The main aim of this paper is to assess the impact of tax competition on the functioning of the public sector in the real economy. In particular it follows up the public finances and the impact of tax competition on the amount and structure of publicly provided goods and services. The paper is based on the economic theory of tax competition and fiscal federalism, taking into account the arguments both against and in favor of tax competition. It examines tax competition in a particular example of Switzerland and shows how tax competition works here. The paper analyzes tax competition in Swiss cantons and shows that the tax burden in the canton is dependent on the tax burden in the neighboring cantons. It also deals with the influence of tax competition on the structure of publicly provided goods in Switzerland and takes into account also the phenomenon of commuting and the consumption of publicly provided goods in cantons different from the canton where the tax is collected. The paper also examines the impact of commuting on the structure and level of public expenditure in Swiss cantons.

Esta tese oferece o seqüenciamento, as bases conceituais da construção, formatação e apresentação do Jogo de Governança da Água (JGA) para a Bacia do Alto Tietê (BAT) situada em grande parte na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo. O objetivo do Jogo é construir intervenções dentro da sustentabilidade ambiental da BAT, alocando recursos em tempo real, através de rodadas de negociação e escolhas estratégicas pelos atores da própria Bacia, de forma a potencializar ou ampliar a governança da água na mesma. Três teorias embasam e sustentam o JGA, ou seja, a Teoria da Ação Comunicativa, a Teoria dos Jogos e a Teoria do Construtivismo. Essas teorias, associadas ao entendimento de outras metodologias que comportam plataformas de negociação, traduzem um produto, o JGA, capaz de estruturar propostas de intervenção e de alocação de recursos para sua implementação e, conseqüentemente, modificação de uma situação inicial de criticidade elencada pelos atores do Comitê da Bacia Hidrográfica do Alto Tietê. Os resultados do Jogo dependem das circunstâncias, do contexto, da interação dos jogadores; de variáveis de outros subjogos, das jogadas produzidas e da criatividade dos próprios atores. Após o Jogo, formatamse redes de aprendizagem e de prática, para que o monitoramento e avaliação da implementação permitam oferecer a gestão dos indicadores e parâmetros das intervenções acordadas no JGA. / This thesis provides the structure, conceptual bases, outline and operation of the Water Governance Game (WGG) for the Upper Tietê River Basin in the metropolitan region of São Paulo. The objective of the game is to create and develop environmentally sustainable interventions within the river basin, allocating resources in real-time, through negotiation rounds and the strategic choices of actors from the basin in order to strengthen and amplify local water governance. Three theories underpin and sustain the WGG: Jürgen Habermas\' Theory of Communicative Action, Game Theory and Constructivist epistemology. In association with a full understanding of other methodologies which encompass negotiation platforms, the theories make the WGG a product that is capable of structuring opportunities for intervention and resource allocation for the implementation and consequent modification of first case situations raised by actors within the basin. The results of the game depend on circumstances, context and the interaction of players. They are concomitant on variables from other sub-games, from gameplay and from the creativity of each of the actors. After the game, learning networks and communities of practice form which can monitor and evaluate developments and allow them to accompany implementation, offer management of indicators and follow the parameters for intervention agreed within the WGG.

