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The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze the performance of the Regional People’s Representatives Council (DPRD) of Bone Regency in implementing the legislative and budgeting functions. The type of research used is a mixed methodology that combines qualitative methods and quantitative methods. The data source of this research is members of the Bone Regency DPRD 2014-2019 membership period. The results showed that the legislative function was in the medium category, the budgeting function was in the medium category. For this reason, efforts should be made to improve the performance of the DPRD by improving the quality of the human resources of DPRD members and following comprehensive training, especially in the field of legislation and budgeting. Overall the performance of the DPRD Bone Regency 2014-2019 membership period in the implementation of the supervisory function shows a fairly good performance.

Resumo: O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar os processos legislativos sobre políticas de fluoretação no Brasil, de 1963 a 2019. Utilizou-se o referencial teórico de Pierre Bourdieu. Foi realizada uma pesquisa documental sobre os processos legislativos que abordam o tema da fluoretação no Brasil como medida de saúde pública e as discussões que ocorreram no Congresso Nacional. As fontes de pesquisa para a construção do artigo foram os sítios eletrônicos oficiais da Câmara dos Deputados e do Senado Federal, para consultar os atos legislativos relacionados à fluoretação no Brasil. De 1963 a 2001 e em 2017, foi constatada uma disputa entre os métodos de fluoretação das águas de abastecimento, água mineral e fluoretação do sal. Entretanto, permeava a compreensão da importância e benefícios acerca da utilização do flúor sistêmico. De 2003 a 2013, os projetos contestavam a utilização do flúor sistêmico, propondo sua utilização apenas em meio tópico. Nos anos 1960, 1970 e em 2017, os atos legislativos apresentavam mais aproximação ao campo científico e foram propostos por parlamentares da oposição. Diferentemente do tema da fluoretação das águas, dos 6 atos legislativos favoráveis à fluoretação do sal, apenas um era proveniente de um profissional da saúde e apenas dois de legisladores do eixo Sudeste. Houve maior participação de projetos de legisladores do Centro-oeste e do Nordeste. Aqueles com formação na saúde apresentaram tomadas de posição em defesa de algum método de fluoretação sistêmica. Esta análise possibilita interpretar o processo histórico de construção em resposta ao problema constituído e suas distintas estratégias de enfrentamento. Abstract: The aim of this study was to analyze legislative proceedings on fluoridation policies in Brazil from 1963 to 2019. The theoretical reference was Pierre Bourdieu. A document search was performed on legislative proceedings that address the theme of fluoridation in Brazil as a public health measure and the discussions in the National Congress. The sources for the article were the official websites of the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) and the Senate to consult the legislative acts related to fluoridation in Brazil. The study showed that from 1963 to 2001 and in 2017 there was a dispute between fluoridation methods for the water supply, mineral water, and table salt fluoridation. However, there was a crosscutting understanding of the importance and benefits of systemic fluoride use. From 2003 to 2013, the bills challenged the use of systemic fluoride, proposing its use only in topical applications. In the 1960s, 1970, and 2017, the legislative bills showed a closer approach to the scientific field and were submitted by opposition members of Congress. Unlike the issue of water fluoridation, of the 6 legislative bills in favor of salt fluoridation, only one was drafted by a health professional da health, and only two by legislators from the Southeast region. There were more bills by legislators from the Central and Northeast. Those with training in health exhibited positions in defense of some method of systemic fluoridation. The analysis allowed interpreting the historical process of developing the response to the caries problem and the different strategies employed in this process. Resumen: El objetivo de este trabajo fue analizar los procesos legislativos sobre políticas de fluoración en Brasil, de 1963 a 2019. Se utilizó el marco referencial teórico de Pierre Bourdieu. Se realizó una investigación documental sobre los procesos legislativos que abordan el tema de la fluoración en Brasil, como medida de salud pública, y las discusiones que se produjeron en el Congreso Nacional. Las fuentes de investigación para la construcción del artículo fueron los sitios electrónicos oficiales de la Cámara de los Diputados y del Senado Federal para consultar las acciones legislativas relacionadas con la fluoración en Brasil. De 1963 a 2001 y en 2017 se constató una disputa entre los métodos de fluoración de las aguas de abastecimiento, agua mineral y fluoración de la sal. Mientras tanto, permeaba la comprensión de la importancia y beneficios a cerca de la utilización del flúor sistémico. De 2003 a 2013, los proyectos contestaban la utilización del flúor sistémico, proponiendo su utilización solamente como medio tópico. En los años 1960, 1970 y en 2017 las acciones legislativas presentaban más aproximación al campo científico y fueron propuestos por parlamentarios de la oposición. A diferencia del tema de la fluoración de las aguas, de las 6 acciones legislativas favorables a la fluoración de la sal, solamente una provenía de un profesional de la salud, y solamente dos de legisladores del eje sudeste. Hubo una mayor participación en proyectos de legisladores del Centro-oeste y del Nordeste. Aquellos con formación en salud presentaron toma de posición en defensa de algún método de fluoración sistémica. Este análisis posibilita interpretar el proceso histórico de construcción, en respuesta al problema planteado, y sus distintas estrategias de combate al mismo.

