Public Declaration Research Articles

ROMANIA AND THE EURO: THE STATE OF THE DEBATE

As a member of the European Union (EU), Romania is required to adopt the European single currency once it fulfils all the convergence criteria. As of June 2017, the national currency has not yet joined the preparatory two-year phase (the Exchange Rate Mechanism – ERM) necessary for the adoption of the euro and a certain target date has not been established. Over the years, different target dates have been officially set and communicated to the public, only to be later deemed unrealistic and postponed. The aim of this study is to present the state of the debate regarding the adoption of the euro and to describe how the main arguments have developed in recent years. To this end, academic studies both by Romanian and foreign specialists that treat the issue of euro adoption by Romania are reviewed and analyzed. Also, a number of recent typical popular press articles on this subject are presented and investigated. In addition, public positions recently taken by important political players and appointed officials such as the ones in the Central Bank are discussed and the core arguments found in these discourses are highlighted. Insights from the political discourse analysis body of literature are used to decipher the policy-related meaning of the text and context that accompany public declarations of some key political actors. The main storylines that can be found in this literature are identified and analyzed in terms of economic and political reasoning as well as rhetoric.

Savaş, Propaganda ve Aydın: Bernard Shaw’un “Savaş Hakkında Ortak Akıl”’ına Gramscici Bir Yaklaşım

This essay aims to read Shaw’s “Common Sense About the War” (1914) within the context of the British and German intellectual’s public declarations on the war. Both British and German governments demanded their intellectuals to defend their war to the public and to the world. Declarations made by significant figures of both nations affirm the narrative told by the political body. This is a Gramscian reading which takes Gramsci’s observation on the role of intellectuals: “intellectuals play a major role in the struggle for hegemony”. Shaw’s “Common Sense About the War” was just that act “in the struggle for hegemony.” Challenging the “common sense” views of his times, Shaw attempted to urge the public to be more critical and questioning about their patriotic and ethnocentric positions on most vital issues such as war. In Gramscian terms, he invites the public to use “good sense” rather than the taken for granted “common sense”. Shaw uses the phrase “common sense” in his title to invite the public to “common sense” leaving aside their romantic, idealised views on the war and its causes. D espite their ideological differences, British p ublic figures such as Kipling, Bennett, Wells, Christabel Pankhurst and Doyle among others seemed all to be united at that time of war under the banner of patriotism. Shaw’s text in this sense contests the hegemonic discourse of the time. Keywords: “Common Sense About the War”, Bernard Shaw, First World War, Propaganda, Gramsci

Educación y compromiso: las universidades jesuitas en Centroamérica

Este artículo analiza a partir, muy especialmente, de las declaraciones públicas de sus responsables, cómo han definido las universidades jesuitas centroamericanas su misión, con la intención de intentar explicar por qué surge en conflicto con el inicial objetivo fundacional de las universidades y, al tiempo, considerar los límites y contradicciones de este esfuerzo.

Conceptual provisions of the implementation of energy saving measures in the residential facilities

Research purpose is identification of sales problems of energy saving actions for residential sector of economy, including with use of the power service contract. The choice of the object of the study is related to the general issues on energy saving of residential facilities and increasing the number of unresolved problems. Unfortunately, the efficiency of energy consumption of housing stock is extremely low that directly leads to an increase in citizens’ payments for public utilities (housing and communal services). There are many problems associated with the aging of fixed assets: it becomes especially evident in winter seasons. The level of quality of delivery, distribution and consumption of expensive heat resources that has the greatest impact on a residence comfort and sometimes human life and health, is very low. Our population faces to year overheating or freezing, to leakages through worn pipes and the subsequent disconnection of water and heat. Despite the public declaration of the of the active processes of modernization of the housing municipal economy in the Russian Federation, the implementation of the necessary energy-saving elements in the housing sector is evolving very slowly. The article presents conceptual positions, which will bring the issues related to energy saving and efficiency to a new level.

