Role Of Unions Research Articles

Policy Rhetoric versus Political Reality: Has the Italian State Given Up on the Mezzogiorno?

The goal to develop the Mezzogiorno has been a long-standing feature of Italian public policy, reflecting the enduring, and so far unsolved, duality between the developed Centre–North and the lagging South. The policy response has changed over time: from the ‘Special Intervention’ to the more recent nuova programmazione. This article focuses on the evolution of the nuova programmazione during the last few years, from 2007 to 2011. It shows that notwithstanding a restated formal commitment to raise the Mezzogiorno to a level similar to the rest of the country, the policy reality has been a substantial abandonment of this goal. The article sheds light on the reasons behind the persistence of the Mezzogiorno problem, the challenges faced by redistributive policies in times of economic crisis, and the limits of the European Union's role as an external force to remove domestic blockages.

On the EU's performance and leadership in global environmental governance: the case of the Nagoya Protocol

ABSTRACTAnalysing the European Union's (EU) role in the negotiations of the 2010 Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit sharing regarding genetic resources, this article argues for the integration of (1) the EU's policy objectives and (2) their achievement in the analysis of the EU's performance and leadership in international (environmental) negotiations. We first develop a conceptual and explanatory framework that highlights the inter-relationship between both aspects. We then establish that the EU pursued conservative policy objectives in the Nagoya process (becoming more moderate in 2006/2007) but was highly successful in achieving its goals. The explanatory analysis provides illustrative evidence of how the degree of ambition of the EU's policy objectives directly affects and indirectly frames goal achievement: while conservative objectives are easier to realize than ambitious ones, factors such as domestic legislation, internal interest homogeneity, universal norms and external policy making procedures may be especially important for achieving ambitious goals.

For a reconfiguration of trade union action: a wide-ranging interpretation beyond hypotheses of convergence

After a period of a substantial lack of interest, for some time now there has been a resurgence of books and articles conducting general reflection on the trade union's role and future prospects in...

Who pays the piper calls the tune? Comparing Canada's and the European Union's expansionary roles in pensions

AbstractBoth Canada and the European Union (EU) have been active in developing pension policies despite the lack of formal mandates to do so. While the Canadian government used its fiscal powers to expand its role in pension programs when pension emerged as a policy issue, the EU has been strongly limited by its lack of resources, institutional complexities, and the maturity of public pension programs in its member states. The EU experience generates interesting lessons for Canadian policy makers who are dealing with increasingly complex pension issues.

The Public Administration Reform in Post-War Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Reform Process Embedded in a Sovereignty Paradox

As the post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina has turned its interest towards a European Union membership, it has entered an accession process requiring it, among other things, to reform its public administration system. The European Union's involvement within the reform has been placed under critique, as it has been claimed to have placed Bosnia and Herzegovina's sovereignty at risk by presenting contradicting behaviors leading to a sovereignty paradox. By examining the European Union's role in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and its possible relations to a sovereignty paradox in the process, the article finds sovereignty paradox indicators to exist along its processes.

UN–Water and its Role in Global Water Governance

UN–Water was established in 2003 to coordinate United Nations activities on water. There have been no scientific assessments about this coordination mechanism and, hence, we focus on the role of UN–Water in global water governance. We use an analytical framework to conceptualize relevant natural and social phenomena, actors, and institutions in the field of global water governance. This framework ultimately allows an assessment of UN–Water’s role in this field. Our work draws upon official UN–Water documents, a formal external review of UN–Water, and semistructured expert interviews to assess UN–Water’s influence on global water discourses, particularly on the discourses of water and climate change, and integrated water resources management. This helps to identify UN–Water’s specific functions in the field of global water governance. The mechanism acts as a bridge between the expert-centered background and the political foreground of global water governance.

The Role of the Consultant in Creating Organizational Change in Union Settings

Organizational change in union settings has never been easy. The institutional relationship between labor and management, the long history of conflict and mistrust, management's need to continually reduce costs and maintain and enhance profitability, and the union's role of protecting job security and earnings of its members, combine to make organization change in union settings more difficult. The field of organization change and development progressed with little consideration for change in union settings. As a result, there is a shortage of qualified consultants, along with limited theory and research to support them. This paper presents a case study examining the process of changing an hourly compensation system as part of an organization’s institution of Lean. It relies heavily on the Kochan-Dyer model of organizational change in union settings. Using a pre-test, post-test control group design, the case study site successfully evolved from small group incentives to non- incentive without a loss of productivity due to joint efforts of labor and management. The consultant provided technical compensation, process facilitation, and labor relations expertise to the project.

