What's wrong with the elite theory of democracy?
Essay - 7 pages - Political science
The elite theory of democracy has emerged out of two major concerns of its precursors: no theory of democracy until now has given leadership the importance it ought to have, and none has really settled the issue of whether the common man is up to the task of governing a modern and large society....
Should the US help India and Pakistan normalize their relations? If so, what role should it play? Mediation, facilitation or hands off?
Essay - 4 pages - International relations
Although a full historical of the disputes between India and Pakistan and the problem of Kashmir is not necessary, it is important to remember that in the last years, the situation has greatly evolved with for instance, the nuclear tests of 1998, the Kargil War of 1999, the US-led war on terror...
European integration theories
Essay - 4 pages - European union
There is an increasingly accepted agreement that the EU and the process of European integration are just too complex to be captured by a single theoretical approach. Hix holds to this point: “We do not have a general theory of American or German politics so why should there be a general...
Afghanistan: Threats and opportunities for the Transatlantic relation
Essay - 10 pages - International relations
Afghanistan represents undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges for the Western democracies. The reversal of the Taliban by the international coalition led by the United States after the 9/11 terrorist attacks was seen as a symbol of hope. This war was considered as legitimate, because of the...
China and the USSR in the 1950's: Has China been a satellite-State of the Soviet Union?
Essay - 6 pages - International relations
Stalin used to say: “Sincere diplomacy is no more possible than dry water or wooden iron”: this quote can perfectly apply to the relations that the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union have fostered during the first years of the creation of the People's Republic of China....
Manix - environmental analysis: Objectives and strategy formulation
Essay - 6 pages - Ecology & environment
Manix is a brand belonging to Ansell, a company operating in three business segments (professional health care division, consumer health care gloves and occupational division for gloves and clothing worn for protection). Manix is developed in the consumer health care division, which also supplies...
Gender equality and employment in the European Union
Essay - 29 pages - European union
Gender equality is among the fundamental principles and the common values of the European Union. In the 2nd Article of the Treaty of the European Community, it is even mentioned as a “task” to perform for the Community, and again in Article 3(2) TEC. But two questions already appear:...
Nationalism and Regionalism in the era of the making of a common European identity
Essay - 5 pages - European union
The year 2000 will be and have already been pivotal for the European Union. Ten new countries became full members of the Union and Turkey is on his way to the membership. But the 2005 failure to make all the countries sign the project of European constitution asks legitimate questions about the...
Governance in the European Union: Policies
Essay - 9 pages - European union
The Common Fisheries Policy is one of the oldest policies entirely delegated to the European Community since it is part of the Common agricultural policy. Indeed, in the Treaty of Rome, agricultural products are defined as “the products of the soil, of stock-farming and of fisheries”...
Towards a democratisation of the Middle-East?
Essay - 6 pages - Political science
The Middle East has traditionally been a region where democracy has never really managed to break through. The times of the caliphs had been replaced by a more or less violent period of colonisation. When the time for decolonisation finally came, most of the states -some more or less artificially...
Visions of America
Essay - 8 pages - Social, moral & civic education
As most of the exchange students who came here in Lund for one or two semesters, and who decided to attend the class on Swedish society and everyday life, I've been struck in several occasions by the Swedes, some of their behaviours or some elements of their everyday life I could barely recognize...
The European citizenship
Essay - 3 pages - European union
According to the European Commission, “citizenship of the Union is both a source of legitimation of the process of European integration, by reinforcing the participation of citizens, and a fundamental factor in the creation among citizens of a sense of belonging to the European Union and of...
The nature of present-day public administration theory
Essay - 4 pages - Political science
“A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation”. This quote from Edmond Burke can be applied not only to the state but also, to some extent, to the field of public administration. Indeed, a book such as The Public Administration Theory Primer (2003),...
Global warming may open Northwest Passage
Essay - 3 pages - Ecology & environment
It is almost daily that television news mention environmental and natural disasters in each area of the world. Thus, the recent environmental events in the last years were cyclones like Katrina, tsunamis, floods, dryness… Scientifics don't give a verdict on these events but public opinion...
Critically consider Thomas Franck's argument about an emerging right to democratic governance in international law with particular reference to the recent Palestinian elections returning a Hamas governing authority
Essay - 8 pages - Political science
“Democratic tradition involves a richly evolving collection of diverse beliefs, processes and structures that are neither easily characterized in concise terms nor summarized in a single systematic philosophy of governance” . The complexity of democratic governance could not be better...
