FINANCIAL SECURITIES FOR TOUR OPERATORS IN CASE OF INSOLVENCY RESULTING FROM THE DIRECTIVE 2015/2302 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL WHICH ARE IN FORCE IN POLAND

The insolvency of travel agencies is dealt with in a special way by the EU legislator. European Union law introduces legal solutions for the benefit of consumers insofar as the relevant services are not performed by organizers as a consequence of its insolvency. The current 2015/2302 Directive provides much more comprehensive protection than 90/314/EWG Directive for travelers in the event of insolvency of a tour operator. However, in the past, in the practical functioning of travel agencies, it has repeatedly turned out that the Polish legislation has not been able to guarantee full protection provided for in EU law. This situation has changed. In Poland, since August 1, 2018 the system of security and financial guarantees in the event of insolvency of organizers and traders facilitating linked travel arrangements consists of two pillars. If Pillar I funds are exhausted, the costs of actions taken by the Marshal of the Province related to the repatriation of the customers of an insolvent tour operator will be covered from Pillar II, which is created from contributions to the Tourist Guarantee Fund. Due to the COVID pandemic, another form of security was introduced in Poland from January 1,2021 - Tourist Assistance Fund. The fund is designed to support tourism entrepreneurs in the event of extraordinary circumstances. The aim of the paper is to present the legal regulations in force in Poland in the field of financial security of tour operators in the event of their insolvency and to analyze whether these solutions sufficiently protect the interests of travelers. Conclusions included in the paper justify the statement that the extension of the security system by Pillar II make the full protection possible. The two-pillar solution should be sufficient in case of insolvency of a travel agency and that it fully implements the EU recommendations.

The "epidemic within the pandemic”: meeting the needs of racially minoritised women experiencing domestic abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic

PurposeIn March 2020, the UK entered its first lockdown responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the same month, the Domestic Abuse Bill had its first reading in Parliament. Charities and non-governmental organisations critiqued the Bill for failing to protect migrants from domestic abuse, and not complying with the Istanbul Convention. Drawing on interviews with staff from Southall Black Sisters, this paper aims to foreground the experiences of practitioners within the women's sector to explore the unique experiences and challenges migrant and racially minoritised women encountered when seeking support from domestic abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic. It highlights how the pandemic-related lockdowns created barriers to accessing support services and housing, creating an epidemic within the pandemic, and how minoritised women and the organisations that supported them had to overcome structural barriers and racism.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff from a leading women's organisation that supports migrant and racially minoritised women. Four participants were asked questions within four themes: domestic abuse before and during the pandemic;accessing support from and reporting domestic abuse;accessibility of resources;and post-pandemic challenges. A phenomenological approach was used to analyse the transcribed interviews.FindingsParticipants consistently highlighted the unique threats and barriers migrant and racially minoritised women faced when seeking support. Barriers included racism, language barriers, cultural constraints, the triple threat of destitution, detention, deportation, and political resistance to protect migrant women from destitution/homelessness.Originality/valueThis paper provides a unique insight into the experiences of staff members within a specialist by and for women's support organisation in England and their perspectives on the barriers racially minoritised and migrant women experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic. It offers rare insights into how service users' needs changed during the lockdowns and how the pandemic affected their ability to operate.

Feminist Governance in the European Parliament: The Political Struggle over the Inclusion of Gender in the EU's COVID-19 Response

The research objective of this article is to analyze the European Parliament's response to the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of feminist governance. Feminist governance can either play a role in ensuring the inclusion of a gender perspective in crisis responses, or, quite the opposite, crises may weaken or sideline feminist governance. The empirical analysis focuses on two aspects of feminist governance: (1) a dedicated gender equality body and (2) gender mainstreaming. In addition to assessing the effectiveness of feminist governance, the analysis sheds light on the political struggles behind the policy positions. The article argues that feminist governance in the European Parliament was successful in inserting a gender perspective into the COVID-19 response. The article pinpoints the effects of the achievements of the European Parliament's Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee and gender mainstreaming on gendering the pandemic crisis response.

Krisenspezifische Solidarität. Der Stellenwert wohlfahrtstaatlicher Solidarität in Krisenzeiten

