The paper describes the content of the project “Tax-/Transfer-Reform and Fiscal Responsibility: Pathways to a Sustainable Fiscal Policy in Georgia”, which is supported for the period Fall 2005 to Spring 2008 by the VolkswagenStiftung. Within the project a knowledgetransfer is organized, concentrating on state theory, tax and transfer reform, revenue sharing as well as fiscal equalization. A short overview on the current situation in Georgia is presented. Then the main project components – tax reform, tax revenue estimation and microsimulation – are briefly discussed.

This paper gives an outline of the evolution of fiscal policy in Georgia. Starting in the mid-1990s, the authors break the recent Georgian history into two main periods, separated by the Rose Revolution of 2003. The first period was marked by some first efforts to generate and stabilize tax revenues, which were largely offset by the financial crisis of 1998. The Georgian budget at that time was largely financed by foreign sources. Following the Rose Revolution the country’s financial situation has improved, hyperinflation was overcome and public revenues have steadily increased due to administrative changes and tax law reforms.

Under the influence of orientation towards European integration, Georgia has introduced a variety of new laws with the apparent aim to decentralize legislative and executive powers. This paper shows that the Georgian efforts of decentralization remain superficial, mainly because they are not backed by additional fiscal competences at the municipality level. Following an initial description of the pre-reform situation as of 2006 and based upon a detailed account of the structural changes since 2007, the author gives insight into the conflicts which arise from the lack of institutional congruency. Neither the extraordinary status of the capital Tbilisi nor the seeming autonomy of the Rebublic of Adjara are likely to sway the renegade territories of Abchasia and Ossetia towards a reintegration under Georgian centralized rule as it continues to exist today. Likewise, the success of the proposed and discussed fiscal equalization scheme depends on whether the President and his ruling party are willing to delegate powers to the subodinate jurisdictions.

This paper discusses the problems regarding the decentralisation of a formerly communist country. In Georgia, the first steps towards decentralisation failed, since the transition process led to a power vacuum that escalated in bloody conflicts and secessionist movements. The status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia is still unclear and the intra-state tensions remain unsolved. This may be one of the reasons why the most recent attempts of decentralisation are rather hesitant. It is far from clear whether decentralisation in response to regional tensions would increase instability or political stability. We identify the limited autonomy at the local and regional levels as a major obstacle and challenge for the further reform process.

<p>The thesis examines continuity and change in the agrarian history of the Mwenezi District, southern Zimbabwe since 1980. It analyses agrarian reforms, agrarian practices and development initiatives in the district and situates them in the localised livelihood strategies of different people within the Dinhe Communa Area and the Mangondi resettlement Area in Lieu of the Fast-Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) since 2000. The thesis also examines the livelihood opportunities and challenges presented by the FTLRP to the inhabitants of Mwenezi.The thesis contributes to the growing body of empirical studies on the impact of Zimbabwe's ongoing land reform programme and to debates and discourses on agrarian reform.</p>

<p>The study adopted qualitative research methods because the issues to be researched are complex social matters. The approach was three-pronged. Firstly, a desktop assessment of the claim was done. Secondly, semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected households in the community to understand their experiences after dispossession and their perception of the restitution claim. Thirdly, a combination of desktop analysis and household interviews was employed to understand the socio-economic dynamics and evaluate the feasibility of the community&rsquo / s perceptions.</p>

Europeiska unionen har en lång historisk bakgrund. Syftet med ett integrationssträvande var till stor del att säkerställa att en upprepning av de stora krigen inte skulle ske. Ändringar av EU fördragen har tidigare skett genom Maastricht-, Amsterdam- och Nice-fördragen. Lissabonfördraget ratificerades den 1 december 2009 av samtliga 27 medlemsstater inom EU för ett enat överstatligt samarbete. Därmed antogs en serie ändringar i Europeiska unionens fördrag. Avsikten med reformen är att göra EU mer demokratiskt, effektivt och öppen för insyn. Syftet med uppsatsen är att beskriva om ratificeringen av Lissabonfördraget medför en effektivisering i EU:s institutioner samt huruvida de ändrade beslutsprocesserna effektiviserar EU:s institutionella arbete. Blir EU en mer välfungerande organisation? Ratificeringen av Lissabonfördraget medför att Europeiska unionen innehar en uttrycklig status som juridisk person vilket ersätter den tidigare pelarstrukturen.

