Supranational Context Research Articles

European solidarity and social class. An uneasy alliance

ABSTRACT In response to various crises and a growing Eurosceptic electorate, the European Union (EU) has taken steps to implement solidarity measures aimed at mitigating economic risks and inequalities among member states and their citizens. However, the social basis of support for such redistributive policies in a supranational context remains largely unexplored, despite the ongoing relevance of social class for crucial political outcomes related to European integration.To address this gap, this article distinguishes between transnational and member state solidarity, scrutinizing how the post-industrial division of social classes shapes these two dimensions of European solidarity. The research reveals that the post-industrial structure of social classes, significantly affects both forms of European solidarity, independent of attitudes toward redistribution and European integration. Furthermore, it highlights the transformative potential of supranational redistribution in fostering political support and social cohesion among production workers manifesting exclusive national identities.

More than neighbours: Assessing crisis narratives of Nordic-Baltic elites in the context of European Union’s eastern border

Over the last decade, the European Union has faced multiple crises that have affected the direction and the nature of the integration process. This study focuses on the challenges posed by the Belarusian-EU border crisis (2021) and the proposed travel restrictions towards Russian citizens (2022) in the context of the Nordic-Baltic EU member states. The study addresses their impact through the double prisms of regionality and level of governance. The study looks at how national elite narratives on borders and the movement of people travel to the supranational context, in this case the European Parliament. While the Parliament is often overlooked in favour of the Council or the Commission, this study regards it as an effective analytical bridge between domestic and supranational decision-making levels. To achieve its empirical goals the study relies on governments’ official communiques, while the parliamentary analysis is based on pre-vote debates and Parliament’s roll-call votes. The article finds that, while the national narratives highlight a growing convergence of governmental narratives in adopting or justifying restrictive bordering measures, the EP debates and votes highlight the relevance of ideology and partisanship when it comes to the issue and the growing significance of the gap between mainstream and non-mainstream forces.

Verticalising the multi-level analysis of urban and spatial development across geographies

Making the analysis of urban and spatial development more acceptable by all levels of analysis and governance requires a multi-level – or in other words vertical – approach to indicators measuring development paths. The 2030 Agenda of the United Nations with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals offers a promising chance to establish, maintain, and further develop a monitoring system that is supported by all levels involved, as well as all stakeholder groups and individuals across all levels. First experiences gathered in a nation (Germany) and bilateral and supranational context (Germany, Europe, and India) deliver recommendations for research and practice, and might thus show a possible way to attain successfully this goal.

The rule of law in the national and supranational context

In the scholarly literature, we can find three different concepts that have essentially the same meaning, but which are not identical to each other. These are the English rule of law, the German Rechtsstaat and the French état de droit. Each concept is derived from specific historical, social and political context. The aim of this article is to examine the meaning and significance of the rule of law in a national and supranational context, while looking for similarities and differences. The main research problem concerns the question of how the rule of law should be understood in a non-state, i.e. a supranational context. Bearing in mind that in the case of the European Union we are dealing with a non-state context, and despite the fact that the closest concept of understanding of the rule of law applied in the European Union is the German Rechtsstaat, the author adopts the hypothesis that the most accurate narrative in the present context is the English understanding of the rule of law. The considerations and findings are to lead to a better understanding of this concept in the non-state (supranational) context, because compliance with the law, including the rule of law, by all entities (public and private, national, and European) is essential to the further existence of the European Union. The study is analytical, comparative, and explanatory.

