bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Partiinost’
Authors: Joravsky David
Published: September 2018

Partiinost’ (Russian for partyness, often translated as party-mindedness, partisanship or party spirit) was long the controlling principle of Soviet Marxism. Though commonly identified with thought control, partiinost’ originally signified social analysis of thought joined with moral judgment, an ancient combination that can work against the powers that be as well as for them. Lenin’s version changed from revolt to thought control after his party came to power in 1917, but especially after Stalin’s ‘revolution from above’ twelve years later. In 1950 Stalin began a restriction of partiinost’ by declaring ‘science’ separate from ‘ideology’. Such reform accelerated after his death in 1953, but slowed down from the mid-1960s to the late 1980s. Then a new burst of reform set off the collapse of the Soviet system and of partiinost’, though the problems that engendered it – the entanglement of group interests and claims of truth – persist.
Moscow Psychological Society
Authors: Poole Randall A.
Published: September 2018

The Moscow Psychological Society, a learned society founded in 1885 at Moscow University, was the first and main centre of the remarkable philosophical achievements of the Russian Silver Age, as the cultural renaissance at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries has come to be known. By the end of its activity in 1922, the Psychological Society had attracted most of the country’s outstanding philosophers and had made the major contribution to the growth of Russian philosophy. In pursuit of its goal of the free, autonomous development of philosophy in Russia, the Society advanced a powerful neo-idealist critique of positivism, an outlook that was remarkably pervasive in Russia from the middle of the nineteenth century and that sought to eliminate speculative philosophy as ‘unscientific’. For leading philosophers in the Society, neo-idealism offered compelling theoretical support not only for the autonomy of philosophy against reductive positivism, but also for rule-of-law liberalism and constitutional reform. This philosophical defence of liberalism helps differentiate the Society from other currents in the Silver Age. The Society closed in 1922 with the forced exile of many of its members. Its intellectual legacy has attracted much attention in post-communist Russia.
Sāṅkhya
Authors: Lusthaus Dan
Published: September 2018

Considered one of the oldest classical Hindu schools by Indian tradition, Sāṅkhya is most famous in Indian philosophy for its atheism, its dualist model of puruṣa (passive, individual consciousness) and prakṛti (nonconscious, cognitive-sentient body) and its theory that effects pre-exist in their cause. In its classical formulation the puruṣa-prakṛti model is analysed into twenty-five components (tattva) intended to encompass entire metaphysical, cognitive, psychological, ethical and physical worlds in terms of their embodiment as individual constituents and the creative and interpretive projection of those worlds as experience by and for individuals. Both the world and the individual, in other words, are considered a phenomenological refraction and projection of the underlying and constitutive components of the conscious body.

Falsely identifying with the cognitive and sensory components of prakṛti (which according to orthodox Sāṅkhya performs cognitive and sentient operations, but is bereft of consciousness; puruṣa alone is conscious), Sāṅkhyans believe themselves to be the agents of their actions, rather than recognizing that actions are processes lacking any selfhood. Sāṅkhyans claim that liberation from the suffering of repeated rebirths can only be achieved through a profound understanding of the distinction between puruṣa and prakṛti. The latter is not abandoned after liberation, but continues to operate, observed with detachment by puruṣa. However, according to some versions of Sāṅkhya, prakṛti eventually becomes dormant. Puru ṣa and prakṛti both are considered to be eternal and to have no beginning. Since liberation is achieved through knowledge, Sāṅkhya stresses the importance and efficacy of knowledge over ritual and other religious endeavours.

Sāṅkhya is cognate to saṅkhyā, meaning ‘to count’ or ‘enumerate’. Thus Sāṅkhya seeks to enumerate the basic facts of reality so that people will understand them and find liberation. Basic Sāṅkhyan models and terms appear in some Upaniṣads and underlie important portions of the epic Mahābhārata, especially the Bhagavad Gītā and Mokṣadharma. No distinct Sāṅkhyan text prior to Īśvarakṛṣṇa’s Sāṅkhyakārikā (c.350–c.450) is extant. It enumerates and explains the twenty-five components and a subsidiary list of sixty topics (ṣaṣtitantra), which are then subdivided into further enumerative lists. Most of the subsequent Sāṅkhyan literature consists of commentaries and expositions of the Sāṃkhyakārikā and its ideas, which continued to be refined without major alterations well into the eighteenth century. Sāṅkhyan models strongly influenced numerous other Indian schools, including Yoga, Vedānta, Kashmir Shaivism and Buddhism.
Mind, Indian philosophy of
Authors: Laine Joy
Published: September 2018

