Democratic Legitimacy

Democratic Legitimacy
Author: Pierre Rosanvallon
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2011-07-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1400838746

It's a commonplace that citizens in Western democracies are disaffected with their political leaders and traditional democratic institutions. But in Democratic Legitimacy, Pierre Rosanvallon, one of today's leading political thinkers, argues that this crisis of confidence is partly a crisis of understanding. He makes the case that the sources of democratic legitimacy have shifted and multiplied over the past thirty years and that we need to comprehend and make better use of these new sources of legitimacy in order to strengthen our political self-belief and commitment to democracy. Drawing on examples from France and the United States, Rosanvallon notes that there has been a major expansion of independent commissions, NGOs, regulatory authorities, and watchdogs in recent decades. At the same time, constitutional courts have become more willing and able to challenge legislatures. These institutional developments, which serve the democratic values of impartiality and reflexivity, have been accompanied by a new attentiveness to what Rosanvallon calls the value of proximity, as governing structures have sought to find new spaces for minorities, the particular, and the local. To improve our democracies, we need to use these new sources of legitimacy more effectively and we need to incorporate them into our accounts of democratic government. An original contribution to the vigorous international debate about democratic authority and legitimacy, this promises to be one of Rosanvallon's most important books.

Political Science in Europe

Political Science in Europe
Author: Thibaud Boncourt
Publisher: ECPR Press
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2020-05-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1785523120

The last half-century has been a defining period for the development of political science in Europe: disciplinary norms have become institutionalized in professional organizations, training units, and research centres; the scholarly community has dramatically grown in size across the continent; the analytical and methodological tools of the discipline are increasingly sophisticated; and the knowledge disseminated under the label "political science" is bigger than it has ever been. Political Science in Europe takes stock of these developments and reflects on the achievements of the discipline, and the challenges it faces. Is there a distinctive "European" blend of political science? Is the European political science community cohesive and inclusive? How does the discipline cope with the neoliberalisation of academia, and the diffusion of illiberal politics? Leading and up-and-coming political scientists answer these questions by discussing the discipline's key concepts and intellectual trends, its professional structures, and its relationship with its social, economic, and political environment.

Anion-Binding Catalysis

Anion-Binding Catalysis
Author: Olga Garcia-Mancheno
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2022-03-21
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3527348573

Explores the potential of new types of anion-binding catalysts to solve challenging synthetic problems Anion-Binding Catalysis introduces readers to the use of anion-binding processes in catalytic chemical activation, exploring how this approach can contribute to the future design of novel synthetic transformations. Featuring contributions by world-renowned scientists in the field, this authoritative volume describes the structure, properties, and catalytic applications of anions as well as synthetic applications and practical analytical methods. In-depth chapters are organized by type of catalyst rather than reaction type, providing readers with an accessible overview of the existing classes of effective catalysts. The authors discuss the use of halogens as counteranions, the combination of (thio)urea and squaramide-based anion-binding with other types of organocatalysis, anion-binding catalysis by pnictogen and tetrel bonding, nucleophilic co-catalysis, anion-binding catalysis by pnictogen and tetrel bonding, and more. Helping readers appreciate and evaluate the potential of anion-binding catalysis, this timely book: Illustrates the historical development, activation mode, and importance of anion-binding in chemical catalysis Explains the analytic methods used to determine the anion-binding affinity of the catalysts Describes catalytic and synthetic applications of common NH- and OH-based hydrogen-donor catalysts as well as C-H triazole/triazolium catalysts Covers amino-catalysis involving enamine, dienamine, or iminium activation approaches Discusses new trends in the field of anion-binding catalysis, such as the combination of anion-binding with other types of catalysis Presenting the current state of the field as well as the synthetic potential of anion-binding catalysis in future, Anion-Binding Catalysis is essential reading for researchers in both academia and industry involved in organic synthesis, homogeneous catalysis, and pharmaceutical chemistry.

Afropean

Afropean
Author: Johny Pitts
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2019-06-06
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0141984732

Winner of the Jhalak Prize 'A revelation' Owen Jones 'Afropean seizes the blur of contradictions that have obscured Europe's relationship with blackness and paints it into something new, confident and lyrical' Afua Hirsch A Guardian, New Statesman and BBC History Magazine Best Book of 2019 'Afropean. Here was a space where blackness was taking part in shaping European identity ... A continent of Algerian flea markets, Surinamese shamanism, German Reggae and Moorish castles. Yes, all this was part of Europe too ... With my brown skin and my British passport - still a ticket into mainland Europe at the time of writing - I set out in search of the Afropeans, on a cold October morning.' Afropean is an on-the-ground documentary of areas where Europeans of African descent are juggling their multiple allegiances and forging new identities. Here is an alternative map of the continent, taking the reader to places like Cova Da Moura, the Cape Verdean shantytown on the outskirts of Lisbon with its own underground economy, and Rinkeby, the area of Stockholm that is eighty per cent Muslim. Johny Pitts visits the former Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow, where West African students are still making the most of Cold War ties with the USSR, and Clichy Sous Bois in Paris, which gave birth to the 2005 riots, all the while presenting Afropeans as lead actors in their own story.

The Evolution of National Water Regimes in Europe

The Evolution of National Water Regimes in Europe
Author: Stefan Kuks
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2004-11-30
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9781402024832

All over the world countries struggle with water stress. Problems vary from water scarcity and a degrading water quality, to floods and a rising sea level due to climate change. The European Union adopted a Water Framework Directive to improve the sustainability of water management in its member states. Water management should be coordinated at the level of river basins as a whole. Interests of various user groups should be better represented. River basin visions should take into account the impact of all human activities on the status of the resource. Water legislation needs streamlining and more focus on its implementation. The European Union advocates regulating water prices by charging the costs of water services on the basis of full cost recovery and the polluter pays principle. This book examines the development of water management in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and Switzerland. It is based on the European research project EUWARENESS. The authors apply a theoretical framework for the analysis of institutional regimes, water governance and property rights. The evolution of national water resource regimes is described over a period of almost 200 years (1800-2000). The long-term perspective enables the reader to see the conditions under which regime transformation and paradigm change are made possible. The book also includes a critical analysis of policy making by the European Union, and a comparative review and analysis of regime development in the six countries involved. This book is followed by another volume published with Kluwer Academic Publishers on "Integrated Governance and Water Basin Management", edited by Hans Bressers and Stefan Kuks.