Little Room For Manoeuvre Research Articles

The ambivalent trajectory of the German gender regime: Are female breadwinner families an indicator of a shift towards a public gender regime?

There seems to be some evidence that Germany is turning from being a ‘domestic’ to a ‘public’ gender regime. The extension of public childcare, increasing female labour market participation rates and the introduction of gender quotas, among other changes, point to this development. However, a detailed analysis reveals an ambivalent and even contradictory trajectory. This development can only be understood by applying an intersectional perspective and looking at families with different socioeconomic backgrounds, class, and gender. By focusing on family households in which women are the main earners, this paper illustrates changes and stability in different domains and contributes to the understanding of the German gender regime's trajectory. On the basis of a qualitative study conducted in West and East Germany, the article shows that many women who are the main breadwinners in their families are in this position not because of modernised gender relations and by their own choice, but ‘involuntarily’, because of their partners' weak labour market position and increasing pressure within the German welfare state to earn their own living and contribute to covering the needs of the household through gainful employment. Many female-breadwinner families do not live reversed, modernised gender roles, but face an above-average risk for poverty and have little room for manoeuvre. Political and economic factors, as well as norms (in the domains of polity, economy and civil society), help to explain these findings. We see mainly neoliberal, activation policies directed at households with low resources, whereas the institutional framework for households with higher incomes has remained relatively stable. The results of the study show that dual-earner households are not necessarily progressive and dual earning is a poor indicator of a gender regime change.

Going Up in Smoke: Tobacco and Government Policy in the Age of Austerity, 1945-50.

This article examines the Attlee government's performance as a crisis manager in relation to tobacco policy in the years prior to the publication in 1950 of research linking smoking and cancer. Health concerns played no role in tobacco policy before 1950, and the government hoped more teenagers would take up smoking and pay tobacco duty. Tobacco took on added significance as an economic issue because policy-makers had so little room for manoeuvre. Their task was to balance the desire of consumers to smoke as much as they liked at a reasonable price, the exchequer's need to raise revenue from tobacco duties, and the imperative to conserve scarce dollars. Tobacco was an economic and financial rather than a health issue in the late 1940s and the authorities juggled competing demands creditably. This article examines previously neglected but important aspects of the histories of tobacco and of the Attlee government's economic policies.

Rusija, sukob u Ukrajini i novi prostorni i geopolitički poredak

The conflict in Ukraine is the subject of contradictory narratives in the communication war, but also reflects the rival historical and geopolitical representations between the different actors of this conflict. According to the geopolitical angle, the main issue of the crisis in Ukraine is the rivalry between the great powers for world power and the distribution of geopolitical spaces. The geopolitical angle thus makes it possible to take into account the numerous stakes linked to this crisis on different scales, which go well beyond the purely geostrategic and military aspects. The main hypothesis of this article is to determine to what extent Russia, with its special military operation in Ukraine, is pushing for the emergence of a new geopolitical configuration on a European and global scale. Indeed, Moscow is provoking a redefinition of alliances at the regional and global levels. At the Eurasian level, NATO will probably no longer be able to pursue a policy of expansion in the Russian near abroad (countries of the former USSR), the enlargement of NATO to Ukraine being a casus belli, as the Russian intervention has shown. On a global scale, Russia's membership in the UN Security Council now prevents any unilateral interpretation of international law by the collective West. Moreover, economic sanctions by EU and NATO member states are not being followed by other states in Eurasia, South America and Africa, challenging the unipolar project of the West under the leadership of the United States. The European Union is increasingly aligned with the geopolitical priorities of NATO and the United States, with little room for manoeuvre. Russia's special operation in Ukraine is definitely moving the world towards a multicentric and multipolar geopolitical configuration, with no possibility of returning to the pre-conflict situation. In this analysis, geopolitical cartography will be used to illustrate the problematics but also to emphasize the spatial angle as an analytical tool.

ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ КАМБОДЖИЙСКО-АМЕРИКАНСКИХ ОТНОШЕНИЙ

The article evaluates the prospects of Cambodia-USA relations under President Joe Biden’s administration. The author shows that traditionally relations have been developing unevenly. Over the past decade the shape of bilateral relations has been strongly influenced by a third party – China. Cambodia’s close cooperation with China is viewed negatively by US officials. Since Cambodia’s foreign policy agenda for the next three years is highly likely to be determined by the country’s electoral cycles, Hun Sen has little room for manoeuvre, given the USA’s support of Cambodian opposition parties and harsh criticism of human rights in Cambodia. Under these circumstances Hun Sen feels compelled to increasingly lean towards China.

