Territorial Administration Research Articles

Understanding the International Territorial Administration Accountability Deficit: Trusteeship and the Legitimacy of International Organizations

Understanding the International Territorial Administration Accountability Deficit: Trusteeship and the Legitimacy of International Organizations

GEOSTRATEGY OF ECONOMIC SPACES: Innovation and Change in Latin America Territorial Administration

In this essay we analyze the geostrategy of economic spaces in the sphere of new links in the global economy, placing Latin America in the scenario of the new world order. The geostrategic dimension of economic spaces includes spatial redefinitions as a result of new global strategies of the major transnational corporations. This is, therefore, of a space-time configuration of scenarios in the articulation between the importance of the place, action site, and expression of power. Territorial administration adopts new outlines, sharing and is linked to the logistics of market interests. In the new configuration of interests of global economics, the spatial barriers are set aside and global places are created, representing fragmentations of territorialized space. Territorialization of global productive spaces represents deterritorialization of national spaces. Forms of power and influence of power radiate from them in all directions. Power and administration of territory in the large complex economic and political organisms – regional blocks – confront each member’s historic reality, the inequalities of the rates of development, culture and social levels. These realities are hard to harmonize and eventually categorize hegemonic centers of power and a national fringe of dependence. Global geostrategy, therefore, takes over, redefines and reorders productive circulation spaces, establishing new relations of power and administration of territories. Historically, Latin America continued to depend heavily on the economic order established by the colonizing countries and this dependence gradually shifted to the world financial supremacies. This dependence intensified the indebtedness process that today characterizes the so-called market of foreign debts, with significant reflections on the internal social order.

Une régionalisation sous étroite surveillance : l'exemple tchèque d'une régionalisation sans régionalisme

Tightly supervised regionalization: The Czech example of regionalization without regionalism One of the principal reforms made during the post-Communist era in central and eastern European countries has been the establishment of regional structures. It occurred while a wave of regionalization was sweeping over western Europe. Unlike in the West however, where grassroots political, economic and social forces were at work (along with external factors such as globalization and Europeanization), regionalization in the Czech Republic took place in the absence of any mobilization of regional or regionalist forces. Regional construction was launched at the top of the state, on the initiative of the ruling elites who wanted to both rationalize the operation of the territorial administration and, above all, maintain their control over state power and resources. What kind of regional forces might emerge out of the establishment of regions and, as a consequence, the reception of EU structural funds?

Là mise en œuvre des fonds structurels en Pologne : influence européenne, poids du passé et apprentissages collectifs

This study of regional development and institutional changes in central Europe examines the impact of EU structural funds in Lower Silesia, Poland. The system designed by the Polish government for distributing these funds is assessed by focusing on the origin and relevance of institutional arrangements and possible changes therein. Attention is paid both to the institutional adjustments made in Poland before the introduction of the EU's regional policy and to the process whereby the administrations responsible for distributing these funds and beneficiaries learn through practice. The reform of territorial management that was supposed to prepare an administrative framework for managing the structural funds (an EU requirement) ran afoul of Polish centralization and other legacies from the Communist past, which are still deeply rooted in the administrative system. As a result, central authorities still oversee the management of regional policy - a tendency reinforced by the reassertion of control by the very state that had designed the system for distributing structural funds so as to restrict the role of regional authorities. As the analysis of Lower Silesia shows, persisting centralism and formalism hamper the system's effectiveness. However collective learning at all levels has helped develop the administration's capacities while gradually rationalized procedures made it easier to absorb structural funds. Furthermore, the regionalization of the management of the structural funds during the 2007-2013 period could turn out to be a vector for reinforcing regional authorities despite persisting supervision by the central government. These two phenomena might weaken the centralization that has deeply shaped territorial administration and the system for distributing structural funds.