"Zum Selbstbild der Europäischen Union (EU) gehört, dass sie sich als gleichstellungspolitisch progressive Polity sieht. Es wird allerdings vielfach bezweifelt, dass diese Selbsteinschätzung auch den Praxistest besteht. In der letzten Dekade sind die gleichstellungspolitischen Aktivitäten - zumindest in legislativer Hinsicht - marginal gewesen. Der Beitrag untersucht die Mutterschutzrichtlinie (Mutterschutz-RL) von 1992 und die Bemühungen der letzten Jahre, diese zu reformieren. Diese Reform scheiterte 2015 mit dem Rückzug des Richtlinienvorschlags durch die EU-Kommission. Mit Hilfe des Verfahrens der Prozessanalyse wird der legislative Vorschlag und der Gesetzgebungsprozess hinsichtlich der Gestaltungsoptionen durch die legislativen Institutionen Europäische Kommission, Rat der EU und Europäisches Parlament untersucht. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich, dass mehr Kompetenzen für eine zentrale Gleichstellungsakteur*in - hier das EP und insbesondere der FEMM-Ausschuss - nicht ausreichen, um Fortschritte in diesem Politikfeld durchzusetzen. Das Beispiel verweist auf die sich in der letzten Dekade veränderten politischen Opportunitäten für Gleichstellungspolitik. Auch für die Zukunft sind hier im Bereich 'hard law' keine Fortschritte zu erwarten." (Autorenreferat), "The European Union identifies itself as a progressive gender equality polity. Many observers question if this self-image stands the test run. The last decade has hardly seen any legislative progress in the field of gender equality. The contribution focuses on the so-called maternity leave directive as of 1992 and the recent attempts to reform the directive. This reform came to an end when the European Commission withdrew its proposal for a directive in 2015. Employing process tracing, we investigate the legislative proposal and the 'ordinary legislative procedure' with regards to the question of the (re-)design options for the EU actors involved, i.e. the Commission, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament. Our analysis illustrates that the enhanced competencies for key equality actors - in this case, the European Parliament and its FEMM committee for women's rights and gender equality - were not sufficient to achieve real progress in this field. The case study exemplifies the changing opportunity structures for gender equality over the last decade. We assume that we will not see real 'hard law' progress in the near future." (author's abstract)