Hegel is the first one who makes the word ¡§state¡¨ be the specific concept and theory. The study will discuss the basic concepts, essences, and functions in the state theory by Hegel¡¦s important writing ¡§The Philosophy of Right¡¨ based on his key point ¡§spirit. Meanwhile, the study will compare the different thoughts in ¡§state¡¨ and ¡§civil society¡¨ between Hegel and Karl Max. Furthermore, the study will take Taiwan as the example with the concept of the state theory of Hegel to figure out whether or not Taiwan has become a ¡§state¡¨ with processing the constitutional reform for many years, and how will Taiwan as a ¡§civil society¡¨keep going for a ¡§normalized state¡¨ in the future.

Introduction: The point of departure in this thesis is that women live longer than men, while men have more power, influence and resources, and probably better health-related quality of life, than women. In order to judge and act from this situation, the classical idea that both facts and values are needed for conclusion is adopted. The diverse positions of the sexes are mainly assumed to depend on the gender system, i.e. the societal structure organising human activities and relations, ultimately privileges and burdens, by sex. Hence, abolition of gender is held to be associated with decreased differences in health. The handling of facts and values is divided into two principal questions: 1) how to compare women and men within a particular state of the world, and 2) how to choose from their positions between states. Aims: The overall aim is to propose a public health framework for judging fairness and change from the positions of women and men. The specific aims are to: illustrate how the choice of normative approach affects judgements on fairness and resource allocation (I), explor public health views regarding various ethical principles (II), study the relationship between aspects of gender equality in public/domestic and health (III), estimate costs, savings and health gains, associated with the Swedish parental insurance reform (IV). Methods: The methods used are: ethical analysis based on the normative theories of welfarism, extrawelfarism, egalitarianism, and feminism; and the notions of justice by separate spheres, equity as choice and attainment/shortfall principles (I), survey among public health workers regarding within-state and between-states ethical views (II), epidemiologic study on death and sickness leave among traditional, equal, and untraditional Swedish couples who had their first child in 1978 (III), cost-effectiveness analysis based on men who took paternity leave 1978-1979 (IV). Results: The selected normative theories are likely to claim different opinions on fairness regarding women and men, and different proposals on resource allocations (I). Most public health workers support the idea of judging fairness by separate spheres, end-points, and shortfall equity. The rejection of health maximisation, and support for equality in life span and income, are convincing; although females and males differ significantly in judging societal change (II). In comparison to being equal in the public sphere, traditional women have lower risks of death and sickness, while traditional men tend to have higher risks. Being equal in the domestic sphere seems to be associated with lower risks among both sexes (III). Men who took paternity leave run significant lower death risks than other men. Base case cost-effectiveness of the reform is 6,000 EUR, and worst case 40,000 EUR, per gained QALY (IV). Conclusions: A public health framework for judging fairness and reform by women and men could look as follows: 1) identify facts at present and from past, 2) ask whether the situation is fair by within-state rules, 3) claim or refuse change, 4) identify consequences from reform, 5) consider whether the change was satisfying by between-states rules. The gains from more ethical analyses of public health based on sex/gender should overcome the many tricky issues involved. Since there is no common understanding on how to judge fairness and change from female/male differences in health and wealth, added research and exchange of views are called for. At Swedish state of gender (in)equality, it seems public health relevant to support further similarity in child-care. Provided an effective fraction of 25 percent, the entitlement to paternity leave is probably approved of by common welfarist, egalitarian, and feminist goals.

The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 made the production of an annual comprehensive budgetary framework the central focus of the federal budget process. Before 1974, the budget process had allowed legislation from each of the revenue committees and each of the appropriations subcommittees to come to the floor separately. Congress judged the merits of individual programs without considering the overall budget. The 1974 budget act changed the organizational ethos of the budget process from incremental change to comprehensive review and from fragmented, ad hoc decision making to coordinated decision making. It helped sort members into ideologically homogenous groups by transforming many battles over separate policy priorities into one grand battle over the biggest question in American politics: What is the role of government? The 1974 shift to comprehensive budgeting, along with subsequent additional controls on budget practices, has magnified and accelerated the effects of the many polarizing forces that have characterized the last 40 years of American politics. With this conclusion come unanswered questions regarding the merits of a distinct two-party system, as well as the potential need for comprehensive budgeting despite its political challenges.