Distributed Preparedness: The Spatial Logic of Domestic Security in the United States

This paper examines the genealogy of domestic security in the United States through an analysis of post-World War II civil defense. Specifically, we describe the development of an organizational framework and set of techniques for approaching security threats that we call ‘distributed preparedness’. Distributed preparedness was initially articulated in civil defense programs in the early stages of the Cold War, when US government planners began to conceptualize the nation as a possible target of nuclear attack. These planners assumed that the enemy would focus its attacks on urban and industrial centers that were essential to US war-fighting capability. Distributed preparedness provided techniques for mapping national space as a field of potential targets, and grafted this map of vulnerabilities onto the structure of territorial administration in the United States. It presented a new model of coordinated planning for catastrophic threats, one that sought to limit federal intervention in local life and to preserve the characteristic features of American federalism. Over the course of the Cold War, distributed preparedness extended to new domains, and following 9/11 it has moved to the center of security discussions in the US.

Strategies for future success: Remembering the Hittites during the Iron Age

AbstractThe Maraş and Sakçagözü valley surveys on the east side of the Amanus mountains provide new data regarding patterns of Hittite territorial management and administration. Sites dating to the Late Bronze Age II period were identified by the presence of burnished pottery, drab ware and, occasionally, by animal-shaped ceramic vessel fragments. The standardised drab ware pottery is emblematic of mass production and rigid control of labour sources and raw materials through systems designed to support the economic and political strategies of the Hittite court and to serve its interests. The settlement pattern is linked to Hittite regional needs for agricultural production, raw materials and territorial security. The distinct site location pattern indicates a strategic, restrained use of space by the Hittites. This left room for beneficial integrative features that local élites might emphasise for their own purposes, which comprise a foundation for the prestige later accorded to the Hittite legacy.

O LUGAR DA PARTICIPAçãO POPULAR NA GESTãO DE SAúDE: MATRIZES CONCEITUAIS E OS RUMOS DA POLÍTICA BRASILEIRA

O presente artigo visa discutir a municipalização da saúde noBrasil, tendo em vista as referências da Geografia Política eda Ciência Política, em geral. Para isso, é analisada a questãoda participação da comunidade e da forma em que estafoi institucionalizada, bem como suas matrizes doutrinárias.Como irá se demonstrar, a municipalização da política de saúdebrasileira envolveu múltiplos atores sociais, delimitando espaçosde poder dentro da gestão pública. Ao entendermosque o SUS representa uma gestão territorial, suas implicaçõesna qualidade dos serviços prestados refletem ou refletirão naprodução do espaço, assim como no ordenamento territorialda sociedade.

TOWARDS A TRUE INCARNATION OF THE RULE OF LAW IN WAR-TORN TERRITORIES: CENTRING PEACEBUILDING IN THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE

While there have been increasing demands for strengthening UN capacity for peacebuilding, recent peacebuilding operations under UN transitional territorial administration have obscured and downgraded the importance of normative and legal questions and have failed to address the right to self-determination in substance. It is argued that the legal issues surrounding such operations, including the legal basis for establishing transitional administrations, the legal status of the territories under administration and the legal regulations governing the powers given to UN administrators, must be contemplated in such a way as to focus fully on the internal and substantive aspects of the peoples' right to self-determination.

The Unfinished Business of Devolution

The UK’s devolution reforms were built on long-standing practices of differentiated territorial administration in the non-English parts of the UK. With devolution those practices became subject to new democratic processes, transforming territorial administration into territorial politics. The reforms were introduced in a piecemeal basis, lacking an overall conception of the impact of devolution on the UK state, and lacking consideration of how the government of the non-devolved unit of England can, through its size and weight within the UK, impact on and constrain devolved government. The combination of piecemeal reform and the ‘English question’ raises a number of open questions about the coherence and stability of the devolution arrangements, especially at the point when governments run by different parties import partisan considerations into territorial politics.