Práce všeobecné sestry v České Republice a veškeré ošetřovatelské intervence jsou úzce svázány s platnou legislativou. V roce 2017 došlo k zásadní změně ve vzdělávání nelékařských zdravotnických pracovníků novelou zákona. Ta by měla podle MZČR vyřešit akutní nedostatek sester v českých nemocnicích. Dnem 1. září 2017 nabyl v České Republice účinnosti zákon č. 201/2017 Sb., kterým se mění zákon č. 96/2004 Sb., o podmínkách získávání a uznávání způsobilosti k výkonu nelékařských zdravotnických povolání a k výkonu činností souvisejících s poskytováním zdravotní péče a o změně některých souvisejících zákonů (zákon o nelékařských zdravotnických povoláních), ve znění pozdějších předpisů. Tento zákon mimo jiné umožňuje získat vybraným zdravotnickým pracovníkům kvalifikaci všeobecné sestry nebo dětské sestry zkráceným (minimálně ročním) studiem na vyšší odborné škole. Novela zákona ruší pozici zdravotnického asistenta a místo něj zavádí pozici praktické sestry, která pracuje bez odborného dohledu. Novelou zákona 96/2004 Sb. skončila také k 1. 9. 2017 registrace nelékařských zdravotnických pracovníků u NCO NZO navázaná na celoživotní vzdělávání formou kreditního systému. Povinnost celoživotního vzdělávání zůstává v zákoně zachována v souladu se směrnicí EU 2005/36/ES. Fakticky tak přechází na zaměstnavatele povinnost umožnit či zajistit nelékařům vhodné kontinuální vzdělávání. Zde je bohužel několik technických výkladů na praktické provedení a samotný přístup zaměstnavatelů a způsob podpory či zajištění vzdělávání nelékařů se tak může diametrálně odlišovat. Během roku 2017 pak take vešla v platnost vyhláška 391/2017, která mění vyhlášku 55/2011 Sb., o činnostech zdravotnických pracovníků a jiných odborných pracovníků. Výše uvedené právní normy ve svém kontextu definují činnosti nelékařských zdravotnických pracovníků, tzn. jsou úzce spojeny se zajištěním ošetřovatelských intervencí. Ke splnění cíle byla tedy využita analýza obsahu právních předpisů České republiky. The work of a general nurse in the Czech Republic and all nursing interventions are closely linked to the applicable legislation. In 2017, there was a fundamental change in the education of non-medical health professionals by an amendment to the law. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this should solve the acute shortage of nurses in Czech hospitals. On 1 September 2017, Act No. 201/2017 Coll., Amending Act No. 96/2004 Coll., On the conditions for acquiring and recognizing competence to perform non-medical health professions and to perform activities related to the provision of health care, entered into force in the Czech Republic. and on the amendment of some related acts (Act on Non-Medical Health Professions), as amended. Among other things, this law enables selected health care workers to obtain the qualification of a general nurse or a child nurse through abbreviated (at least one year) study at a higher vocational school. The amendment to the law abolishes the position of a medical assistant and instead introduces the position of a practical nurse who works without professional supervision. The amendment to Act 96/2004 Coll. As of 1 September 2017, the registration of non-medical health professionals at the NCO NZO, linked to lifelong learning in the form of a credit system, also ended. The obligation of lifelong learning remains in the law in accordance with EU Directive 2005/36 / EC. In fact, the obligation to enable or provide suitable continuing education for non-physicians passes to the employer. Unfortunately, there are several technical interpretations of the practical implementation and the very approach of employers and the way of supporting or ensuring the education of non-physicians can thus differ diametrically. During 2017, Decree 391/2017, which amends Decree 55/2011 Coll., On the activities of healthcare professionals and other professionals, also entered into force. The above-mentioned legal norms in their context define the activities of non-medical health professionals, ie. they are closely linked to the provision of nursing interventions. An analysis of the content of the legislation of the Czech Republic was therefore used to meet the objective.

This article aims to investigate the legal and political evolution of the institution of Conditional release in Romania between 2000 and 2019 with a special focus on the abrupt changes during the mentioned period. The aim of this research consists in bringing together the redefining of the regulatory framework of Conditional release in relation to the dynamic political context and personal strategies used by the right-holder of individual liberation. Two important episodes need to be recalled for the redefinition of this concept: the establishment of the National Anticorruption Directorate; and the reform of criminal legislation, after Romania’s accession to the European Union. The general objective is to explain and understand the different stages in which liberation committees and courts of law have made use of the prerogative of dispensing conditional release, given the social role that the complementary institution of Conditional release within the institutional, territorial and functional scheme of the rule of law. I will show that amendments to criminal law, along with changes in court practice, have led to a reduction in the level of consistency between the decisions of the liberation committees and courts of law. Different legitimating strategies used by right holders are the main unexpected result of this research, as restrictive legal provisions apply to both decision levels.

Conformity Assessment of construction products is in accordance with EU concepts enabling free movement of goods within member states. The construction products (i.e. also construction product based on wood) which are liable to conformity assessment are listed in the Governmental Decree No. 312/2005 Coll. and Governmental Decree No. 190/2002 Coll. (technical requirements for construction products with CE marking). The European harmonised standards (both issued and prepared) have immediate influence on methodologies of Conformity Assessment. Methodologies and requirements on products during this process implicate also requirements on Notified Bodies and producers. The aim of the first stage of the research was to analyse the present state in this field and relations taking place during preparation and implementations of harmonised standards.

A partir da discussão legislativa em torno da videovigilância e do trabalho de campo realizado com os operadores de câmeras da Secretaria de Segurança Pública do Rio de Janeiro, o presente artigo debate importantes aspectos constituintes da videovigilância. Em especial, são analisadas a fragmentação dos sentidos e a sobredeterminação técnica, e sua implicação tanto nas expectativas em torno da videovigilância como na realização prática do trabalho de monitoramento por câmeras. Based on the legislative debates around the issue of video surveillance and on the fieldwork carried out with the camera operators of the Public Security Department of Rio de Janeiro, the present article discusses important constitutive aspects of the video surveillance. Especially analyzed are the meaning fragmentation and the technical overdetermination, and their implications as well in the expectations around the video surveillance as in the practical accomplishment of the task of video monitoring. À partir du débat législatif autour de la vidéo surveillance et du travail de terrain avec les opérateurs de caméras du Secrétariat de Sécurité Publique de Rio de Janeiro, cet article aborde quelques aspects importants qui composent la vidéo surveillance. Il analyse, en particulier, la fragmentation des sens et la surdétermination technique ainsi que leur implication dans les attentes autour de la vidéo surveillance et dans le travail de mise en place de la surveillance par caméras.

