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Recent literature argues that with ever‐increasing levels of supranational constraints governments have less 'room to manoeuvre'; therefore, voters will place less weight on policy outcomes in their voting decisions. The question that remains less explored is how voters fill this accountability gap. We argue that, in this context, voters may move away from outcome‐ to input‐oriented voting. Fulfilling their promises becomes less vital for incumbents as long as they exhibit effort to overturn an unpopular policy framework. We test this argument against a survey experiment conducted in the run‐up to the September 2015 election in Greece, where we find a positive impact of the incumbent's exerted effort to challenge the status quo of austerity on vote intention for SYRIZA – the senior coalition government partner at the time – despite the failed outcome of the government's bailout negotiations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION. The increase in the number of interstate associations with an intrastate authority, delegated by State members is one of the main characteristics of contemporary world. In the international legal doctrine, the accepted term for such associations is supranational when the phenomenon of delegation and exercise the authority on interstate level is called supranationalism. Despite the fact that official documents and research works consist the term under consideration in the middle of 20th century, so far, the complex and generally accepted definition of supranationalism has not been formed. This situation negatively effects on correct understanding the essence and prospects for the development of integrational processes taking place in modern international relations. This article seeks to overcome this uncertainty.MATERIALS AND METHODS. When writing the work, a number of theoretical studies of domestic and foreign international lawyers of the second half of the 20th – beginning of the 21st centuries, as well as legal sources that are important for revealing the research topic, were analyzed. During the research implementation, the authors used historical, comparative legal and some other general scientific and special legal methods.RESEARCH RELULTS. Within the framework of the work, it was substantiated the assertion that the content of supranationality, first of all, consists in endowing the bodies of an interstate association with certain domestic powers, which determines its close relationship with such a category of international law as “integration”. Subsequently, based on comparison of two definitions, it was justified that supranationalism can be considered as one of the methods for integration in interstate associations. At the same time, given that in this case, the transfer of domestic powers to the interstate level is being carried out, and supranationality implies close interaction between international and domestic law, the system of guarantees that ensure the stable development and integration of states within such associations is of particular importance.DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION. The general conclusion of the article is that supranationalism should be understood as a way of organizing and operating an interstate association, which has a certain degree of independence and is vested with intrastate authority for the purpose of international legal integration of its member states, subject to a balance of domestic and international beginnings in the process of functioning of such an association.

Sovereignist claims are on the rise – in Europe, the USA, and beyond. In dealing with processes such as globalization and supranational integration, which have progressively shifted powers and competencies away from nation states, these transformations have created a fertile terrain for reactions against the sources of such insecurity, which find full expression in the sovereignist claims to 'take back control', that is to say to return to the traditional understanding of sovereignty being based upon mutually exclusive territories. These sources of insecurity and social unrest have also provided structures of political opportunity for the electoral success of populist parties. Despite its relevance for the understanding of the populist discourse, however, sovereignty has been largely under-theorised by scholars dealing with populism. Accordingly, we propose a new research agenda to study populist mobilization that focuses on the linkage between populism and sovereignism, while also encouraging further theoretical and empirical studies, focusing on both the demand side and the supply side. In particular, we suggest some crucial aspects with which the Special Issue seeks to engage, before pointing to some substantial implications that are likely to emerge from the findings of this research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the multinational business system in three geographic divisions--Industrial West, Sub-industrial South, and Communist East. The focus in industrialized countries is on trade liberalization, the European Economic Community's common market, and Treaty of Rome. Underdeveloped countries, where there is poverty and instability, need industrial development. Soviet bloc countries are a potential market. The 1962 Trade Expansion Act, supranational economic unions, shift from foreign trade to multinational operations, organizational structures based on the export process, on parent companies with separate foreign affiliates, on integrated multinational corporations with integrated foreign and domestic operations, and on a World Company structure are mentioned.

The article focuses on the role of neoliberal globalization while de-internationalizing the protection of human rights. It discusses the effect of human rights enforcement on state sovereignty, how states have to remain under the supranational authority and how international obligations could improve regulatory sovereignty with economic institutions like World Trade Organization (WTO).

