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Prime Minister Morrison’s secret appointment to five government ministries was a remarkable legal- political revelation, departing from and contesting the doctrine of responsible government. The core issues and implications of the appointments turned upon both a tension and disjuncture between a minimalist political conception of the doctrine and broader characteristics of a traditional, conventional institutional doctrine. This disjuncture created various identifiable risks to Commonwealth ministerial and parliamentary practice and government accountability standards. The Bell Inquiry exposed these risks, emerging from a bare legality of the appointments and a weakness in shared commitment to the broader institutional rationales of the responsible government convention. Several themes provide insights into and the implications of this minimalist conception of ministerial responsibility. Australian and international political and electoral studies around confidence in and contestation of Parliamentary democracy also afford perspective and context highlighting the gravity of the Bell Inquiry findings. Effective remedial responses require implementation of Inquiry recommendations and various supplementary measures, reconceptualised as part of a broader government restorative integrity project. Comprehensively understanding the characteristics of this incident will help inform responses to close a disjuncture in the conception and application of the ministerial responsibility doctrine, important through the strong Australian preference for parliamentary accountability mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the provincial statistical data of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region this paper uses the health distance model and obstacle degree model to explore the spatiotemporal mismatch of the development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei regional innovation chain and analyzes the obstacle factor affecting the healthy development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei innovation chain. The results show that: (1) In terms of timing characteristics, the overall mismatch of the innovation chain in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region shows a downward trend, and the absolute and relative difference of regional mismatch both show a "V" shaped development trend, which first decreases and then increases. (2) In terms of spatial characteristics, the mismatch of the innovation chain in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region develops from unbalanced to balanced and then unbalanced, and the spatial pattern evolves from low in the middle and high around to high in the southeast and low around. (3) In terms of the obstacle factors, scientific research and development institutions, the number of college students, and the number of innovation platforms at or above the provincial and ministerial level are the obstacle factors to the more frequent occurrence. Plain Language Summary: preface This study aims to examine the spatio-temporal differentiation of the regional innovation chain in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of China. It investigates the mismatch between different components of the innovation chain and analyzes the factors that hinder its healthy development. The research utilizes the entropy method, health distance model, and obstacle degree model to calculate and analyze the innovation chain mismatch. Arc GIS geometric method is employed to divide the mismatch into different levels. Data from 2015 to 2019 is used to assess the evolution of the innovation chain mismatch over time and across different regions. The study reveals that the innovation chain mismatch in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has shown a declining trend during the study period. The overall mismatch has weakened, indicating significant progress in the coordinated development of the region. Beijing has played a leading role, while Tianjin and Hebei Province have also witnessed improvements, although to a lesser extent. The development difference among the three regions has been reduced, but significant disparities still exist. The findings highlight the importance of regional collaboration in promoting innovation chain development. The study provides insights for policymakers and stakeholders to enhance the coordination and integration of innovation activities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. It emphasizes the need for further efforts to reduce development disparities and enhance the efficiency of innovation development. It is important to note that this study focuses specifically on the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and the findings may not be directly applicable to other regions or countries. The analysis is based on available data and selected models, which may have certain limitations and assumptions. Further research is needed to explore additional factors and dynamics influencing the innovation chain in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public law, specifically constitutional due process law and administrative law, operates against a background presumption of no liability for omissions. To state the inverse, the majority rule is that liability applies only in the case of affirmative government actions. While this was not always the case, following DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services and Heckler v. Chaney in the 1980s, the Court has generally closed off plaintiffs from litigating government failures-to-act. Scholars have pointed at the philosophical absurdity of delineating government acts and omissions, given that in a state as regulated as ours, everything