A relação entre o comportamento da elite política e as preferências gerais da população está no cerne de discussões sobre democracia representativa. Porém, pouco se sabe sobre quem influencia quem e quanto tempo demora para que tal influência seja sentida. Este artigo apresenta resultados a partir de um conjunto de dados organizados em série temporal que permite verificar a relação entre o clima da opinião pública, a escolha presidencial de instrumentos de governo (legislação extraordinária versus ordinária) e o apoio do congresso às iniciativas dos presidentes no Brasil. Foram coletadas observações mensais sobre a popularidade do presidente, padrões de votação nominal no congresso e uso de medidas provisórias, e da legislação comum, pelo executivo. Esse conjunto de dados permitiu testar, usando técnicas de séries temporais, o impacto dessas variáveis umas sobre as outras e a defasagem temporal necessária para que esses impactos se tornem significativos.The relationship between elite behavior and mass preferences is in the essence of discussions about representative democracy. However, very little is known about who influences whom and how long it takes for such influence to be felt. This article presents results from a time-series dataset that allows us to verify the relationship between the mood of public opinion, presidents' choice of policy making instrument (extraordinary vs. ordinary legislation) and congressional support to presidents' policy initiatives in Brazil. We collected monthly observations of presidential popularity, patterns of roll-call voting in congress and presidents use of "medidas provisórias" as well as regular legislation. This dataset allows us to test, using time-series techniques, the impact of these variables on each other and the amount of lags it takes for these impacts to become significant.

Background and purpose: Conflicts in the Serbian forestry sector have not been very often used as a research topic in our country. This paper presents the results from a case study conducted in the National park 'Fruška gora'. The aim of the study was to explore the collision between forestry and environmental legislation and related institutions and organizations. Material and methods: Data were collected from primary and secondary sources. Primary data were collected through in-depth interviews. Interviews were conducted with the managers of the National park and the representatives of the scientific communities, private forest owners as well representatives from the relevant Ministry. The theoretical framework is a combination of the main conflict elements embedded in the structure of the main aspects like culture, conflict management and policy development. Results and conclusion: According to the interviewees` opinions the roots of the conflict can be found in overlapping jurisdictions of the institutions and organizations in the forestry sector as well as in the implementation of the legislative and management plans. Conflict management strategy is based on sustainable management of protected areas and better implementation of laws.

This essay compares the constitutional processes in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States for deploying the armed forces. It highlights two important advantages for US lawmakers to consider from the experiences in the United Kingdom and Germany. First, the recent British vote to use military force against ISIS in Syria illustrated the importance of a public debate - even if such a debate and parliamentary vote are not required by law under the British constitution. Second, the German vote demonstrates how the legislature can shape a military mission and leave the government on a strong legal footing for deploying the military. The United States would benefit if its legislators heeded both examples.

Concepts of political leadership have been applied sparingly to parliaments, and not at all to the study of House of Commons select committees in the UK Parliament, where analysis has largely focused on their institutional capacity to scrutinise government and hold it to account. Yet examining these committees through a political leadership lens illuminates the complex role of committee chairs, a role which was significantly reshaped in 2010 with a shift to election of chairs by the whole House. This article analyses select committee chairs through the lens of political leadership, and draws on a series of interviews with chairs in order to delineate the nature of the political leadership they perform. It argues that, as chairs are now increasingly important parliamentary and policy actors, our understanding of them is significantly advanced by conceptualising their role as one of parliamentary political leadership, and that this in turn enriches our analytical toolkit when it comes to the study of parliaments. (author's abstract)

Many meaningful laws are decided not in Washington DC, but at statehouses in capitals across the country. As with Congress, conventional wisdom maintains that the ability to influence state policymaking is reserved for those with significant resources and political power, while others may observe the process but not ultimately affect it. Younger people and people with lower incomes tend to be characterized as the latter due to lower than average political participation. The efforts of college students in Indiana to change the state’s laws with respect to alcohol-related misdemeanors, examined here, is an example of how students can participate in the legislative process and substantively influence policy outcomes. Factors contributing to students’ ability to do so will be discussed along with unique legislative challenges and how they were overcome.