The Arab Spring: Finding Common Ground through Values

This article provides an overview of the European Union's role following the turmoil in the Arab world, which is causing significant changes to the geopolitical balance of power in the Middle East. The article analyses the refashioned European strategy towards its southern neighbourhood, a strategy aimed at promoting sustainable stability and economic development, deep democracy, high standards in human rights, gender equality, social advancement, religious freedom and intercultural dialogue. There is no real and lasting stability without a true community of values.

The European Union as a Leader in International Climate Change Politics

1. Introduction: European Union Political Leadership in International Climate Change Politics, Rudiger K.W. Wurzel and James Connelly 2. The European Union as a Global Environmental Policy Actor: Climate Change, John Vogler 3. The Role of the Commission of the European Union - Creating External Coherence From Internal Diversity, Pamela M. Barnes 4. The European Parliament and Climate Change: From Symbolism to Heroism and Back Again, Charlotte Burns and Neil Carter 5. The Council, the European Council and International Climate Policy: From Symbolic Leadership to Leadership by Example, Sebastian Oberthur and Claire Dupont 6. The United Kingdom: A Paradoxical Leader, Tim Rayner and Andrew Jordan 7. France's Troubled Bids to Climate Leadership, Joseph Szarka 8. German Climate Change Policy: Political and Economic Leadership, Martin Janicke 9. The Netherlands: a Case of 'Cost-Free' Leadership, Duncan Liefferink and Kathrin Birkel 10. Poland's Climate Change Policy Struggle: Greening the East? Karolina Jankowska 11. Spanish, EU and International Climate Change Policies: Download, Catch Up, and Curb Down, Oriol Costa 12. Business: The Elephant in the Room? Wyn Grant 13. Environmental NGOs: Taking a Lead? Rudiger K.W. Wurzel and James Connelly 14. A Green New Deal: Framing U.S. Climate Leadership, Guri Bang and Miranda A. Schreurs 15. Towards a New World Order of Climate Change: China and the European Union's Leadership Ambition Xiudian Dai and Zhiping Diao 16. Conclusion: The European Union's Leadership Role in International Climate Change Politics Reassessed Rudiger K.W. Wurzel and James Connelly

Chinese Practice in Public International Law: 2011

This Survey covers materials reflecting Chinese practice in 2011 relating to: I. Fundamental principles of international law (principles of non-use of force; principle of peaceful settlement of international disputes; principle of non-intervention of internal affairs; rule of law at the national and international levels); II. International law of treaties (reservations to treaties; effects of armed conflicts on treaties); III. Recognition of new states and governments (Republic of South Sudan; Libyan National Transitional Council); IV. State immunity; V. China's territorial integrity (Taiwan; Tibet; China–India border issue; Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands; Nansha Islands); VI. Polar regions (Antarctic; Arctic); VII. International law of the sea (general position; Chunxiao oil and gas field in East China Sea; South China Sea; China–Vietnam Agreement on Basic Principles Guiding Settlement of Sea Issues; marine environment; marine biodiversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction; sustainable fisheries; Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf; International Seabed Authority; International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea; Somalia piracy); VIII. International law on outer space; IX. International human rights law (General position; rights of the child; Human Rights Council; Implementation of human rights instruments); X. International humanitarian law (protection of civilians in armed conflicts); XI. International law on disasters (protection of persons in the event of disasters); XII. International law on arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation (general position; Protocol to the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty; abandoned Japanese chemical weapons in China; landmines); XIII. International criminal law (International Criminal Court; the Bashir case; Mr. LIU Daqun elected as judge of international residual mechanism for criminal tribunals; UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon; scope and application of universal jurisdiction; immunity of state officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction; measures to eliminate international terrorism; decision on issues concerning strengthening anti-terrorism work; ratification of China–Russia Agreement on Cooperation in Fighting against Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism; UN investigation of war crimes in Sri Lanka; law enforcement cooperation along the Mekong River among China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand; Bilateral Treaty on Extradition and Treaty on Assistance in Criminal Matters with Italy; transfer of a British suspect of pornographic crimes to the United Kingdom; transnational organized crime; international drug control; international code of conduct for information security); XIV. International environmental law (climate change; joint statement on EU's inclusion of aviation into EU emission trading scheme between China and Russia; effects of atomic radiation; use of water resources of cross-border rivers); XV. International law on international organizations (responsibility of international organizations; role of UN and its reforms; UN financing; UN peacekeeping operations; Mr. HUANG Huikang elected as member of the International Law Commission; establishment of Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat; ratification of the Third Protocol Amending the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia); XVI. International law on settlement of disputes (International Court of Justice (ICJ); Ms XUE Hanqin elected as member of the ICJ).

