The chapter attempts to present the case for EU enlargement for reasons of security, using an adapted use of the Karl Deutsch concept of "community of security", as well as a dose of realism. The author also argues that EU enlargement has something to do with the perception of a Russian threat as well as to balancing a possible German hegemony.
Cet article souligne les principaux paradoxes de la Belgique dans sa politique européenne : la politique européenne belge est la plus engagées parmi les Etats membres, alors que sa politique intérieure est relativement pragmatique; le gouvernement belge est l'un de plus autonomes d'Europe, alors qu'il est le plus dépendant de veto internes; la Belgique a une attitude assez idéaliste et pourtant sa posture géostratégique reste relativement réaliste.
Seit dem Ende des Kalten Kriegs hat sich die Schweiz deutlich der internationalen Gemeinschaft angenähert, ist aber weiterhin als Sonderfall in Erscheinung getreten: Auf der einen Seite trat sie der Uno bei und entsendet Soldaten zu Auslandeinsätzen. Auf der anderen Seite wird ihre Position auf dem internationalen Parkett immer einsamer. Die Schweiz ist der letzte Staat unseres Kontinents, der weder der Nato noch der EU angehört. Sie steuert proportional am wenigsten zu den internationalen Einsätzen zur Friedenserhaltung bei und hält an der allgemeinen Wehrpflicht fest. Ihr Neutralitätsverständnis ist restriktiver als das anderer Staaten und wirtschaftlich grenzt sie sich durch Freihandelsabkommen mit asiatischen Ländern und Bankgeheimnis ab. René Schwok schildert im Detail den Balanceakt der Schweiz zwischen Bewahrung der Neutralität und Annäherung an die internationale Gemeinschaft.
By examining the case of Switzerland we observed that direct democracy can help develop a public sphere for diversified populations. The European Union could follow this example to develop a greater feeling of identity and legitimacy of its own. Based on our analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of direct democracy, we suggest an optional legislative referendum be promoted on a European level. We find this preferable to a “constitutional” referendum, to a “constitutional” initiative or to a legislative initiative. It is more in keeping with the hybrid nature of EU institutions, which characteristically lack a true European demos.
Cet article tente d’expliciter pourquoi le processus de paix israélo-palestinien s’est effondré au cours du deuxième semestre 2000. L’approche méthodologique procède d’une double démarche. D’une part, classiquement, elle procède à un examen interne et externe rigoureux des sources disponibles, afin de trancher entre les différentes contradictions factuelles. D’autre part, elle dresse une typologie des principales approches interprétatives afin de refléter la dimension politique sous-jacente d’un véritable «!combat de mémoires!», tant l’historiographie de ces événements est marquée, encore plus que de coutume, du sceau des préférences politiques et personnelles. This article tries to explain why the Israeli-Palestinian peace process collapsed in the second semester of 2000. The methodological approach follows a double path. On a first level, there is a classical internal and external assessment of the available material in order to stress the main empirical contradictions. On second level, the author suggests a typology of the main approaches of interpretation in order to underline the underlying political dimension of this apparent “fight of memories”, as the historiography of those events is more than usual influenced by political and personal preferences.
En 1992, lors d'un référendum sur l'Espace économique européen, un important clivage est apparu entre Suisses romands et Suisses alémaniques. Cet article recense les interprétations données à ce clivage et propose une synthèse explicative.
Cet article critique un paradigme "identitariste" qui est souvent trop ontologique. Il y a certes parfois des contradictions entre "identité française" et intégration européenne. Mais il faut éviter de réifier cette notion d'"identité française"."
The December 2012 issue of SPSR featured a collection of short essays that explored the domestic politics of the financial crisis, the ensuing international recession and the ongoing difficulties of managing the debt problems and trade imbalances of the Eurozone. The contributors to the first installment of our debate on crisis politics engaged in historical and comparative discussions of government responses to the crisis of 2007-10 and the political repercussions of the crisis. For this, the second and final installment, we have invited prominent scholars in the field of international political economy to comment on how institutions of global governance have performed since 2007 and the long-term implications of the crisis for the prospects of international cooperation in trade, finance and investment. We have also included an essay on the domestic politics of labor market reforms in Western Europe, thematically linked to several essays in the December 2012 issue. By way of introduction, I will briefly summarize and comment on the main ideas of the four essays that follow.
Through a pooled cross-section time-series analysis of the determinants of wage inequality in sixteen OECD countries from 1973 to 1995, we explore how political-institutional variables affect the upper and lower halves of the wage distribution. Our regression results indicate that unionization, centralization of wage bargaining and public-sector employment primarily affect the distribution of wages by boosting the relative position of unskilled workers, while the egalitarian effects of Left government operate at the upper end of the wage hierarchy, holding back the wage growth of well-paid workers. Further analysis shows that the differential effects of government partisanship are contingent on wage-bargaining centralization: in decentralized bargaining systems, Left government is associated with compression of both halves of the wage distribution.