In scores of countries, the adoption of gender quotas has boosted the numbers of women elected to national legislatures. How does the growing presence of women affect legislative behavior regarding women’s rights? Using an original dataset of all the bills submitted to the Argentine Congress between 1983 and 2007, we analyze the relationship between women’s presence in Congress and the introduction and approval of bills related to women’s rights. Our dataset allows us to compare three periods with varying levels of women’s presence in both legislative chambers (the first without quotas, the second with a quota in one chamber, and the third with full quota implementation in both chambers). Our results confirm the necessity of distinguishing between the process of legislative behavior and its outcome. We show that many more women’s rights bills were introduced when women held a greater share of seats in both chambers. However, the approval rates of these bills actually declined. Despite their greater presence, women continue to be marginalized in the legislature and to suffer reduced political efficacy., En un número importante de países, la adopción de las cuotas de género ha incrementado el número de mujeres electas en las legislaturas nacionales. Cómo afecta la creciente presencia de mujeres en el Congreso el comportamiento legislativo respecto de los derechos de la mujer? Mediante el uso de una base de datos de todos los proyectos ingresados al Congreso argentino entre 1983 y 2007, el presente trabajo analiza la relación entre la presencia de las mujeres en el congreso y la introducción y aprobación de proyectos legislativos relacionados con los derechos de la mujer. Nuestra base de datos nos permite comparar tres períodos donde la delegación femenina varió considerablemente en ambas cámaras (uno sin cuotas, otro con cuota solo en la cámara de Diputados y un tercero con plena implementación de las cuotas en ambos cuerpos). Los resultados confirman la importancia de distinguir la actividad legislativa como proceso y como producto, al demostrar que aunque la cantidad de proyectos presentados acerca de los derechos de la mujer aumentó a medida que se incrementó la presencia de las mujeres en ambas cámaras, la tasa de aprobación de dichos proyectos disminuyó. Por consiguiente, pese a su mayor presencia en el Congreso, las mujeres continúan siendo marginadas en el proceso legislativo y su eficacia política termina siendo reducida.

This paper analyzes the dynamics of vetoes and veto overrides in the context of a multiparty legislature using an original dataset from the period 1983–2007 in Argentina. We argue that the President can use an “item” or “partial” veto to selectively delete articles, while keeping enough distributive goods in the bill to break up the coalition responsible for its passage, thereby eliminating support for an override. Our research reveals that total vetoes – which affect all legislators equally – are more likely to be overridden than partial vetoes. Contradicting the received wisdom that in multiparty legislatures override attempts are more likely under a divided government, we find that override attempts are more likely in plurality governments. We use case analyses to illustrate the main arguments developed in this paper. El trabajo estudia las dinámicas desatadas por la práctica del veto presidencial e insistencias del congreso, en el contexto de legislaturas multipartidarias, a través del análisis de una base de datos original que abarca el período 1983-2007 en Argentina. El trabajo argumenta que el presidente puede usar el veto parcial para quitar del texto, en forma selectiva, artículos puntuales, dejando al mismo tiempo en el texto bienes distributivos suficientes como para romper la coalición responsable de la aprobación del proyecto, de manera tal de eliminar la posibilidad de una insistencia. La investigación revela que los vetos totales, que afectan por igual a todos los legisladores, son más factibles de ser insistidos que los vetos parciales. En contra de lo sostenido al momento acerca de que en legislaturas multipartidarias los intentos de insistencia son más factibles bajo gobierno dividido, este trabajo encuentra que son más factibles cuando el gobierno cuenta con al menos una pluralidad en una de las cámaras. Además del análisis cuantitativo, presentamos estudios de casos para ilustrar los argumentos desarrollados en el artículo.

This special issue, “New Directions in Legislative Politics,” comes at a crossroads in a research field that, on one hand, has already contributed substantial empirical knowledge and been engaged with theory-building, and on the other hand, still remains in its early stages.

Since the return to democracy, Uruguayan presidents have built cabinets of varying natures (majority and minority coalitions, majority and minority parties). Most studies on presidential government assume that the partisan composition of a cabinet is a good predictor of the performance of a government’s legislative program. In this paper I test this hypothesis using Cox and McCubbins’ (1993, 2005) party cartel theory. The results confirm that six of the eight presidential cabinets’ legislative performances were consistent with theoretical expectations, while two were deviant cases. This article also provides a theoretical explanation for these two outliers, highlighting the importance of legislative parties, the presidential style of government, and preferences as regards legislative initiative., Desde el retorno a la democracia, los presidentes uruguayos han formado gabinetes de diferente naturaleza (coalición mayoritaria, coalición minoritaria, partido mayoritario y partido minoritario). La mayoría de los estudios del gobierno presidencial asumen que la composición partidaria del gabinete es un buen indicador para predecir qué sucederá con el programa legislativo del gobierno. En este trabajo se controla esta hipótesis a partir de la teoría del party-cartel de Cox y McCubbins (1993, 2005). Los resultados del análisis empírico confirman que seis de los ocho gabinetes presentan un desempeño legislativo ajustado a las expectativas teóricas. El resto del artículo brinda una explicación teórica sobre lo ocurrido con los casos desviados, destacando la importancia de los partidos legislativos, del estilo presidencial de gobierno y de las preferencias de sus iniciativas legislativas.