is, at bottom, an affirmative choice. But the federal judiciary has remained fairly unmoved. Against this overriding presumption of no omissions liability, however, the courts have eked out several exceptions in which they are willing to find liability for inaction. While scholars have pointed to reasons why the judiciary has been reluctant to find liability for omissions, this Note looks at why the judiciary has been willing to find liability in certain cases. It identifies the overarching reason to be administrability, motivated by two characteristics that the court either creates or constructs. First, when the court identifies or constructs an affirmative component of an omission, it is more willing to find liability. Second, when there is an ex ante regulation or statute limiting government discretion, the court is similarly persuadable. This Note identifies seven categories across public law that fall into these two areas and in which omissions liability (at least in some way) exists: state-created danger doctrine, special relationships, Monell liability, a blurred line between procedural and substantive due process, abdication of agency statutory duties, failure to perform ministerial duties, and a refusal to initiate rulemaking. As its final contribution, this Note argues that scholars, litigants, and courts should seek to broaden public omissions liability, given that society is plagued with protracted crises resulting from government inaction. Relying on the proxies for administrability that the courts are already comfortable with, the final Part marries administrability with accountability and creates broader categories for each exception to tackle contemporary ills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author analyses New Zealand's recent usage of referendums. Three theoretical approaches are utilised to underpin this analysis, namely, AV Dicey's theory of referendums, Stephen Tierney's republican theory of constitutional referendums and Adam Tomkins' theory of political constitutionalism. Dicey's and Tierney's theories only support referendums for significant constitutional matters and not social policy referendums, like the End of Life Choice or cannabis referendums. Applying Tomkins' theory, the author argues that New Zealand's recent usage of referendums is inconsistent with understandings of the political constitution. Referendums fundamentally undermine the doctrine of ministerial responsibility, thereby undermining Parliament's role as the keeper of the Government. Furthermore, the leading theories of referendums do not provide an adequate justification for inconsistency with the political constitution. New Zealand's recent practice of relying upon social policy referendums to resolve contentious political issues is unprincipled and erodes New Zealand's delicate constitution. Finally, the author considers the relationship between Te Tiriti o Waitangi and referendums, and ultimately concludes that referendums unacceptably abrogate Te Tiriti and the recognition of tino rangatiratanga of Māori. The author concludes that, despite the compelling accounts in support of constitutional referendums, New Zealand's unique constitutional history suggest that they are rarely, if ever, appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Constitutional History / Giornale di Storia Costituzionale is the property of Giornale di Storia Costituzionale (Journal of Constitutional History) 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.)

In Gordon College v. DeWeese-Boyd, a social work professor at a religious college sued after she was denied promotion. The college asserted the "ministerial exception," a judicially crafted and constitutionally grounded exception to the ordinary rules of liability arising out of the employment relationship between religious institutions and their ministers. Although the plaintiff had no distinctively religious duties, the college expected her (and all other faculty) to integrate the faith into her teaching and scholarship. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) held that this obligation, standing alone, was insufficient to qualify the plaintiff as a minister within the meaning of the exception. The U.S. Supreme Court denied the college's petition for certiorari, but Justice Alito, joined by three other Justices, issued a statement respecting the denial. He criticized the SJC's view of religious education, suggested that the mere duty to infuse the faith into teaching and scholarship was sufficient to qualify a professor as a minister, and expressed willingness to review the SJC's decision after a final judgment. Nonetheless, DeWeese-Boyd's claims may proceed to litigation. Justice Alito's statement is significant both for the scope of the ministerial exception--as applied to religious colleges and other employers--and for the future of the relationship between the Constitution's Religion Clauses. Justice Alito's capacious understanding of the ministerial exception--and his view that it is grounded primarily in the Free Exercise Clause, rather than the Establishment Clause--will likely leave little room for civil courts to adjudicate claims that assert wrongful treatment by religious institutions of ministerial employees. Equally important, Justice Alito's view suggests a continued marginalization of the Establishment Clause in ways that will have effects far beyond the world of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the most important ministries in Honduras? And why are important ministries important? To answer these questions, this study offers an analysis of the importance of the Honduran ministerial portfolios from 1982 to 2020. For this, this study follows the theoretical proposal of Camerlo and Martínez-Gallardo