Agenda Crossover updates our understanding of state delegations, exploring how they influence representation and responsiveness in Congress today. The theory of agenda crossover posits that members ...of the House and Senate have much to gain from monitoring the legislative agendas of other members of the delegation, especially those in the opposite chamber. Treul clearly demonstrates that individual members of delegations still utilize their fellow delegates in order to help them respond to constituents and enhance their own electoral success. It is argued that on certain issues - particularly the ones most relevant to a state's economy - members of Congress are willing to set aside partisan differences and work across the aisle. In this way, these bicameral connections between members of a state delegation - even across party lines - can, at times, trump the power of party in Congress.
This collection of interdisciplinary essays explores the prime concern of Mormon Studies - the relationship between knowledge and spirituality - and how that relationship has been defined and ...reinterpreted over time. Beginning with an examination of the international prospects for Mormonism at the turn of the century, the volume's overarching theme, from sociological, anthropological and theological approaches, is the examination of changing Mormon identities.The contributors review the expansion of Mormonism, the emotional and social contexts of its historic and contemporary manifestations, the distinction between 'Utah' Mormons and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and issues in Mormon feminism, concluding with a valuable review of the sources and documents available for studying Mormonism.
In 1999 three East-Central European states (Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic) gained membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Professor Barany argues that, once it began, the ...Alliance should continue the enlargement process. Nevertheless he maintains that only states that satisfy NATO's membership criteria should be allowed to join. Through an extensive analysis of four countries, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia who, at the time of the book's original publication in 2003 were NATO aspirants, Barany demonstrates that they were in several important respects unprepared for membership and that there was no pressing reason for NATO's haste. Barany argues that while NATO should be clear that its doors remain open to qualified candidates, the Alliance should hold off further expansion until prospective members will become assets rather than liabilities.
Brexit will have significant consequences for the country, for Europe, and for global order. And yet much discussion of Brexit in the UK has focused on the causes of the vote and on its consequences ...for the future of British politics. This volume examines the consequences of Brexit for the future of Europe and the European Union, adopting an explicitly regional and future-oriented perspective missing from many existing analyses. Drawing on the expertise of 28 leading scholars from a range of disciplines, Brexit and Beyond offers various different perspectives on the future of Europe, charting the likely effects of Brexit across a range of areas, including institutional relations, political economy, law and justice, foreign affairs, democratic governance, and the idea of Europe itself. Whilst the contributors offer divergent predictions for the future of Europe after Brexit, they share the same conviction that careful scholarly analysis is in need – now more than ever – if we are to understand what lies ahead for the EU.
Since the United Nations (U.N.) was established in 1945, the U.S. government, including many Members of Congress, has maintained an ongoing interest in the criteria and process for membership in the ...United Nations and its specialized agencies. The United Nations currently has 193 member states and two observer non-member statesthe Holy See (Vatican) and "Palestine." Each of the U.N. systems 15 specialized agencieswhich are independent international intergovernmental organizations with their own constitutions, rules, and budgetshave different criteria and processes for membership. This book highlights key steps in the process for attaining membership in the United Nations and its specialized agencies. It discusses the capacities associated with U.N. membership and observer status, as well as criteria for and implications of membership.
In May 2004, eight countries of Central and Eastern Europe were admitted to the European Union (EU). In January 2007, Romania and Bulgaria, and in July 2013, Croatia were admitted to the EU. These ...new EU member states (NMS) are not given the right to opt out as the UK and Denmark have, and they are obligated to adopt the Euro. Among eleven new member states, five countries adopted the euro: first Slovenia (2007), followed by Slovakia (2009), Estonia (2011), Latvia (2014) and Lithuania (2015). This book considers the problems of the Eurozone Enlargement by reviewing the experiences of NMS which have adopted the Euro and considering prospects of NMS which have not yet adopted the Euro. The book is divided into two parts. Part One mainly deals with NMS which have already adopted the Euro and takes a closer look at their experiences. Chapter One explains the evolution and the current situation of the EMU in order to get an overall picture of the Eurozone. Chapter Two discusses Slovenia's experiences of the euro adoption and its lessons. Chapter Three discusses the experiences of Slovakia which adopted the euro in January 2009 exhibiting, in contrast to Slovenia, a favorable performance. Although having seriously suffered from the 2008 global financial crisis, the Baltic States have recovered quickly. Chapter Four discusses what kind of lessons could be drawn from the experiences of the Eurozone NMS, focusing on Latvia and Slovakia. Part Two deals with the NMS which have not adopted the Euro yet, but are expected to. Chapter Five not only discusses Poland's prospects for Euro adoption but also serves as an introduction to Part Two as a whole. It deals with not only the criteria which should be met by prospective Eurozone member NMS (i.e. explicit Maastricht convergence criteria), but also the criteria of implicit and substantial convergence (i.e. The Czech Republic and Slovakia maintaining close economic relations in spite of their separation in 1993). Slovakia adopted the Euro in January 2009 while the Czech Republic has not yet adopted it. Chapter Six discusses the current situation and challenges of the Czech Republic in comparison with Slovakia. Chapter Seven analyses the Hungarian situation both from a perspective of a comparison with other CEE countries, and from a historical perspective of its long-term transition process. Chapter Eight considers challenges facing Croatia, which has an industrial structure quite similar to Greece. Among prospective Eurozone member states, Romania is the only one country which has its target date for Euro-adoption of January 1, 2019. Chapter Nine considers Romania's current situation and its challenges. Chapter Ten discusses challenges facing Bulgaria, which has maintained the currency board system. Although the Western Balkan countries are not discussed directly, this book has important implications for them. The authors of the book include five economists from Central Eastern Europe and three economists from Japan. This book is a product of international academic cooperation between Europe and Asia.
How the political events of 1989 shaped Europe after the Cold War 1989 explores the momentous events following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the effects they have had on our world ever since. Based ...on documents, interviews, and television broadcasts from Washington, London, Paris, Bonn, Berlin, Warsaw, Moscow, and a dozen other locations, 1989 describes how Germany unified, NATO expansion began, and Russia got left on the periphery of the new Europe.This updated edition contains a new afterword with the most recent evidence on the 1990 origins of NATO's post-Cold War expansion.
This article examines the feasibility of achieving the World Trade Organization's stated aspiration of achieving universal membership. The article first examines the requirements for accession, and ...argues that the commonly-used definition of universal membership - accession to the WTO by all members of the United Nations - is too narrow having regard to the accession provisions of the relevant WTO Agreements. A broader interpretation of the concept of universal accession reveals the true extent of the 'accession issue' by showing the number of accessions that may be negotiated in future. The article then considers the potential for truly universal membership of the WTO, and the obstacles to that being achieved. This broader potential membership includes a very high proportion of less- and least-developed countries, micro-states, and transitional economies, all of whichThis article examines the feasibility of achieving the World Trade Organization's stated aspiration of achieving universal membership. The article first examines the requirements for accession, and argues that the commonly-used definition of universal membership - accession to the WTO by all members of the United Nations - is too narrow having regard to the accession provisions of the relevant WTO Agreements. A broader interpretation of the concept of universal accession reveals the true extent of the 'accession issue' by showing the number of accessions that may be negotiated in future. The article then considers the potential for truly universal membership of the WTO, and the obstacles to that being achieved. This broader potential membership includes a very high proportion of less- and least-developed countries, micro-states, and transitional economies, all of which face particular accession challenges that are examined in the final part of the article.
