The Legitimacy of the Contracting State

Globalization challenges our understanding of the state as the main source of legitimate law. This article will take this claim one step further. Today, we may also see the decline of the state, in its modern sense, from within. Evidence for this may be found in the rising importance of contracting by the administrative state fulfilling its duties. For example, in various countries in Europe, the administrative agencies make contracts with people regarding the conditions they must meet to obtain asylum, parole, and social welfare assistance. Furthermore, there are many types of contracts between administrative agencies and private companies securing public services or promoting public policies. For example, the federal administration of Switzerland recently hired a private company to run the electronic cadastral register, a task clearly once thought of as a core responsibility of the state. In the law of continental Europe, the contract between the state and private persons – also generally known as the administrative contract – appears in two manifestations: as a private law contract between the administrative state and private persons on the one hand, and as a public law contract between the administrative state and private persons on the other. With this contract, either in the private law or the public law manifestation, the state is using the tool of legally stabilized cooperation to achieve its political goals. Thus, in the private law administrative agreement, a public element is introduced with the setting of a political goal, and in the administrative-law agreement, a traditional element of the private is introduced with the cooperation form of contract

Banishing administrative contracts from law

translated by Annemarie ThatcherGerman legal literature on cooperation between the state and private persons in the 18th and early 19th centuries dealt almost exclusively with the legal form of government service. It is possible to observe that contractual agreements between the state and private persons in general and contractual agreements with civil servants in particular were accepted into neither of the self-differentiating realms of public and private law, as both categories of law, like the public and private spheres themselves, typically demonstrated a deep separation in continental Europe. This can be seen in Germany through the evolution of state and legal theories, particularly in the works of Justi, then Gönner, through to Hegel and numerous other legal theorists of the 19th century. Die deutsche rechtswissenschaftliche Literatur des 18. Jahrhunderts und des frühen 19. Jahrhunderts zur Kooperation zwischen Staat und Privaten befasst sich fast ausschliesslich mit der Rechtsform des Staatsdienstes. Dabei ist zu beobachten, wie der Vertrag zwischen Staat und Privaten im Allgemeinen und der Vertrag mit Staatsdienern im Speziellen mit der sich vertiefenden und für den kontinentalen Raum so typischen Trennung von öffentlich und privat respektive öffentlichem Recht und Privatrecht zwischen Stuhl und Bank geriet, d. h. weder im einen noch im anderen sich ausdifferenzierenden Rechtsbereich Aufnahme fand. Für Deutschland lässt sich dies anhand der Evolution der Staatsund Rechtstheorien nachvollziehen – insbesondere von Justi über Gönner zu Hegel und zahlreichen anderen Rechtswissenschaftlern des 19. Jahrhunderts

Changement climatique et ski sur glacier en Suisse

Les domaines skiables sur glacier ont joué un rôle toujours plus important durant les saisons hivernales de la dernière décennie. Pendant les trois hivers pauvres en neige entre 1987 et 1990, on a vu que seuls les domaines avec glaciers peuvent assurer à la fois un démarrage précoce de la saison de ski hivernal et des conditions d'enneigement favorables durant la saison d'hiver. L'avenir du ski sur glacier en Suisse, en été tout comme en hiver, dépend largement des conséquences du changement climatique prévu et qui est dû au réchauffement global. En raison du retrait glacier continu, on s'attend à des réductions sensibles des fréquentations des domaines skiables d'été. De par l'élévation prévue de la limite des neiges en hiver, la demande dans le domaine du tourisme de ski se concentrera sur les altitudes plus élevées. En même temps, les domaines skiables à basse altitude perdront leur tourisme de ski et, par conséquent, leur base économique. Dans les domaines skiables sur glacier, on s'attend à un nombre toujours croissant des passagers transportés.Glacier ski resorts have played a major role of importance during the winter seasons over the last decade. It was demonstrated, during the three consecutive snow-deficient winter s between 1987 and 1990, that only those resorts with glaciers could provide both an early start to the ski season in winter and reliable snow conditions throughout the winter season. The future of glacier skiing in Switzerland, both winter and summer, largely rests with the consequential outcomes of the predicted climate change due to global warming. Because of ongoing glacier retreatment it is expected that substantial reductions in the usage of summer ski resorts will occur. As a consequence of the predicted rising snowline in winter, the demand for ski tourism will concentrate on the high mountain ranges. Simultaneously ski resorts at low altitudes will lose their ski tourism and therewith their economic base. In the glacier ski resorts increases in the number of transported passengers are to be expected