TAXATION SYSTEM IN AGRICULTURE

The Romanian fiscal code has been adopted by Law 571/2003 and amended by Law 343/2006 modifying 263 issues of the initial Fiscal code, normative documents having as fundamental objectives: adopting fiscal directives in the European Union legislation, perfecting and simplifying the legislative code in force; harmonizing with the fiscal legislation of the European Union and international fiscal agreements Romania takes part in; ensuring a unitary stable, coherent and clear code of the fiscal Regulations; Taxes and duties provided by this fiscal code are based on principles such as: neutrality of fiscal measures as compared to the type of property, categories of investors and capitals, the certitude of taxation by elaborating clear legal standards, fiscal equity of natural persons and the efficiency of taxation by ensuring a long term stability of Fiscal Code provisions. Good provision of such principles shall be achieved only by provision of Standards by Resolution and published in the Official Monitor. The current Romanian Fiscal Code is structured by 10 titles, each with its chapters, regulating the following taxes and duties:tax on profit, tax on income,tax on micro-companies income,tax on income obtained in Romania by non-residents,tax on representation, value added tax,excises, local tax and duties. Activities developed in agriculture display a series of particularitie, therefore to be necessary: correct interpreting terms such as: “person” (any natural or legal person); “activity” (any activity developed by a person to obtain income); “independent activity” (any activity regularly developed by any natural person, other than a dependent activity); “tax payer” (any Romanian or foreign person developing their activity in Romania). Any farming activities organised and developed in Romania by compliance of legal provisions in the matter, can be declared by the Fiscal Code at the Trade Register afterwards at the territorial Fiscal Administration by Declaration of fiscal registration (fiscal vector).

The Individual Right to Petition in Internationalized Territories. From Progressive Thought to an Abandoned Practice

This article discusses the right to petition as it existed within both the mandate system during the League of Nations and under the trusteeship system of the United Nations (UN) in light of contemporary missions of international civil administration. During these past systems, inhabitants of territories placed under international tutelage were given the right to address the conduct of the powers responsible for the governance of the respective territories. In other words, by exercising the right to petition, individuals and interest groups were given the opportunity to object to decisions taken by the governing authorities and accordingly set in motion review procedures. Even though both the mandate system and the trusteeship system have ceased to exist, in light of modern day operations involving post-conflict governance such as the UN mission in East Timor and the international presence within Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the territory of Kosovo, the question arises whether the reintroduction of such a right would be a step forward in finding a solution for the accountability deficit which currently exists within those missions of civil administration. The mandate and the trusteeship systems as well as the current international governance missions are representative for the changing relations within the international legal domain. During the creation of both the mandate and the trusteeship systems the state was the pivotal element in the international arena. Therefore, the main hierarchical relationship existing at the time in terms of governance was one between individuals and their state. With the emergence of the League and the UN as a territorial administrator, a new context emerged in which peoples and individuals were placed more or less directly under the supervision and guarantees of the international community, creating ‘a new kind of governmental relationship quite foreign to the old ideas of international law’. In such new circumstances, mechanisms were deemed necessary to control the conduct of the governing authorities, i.e. the mandatory state, not only top down through obligations to report but bottom up as well. The right to petition which was guaranteed during both the mandate and the trusteeship systems was probably the best example of such a mechanism. After the de facto termination of the trusteeship practice in 1994, leaving the international scene with no externally governed territories falling under the UN trusteeship system’s umbrella, purportedly the need for such a specific right ceased to exist. Conversely, this article argues that considering the subsequent development of the UN’s governance practice in post conflict situations, the need for supervision mechanisms in situations of internationalized administration has only grown. In the past two decades, the UN has been involved in far-reaching governance missions in which it was directly in charge of the administration of territories and ultimately responsible for all legislative, executive and judiciary processes within the administered territory. Building on the generally accepted view that UN governance missions are faced with an accountability deficit, the article argues that insight into the petition experience from the past can and should be used in discussions on current accountability issues within UN territorial governance practice.

From Province to Protectorate to State? Speculation on the Impact of Kosovo's Genesis upon the Doctrines of International Law

The province of Kosovo – 2 million people in 11,000 square kilometres of territory nestled between Serbia to the North and Albania and Macedonia to the South – was thrust into the international limelight when Serbian actions to repress Kosovo Albanian calls for independence made it a subject of international concern at the end of the 1990s. While Kosovo is not unique in becoming well-known for suffering the repressive actions of a parent state, and while it has not even enjoyed the distinction of being the only territorial administration of its time, it appears to be unique in its (potential) impact on the doctrines of international law. On a number of levels, the international community's response to the situation created by Milosevic's actions and NATO's intervention threaten to call fundamental pillars of the post-World War II order into question. It is too early to speculate conclusively on whether the NATO action in KosovosansSecurity Council approval in some measure paved the way for an emerging doctrine of “humanitarian intervention” that, in turn, opened the door to the illegal invasion of Iraq. It seems not implausible to suggest that the apparent success of unauthorised military intervention in Kosovo in stopping mass human rights violations emboldened politicians on both sides of the Atlantic in opting for a moral path over the formally legal one. In any event, grounded as they are in that history, the final status talks on the future of Kosovo represent a serious challenge to the current framing of the international order. It is these issues that this symposium wished to raise and examine.