The European Union's role in the Palestinian Territories: state-building through Security Sector Reform?

The aim of this article is to shed light on the distinctive role of the EU in Security Sector Reform (SSR) in the case of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) and examine how SSR has contributed to the overall state-building project. Following the Oslo Accords, the EU engaged actively in the state-building project in the OPTs taking a number of initiatives on the ground. Since then security has been a key issue in all Israeli–Palestinian agreements and has also became synonymous with Palestinian statehood. The article draws upon literature on state-building and SSR and its central aim is to examine the distinctive initiatives that the EU has taken in order to help the Palestinian Authority (PA) reform both its security and judiciary sector as part of its broader state-building strategy towards the OPTs, as well as provide explanations on why these policies had limited impact.

Global Security Challenges

Canada and the United States share a close alliance, a long border, and democratic values, but the two countries do not always have the same views on regional and global security challenges. A group of Canadian and American scholars and practitioners met at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire on 23-24 September 2011 to compare views on four key issues: Is the global institutional order equipped to meet today's threats? Are regional security institutions improving North American security? How different are Canadian and American grand strategies? And by which mechanisms should security threats be assessed and addressed?The organizers of the conference were the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth; the McGiIl- Universite de Montreal Centre for International Peace and Security Studies; and the Centre for International and Defence Policy, Queen's University with support from the chair in American politicai and economie studies at the Universite de Montreal; the Social Science and Humanities Council of Canada; Fonds quebecois de recherche sur la societe et la culture; and the embassy of Canada in the United States.The papers presented led to a lively and spirited exchange of views on alliance burden- sharing, economic and security integration, cooperation in protecting human rights, security cooperation and peacemaking, China and the challenge of rising powers, and issues of status in international relations. Participants agreed that the international system is being tested by the world economic and financial downturn, continuing challenges in the Middle East and Iran, the rise of China, and major human rights violations by state actors. While questions about the continued leadership role of the US in the international system were raised, most felt that its role will continue and that the international system will evolve to meet the new challenges. The US, however, will seek more burden- sharing and be very judicious about new commitments abroad. Although the US and Canada may disagree on some issues such as the role of the UN and international human rights treaties, common interests bind us, as exemplified by the current focus on perimeter security.This symposium presents a sample of brief pieces that give a sense of the research agendas pursued by conference participants. Like other allies, Canada has a vested interest in the United States' capacity to find the proper balance between global leadership and efficient and legitimate international institutions. In the first article, William Wohlforth, of Dartmouth College, explains why the US must make strong international security institutions an integral part of its own grand strategy. He sees more positive movement in the direction of strengthened security institutions than many critics contend, and gives a few indications as to how the US can play a constructive role in that process. If security institutions are to function adequately, however, all participants have to bear their share of the burden. …

The UN and Afghanistan: Contentions in Democratization and Statebuilding

Following more than a decade of NATO's intervention in Afghanistan, it is often argued that the UN, alongside its international partners and the Afghan government, has failed to facilitate good governance and a stable democratic political order. In charting the evolving UN role in ‘democratizing’ Afghanistan, this article analyses why this is so. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), facing considerable historical and institutional constraints, has had neither the will nor the capacity to implement its ambitious democratization mandate. Instead of aiming for a system of governance along ‘Western’ lines, it should focus primarily on promoting an appropriate, institutionalized, workable political order, regional consensus, and national reconciliation as the necessary foundations for bringing peace and stability to the country.

US Secretary of State George C. Marshall's Losing Battles against President Harry S. Truman's Palestine Policy, January–June 1948

US Secretary of State George C. Marshall's Losing Battles against President Harry S. Truman's Palestine Policy, January–June 1948

European Union State Aid, public subsidies and analogue switch-off/digital switchover

This article considers the European Union's (EU) role in the media and communications field concerning analogue switch-off/digital switchover. It focuses on the EU Competition Directorate's approach concerning the application of the State Aid mechanism with regard to those Member States who have used public subsidies for digital switchover. Therefore, this analysis considers how the Directorate has sought to balance its market-driven set of rules with the need to be adaptable to the Member States' specific requirements. In turn, this account will discuss how the demand to achieve the 2012 completion deadline, alongside the requirement to release analogue spectrum to realize a digital dividend, impacted upon the EU's principles of competition. Finally, this analysis will reflect on how the employment of State Aid in relation to digital switchover refers to a wider debate concerning the EU's neo-liberal agendas against Member States' interests to promote their national cultures.