Despite the enormous complexity of the Indian philosophical tradition, all the different schools developed within a common worldview mapped out by the three ideas of saṃsāra, karma and mokṣa (or nirvāṇa in the case of Buddhism). This soteriological context, which informs much of Indian philosophy, is of particular importance for the philosophy of mind, giving it a distinctive character unparalleled in the Western tradition. Speculations about the nature of mind originated in Upaniṣadic teachings that salvific knowledge comes from looking inwards. We see in the earlier Upaniṣads (from about the eighth to the fifth centuries bc) a careful classification of normal states of consciousness, but eventually liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering was framed in terms of the individual’s ability to manipulate and ultimately transcend such states through the pursuit of a set of ascetic practices known as yoga. These ascetic practices led to a liberating state of consciousness which the Upaniṣads equated with the realization of a transcendental Self known as the ātman. With the development of Buddhist thought in India (from the fifth century bc), the philosophical tradition became divided. Generally, Buddhist schools of thought were united in their opposition to the existence of the ātman, whereas the so-called orthodox Hindu schools continued to favour the Upaniṣadic position. The practical quest for liberation from suffering remained central, however, to the entire philosophical tradition as the Upaniṣads gave way to a more systematic philosophizing. Subsequently, Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike continued to accept the results of meditative practice as being a legitimate concern for philosophical speculation. A dialectical relationship between theory and practice meant that philosophical disagreements created not just differences in the interpretation of meditative experiences, but also shaped such practices themselves in different ways. The apparent empirical vein of the Upaniṣads was also continued in all schools of thought, leading to richer and more detailed phenomenological classifications of experience. This rich ontological landscape is what gives Indian philosophy of mind its distinctive character.
Arya Samaj
Authors: Kumar K.S.
Published: September 2018

The Arya Samaj (ārya-samāj, ‘The Association of Nobles’) is a Hindu reform movement founded in 1875 by Swami Dayanand Saraswati (1824–83). Based on the supposition that the true religion of India was put forth in the ancient Vedas, rather than in later epics and cycles of myths, the principal aim of the Arya Samaj is to purge modern Hinduism of beliefs and practices associated with the devotional and mythic literature of India. Condemning the hereditary caste system and dismissing the practice of using icons and idols in worship, the society favoured a more rationalistic, humanistic and nationalistic form of Hinduism as India entered the modern era.
Resurrection
Authors: van Inwagen Peter
Published: September 2018

The Judaeo-Christian belief in a future general resurrection of the dead arose in late second-temple Judaism (see, for example, Daniel 12: 2 and John 11: 24). (Whether there would be a resurrection of the dead was one of the main points that divided the Pharisees and the Sadducees.) When the new Christian movement appeared – before it was clearly something other than a party or sect within Judaism – it centred on the belief that the crucified Jesus of Nazareth had been, in a literal, bodily sense, raised from the dead (resurrectus) and that his resurrection was, in some way, the means by which the expected general resurrection of the dead would be accomplished. Indeed, resurrection was so pervasive a theme in early Christian preaching that it was apparently sometimes thought that Christians worshipped two gods called ‘Jesus’ and ‘Resurrection’ (Anastasis). The early Christians generally said that ‘God raised Jesus from the dead’. In post-New Testament times, it became more common for Christians to say that ‘Jesus rose from the dead’. Belief in the resurrection of Jesus and a future general resurrection continue to be central to Christianity. Christians have always insisted that resurrection is not a mere restoration of what the resurrected person had before death (as in the story in the fourth Gospel of the raising of Lazarus) but is rather a doorway into a new kind of life. The status of a belief in the general resurrection in rabbinic Judaism is difficult to summarize. It should be noted, however, that a belief in the resurrection of the dead is one of Maimonides’ ‘thirteen principles’, which some Jews regard as a summary of the essential doctrines of Judaism. A belief in a general resurrection of the dead is one of many Judaeo-Christian elements that have been incorporated into Islam.
Aseity
Authors: Matthews Grant Walter
Published: September 2018

‘Aseity’ (short for ‘God’s aseity’) is the traditional divine attribute whereby God is said to exist of or from himself. Although the Latin phrase ‘a se’ (from which the Latin ‘aseitas’ and English ‘aseity’ derive) might suggest that God is from himself as an effect from a cause, only a minority of theists have held that God literally causes himself. In affirming aseity, most theists intend rather to claim that God is a self-sufficient or self-existent being who, in some significant sense, lacks dependence on other things. God’s lack of dependence on anything besides himself distinguishes him radically from creatures, every one of which depends on God, and therefore on at least one thing besides itself.