that suggests distinguishing four key dimensions (policy management public, discretionary allocation of resources, political capacity and organizational capacity). The findings of this research showed that the ministerial relevance in this country is linked to those portfolios that, in addition to having strategic value and impact, potentially have the possibility of having discretionary funds to develop clientelistic policies that have allowed traditional parties stay in power throughout the period analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are long-standing calls for reform of the Official Information Act 1982. We aim to supply a partial empirical basis for understanding these calls through a survey of ministerial compliance with the Act. We requested quantitative and qualitative information from 26 Ministers about their decisions during a three-month period to withhold requested information on the grounds that the information is, or will soon be, publicly available. We focused on this specific withholding ground because proactive disclosure is a burgeoning issue globally but is not addressed directly in the Act. This article presents our conceptual framework and methodology before setting out a summary and analysis of the results of our survey. While any conclusions drawn must be treated as indicative rather than determinative, we find that there was generally good compliance with the Act although some instances of noncompliance appeared to be serious and unjustifiable. We hope this survey contributes to debate and discussion about appropriate legislative reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ministerial advisors have become an essential aspect of executive branches worldwide, thus making the ministerial advisor office a potential route for young politicians aspiring to an expanding political class. The article studies which professions ministerial advisors migrate to following their ministerial careers, how ministerial advisors' post-ministerial careers compare to their pre-ministerial careers, and if the variance in careers can be explained by the resources that ministerial advisors obtain while in government. Empirically, the article draws on a cohort of 139 ministerial advisors in Norwegian governments between 2001 and 2009; it covers positions in the political sphere and the public, private and voluntary occupational sectors over a period from each ministerial advisor's youth to the end of 2017. The bibliographic data are combined with surveys and elite interviews. The results show that more than expanding the political class as a recruitment ground for future Members of the Parliament and ministers, ministerial advisor appointments serve as stepping-stones to careers outside of politics. Most ministerial advisors experience shifts between occupational sectors and upwards to higher positions. However, ministerial advisors' attractiveness in the labour market is surprisingly unaffected by what they actually did in office; rather, it rests on resources such as insider knowledge and networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars of international relations and public administration widely assume that international bureaucracies, in their role as policy advisors, directly influence countries' domestic policies. Yet, this is not true across the board. Why do some countries closely consider the advice of international bureaucracies while others do not? This article argues that international bureaucracies' standing as sources of expertise is crucial. We tested this argument using data from a unique survey that measured prevalent practices of advice utilization in thematically specialized policy units of national ministries in a representative sample of more than a hundred countries. Our findings show that ministries' perceptions of international bureaucracies' expertise, that is, specialized and reliable knowledge, are the key factor. International bureaucracies influence national ministries directly and without the support of other actors that may also have an interest in the international bureaucracies' policy advice. Our analysis also demonstrates that the effects of alternative means of influence, such as third-party pressure and coercion, are themselves partly dependent on international bureaucracies' reputation as experts. The findings presented in this article reinforce the emphasis on expertise as a source of international bureaucracies' influence, and provide a crucial test of its importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure and organisation of the machinery of government are key to the ambitions of political coalitions. When portfolio allocation and agencification are a function of political choice, political volatility should also affect the internal structure of government administrations. This study tests the effects of political turnover of individual ministers and of the political ideology of coalitions on a dataset of intra-ministerial changes in Dutch ministries between 1980 and 2014. Findings indicate that the turnover of political heads of departments and the shifts in policy preferences between successive coalitions indeed affects the internal structure of ministerial departments. Political variables have a strong impact, particularly changes in the left–right position of the government. A clear pattern for how precisely politics affect the structural design of public organisations remains absent, in spite of the robustness of the findings. Most ministries experience significant effect of executive turnover, sometimes increasing the hazards of intra-organisational transitions and sometimes increasing stability. It turns out that ministers can substantially re-arrange their organisations in line with their policy preferences but do not necessarily do so. Sometimes the effect of liberal ideology dominates, sometimes the effect of the policy preferences with respect to a specific domain prevails. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research work is an inquiry into whether paths to power matter for the survival of ministers. Four different paths to ministerial positions are defined: 'Parliamentary', 'Party', 'Public Service' and 'Independent'. The theoretical perspective is based on both the ex-ante informational asymmetry and the moral hazard problem. A rigorous survival analysis was developed for the Portuguese case, and the main conclusion is that ministers who have attained power through the 'Party' path last longer in government than 'Parliamentary' ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1980, California has had an ambitious planning framework on the books to make local governments accommodate their fair share of regionally needed housing. The framework long relied, however, on a rickety and complicated conveyor belt for converting regional housing targets into actual production. Superintending the conveyor belt was an administrative entity, the Department of Housing and Community Development, whose rules had no legal effect, and whose judgments about the adequacy of a local government's housing plan received virtually no deference from the courts. This Article contends that the Department's position has been fundamentally transformed by a series of individually modest but complementary bills enacted from 2017 to 2019. The Department now has authority to strengthen, simplify, and supplement the conveyor belt in ways that would have been (legally speaking) unimaginable just a few years ago. More specifically, the Department may (1) adopt an "expected yield" definition of site capacity, which would more than double the amount of nominal zoned capacity that local governments must provide; (2) promulgate metrics and standards for whether the supply of housing within a local government's territory is substantially constrained; and (3) insist, as a condition of housing-plan approval, that poorly performing local governments adopt major, substantive reforms to local development processes, regulations, and fees. Though it's doubtful that the Department could mandate particular constraint-mitigation measures, such as ministerial permitting, the Department may incentivize their adoption by announcing compliance safe harbors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of the Administrative Code was considered, at least by the persons involved in the administrative phenomenon, as the "event of the year 2019". As it has become effective after a long period full of obstacles, in a different form from the initial draft, the code represents a great advance towards what is deemed as a great advantage by the codification: consistency, stability and unitary enforcement of the legal rules. This present study aims at, on the one hand, the examination of an institution which represents a novelty in the Romanian normative framework, the administrative responsibility, as a form of responsibility specific to the administrative law and, on the other hand, a brief analysis of a form of responsibility missing from the content of the Code -- the ministerial responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do prime ministers or presidents appoint non‐elected experts, also known as technocrats, during economic crises? Do they appoint them for their expertise or for their commitment to pro‐market reforms? Answering this question is crucial for understanding and predicting the longer‐term role of technocrats in democracies. With the aid of unique data on the political and personal background of finance ministers in 13 parliamentary and semi‐presidential European democracies this article shows that commitment, not expertise is the primary driver of technocratic appointments during major economic crises. Technocrats are preferred over experienced politicians when the latter lack commitment to policy reform. An important implication of the findings is that technocratic appointments to top economic portfolios in West European countries are unlikely to become the norm outside economic crises, assuming economic crises are short‐lived and not recurring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why, how, and when does intra-ministerial change take place? Previous answers to these questions suggest that political factors, such as cabinet reshuffling, are the most decisive drivers of inter-ministerial change. By contrast, this article begins with a distinction between the mechanism responsible for intra-ministerial and inter-ministerial change of ministries, the latter discusses which of these has been given more attention in previous research. Data covering the intra-ministerial change of 11 ministries in Germany between 1949 and 2006 can demonstrate that environmental as well as organizational factors are decisive in order to explain the timing and type of intra-ministerial change. The main finding is that a clearly definable threshold of tasks, organizational units, and a horizontal dispersion of jurisdictions - all of which react to the international environment - can explain intra-ministerial change in German ministries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Constitutional History / Giornale di Storia Costituzionale is the property of Giornale di Storia Costituzionale (Journal of Constitutional History) 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 College of Law Journal for Legal & Political Sciences / Magallat Kulliyyat Al-Qanun Li-L-ulum Al-Qanuniyyat Wa-Al-Siyasiyyat is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) 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.)