Let Tonarigumi Do It

describes traditional Chinese custom of neighborhood system as used in Japa

The liberalization of public services and their impact of on the competitiveness of firms: a case study in the Alpine regions of Switzerland

In the wake of a general process of economic transformation public services in recent years have undergone a number of radical changes. Under the key word of ?liberalization? the markets of public services in Europe have been opened up to market competition. Questions of efficiency and productivity in the provision are gaining significance. But the liberalization cannot only be analysed through a one-dimensional economic lense. Therefore, the goal of our paper is to clarify the spatial impact of these liberalization trends. We focus on four public services: regional public transport, postal services, telecommunications and electricity. In the first part we will lay the conceptual basis for a differentiated consideration of the spatial effects of the liberalization of public services. We hypothesize that the liberalization of the public services has given rise to spatial differentiation in the provision of these public services, which in turn reduces the competitiveness of companies in the peripheral and mountain regions. Thus, it is a typology of the functions of public services that will help to sharpen the view on the various ongoing changes. To analyse the impact on the competitiveness of firms the paper will look at the relative significance of the following aspects of public services: locational factors; direct and indirect effects on the production process; companies? ability to adapt to external changes. The main analytical approach to assess firms behaviour within a regional context is the concept of ?regional innovation and production systems? (RIPS). RIPS are characterised by their scope for autonomous decision-making, their coordination mechanisms and their specific resources. The extent to which they are anchored in their particular region influences their capacity for innovation and adaptation to a changing economic context. The second part of the paper presents some first results from an ongoing empirical study in the Alpine Regions of Switzerland, using data from a written firm survey. The third section draws first conclusions regarding the relative spatial impacts of the liberalisation processes. The paper finishes off with some preliminary implications on political strategies for guaranteeing sufficient provision of public services to peripheral and mountain regions.

The impact of the liberalization of public services on the competitiveness of firms in the Alpine regions of Switzerland

Businesses in outlying regions, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are having to face a broad range of different challenges in order to maintain their competitiveness. An important input factor has in the past always been the supply of public services. In recent years, public services have undergone a number of radical changes. This paper works on the hypotheses that the market-oriented reorganisation of capacity in the supply of public services has affected outlying regions more than urban centres and led to an increase in economic concentration and regional disparities. The paper has the following objectives: (1) to look at the interconnections between the different aspects of change in the supply of public services and the development of business; (2) to outline the empirical design for analysing the relative significance of supply of services as a dynamic locational factor for businesses in the Swiss Alpine regions. This paper will draw from an ongoing empirical study, but cannot yet indicate policy implications. We will argue that the companies based in outlying regions are affected in two respects by the reduction in public services. On the one hand, the changed provision of public services is becoming more significant for businesses as a hard locational factor and can have a negative effect on production processes. The main analytical approach to assess firms behaviour within a regional context is the concept of 'regional production systems' (RPS). RPS are characterised by their scope for autonomous decision-making, their coordination mechanisms and their specific resources. The extent to which they are anchored in their particular region influences their capacity for innovation and adaptation to a changing economic context. Thus companies are being forced to react to the dynamic environment and to develop - probably in cooperation with regional public bodies - corresponding response strategies. On the other hand, public services work as soft, person-centred, locational factors that make a major contribution to the quality of life a location has to offer. An deterioration in services means that outlying regions become less attractive as a place to live and consequently it becomes more difficult for companies based there to recruit well-qualified employees. Companies are being forced to react to the dynamic environment and to develop corresponding response strategies.

Polarized Proton Pionic Capture in Deuterium as a Probe of 3N Dynamics

The proton analyzing power Ay in pion production reaction pd --> pi0 3He has been calculated including one- and two-body meson production mechanisms with a proper treatment of the three-nucleon dynamics and an accurate solution of the 3N bound-state problem for phenomenological two-nucleon potentials. In the region around the Delta resonance, the structure of the analyzing power can be understood once interference effects among amplitudes describing intermediate Delta N formation in different orbital states are considered along with the additional interference with the S-wave pion production amplitudes. Then, the inclusion of three-nucleon dynamics in the initial state produces the structure of the analyzing power that has been observed experimentally.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

The impact of the liberalisation process on the comptitiveness of firms: a case study in the Alpine regions of Switzerland