The claim that God is an independent or self-sufficient being has strong support within the Western tradition. Foreshadowed in classical Greek philosophy and taught at least implicitly in Jewish and Christian scripture, the claim is explicitly affirmed by the Church Fathers, the medieval philosopher-theologians, and the most prominent theistic philosophers of the classical modern period. Aseity has been thought by many simply to follow from other claims central to theism. Theists claim God to be the First Cause and the most perfect being possible. Since the First Cause cannot itself be caused, God will at least lack causal dependence on another. Moreover, if lack of dependence is a perfection, then God will lack dependence to the extent consistent with his other perfections.

While certain contemporary theists reject some of the traditional divine attributes, it is difficult to find any who reject the idea that God enjoys a special independence from other things. There are, however, various ways in which aseity might be defined, based on precisely what sort of dependence God is said to lack. Definitions of aseity will turn on, and vary in strength in accordance with, the broader metaphysical and theological commitments of different theists.
Common-sense ethics
Authors: Brown Charlotte R.
Published: September 2018

‘Common-sense ethics’ refers to the pre-theoretical moral judgments of ordinary people. Moral philosophers have taken different attitudes towards the pre-theoretical judgments of ordinary people. For some they are the ‘facts’ which any successful moral theory must explain and justify, while for others the point of moral theory is to refine and improve them. ‘Common Sense ethics’ as a specific kind of moral theory was developed in Scotland during the latter part of the eighteenth century to counter what its proponents saw as the moral scepticism of David Hume. Thomas Reid, the main figure in this school, and his followers argued that moral knowledge and the motives to abide by it are within the reach of everyone. They believed that a plurality of basic self-evident moral principles is revealed by conscience to all mature moral agents. Conscience is an original and natural power of the human mind and this shows that God meant it to guide our will. A deeply Christian outlook underwrites their theory.
Many-valued logics
Authors: Morgan Charles G.
Published: September 2018

Many-valued logics may be distinguished from classical logic on purely semantic grounds. One of the simplifying assumptions on which classical logic is based is the thesis of bivalence, which states that there are only two truth-values – true and false – and every sentence must be one or the other. Many-valued logics reject the thesis of bivalence and permit more than two truth-values.
Intuitionism
Authors: McCarty David Charles
Published: September 2018

Ultimately, mathematical intuitionism gets its name and its epistemological parentage from a conviction of Kant: that intuition reveals basic mathematical principles as true a priori. Intuitionism’s mathematical lineage is that of radical constructivism: constructive in requiring proofs of existential claims to yield provable instances of those claims; radical in seeking a wholesale reconstruction of mathematics. Although partly inspired by Kronecker and Poincaré, twentieth-century intuitionism is dominated by the ‘neo-intuitionism’ of the Dutch mathematician L.E.J. Brouwer. Brouwer’s reworking of analysis, paradigmatic for intuitionism, broke the bounds on traditional constructivism by embracing real numbers given by free choice sequences. Brouwer’s theorem – that every real-valued function on a closed, bounded interval is uniformly continuous – brings intuitionism into seeming conflict with results of conventional mathematics.

Despite Brouwer’s distaste for logic, formal systems for intuitionism were devised and developments in intuitionistic mathematics began to parallel those in metamathematics. A. Heyting was the first to formalize both intuitionistic logic and arithmetic and to interpret the logic over types of abstract proofs. Tarski, Beth and Kripke each constructed a distinctive class of models for intuitionistic logic. Gödel, in his Dialectica interpretation, showed how to view formal intuitionistic arithmetic as a calculus of higher-order functions. S.C. Kleene gave a ‘realizability’ interpretation to the same theory using codes of recursive functions. In the last decades of the twentieth century, applications of intuitionistic higher-order logic and type theory to category theory and computer science have made these systems objects of intense study. At the same time, philosophers and logicians, under the influence of M. Dummett, have sought to enlist intuitionism under the banner of general antirealist semantics for natural languages.
Arithmetic, philosophical issues in
Authors: Potter Michael
Published: September 2018

The philosophy of arithmetic gains its special character from issues arising out of the status of the principle of mathematical induction. Indeed, it is just at the point where proof by induction enters that arithmetic stops being trivial. The propositions of elementary arithmetic – quantifier-free sentences such as ‘7+5=12’ – can be decided mechanically: once we know the rules for calculating, it is hard to see what mathematical interest can remain. As soon as we allow sentences with one universal quantifier, however – sentences of the form ‘(∀x)f(x)=0’ – we have no decision procedure either in principle or in practice, and can state some of the most profound and difficult problems in mathematics. (Goldbach’s conjecture that every even number greater than 2 is the sum of two primes, formulated in 1742 and still unsolved, is of this type.)