Gasteditorial

Cities in Europe are shrinking and depend on immigration to stabilise their populations. In most cases, urban policy is growth-oriented and local actors are unlikely to accept shrinkage as a development paradigm. Despite this growth postulate, however, most cities have not yet developed any explicit strategies in respect to migration. In many urban development concepts, only the desire for the immigration of young and qualified workers is articulated. Many cities are depending on the arrival of the “creative class”. In contrast, the immigration of refugees and asylum seekers is not part of a city’s development strategy, but management thereof is delegated to city authorities responsible for the integration of migrants. As a result of the state-quoted allocation of refugees and asylum seekers, which is framed as “burden sharing”, cities have little room for manoeuvre in terms of managing immigration proactively. This issue therefore examines the following questions: Which immigration strategies are being developed by cities in Germany? How much room for manoeuvre does urban policy have to control and steer immigration? What resistance to immigration exists in local government policy? Against the background of the current political discussion about an immigration law in Germany, a contribution from Canada compares local policy options in a classic immigration country with those in Europe.

Zuwanderungspolitik – ein neues kommunales Aufgabenfeld?

The regulation of migration has mostly been regarded as a core task of the nation-state, which has the right to control its territorial borders and issue entry visas and citizenships. In the field of urban research, cities and municipalities are therefore regarded as largely dependent on state “migration regimes”. This special issue examines the central question of whether there is also a “local turn” in the field of immigration policy. The cities of Europe are dependent on immigration in order to stabilise their population figures; without immigration they would shrink. In most cases, urban policy is growth- and competition-oriented. Nevertheless, most cities have not yet developed explicit immigration strategies. Wherever this does occur, it is for the most part socially highly selective: many urban development concepts merely articulate the desire for the immigration of young and qualified workers. Many cities still rely on the influx of the “creative class” when competing with other municipalities. The immigration of refugees and asylum seekers, on the other hand, is often seen as a burden by the municipalities and is delegated to integration policy. Due to the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers by the German state, cities have very little room for manoeuvre in terms of controlling the influx of these immigrant groups. Against this background, this conceptual introductory article examines two key questions: (i) Which migration policy options do cities have and how are they theorised? (ii) Which proactive strategies can cities develop for the purpose of targeted recruitment of immigrants?Immigration Policy – A New Field of Activity for Cities?

The new Hungarian asset management foundation

Abstract The most important global issues of wealth planning are privacy, asset protection, and tax compliance. The ultimate question is how these needs match with the current and future legal environment. Obviously, privacy is under attack and the implementation of the fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive is sweeping away the remaining ruins of it. The separation of private and business assets is one of the bases of the legal work and, during the last 10 years, tax compliance was forced out by The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Member States, achieving the result that assets are declared and taxed. There is very little room for manoeuvre, if someone wants to achieve all three aims at once. The new Hungarian asset management foundation—a hybrid of a trust and a private foundation—provides an excellent solution to link privacy, asset protection, and tax compliance together.

Plus Ça Change… the Commission's Budget Proposals for 2021-27

This policy brief evaluates the backdrop to the European Commission’s proposals for the EU’s coming seven-year budget round, or Multi-annual Financial Framework. As usual, the negotiations are a careful balancing act between net contributors to the EU budget and its main beneficiaries and are expected to extend well into 2019. This budget round also faces the additional complications of Brexit, which will impact the revenue side of the equation, and new security, cohesion and migration challenges which will fuel pressure for more spending. The briefing examines these pressures and argues that, with so many interests to balance and limited political capital to expend, the Commission will have little room for manoeuvre even before the Member States start unpicking apart its proposals.

Cross-border Movement of Patients in the eu: A Re-Appraisal

Abstract The national welfare state, so it seems, has come under attack by European integration. This article focuses on one facet of the welfare state, that is, healthcare and on one specific dimension, that is, cross-border movement of patients. The institution which has played a pivotal role in the development of the framework regulating the migration of patients is the European Court of Justice (ecj). The Court’s activity in this sensitive area has not remained without critics. This was even more so since the Court invoked Treaty (primary) law which not only has made it difficult to overturn case law but also has left the legislator with very little room for manoeuvre in relation to any future (secondary) eu law. What is therefore of special interest in terms of legitimacy is the legal reasoning by which the Court has made its contribution to the development of this framework. This article is a re-appraisal of the legal development in this field.