In diesem Beitrag wird der krisenspezifische Einfluss der Covid-19-Pandemie auf wohlfahrtsstaatliche Solidarität während der ersten Infektionswelle und des ersten Lockdowns von März bis Mai 2020 untersucht. Wir verknüpfen dabei ein wohlfahrtsstaatssoziologisches Verständnis von Solidarität mit katastrophensoziologischen Überlegungen zu krisenspezifischer Solidarität und einer differenzierungstheoretischen Sichtweise auf Institutionenwandel. Mittels einer strukturierenden Inhaltsanalyse der Bundestagsplenarprotokolle wird ein innerparlamentarischer Solidarisierungsdruck nachgezeichnet, der zu einer krisenspezifischen Vergemeinschaftung führt. Durch die qualitative Analyse der Parlamentsdebatten verdeutlichen wir zudem die temporäre Begrenzung dieses Zusammenhangs, der nach erfolgreicher Rekonstitution einer gemeinsamen normativen Basis der Parlamentsmitglieder die Wiederaufnahme von parteipolitischen Solidaritätskonflikten erst ermöglichte. Auf einer weiteren Ebene arbeiten wir die Stabilisierungsfunktion von wohlfahrtsstaatlicher Solidarität als abstrakter normativer Leitidee heraus, die auch in konflikthaften Aushandlungen von sozialpolitischen Maßnahmen ihre Wirkung entfaltet.Alternate :This paper examines the crisis-specific impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on welfare state solidarity during the first wave of infection and the first lockdown from March to May 2020. We combine a sociological understanding of solidarity in the context of the welfare state with sociological reflections on crisis-specific solidarity and a differentiation-theoretical perspective on institutional change. By means of a structuring content analysis of the Bundestagsplenarprotokolle, an intra-parliamentary solidarity pressure is traced that leads to crisis-specific Vergemeinschaftung. Through the qualitative analysis of the parliamentary debates, we also clarify the temporary limitation of this connection, which made the resumption of party-political solidarity conflicts possible in the first place after the successful reconstitution of a common normative basis of the members of parliament. On a further level, we elaborate the stabilizing function of welfare state solidarity as an normative guiding idea (Leitidee), which also exerts its effect in conflictual negotiations of social policy measures.

Les représentations de l'interculturalisme à l'Assemblée nationale du Québec

L'interculturalisme n'ayant toujours pas été officialisé par l'intermédiaire d'une loi ou politique publique formelle et contraignante, comment les parlementaires québécois – mais aussi les intervenants avec qui ils dialoguent – se le représentent-ils dans leurs échanges à l'Assemblée nationale? Cet article se propose de répondre à cette question en réalisant une analyse de contenu critique qualitative et systématique des échanges portant sur l'interculturalisme à l'Assemblée nationale du Québec depuis l'apparition de cette notion en 1987 (33e législature) jusqu'à la portion de la 42e législature (2018-) qui précède l'ajournement des travaux au mois de mars 2020, en raison de la pandémie de COVID-19. En montrant l'existence de deux principales coalitions de discours, l'une qualifiée de libérale-pluraliste et l'autre de républicaine-moniste, cet article décortique les débats parlementaires en illustrant comment les acteurs associés à ces deux approches se représentent les fondements du modèle québécois en matière d'aménagement de la diversité, le rapport qu'il propose entre la culture majoritaire et les minorités ethnoculturelles, et ses objectifs présumés.Alternate :Interculturalism has yet to be formalized through a binding law or public policy. In that context, how do Quebec's parliamentarians-and the stakeholders with whom they interact-represent it in their exchanges at the National Assembly? This article seeks to answer this question by conducting a qualitative and systematic critical content analysis of the exchanges on interculturalism in the Quebec National Assembly from the emergence of this notion in 1987 (33rd legislature) to the portion of the 42nd legislature (2018−) that precedes the adjournment of the proceedings in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By showing the existence of two main discourse coalitions, one characterized as liberal-pluralist and the other as republican-monist, this article analyzes the parliamentary debates by underscoring how the actors involved in these two approaches are representative of the foundations of the Quebec model of diversity management and by illustrating the presumed objectives of this model and the relationship it proposes between the majority culture and ethnocultural minorities.

REPERTORIO DE POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS EN EL CONGRESO PARA MITIGAR LAS CONSECUENCIAS DEL COVID-19 EN COSTA RICA

Este artículo es el resultado de un estudio de las propuestas de política pública presentados en el Congreso de Costa Rica para amortiguar o revertir los efectos socioeconómicos y de salud provocados por la pandemia del Covid-19. De todas las propuestas presentadas en los primeros seis meses de la declaratoria de emergencia ocasionada por el virus, en el año 2020, más de la mitad (194 en total) intentan mitigar uno o varios de los efectos de tal enfermedad infecciosa. Aún en la multiplicidad de protección a sectores específicos que se tratan de salvaguardar (33), hay una marcada tendencia en la regulación financiera-fiscal y de actuación en torno a la reactivación productiva. Pese a esto, una parte sustancial de las políticas planteadas para convertirse en leyes, no tienen un sustento financiero para ejecutarlas.Alternate :This article is the result of a study of the public policy proposals presented in the Costa Rican Congress to cushion or reverse the socioeconomic and health effects caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Of all the proposals presented in the first six months of the emergency declaration caused by the virus, in the year 2020, more than half (194 total) try to mitigate one or more of the effects of such an infectious disease. Even in the multiplicity of protection for specific sectors that are sought to be safeguarded (33), there is a marked trend in financial-fiscal regulation and action around productive reactivation. Despite this, a substantial part of the policies proposed to become laws do not have financial support to execute them.

