Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The European Union and State Building in the Western Balkans File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/99 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v1i2.99 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 1 Year: 2013 Issue: 2 Pages: 183-195 Author-Name: Andrew J. Taylor Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Politics, University of Sheffield, Elmfield, Northumberland Road, Sheffield S10 2TU, UK Abstract: This paper examines the feasibility of network governance in the context of the EU's expansion in the Western Balkans. The EU is formally committed to promoting network governance but the realities of enlargement require the creation of effective states, in other words of the primacy of hierarchy over network. Networks are created in enlargement and reflect the complexities of public policy but these networks do not represent, as yet, a significant shift of power away from the state. Despite a normative preference for network governance, the political reality of enlargement is that the EU seeks the creation of effective hierarchy. Keywords: European Union; governance; state-building; Western Balkans Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v1:y:2013:i:2:p:183-195 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Patching vs Packaging in Policy Formulation: Assessing Policy Portfolio Design File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/95 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v1i2.95 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 1 Year: 2013 Issue: 2 Pages: 170-182 Author-Name: Michael Howlett Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore 259772, Singapore Author-Name: Jeremy Rayner Author-Workplace-Name: Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B8, Canada Abstract: Thinking about policy mixes is at the forefront of current research work in the policy sciences and raises many significant questions with respect to policy tools and instruments, processes of policy formulation, and the evolution of tool choices over time. Not least among these is how to assess the potential for multiple policy tools to achieve policy goals in an efficient and effective way. Previous conceptual work on policy mixes has highlighted evaluative criteria such as "consistency" (the ability of multiple policy tools to reinforce rather than undermine each other in the pursuit of individual policy goals), "coherence" (or the ability of multiple policy goals to co-exist with each other in a logical fashion), and "congruence" (or the ability of multiple goals and instruments to work together in a uni-directional or mutually supportive fashion) as important design principles and measures of optimality in policy mixes. And previous empirical work on the evolution of existing policy mixes has highlighted how these three criteria are often lacking in mixes which have evolved over time as well as those which have otherwise been consciously designed. This article revisits this early design work in order to more clearly assess the reasons why many existing policy mixes are sub-optimal and the consequences this has for thinking about policy formulation processes and the practices of policy design. Keywords: planning; policy design; policy instruments; policy layering; policy mixes; policy portfolios Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v1:y:2013:i:2:p:170-182 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Quality of Deliberation in Two Committees of the European Parliament: The Neglected Influence of the Situational Context and the Policymaking Stage File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/101 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v1i2.101 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 1 Year: 2013 Issue: 2 Pages: 151-169 Author-Name: Léa Roger Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Sciences, Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Holstenhofweg 85, 22043 Hamburg, Germany Author-Name: Gary S. Schaal Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Sciences, Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Holstenhofweg 85, 22043 Hamburg, Germany Abstract: In our paper we try to answer two empirical research questions. First, we assess the deliberative quality of discussions in two committees of the EU Parliament. In order to do so, we use a slightly revised version of the DQI. Second, we identify and empirically measure those variables that systematically influence the quality of deliberation in interviews with debate actors. We argue that the quality of deliberation in EU committees is influenced by two normative values: deliberation (common good orientation) and responsiveness (particular interest orientation), with the guiding value determined by the particular situation. Using a multidimensional concept of deliberation, we empirically test the impact of situational variables on specific aspects of deliberative quality. In addition, we take into account the temporal dimension of deliberation. Keywords: committees; deliberation; European Parliament; responsiveness Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v1:y:2013:i:2:p:151-169 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Can Climate Change Negotiations Succeed? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/96 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v1i2.96 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 1 Year: 2013 Issue: 2 Pages: 138-150 Author-Name: Jon Hovi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1097 Blindern, 0317 Oslo, Norway Author-Name: Tora Skodvin Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1097 Blindern, 0317 Oslo, Norway Author-Name: Stine Aakre Author-Workplace-Name: Center for International Climate and Environmental Research—Oslo (CICERO), P.O. Box 1129 Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway Abstract: More than two decades of climate change negotiations have produced a series of global climate agreements, such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Copenhagen Accords, but have nevertheless made very limited progress in curbing global emissions of greenhouse gases. This paper considers whether negotiations can succeed in reaching an agreement that effectively addresses the climate change problem. To be effective, a climate agreement must cause substantial emissions reductions either directly (in the agreement's own lifetime) or indirectly (by paving the way for a future agreement that causes substantial emissions reductions directly). To reduce global emissions substantially, an agreement must satisfy three conditions. Firstly, participation must be both comprehensive and stable. Secondly, participating countries must accept deep commitments. Finally, the agreement must obtain high compliance rates. We argue that three types of enforcement will be crucial to fulfilling these three conditions: (1) incentives for countries to ratify with deep commitments, (2) incentives for countries that have ratified with deep commitments to abstain from withdrawal, and (3) incentives for countries having ratified with deep commitments to comply with them. Based on assessing the constraints that characterize the climate change negotiations, we contend that adopting such three-fold potent enforcement will likely be politically infeasible, not only within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, but also in the framework of a more gradual approach. Therefore, one should not expect climate change negotiations to succeed in producing an effective future agreement—either directly or indirectly. Keywords: climate change negotiations; compliance; cooperation; enforcement; participation; political feasibility Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v1:y:2013:i:2:p:138-150 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Gender, Race, Age and Voting: A Research Note File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/97 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v1i2.97 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 1 Year: 2013 Issue: 2 Pages: 132-137 Author-Name: Stephen Ansolabehere Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Government, Harvard University, 1737 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA Author-Name: Eitan Hersh Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Yale University, 77 Prospect St., New Haven, CT 06520, USA Abstract: In this brief analysis, we use a new dataset of two million voter registration records to demonstrate that gender, race, and age do not correlate with political participation in the ways that previous research has shown. Among Blacks and Latinos, women participate at vastly higher rates than men; many Blacks participate at higher rates than Whites; and the relationship between age and participation is both not linear and varies by race and gender. Survey research is unable to capture the true relationship between demographics and participation on account of survey bias and, more importantly, the non-linearity of effects. As a result, theories of participation, like the dominant resources-based models, have been built on faulty premises and tested with inadequate data. Our evidence calls for a renewed effort to understand election participation by utilizing large datasets, by being attentive to linearity assumptions, and by returning to theory. Keywords: big data; gender; race; SES; U.S. elections; voter registration; voting Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v1:y:2013:i:2:p:132-137 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Inter-Party Conflict Management in Coalition Governments: Analyzing the Role of Coalition Agreements in Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/94 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v1i2.94 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 1 Year: 2013 Issue: 2 Pages: 117-131 Author-Name: Catherine Moury Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, New University of Lisbon, Avenida de Berna, 26-C, 1069 Lisbon, Portugal Author-Name: Arco Timmermans Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Public Administration, University of Leiden, Campus The Hague, 2511 VA The Hague, The Netherlands Montesquieu Institute, 2514 EJ The Hague, The Netherlands Abstract: In this article, we focus on manifest interparty conflict over policy issues and the role of coalition agreements in solving these conflicts. We present empirical findings on the characteristics of coalition agreements including deals over policy controversy and on inter-party conflict occurring during the lifetime of governments in Germany, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands. We analyze the ways in which parties in government were or were not constrained by written deals over disputed issues. Coalition agreements from all four countries include specific policy deals, one third of which are precisely defined. These policy deals concern both consensual and controversial issues. Our central finding is that, in the case of intra-party conflict, parties almost always fall back on the initial policy deals when these exist. As such, policy statements of the coalition agreement facilitate decision making in each of the countries studied. Keywords: coalition governments; post-electoral coalition agreements; pre-electoral coalition agreements; Belgium; Germany; Italy; Netherlands Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v1:y:2013:i:2:p:117-131 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Political Limits to the Processing of Policy Problems File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/98 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v1i2.98 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 