It seems natural to regard as part of what we mean by natural numbers that they should obey the principle of induction. But this exhibits a form of circularity known as ‘impredicativity’: the statement of the principle involves quantification over properties of numbers, but to understand this quantification we must assume a prior grasp of the number concept, which it was our intention to define. It is nowadays a commonplace to draw a distinction between impredicative definitions, which are illegitimate, and impredicative specifications, which are not. The conclusion we should draw in this case is that the principle of induction on its own does not provide a non-circular route to an understanding of the natural number concept. We therefore need an independent argument. Four broad strategies have been attempted, which we shall consider in turn.
Analysis, philosophical issues in
Authors: Grattan-Guinness I.
Published: September 2018

The term ‘mathematical analysis’ refers to the major branch of mathematics which is concerned with the theory of functions and includes the differential and integral calculus. Analysis and the calculus began as the study of curves, calculus being concerned with tangents to and areas under curves. The focus was shifted to functions following the insight, due to Leibniz and Isaac Newton in the second half of the seventeenth century, that a curve is the graph of a function. Algebraic foundations were proposed by Lagrange in the late eighteenth century; assuming that any function always took an expansion in a power series, he defined the derivatives from the coefficients of the terms. In the 1820s his assumption was refuted by Cauchy, who had already launched a fourth approach, like Newton’s based on limits, but formulated much more carefully. It was refined further by Weierstrass, by means which helped to create set theory. Analysis also encompasses the theory of limits and of the convergence and divergence of infinite series; modern versions also use point set topology. It has taken various forms over the centuries, of which the older ones are still represented in some notations and terms. Philosophical issues include the status of infinitesimals, the place of logic in the articulation of proofs, types of definition, and the (non-) relationship to analytic proof methods.
Recursion-theoretic hierarchies
Authors: Hodes Harold
Published: September 2018

In mathematics, a hierarchy is a ‘bottom up’ system classifying entities of some particular sort, a system defined inductively, starting with a ‘basic’ class of such entities, with further (‘higher’) classes of such entities defined in terms of previously defined (‘lower’) classes. Such a classification reflects complexity in some respect, one entity being less complex than another if it appears ‘earlier’ (‘lower’) then that other. Many of the hierarchies studied by logicians construe complexity as complexity of definition, placing such hierarchies within the purview of model theory; but even such notions of complexity are closely tied to species of computational complexity, placing them also in the purview of recursion theory.
Continuum hypothesis
Authors: Tiles Mary
Published: September 2018

The ‘continuum hypothesis’ (CH) asserts that there is no set intermediate in cardinality (‘size’) between the set of real numbers (the ‘continuum’) and the set of natural numbers. Since the continuum can be shown to have the same cardinality as the power set (that is, the set of subsets) of the natural numbers, CH is a special case of the ‘generalized continuum hypothesis’ (GCH), which says that for any infinite set, there is no set intermediate in cardinality between it and its power set.

Cantor first proposed CH believing it to be true, but, despite persistent efforts, failed to prove it. König proved that the cardinality of the continuum cannot be the sum of denumerably many smaller cardinals, and it has been shown that this is the only restriction the accepted axioms of set theory place on its cardinality. Gödel showed that CH was consistent with these axioms and Cohen that its negation was. Together these results prove the independence of CH from the accepted axioms.

Cantor proposed CH in the context of seeking to answer the question ‘What is the identifying nature of continuity?’. These independence results show that, whatever else has been gained from the introduction of transfinite set theory – including greater insight into the import of CH – it has not provided a basis for finally answering this question. This remains the case even when the axioms are supplemented in various plausible ways.
African feminism
Authors: Chioma Steady Filomina
Published: September 2018

The distinctiveness of African feminism lies in its social and humanistic thrust, which recognizes that unequal power relations can be based not only on gender, but also on race, class, national origin and other social divisions. It is inspired by struggles that transcend gender, and that are shaped by historical processes of external domination and exploitation. These include the trans-Atlantic slave trade, colonization, structural racism and corporate globalization. The global political economy continues to have a largely negative impact on African women and men and to destabilize African societies. African feminism finds expression in activism for economic, social and humanistic transformation through women’s associations. These associations seek to empower women by promoting economic, political and legal participation, peace building, female education and accessible health care. They also protest against the negative effects of global economic forces. African feminism is often in conflict with Western feminism and its hegemonic tendencies, holding that it fails effectively to address concerns about corporate globalization, race, class and other social divisions. Western feminism it finds largely to be fuelled by an anti-male ideology and rooted in individualistic preoccupations with gender equality in jobs, positions, power and sexual expression, while focusing less on social and humanistic transformations.
Nature, concept of in Akan thought
Authors: Wiredu Kwasi
Published: September 2018