Parties, Patronage and COVID-19 Vaccination Distribution in Indonesia

During the COVID-19 pandemic, as Indonesia mobilized to deliver vaccines to the population, an unexpected phenomenon occurred: political parties became directly involved in the vaccine delivery effort. In this article, we draw on online reports and interviews to demonstrate that these campaigns acted as an extension of the patronage politics that dominate the country's political arena. The involvement of political parties had little effect on the national vaccination effort, as parties delivered a relatively small number of vaccines and often targeted areas that already had high coverage. Instead, parties and politicians used these events to strengthen links with constituents and supporters. We identify three main pathways that allowed political parties to access the vaccines: lobbying by members of the national legislature's health commission;through local governments;and by direct executive government access to the national Ministry of Health. This "hijacking" of a national policy for clientelistic purposes provides insight into the presence of intra-party coordination of patronage goods but also demonstrates the personalization and fragmentation of patronage distribution highlighted in the existing literature. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for the quality of public healthcare and other services in Indonesia.

Is Democracy Lost?

President Kais Saied's de facto dissolution of parliament in July 2021, abandonment of the constitution, and targeting of the opposition are clear signs that Tunisia is no longer a democracy and has returned to the authoritarian playbook of Arab leaders past and present. I see three main reasons for this abrupt end to Tunisia's decade-old democracy: 1) the failure to accompany political reform with socioeconomic gains for citizens;2) the subsequent rise of populism;and 3) the mistakes of the Islamic party. To move forward in Tunisia and the Arab world more broadly, prodemocratic forces must link freedom, development, and social justice.

Addressing anti-semitism in social work education

Antisemitism, one of the oldest forms of prejudice and oppression is surging throughout the world. It ranges from verbal abuse to the destruction of property to murder. In the last two years, attacks against Jews in the United States were the overwhelming target of religion-based hate crimes. Stereotypes and myths continue to fuel prejudice and antisemitism in society. Factors such as anti-Israel sentiments, remarks by persons in power, the use of social media, white nationalism, and even the Covid 19 pandemic have contributed to its escalation.As a result of the increasing violence, the U.S. legislature held a hearing on confronting antisemitic terrorism with one outcome being that social workers and community advocates were needed to join law enforcement in the effort to heal and work for justice. Social work with its mandate to promote social justice and human rights and challenge oppression cannot ignore antisemitism and its impact on individuals and societies. However, the subject is basically ignored in the curriculum. This paper offers a brief history of antisemitism and presents guidelines and models for integrating it into social work programs.

The PreCCL strategies to empower women against intimate partner violence occurrences in Limpopo province, South Africa

South African women remain vulnerable to gender-based violence, including femicide. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a major and very complex public concern in the country currently. This makes IPV the most widespread method by which men perpetrate violence against women. It is not clear if women are empowered with IPV Information, Motivation and Behavior skills (IBM) to protect themselves against IPV occurrences. This article presents the developed PreCCL (prevention, community-based, corrective and law enforcement) strategies to empower women against intimate partner violence in Limpopo Province, South Africa. PreCCL strategies were developed based on qualitative and quantitative IBM (Information, Motivation and Behaviour) of IPV results as well as evidence-based information from the review of literature. Delphi technique was used to organize one stakeholder engagement meeting with a panel of 38 experts knowledgeable regarding Vhembe district IPV issues (namely managers from Vhembe Thohoyandou victim empowerment centre, members of the Executive council of the 6th administration of Limpopo provincial Legislatures, heads of departments or directors from the department of health, social development and community safety and security, chairperson of gender equity, TVEP managers, as well as women who were victims from Vhembe where the study was conducted, and chairperson of gender equity, disability women and children). The purpose of the stakeholder engagement meeting was consultation and buy-in of experts in the field regarding feasible and practical evidence-based intervention strategies for local communities. The setting for stakeholder engagement meeting was Vhembe District Tshifulanani at Munnandinnyi and Hadumasi the Victorious Community offices. However, due to COVID-19 regulations other stakeholders failed to attend, and the rating scales were emailed to them together with the PreCCL strategies. The participants were asked to rate the PreCCL strategies on a given Likert scale in terms of relevance, importance, potential effectiveness and recommendation for adoption. The 0.67 Cronbach Alpha reliability score of the Likert scale was found acceptable for this study. Of the 65 questionnaires sent out, only 38 were returned, which was 58.5% response rate. Data were analyzed quantitatively using SPSS. The strategies were rated relevant in addressing IPV in the district by most (n = 36;97,4%;Mean ± SD = 3.0 ± 0.7) of the stakeholder, whereby (n= 6;15.8%;Mean ± SD=3.8 ±1.2) strongly agreed and (n =30;78,9%) agreed. In terms of importance, most (n = 32;84.3%) of the respondents rated the strategies very important in addressing IPV in the communities. The strategies were rated potentially effective in addressing IPV by most (n =34;89.5%;Mean ± SD (3.2 ± 0.6) of the stakeholder. The majority (n = 34;89.6%) of the stakeholders recommended the adoption of the developed strategies in current state. Conclusion: PreCCL strategies to empower women against IPV occurrences, which were developed based on IBM qualitative and quantitative results as well as review of literature are considered relevant and potentially effective by stakeholder who recommend their adoption by the Department of Social Development, Limpopo Province.