The major objective of this empirical research is to identify and explain the level of regional development and analyse the challenges of policy implementation with special focus on Tigray and Gambella Regions from 1995 to 2015. In line with the research objectives and statement of the problem, this study was designed to determine the level of development of the two regional states, the critical factors of regional growth in the regions, and what the major challenges were in the implementation of regional development policy. This research was explanatory cross-sectional in its design. In this research, both primary and secondary sources were consulted. Key informant interview, document review and observation were used to collect the necessary information. Accordingly, based on their expertise knowledge, and the position they held, a total of 24 regional and federal key informants were purposively selected and interviewed. The findings of the study showed that both regions made remarkable improvements and changes in health, education, road network, agricultural and revenue collection performance. However, contrary to the perceptions of the respondents, the secondary data when divided by regional population showed that in the past 20 years Gambella has been better off in terms of health, education, road networks and some agricultural indicators than Tigray. Tigray, however, grew more in terms of infrastructure than Gambella during the same period. The study found that the Government regional development policy designed and implemented as measured by growth-oriented indicators brought encouraging results. The most important determinant factors for regional economic development between the two sampled regions were: initial historical level of development; capacity of resource utilisation; leadership commitment, cultural differences, recurrent conflicts and insecurity, governance issues, political will, capacity of the regional government authorities; and rent-seeking attitude of politicians and civil servants. To address some of the challenges, few recommendations are made: designing a regional specific development policy, strengthening intergovernmental relations, protecting the environment, ensuring good governance, maintaining peace and security, strengthening capacity building, supporting infrastructural development for Gambella and the provision of additional financial incentives to regions. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development Studies)

La présente étude se propose de revisiter la doctrine classique des droits fondamentaux des États, et cherche à vérifier si c’est à raison qu’elle fut rejetée, ou si elle trouve désormais quelque environnement juridique plus favorable à son redéploiement. Opposés trait pour trait aux droits dits relatifs ou accessoires qui trouvent leur source dans le droit conventionnel et coutumier, les droits de conservation, de souveraineté, d’égalité, de respect et de commerce, sont conçus comme fondamentaux dans un sens évidemment matériel – ce sont des droits constitutifs de l’État-nation et, inversement, des droits dont l’aliénation totale ou partielle anéantirait ou diminuerait la personnalité de l’État qui y consentirait –, mais également dans un sens formel – la violation d’un droit fondamental étatique emportant des effets juridiques spécifiques comme la nullité des traités et le recours à la guerre. Or, en raison de la contradiction entre l’horizontalité de l’ordre juridique international et la fondamentalité des droits étatiques, ainsi que du fondement très individualiste de la doctrine, celle-ci subit les attaques des écoles positivistes et néo-naturalistes durant l’entre-deux-guerres, et finit par être absolument rejetée au sortir du deuxième conflit mondial. Prenant toutefois acte du regain d’intérêt doctrinal que suscitent les droits étatiques, tant en droit international qu’en droit de l’Union européenne et en droit constitutionnel, dans le contexte d’une société internationale qui a beaucoup évolué, il s’agit de vérifier si certains droits étatiques, prétendus fondamentaux, répondent bel et bien aux critères matériel et formel de la fondamentalité d’un droit. Dans une perspective fédéraliste, c’est-à-dire d’une protection institutionnalisée des droits étatiques, les États obtiennent-ils par exemple une garantie de leur droit à la survie dans le cadre des Nations Unies ou d’un droit au respect de leur identité nationale dans le cadre de l’Union européenne ? Dans une perspective étatiste, c’est-à-dire d’une protection unilatérale des droits étatiques, si les internationalistes classiques théorisent à raison que l’aliénation des droits souverains et des droits identitaires portent atteinte à la qualité d’État-nation, la garantie de tels droits ne relève-t-elle pas alors davantage de l’ordre juridique national que de l’ordre juridique international, auquel il n’échoit pas de protéger l’État contre lui-même / This thesis revisits the classical doctrine of fundamental rights of States, and attempts to determine whether it was rightly rejected, or if it could now be redeployed within a more adequate legal framework. In contrast with the so-called relative or accessory rights, which find their source in customary and conventional law, the rights to self-preservation, sovereignty, equality, dignity and mutual commerce are conceived as fundamental in a material sense – because they are inherently linked to the Nation-State and, conversely, a Nation-State could not dispose of them without affecting its statehood –, but they are also conceived in a formal sense – because their violation implies specific legal effects as the rights of the affected State to invoke invalidity of rules found in contradiction of them and, ultimately, to resort to war. In that respect, while classical internationalists hand down to posterity a notable theory of fundamental rights of States, they paradoxically claim to deploy it in the international legal order, which is radically horizontal. Therefore, somehow resisting from doctrinal attacks, the theory of fundamental rights of States was finally abandoned in the second half of last century. Nevertheless, acknowledging the renewed doctrinal interest in state rights, both in international law, in European Union law and in constitutional law, in the context of an evolving international society, the point is to question whether these states’ rights meet the materiel and formal criteria of the fundamentality of rights. In a federalist perspective, namely an institutional protection of state rights, do States obtain, for instance, a protection of their right to survival within the United Nations and a protection of their right to respect for national identity within the European Union ? From a statist point of view, namely a unilateral protection of state rights, if classical internationalists correctly theorize that the alienation of sovereign and identity rights undermine the quality of a Nation-State, does the protection of such rights fall within the international legal order or rather within the national legal order ?

