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| Referendum Process in Bavaria |
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| Figure 5 |
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Petition for referendum:
- 1/10th of eligible voters must support
the introduction of (new) legislation.
- For a referendum to take place 25,000
signatures of eligible voters are required.
- A detailed legislative proposal has to
be drawn up.
- Chief Minister then takes position on
this and must ensure that the Senates also takes position. This is the
proposal that will then be introduced to people.
- Landtag take position: if the Landtag
passes the bill then no referendum is necessary.
- If the Landtag rejects the proposal, then
the proposal, with recommendations for changes, must be presented to
the people.
- The petition for referendum must be dealt
with by the Landtag within 3 months of the publication of the Governments
opinion, and the referendum must be held within the following 3 months.
|
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| Berlin (city state) |
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| Parliamentary Control of the
Executive |
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- The House elects the Governing Mayor of
Berlin and, on his individual recommendation, the Senators.
- Only the House, and not the Governing
Mayor himself, can dismiss a Senator from office.
|
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| Processing Legislation |
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- Members of the Senate are responsible
for their own portfolios.
- The Governing Mayor monitors compliance
with government policy guidelines. In the event of disagreement, the
entire Senate adjudicates, not just the Mayor. Thus, the Governing Mayor
does not have the sort of authority which is enjoyed, for example, by
the Federal Chancellor or the Prime Ministers of the Länder which are
not city-states.
- Committees are held in public
|
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| Brandenburg |
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| Parliamentary Control of the
Executive |
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- Landtag elects the chief minister of the
Land.
- Landtag has the right of no confidence.
- Landtag elects 9 constitutional lawyers,
members of the auditor-general's office and those responsible for data
protection.
- The Landtag controls the Land government
with the help of committees, examination committees, requests and questions.
|
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| Processing Legislation |
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- It may originate from referendum, Land
government or Landtag (MP, faction, president to the Landtag or a committee).
- The committee for petition decides on
incoming demands, proposals or complaints.
|
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| Figure 6 |
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Petition for referendum:
- To provoke an initiative 20,000 signatures
are required, signatures must include names, date of birth and address
of signatories.
- Dissolving Landtag requires 150,000 signatures:
minimum age of voters is reduced to 16 if the initiative touches upon
youth (this is decided by the Landtag).
- The initiative must include reasons for
the legislation proposal.
- Names of 5 representatives must be included
as well.
- This is then presented to the Landtag,
represented by its president.
- If the proposal is rejected, because it
has not fulfilled its legal requirements, then representatives of the
initiative may petition the constitutional court of the Landtag within
one month of publication.
- If the Landtag falls to agree with the
initiative within 4 months, then a plebiscite is held.
- 80,000 voters must agree with the plebiscite.
- 200,000 votes can dissolve the Landtag.
- if the Landtag does not fulfil the plebiscite
within 2 months, then another referendum must be held within the following
3 months.
- The proposal is accepted if a majority
of voters agree (a majority must be at least 1/4 of voters).
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| Saxony |
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| Parliamentary Control of the
Executive |
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- Landtag elects the President, the two
vice-presidents and the 13 member presiding committee according to the
strength of the parliamentary groups. The government derives its legitimation
from the Parliament.
- Landtag elects the Prime Minister
- Landtag elects the members of the Constitutional
Court of the Free State of Saxony
- Landtag decides the state budget and thus
provides the framework for the state's revenues and expenses including
their utilisation. In this way it defines the scope of action of the
State government and administration.
- Landtag has the right to withdraw its
confidence in the Prime Minister by electing a successor with the majority
of its members (so-called constructive vote of no-confidence).
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| Processing Legislation |
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- Bills may be brought to the parliament
by members of parliament (at least six), the various parliamentary groups,
the state government or the people by a peoples motion.
- The president will arrange for the printing
of the bill and its distribution to all members of parliament and its
inclusion into the agenda of a plenary meeting.
- The person representing the group having
moved the bill will introduce it to the
- parliament; a debate in the first reading
will only be held on the recommendation of the presiding committee with
the debate being confined to a discussion of the principles of the bills.
- The state parliament will make a decision
as to whether the bill is to be referred to a committee.
- The committee will discuss the bill and
draw up proposals for amendments.
- committees may demand the presence of
a member of the government
- members of government may also demand
to attend and speak at a session
- committees may seek outside advice from
public organisations, specialists, interest groups etc.
- subcornmittees and temporary special committees
may also be established to help in the preparation of legislation
- In the committees report the state parliament
will be recommended to adopt the unamended or amended bill or reject
it.
- In the second and third readings a vote
is taken of the bill after its discussion.
- In case the bill is adopted the president
of the state parliament will send the legislative act to the prime minister
and the respective ministers for countersigning.
- He/she will then proceed to execute the
law.
- The law will be published in the law gazette
of the Free State of Saxony and will thereupon come into force.
