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Introduction In this chapter, we focus on three interrelated factors that affect workers’ ability to influence their employment relationship and which are therefore critical determinants of the balance of power between capital and labour. The first addresses the general nature and changing role of the state as a social and institutional actor and the extent to which it has undermined the role of worker voice through the decollectivisation of employment relations. The second focuses on a key dimension of the state by considering the role of the law per se in
’ should not be discounted when seeking to explain this, some features of the twentieth-century American experience make up an important part of the story. In particular, the structural characteristics of the contemporary American state, and the ways in which these are perceived and understood by large numbers of people, particularly within the white population, add to and build upon long-held resentments about the legitimate place and efficacy of government. 2 While such structural characteristics cannot in themselves explain why the Trump campaign took off and gained
Bundestag and Land elections. It provided a framework for party structures and procedures, and for the protection of the rights of party members, standards with which parties had to comply and which they had to implement in their own statutes. It regulated the financial relationship between parties and the state, by making available subsidies to the costs of election campaigning, based then on the relative shares of the vote which parties received at the election, though this system has since been substantially modified (see below). 1 Box 5.1 Article 21 of the Basic
promulgated in September 1949 promised all equal recognition, cultural autonomy and regional autonomy. Article 53 stated: ‘All national minorities shall have the freedom to develop their dialects and languages, to preserve or reform their traditions, customs, and religious beliefs.’ 6 The rights of ethnic minority groups to use and be educated in their own language, to protect and preserve their culture and identify as an ethnic minority are also enshrined in the Chinese constitution. Similarly, the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy offers reassurance in areas
This book offers an overview of the principal features of the German political system. It emphasises four important characteristics of the system: the way in which twentieth-century history shaped the post-Second World War political system; the stability and adaptability of that system; the unusual importance within the political system of legal rules; and the significance of Germany's association with European integration. The book surveys the Basic Law, designed in 1948-1949 as a direct response to the failure of Germany's first experiment with democracy: the regime of the Weimar Republic. The book describes the events of the fateful years 1989 and 1990, which led to reunification, in three phases: the downfall of the old regime in the German Democratic Republic; the period of adjustment and transition to a democratic regime in Germany; and the process and consequences of reunification itself. The book also examines the principal influences which have shaped the present-day political system, the electoral system and electoral behaviour of the Federal Republic, and the features of the 'party state'. It reviews the structure, operation and political effects of Germany's particular version of federalism and analyses the core institutions of government. The structure and powers of the legislative chambers, the legislative process, and the role of the elected representative are also discussed. Finally, the book charts the path taken by West Germany to develop links to 'Europe', and explores the ways in which membership of what has become the European Union impinges upon the domestic politics of the Federal Republic.
Introduction The analysis in this book has been informed by six dimensions that can influence work and employment issues, first summarised in Chapter 1 ( Table 1.1 ). These dimensions include: (1) labour indeterminacy and structured antagonism outlined in Chapter 1 ; (2) management actions, labour market utilisation and new technologies, discussed in Chapter 2 ; (3) globalisation, also debated in Chapter 2 ; (4) the role of the state and employment regulation, examined in Chapter 3 ; (5) the communication sphere covered in Chapter 4 on worker voice
The seeds of International Relations theorizing were sown in the fragmented and rural High Middle Ages and they took centuries to grow. Their growth was spurred by the evolution of the modern state. By the fifteenth century, the evolution was not as far developed as is often believed. Renaissance authors are often presented as important contributors to modern international theory. Yet, their speculations tended to reverberate with antique and medieval echoes, and to be more preoccupied with state affairs than with interstate relations
The relationship between the State and the citizen in many modern societies is tutored by the notion that freedom and liberty are defined by privacy and personal autonomy. In the West, this is particularly true and is evidenced by the restrictions placed on agents of the government in their dealings with law-abiding citizens. In China, on the other hand, showing good behaviour is the sign of virtuous citizenship and reflects an optimistic Confucian view of human nature. Thus, aberrant behaviour is best addressed by society at large and watchfulness is a
As Brazilians frequently point out, from 1968–1973 their country experienced the sort of economic surge and staggering GDP growth rates we now associate with China. These boom years were not an accident, but the result of focused government policy designed to precipitate rapid industrialization and transformation away from a rural, agrarian economy towards an urbanized, manufacturing economic model. A stable of state industrial champions were placed at the heart of this policy push, all financed and supported by state-run banks and development institutions
Since the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, the idea of nation-states, as autonomous actors on the international scene with unquestioned authority within a clearly defined territory, has become the dominant unit of analysis for popular discussions of international relations. Indeed, rhetorically, almost all countries, regardless of size and strength, agree to respect each other’s autonomy. In terms of self-image, however, China, which in Chinese is 中国 ( Zhong Guo ) – literally, the Middle Country – is not just another nation-state in the Westphalian sense