This essay advances three theses on the current crisis of international liberalism. First, it is a composite one, comprising interrelated crises of domestic political representation and of global governance affecting the international and supranational arrangements that were constructed in the post-war period. Second, the crisis is a specific development of neoliberal governance, which requires distinguishing international liberalism's two historical variants: "embedded liberalism" and "neoliberalism." The turn from the post-war regime of "embedded liberalism" to the "neoliberalism" of recent decades has had the effect of undoing the domestic social contracts that underlay post-war political stability even while failing to secure peace and prosperity internationally. Third, neoliberal governance operates through a distinct form of legality from the embedded liberalism of the post-war period. The turn to neoliberalism involves a shift from the inter-state orientation that characterized the first decades of international liberalism to a "dialectic of globalization," in which newly empowered transnational activity across states generates pressure for supranational governance above them. This dialectic has the effect of undermining the international legal order on which liberalism has depended historically, which suggests that the present crisis is at root the product of an internal transformation rather than the result of competition with external enemies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biobanks are increasingly being linked together into global networks in order to maximise their capacity to identify causes of and treatments for disease. While there is great optimism about the potential of these biobank networks to contribute to personalised and data-driven medicine, there are also ethical concerns about, among other things, risks to personal privacy and exploitation of vulnerable populations. Concepts drawn from theories of globalisation can assist with the characterisation of the ethical implications of biobank networking across borders, which can, in turn, inform more ethically sophisticated responses. Using the China Kadoorie Biobank as a case study, we show how distinguishing between the subnational, transnational, supranational and extranational spheres of operation and influence can help researchers, institutions and regulators to understand and manage the ethical issues raised by the globalisation of biobanking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State and sovereignty are two words, which in XXI century are the most commonly used, as in internal plan as well as at in the international plan, the latter even more. But, while in the past centuries was talked about sovereignty as something that is strongly and indivisible connected to the state - as a mother with her child, in this century-in globalized world, the state and sovereignty are being used as something that were strongly connected, but today this connection is softened. This is done for many different reasons, because we are living in the time, where state sovereignty is not considered anymore as something absolute and intangible, meanings that no longer exists literally, and this is being proven every day more and more. We have the cases of humanitarian intervention, where the sovereignty of a state is taken temporarily or is violated, then we have the creation of regional and international organizations that every day more and more have gained strength within their organization, as it is the European Union with supranationality powers, then the impact of globalization on softening this absolute sovereignty, etc.. This scientific paper will present to the reader and all other stakeholders, the important elements which argue the falling down of absolute sovereignty of states in XXI century - in the era of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trade dynamics within the EU are presently pushing it towards deepening globalisation through bilateral comprehensive trade agreements which establish far-reaching rules that govern the bilateral trade relationship. The European Commission has defended these agreements as a vehicle through which to promote world trade in accordance with European values and norms. However, the theory of fiscal federalism and the principle of subsidiarity tell us that one should not centralise decisions at the supranational level which are better taken at the national or regional level when there are different preferences among countries or regions. Consequently, member state and regional competences ought not to be perceived as a mere obstacle to swift trade deals. Rather, they can provide an important checks and balances function with regard to whether EU trade policy is truly working to condition globalisation according to European values and preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 23 June 2016, a majority of 52% of British voters decided in a referendum that the United Kingdom should leave the European Union. The decision sent shockwaves around Britain, Europe, and the world: the ‘Brexit’-vote presents the first instance that a country has voted to exit a major supranational institution, putting both the European integration project and the future of the United Kingdom in a globalized world into question. At the time of writing, four months after the referendum vote, the contours of Brexit remain unclear. Yet even within this short time frame, Brexit politics have been remarkable on both the domestic and the international level. In this paper, we first present a brief overview of IPE research in the open economy politics (OEP) tradition. We then discuss the insights OEP provides that help us to better understand the referendum vote and Brexit politics, but also emphasize that they present a number of puzzles for OEP-inspired researchers. Based on this analysis, the final section suggests avenues for advancing the OEP research program. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article substantiales that for the profound understanding of law that the exists in terms of globalization, is important to identify the main trends of its development. This allows to establish the current state of law, and also to outline the general direction of the development of law in the future.