78 The article explores important changes in the EU energy structure and legislation. The authors examine the main stages of the creation of a common energy market in the EU. They analyse recent actions taken by the European Commission and the Court of Justice of the EU against its member states and energy monopolists who directly or indirectly breach the rules of competition in the energy sector. The authors come to the conclusion that liberalization of the European energy sector will eventually have serious theoretical and practical consequences for the EU, as well as third countries, including Russia.

This article discusses the relationship between Brazil's Legislative and Executive Branches in lawmaking. It identifies elements in the lawmaking system in Brazil and strategic interactions between hierarchical channels (Constitutional, complementary, and ordinary legislation) in the context of coalition Presidentialism. The model was applied to bills submitted between 1999 and 2006 and generated data that run counter to the widespread perception of a sharp divide between the respective agendas of the two branches and the hypothesis of absolute predominance by the Executive. However, the prevailing government coalition predominated in all the lawmaking channels. Various types of interaction between the branches were suggested, according to patterns of conflict and leadership by the players (leadership, cooperation, and impasse), as generated by the bills' contents. Cet article aborde les rapports entre les pouvoirs Législatifet Exécutif lors de la production de normes légales. 11 identifie des éléments du systeme brésilien de production législative et des interactions stratégiques en fonction de voies hiérarchisées (constitutionnelle, complémentaire et ordinaire) dans le contexte du présidentialisme de coalition. Ce modele a été appliqué aux propositions présentées entre 1999 et 2006 et a produit des données qui s'opposent à la perception selon laquelle il y aurait une démarcation d'agenda entre ces Pouvoirs. Elles contredisent également la these selon laquelle il y aurait une prédominance absolue de l'Exécutif. Toutefois, la coalition a prédominé dans toutes les voies. rexistence de plusieurs types d'interaction entre les Pouvoirs est ici suggérée en fonction des modeles de conflit et de leadership des acteurs (leadership, coopération et impasse) tels qu'ils sont engendrés par le contenu des propositions.

Das Grundgesetz legt fest, dass der deutsche Föderalismus seinen Niederschlag im Zwei-Kammersystem findet. Anders als im Bundestag treten im Bundesrat nicht die Parteien in den Vordergrund, sondern 16 Landesregierungen. Der Bundesrat erscheint Vielen anfällig für parteipolitisch motivierte Instrumentalisierungen. Der Wandel des Parteiensystems,hin zum Fünfparteiensystem, setzt die Fähigkeit voraus, Mehrheiten für Gesetze jenseits der klassischen Koalitionsmuster zu organisieren. Nicht weniger als sieben unterschiedliche Regierungskonstellationen waren 2010 gleichzeitig in den Ländern vorhanden. Somit sind folgende Fragen zu beantworten: Droht nun Stillstand wegen Blockaden des Bundesrats? Ist der deutsche Föderalismus handlungsfähig? Gibt es Reformmöglichkeiten und sind sie nötig?

Dieser Beitrag testet die Vetospielertheorie von George Tsebelis an der deutschen Wirklichkeit und kommt dabei zu dem Ergebnis,dass sie einige Schwächen aufweist. Die Theorie definiert 'Vetospieler' als Akteure, deren Zustimmung erforderlich ist, um im Bereich der Legislative Veränderungen am Status quo vorzunehmen. Insbesondere die Klassifizierung des Bundesrates als Vetospieler ist jedoch umstritten und berücksichtigt nicht hinreichend differenziert, dass der Bundestag ein Veto des Bundesrates bei Einspruchsgesetzen überstimmen kann. Bezogen auf die Zustimmungsgesetze ist der Bundesrat zwar Vetospieler, dennoch entsprechen auch hier die von der Theorie prognostizierten Ergebnisse selten der bundesdeutschen Wirklichkeit. Der Grund ist, dass die Wirklichkeit sehr viel komplexer ist als die Theorie, die taktisches Handeln nicht berücksichtigt.