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The Master's thesis "Food Waste in the United States as an Issue of Federal Public Policy Making" analyzes the role of the federal government in dealing with food waste. It mainly focuses on federal legislation, but it also examines actions on the state level to illustrate the contrast between the two. In the thesis, the author examines the causes and sources of food waste, federal jurisdiction for intervention, and the history of passed legislation, as well as proposed legislation, and solutions. The main goal of the thesis is to demonstrate that federal involvement is fundamental in achieving any significant change, but so far has failed to do so. Primary literature consisting largely of bills, materials published by federal agencies, and reports by non-profit organizations were used to uncover the character of passed legislation. Academic secondary literature in the form of articles, reports, and factsheets offered context to understand the scope and impacts of the legislation. Analysis of those sources revealed federal authority to deal with the issue, as well as possible obstacles standing in the way of an extensive federal intervention. Research also showed that in the absence of federal action, some states have stepped up to introduce legislation to reduce food waste, but this legislation is...

This paper seeks to understand policy in the City of New York which limits cooperation with federal authorities for purposes of immigration control. It does so by qualitatively analyzing a set of legal-administrative documents. The key, policy features are identified along with the interests and forces which shaped those features over time. An arsenal of supplemental, legal material as well as the findings of legal scholars are consulted for interpretation in hermeneutic fashion. Using a theoretical framework consisting of the structure of the legal system of the United States and it norms, plus certain immigration-related, national trends, this research concludes this policy is the legacy of an unbroken, bi-partisan lineage of administrations dating back to the 1980s – an evolving product of the tensions between the legal norms and the national trends. The policy reinforces sovereignty from the federal government, and it does so largely for purposes of constitutionality, administrative functionality and civil rights.

The presented thesis examines the process of adoption of new constitutional rule - debt brake - into german Grundgesetz. Germany attempts to establish the debt brake not only on European level, but also recommends other EU states to accept it. The goal of this thesis is to descripe and evaluate the process which has led up to acceptance of the debt brake as one of potential solutions to stop the excessively growing indebtedness and which has been by far influenced by the work of II. commision for federalism reform. The thessis strives to answer the questions if there was political, expert and social agreement on the issue, how does it influence budget sovereignty of the federal lands and if it really can be an effective instrument in the effort for stopping of indebtness increase, alternatively if it brings any effect even before it came into force, for example in the form of preparing of the budgets for 2016 and 2020 respectivelly. One part of the thesis is dedicated to Swiss debt brake, which served as a model for the german one, especially in terms of it's functionality. Even though it is complicated to evaluate the debt brake before it came into force, the results of the thesis showed for example the problematic nature of the relation between debt brake in the Grundgesetz and individual...