THE RELIGIOUS FACTOR IN PARTY CREATION OF MODERN RUSSIA

The problem of religiosity influence on party construction in modern Russia is analyzed within three periods proposed by the author: 1. the nineties of the twentieth century - the period without restrictions on the use of religion; 2. The first decade of the twenty first century – the period of sufficiently strong principles of state secularism; 3. 2012 – present – the period of “primitive secularism” overcoming. Conclusions and generalizations are made within a broad empirical material, including the study of party’s public declaration. The basic trends and features of the religiosity influence on party construction have been determined. It has been analyzed in relation to religion and believers of the leading political parties. Particular attention is paid to political parties that have been using religious ideas in their programs and within party’s ideology construction.

‘DEDUCTIO IN DOMUM MARITI’ A ZAWARCIE ‘IUSTUM MATRIMONIUM’

‘DEDUCTIO IN DOMUM MARITI’ AND THE CONCLUSION OF A ‘IUSTUM MATRIMONIUM’SummaryAccording to the communis opinio the classical Roman law did not have a formal procedure of concluding a marriage, since its conclusion required only the mutual consent of a man and a woman (affectio maritalis, consensus). Nonetheless, the Roman culture developed a number of ritual acts related to the conclusion of a marriage, most of them deeply rooted in the Roman tradition and history and of great symbolic significance. The central moment of a wedding ceremony appears to be the deductio in domum mariti i.e. the ritual bringing of the bride to her husband’s house. The significance of this ritual is reflected in language since the expression uxorem ducere (“to lead a wife”) is the most common Latin expression for “to marry,” also in the legal sense, since according to some jurists when deductio in domum mariti had been accomplished, the couple was considered duly and legally married. The main function of the deductio was thus to give a proof that the marriage had been concluded and to manifest mutual affectio maritalis. Deductio in domum mariti played a special role when a marriage was concluded inter absentes (it seems that only the groom person could be absent and not the bride). In this case the formal deductio ceremony seems to have been an indispensable act constituting the only way in which the mutual affectio maritalis could be expressed. Since the bride’s procession to her new husband’s house was considered the public declaration of the consensus necessary to conclude a legal marriage, if the groom was absent such a ceremony was necessary as a proof that mutual affectio maritalis had been expressed and thus the marriage had been concluded. Nonetheless the necessity of leading the bride to her husband’s home in the case of a matrimonium inter absentes should not be confused with the constitutive character of deductio in domum mariti. Consensus still remained the only constitutive element and deductio in domum mariti was only the formal way in which this consensus had to be expressed in the particular circumstances.

Declarations of Forgiveness and Remorse in European Politics

This article examines the historical background, proliferation, and later internationalization of public declarations of forgiveness and remorse, first made in Europe a few decades after the end World War II. The author suggests that these declarations should be understood as a political practice, and bases her claim on three premises: (1) after 1945, politicians began apologizing not only for their own crimes but mainly for those perpetrated by the communities they represented; (2) these declarations implied a tacit acceptance of responsibility of both the group that declares its remorse and of the group that accepts and possibly forgives the former for its past crimes; (3) apart from representing a shared collective moral responsibility, declarations of forgiveness and remorse imply the continuity of a nation (or of other kinds of human collectivities). These three premises apply if declarations of forgiveness and remorse are not banal and conventional, but function as a political ritual. The author discusses the main controversies relating to these declarations, such as the problem of collective responsibility or the neglect of the victims of past crimes, and concludes that, despite their flaws, authentic declarations of forgiveness and remorse have important moral and political consequences.

Putting political spectacle to work: Understanding local resistance to the Common Core

In the fall of 2013, a parents’ group formed to protest the new Common Core based mathematics textbook recently adopted by their school district. Quickly allying with teachers, the new coalition began to, “hammer,” the district to drop the Common Core and return to more traditional texts and pedagogies. They did so by speaking at Governing Board meetings, participating in interviews with local newspapers, appearing on a local radio talk show, and forming social media accounts. This intrinsically motivated case study uses qualitative media analysis to examine the texts produced from these and other public declarations to better understand local policy formation through the mechanics of “political spectacle.” Political spectacle theory suggests that policy may be formed through dramatic public displays and that policy formed from such spectacles often undemocratically reinforces existing inequalities. The study analyzes the parent, teacher and administration policy actors’ use of political spectacle elements such as symbolic language, construction of problems, casting of enemies and allies and distinctions between onstage and backstage drama to understand the adoption, challenge and ultimate rejection of a Common Core based mathematics text in a mid-sized southwestern United States School district.