1 Year: 2013 Issue: 2 Pages: 104-116 Author-Name: Peter J. May Author-Workplace-Name: Center for American Politics and Public Policy, Department of Political Science, University of Washington, 101 Gowen Hall, Campus Box 353530, Seattle, WA 98195, USA Author-Name: Ashley E. Jochim Author-Workplace-Name: Center on Reinventing Public Education, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA Author-Name: Barry Pump Author-Workplace-Name: Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515, USA Abstract: This contribution addresses political limits to the processing of policy problems in the United States. Our foci are the forces that limit policymakers' attention to different aspects of problems and how this affects the prospects for problem resolution. We theorize about three sets of forces: interest engagement, linkages among relevant institutions for policymaking, and partisan conflict. We show how the interplay of these forces limits efforts to address complex problems. Based on secondary accounts, we consider these underlying dynamics for ten complex problems. These include the thorny problems of the financial crisis, climate change, and health care; the persistent problems of K-12 education, drug abuse, and food safety; and the looming problems associated with critical infrastructure, the obesity epidemic, ocean health, and terrorism and extreme events. From these accounts we identify different patterns that we label fractured, allied, bureaucratic, and anemic policymaking. Keywords: complex problems; policy processes; policymaking; problem attention Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v1:y:2013:i:2:p:104-116 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Open Access Publishing File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/100 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v1i2.100 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 1 Year: 2013 Issue: 2 Pages: 102-103 Author-Name: Amelia Hadfield Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Pleinlaan 5, 1050 Brussels, Belgium Author-Name: Andrej J. Zwitter Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Law, University of Groningen, Oude Kijk in 't Jatstraat 26, 9712 EK Groningen, The Netherlands Abstract: The rise of open source online journals, free online courses, and other changes in the research and education environment, coined the "academic spring" by some commentators, represents an increasing trend in opening up the rules of access for research. Universities, libraries, publishers and even govern­ments are paying attention to this new movement often referred to with the acronym A2K (access to knowledge). Keywords: editorial; open access; publishing Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v1:y:2013:i:2:p:102-103 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Political Economy of Extraterritoriality File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/89 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v1i1.89 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 1 Year: 2013 Issue: 1 Pages: 92-101 Author-Name: Paul B. Stephan Author-Workplace-Name: School of Law, University of Virginia, 580 Massie Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903-1738, USA Abstract: Near the end of the 2009 Term the Supreme Court decided Morrison v. Australia National Bank, Ltd., the strongest anti-extraterritoriality opinion it has produced in modern times. Not only is Congress presumed generally to prefer only territorial regulation, but lower courts that had carved out exceptions from this principle over a long period of time must now revisit their positions. Again this year in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Shell Co. the Court relied on an aggressive use of the presumption against extraterritoriality to cut back on an important field of private litigation. The Court appears to have embraced two related stances: The imposition of barriers to extraterritorial regulation generally advances welfare, and the lower courts cannot be trusted to determine those instances where an exception to this rule might be justified. Implicit in the Court's position are intuitions about the political economy of both legislation and litigation. I want to use the occasion of the Morrison and Kiobel decisions to consider the political economy of extraterritorial regulation by the United States. International lawyers for the most part have analyzed state decisions to exercise prescriptive jurisdiction over extraterritorial transactions in terms of a welfare calculus that determines the likely costs and benefits to the state as a whole. Fewer studies have considered the political economy of the decision whether to regulate foreign transactions. No work of which I am aware has considered the political economy of deciding the extraterritorial question through litigation. This paper seeks to fill these gaps by sketching out what political economy suggests both about extraterritoriality and the role of courts as arbiters of extraterritoriality. Keywords: international economic regulation; political economy of litigation; political economy of regulatory jurisdiction; regulatory jurisdiction Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v1:y:2013:i:1:p:92-101 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: From Needs to Rights—A Socio-Legal Account of Bridging Moral and Legal Universalism via Ethical Pluralism File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/86 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v1i1.86 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 1 Year: 2013 Issue: 1 Pages: 74-91 Author-Name: Andrej J. Zwitter Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Legal Theory, University of Groningen, Oude Kijk in 't Jatstraat 26, 9715 EK Groningen, The Netherlands Abstract: The question of the universality of human rights has much in common