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| Figure 7 |
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| German Länder Committee Types |
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| 2.6 Italy |
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| Description |
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| Regionalised unitary state |
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| Territorial breakdown |
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| 20 regions, 102 provinces, 8097
municipalities |
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| Constitution |
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| 1948 |
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| Regional experience |
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| Regional devolution in 1948 was
initially a response to fascist centralisation but autonomous powers were
only granted immediately to five 'special statute' regions Trentino-Aldo
Adige, Fruili-Venezia Giulia, Valle D'Aosta, Sicily and Sardinia) due to
various geographic and ethnic considerations. The other 15 'ordinary statute'
regional governments were not established until 1970 (due to political fears
and administrative delay) and were granted fully devolved autonomous powers
in 1977, in line with the 1948 constitution. The performance of the regions
since was considered disappointing in the 1980s, as they failed to live
up to expectations and the powers of national government actually expanded.
The 1990s however have seen a general political crisis in Italy, damaging
the public's view of national politics and opening the way for diverse regional
interests to be voiced, (see the rise of the Northern League). |
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| Government |
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| Regional councils are directly
elected and have specific legislative and administrative powers. The regions
are denied authority to legislate independently of the State, unless in
concurrent (formulating complementary legislative initiatives) or
subsidiarity legislation (legislation within the framework of national
legislation). |
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| The special statute regions have
a broader range of functions than the ordinary statute regions, particularly
with regard to financial resources. They have about 16% of the national
population but receive approximately 29% of the overall funding available
to the regions.4 They also enjoy much greater
autonomy in their decisions over how to spend these resources. The ordinary
regions major areas of activity are health, town planning, agriculture,
tourism, welfare, training and vocational education, housing, environmental
protection, mining and the police. |
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| Relationship to National parliament |
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| There is no right for regions
to participate in national policy making. Since the 1970s there has been
a considerable transfer of functions from the State to the regions. There
is a growing area of regional responsibility with regard to the implementation
of European Union regulations. |
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| Relationship to Local government |
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| Constitutionally local government
is the concern of the regions: the provinces and communes should carry out
the functions for which their regions legislate, in truth though the centre
has more influence. |
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| Limitations to the Italian
System |
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| In summary, if one considered
Italian regionalism merely at the face value of the constitution, a somewhat
misleading picture of the regions as bodies with extensive political, legislative
and financial autonomy would emerge. The reality is rather different the
Italian regions are weak bodies whose importance has been limited from above
by the influence of national parties and central government, and from below
by a deep rooted tradition of local government which provides a capacity
for sub-regional authorities to act independently of and bypass the regional
level.5 |
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| For fill' realisation of the
constitution there needs to be a 'full restructuring and paring down of
central government and the realisation of full decision making, implementation
and financial autonomy of the regions from central government tutelage.6 |
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| The prospects for the future
seem more promising for the regions since the rise of the Northern League
has put federalism on the agenda. The desire for decreased dependence on
national government funds leads to pressure for taxation powers, but national
government is reluctant to lose its monopoly. The issue continues to fuel
tensions and resentment. The League have focused on the differences between
the North, the Centre and the South, and protest against the corruption
that has reached all levels of government but which they believe emanates
from the South. Recently hope was raised for the regions by a special parliamentary
commission, known as the bicamerale, which was assigned the task
of updating the Constitution by reshaping the state and increasing its efficiency.
However the changes suggested are considered half-hearted due to the lack
of agreement over fundamental reform and resistance from national institutions.
The regions have had some success: in 1993 they initiated successful referendums
to abolish two redundant ministries (Tourism and Culture) whose role the
regions have adopted. |
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| Programming business in the
Italian regions |
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| Case study: Lombardy |
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| Parliamentary Control of the
Executive |
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- The regional parliament elects the president
and the regional council (government) on the basis of a programme that
must be presented and discussed prior to the vote.
- When the President resigns or the position
comes to an end, the entire Parliament falls.
- Regional parliament has right of no confidence
vote in the government.
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| Processing Legislation |
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- Committees examine bills after the first
reading and they have full supervisory and investigative powers.
- Committees are composed according to the
party strength in the Parliament
- Special commissions can be created on
topics of concern to the Parliament
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| Italian Regions Committee
Types |
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| 2.7 Portugal |
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| Description |
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| Classic unitary state |
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| Territorial breakdown |
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| 18 districts, 305 municipalities,
plus two external territories (Azores and Madeira). |
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| Constitution |
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| 1976 |
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| Regional experience |
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| One of the most unified states
in Europe, the Portuguese state's legitimacy has not been questioned for
centuries. There are no substantial linguistic differences and as such there
have been no regional or nationalist movements bar some small separatist
rhetoric from the islands. Municipalities have become the most influential
whilst plans for continued regionalisation has been effectively suspended. |
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| Both the Azores and Madeira
were allowed directly elected assemblies and presidents by the 1976
Constitution. The assemblies enact their own laws within the constraints
of the constitution and a possible veto from the Portuguese parliament.