"Post-autocratic transitions are often followed by constitutional conflicts between state powers. With respect to the question of rule of law in young democracies, clashes between the executive and legislative branches, on the one hand, and the judiciary and constitutional courts, on the other, as well as those between ordinary and constitutional courts are particularly virulent. All these conflicts have massively affected the key distinction between politics and law that had been mainly violated in the previous autocratic regimes. Based on Niklas Luhmann’s theory, this article presents a systems-theoretical approach in order to explain the occurrence of these constitutional conflicts. The central argument reads as follows: constitutional conflicts between politics and law will occur under two circumstances - if a constitutional order allows the decision of legal questions based on political criteria or vice versa, and if a constitutional order allows the judiciary or the constitutional court to decide political questions based on political criteria. This argument is further substantiated by means of two exploratory case studies with a special emphasis on post-socialist transitions in Central and Eastern Europe. The main results are eight detailed hypotheses on the question of when, in constitutional orders, and under what circumstances are constitutional conflicts to be expected." (author's abstract)

The article demonstrates that the development of 'security' as a leading category and main field of state activity in the Early Modern Era was closely interconnected with the concept of 'gute Policey' and the increasing body of police ordinances. Within Early Modern administrative law as well as in the theoretical discourses of the administrative sciences, 'security' became a crucial objective of the well-ordered police state and thus succeeded 'peace' and 'unity' as a leading category. In this respect, the growing importance of security indicates the 'secularization' of authoritarian regulatory policy. In parallel to this, administrative law was characterized by the differentiation between 'internal' and 'social' security. Whereas the former focused on exterior security threats, for example mobile marginal groups, the latter manifested itself in scopes such as 'poor relief', the 'health sector' and measures dealing with risks and hazards including bad harvests, epidemic plagues, fire hazards and natural disasters. The resulting regulatory policy gave rise to the gradual establishment of administrative measures in the area of internal and social security, ranging from surveillance to insurances. However, the addressees of ordinances and the subjects also participated in the production of security via 'guter Policey', and in this respect security policy partially adopted popular demands for security and security discourses. Altogether, the Early Modern 'gute Policey' could well be interpreted as a prototype of 'human security'. But on the other hand, 'gute Policey' also implied the juridification of security and the implementation of a state-based security policy, which ultimately led to the fundamental separation between internal security and police on the one hand and welfare policy/ administration on the other hand, by the beginning of the 19th century., Historical Social Research Vol. 35, No. 4 (2010): Special Issue: The Production of Human Security in Premodern and Contemporary History. Starting Point and Frequency: Year: 1979, Issues per volume: 4, Volumes per year: 1

"The European Commission, Europe's central supranational bureaucracy, is often depicted as a playground for external interests. The scholarly literature offers a range of sensible explanations how the Commission position is bound by national, organised societal, or party political interests. Despite substantial contributions, the empirical approach supporting such arguments often focuses on the mere comparison between a particular external interest and the legislative outcome. In this paper, we aim to add a more process-based, mechanismic perspective by empirically focussing the question how certain external interest found their way into a Commission position as captured by a legislative proposal. Against the background of a larger research project which analyses 48 position formation processes in the Commission on the basis of 133 in-depth interviews with participating officials, this paper presents mechanisms linking external interest to the final Commission position and that are transferable across specific drafting processes and across different policy fields." (author's abstract), "Die europäische Kommission, zentraler bürokratischer Akteur der Europäischen Union, wird oft als Spielwiese externer Interessen dargestellt. Die politikwissenschaftliche Literatur bietet vor diesem Hintergrund eine Reihe sinnvoller Erklärungen an, wie die Kommission bei ihrer Positionsbildung durch nationale, gesellschaftlich-organisierte oder parteipolitische Interessen beeinflusst ist. Trotz beachtlicher Forschungsbeiträge, beschränken sich empirische Arbeiten, die dieses Argument untermauern allerdings häufig auf den bloßen Vergleich eines bestimmten externen Interesses und dem Inhalt des letztlich von der Kommission vorgeschlagenen Gesetzes. Mit diesem Papier zielen wir darauf ab, diese Literatur um einen eher prozess- und mechanismus-orientierten Ansatz zu ergänzen indem wir empirisch der Frage nachgehen, wie externe Interessen ihren Weg in einen legislativen Kommissionsvorschlag gefunden haben. Wir greifen dabei auf ein breiteres Forschungsprojekts zurück, das 48 Politikformulierungsprozesse innerhalb der Kommission auf der Basis von 133 Interviews mit beteiligten Kommissionsbeamten analysiert. Auf dieser Grundlage lassen sich eine Reihe von Mechanismen identifizieren, die aufklären, wie externe Interessen mit der finalen Kommissionsposition verbunden sind, und die gleichzeitig über einzelne Prozesse und Politikfelder transferierbar sind." (Autorenreferat)