Legitimacy and UN-Administration of Territory

Given the scope of authority the United Nations has assumed in order to perform functions of territorial administration both in East Timor and Kosovo, it is, as one commentator remarked, rather surprising that the issue of the legitimacy of the internationalisation of state structures through post-conflict governance has inspired little debate. There are myriad reasons for the erosion of political authority in a territory temporarily administered by the international community – corruption, local obstructionism and internal divisions, failure to promote government transparency, a tenuous link between civil administration and the military command structure, the operation of (inter)national networks of patronage, and general incompetence, to name a few. This article analyses some of theinherenttensions involved in international institution-building. It introduces the variety of actors operating in an internationalised territory as the quest for legitimacy creates tensions between them, and portrays the dynamics that unfold in a process in which notions of legitimacy are subject to institutional contestation.

Model regionalizacije centralne Srbije

Rationalization is one of the main conditions for countries in transition to join the European Union, because the process of European integration in its first stage develops through so-called space integration, in other words through the region. As the middle level between state and local govern, region means reduction of expensive state administration and condition for successful democratic and economic reforms. Because of that, countries which are candidates for EU have accepted regionalisation and they are working very fast to change territorial administration in accordance with European norm's to achieve bigger decentalization. According to all of these facts, in this brief account has been performed regionalization of Central Serbia in accordance with regional division criterions (NUTS), which EU gave through her Statistical Central Station in Luxembourg (EUROSTAT).

Michaela Salamun's Democratic Governance in International Territorial Administration (2005) - Daniel Sven Smyrek's Internationally Administered Territories – International Protectorates? (2006)

Michaela Salamun's Democratic Governance in International Territorial Administration (2005) - Daniel Sven Smyrek's Internationally Administered Territories – International Protectorates? (2006) - Volume 8 Issue 1

After Exit: Successor Missions and Peace Consolidation

Devising exit strategies is a challenge for all peace operations but a particular challenge for international territorial administrations (ITAs). Given the scope of the remit of ITAs and the long-term developmental needs of the territories they administer, the withdrawal of international authorities risks leaving weak embryonic institutions in their wake. This article focuses on the importance of follow-on measures – a role for which regional organisations may be particularly well suited – to reinforce positive achievements and to ensure against slippage. It looks at the extent to which such thinking is reflected in actual practice and assesses the effectiveness of successor missions where they have been employed.

Assumptions of Legitimacy and the Foundations of International Territorial Administration