with the question of the universality of ethics. In the form of a multidisciplinary reflexive survey, the aim of this article is to show how human rights discourses derive from more basic principles related to basic needs. These needs are the universal grammar for moral principles, which will be distinguished from ethical norms. Ethical norms, I will argue, are rules that develop in social groups to put into effect moral principles through communicative action and therefore develop as culturally specific norms, which guide behaviour within these social groups. This will explain why ethical norms contain some universal principles, but are largely culturally specific. In order to shed some light on the universality debate, I will show how moral principles translate into ethical norms and might manifest through communicative action in human rights law. For this purpose the article develops a socio-legal account on social norm-creation that bridges moral universality and legal universality via ethical pluralism, which in effect explains why despite the universality of moral principles, the outcomes of ethical rationales can vary extremely. Keywords: discursive action; ethical pluralism; human rights; moral universalism Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v1:y:2013:i:1:p:74-91 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Campaign Duration and Election Outcomes File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/92 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v1i1.92 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 1 Year: 2013 Issue: 1 Pages: 66-73 Author-Name: Costas Panagopoulos Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458, USA Abstract: Does campaign duration affect election outcomes? To date, this question has largely evaded political scientists, but it is reasonable to expect systematic links between campaign length and candidate performance in elections. We hypothesize that longer campaigns would help challengers' electoral fortunes, thereby curbing incumbency advantage and potentially boosting competitiveness in elections. Using two data sources, aggregate data from U.S. House elections between 1994 and 2006 and ANES survey data from the 2002 election cycle, we find little evidence to support contentions that campaign length affects election outcomes or candidate familiarity. The results we report suggest the political consequences, intended or not, to choices about election timing are likely minimal. Keywords: campaign duration; campaign length; campaign spending; campaign timing; candidate familiarity; election outcomes; vote choice Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v1:y:2013:i:1:p:66-73 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Towards a Genuine Economic and Monetary Union—Comments on a Roadmap File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/90 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v1i1.90 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 1 Year: 2013 Issue: 1 Pages: 48-65 Author-Name: Ansgar Belke Author-Workplace-Name: Department for Macroeconomics, University Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstraße 12, 45117 Essen, Germany Abstract: The Van Rompuy Report and also additional proposals made by the European Commission outlined steps for a 'genuine Economic and Monetary Union'. This article explains, assesses and comments on the proposals made. Moreover, it outlines what could be recommendations in order to achieve a 'genuine Economic and Monetary Union'. For this purpose, details of the Interim Report are systematically evaluated. We also deal with different governance visions emerging from the ongoing euro area crisis and starts from different views of the 'North and the South' of the euro area on this issue. This contribution argues that there is an alternative option to the notion of cooperative fiscal federalism involving fiscal union, bailouts and debt mutualisation: competition-based fiscal federalism accompanied by a properly defined banking union. In order to be a successful one, any deal will have to come up with a successful recipe of how to (re-)create trust between European citizens and their elected governments. Keywords: banking union; debt mutualisation; EU governance; Euro budget; Eurozone; genuine Economic and Monetary Union; North–South divide; shock absorber Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v1:y:2013:i:1:p:48-65 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Human Rights Promotion through Transnational Investment Regimes: An International Political Economy Approach File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/91 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v1i1.91 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 1 Year: 2013 Issue: 1 Pages: 16-31 Author-Name: Claire Cutler Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Victoria, SSM A316, 3800 Finnerty Rd., Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law, Bezuidenhoutseweg 16A, 2594 AV, The Hague, The Netherlands Abstract: International investment agreements are foundational instruments in a transnational investment regime that governs how states regulate the foreign-owned assets and the foreign investment activities of private actors. Over 3,000 investment agreements between states govern key governmental powers and form the basis for an emerging transnational investment regime. This transnational regime significantly decentralizes, denationalizes, and privatizes decision-making and policy choices over foreign investment. Investment agreements set limits to state action in a number of areas of vital public concern, including the protection of human and labour rights, the environment, and sustainable development. They determine the distribution of power between foreign investors and host states and their societies. However, the societies in which they operate