The liberalisation process has many faces. It gives rise to economic, social and cultural change. From a spatial point of view, fears are frequently expressed that liberalisation can lead to disadvantages for peripheral regions, especially in the sparsely populated Alpine region. Companies in these peripheral regions, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SME s) see themselves as confronted by a wide variety of challenges in maintaining their competitiveness. This paper is concerned with the effects of the liberalisation process on firms in the Swiss Alpine region. Following the introduction, a second stage will give a brief characterisation of the liberalisation process, with reference to the changes in the ideas of the state which lie behind it. The third section presents the outline of a research study which looks into the effects of the liberalisation of public services on firms in the Swiss Alpine region. Section four presents some empirical results of this study. Using the four sectors of telecommunications, the postal service, public regional transport and electricity, some liberalisation effects from the point of view of these enterprises are put forward. Section five includes contexts and conclusions: it can be seen that public services are important to enterprises in mountainous regions, but are not a decisive influence on their competitiveness. Overall, liberalisation mainly benefits large companies. The passive and cautious behaviour of small and medium-sized enterprises means that they make insufficient use of the potential advantages of liberalisation. Moreover, liberalisation contributes to an increased spatial polarisation within the Alpine region. The paper concludes by providing information on political strategies for spatial development at canton and Federal state level

Die Erstellung von Solaranlagen auf oder im Umkreis von Schutzobjekten

Mit der Absicht, den Ausbau der erneuerbaren Energien zu beschleunigen, haben Parlament und Volk Solaranlagen von der Baubewilligungspflicht befreit: Seit dem 1. Mai 2014 gilt für genügend angepasste Solaranlagen in Bau- und Landwirtschaftszonen nur noch eine Meldepflicht. In klaren Fällen mag diese Meldepflicht eine Verbesserung im Sinne einer Beschleunigung der Verfahren darstellen; in Fällen allerdings, wo Interessen des Denkmalschutzes oder des Ortsbildschutzes betroffen sein könnten, führt die Meldepflicht zu Rechtsunsicherheit. Aufgrund der fehlenden Beschwerdemöglichkeit im Meldeverfahren kann die Erstellung der Solaranlage erst nachträglich angefochten werden, was für alle Betroffenen mit Nachteilen verbunden ist. Denkmalschutz und Ortsbildschutz müssen unabhängig von der Verfahrensart berücksichtigt werden. Das Meldeverfahren erlaubt den zuständigen Behörden aber keine umfassende Prüfung und umfassende Abwägung der sich im Einzelfall gegenüberstehenden Interessen. Tangiert eine gemeldete Solaranlage Schutzanliegen, ist es daher für alle Beteiligten sinnvoll, die Anlage in einem Baubewilligungsverfahren zu beurteilen

The liberalization of public services and their impact of on the competitiveness of firms: a case study in the Alpine regions of Switzerland

In the wake of a general process of economic transformation public services in recent years have undergone a number of radical changes. Under the key word of ?liberalization? the markets of public services in Europe have been opened up to market competition. Questions of efficiency and productivity in the provision are gaining significance. But the liberalization cannot only be analysed through a one-dimensional economic lense. Therefore, the goal of our paper is to clarify the spatial impact of these liberalization trends. We focus on four public services: regional public transport, postal services, telecommunications and electricity. In the first part we will lay the conceptual basis for a differentiated consideration of the spatial effects of the liberalization of public services. We hypothesize that the liberalization of the public services has given rise to spatial differentiation in the provision of these public services, which in turn reduces the competitiveness of companies in the peripheral and mountain regions. Thus, it is a typology of the functions of public services that will help to sharpen the view on the various ongoing changes. To analyse the impact on the competitiveness of firms the paper will look at the relative significance of the following aspects of public services: locational factors; direct and indirect effects on the production process; companies' ability to adapt to external changes. The main analytical approach to assess firms behaviour within a regional context is the concept of ?regional innovation and production systems' (RIPS). RIPS are characterised by their scope for autonomous decision-making, their coordination mechanisms and their specific resources. The extent to which they are anchored in their particular region influences their capacity for innovation and adaptation to a changing economic context. The second part of the paper presents some first results from an ongoing empirical study in the Alpine Regions of Switzerland, using data from a written firm survey. The third section draws first conclusions regarding the relative spatial impacts of the liberalisation processes. The paper finishes off with some preliminary implications on political strategies for guaranteeing sufficient provision of public services to peripheral and mountain regions