Health is a global concern. The need for a globalized response is evident in the pharmaceutical industry. Although pharmaceutical products are developed and marketed internationally, they are currently regulated only at national level. The pharmaceutical agencies regulate medical products in a globalized environment. However, national regulations can create significant barriers to pharmaceutical availability. We must formulate our laws with a global focus. The globalization of regulation weakens national sovereignty but empowers transnational epistemic networks. For this reasons the pharmaceutical agencies are involved in several bilateral and multilateral cooperation activities with international partners. International cooperation is a key area of work for the agencies. This process will benefit of advancement in global governance and progress toward supranationalism. The internationalization of the pharmaceutical industry, highly globalized, involves changes in policies, lifestyle and culture, and has altered drug research, production, and regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paper starts with the link between contemporary globalisation and processes of de-territorialisation and re-territorialisation of society, which helps understanding the separation of social from state territoriality and increasing importance of other territorial scales (both sub national and supranational) in a numerous social issues. The paper aims to analyse identity dimension of these processes in two aspects. Firstly, it focuses on changing territorial identity of individuals regarding the weakening of their attachment to the nation-state and strengthening of their attachment to other territorial scales, primarily to the immediate local environment and then to supranational one (as EU). Secondly, re-territorialisation of citizens' identity (increasing attachment to place of living in an open and relational manner) is analysed as potentially valuable local developmental resource within globalising societies, as emphasized in EU territorial agenda. Both issues are important for Serbia, as well as for other European post-socialist societies, whose globalisation and recent de-re-territorialisation take place under the significant influence of EU. The analysis relies on empirical data obtained through questionnaire research conducted on a representative sample (N=2557) of citizens in Serbia by Institute for Sociological Research at the Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade, in spring 2012. The research findings show that territorial identity of citizens in Serbia develops in accordance to the principles of selective associations and multiple loyalties, but that new localism and glocalism as desirable development resources still have not been sufficiently profiled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to challenge the widespread identification of political inter-, trans-, and supranationalization with the disappearance of boundaries, the following heuristic reflections will concentrate on a few selected phenomena and changes of boundaries under conditions of increasing and intensified cross-border politics. While concentrating on boundaries that are constitutive with regard to state theory, the focus lies on particular modes of appearance of these boundaries in times of intensified inter-, trans-, and supranational relations. In doing so, boundaries will be understood as social and political phenomena, while at the same time taking their epistemic significance into account. It should be considered if we are really dealing with the dissolving of traditional boundaries in cross-border politics or rather with the volatility of boundaries, i.e. with flexible boundary lines, whereas the boundary's political and epistemic quality and function are not necessarily modified or weakened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article surveys the evolution of the field of citizenship and democracy beyond the stages identified by T.H. Marshall, through globalization and the weakening of the welfare function of the nation-state. Globalization has led to two distinct issue areas: the rise of identity claims as part of democratic demands and the regulation of human rights by supranational institutions. This article critically examines the pros and cons of the notion of group rights as a response to multiculturalist demands and considers the context within which a “global democracy” may be envisioned. This article concludes with a brief discussion of several pressing questions raised in the recent literature with regard to these two areas. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Territorial rights come with both costs (war, inequality and oppression) and benefits (political participation, coordinated use of resources). The immense importance of these normative aspects of territorial rights solidifies our need for a principled theory of territory. With globalisation and transnational interactions, a cosmopolitan account of territorial rights is required - it should justify territorial authority generally. This generalised justification must also provide an account of the special, normative relationship that certain groups have with certain lands and resources, providing groups with special claims to particular lands. Since democratic theory values territoriality for its necessary relationship to equality and individual autonomy, a comprehensive democratic account of territorial rights presents a real possibility for explaining territorial claims from cosmopolitan ideals. Unfortunately, democratic accounts of territoriality suffer a serious drawback; they cannot give a comprehensive account of self-determination rights over particular land and resources. On the contrary, democratic theory addresses only persons - how they should be treated and how their associations should be organised. The first half of this article explains how democratic accounts of self-determination are wanting in specific ways. The second half presents an alternative account of the right of self-determination and territorial rights as a feature of compromise. Because compromise is an essential element of democracy and an important element of justice, it can be used to explain the unique