seldom have any input into the terms or operation of these agreements, raising crucial questions of their democratic legitimacy as mechanisms of governance. This paper draws on political science and law to explore the political economy of international investment agreements and asks whether these agreements are potential vehicles for promoting international human rights. The analysis provides an historical account of the investment regime, while a review of the political economy of international investment agreements identifies what appears to be a paradox at the core of their operation. It then examines contract theory for insight into this apparent paradox and considers whether investment agreements are suitable mechanisms for advancing international human rights. Keywords: human rights; incomplete contract theory; international arbitration; investor–state arbitration Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v1:y:2013:i:1:p:16-31 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Forecasting Stability or Retreat in Emerging Democratic Regimes File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/93 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v1i1.93 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 1 Year: 2013 Issue: 1 Pages: 32-47 Author-Name: Snigdha Dewal Author-Workplace-Name: School of Public Policy, George Mason University, 3351 Fairfax Drive, 5th Floor, MS 3B1, Arlington, VA 22201, USA Author-Name: Jack A. Goldstone Author-Workplace-Name: School of Public Policy, George Mason University, 3351 Fairfax Drive, 5th Floor, MS 3B1, Arlington, VA 22201, USA Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Vernadskogo prospect 82, 119571 Moscow, Russia Author-Name: Michael Volpe Author-Workplace-Name: School of Public Policy, George Mason University, 3351 Fairfax Drive, 5th Floor, MS 3B1, Arlington, VA 22201, USA Abstract: Drawing on the literatures on elite transitions, factionalism and the new institutionalism, this paper hypothesizes that the stability of partially democratic and emerging democratic regimes is dependent on the willingness of elites to make credible commitments to cooperate and comply with democratic rules. That willingness (or lack thereof) can be signaled by the presence of cooperative or conflict-precipitating events and actions in the periods around elections. We identify and analyze a variety of intra-elite interactions and demonstrate that conflict-precipitating events significantly increase the odds of a democratic retreat in the months before or just after an election, while cooperative events can balance them and prevent retreat. Using event data collected from 40 low- and middle-income countries for two-year periods around national elections between 1991 and 2007 we show that the imbalance of conflict-precipitating over cooperative events is far greater in cases of retreat from democracy. Furthermore, international intervention and pressure had a negative relationship with democratic stability. A logistic regression model accurately identified democratic retreat in 79 percent of the cases examined. Factor analysis revealed several common patterns of intra-elite conflict that can lead to democratic retreat, or conversely, patterns of cooperative events that bolster democratic consolidation. Finally, the data strongly argues for a model of democratic development that depends on open-ended elite maneuvering and the emergence of elite agreements, rather than a model where strong prior institutional constraints determine elite actions. Keywords: conflict; cooperation; democracy; elites; institutions; opposition; stability; violence Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v1:y:2013:i:1:p:32-47 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Breaking Empirical Deadlocks in the Study of Partisanship: An Overview of Experimental Research Strategies File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/87 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v1i1.87 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 1 Year: 2013 Issue: 1 Pages: 6-15 Author-Name: Donald P. Green Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Columbia University, 420 W. 118th Street, 7th Floor IAB, New York, NY 10027, USA Abstract: The vast literature on party identification has gradually become bogged down by disputes about how to interpret observational data. This paper proposes the use of experimental designs to shed light on the responsiveness of party identification to short term forces such as retrospective performance evaluations. Examples of recent field experiments are used to illustrate two types of experimental designs and the assumptions on which they rest. Keywords: causal inference; field experiments; party identification; research design Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v1:y:2013:i:1:p:6-15 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Inaugural Editorial: Politics and Governance File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/88 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v1i1.88 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 1 Year: 2013 Issue: 1 Pages: 1-5 Author-Name: Amelia Hadfield Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Pleinlaan 5, 1050 Brussels, Belgium Author-Name: Andrej J. Zwitter Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Law,University of Groningen, Oude Kijk in 't Jatstraat 26, 9712 EK Groningen, The Netherlands Abstract: We are proud to welcome our readers, contributors and reviewers to this inaugural issue of Politics and Governance, published by Librello Publishing House—a peer reviewed, open-source journal dedicated to the study of politics in the national, regional and global realm, and the modes and methods of governance in all its manifestations. Keywords: editorial; Politics and Governance Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v1:y:2013:i:1:p:1-5