current event ap comp gov
Article I Overview: A democratic nightmare
Critics beleive the European Union is a project devised by and for the elites, lacking democratic legitimacy. Turnouts for the direct elections to the European Parliament has been consistently falling since they were first instituted. The parliament has never had more power, yet trust in the EU is seems to be at an all-time low and the economic crisis is making this problem more severe. Even Enrico Letta, Italy’s prime minister, reckons Eurosceptics could win up to a third of the seats. He also wants to shock pro-European forces by turning the European election into a contest for the next president of the European Commission. Advocates of this hope to strengthen the commission’s democratic mandate, focus the contest on European issues, and raise the stakes to avoid the ballot turning into a protest against unpopular national governments. The EU is part international organization and part federation and a direct election makes sense should the commission ever be granted federal authority, including tax-raising powers. European politicians can never have more legitimacy than national ones, so national leaders should lead the fight against Eurosceptics in defending the benefits of integration, fixing its flaws and, in the euro zone, explain the reforms needed to stay in the single currency.
Analysis:
Devolution is a form of decentralization, in which powers from the central government grant powers to a government at subnational level. In this case, the MP s from south England would like to devolve powers to Scotland to be independent from the central UK union.
Article II Overview: Oregon Likely To Try Again On Sales Tax
When the recent recession occured, Oregon was hit hard because being one of the five states without a sales tax, it relies more heavily on income taxes than any other state in the union. When the incomes droped, so did state revenues. In the past, voters have asked to impose a sales tax
Critics beleive the European Union is a project devised by and for the elites, lacking democratic legitimacy. Turnouts for the direct elections to the European Parliament has been consistently falling since they were first instituted. The parliament has never had more power, yet trust in the EU is seems to be at an all-time low and the economic crisis is making this problem more severe. Even Enrico Letta, Italy’s prime minister, reckons Eurosceptics could win up to a third of the seats. He also wants to shock pro-European forces by turning the European election into a contest for the next president of the European Commission. Advocates of this hope to strengthen the commission’s democratic mandate, focus the contest on European issues, and raise the stakes to avoid the ballot turning into a protest against unpopular national governments. The EU is part international organization and part federation and a direct election makes sense should the commission ever be granted federal authority, including tax-raising powers. European politicians can never have more legitimacy than national ones, so national leaders should lead the fight against Eurosceptics in defending the benefits of integration, fixing its flaws and, in the euro zone, explain the reforms needed to stay in the single currency.
Analysis:
Devolution is a form of decentralization, in which powers from the central government grant powers to a government at subnational level. In this case, the MP s from south England would like to devolve powers to Scotland to be independent from the central UK union.
Article II Overview: Oregon Likely To Try Again On Sales Tax
When the recent recession occured, Oregon was hit hard because being one of the five states without a sales tax, it relies more heavily on income taxes than any other state in the union. When the incomes droped, so did state revenues. In the past, voters have asked to impose a sales tax
Cited: "A Democratic Nightmare." The Economist. N.p., Oct.-Nov. 2013. Web. Nov.-Dec. 2013. .