connection that democracies have with a particular territory. Through this theory of compromise, we can explain the scope, longevity and breadth of a democracy's territorial rights from cosmopolitan ideals. However, this account has acute limitations. As merely an initial sketch of theoretical connections between democracy and territory, it does not yet offer an account of the complicated territorial issues of transnational democratic associations. In fact, the theory from compromise reveals a vital obstacle for the establishment of borders, especially in cases of possible secession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Abstract The relationship between heterogeneity and democracy is complex and manifoldly interwoven. The increasing heterogenisation of democratic societies seems to be the most apparent internal challenge to modern democracies, manifesting at least in two dimensions: culturally as ethnic and religious heterogenisation and structurally as socioeconomic and social heterogenisation. Following this distinction, democratic societies today are particularly facing identity-based and interest-based differences that often result in conflicts about recognition and resources. In this article these challenges are explicated in detail demonstrating the variety of the described problems. Furthermore, it discusses possibilities of democratic governance under conditions of growing heterogeneity. Although a variety of different institutional solutions can be identified, there is no perfect way of handling the identified problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the remarks concerning the understanding of globalization by Nataliya Narotchnitskaya - Russian politician, historian, and diplomat. She is the author of several works dedicated to Russian history, anti-globalism, as well as international, political, and spiritual affairs. She maintains relations with centres in Western Europe that are opposed to globalization, supranational mechanisms, and the loss of national sovereignty. Undoubtedly, the key issues that the Russian researcher associates with the phenomenon of globalization include: problems with the cultural identity, poor condition of the state, cutting off Europe from its Christian roots. These issues have been taken into consideration in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economics / Ekonomija is the property of Rifin d.o.o. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The emergence of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (the BRICS) poses important challenges to social scientists in these five countries. Increasing contact among the BRICS countries is resulting in greater awareness of differences. Conflicts among them are inevitable. This paper focuses upon the relations between social actors from the BRICS countries, and is written from a Brazilian perspective. After a brief examination of the BRICS concept and a review of some contemporary challenges to sociological research and visions of globalisation, the paper will examine three distinct dimensions of relations between BRICS partners in a globalising world: supra-national organisation, economic and cultural exchanges (Wieviorka 2008). The key assumption of this paper is that it is necessary to build research agenda that can help develop sociological knowledge and provide a basis for building mutual understanding of the diverse forms of social interaction produced when actors from these countries enter into contact with each other. For example, increasingly cultural content produced in each of the BRICS is transmitted to others, the study of how such content is received and incorporated into the world views of different categories of receivers, especially youth, appears as a fertile area for study. The analysis of emergent conflicts is also an area to which sociological analysis can make an important contribution. As the BRICS develop, meaningful dialogue becomes both a value and a necessity. The aim of the paper is to structure a research agenda for the new times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of food security governance is systematically gaining in importance but at the same time constitutes one of the less researched areas within the global governance debate. Food security has never been ensured on a global level despite the amazing progress of science and technology. What is more, the changing nature of the threats to food security makes this goal even more distant. Given the multidimensional nature of the food security concept, answers to this challenge have been sought through processes of international negotiations between nation-states. However, it is increasingly clear that nation-states, because of its contradictory interests, are unable to solve this issue and meet their international commitments for addressing this issue without more explicit engagements with sub and supranational actions. Involvement of other actors operating on different levels seems to be crucial to the process of governing of food security. The idea of multilevel governance has acquired unprecedented importance today. It not only suggests ways of dealing with new conditions of globalization, but it is said to be an essential term for understanding the transnational processes and for identifying non-traditional actors involved in governance processes on different levels. The idea of multilevel governance was developed into a theoretical account of the European Union in opposition to state centric or intergovernmental accounts. It refers to a particular subset of contemporary governance arrangements in which decisionmaking authority is distributed across more then one level of relatively autonomous public-sector institutions. This paper deals with the problem of food security governance and attempts to answer the question whether multilevel governance becomes a gradually institutionalized new international practice or is it only a theoretical model useful in academic debates, without practical meaning to governance of food security? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflicts among antitrust authorities in different countries are likely to increase with globalization. This paper develops a two-country, three-firm model to analyze the possibilities of conflict between national antitrust authorities. It is shown that if countries maximize their national welfare there is a possibility of conflict that blocks welfare-enhancing mergers. It is also shown that convergence to a reference standard based on global welfare or consumer surplus resolves conflicts but may not always lead to an efficient outcome. Efficiency can be ensured through transfer payments coupled with the total welfare standard. In light of the above it is argued that there is scope for institutions like WTO to assume the role of supranational authority to ensure conflict-free, efficient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociologie du Travail is the property of Association pour le Developpement de la Sociologie du Travail and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article explores the way aspects of our approach to social policy in the UK have changed over the last 40 years – one academic lifetime and also, coincidentally, the lifetime of this journal – and the significance of six particular changes. More social problems have come to be seen as having a supra-national dimension: the scale and ramifications of problems are much better appreciated; the accepted territory of social policy has greatly widened; the state has lost people's confidence; we have come to see organizational and management issues as much more important; and the health of the economy has come to be regarded as a greater priority than the development of systems of social welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many scholars have argued that globalization involves the emergence of a global elite, who are attached more to supra-national identities than others, who remain more local. Two variants of the global elite can be found in the literature: cosmopolitan and capitalist. This literature suggests more broadly that cross-nationally stratification has a consistent influence on attitudes pertinent to globalization such as support for global economic institutions. Using a social stratification approach, we examined nine developed societies from the World Values Survey to test whether stratification is related to attitudes towards globalization, and find only modest support for the contention that the upper strata become more cosmopolitan and more capitalist, or in a word, more global. The evidence suggests that the attitudinal globalization of the upper strata in developed economies is temporary and does not occur simultaneously in all countries, and that it does not increase consistently over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I argue that the governing structures (economic, political) of today's world were put in place during and through the ascendancy of the West; that the process governing that ascendancy was colonial in nature; that the logic and force of that process is still at work in the structures it created; that moving definitively beyond the colonial structures means moving beyond the logic of colonialism; that doing so entails putting in place democratic supranational structures; that the powerful states, for reasons of both justice and self-interest, should participate in this emergence; and finally, expanding on the last point, that unless and until we move beyond the structures fashioned by colonialism the fight against terrorism will be hamstrung by an appearance of hypocrisy as that fight is perceived by many of the people living under the enduring colonial structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay tries to demonstrate the possibilities and hindrances of the regulation of spatial processes in the globalized world. The author unfolds the interconnectedness of spatiality and normativity as well as the spatial effects of normative regulation. A legal geographical approach can be detected in the text, the exposed theories are strongly saturated with the normative space concept. The author deems, that the spatial processes can be originated in normative actions. The centralized states tried to regulate the spatial processes with legal regulations, but they are ineffective in the globalized world. Nowadays states are trans- formed by transnationalization and the scope of their power and law-making is weaking. Besides the law - which was one of the most important social normative system in the 20. century - exist a plethora of normative systems in the society, the regulative monopoly or primacy of states is a thing of the past. The modern concept of normative pluralism points out, that interactions of transnational corporations (TNC'S) produce transnational norms, which are independent from the law-making of states. The rise of the new lex mercatoria (constructed by transnational norms) creates the global legal pluralism, therefore governments couldn't regulate the spatial processes by the help of law. In consequence of this, the present normative system of regional development can't reach its original purposes, it is incapable of starting factual convergences between developing and declining regions. Due to sovereign transnational economy exist and increase the spatial disparities, and the legal regulation of states haven't sufficient potency for coordination of the spatial parameters of economy. The author suggests, that states should revaluate the legal possibilities and rearrange the instruments of regional development. States have to focus a new spatial regulation, since the traditional regional development has never been completely prosperous in circumstances of globalisation. Instead of the regional equalization states have to center the competitiveness of people, focus upon the sub- and supranational regulation and enhance the metaregulation, besides this governments have to reserve some crucial instruments in case of enormous regional disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines supranationalism in Africa and focuses specifically on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and its implications for tourism in West Africa. The article also presents findings from a study conducted at the common border of Ghana and Togo to assess cross-border travelers' perceptions of the border crossing experience and how it might be affected by the tenets of ECOWAS. The findings suggest