1,720,971 research outputs found
Deliberative Democracy in the EU. Countering Populism with Participation and Debate. CEPS Paperback
Full text linkElections are the preferred way to freely transfer power from one
term to the next and from one political party or coalition to another.
They are an essential element of democracy. But if the process of
power transfer is corrupted, democracy risks collapse. Reliance on
voters, civil society organisations and neutral observers to fully
exercise their freedoms as laid down in international human rights
conventions is an integral part of holding democratic elections.
Without free, fair and regular elections, liberal democracy is
inconceivable.
Elections are no guarantee that democracy will take root and
hold, however. If the history of political participation in Europe over
the past 800 years is anything to go by, successful attempts at gaining
voice have been patchy, while leaders’ attempts to silence these
voices and consolidate their own power have been almost constant
(Blockmans, 2020).
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Recent developments in certain EU member states have again
shown us that democratically elected leaders will try and use
majoritarian rule to curb freedoms, overstep the constitutional limits
of their powers, protect the interests of their cronies and recycle
themselves through seemingly free and fair elections. In their recent
book How Democracies Die, two Harvard professors of politics write:
“Since the end of the Cold War, most democratic breakdowns have
been caused not by generals and soldiers but by elected governments
themselves” (Levitsky and Ziblatt, 2018)
EU parliamentary democracy: how representative? CEPS Policy Insights No 2019/07, May 2019
Full text linkTo what extent does the European Parliament really represent EU citizens? This paper first briefly introduces the most crucial characteristics of the EP (with regards to its internal organisation, its rights and tasks, as well as the electoral procedure), and then highlights the most important differences between the EP and its national counterparts: how national parties translate into European groupings; the (dis)connection between the European executive and legislative branches; and electoral (dis)connections. Finally, it investigates the idea for institutional reform introduced to improve the representative character of the EP – the Spitzenkandidaten procedure. It finds that the attempt to transform the EU (as a hybrid sui generis entity) into a full fledged parliamentary system does not make the EP a better representative of the EU electorate
Institutional Rebalancing: the ‘Political’ Commission. CEPS Policy Priorities for 2019-2024. March 2019
Full text linkWhen Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker came into office in 2014 he labelled his Commission as ‘political’ and thereby created much confusion inside and outside the institution. What is a ‘political’ Commission? This contribution answers this question by first shedding theoretical light on the concept of ‘political’, and second by answering what it means in practical terms for the Juncker Commission to be ‘political’. It furthermore examines the effect on the inter-institutional balance, i.e. the Commission’s relation to the European Parliament and the European Council.
This paper finds that the ‘political’ Commission is not a new concept but instead a gradual development since the post-Maastricht era, which aimed to make the Commission less technocratic and more democratic; whereby ‘political’ entailed increased accountability to the European Parliament. The paper furthermore identifies the prioritisation of policies and the application of an internal top-down approach as the crucial ‘political’ elements in Juncker’s Commission. Lastly, the paper finds that – in times of growing importance of intergovernmental decision-making and the (European) Council as a central decision-maker – this is not fertile ground for the concept of a ‘political’ Commission and the federal vision of EU democracy that it carries
'Normalisation’ of an executive through politicisation? A study of the political Juncker Commission (2014-2019) and its effects on the accountability of the institution
Full text linkThe problem with the Spitzenkandidaten system. CEPS Commentary, 21 February 2018
Full text linkThe lead candidate, or so-called Spitzenkandidaten procedure, is posing something of a conundrum to its proponents. Its core problem – namely that member states do not buy into it – won’t be solved by any of the reform ideas that have recently been floated. In all likelihood, Heads of State and Government will grudgingly agree to continue the process in the European Parliament (EP) elections in 2019. But crucially they will not promote it towards their citizens, which is necessary if the system is to work
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
How is EU cooperation on the Covid-19 crisis perceived in member states? CEPS Commentary 21 April
Full text linkThe crisis caused by the spread of Covid-19 has demonstrated how difficult
European cooperation can be, especially in policy areas where the EU has only a
legal competence to support member states. Some commentators have suggested
that this marks the death knell of European integration, and even the most optimistic of
them recognise it as one of the greatest challenges the EU has ever faced in terms of
crisis management and demonstrating supranational added value.
In general, all member states were initially inward-looking in their reactions; they
unilaterally closed borders and focused on crisis management at home. European
solidarity has largely been absent. Ultimately, however, the lockdown realities across
Europe are quite similar.
This instinctive self-preservation tells only one side of the story, however. As the virus
affected all EU countries – albeit at different stages on the infection curve – it began to
threaten the basics of the European economy and its financial system.
In this second phase of the crisis there is a need for crisis management at the European
level. But the measures decided so far appear marginal – at least in terms of their impact
on public opinion in member states, as the EPIN country reports show. All that the EU’s
27 national leaders were able to agree upon so far was a joint bid to improve the
procurement of personal protective equipment, increased funding for vaccine research,
and relaxed regulatory enforcement. The Commission has also proposed the Coronavirus
Response Investment Initiative (CRII), to be financed through unused cohesion policy
funds, but this requires approval by member state
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