Letters from Filadelfia: Early Latino Literature and the Trans-American Elite

Letters from Filadelfia: Early Latino Literature and the Trans-American Elite

The Anthropology of Enthnationalism: The Politics of Difference

Along with the emergence of Maoist-insurgency in Nepal ethnic awareness pervaded through the society which advanced to the form of movement even it delivered a sharp stroke at the threshold of Constitutional assembly and till it is under tide passion. The project of nation state (re)structuring of federal Nepal is on the progress. This enterprise essentially demands for some common consensus in understanding the contested notions behind the politics of identity versus difference vis-a-vis ethnic nationalism or a liberal concept of civic state before venturing the most controversial debate in searching the federal-strands in order to form a consolidated nation state. Constitutional assembly and the major political parties found largely engaged with talking about people’s ethnicity, their culture and languages as the major constructive principles pivoting around at which the federal nations were conceived. While the constitution of Nepal was announced without identification of its federal provinces because of these undercurrent emotions.
 Ethnic classifications are rather arbitrary, they are changing over time - today's ethnicities are yesterday’s races, and they are different in different countries. While the dubiety on those dimensions to the extent of their nature of fluidity and situational applicability may supply sufficient ground for a clear-cut demarcation of a territorial boundary for any ethnic groups in Nepal. It is equally important to remind to this detail that how the globalized forces of hybridization is taking place. Hybridization is considered a powerful blurring process through which the elements of ethnicity, identity and purity with their boundary limitation becomes indistinct. Further, transnational and supranational context of inescapable globalized processes are of the great significant domains to this concern too.
 In this regard, rendering with some common conceptual references of intellectually satisfying literatures, this paper aims to have recourse in searching common unifying and embracing dimensions of an integral nationalism, a collective overarching Nepalese identity woven within a common national sovereignty through which all the differences and commonalities can be shared, practiced and recognized so that may create pressure to sublimate bare political yearnings and therefore, pleads for the people in public-spheres and the social scientists, intellectuals to broach and share their views.

The EU’s hegemonic imaginaries: from European strategic autonomy in defence to technological sovereignty

ABSTRACT Discourses around “strategic autonomy” and “sovereignty”, traditionally used at the state level, have been recently circulated within the EU supranational context regarding the European defence technological and industrial base, dual-use and disruptive research and innovation, and advances in the tech and digital domains. This article explores whether a high-politics logic intrinsic to “strategic autonomy” and “sovereignty” has been transplanted at the EU-level to enhance the strategic priority of various lower-politics policy fields across tech and digital policy initiatives and instruments. This logic has the hegemonic effect of shaping collective thinking and opening windows of opportunity for EU policymaking, by mainstreaming a security imaginary into broader technological governance processes. The article examines the EU’s scaled-up rhetoric around floating signifiers such as “strategic autonomy” and “technological sovereignty”, as well as the diffusion of overlapping “sovereignty” agendas enacted transversely in the defence, tech and digital sectors. The argument is that their meaning is not yet fixed but articulated via hegemonic interventions across different interconnected policy fields. This makes for conceptual “travelling” and “stretching” with a potential impact on the future of European security integration, by creating of a more unified security imaginary of the EU as a strategically independent and technologically sovereign space.

PIONEERED: Elaborating the link between social and educational policies for tackling educational inequalities in Europe

Although a number of policies tackling educational inequalities have been introduced in recent decades in Europe, educational inequalities exist to a varying extent both in different sub- and supranational contexts. In this article, we address the link between social and educational policies with respect to educational inequalities. Educational policies aim to guarantee opportunities throughout educational trajectories and beyond. They pertain to all areas and the entire duration of the human life. Our contribution to socialpolicy.ch introduces the ongoing Horizon 2020 project PIONEERED on educational inequalities by elaborating on the social problems behind those disparities, and by outlining the project’s conceptual and methodological approaches that join together multilevel, intersectional and life-course perspectives.

Between Two Fires? Austro-­Hungarian Soldiers of Italian Origin during World War I. Review of: Di Michele, A. (2022). Mezh dvukh mundirov. Italo­iazychnye poddannye Avstro-­Vengerskoi imperii na Pervoi mirovoi voine i v russkom plenu [Between Two Uniforms. Italian-Speaking Subjects of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I and in Russian Captivity] (M. G. Talalay, Trans. & Ed.). Italiia — Rossia. St

This review considers the study by A. Di Michele, professor at the Free University of Bolzano (South Tyrol), dedicated to the pre-war and military experience, as well as the experience of captivity of Italian-speaking soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I. The main emphasis is placed on its role in the process of their ethno-cultural and ethno-political self-identification, directly related to the population and identity politics pursued by the states of Europe and Russia in the second half of the nineteenth — first quarter of the twentieth centuries. It demonstrates what gaps A. Di Michele’s study is able to fill and what problems to actualise, focusing simultaneously on the regional, national, and supranational contexts of the topic of Austro-Hungarian soldiers of Italian origin during World War I and in Russian captivity.