Was there ever any realistic chance of an accommodation between the United States and the People's Republic of China in 1949/50?
Essay - 6 pages - International relations
In early 1949, China was a nationalist country, ruled by Chiang Kai-shek and sustained by the United States. At the same time, the Chinese Communists were rebelling and ruling large parts of the country, and were constantly progressing. It was obvious that they were soon going to rule the...
Environment and international trade
Essay - 5 pages - Ecology & environment
The warming of the planet and global climatic change has been the centre of heated debate for the last few years. The environmental problems, by the force of nature, somehow set themselves to the political agenda of the planet. In this paper I'd like to see if the concepts of trade and...
European Court of Justice - motor for European integration?
Essay - 3 pages - European union
In 1996, British Prime Minister John Major has bitterly noted that European Court of Justice (ECJ) should “have its wings clipped”, as already back in 1996 some member states, eager to protect their sovereignty, feared the growing influence of the court. Yet, 10 years later, the...
Vienna Convention on consular relations
Essay - 12 pages - International relations
THE HAGUE, 10 March 2005. Today the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, delivered its Judgment in the case concerning Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (Paraguay v. United States of America). On 3 April 1998, the Republic of Paraguay filed...
Evaluate the evolution of the world trade system
Essay - 7 pages - Economy general
Before the creation of a world trade system in 1947, the countries had protectionist economic policies or preferential trade agreements for the Empires as the one of Britain and France. In the 1930s, these policies clearly showed their limits with the economic depression and the World War II. As...
The Democratic Deficit in the EU
Essay - 7 pages - European union
For years, the European construction appeared to be legitimate through a 'permissive consensus' since no significant opposition to the integration process was to be noticed. Nevertheless, a major debate underlined a 'democratic deficit' in the 1980s, denouncing that the European...
To what extent does multiculturalism in developed liberal democracies adequately address the issue of religious diversity?
Essay - 9 pages - Social, moral & civic education
In recent years diversity in developed liberal democracies has deeply increased. Indeed, in European countries, as in America or in Australia many migrants came to work. Whereas the first migration movements happened within Western countries (e.g. many Italians and Poles came to France to work in...
China & Japan
Essay - 8 pages - International relations
Sino-Japanese relationships are very complex. Historically, both countries have known a kind of “Golden Age” when they dominated the Pacific region. Before the arrival of the Europeans, China was dominant. Then Japan modernized a lot during the Meiji Era (1868) and became superior. Even...
Social policy and practice in Canada, a history, by Alvin Finkel
Essay - 4 pages - Political science
Social Policy and Practice in Canada is a history book, which deals with the birth and the evolution of the Welfare State in Canada since pre-confederation times. It aims at narrating but also analyzing the social policy, defined as a “set of non-market decisions, public and private, that...
Quebec separatism
Essay - 7 pages - Political science
One of the main concerns since the creation of the Canadian Confederation in 1867 has been the Quebec question. Nowadays, it is still a big issue in Canadian politics. Quebec has always appeared as a 'distinct society' within the country. It is the core of the main cleavage in Canada: the...
Gay rights in Canada and the US
Essay - 4 pages - Social, moral & civic education
From an external point of view, Canada and the United States are sometimes considered as pretty similar countries, concerning cultures and policies. However, these two countries can have very different behaviours on some issues. This is the case in the domain of gay and lesbian rights, and...
Judicial activism in Canada
Essay - 5 pages - Political science
In 1982, Canada has known a very significant shift with the adoption of the Charter of Right of Freedom. Before this date, Canada only had a Bill of Rights (1960's) which was a statute and did not allow the courts to restrict the action of the Parliament. But the 1982 Charter of Rights and...
The Iranian Issue: The emergence of a main potential threat for the international security
Essay - 6 pages - International relations
The Iranian regime appears to be one of the main present sources of threat for the international order and security. The nuclear programme that has been undertaken by its president Ahmadinezhad is raising strong tensions between this country and the main part of the rest of the world, even though...
Australian culture, between complex and suspicion?
Essay - 3 pages - Social, moral & civic education
In his review of My life as a fake, Blake Morrison makes the following observation: “Carey is fascinated by what the hoax says about Australian culture - both its “terror of being out of date” and its suspicion of European-style bullshit […].” Do you agree with Morrison's...
The democratic deficit and the role of the EU Parliament
Essay - 3 pages - European union
Since the beginning of the 90's and the end of the “permissive consensus”, the democratic deficit of the European Union has increasingly become high on the agenda of scholars and decision-makers. Defined as “the growing dissonance between the essential requirements of modern...