The neo‐nationalist ascendency: further thoughts on class, value and the return of the repressed

March 2020. On the borders of EU Europe, with the Covid pandemic threatening human lives, sociality and welfare everywhere, Syrian refugees on the ‘Balkan Route', bombed out of Idlib, are being beaten in the forests with wooden clubs by Romanian border guards before they are thrown back onto Serbian territory for further humiliations.1 Romanian return migrants, fleeing the Italian and Spanish Corona lockdowns en masse, are being told over the social networks that they should never have come back, contagious as they are imagined to be and a danger for a woefully underfunded public health system for which they have not paid taxes. Further South, the Mediterranean is once again a heavily policed cemetery for migrants and refugees from the civil wars in the Middle East and North Africa – collateral damage of Western imperial delirium and hubris – as Greece is being hailed by the European President for being the ‘shield' behind which Europe can feel safe from the supposedly associated criminality. Viktor Orbàn, meanwhile, has secured his corrupt autocracy in Hungary for another indefinite stretch of years after the parliament gave him powers to singlehandedly fight the Covid pandemic and its long-run economic after-effects in the name of the Magyars and in the face of never subsiding threats from the outside to the nation. Orbàn will also continue, even more powerfully so now, to fight immigrants, gypsies, gays, feminists, cultural Marxists, NGOs, George Soros, population decline, the EU, and everyone else who might be in his way. Critique from the EU is in Budapest rejected as being ‘motivated by politics'. Vladimir Putin, too, has just been asked by the Russian parliament to stay on indefinitely in his regal position, so as to safeguard Russia's uncertain national future. Erdogan of Turkey is sure to be inspired and will not renege from his ongoing and unprecedentedly brutal crackdown on domestic dissent and ‘traitors to the nation' while his armies are in Syria and Libya. Turkish prisons will continue to overflow.All these, and manifold other events not mentioned here, are part of processes in the European East that have been continuous (as in ‘continuous history versus discontinuous history') for at least a decade, all with a surprisingly steadfast direction. They appear to be diverse, occasioned by ethnographically deeply variegated and therefore apparently contingent events. Anthropologists, professionally spellbound by local fieldwork, are easily swayed to describe them in their singularities. But that singular appearance is misleading. These and similar events are systemically rooted, interlinked, produced by an uneven bundle of global, scaled, social and historical forces (as in ‘field of forces') that cascade into and become incorporated within a variegated and therefore differentiating terrain of national political theatres and human relationships that produce the paradox of singularly surprising outcomes with uncanny family resemblances. These forces can be summarily described as the gradual unfolding of the collapse of a global regime of embedded and multi-scalar solidarity arrangements anchored in national Fordism, developmentalism and the Cold War, into an uncertain interregnum of neoliberalised Darwinian competition and rivalry on all scales, with a powerfully rising China lurking in the background. Neo-nationalism appears from within this unfolding field of forces as a contradictory bind that seeks to enact and/or re-enact, domestically and abroad, hierarchy and deservingness, including its necessary flip side, humiliation. That is one aspect of the argument I have been trying to make since the end of the nineties (for example Kalb 2000, 2002, 2004), when such forces began to stir in the sites that I was working on and living in: The Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Hungary and Poland.That universalising argument is easily corroborated by events in the west of the continent, which paint a similarly cohesive though phenomenologically variegated picture.2 Marine Le Pen nd Matteo Salvini are still credibly threatening to democratically overthrow liberal globalist governments in France and Italy on behalf of the ‘people' and ‘the nation', and against the elites, the EU, immigrants, the left and finance capital. Dutch politicians, in the face of the global coronavirus calamity, still believe one cannot send money to Italy and the European South lest it will be spent on ‘alcohol and women'. Anonymous comments in the Dutch press on less brutal newspaper articles often echo the tone of the one that claimed that Southern countries were mere ‘dilapidated sheds … and even with our money they will never do the necessary repair work' (NRC 30 March 2020, comments on ‘Europese solidariteit is juist ook in het Nederlandse belang'). Until its impressive policy turn-around in April/May 2020 in the face of the Covid pandemic and the fast-escalating EU fragmentation amid a world of hostile and nationalist great powers, the German government did not disagree. It was Angela Merkel herself who set up the Dutch as the leaders of a newly conceived right-wing ‘frugal' flank in the EU under the historical banner of the Hanseatic League to face down the federalist and redistributionist South. That Hanseatic banner suggested that penny-counting, competitive mercantilism and austerity, and its practical corollary, an imposed hierarchy of ‘merit' and ‘successfulness', must hang eternally over Europe. Britain, meanwhile, has valiantly elected to leave the EU in order to ‘take back control' on behalf of what Boris Johnson imagines as the ‘brilliant British nation' (The Economist 30 January 2020). It would like to refuse any further labour migrants from the mainland, and seek a future in the global Anglosphere, beefed up by a revitalised British Commonwealth where hopefully, when it comes to ceremony, not juridical equality but imperial nostalgia and deference will rule (see Campanella and Dassu 2019).