that most people had a relatively pleasant experience crossing the border, but not everyone attributed the relative ease of crossing to the rules and regulations established by ECOWAS for border crossing. Likewise, less than half the respondents of Ghanaians and Togolese surveyed were aware of ECOWAS and its role in improving or easing the cross-border travel experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are globalisation and regional integration producing a postnational identity among a wide variety of publics? Using the World Values Surveys (WVS), this article shows that there is a global pattern in public attitudes toward supranational identity: the younger the respondent, the more supranational. Yet a life-cycle effect, as opposed to a generational one, underlies this pattern. A multilevel analysis confirms this age effect on supranational identification in 43 countries covered in the recent wave of the WVS, but provides little support for the idea that a country's integration into the global economy and world society promotes supranational attachments among mass publics, especially youths. Regional integration and globalisation appear either complementary or contradictory to this identity shift, depending upon how ordinary citizens perceive their country's involvement in the processes of regional integration and globalisation, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s the largest transnational temporary staffing agencies have progressively expanded the geographical extent of their operations. Moving beyond the established Dutch, French, UK, and US markets in which the majority are headquartered, and encouraged by supportive supranational and national reregulation, they have entered a number of countries in Southeast Asia, Southern Europe, and Latin America. Moreover, in the run-up to, and since, the accession often new member states to the EU on I May 2004, the leading transnational agencies have turned their attentions to establishing and expanding operations in Central and Eastern Europe. This paper offers an initial assessment of the state of temporary staffing and its regulation in two leading markets in the region, the Czech Republic and Poland. It explores how temporary staffing markets are being forged through the interactions between regulators, transnational agencies, local agencies, trade bodies, and inward investors. Both countries legalized temporary staffing in 2004, having begun the legalization process prior to accession. Rather than these developments heralding the start of a period of sustained growth, however, our research suggests that there are still significant constraints on expansion in markets where the pressure to neoliberalize labour markets intersects with postsocialist expectations, norms, and economic structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legal scholars argue that there is an emerging global compensatory constitution. This denotes a set of compatible supranational and national institutions that fulfil functions hitherto fulfilled by national constitutions. Thus, de-constitutionalisation at the national level, which, as this strand of literature argues, has been brought about by forces such as globalisation, is compensated for. There are strong hints that such constitutionalisation takes place in a formal sense: there is an increasing number of norms which could be seen as elements of a new global constitutional order. But it is far from clear whether these norms make a difference. In this paper we ask whether states comply with this presumably new constitutional order. We distinguish between three types of rights which are granted by a constitution - political, economic and social rights. In this paper we focus on the economic and social components of the emerging global constitution, which have been neglected in previous research. We study compliance with International Labour Organization (ILO) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) norms. The ILO is the major source of a global social constitution; the WTO is the major source of a global economic constitution. We show that compliance is very uneven. Whilst formally a global constitution may be in the making, it makes little difference for citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Migration & Ethnic Themes: MET / Migracijske i Etničke Teme is the property of Institut za istrazivanje migracija / Institute for Migration Research (IMIN) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In addressing the urgent task of formulating a regulation theory approach to the question of the European Union it is also helpful to examine closely related approaches. This article first undertakes a comparison between the American Social Structure of Accumulation Framework (SSAF) and the Regulation Approach (RA). A considerable convergence of the two approaches can be identified, especially in those works that maintain a commitment to foundational Marxian as well as Keynesian concepts. While European Union structures operate at a somewhat novel supra-national level, both the RA and the SSAF have developed in the context of analyzing specifically national economies. Thus both schools face a challenge in understanding the EU. Recent work within the SSAF that discusses accumulation at scales different from the national is reviewed including the 'spatialization school'. In addition, two perspectives from international political economy (IPE), specifically the new medievalism and Gramscian IPE are found to be helpful in approaching the globalization of economic governance of which the emerging EU structures are an example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides information about movement, globalization and supranational institutions at the First European Social Forum. The author uses data from a survey carried out during the first European Social Forum, held in Florence, Italy in November 2002. It is noted that the new global movement is redesigning political boundaries through participation, claiming spaces for democracy and universal rights of citizenship. In fact, there is an important connection between participation, democracy and citizenship, which are all concepts enriched with new meanings by the action of the global movements.