It can be argued (and sometimes is) that Africans do not make a distinction between the natural and the supernatural. But the resulting conceptual economy may be rationally defensible. Nature is not just the spatio-temporal realm of existence governed by regular laws. It is also understood in contrast, at least conceptually, to the supernatural, as transcending both that realm and its laws. This contrast is unintelligible in the conceptual framework of at least the West African peoples known as the Akan. For them, reality is a spatio-temporal array of orders of being with the Supreme Being at the top, spirits and humans (in that order) in the middle and inanimate matter at the bottom. All events and interactions, without exception, are governed by law. There is an obvious similarity between this worldview and that of naturalism, but there is also a subtle difference.
Between Layman and Professional? Political Recruitment and Career Development of Local Councillors in a Comparative Perspective
Authors: Steyvers Kristof , Verhelst Tom
Published: September 2018

This article sets the framework for the subsequent special issue on political recruitment and career development of local councillors in a comparative perspective. After conceiving recruitment and career development as a funnel-like process filtering out the few from the few and leading to patterns of interpositional mobility in the political realm, the article proceeds by proposing the ideal-types of layman and professional to characterize the poles of the continuum upon which current trends in recruitment and career may be situated. Overall, these trends seem to point at a shifting structure of opportunities with predominant professionalization and partial socio-demographic democratization. Still, from a comparative perspective the extent to and the pace by which these general trends emerge are likely to be contingent upon the country, the municipality and the individual councillors studied. The comparative dataset on which the issue draws offers a unique opportunity to discern empirical patterns in the factors discussed above. The article concludes by outlining the issue and summarizing its main findings revealing a complex reality in the different phases of recruitment and career development of the contemporary councillor in Europe.
The Social Base of Political Recruitment. A Comparative Study of Local Councillors in Europe
Authors: Reynaert Herwig
Published: September 2018

Local councillor recruitment operates in such a way that it favours the possibility for individuals with certain characteristics to enter and to remain in public office. One of the central questions then becomes: what are these characteristics and how do they influence the selection chances of these specific individuals? The aim of this contribution is to comparatively study a number of these questions for the population of local councillors in Europe. It evokes questions on the similarity or divergence of social biases in political recruitment in different local political systems. Do the same social background characteristics distinguish ‘the many’ from ‘the few’ in all countries under study? Do certain patterns in the ‘skewing’ of social background emerge and to what extent can they be linked to different institutional histories in local government? As such this study is one of the first to structurally scrutinise local councillors in such a systematic variety of political systems.
The Careers of European Local Councillors: A Cross-National Comparison
Authors: Aars Jacob , Offerdal Audun , Rysavy Dan
Published: September 2018

This article is concerned with the political careers of local councillors. More specifically, the key question is about a possible professionalization of councillor careers at the local level in Europe. If the careers of local councillors tend to follow a number of standard routes, to what degree can these be perceived of as professionalized? In our effort to identify dominant courses of mobility, we distinguish between three successive stages of councillor careers: Pre-electoral experiences, in-council orientations, and future career aspirations. In the ideal model of professionalization there is a strong link between career stages. Professionalization is seen as a unidirectional process by which an occupational group gradually acquires the traits of a profession. By and large, local political careers in European countries do not adhere to the linear model of professionalization. Instead, a fits-and-start model seems more suitable, indicating that professional careers to a large extent are shaped incrementally, through learning and practical experience.
Path Dependency: Do Councillor Recruitment and Career Development Matter?
Authors: Steyvers Kristof , Verhelst Tom
Published: September 2018

This article addresses the question of matter in discussing the effect of recruitment and career development on the importance councillors attach to various tasks associated with their office. It starts from the assumption that professionalization would lead to giving inward-looking tasks more importance to the detriment of their outward counterparts. The analysis shows the question of matter is much more complex in reality in terms of co-variation and causation and is contingent upon (supra-)local structures of opportunities. Overall, (existing) explanations are rather weak. Early stages in the recruitment process seem to matter most and have a negative effect on outward-looking tasks. Whereas specific patterns of path dependency in terms of recruitment and career development thus do appear, the road taken in public office is long and winding and does not always straightforwardly reflect the common legacy of shared past experiences in the way towards it.
Gender Balance and Institutions in Local Government – Examples from Rural Norway
Authors: Bjørnå Hilde
Published: September 2018

While steps are taken to increase women’s representation in politics, it can often prove difficult to change patterns of recruitment and nomination to political positions. This article argues that not only formal regulation, but also informal institutions, like local norms, beliefs and values, history and traditional codes of conduct matter and should be taken into account in plans to achieve balanced gender representation. The article compares recruitment policies in rural municipalities in Norway. Case studies were conducted to identify factors affecting women’s willingness to stand as candidates, the factors local political parties take into account when nominating candidates, and voting behaviour. The study suggests that local issues, such as religious traditions, distributional conflicts and desire for community representation, affect women representation. Representation policies in local governments are, in other words, not only affected by rules and values “from above”, they must also be understood in a “bottom up” perspective, as the aggregated consequences of the rational behaviour of voters.