Democratic legitimacy in global platform governance

The goal of this paper is to propose a democratic legitimacy framework for evaluating platform-goverance proposals, and in doing so clarify terms of debate in this area, allowing for more nuanced policy assessments. It applies a democratic legitimacy framework originally created to assess the European Union's democratic bona fides – Vivian Schmidt's (2013) modification of Scharpf's (1999) well-known taxonomy of forms of democratic legitimacy – to various representative platform governance proposals and policies. The first section discusses briefly the issue of legitimacy in internet and platform governance, while the second outlines our analytical framework. The second section describes the three forms of legitimacy that, according to this framework, are necessary for democratic legitimation: input, throughput and output legitimacy. The third section demonstrates our framework's utility by applying it to four paradigmatic proposals/regimes: Facebook's Oversight Board (self-governance regimes); adjudication-focused proposals such as the Manila Principles for Intermediary Liability (rule-of-law-focused regimes); the human-rights-focused framework proposed by then-UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; and the United Kingdom's Online Harms White Paper (domestic regime). Section four describes our four main findings regarding the case studies: non-state proposals seem to focus on throughput legitimacy; input legitimacy requirements are frequently under examined; state regulation is usually side-lined as a policy option; and output legitimacy is a limited standard to be adopted in supranational contexts. We conclude that only by considering legitimacy as a multifaceted phenomenon based in democratic accountability will it be possible to design platform-governance models that will not only stand the test of time, but will also be accepted by the people whose lives they affect.

Productivity-based retrospective voting: Legislative productivity and voting in the 2019 European Parliament elections

Are European Parliament (EP) elections used to pass judgement on the legislative behaviour of parties serving in the EP? Do Europeans give a bonus in EP elections to political parties whose members were highly active during the legislative term? The article will focus on the role of legislative activities in the eighth EP term (2014–2019) in informing the 2019 vote choice. The analysis combines the European Election Studies (EESs) 2019 Voter Study data with original legislative behaviour data, as well as with data on European electoral systems. The evidence points to productivity-based retrospective voting being a feature of the 2019 elections. Furthermore, the analysis finds that this type of retrospective voting is stronger in countries where electoral rules encourage candidates to promote past legislative records in electoral campaigns, and particularly so for voters that paid attention to the EP campaign in such systems. This has significant implications for the retrospective voting and EU elections literatures, since it is evidence that the very demanding democratic desiderata of retrospection can be met in multi-level and supranational contexts as well.

Non-arbitrariness, rule of law and the ‘margin of appreciation’: Comments on Andreas Follesdal

AbstractCan citizens’ interest in non-domination be satisfied by the principle of legality and the guarantee of non-arbitrariness? This comment argues that the rule of law requires an internal organization of law that entails an additional positive law, through conventions, common law, judicial precedents or constitutions, which the sovereign cannot legally override. In the supranational context, the rule of law requires an equilibrium of consideration and respect between different legalities by avoiding a legal monopoly of a supreme authority and fostering the interaction among orders based on content-dependent reasons. The same applies to the relations between the ECtHR and member states. The margin of appreciation, taken as a reminder of the complexities of international institutional relationships, embodies a non-domination caveat to consider (the reasons from) the ‘normativities’ of different orders. Nonetheless, as an argumentative tool of the Court, it allows for an often-disputed discretion. Accordingly, better refined guidelines and justifications are required.

Games vs (Democratic) Deficits: The Challenges of Digital Gamification for Supranational Regulators

An acute problem at the national level, the deficit of openness and transparency among supranational regulators is even more critical and actual. Following on the expansion of their regulatory powers, decision makers operating beyond national borders are criticized for their inherent democratic deficit, opaque operations and lack of legitimacy. The proposed paper investigates the use of digital “gamification” strategies - i.e. the introduction of game-design elements into regulatory policies - by supranational regulators - including both international institutions such as the World Bank (WB) and the United Nations (UN), and supranational institutions, such as the European Union (EU) and the European Central Bank (ECB). Section 1 describes the use of gamification in governance and investigates the reasons motivating supranational regulators to experiment with gamification. Section 2 of the paper develops a conceptual understanding of the uses of gamification in supranational governance. Section 3 ventures beyond the empirical analysis to address the impact of gamification strategies on the exercise of public power in supranational contexts.

Introduction

Introduction

The Functions of Law and their Challenges: The Differentiated Functionality of International Law

AbstractThis Article illustrates the functional and conceptual variances of law in different contexts. Whereas legal actors on the international level might normatively aim for law to have a similar effect to that of domestic law, the way in which international and supranational law can fulfill these potential functions is different. Accordingly, this Article argues that an awareness of the particularities and challenges that the potential functions of law encounter in the international and supranational context is needed. Moreover, it suggests an analytical lens to conceptually frame and locate current developments, offering a broader perspective on—or even an element of explication for—the apparent crisis that law is currently facing on the international and supranational scale. After describing the potential functions of law on an abstract scale and grouping them into analytical categories, the Article uses these categories as a lens in order to assess in which way international law can fulfill these potential functions, where priorities regarding certain functions might differ, and where some aspects of these functions are challenged when law is made and applied in the international and supranational sphere.