This article criticizes the increasingly popular idea that global civil society (GCS) represents an appealing model of or strategy for global democracy. After briefly reviewing the arguments for conceiving global democracy and democratization in terms of GCS, it distinguishes two models of civil society's democratic role at the state level on which these claims rest. It shows that neither successfully survives transposition to the supranational setting. In both cases the purported democratic functions and effects of civil society depend on assumptions that do not hold globally. Proponents of GCS as a model of global democracy do not adequately conceptualize global democracy or democratization. This failure points to broader epistemological problems in theorizing global politics and global democracy. In place of strategies to extend and apply existing democratic theory globally, we need a theory of global democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the question if the nation-state is still an important reference point for comparative social research. For this purpose, three issues are discussed: first, the importance of the nation-state in the contemporary world; second, the adequate entity when talking about society; and, third, the adequate frame or level of analysis for comparative social research. In the second, theoretical part of the paper it is argued that the often alleged loss of importance of nation-states does not hold true when considered in more detail. As a starting point for this discussion, we distinguish between different nested levels such as the region, the nation-state, macroregions, cultural areas, communities of nations, and the world as a whole. If one looks at the relative importance of these units from several points of view, the national level remains dominant. Even within supranational organisations such as the European Union politicians often behave as national players. Five hypotheses are developed as far as the changing importance of these different levels in the process of globalisation is concerned. In the third section, four empirical examples are brought forward in order to examine our thesis of the predominant importance of the level of the nation state. The first is a two-level analysis of individual evaluations of income differences within single societies. Here, the level of the nation is grasped by structural and ideological features. Second, a three-level analysis of individual intentions to move within the European Union is carried out. Here, nations are also split into regions. The third is a cluster analysis of aggregated attitudes within subnational regions. Here, it is investigated if regions cluster into nations or into other higher-level aggregates. Fourth, the individual identification with different macro levels in Europe is investigated, going from the neighbourhood up to the continental level. All examples show that the level of the nation state is still of particular importance, proving clearly our main hypothesis. In concluding we argue that it is necessary for further research to be clear about the most relevant unit or level of analysis and to keep in mind the possible interactions between the various levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What accounts for different levels of military forces between countries and over time? Payne (1989) found in cross country regressions cultural influences to be the most important determinant. In contrast to Payne, we will show that the mechanisms of why nations arm can only be fully discovered by time series analysis and going beyond Payne's model -- we will test the impact of the end of the Gold War and show that the process of globalization has a significantly negative effect on the military efforts of nations. Democracy and the membership in defence alliances or supranational organisations have no impact on the level of armament at all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes globalization through the concept of meso-government which is the intermediate or regional level of government between the central and local level of national administration. It focuses on the opportunities for official creativity in a contemporary era showing the broad currents of market liberalization and supranational modes of ordering. It explores the issue concerning continuity versus change, competition versus cooperation and economic explanation. It is concluded that the globalization may pose mixed results including co-existence, concurrency and overlap, tension, conflict and accommodation.