Keywords: women representation • representation policies • informal and formal institutions • local democracy
“New Public Management” in China at the Local Level: Competition-Driven Local Public Service Reform in Tianjin
Authors: Zhu Xufeng , Jiao Qiyuan
Published: September 2018

New public management (NPM) paradigm plays an increasingly important role in contemporary public management practices throughout the democratic world. This article argues that the driving force behind NPM reform in China at the local level is the competitive pressure to improve administrative performance. In China, where there is no electoral democratic regime, local governments face pressure in competition with counterparts over economic performance and consequent promotion opportunities for their leadership. The introduction of NPM can make local governments more effective and efficient in providing public services, which can result in local governments attracting more investments and enhancing competitiveness. The administrative licensing reform with public service outsourcing in Heping District, Tianjin City, China, is an example of NPM reform driven by competition among local governments.

Keywords: new public management • local governments • administrative licensing • public service outsourcing • China
The Role of Community-Based Organization in Emergency Management in Rural Korea
Authors: Ha Kyoo-Man
Published: September 2018

The purpose of this paper is to suggest strengthening of the current role of community-based organization (CBO) in rural Korea, such as its all-events approach, by adopting the guerilla approach for the ultimate goal of effective local emergency management. In so doing, the paper first analyzes the real picture of CBO’s all-events approach and the alternatives available to CBO’s guerilla approach via four components: (1) local government, (2) local schools, (3) neighboring industry, and (4) local residents. The major tenet of this paper is that CBO should focus more, like a guerilla or an irregular soldier, on managing local emergency, besides all other events in rural Korea, with the support of the four components.

Keywords: community-based organization • voluntary organization • emergency management • local Korea
Badly Designed Institutions, Informal Rules and Perverse Incentives: Local Government Corruption in Spain
Authors: Jimenez Fernando , Villoria Manuel , Garcia-Quesada Monica
Published: September 2018

This paper analyses the problem of corruption in the local government in Spain, where despite a complex and sophisticated set of local rules to ensure due process in town planning and urban development, a great number of corruption incidents have come to light. The explanation of this outcome rests in the combined effect of factors such as the bad design of both integrity rules and town planning policies, the relevance of informal institutions such as the patronage networks, and the existence of perverse incentives. The Spanish case highlights the important influence of local informal institutions for the actual working of formal ones.
Determination of Local Tax mix: Evidence from Spain
Authors: Delgado Francisco J.
Published: September 2018

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of the local tax mix in Spain. As the main local own revenues, we analyze the five local taxes -with the property tax as the main source- and fees and charges. The study relies on a sample of 130 municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants for the years 2005 and 2009. The results show the relevance of scale variables such as the population or total assets, but per capita income and grants are not significant. In political terms, we observe that ideology is important and fragmentation plays a limited role: the property tax share tends to be lower with left-wing governments, who favor revenues using the benefit principle.
Political Budget Cycles in Local Governments
Authors: Benito Bernardino , Bastida Francisco , Vicente Cristina
Published: September 2018

This paper aims to analyse the impact of the electoral schedule on municipal governments’ financial activities. Specifically, we pay attention to capital spending, current spending and taxes. We use a long time series (1989-2008) of the 45 municipalities of the Region of Murcia (Spain). Our results show the existence of Political Budget Cycles on capital spending and taxes. We find an increase of capital spending in the electoral and pre-electoral years, when the impact is higher on voters. Taxes are reduced in the election year. We also prove that the mayor’s political orientation and political strength impact Political Budget Cycles. The mayor’s decision of running for re-election does not affect the magnitude of the cycle.
New Challenges in the Filed of Ambient Air Protection with the Emphasis on Economic (in)efficiencies of Chimney Sweeping Services
Authors: Zajc Katarina , Mulec Breda
Published: September 2018

This paper analyzes new challenges in the field of ambient air protection, such as the use of new energy-generating products, and assesses the air quality protection responsibilities of local communities in European Union (EU) Member States. Domestic heating systems are a major source of air pollution. Thus, chimney-sweeping services are very important and must be regulated to provide fire safety and guarantee better ambient air quality. This paper analyzes Slovenian legislation regulating chimney-sweeping services and compares the Slovenian laws with comparable laws of other European countries and the national laws of EU Member States to examine the laws’ effectiveness in regulating and protecting air quality. More specifically, the paper uses legal and economic analyses to examine the efficiency of current legislation pertaining to chimney-sweeping services. The paper concludes that, consistent with theories of asymmetric information and negative externalities, licensing would be more effective in meeting the challenges of ambient air protection than current exclusive concession agreements, which effectively establish geographical monopolies in chimney-sweeping services.
Some Initiatives for Modernization of Local Democracy
Authors: Pečarič Mirko
Published: September 2018