A Política Externa interina e os riscos à integração regional

Este artigo oferece uma reconstrução histórica dos três primeiros meses da gestão de José Serra à frente do Ministério das Relações Exteriores, período de interinidade do governo de Michel Temer, valendo-se das declarações públicas do ministro e do Itamaraty, bem como de análises dos grandes meios de imprensa. Sustenta-se que guinada observada na política externa brasileira apresenta duas características: (1) a forte carga retórica, direcionada à desconstrução do “legado diplomático” petista e à confrontação com críticos regionais ao impeachment; (2) uma mudança estrutural, tanto no desenho institucional do MRE quanto no eixo de orientação da inserção brasileira, destinada a assegurar a visibilidade do chanceler no contexto da sucessão presidencial. No médio prazo, a soma desses elementos pode trazer riscos ao processo de integração regional, na medida em que se redefinem as relações intra-Mercosul e opta-se por uma estratégia de embate com países em crise institucional, como a Venezuela.

Deforming mirrors converting GMOs into smog

Purpose The debate around the use and study of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is so complex that frequently people miss that the outcome of some political/social/economic decisions are taken in such a way that the legal/agricultural/medical coherence is lost. The purpose of this text is to underline the contradictions in the European approach to GMOs, when for the past 20 years the European Union (EU) has been using and importing GMOs but rejecting its study or cultivation. Design/methodology/approach The approach follows the distance among public declarations against GMOs from most of the political representatives, followed by decision on our health, nutrition and economic development going exactly in the opposite direction. The arrival of the new genome-edited plants cannot solve all requirements, as in many cases an entire new function should be added and, at present, this will be again a GMO irrespective to the technique used to add a new gene. The delay in taking these decisions are now posing a hazard on the cultural and economic development of the EU. Findings The laws (directives) on GMOs in the EU are far too restrictive and suffer from an over-regulation that prevent any attempt to come to a science-based approach on genetically modified (GM) plants. The basis for the definition and the restrictions is on the technology and not on the final product. However, on the other hand, the GMOs are the only product where the safety analysis is on the final product (which is not the case for organics productions). The paradox is that all restrictions are concentrated on GM plants to be cultivated in Europe, as if the main hazard would be on the environmental impact of local cultivation. Meanwhile, the EU has no concern if the same environmental damage happens abroad and EU is the final user of the technology as 68 different GMOs are imported and used even for human consumption in Europe. Originality/value Fighting against the EU over-regulation would appear to be a position supporting multinational seed companies (none of them based in the EU), described as polluters. The proposed approach is the opposite, asking for a more restrictive regulation to show to the consumers that: most local EU high quality food products are derived from GM-fed animals; GM cotton is potentially far more risky than any GM food; and reducing GM plants cultivated in Europe increases the pesticide sold by chemical companies (mostly based in the EU).

Female genital mutilation and cutting: An anatomical review and alternative rites.