The Remnants of Giorgio Agamben: The Omnibus Homo Sacer upon Its Completion

Just as they did two decades earlier during the so-called war on terror, they inflamed the public's fear over a miniscule threat to declare a "state of exception" and radically expand oppressive capacities.1 Merely a week later, when the pandemic's terrible advance was overwhelming Italy's health system, it became clear how wrong Agamben had been and how necessary sweeping social restrictions were. The Hungarian parliament transferred legislative authority to the cabinet, establishing a de facto dictatorship;the Israeli police forced individuals to install tracking aps (ignoring courts' rulings that deemed those illegal);and the United States government harshly restricted the processing of student and immigrant visas, all of which were blatantly unrelated to any health consideration. If Viktor Orban, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Donald Trump used the pandemic to pursue goals beyond improving the health of their subjects (a task in which all of them showed remarkable lack of interest), it was not because they embodied the universal logic of state power. According to Agamben, the homo sacer was not a marginal character nor was he an anachronistic remnant of ancient rites;he was the very center of the Roman system.

China-Australia Relations and China's Policy Choices toward Australia: A Chinese Perspective

Since 2016, Australia's attitude toward China has taken a turn for the worse, and Sino-Australian relations have seen a significant decline. With regard to the change in Australia's attitude toward China, Chinese scholars initially analyzed it mainly from the perspective of the U.S.Australia alliance and the China-U.S.-Australia triangle, viewing U.S. influence as the key reason for the change in Australia's policy toward China. Later, Chinese scholars have become increasingly aware of the significant policy autonomy in Australia's China policy and the inadequacy of viewing Australia's China policy from the U.S. perspective. On the one hand, Australia's unique threat perception and interest perception have shaped the characteristics of its China policy;on the other hand, how to effectively balance security interests and economic interests is a long-standing dilemma faced by Australia under the strategic competition between China and the U.S. The Australian government has shown a degree of policy flexibility in its approach. The limited coercive economic measures taken by China against Australia have sent clear policy signals to Australia and have become a factor influencing its policy towards China. In the coming period, although no obvious opportunity for improvement in China-Australia relations is in sight, both sides may be more prudent and pragmatic strategically, and China-Australia relations can be expected to remain basically stable at a low level.

Cristalización legislativa de los procesos de securitización de la covid-19. Aplicabilidad del modelo de la Escuela de Seguridad de Copenhague al análisis de la Ley 4/1981 sobre los estados de alarma, excepción y sitio y la Ley 2/2021 de medidas para la gestión de la pandemia