Issues in the integration of religious education and worldviews education in an intercultural context

ABSTRACTThe Council of Europe’s 2008 ‘Recommendation’ advocates the study of ‘non-religious convictions’ in schools in addition to religions. In 2018, there is evidence of growing academic interest in the inclusion of non-religious worldviews in the school curriculum, but few European countries include such a study within religious education. The guidance document, Signposts, recognises that the integration of religions and non-religious worldviews is problematic for policy makers, teacher trainers and schools and that there is a need for further research. Norway and England are at significant but different stages in the process of integration. This article presents a comparative study which draws on the findings of research in both countries which has investigated the process at classroom and policy levels, and issues raised by this. Four issues are explored: practical challenges; differing understandings of the concept of worldviews; the inclusion of non-religious worldviews as a political issue and influences on the selection of worldviews. The article concludes with a discussion of issues and findings within a supranational context and makes recommendations which highlight the value of integration and the need for both contextual studies and further comparative research.

Ecological Fiscal Transfers in Europe – Evidence-Based Design Options for a Transnational Scheme

Ecological Fiscal Transfers (EFT) have recently gained attention as a promising instrument addressing public authorities to provide incentives for nature conservation. In parallel, both the EU and various European countries are exploring new mechanisms to mobilise funding to support biodiversity conservation. We develop a proposal for an EFT design within the supranational context of the EU and assess its potential effects with evidence-based estimates. We i) provide both a theoretical underpinning and a synthesis of the current EFT schemes and EU Nature Directives, ii) propose a model for EFT implementation within the existing EU funding mechanisms based on quantitative and qualitative conservation indicators, iii) analyse how resulting payments would be (spatially) distributed among European regions, and iv) discuss the model outcomes in terms of ecological effectiveness, distributive effects and cost-effectiveness. We thereby contribute to the debate about how to better integrate ecological public functions within multi-level and supra-national governance structures.

The exaltation of Italian national identity in the discourse of Matteo Renzi

Nations are one of the most well-established constructs in our society, and they represent a very attractive benchmark for personal and social identification. Political speeches, as well as, for example, media discourse and popular culture, constantly reiterate myth, culture and history of nations in order to reaffirm and preserve their positive image, and this tendency doesn’t seem to be weakened by some contemporary events like globalization and the reinforcement of transnational systems.
 As a proof of this trend, the present work proposes an in-depth analysis of the speech held by the then Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at the European Parliament on the occasion of the inauguration of the Italian semester of presidency on July 2, 2014, aiming to demonstrate that also supranational contexts are exploited to reiterate national identity and priorities.

Primi risultati di uno studio EBE sull’inclusione in due scuole italiane

What methodologies are most effective inclusive education? What are the framework conditions that favor the inclusion in the daily school reality? The partial results of the research are presented in this article. On a sample of 109 students, aged 8 to 16 years, we were measured the effects of teaching methods “feedback” and “collaborative learning”, recognized as effective by the international literature. Estimated variables are the skills and abilities to cross disciplines, cognitive-emotional factors of academic success, self-esteem. Rating bio psychosocial which opposes the prevailing bio-medical evaluation in Italy. Observe all students, to transform the special response in normal, measure the school environment variables favorable to inclusion can help to improve, in Italy, the effectiveness of public investment estimated in 2013 at 4,7B. They were later assessed the organizational and relational conditions of the school environment, also examined through the perception of the operators. The context is essential to the deployment of effective interventions for inclusion. The experimental design of research using methods recognized at international and European level (EBE), which allow you to compare the results and replicate the model in a supranational context, first of all in the pilot project “RA4AL” European Agency For Special Needs, It started in three countries, including Italy, which has just ended.

Independent Fiscal Institutions at the Supranational Level: The European Fiscal Board

This discussion paper considers the pertinence of Independent Fiscal Institutions (IFIs) to supranational contexts, along with the structural and political challenges that this transposition may entail. IFIs are typically formed to address fiscal issues in national or subnational domains, but the European Fiscal Board (EFB) provides a novel case to revisit the structure of IFIs – now in a supranational context that comprises the member states of the EU. As this paper observes, there are inherent challenges to the transposition of supranational contexts due to different fiscal situations, dissimilar fiscal priorities, and contrasting fiscal progressions. Furthermore, issues of enforcement and legitimacy, also relevant to national IFIs, manifest themselves in altered forms. The findings of the paper further suggest that the EFB is a step in forging fiscal cohesion over-and-above an extant monetary union.