A Tale of Two Instruments: Religious Minorities and the Council of Europe's Rights Regime

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has increasingly deferred to States' margin of appreciation when considering interferences with the right to manifest religion under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In contrast, the Advisory Committee (AC) on the Framework Convention on National Minorities (FCNM), despite originally being feared to be a highly politicised body, has allowed States very little room for manoeuvre when considering the implementation of Convention rights. In order to explore these seemingly contradictory positions, this article examines the approaches of the ECtHR and the AC towards two controversial manifestations of religion: the right to construct places of worship and the right to wear religious clothing. It argues that the ECtHR, by developing minimum standards that defer to the prejudices of the majority, is in danger of undermining the progress made by the AC towards establishing consistent minority rights standards throughout Europe.

Commissioning maternity care: little room for manoeuvre?

![][1]</img> At the time of writing, the Bill set to ‘reform’ the NHS is shortly to be debated in the House of Commons. Gazing into the uncertain future, it seems inescapable that GPs in England will collectively be taking on at least part of the responsibility for commissioning medical care. In this month's BJGP , three papers, all studying different aspects of maternity care, illustrate some of the questions that commissioners are going to have to grapple with when that happens. Pierce and colleagues report a study where clinicians were asked about their follow-up of women who had experienced gestational diabetes mellitus.1 Not surprisingly, the authors identified considerable variety in practice, and found that the guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Health (NICE) were not being followed consistently. Non-compliance with authoritative guidelines is a familiar finding, and such a conclusion raises again the vexed question of precisely what guidelines are, and how far clinicians are expected to follow them.2 The question will still be a live one for clinicians, though it may not trouble commissioning groups much. Where NICE gives very clear instructions it is very likely that they will be followed to the letter in commissioning contracts. The particular guidelines that are the starting point for this study include specific recommendations for gestational diabetes: not to screen routinely by urine analysis for glucose; also for a 6-week follow-up with a single fasting blood glucose and not a glucose tolerance test. They should therefore be welcomed, since they limit activity rather than encourage more.3 NICE has also … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif

NHS Future Forum: is anyone listening?

The NHS Future Forum has been asked by the Government to continue what it refers to as 'conversations' with patients, service users and professionals (Department of Health (DH), 2011a). The key focus points of the forum are information, education and training, integrated care and public health. The forum was first put into action following the publication of Modernising the NHS: The Health and Social Care Bill 2011 (DH, 2011b), which met with opposition from many who felt that encouraging competition within the NHS was a bad idea and put the NHS at risk of privatization. Andrew Lansley, Secretary of State for Health, launched a 'listening exercise' as a response to this widespread criticism. However, this too has been criticized after a confidential memo came to light suggesting that there was actually little room for manoeuvre in terms of changes to the Bill (Bosely et al, 2011).

L'Espagne Républicaine: French Policy and Spanish Republicanism in Liberated France (review)

Reviewed by: L'Espagne Républicaine: French Policy and Spanish Republicanism in Liberated France Robert S. Coale L'Espagne Républicaine: French Policy and Spanish Republicanism in Liberated France. By David A. Messenger. Brighton, U.K.: Sussex Academic Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-84519-259-4. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xi, 196. $67.50. Several cities surrounding Paris, working class municipalities of the "red belt", sport streets named after Cristino García, a Spanish loyalist and officer in the French Resistance. He was not killed in combat for the liberation of France, however, but rather was executed by the Franco regime in 1946. The fact that the García case made such an impact on French public opinion is an indication of the close postwar connection between Spanish Republicans, their movement, and early postwar French society. David A. Messenger, assistant professor of history at the University of Wyoming, has published a stimulating work which describes this complex relationship between French policy and Spanish Republicanism between 1944 and 1948. This period was a turning point for both countries, a time when France moved from reconstruction to renewal, all the while striving to make its political mark in liberated Europe and balancing the concepts of "justice" and "realpolitik" in foreign affairs. This relatively short, but precise, work is structured in six chapters and narrates France's changing relationship towards authoritarian Spain and the multiple domestic and international factors that influenced its positions. The author has convincingly chosen a chronological structure; the first three chapters discuss the fluid situation and the major factors which influenced French policy from 1942 to 1947 while the remaining three chapters continue to study specific initiatives on Spain undertaken by France both on an individual basis and within the framework of the United Nations up to 1948. The author includes an impressive bibliography and supports his claims with exhaustive research in American, British, Spanish and French archives. What emerges from Messenger's study is the difficult situation in which France found itself in relation to its southern neighbor. On the one hand, wartime and economic policy were determining factors, but these were later supplanted by a postwar desire to renovate French democracy and diplomacy with regard to the "resistance" experience and instill some sense of morality. Nevertheless, France also needed to conjugate this new policy with that of its allies, Great Britain and the United States, countries which did not systematically share France's views on Spain and the Franco regime. Messenger convincingly illustrates that there was little room for manoeuvre. Free France attempted to walk a fine line, at different times, between wartime goals of freeing refugees wishing to join French forces in Northern Africa and maintaining valuable trade with Spain. After liberation, France responded to postwar popular demands to support Spanish Republicanism, but at the same time integrated the postwar policies of its allies. Despite public opinion and true sympathies for republicanism, France struggled so as not to allow the question of the Franco regime to isolate it from the international policies of Western Europe. [End Page 1006] Professor Messenger's present work began as his doctoral dissertation and, as such, may not be the final word on the matter. This enlightening view into a complex period of European history and France's international relations both during the war and in the difficult aftermath is a first step. Several subjects which are only briefly touched upon call for further study. These include the wartime economic ties between France and Spain, the dependence on imports from Spain in the reconstruction of France and also the profound sympathies in French society and public opinion towards the Spanish Loyalists which began during the civil war and continued through liberation and the postwar period. One can only hope that the considerable scholarship contained in the volume and the many avenues of study it suggests bode well for further research on the subject. Robert S. Coale Université Paris 8 Vincennes, France Copyright © 2009 Society for Military History