The World Health Organization reports that more than 200 million women currently alive have been subjected to female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) worldwide, and three million girls continue to be at risk each year. FGM/C today is women's business. The vulva is formed by the labia majora and the vestibule, with its erectile apparatus. These structures are located under the urogenital diaphragm, behind the pubic symphysis in the anterior perineal region. The clitoris is entirely an external genital organ: the glans and body covered by the prepuce are visible/free while the roots are hidden. FGM/C procedures are classified into four types. Infibulation is the narrowing of the vaginal orifice with creation of a covering seal by cutting and appositioning of the labia minora and/or the labia majora, with or without removal of the clitoris. Deinfibulation is necessary to improve health and well-being and to allow intercourse or facilitate childbirth. Clitoral reconstruction is feasible for genitally mutilated patients. Female genital cosmetic surgery should be classed as FGM/C type IV. Both immediate and long-term complications are associated with FGM/C. It remains primarily a cultural rather than a religious practice. Different interventions have been used to persuade communities to abandon it. Alternative rites of passage are seen as an important strategy for eliminating this harmful practice. Such alternative rituals avoid genital cutting and involve educating girls about family life and women's roles, exchange of gifts, celebration, and a public declaration for community recognition. FGM/C is a violation of human rights and must be abandoned. Clin. Anat. 30:81-88, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Effects of Political Rhetoric on the Rise of Legitimized Racism in France: The Case of the 2005 French Riots

Through a review of public speeches, media declarations and interviews by French government officials and influential intellectuals, this paper examines the language used and the measures taken by the French government during the 2005 ethnic riots. Particularly, this essay argues that the government’s response to the riots shows that (1) by applying a white racial frame on the riots and the rioters, the state was able to denigrate the rioters and deny any legitimacy to the riots themselves; and that (2) by applying color-blind racist labels to the rioters, the state was able to discredit the revolt so as to rationalize and justify a set of repressive tactics and racist measures without ‘sounding racist’. Furthermore, this study reveals that the French government ultimately normalized a racial frame about the riots through color-blind rhetoric and practices. This essay concludes that the rhetoric used by the French government signals the rise of a legitimized racism, becoming a dominantly accepted and supported view in the political arena and society in France.

Cross-cultural comparisons of religion as “character”: Football and soccer in the United States and Germany

This study compares sports media coverage of American football (“football”) in the United States and association football (“soccer”) in Germany, with a specific focus on the portrayal of Christian athletes. Specifically, we contend that media coverage of Christian football players in the United States presupposes that religiosity necessarily equates with good character. Thus, American athletes are encouraged to make public declarations of faith and are accordingly viewed as better leaders on the field and better citizens off it. Meanwhile, media coverage of soccer players in Germany presupposes that religiosity is incidental to good character. Thus, German athletes are encouraged to keep their faith to themselves; for those who do make public declarations of faith, media coverage is skeptical, tending to view athletic success to be in spite of, rather than because of, Christian identification. This cross-cultural examination, then, has implications for public expressions of faith in sport, as well as media coverage of sport and religion.

Unilateral Promises: Scots Law Compared with the PECL and the DCFR

Abstract: This contribution compares the recognition of a general concept of unilateral promises, binding without acceptance by the promisee, in Article 2:107 of the Principles of European Contract Law (PECL) and Article II.-1:103 of the Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR) with the equivalent Scottish rule. The significance of this comparison is that the rule in question is significantly wider than that found in most other European legal systems, which tend to recognize only limited categories of unilateral promises or to impose a requirement of acceptance. Despite an authoritative restatement of the law by Lord President Gill in Regus (Maxim) Ltd v. Bank of Scotland plc [2013] CSIH 12, the Scottish courts have generally approached the concept in a restricted and restrictive way, although at least occasionally allowing it a role even in commercial cases. The decision of the UK Supreme Court in the Scottish appeal Royal Bank of Scotland v. Carlyle [2015] UKSC 13 poses a significant challenge to such caution, and the judges’ self-imposed restrictions are also inconsistent with the DCFR’s approach. On the other hand, the Scottish experience suggests that the DCFR’s requirement that notice of the promissory statement must reach the promisee to make it effective except when the statement is a public declaration may, in turn, be too demanding. It is also suggested, in opposition to a suggestion by Professor Martin Hogg, that from both the DCFR and the Scottish experience the conduct of the recipient after the statement is made may be relevant to the question of whether the statement can be treated as a binding promise.