They are also allowed to table legislation in the national assembly. Furthermore
their financial autonomy is considerable given that they may keep most of
the tax revenues collected on the islands. |
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| Limitations to the Portuguese
System |
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| A minor source of conflict is
over the level of budgetary supplements the islands receive from the mainland. |
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| 2.8 Spain |
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| Description |
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| Regionalised unitary state (often
called 'quasi-federal') |
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| Territorial breakdown |
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| 17 Autonomous Communities plus
50 provinces and 8098 municipalities |
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| Constitution |
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| 1978 |
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| Regional experience |
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| The death of Franco in 1978 brought
an end to the brutal repression of linguistic and cultural diversity in
Spain. The new democratic government offered the nationalities their own
cultural and regional recognition after drafting their own autonomous statutes,
for approval by the state parliament Each Statute effectively formed the
constitutions of the 17 Autonomous Communities. The three nationalities
(the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia) were granted full autonomy immediately
as was Andalucia following a referendum. Many of the other thirteen regions
were artificial creations and thus were given a five year transition phase
(1978-1983) within which the contents of each statute were negotiated become
becoming fully operational in spring '83. After this date they could claim
further autonomy in line with the initial four cases. |
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| Although the regional statutes
are legally protected, the Spanish Parliament can transfer legislative and
executive functions without any statutory reform. This does in fact tend
towards homogeneity based upon full autonomy of the regions, especially
since the state feels the need for rationalisation and uniformity in the
regional tier, (an attempted coup in 1981 aimed to prevent further decentralisation
due to the perceived threat to Spanish unity). |
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| Spain is not a federation (i.e.
not an association of sovereign states) because the Spanish Senate is not
representing the regions (i.e. like the Bundesrat) and, though the constitution
leaves open the extent of powers the Autonomous Communities can assume,
this does not include a federal distribution of powers. The communities
do not take part in writing the Constitution and lack the right to decide
whether or not to stay within the Spanish state or not. |
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| Government |
| |
| Same basic model in each community:
1. Legislative assembly directly elected by the regional
population.
2. A President elected by the regional assembly
3. An Executive Council supported by a majority
within the assembly.
|
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| Relationship to National government |
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| In relation to central government
there are no official channels of regional involvement, only party networks
and bilateral political bargaining. The national government often finds
itself dependent on nationalist parties for a majority in the Parliament's
lower house. The national Senate (upper house) is not a chamber for the
regions but is elected on a provincial basis where the central parties dominate.
Only 20% of its members are from regional parliaments. However the Communities
enjoy wide spending autonomy and exclusive legislative power in many areas. |
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| Relationship to local government |
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| Arrangements are the concern
of the Autonomous Communities. |
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| Limitations to the Spanish
System |
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| The final arbiter in conflicts
over spheres of power is the Constitutional Court. It has been called upon
frequently because the 1978 Constitution is neither regional nor federal.
It is based on principles of Spanish unity but also recognition of the 'autonomy
of the nationalities and regions which constitute it'. The result is not
really a satisfactory conclusion for a nation-state and therefore created
much controversy and use of the Constitutional Court. The constitution's
ambiguity over reserving the right of the state to formulate 'basic legislation'
in many areas and the lack of regional involvement in the formulation of
central policies promises continued controversy. Decentralised government
in Spain is still in a state of transition. |
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| Programming business in the
Spanish regions |
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| Basque Country |
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| Parliamentary Control of the
Executive |
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- Parliament elects the 'round-table', the
rectorate organ of Parliament, that is composed by president, 2 vice-presidents
and 2 secretaries. Admits legislation and directs the inner administration
of the Parliament.
- Parliament has right of censure and vote
of no confidence
- Parliament has rights of interpellation
and can insist upon the appearance of government executives.
- Auxiliary organs:
- Ararteko the Parliamentary commissioner
who ensures that all fundamental rights and liberties are respected.
- Basque tribunal: Supreme organ for taxes
and financial matters, it is accountable to the Basque public. There
are 7 members, elected for a term of 6 years, by an absolute majority
of the Parliament
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| Processing Legislation |
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- Proposals can be initiated by Parliamentary
groups, MPs (if approved by 4 other MPs), the government (known as a
legislative project rather than a proposal), representative institutions
of historic territories or by citizen's petition (30,000 signatories
are required)
- The project or proposition is then presented
to the Parliament where it is subject to full or partial changes.
- The respective Committee discusses the
proposal taking these changes into account, and then submits its recommendations
to the plenary
- The Parliament then decides finally.
- For emergency legislation a single reading
can be permitted.
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| Catalonia |
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| Parliamentary Control of the
Executive |
| |
| The Parliamentary Council (comprising
chairperson, two vice-chairpeople and four secretaries) the governing body
of the House is appointed by the Plenary Assembly of Parliament in separate
voting sessions. The main functions of the Parliamentary Council are: the
organisation of parliamentary business; the interpretation of the Rules
of Procedure, and the management of the different parliamentary departments
and services. |
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