Lord help us

The current Director-General, Mark Thompson, and the BBC Trust may have had little room for manoeuvre after a licence-fee settlement that was less than expected, other than, as detailed in his “Delivering Creative Future” speech, of large-scale staff cuts, property sales and – crucially for BBC journalism – the integration of the news division. Yet, despite the title, the emphasis of the speech was managerial rather than creative… Behind the turmoil at the BBC is the unspoken menace of potential privatisation: there must be some managers who have an ambition, without admitting the fact to themselves or each other, to take the BBC brand into the stock market. Now, before it is too late, is the time to insist that the BBC is a public service corporation, its purpose to enrich the minds and lives of the nation.

NGOs in conflict prevention: experiences from the water sector in Ethiopia

While development cooperation can cause or exacerbate conflicts, withholding aid is not the solution. The issue is how to provide aid in a manner that prevents conflict, so as to achieve sustainable peace. This Practical Note examines how NGOs have prevented and managed conflicts arising from water projects in Ethiopia. The legal framework and institutional settings in that country leave little room for manoeuvre for NGOs, so their scope for adopting a conflict-preventive approach lies mainly in being more sensitive and being non-confrontational yet firm in their style of communication. Different funding conditions, and a more conducive legal framework, are fundamental to increasing NGOs' effectiveness in preventing conflict.

Bangladesh: partnership or posture in aid for development?

AbstractGovernment‐donor relations in Bangladesh are shaped by a history of donor dependence and reaction against it. Sustained growth, substantial social sector achievements and a growing proportion of the investment budget serviced from national resources now gives the government confidence and increasing room for manoeuvre. But many in Bangladesh see donor pressure for public sector reform as a sign of low government ownership and a loss of sovereignty in economic management. Donor policies can be seen as a result of ‘group think’ at the top level of agencies, leading to the perception that donors are ‘ganging up’ on the government. Each donor, at implementation level, tends to demand compliance, leaving little room for local interpretation of needs. On the government side the centre—perceiving itself to be weak and subject to sustained criticism—tries to keep a hold on funds and programmes, leaving little room for manoeuvre or discretion on the part of programme‐level officers. The resultant tension between the government and the donor community underlies aid management relationships and stands in contrast to the language of partnership that donors these days propose. This article reviews the concerns of Bangladesh government officials managing aid in regard to donor practices, particularly the difficulties that they perceive in donor conditionality; and donors' seemingly poor appreciation of the government's systems, priorities and limited capacity. Donor perspectives on the other hand are conditioned by the ever‐changing value imperatives of aid as well as the ever‐present need to disburse. Experience with the Local Consultative Group, a donor side initiative to build partnership, illustrates the theme. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

The Experiences of Frontline Staff Working with Children Seeking Asylum

The focus of this paper is welfare professionals’ accounts of their work with children who are seeking asylum. The empirical basis is a commissioned study of children seeking asylum in Wales. As well as qualitative research with children (which is not discussed in this paper), 62 professionals took part in interviews and focus groups. This sample included staff from social services, health, housing, education, police and the voluntary sector. Research findings are presented in relation to the experience of these frontline staff. We attempt to identify some of the sites of tension and the nature of the professional dilemmas, as well as discussing the potential for the exercise of discretion to be exercised. We conclude that there is very little room for manoeuvre within the asylum system for welfare professionals, but that there is evidence of questioning and even minor challenge of current policy from frontline staff. We discuss the extent to which the professional dilemmas raised by the asylum system are of a different order from those experienced throughout social welfare work.