Seis cartas inéditas de fray Luis de León: en torno a la polémica sobre la Vulgata y la invitación a participar en la Nueva Imprenta Vaticana de Sixto V en Roma

One of the main objectives of the Council of Trent was to spread Catholic doctrines and fight against heresy, which had been making good use of the benefits of the printing press. With this purpose in mind, Pope Sixtus V created in 1587 a new Vatican Printing Press to bring out new editions of all kind of religious works. From this project would emerge the so-called ‘Sistine Vulgate’, which was short-lived. This Pope also proposed the names of eight scholars, all of them theologians and experts in their own language, as correctors for the press. This article analyses how one of the scholars chosen was the Spanish writer fray Luis de León, just a decade after his own inquisitorial process, motivated precisely by his public declarations about some textual errors of the old Vulgate. A fundamental resource for this article is a corpus of six unpublished autograph letters by fray Luis, which provide us with unknown information about the circumstances of the invitation to Rome and which are published here for the first time. The correspondent is Cardinal Ascanio Colonna, an Italian nobleman who was a student at the Universities of Salamanca and Alcalá de Henares, a benefactor of writers (well known because Miguel de Cervantes dedicated his first novel, La Galatea, to him), and a future cardinal and viceroy of Aragon. The correspondence of Philip II with his ambassador in Rome, the Count of Olivares, provides us with the political and economic context surrounding the debate on the new Vatican Printing Press, a project that perished with the death of Sixtus V in 1590.

Open For Business: Philadelphia Quakers, Thanksgiving, and the Limits of Revolutionary Religious Freedom

In 1863, Sarah Josepha Hale rejoiced that after a decades-long campaign, Thanksgiving had become a national holiday. Hale was not alone in her desire to unite patriotism with spiritual devotion. In her personal correspondence with the president, Eliza Gurney also spoke of the blessings God had bestowed on the nation. Gurney, a devoted Quaker, had met with Lincoln in 1861 to give him spiritual comfort and had continued writing with him ever since. After his public proclamation of Thanksgiving, Gurney wrote to him to demonstrate her “cordial approval of thy late excellent proclamation appointing a day of thanksgiving” despite the fact that as a Quaker she did “not set apart especial seasons for returning thanks.” Gurney saw the holiday as an effective means of making less devout Americans conscious of their God-given blessings and thus supported the federal holiday even while she refused to celebrate it.

From access to re-use

From access to re-use

From access to re-use: a user’s perspective on public sector information availability

From access to re-use: a user’s perspective on public sector information availability

Business Judgment Rule: Padrões e Atualidades

O presente trabalho tem por escopo a conceituação e apresentação dos padrões vistos na doutrina e na lei para aplicação da teoria da business judgment rule, que passam especialmente pelos deveres dos administradores sociais e dos requisitos para que seus atos de gestão valham-se da presunção de correição e irresponsabilidade pessoal dada pela business judgment rule. Adicionalmente, será apresentada a teoria da deepening insolvency e sua relação com a business judgment rule no direito brasileiro. Por fim, pretende-se discutir a aplicação ou não da business judgment rule ao caso da aquisição, pela Petrobras, da refinaria de Pasadena, levando-se em consideração a manifestação pública da Presidente Dilma Roussef sobre a base jurídica utilizada pelo Conselho de Administração da companhia para tomar a decisão de adquirir a refinaria, bem como os fatos veiculados na mídia sobre o assunto.

Millennials and chocolate product ethics: Saying one thing and doing another

Because of changes in contemporary American culture, attitudes toward certain product characteristics like clean labels, certified ethical sourcing, and sugar/fat content seem to be changing, especially among Millennials. The present project focused on Millennials’ judgment of the importance of various product characteristics in their choice of chocolate confections. After a series of focus groups to inform the design, an experiment was conducted in which participants made a series of choices between product characteristics. The choice data were subjected to a cluster analysis to identify subgroups of consumer preferences and then subjected to multidimensional scaling to visualize the preference space. Most participants showed little discriminability among factors like organic, certified ethical sourcing, and rainforest friendly, a strong preference for clean labels, and more concern about high levels of fat rather than sugar in their chocolate confections. For most participants, their choice behavior reflected minimal concern for ethical factors whereas their public declarations in a focus group suggested otherwise.