we do not have a good understanding of why Catholics and non-Europeans vote Liberal. I argue that the group bases of Liberal support should lead us to question the common interpretation that the party's centrist policy position is the key to its electoral success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the literature on leadership, the Certainty Axiom holds that leaders exercise leadership through reassuring uncertain citizens. It is thought that policy entrepreneurs particularly must supply much certainty to lead people to adopt new policies. A new theory—the Strategic Manipulation of Uncertainty (SMU) model—challenges this axiom. Its propositions hold that political leaders may strategically address public uncertainty to secure specific objectives. Risk-averse, traditional ("transactional") leaders communicate more certainty, and less uncertainty, than their transformational counterparts. Risk-acceptant, entrepreneurial ("transformational") leaders supply less certainty, and more uncertainty, than their transactional counterparts. Testing these hypotheses through analyzing the public speeches of Saskatchewan Premier Roy Romanow and Alberta Premier Ralph Klein supports the SMU model. As a transactional leader, Premier Romanow communicated more certainty, and less uncertainty, than Premier Klein. Premier Klein communicated less certainty, and more uncertainty, than Premier Romanow. The results challenge the utility of the Certainty Axiom and suggest that leaders address citizens' uncertainty strategically, increasing it or reducing it, in pursuit of particular policy objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which aims to challenge the current scholarly consensus depicting Plato as having renounced the political ideal of his "Republic" and modifies it in favor of a mixed constitution in his last work, the "Laws". Indication that Plato's critique of democracy remains as firm in the "Laws" as it was in the "Republic" and the "Statesman"; Refusal of Plato to concede any room to any form of popular sovereignty that could threaten the government of knowledge.

This article evaluates whether municipal amalgamations in the Canadian province of Ontario met the provincial government's objectives of employing fewer politicians while maintaining councillors' accessibility to citizens. On the basis of a survey of residents and interviews with community leaders and councillors, the article concludes that in the amalgamations studied, the provincial government achieved its objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critiques of the public/private divide in Western political thought do not go far enough in analyzing the full range and character of relations in the private sphere as demonstrated in this article, which analyzes John Locke's theorisation about the relative authority of wives, servants and slaves. A third-wave feminist analysis is used to illustrate the theoretical relevance of group-based identities that, far from having a uniform relation to the political power afforded to free (male) citizens, are hierarchically stratified. Thus it is demonstrated that a basic problem within second-wave feminist analysis of Lockean, and more broadly defined liberal thought, is the tendency to categorize women as "wives" of free citizens, and not to analyze adequately other dimensions of identity, thereby ignoring the explicit divisions and hierarchy among different groups of women in one of the earliest accounts of the private sphere in liberal theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The explosive growth of information and communication technologies (ICTs) threatens to erode the federal nature of the Canadian state and its underlying territorial identities. ICTs challenge both the importance of territoriality in political life and federalism's preoccupation with boundary maintenance. This challenge is brought into bold relief by the promise of a single electronic portal through which citizens will be able to interact seamlessly with their local, provincial and national governments. The forecast is that federalism as a system of government is increasingly at odds with the information age that ICTs are fashioning. This forecast, however, should not be seen as a lament for federalism as new forms of e-government and freedom from territorial restraints are likely to be embraced enthusiastically by Canadian citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that many Canadian political scientists have not properly understood why executive federalism has failed to secure constitutional change. The author contends that Canadian political scientists have often assumed that accommodation and brokerage require elites. While it is true that executive federalism is no longer a viable method for resolving constitutional disputes, there is no evidence for the parallel assumption that the principles underlying accommodation have been rejected. The resolution of constitutional conflicts would benefit from new models of "public brokerage" that strive not for elite accommodation but for the accommodation of mass publics through the creation of institutions where members of the public can engage in deliberative activities along with elites. The author challenges the argument that constitutional change is not possible because of citizen participation, arguing instead that the Charlotte-town Accord failed in 1992 not because of public involvement, but (at least partially) because compromise was forged at the elite level while ratification took place at the mass level. The author suggests that theories of public deliberation provide a more useful paradigm for elaborating models for constitutional change in Canada than do the traditional approaches of executive federalism and consociationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue Canadienne de Science Politique is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Devant les atrocités commises au Rwanda entre avril et juillet 1994, la communauté internationale s'est engagée à faire respecter le droit international humanitaire et à juger les responsables des infractions à ce droit. C'est ainsi que le Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies, par sa résolution 955 du 8 novembre 1994, a créé le Tribunal pénal international, chargé déjuger à la fois les personnes présumées responsables d'actes de génocide ou d'autres violations graves du droit international humanitaire commis sur le territoire du Rwanda, et les citoyens rwandais présumés responsables de tels actes ou violations commis sur le territoire d'États voisins. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Le Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda (TPIR) a été créé le 8 novembre 1994 par le Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies, dont il est un organe subsidiaire. Il a pour mission de contribuer au rétablissement et au maintien de la paix et à la réconciliation nationale, en jugeant les personnes présumées responsables d'actes de génocide ou d'autres violations graves du droit international humanitaire commis sur le territoire du Rwanda, ainsi que les citoyens rwandais présumés responsables de tels actes ou violations commis sur le territoire d'États voisins entre le 1er janvier et le 31 décembre 1994. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

En 1985, la Croix-Rouge suédoise a ouvert, à Stockholm, un Centre de réadaptation pour les réfugiés torturés. Elle s'est fondée sur une étude approfondie de ce qui avait été fait dans le monde, et tout particulierement au Danemark oû fut cree le premier centre de ce genre.La Suàde acepte environ 15 000 réfugiés par an. Les groupes les plus importants viennent du Chili, d'Iran, d'Irak, du Liban, d'Ethiopie, de Turquie. Nombre de ces personnes ont êté soumises à différents genres de torture. Ni les hôpitaux, ni les services sociaux, ni les avocats, ni les fonctionnaires de l'immigration ne savaient comment traiter les effets de la torture. Maintenant la société suédoise toute entiére doit faire face aux besoins de ces nouveaux citoyens. Le manque de connaissance et de compréhension peut, inconsciemment, conduire à des actes dénues d'humanite. Dans cette perspective, il etait naturel que la Croix-Rouge suédoise prenne l'initiative de rassembler les connaissances existantes sur la fa¸con de traiter les séquelles de la torture. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

En 1977, la trentième Assemblée mondiale de la Santé a décidé que le principal but des gouvernements et de l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS), dans le domaine social, devrait être «qu'en l'an 2000, tous les citoyens du monde aient atteint un niveau de santé les mettant en mesure de mener une vie productive sur le plan économique et sur le plan social»La Conférence internationale sur les Soins de Santé primaires (SSP) qui s'est tenue à Alma-Ata (URSS) en 1978 a affirmé que le droit à la santé est l'un des droits de l'homme et que les soins de santé devraient âtre accessibles, abordables et conformes aux règles de la société. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]