Iran's Economic Policy Dilemma

IN 1979, THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN (IRI) inherited an economy that was heavily dependent on oil with a small and inefficient manufacturing sector. An eight-year war with Iraq, an influx of refugees, rapid population growth, US economic sanctions and politically expedient policies have resulted in the economic conditions of today, conditions under which the IRI has little room for manoeuvre. The medium- and long-term policies that are called for are obvious yet politically difficult to implement.This article provides a brief overview of the Islamic Republic's economic performance since the revolution of 1979, describes its policy record, and addresses the economic policy dilemma at hand.ECONOMIC PERFORMANCEIn 1988, Iran's real gross domestic product (GDP) was about what it was in 1977, and given population growth of about 60 percent, per capita real incomes had fallen by roughly 40 percent. Recently, GDP growth has been more satisfactory, at an average annual rate of 6.7 percent for 1990-1995 (although unbalanced and with heavy external financing); 3.8 percent for 1995-2000; and more recently, after adopting some reforms, a more balanced 5.8 percent on average for 2000-2003. During 2002-2003, overall growth reached 6.8 percent even though the oil sector contracted, and 6.5 percent growth is projected for 2003-2004. Yet even after these recent successes, real per capita GDP in 2000 was some 30 percent below the levels of the mid-1970s(1) and 20 percent below those levels in 2003. These figures suggest subpar economic performance and rapid population growth over the long haul, although with significant improvement in recent years.Iran's overall export growth has also been less than stellar since the revolution. Total exports in current dollars declined at an annual rate of 2.5 percent, with fuel oil exports--on which Iran depends heavily--declining at an annual rate of 4.3 percent. (Non-fuel exports increased at an annual rate of 10.9 percent.) Petroleum exports declined for most major oil exporters over the same period. But in the case of Iran, two internal developments further exacerbated the decline in oil export revenues: a decline in oil output (and capacity) and a rapid increase in domestic petroleum consumption. The decline in production capacity was due largely to investment shortfalls in the oil sector. The increase in domestic consumption was due to high population growth and one of the world's highest petroleum product price subsidies.Although the economy underperformed and total exports did not fare well, Iran did not resort to significant external borrowing until 1988, after the Iran-Iraq war. Between 1988 and 1993, Iran's external debt exploded from $5.8 billion to $28.5 billion (all figures in US dollars) because of the rapid increase in imports (to meet pent-up demand in the aftermath of the war) and resulted in large current account deficits. Unfortunately, the increased external borrowing did not finance productive investments and Iran received little long-term benefit from the external debt it incurred. This period was followed by several years of current account surpluses because of lower imports. These current account surpluses reduced the stock of external debt to around $7.2 billion 2002.(2) At the same time, gross official reserves increased from $5.3 billion in 1997 to an estimated $21.8 billion in 2002. Iran's debt/GDP ratio stood at 6.3 percent in 2001; its ratio of debt to exports was 30.4 percent; and its debt (excluding short-term debt) service ratio was 6.3 percent.(3) These are low figures by any standard and represent a significant accomplishment relative to most other developing countries.In the social arena, Iran has enjoyed much more success since the revolution: the average Iranian's life expectancy has risen steadily; infant mortality rates have fallen; access to safe water, sanitation and health care have shown significant improvement; the number of physicians, dentists and nurses per person have increased; and immunization rates have risen. …

Debate on the enlargement of the European Union

The enlargement crisis of the EU has been triggered by problems related to enlargement towards the east but its roots extend far beyond that issue. To date, European integration has developed within a structure of a wealthy core territory and concentric circles around this centre. The emergence of this pattern has been driven by the dialectics of integration and expansion. But the institutional obstacles and legitimation problems linked to EU eastward enlargement indicate that very little room for manoeuvre remains for future expansion of the EU. As the expansion process reaches its limits, differentiated forms of EU integration, creating different classes of EU members, are likely to appear.

Energy policy and politics in China

In this paper the authors describe how, although sensitive to pollution's threat, China's political leaders have little room for manoeuvre and see worry about greenhouse gases as an ill-affordable luxury in terms of coal-fired electricity generation.