El objeto de este artículo es realizar una propuesta teórico-metodológica a partir del modelo de análisis de la Escuela de seguridad de Copenhague para incorporar el examen de textos legislativos al estudio de los procesos de securitización. Con este objetivo, se realiza una aproximación al estudio de la securitización de la pandemia de la covid-19 a través del análisis comparativo de dos textos que han dado cobertura legislativa a la gestión de esta crisis sanitaria en España. El texto de la Ley orgánica 4/1981 sobre los estados de alarma, excepción y sitio;y el texto de la Ley 2/2021 del Parlamento Vasco de medidas para la gestión de la pandemia. Metodológicamente, este artículo analiza la securitización de la covid-19 a partir del modelo propuesto por la Escuela de seguridad de Copenhague desarrollado a raíz de la publicación de Security: A New Framework For Analysis (Buzan et al., 1997). Numerosas investigaciones han aplicado este modelo de análisis en el estudio de las políticas de seguridad sobre fenómenos como los movimientos migratorios (Müller y Gerbauer, 2021), la emergencia climática o la crisis sanitaria de la covid-19, examinando objetos tan diversos como los textos publicados en medios de comunicación social (Karyotis et al., 2021), el análisis de las audiencias (Bengtsson y Rhinard, 2019) o los discursos políticos (Kuleteva y Clifford, 2021). Un modelo que también se nutrió de las contribuciones posteriores de Balzacq (2005), Salter (2008) y Stritzel (2007, 2012) que ampliaron aún más los objetos de estudio de la securitización, que dejaron de ser exclusivamente textos de carácter político comunicados de manera lineal, para incorporar el análisis de la audiencia como un agente que interactúa y participa de la creación del discurso securitizador, la performance asociada a la ejecución del discurso o la interactividad del discurso en las redes sociodigitales. Sin embargo, pese a esta diversificación de estudios, la mayoría de las investigaciones sobre la securitización siguen centrándose en textos pertenecientes a discursos políticos o mediáticos. Se observa una ausencia de análisis de otro tipo de textos como aquellos de carácter legislativo, que también es interesante estudiar en el marco de estos procesos. Se trata de textos que, en muchos casos, dan cobertura legislativa a la aplicación de políticas de seguridad y podrían representar la cristalización legal de discursos político mediáticos previos. Dicho esto, dado el carácter jurídico de los textos que se examinan en este artículo, conviene señalar que el análisis que se propone es de carácter discursivo. Sin analizar las implicaciones jurídicas de los textos, cuestión que necesitaría otro tipo de tratamiento teórico-metodológico, nos proponemos observar la construcción discursiva de la seguridad que subyace en ellos y las consecuencias que, siguiendo las hipótesis de la Escuela de seguridad de Copenhague, esto conlleva. El artículo se estructura en tres partes. En el primer apartado, se realiza un breve acercamiento a la evolución de la investigación sobre seguridad en el campo de las Relaciones Internacionales y a la teoría de la securitización elaborada por la Escuela de seguridad de Copenhague en los años noventa. En el segundo apartado, se describe el contexto de crisis sanitaria global y, en concreto, en el caso de España, junto con los procesos de securitización que la acompañan. En tercer lugar, se presentan los documentos examinados y la operacionalización que permite su análisis. Posteriormente, se aborda la discusión sobre los resultados y las conclusiones.Alternate abstract:The aim of this article is to present a theoretical-methodological proposal based on a model of analysis from the Copenhagen School of Security Studies, which incorporates the examination of legislative texts into the study of securitization processes. With this objective, we propose an approach to the study of the securitization of the Covid-19 pandemic through the comparative analysis o two texts that have given legislative coverage to the management of this health crisis in Spain. The text of (1) Organic Law 4/1981 on the states of alarm, exception and siege;and the text of (2) Law 2/2021 of the Basque Parliament on measures for managing the pandemic. After the publication of Security:A New Framework For Analysis (Buzan et al.l997), numerous investigations have used the securitization analysis model of the Copenhagen School of Security Studies to study security policies on phenomena such as migratory movements (Müller and Gerbauer, 2021), the climate emergency, or the health crisis of Covid-19 by examining the texts published on social media (Karyotis et al., 202l),or the analysis of the audiences (Bengtsson and Rhinard, 2019) or political discourses (Kuleteva and Clifford, 2021). Securitization theory holds that what gives an issue the status of threat results from an interaction between an actor, whether it is a state, an organization, or the media, and which tries to define a certain problem as an existential threat, and an audience that accepts or rejects this attempt. Under this premise, security is considered a social construct, which has enormous consequences when it comes to its study.The analysis of the security agenda no longer consists of evaluating those threats considered real, but rather aims at the communicative processes through which actors and audiences agree to securitize an issue. The contributions of Balzacq (2005), Salter (2008) and Stritzel (2007;20l2), among others, have also broadened the objects of study of securitization, which have ceased to be exclusively texts of a political nature communicated in a linear manner to incorporate also the audience as an agent that interacts and participates in the creation of the securitizing discourse, the performance associated with the execution of the discourse or the interactivity of the discourse in socio-digital networks. However, despite this diversification in the approach to the study of securitization, most research continues to focus on texts belonging to political or media discourse.There is an absence of analysis of securitization in other types of texts, such as those of a legislative nature which are also interesting to study within the framework of these processes.That is, texts that, in many cases, give legislative coverage to the application of security policies and could represent the legal crystallization of previous political-media discourses. That said, given the legal nature of the texts examined in this article, it is important to make clear that the analysis proposed is, following the model of the Copenhagen School, a discursive analysis. This article does not carry out a legal analysis of the documents or a study on the legal consequences of the implementation of these laws, a study that would need another theoretical-methodological approach. Without conducting a legal analysis, we propose to observe the discursive construction of security that underlies the texts analyzed and the consequences that, according to the hypothesis of the Copenhagen School, this entails. Thus, the current analysis is about the securitization processes of the Covid-19 crisis.This health crisis has been one of the most disruptive episodes globally in recent decades. The unexpected appearance of the virus and its rapid spread made Covid-19, in just a few weeks, as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres pointed out, the greatest threat to global security. The pandemic surpassed any of the established international protocols, and the lack of multilateral agreements between different countries and measures against the virus showed in turn a lack of global governance to deal with this type of threat. At first sight, we could say that Covid-19, an illness that, being new, poses a threat to the health of the entire world population since most people do not have immunity against it. However, this health crisis is once again a good scenario in which to observe that the threat is perceived and constructed in a very diverse way among the populatio .The study by Kirk (2022) on the securitization of Covid-19 in the United States refers to this. She analyzes the discursive battle between different security narratives about the health crisis in a country where the wearing or not wearing of a mask in public places often becomes an expression of a political position. The delimitation of the object of study to the examination of the texts of the Organic Law 4/1981 on states of alarm, exception, and siege, and (2) the Law 2/2021 of the Basque Parliament on measures for the management of the pandemic, is done for several reasons. In the first place, both texts, of an eminently legal nature, respond to the necessary characteristics to carry out the analysis in accordance with the objective of the study. Secondly, despite the substantial differences that both laws maintain in their preamble and the context of their drafting, the two texts have served as a legal framework for taking measures to deal with similar events, specifically, the crisis health of covid-19. This allows, following the proposal of the Copenhagen School, to contextualize the analysis of the securitization construction of the texts based on these facts. Third, the choice of texts, which share a legal framework, responds to the proposal to carry out an analysis of a state nature, and not an international one, given the prominence of state legislation in the coverage of policies and implementation of the security measures against the covid-19 disease because of the lack of international legal frameworks. The article is structured in three parts. In the first section, a brief theoretical-methodological approach is elaborated on the evolution of security research in the field of International Relations and to the theory of securitization developed bythe Copenhagen School. In the second, the context of the global health crisis and the case of Spain are described together with the securitization processes that accompany it.Thirdly, the documents examined and the operationalization that allows their analysis are presented. Subsequently, the discussion on the results and conclusions is addressed.