This article explores how personalisation, blame avoidance and institutional constraints collide in contemporary government communication practices. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a Norwegian ministry, it analyses how a central government agency manages the media during critical news campaigns featuring individuals suffering from inadequate public health services. To provide a comprehensive analysis of the particular limits and aims of government communication, the article combines perspectives from public agency studies with media research on personalisation. It finds that the need to be visible and demonstrate agency in the media drive personalisation strategies towards a strong focus on government leaders, while simplifying the representation of complex government organisation and processes. At the same time, institutional constraints and the formal delegation of responsibility limit the communication repertoire available for public agencies when critical human interest stories dominate in the media. This results in a standard type of unconvincing media performance, where incumbents appear to evade direct personal responsibility. The case study provides new knowledge on dilemmas, negotiations and strategies behind government communication, illuminating how competing interests play out in a rapidly changing media landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study contributes the first detailed exploration of parliamentary experience in Australian ministerial careers. It examines how a dimension of parliamentary experience — holding the office of parliamentary committee chair — features in the careers of a single cohort of ministers and parliamentary secretaries appointed during the Coalition government 1996–2007. The study maps parliamentary experience on two dimensions and finds a typology of five different career paths, depending on positions held and the speed of movement between positions. Taking the analysis further, the second part of the study tracks the appointment of the five subgroups of ministers over time. This reveals patterns in the Prime Minister's ministry‐making over the life of the government. At different times particular types of ministers were selected, in response to varying political needs and the demands of career management that John Howard faced over the government's lifecycle. The study considers the argument that elite grooming processes, where aspiring leaders are tested and trained, are weakening in Australia. It does not find evidence for this proposition based on the patterns of parliamentary experience of ministers at this time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to present the main results of theological research on ecclesiastical celibacy in the last ten to fifteen years. It especially studies recent developments of the main motive for celibacy proposed today by the Magisterium and theology, namely, the so-called spousal motive. The possible vital consequences of this research, particularly on priestly spirituality, will also be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on statehood often uses the term “semi-presidential republic” to denote a mixed republican form of rule. However, this term is far from showing that a mixed republic does not have its own essence and distinctive logic according to which state power is organized, or that it tends to the presidential form of rule, given its normative features or functional characteristics. This manner of seeing the essence of a mixed republic is in discord with the fact of fundamental dissimilarity of some of its constitutive features with the characteristics of the presidential form of rule, and therefore it may not have scientifically acceptable justification. The purpose of this article is to give arguments about scientific incorrectness of using the term “semi-presidential republic” to refer to a mixed republican form of rule. The parliamentary system elements inherent in a mixed republic give reason to believe that, in the general outline, organization of state power in this form of rule is largely similar to the organization of state power in a parliamentary republic. The key features of parliamentarism in a mixed republic are the constitutional restrictions of the means available to the President to influence the organization and activities of the executive branch of power, and also the parliamentary way of forming the government, its parliamentary responsibility, and the institution of countersignature. In general, the correlation of elements of presidentialism and parliamentarism in a mixed republic is capable of determining its leaning towards one of the two classical republican forms of rule, and also of leaving it on an equal “distance” from both of them. Given the constitutive features of the mixed republican form of rule, it would be justified to believe that “semi-presidential republic” is not a perfect term to reflect the essence of what it refers to. This term is more appropriate to denote a specific transitional presidentialized republican form of rule which combines, in formal legal sense, the features of mixed and presidential republics, but in functional terms is more close to the latter. Such a transitional form of rule, being widespread among the post-Soviet states often demonstrating a rather eclectic combination of the elements of presidential and mixed republics, is actually a semi-presidential republic. It is not a mixed republic, since it lacks a necessary set of relevant legal attributes; and it is not a presidential form of rule since it contains some elements of a mixed republic and does not establish a “rigorous” division of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circulation of the ruling class has been a relevant concern in political analysis, but investigation of the determinants of a successful career still remains relatively neglected. This article aims at filling this interpretative gap by focusing on long-term transformations of ministerial careers in Italy. By using an original dataset on ministerial careers between 1976 and 2015, the article explains the patterns of intra-governmental career by analysing the selection for higher government offices. A first descriptive analysis leads to the formulation of a working proposition based on the increasing complexity of the patterns of governmental careers. In this context, the new role of the Prime Minister as a principal in the process of ministerial selection and other procedural constraints are discussed. An ordinal logistic regression analysis confirms the validity of such a general proposition, highlighting the relevance of personalisation and policy expertise in the evolution of intra-governmental careers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]