UN Constitutional Assistance Projects in Comprehensive Peace Missions: An Inventory 1989–2011

UN Constitutional Assistance Projects in Comprehensive Peace Missions: An Inventory 1989–2011

Improving Student Learning Through a Second Bite at the Apple: the Value of Second Runs of International Relations Simulations

This paper reports on an investigation of the educational value of a second run of an international conflict resolution role-playing exercise. While the use of simulations and games in the classroom appears to be on the upswing, a second run of the same exercise seems to be a pedagogic tool that is rarely employed. One reason for this may be that having played out a scenario once, there is often little interest on the part of students to play it out a second time. By designing an iterative series of exercises, however, one can hope to make a second run just as valuable educationally than the first. This approach borrows from the realm of governmental policy gaming, where an exercise is set up as a series of discrete moves, each of which requires the participants to assess the situation and elaborate policy choices. In each successive move, new information or an intensification of the crisis, injected by the game controllers, forces the participants to reformulate their policy. By designing an educational game along analogous lines, the instructor can offer students successive scenarios that are sufficiently different to engage student interest, but basically repeat the same substantive questions for resolution – effectively giving the students a second bite at the apple and allowing them to demonstrate a progression in learning. To test this approach, the author designed a role-playing exercise addressing the role of the United Nations in resolving international disputes. By constructing an exercise modeled on African crises brought to the UNSC, in this case encompassing terrorism, the rights of ethnic minorities, cross-border military clashes and competition for energy resources, while raising humanitarian concerns and questions of sovereignty, students were given the opportunity to make those types of decisions for themselves. A further iteration of the scenario, administered a few weeks later, allowed students a second chance to address the same questions based on additional developments that showed the original issues underlying the crisis had remained unresolved.After each session, the students were surveyed on the motivations for their actions during the game, their views on the UN's role in crisis management, their readiness to see the UN address specific types of issues, and their assessment of the UN's effectiveness. The outcome of the surveys conformed to the hope that the simulation design would enhance, rather than diminish, the value of the second run of the scenario. Student assessment of each run of the simulation was highly positive, but even more positive for the second run. The surveys showed definitive and nuanced changes in their attitudes and behavior from the first to the second run. The students felt better prepared and their motivation for action changed in ways indicating greater immersion in the game environment, a greater focus on the appropriate issues for UN engagement, and a correspondingly lesser display of a game mentality. Perhaps most tellingly, none of the students found the second run superfluous and only 12% thought they had gained more knowledge from the first run. Nor was there any sign of boredom. While the verdict was unanimous (100%) that each run had been worth doing, over 80% thought the second run was more fun.

Fit or fat – Body Cult(ure) and the Investigation of Social and Spatial Categorisations and their Interdependencies

Understanding the human body as a place where various dimensions of personal identities are intertwined, this contribution focuses on the role of the (un-)athletic body in relation to the production and appropriation of social spaces. For, issues such as “fit or fat” and the embodiments associated with them play increasingly important roles in everyday lives as well as for social and spatial structures. In the explanation of a research outline concentrating on (un-)athletic bodies and intersecting subject positions within bodies, the paper discusses the concept of “intersectionality” in order to address the interdependencies of social and spatial categorisations. Against a theoretical and empirical background that acknowledges these interdependencies, this is complemented by the aim to disrupt hierarchically ordered - and often spatialised - “neoliberal body classes”.

The UN role and efforts in combating the proliferation of small arms and light weapons: A Jamaican CARICOM perspective

The proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) in various parts of the globe continues to pose a systemic and pervasive threat to the long-term social and economic development of many nations, particularly in small developing states.

European Security Policy: Strategic Culture in Operation?

With the Lisbon Treaty in place and the European Union increasingly involved in crisis management and stabilization in places near and far, this Special Issue examines whether European security behaviour is evidence of an actual strategic culture. Contrary to prevailing scholarship on the subject, this volume demonstrates that strategic culture, as an analytical tool and force on European strategic goals and conduct, is far from conclusive. Ostensibly, the development of a security culture was a major lever by which the European Union's principal planning document, the European Security Strategy of 2003, tried to guide the European Union's role in international security. This volume revisits the trajectory of the concept of strategic culture and examines its application in a variety of circumstances, especially operations in Africa and the Balkans, including joint operations with NATO and the United Nations. The contributors to this Special Issue find that strategic culture is a useful tool to understand EU's operations, not in the sense of a ‘cause’, but as a uniquely European normative framework of preferences and constraints. Classical notions of strategic culture must be adapted to highlight the specific evolution of Europe's strategic culture. Though at variance over the extent to which security and defense missions have promoted a shared strategic culture in Europe, the authors in this Special Issue reveal a growing sense that a strategic culture is critical for European ambition as a global actor. Should Europe fail to nurture a shared strategic culture, its ambitions and the normative framework that underpins it will unravel.