The newest Additional Protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government on the right to participate in the affairs of a local authority can be understood as the proof of the absence or inadequacy of the existing measures for the right to participate in the affairs of the local authority. The informational technology, public information, applications based on open government, wider voice of citizens as statistically more reliable experts and a general approach for solving local problems, presented in this paper are some of the measures that can be used for the present and future era if there is a commitment of public institutions and the citizens to make a difference.
Community Policing and Local Self Government: Case Study of Serbia
Authors: Spasic Danijela , Djuric Sladjana , Kesetovic Zelimir
Published: September 2018

The concept of community policing is based on constant consultations between the police and the local self-government and a complex system of preventative responses. A qualitative approach has been applied in a rural community based on the analysis of administrative documents from 2003 to 2011, direct observation and a survey examining the attitudes of 65 police officers who participated directly in the project implementation. The major findings include the existence of a centralized police model and traditional policing, the resistance of low and middle managers to change and the absence of continuous consultations between the police and local self-government.
Factors determining the success of contracting local public services: waste collection and waste disposal, management of cemeteries in Slovakia
Authors: Merickova Beata Mikusova , Nemec Juraj
Published: September 2018

Contracting public services to private firms is one of the most common types of alternative service-delivery arrangements. The relevant literature suggests that if, and only if the contracting is properly implemented, then it may, but need not to deliver positive outcomes. The study examines the experience with contracting among Slovak municipalities. Despite some methodological problems, the data suggests that externalization of production generally does not deliver improved efficiency and quality. The core purpose for failures and the possible policy responses are also offered.
Can Local Governments in Croatia Cope with more Responsibilities?
Authors: Jurlina Alibegović Dubravka , Slijepčević Sunčana , Kordej-De Villa Zeljka
Published: September 2018

The decentralization process started in 2001 by broadening the responsibilities of local self-government units and changing the sources of financing public functions. In spite of these steps toward decentralization, today Croatia exhibits low level of fiscal decentralization compared to EU and SEE countries. In the paper we show that large differences in fiscal capacity between local government units and their large reliance on received grants represent one of the main barriers for further decentralization process. Based on the analysis of the results of conducted interviews with representatives of local and regional units, we present recommendations for further process of decentralization.
Cross-Border Cooperation as a Way of Overcoming the Global Financial and Economic Crisis
Authors: Setnikar Cankar Stanka , Seljak Janko , Petkovšek Veronika
Published: September 2018

The global financial and economic crisis has resulted in large macroeconomic imbalances and a sharp strain on public finances. The negative effects and consequences of the crisis can be more easily and successfully overcome with the help of cross-border cooperation, particularly through the transfer of good practice, experience and knowledge across borders. The aim of this paper is to show that cross-border cooperation can help to overcome the global financial and economic crisis. Factors promoting and hindering cross-border cooperation play a pivotal role in the success of cross-border cooperation. The paper employs a descriptive and analytical approach. The results of empirical research into cross-border cooperation in the Alps-Adriatic region between Carinthia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Slovenia are analysed. These results highlight the factors which promote and hinder cross-border cooperation, suggesting that personal contacts are the most important factors in promoting cross-border cooperation, while the level of assistance provided and administrative/legislative barriers are the greatest hindrances to cross-border cooperation.
Costs and Efficiency of Municipalities in Slovenia
Authors: Pevcin Primož
Published: September 2018

This paper empirically analyses average costs function and technical efficiency for 200 Slovenian municipalities in the year 2011. The methodology is based on the econometric estimation of the average costs function and stochastic parametric analysis of best-practice frontier to address technical inefficiencies. The results reveal that the average costs function for Slovenian municipalities is U-shaped, and the estimated least-cost size of the municipality implies that the current number of municipalities is not optimal. Besides, the average technical efficiency of Slovenian municipalities is approximately 22-25% above estimated best-practice frontier. Following, the issues related to municipal consolidation and increased efficiency should be promoted.
Dynamics of Administrative Capacity in Slovenian Municipal Administrations
Authors: Prebilič Vladimir , Bačlija Irena
Published: September 2018

A suitable quality level of the main functions and tasks of municipal administrations is a fundamental condition for the existence and development of every activity, not only for market-oriented organisations but also the public sector. Slovenian municipalities have not adopted a general policy on quality and it is therefore difficult to speak of the optimisation of work in a municipal administration, the efficiency and rationality of work, cost reduction, nor to evaluate the performance of an administration and the individual civil servants it employs. The authors of this article present the results of an empirical research project on administrative capacity carried out among the directors of Slovenian municipal administrations in both 2007 and 2012 and an analysis of the topic in the context of reorganisation of local administrations. By means of the Administrative Capacity Index (ACI), they evaluate the degrees of individual municipalities’ administrative capacities and establish at what population size a municipality can be regarded as administratively capable.
Housing Policy in Slovenia – A Political Decision or Coincidence?
Authors: Mežnar Špelca , Petrović Tamara
Published: September 2018