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[pt] O trabalho tem como objetivo principal apresentar como foi o processo de implantação da disciplina sociologia no ensino médio no estado do Rio de Janeiro entre 2008 e 2018, seus avanços, limitações e incertezas. Argumentamos que a dinâmica estadual foi influenciada pelas competências comuns advindas do pacto federativo definido na Constituição Nacional de 1988 que orienta a relação entre União, estados e municípios no Brasil. Constatamos que, mesmo com a presença nacional obrigatória, a sociologia no ensino médio se encontra ainda em fase de implementação, uma vez que a disciplina lidera a inadequação entre formação de docentes e sua atuação no país. Ainda assim, o espaço da sociologia no Rio de Janeiro e no Brasil é muito mais estabelecido do que na Espanha. A tese busca contribuir com a área de ensino de sociologia para conhecer a disciplina em outros contextos. O recorte temporal escolhido se justifica pelo objetivo de abarcar o período dos novos anos dourados da sociologia escolar, começando com a Lei Federal n. 11.684/2008, lei da presença obrigatória, interrompido pela reforma do ensino médio de 2017, e ocupando agora um período de incertezas com a implementação da Base Nacional Comum Curricular nos estados. Trata-se de um estudo de caso com elementos qualitativos e também quantitativos e de uma pesquisa multidisciplinar, com foco principal na Ciência Política e com apoio na bibliografia da Sociologia e da Educação. Entre os resultados encontrados na investigação, observa-se que o federalismo brasileiro, praticado a partir dos anos de 1990, ainda é pouco cooperativo, embora o advento do Fundeb tenha sido uma iniciativa nessa direção, e muitas vezes coloca os seus entes federados em pesada competição. Nesse ambiente, os problemas do ensino médio no país perduram, o que dificulta a implantação da disciplina de sociologia. A União poderia colaborar mais não só com maior repasse financeiro às unidades subnacionais, mas também expandindo políticas públicas que auxiliem direta ou indiretamente a sociologia escolar como formação de professores, PNLD, PIBID, PROFSOCIO, entre outras ações governamentais. Apesar dos esforços, sobretudo das redes estaduais de educação no Brasil em universalizar o acesso ao ensino médio, há baixa autonomia fiscal por parte de alguns dos estados da federação, inclusive o Rio de Janeiro, e esse problema afeta o financiamento da oferta da sociologia escolar, aspecto que se agravou na década passada e se impõe como um dos grandes desafios de natureza estrutural. / [en] The main objective of this work is to present how the process of implementing the discipline of Sociology in high school in the state of Rio de Janeiro between 2008 and 2018 was like, its advances, limitations, and uncertainties. We argue that the state dynamics were influenced by common competences arising from the federative pact defined in the 1988 National Constitution, which guides the relationship between the Union, states, and municipalities in Brazil. We found that even with the mandatory national presence, sociology in secondary education is still in the implementation phase since the discipline leads the inadequacy between teacher education and their performance in the country. Even so, the space of sociology in Rio de Janeiro and in Brazil is much more established than in Spain. The thesis seeks to contribute to the teaching of sociology area to get to know the discipline in other justified by the objective of covering the period of the new golden years of school sociology, starting with Federal Law No. 11,684/2008, mandatory attendance law, interrupted by the 2017 high school reform, and now occupying a period of uncertainty with the implementation of the Common National Curriculum Base in the contexts. The chosen period is states. It is a case study with both qualitative and quantitative elements and a multidisciplinary research, with a main focus on Political Science, and supported by the bibliography of Sociology and Education. Among the results found in the investigation, it is observed that Brazilian federalism, practiced from the 1990s onwards, is still uncooperative, although the advent of Fundeb was an initiative in this direction, and often puts its federated entities in a heavy state competition. In this environment, the problems of secondary education in the country persist, which makes it difficult to implement the discipline of Sociology. The Union could collaborate more not only with greater financial transfer to subnational units, but also by expanding public policies that directly or indirectly help school sociology, such as teacher training, PNLD, PIBID, PROFSOCIO, among other government actions. Despite the efforts of the state education networks in Brazil to universalize access to secondary education, there is little fiscal autonomy on the part of some of the states of the federation, including Rio de Janeiro, and this problem affects the financing of the offer of school sociology, an aspect that has worsened in the past decade and imposes itself as one of the great challenges of a structural nature.