The question I seek to examine is whether or not it should be assumed that international organizations are more legitimate than states when it comes to the specific task of territorial administration. I adopt the definition of international territorial administration, or ITA, used by Ralph Wilde in his work, which is that ITA occurs when an international organization goes into an independent territory and acts as that region's government. (1) Recent and prominent examples include the U.N.'s activities in Kosovo (UNMIK) and East Timor (UNTAET). One important distinction is that ITA operations are not peacekeeping operations, which are military affairs. Rather, ITA is civilian governance, and in the past it has been carried out in response to two types of situations: those that involve a handover in land between two countries and those in which the international organization seeks to implement a change in a territory's existing governance. Today, the use of international organizations as the actor chosen to administer a territory in a postconflict or otherwise-transitional situation has become well-established, and there continues to remain a general aversion to the idea of state administration because of associations with colonialism. I argue that this bifurcation between states and international organizations in the context of territorial administration is oversimplified and masks some very real tensions regarding the appropriateness of international organizations to carry out these activities. To address the question of whether or not international organizations are the best actors, I examine legitimacy through three separate lenses: (1) legal authority, (2) accountability, and (3) impartiality. LEGAL AUTHORITY International administration implies what was lacking under colonialism--the consent of relevant actors, including the host state and the local population. With respect to host-state consent, in those cases in which the ITA has been used to act as a buffer between two states during an interim land handover, host-state consent has invariably been sought. Yet in those instances in which ITA is used to effect a change in local governance, the very purpose of ITA is to go against the wishes of the host state. This was the case in Kosovo, where the United Nations sought to dispel with the existing Serb leaders. In place of host-state consent in those situations, there is instead Security Council authorization, which raises the problems that are inherent in the structure and decision-making processes of the Security Council. However, even if host-consent is present, an additional problem arises with respect to the consent of the local population. One of the main purposes of ITA has always been to facilitate self-determination entitlements for those territories seeking to define their external status. In this vein, international organizations have assisted in holding local referenda and plebiscites and have provided election monitoring. Yet on several occasions, the validity of many of these consultations has been brought into question. In West Irian, for example, a consultation took place to determine whether, following the withdrawal of the United Nations, the people wished to remain associated with Indonesia or sever their ties. The ultimate vote was for continued association, yet it was seen as corrupted and controlled by the local elites. The United Nations nevertheless endorsed the result and, to this day, there remains a strong self-determination movement in the region. Likewise in East Timor, UN administration was provided for in the May Agreement in the event of a vote for independence, yet only if the people actually read the May Agreement would they have realized this. The question was therefore never properly put before the people in a direct manner. Thus, some ITA missions have themselves suffered from the same imposed nature that came to characterize colonial administration. …

Tierras nuevas y la construcción del Estado en Brasil y Argentina

En América Latina el desplazamiento de la frontera corrió paralelo a la expansión del latifundio y a la consolidación del poder de las oligarquías. Aun en países como Brasil y Argentina, en los cuales la premisa básica de Turner estaba presente, es decir, la existencia de "tierras libres", la marcha de la frontera no democratizó el acceso a la tierra. Las causas más señaladas para explicar ese efecto son: la herencia del latifundio colonial y las características de la legislación agraria adoptada en el siglo XIX. En este trabajo, buscamos llamar la atención hacia algunos aspectos de la herencia colonial ibérica y sobre la influencia que ejercieron en la visión del territorio y en la administración de los "fondos territoriales". También examinamos la ley de tierras de 1850 (Brasil) y la ley Avellaneda de 1876 (Argentina). Finalmente, agregamos otra dimensión explicativa: la que establece una relación entre el proceso de concentración de poder característico del State building y el desplazamiento de la frontera.

The Map of Europe: Continuity and Change in Administrative Boundaries (1850–2000)

This article presents a series of digital maps that track the evolution of intermediate level administrative boundaries in Western and Central Europe between 1850 and 2000. Our research led us to consider why neighbouring states often base the organisation of their respective administrative units on quite different principles. Although each European state has its own history and dynamic, it is also possible to distinguish a series of general characteristics and common traits. We have identified two basic groups of patterns, which we have called the rationalistic and conservative models. The former is characterised by a radical reform of the previous system of territorial organisation and administration. This generally took place after the French Revolution of 1789 and followed the example of the administrative reforms implemented in France under Napoleon. The latter has largely respected and conserved traditional boundaries and institutions and has only modified them when they become unviable and effectively obsolete. This offers considerable flexibility in the face of changing circumstances, as particularly observed in the sub-group of that we have referred to as ‘functionalist states’.

Who guards the guardians? international accountability in Bosnia

This essay discusses the accountability of international actors within the Dayton framework. It argues that the international administration of Bosnia-Herzegovina suffers from an accountability deficit – a deficit that appears all the more acute as the Dayton peace agreement approaches its ten-year anniversary. Limited accountability does not mean the total absence of mechanisms for local scrutiny but, as is analysed here, these mechanisms are extremely limited. While international territorial administrations are not representative democracies, and in important respects should not be held to the standards of a liberal democratic state, more effort can and should be made to ensure a greater degree of accountability to the local population. The essay concludes with some suggestions as to how this could be achieved.