'Jüngste Forschungen zum Wahlverhalten im Europäischen Parlament (EP) kommen zum Schluss, dass die Fraktionen der unterschiedlichen politischen Parteien das legislative Verhalten beeinflussen. Dadurch wird politischer Wettbewerb im EP entlang ideologischer und nicht nationaler Linien organisiert. Daraus folgt, dass das EP eine geeignete Arena für transnationale politische Auseinandersetzungen darstellt. Die Autoren überprüfen nochmals verschiedene empirische Resultate, die diese Schlussfolgerungen unterstützen. Basierend auf der Analyse eines neuen Datensatzes behaupten die, dass die empirische Basis für diese Schlussfolgerungen bedenklich ist. Denn die namentlichen Abstimmungen, welche bisher als Basis zu Studien zum legislativen Abstimmungsverhalten gedient haben, stellen ein verzerrtes Sample für eben solche dar. Es stellt sich somit die allgemeine Frage, inwiefern die bisherige Beschreibung von Parteikohäsion oder die Charakterisierung von Parteienwettbewerb in der Legislative noch Gültigkeit besitzen. Die Resultate weisen außerdem darauf hin, dass die Fraktionen den Großteil ihrer legislativen Abstimmungen vor den Wählern verbergen und somit ihr legislatives Verhalten verschleiern. Obwohl das EP häufig als Quelle für demokratische Legitimation in der EU-Politikgestaltung genannt wird, zeigen die Resultate, dass in der Praxis die verschiedenen Fraktionen die Kontrollmöglichkeiten der Bürger signifikant behindern.' (Autorenreferat), 'A great deal of recent research on voting behavior in the European Parliament (EP) concludes that party groups dominate legislative behavior, effectively organizing political competition along ideological rather than national lines. As a result, some argue that the EP is a suitable arena for transnational political contestation. We re-examine several empirical findings used to support these conclusions. Based on an analysis of a novel set of data regarding EP votes that are unrecorded, we argue that the empirical basis for these conclusions is dubious. The fundamental finding is that roll call votes, which form the basis of studies of legislative voting behavior, are a biased sample of legislative votes. This calls into question the accuracy of any description of party unity or the character of party competition on legislation that is gleaned from roll call votes in the EP. In addition, our findings indicate that party groups hide the vast majority of legislative votes from the eyes of voters, therefore obfuscating legislative behavior. Thus, while the EP is often identified as a source of democratic accountability for EU policy-making because its members are directly elected, our findings suggest that in practice party groups significantly obstruct this channel of popular control over policy-making.' (author's abstract)

'Aufgrund der praktischen Erfahrungen der Föderalversammlung der Rußländischen Föderation 1993-1995 untersucht der vorliegende Bericht die wichtigsten Stadien des Gesetzgebungsprozesses, die von den Geschäftsordnungen ihrer beiden Kammern vorgesehen sind: Einbringung von Gesetzentwürfen in die Staatsduma und ihre Vorbehandlung; Behandlung von Gesetzentwürfen und Verabschiedung von Bundesgesetzen; Behandlung der von der Staatsduma verabschiedeten Gesetze im Föderationsrat; erneute Behandlung von Bundesgesetzen, die vom Föderationsrat abgelehnt werden, durch die Staatsduma; Verfahren der erneuten Behandlung von Bundesgesetzen, die vom Präsidenten der Rußländischen Förderation abgelehnt wurden; Verfahren der Einbringung von Vorlagen zur Verfassungsänderung. Die teilweise referierten Geschäftsordnungen werden kommentiert und mit Beispielen aus der Gesetzgebungspraxis belegt. Der zweite Teil des Berichts, der dem Gesetzgebungsprozeß in seiner realen Funktionsweise gewidmet ist, untersucht einige komplizierte Probleme, die im Laufe des Gesetzgebungsprozesses auftauchen und in den Geschäftsordnungen keinen hinreichenden Niederschlag gefunden haben: die Konsensfindung im Vermittlungsverfahren, Annahme eines Gesetzes bei scharfen politischen Interessenkonflikten u.a. Die Schlußbemwerkung ist den positiven und negativen Einschätzungen der Gesetzgebungstätigkeit des Rußländischen Parlaments gewidmet.' (Autorenreferat) 'On the basis of the practical record of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in the period 1993-1995, the present report studies the most important stages in the legislative process as provided for in the procedural rules of the two chambers: the introduction of bills into the State Duma and their preliminary discussion; discussion of bills and passing of federal laws; discussion in the Federal Council of laws passed by the State Duma; re-discussion in the State Duma of federal laws rejected by the Federation Council; procedures for re-discussion of federal laws rejected by the President of the Russian Federation; procedures for introduction of proposed amendments to the Constitution. The report quotes and comments on excerpts from the procedural rules and gives examples of how they are applied in legislative practice. A second part of the report, dedicated to studying how the legislative process actually functions, examines a number of complex problems that have become apparent in the course of the legislative process and for which no adequate provision has yet been made in the rules of procedure: consensus-finding in meditation procedures; adoption of laws in the face of pronounced conflicts of political interests, etc. The conclusion of the report assesses the positive and negative features of the legislative activity of the Russian Parliament to date.' (author's abstract)