An unexpected Socialist majority: the 2022 Portuguese general elections

The Portuguese elections of early 2022 took place during the most severe wave of COVID-19 infections in Portugal. Nevertheless, the pandemic was not the most important issue in the campaign. Although opinion polls forecast a narrow election, the Socialists gained their second absolute majority in history. The electoral results marked a breakthrough for the radical right and Liberals. Every other traditional party had its worst electoral night in democratic history. The Christian Democrats and the Greens ended up exiting the parliament. The 2022 general elections saw the Socialists rise to dominance and the end of the Portuguese exceptionalism in keeping the radical right at arm's length.

Representative Voices: Native American Representation, Political Power, and COVID-19 in US States

We examine predictors of COVID-19 cases in Native nations during the early months of the pandemic. We find that where Native American representation and Native American political power in state politics were greater, COVID-19 cases on tribal lands were fewer. We expand the literatures on descriptive representation and on tribal-state relations by demonstrating consequences of powerful Native American voices in the statehouse. We find that Native American voices on tribal lands are also vital Tribal lands that had extensive networks of community-based health facilities and tribally controlled health facilities recorded fewer COVID-19 cases. The broader lesson here is that if Native nations are to protect their citizens, they need outside governments that support, not thwart. Our findings draw on unique, original quantitative analysis.

Protagonismo feminino frente à pandemia de Coronavírus no Rio de Janeiro

O presente artigo analisa os impactos da pandemia de Coronavírus e a agência das mulheres na sociedade civil e política em seu enfrentamento na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. O artigo está estruturado em três seções. A primeira analisa o impacto da pandemia às mulheres e apresenta dados específicos sobre o Rio de Janeiro. A segunda seção investiga os impactos específicos às mulheres faveladas e apresenta ações de enfrentamento na sociedade civil. Por fim, a terceira seção avalia a ação das parlamentares na Assembleia Legislativa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro e na Câmara Municipal do Rio de Janeiro. Foram utilizados dados referentes à produção legislativa e entrevistas com lideranças de favelas da cidade. Conclui-se que, num cenário em que o Poder Executivo esteve muitas vezes ausente, coube às mulheres na sociedade civil e no parlamento, as principais iniciativas de combate aos efeitos perversos da pandemia.Alternate : This article analyzes the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and women's agency on civil and political society in their confrontation in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The article is structured in three sections. The first one analyzes the impacts of the pandemic on women and presents specific dataabout Rio de Janeiro. The second section investigates the specific impacts on women in the slums andpresents actions to confront civil society. Finally, the third section evaluates the action of state deputiesin the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro and in the City Council of Rio de Janeiro. Data on legislative production in both houses and interviews with favela leaders in the city were used. It is concluded that, in a scenario where the Executive Power was often absent, women in civil society and in parliament lead the main initiatives to combat the perverse effects of the pandemic.Alternate : Este artículo analiza los impactos de la pandemia de coronavirus y la agencia de las mujeres desde la sociedad civil y política en su enfrentamiento en la ciudad de Río de Janeiro. El artículo está estructurado en tres apartados. El primero analiza el impacto de la pandemia en las mujeres y presenta datos específicos sobre Río de Janeiro. La segunda sección investiga los impactos específicos sobre las mujeres de los barrios marginales y presenta acciones de enfrentamiento desdela sociedad civil. Finalmente, el tercer apartado evalúa la actuación de los diputados estatales en la Asamblea Legislativa del Estado de Rio de Janeiro y en el Ayuntamiento de Rio de Janeiro. Se utilizaron datos sobre la producción legislativa en ambas cámaras y entrevistas con líderes de favelasde la ciudad. Se concluye que, en un escenario donde el Poder Ejecutivo estuvo a menudo ausente, las acciones de mujeres en la sociedad civil y en el parlamento fueron las principales iniciativas para combatir los efectos perversos de la pandemia

MSMA: Building Consensus & Advocating for Patients and Physicians Shape Your Future & Get Involved!