After Slovenia gained its independence and the privatization of the public housing stock took place, housing policy was considerably transformed. According to 1991 Constitution, the responsibility of the state has been only to provide appropriate conditions for citizens to settle housing situation. Although a number of housing policy documents were adopted by the Parliament, many of them did not take into account the genuine needs and situation in the country. Due to the austerity measures adopted by the Government, many social benefits have been restricted or cancelled, which in turn leads to a gradual decline in the level of welfare.
European Regional Disparities: The Crucial Source of European un-sustainability
Authors: Nahtigal Matjaz
Published: September 2018

The ongoing European crisis has revealed many deficiencies in the existing European institutional architecture. One of the crucial deficiencies is the unsustainable European regional disparity between the most developed European regions and those regions that are falling behind—a gap that is growing. This pattern of development creates an unsustainable pattern for the future development of the EU. The gap between the advanced segments of society with access to up-to-date knowledge, skills, technology, capital, and other resources and the excluded segments of society is also growing within the advanced European regions. Such observations indicate the need for far stronger anti-dualist economic, social, and legal policy at all levels of European polity. The EU’s response to the crisis has been inadequate as it has ignored the diversity of needs as well as opportunities for local and regional populations across the EU. Instead of focusing the economic, social, and legal reconstruction on a “one size fits all” model imposed from the top, the EU should spur local and regional innovations, initiatives, and development dynamics from below. Thus, in the EU, we need more policy space as well as more opportunities for economic, legal, social, and political innovations at the local, regional, and national levels. We need to create an EU that supports—not suppresses—diversity, sustainability, plurality, and the co-existence of institutional models. The idea of subsidiarity, diversity, and initiatives from below should be revived in order to create a more sustainable future for the EU.
Transfer of Company’s Assets to a Local Self-Governing Authority (or the Republic of Slovenia) as a Form of Corporate Restructuring
Authors: Prelič Saša
Published: September 2018

In this article, the author considers transfer of assets as one of legally regulated forms of corporate restructuring that enables local self-governing authority (or the Republic of Slovenia) to acquire a company with its assets and liabilities by way of universal legal succession, and therefore bring about corporate status restructuring. Transfer of assets is discussed with regard to Slovenia’s corporate regulation, both in terms of procedural rules, as well as in terms of protection of interests of the shareholders and creditors of the company, which transfers the assets.
Cost Efficiency of Macedonian Municipalities in Service Delivery: Does Ethnic Fragmentation Matter?
Authors: Nikolov Marjan
Published: September 2018

Driven by the Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA), decentralisation in Macedonia is a policy choice for spurring national cohesion rather than an economic instrument for the more efficient delivery of services. The OFA resulted in a new Macedonian Constitution with policies related to the decentralisation process and equitable representation of communities. This paper aims first to estimate the spending efficiency of Macedonian municipalities in service delivery from their own resources and, second, to ascertain the determinants of that efficiency. The ethnic fragmentation of municipalities is taken into account as a possible determinant of efficiency, which represents a novelty in such types of studies. We employ the DEA-VRS, Kernel and SFA estimation techniques to control for the robustness of our estimates. Our findings show that on average Macedonian municipalities exhibit low efficiency in service delivery, although there are significant variations among municipalities. The ethnic fragmentation of municipalities together with the population density, own tax revenues and political affiliation of the mayor with the leading political coalition at the state level explain differences in their efficiencies. More fragmented municipalities tend to be less efficient when providing services to citizens.
The Microeconomics of Regional Development: Measuring convergences of Local and Regional Business Cycles
Authors: Vojinović Borut , Mikac Mojca , Oplotnik Žan Jan
Published: September 2018

Our convergence analysis illustrates the usefulness of Eurostat’s Economic sentiment indicators system for monitoring economic developments in the EU regions and for identifying the emergence of the waves of optimism and pessimism in the current economic and financial crisis. Analysing Service Confidence Indicator we provide evidence of the positive impact of economic integration on EU regions’ business cycles convergence with analysing two regions i.e. CEE-5 and EU-5. Econometric evidence suggests that the existence of convergence of regions is explaining a substantial proportion of regional business cycles. Results confirm that convergence occurred at the rate of 0,6% during the whole period 2003-2011, 2,2% and 0,9% during the sub periods 2003-2007 and 2009-2011, respectively.