From gun control to climate change, from abortion to cannabis legalization, we live in a highly polarized society in which many of us are reluctant to be too vocal. Less than three years later, our Missouri state legislature has passed a bill to enact a Correctional Center Nursery Program in our state women's prison, which has been shown in other states to reduce recidivism and be beneficial for mother-baby bonding. Term-limits are also creating a significant "churn" in our state legislatures, so we need to constantly educate and re-educate our representatives on medical and public health issues, as well as unintended consequences.

Expanding anticipatory governance to legislatures: The emergence and global diffusion of legislature-based future institutions

Global challenges from climate change to the COVID-19 pandemic have raised legitimate questions about the ability of democratic decision-makers to prepare for such crises. Gradually, countries throughout the world have established state-level foresight mechanisms. Most operate under the executive branch, but increasingly such institutions have started to emerge also in legislatures, expanding anticipatory governance towards democratic publics. Drawing on a global survey, official documents and expert interviews, this article presents the first comprehensive analysis of the emergence and diffusion of legislature-based future institutions. We show that, despite the early emergence of a pacesetting institution, such committees have spread slowly and only very recently, and they still exist in only a few countries. For diffusion, the findings highlight the importance of the pacesetter, semi-formal networks of like-minded individuals and personalized agency. Most especially, the role of Members of Parliament (MPs) seems crucial, suggesting that expanding anticipatory governance to legislatures is largely in the hand of legislators. [ FROM AUTHOR]

Parliamentary Declarations in 2021

Statements Made on the Introduction of Legislation / Déclarations sur l’introduction de la législation United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act / Loi sur la Déclaration des Nations Unies sur les droits des peuples autochtones Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement Implementation Act / Loi de mise en œuvre de l’Accord de continuité commerciale Canada–Royaume-Uni Statements in Response to Questions / Déclarations en réponse aux questions environment / environnement Biodiversity / Biodiversité Climate Change / Changement climatique Energy / Énergie foreign affairs / affaires étrangères Iran Israel / Israël Myanmar Russia / Russie Taiwan / Taïwan Ukraine United States / États-Unis health / santé COVID-19 human rights / droits de la personne Anti-Semitism / Antisémitisme Canadians Abroad / Canadiens à l’étranger China / Chine Ethiopia / Éthiopie Hong Kong Sri Lanka humanitarian intervention and aid / aide et intervention humanitaire Ethiopia / Éthiopie Palestine migration Immigration Refugees / Réfugiés trade and economy / commerce et économie Aerospace / Aérospatiale Agriculture Arms Trafficking / Trafic d’armes Electric Vehicle Tax Credit / Crédit d’impôt pour l’achat de véhicules électriques Foreign Workers / Travailleurs étrangers Investment / Investissements Newcomers / Nouveaux arrivants Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) / Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques (OCDE) Pipelines / Oléoducs Security / Sécurité Softwood Lumber / Bois d’œuvre résineux Supply Management / Gestion de l’offre Taxation / Fiscalité Tourism / Tourisme Trade Agreements / Accords commerciaux Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) / Accord économique et commercial global entre le Canada et l’Union européenne (AÉCG) Agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States (CUSMA) / Accord entre le Canada, les États-Unis d’Amérique et les États-Unis mexicains (ACÉUM) Trade in Weapons / Ventes d’armes Vaccines / Vaccins Women in Business / Femmes entrepreneures World Trade Organization / Organisation mondiale du commerce Statements Made on the Introduction of Legislation / Déclarations sur l’introduction de la législation bill c-15: united nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples act / loi c-15: loi sur la déclaration des nations unies sur les droits des peuples autochtones 1 L’hon. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2 is an international human rights instrument that affirms the rights that constitute the minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of indigenous peoples. The bill makes a number of important statements in the preamble by acknowledging the importance of the Declaration as a framework for reconciliation, healing and peace;recognizing inherent rights;acknowledging the importance of respecting treaties and agreements;and emphasizing the need to take diversity across and among indigenous peoples into account in implementing the legislation. By requiring the Government of Canada to, first, take measures to align federal law with the Declaration in clause 5;second, to develop an action plan in consultation and co-operation with indigenous peoples in clause 6;and third, to report to Parliament annually on progress in clause 7, Bill C-15 proposes a clear pathway to stronger, more resilient relationships between the government and indigenous peoples.