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Does the EU Suffer From a Democratic Deficit? | Essay

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Does the EU Suffer From a Democratic Deficit? | Essay. The overall goal of EU integration has been to ‘create an ever closer union… in which decision are taken as closely as possible to the citizen’ (Cini, Michele, Borragan, 2010). However, still the most enthusiastic backers of the EU must accept that it has been more a progression commencing and sustained by elites, than by a popular front for change. The claim that the standard European citizen has virtually no possibility of directly affecting the work of the EU, along with the negative impact of integration on popular support for the EU, has given rise to the term the democratic deficit. Although there is no one single definition, the concept behind the notion of the democratic deficit is that decisions in the EU are ‘insufficiently representative of, or accountable to, the nations and the people of Europe’ (Lord, C, 2001, p165). It is not merely an ‘additional layer of governance, further removed from the peoples of Europe’ … but as a result of such an organisation, ‘each Member State can no longer claim to be the source of its own legitimacy’ (Eriksen, Fossum, 2002, p401). It is important to make a distinction between two different types of theories behind the democratic deficit. The institutional perspective focuses on the ‘institutional power sharing and on institutional reform as a solution to the perceived problems of EU level democracy’ (Cini, 2010, p378). The socio-psychological viewpoint, however, places much emphasis on the lack of a ‘European civic identity and the absence of a European demos.’ The classical argument, through a socio-psychological point of view, of cases where it can be said that the EU suffers from a democratic deficit is that the nonexistence of representative and direct democracy within the EU. The set up of the EU results in policy-making being dominated at the European level by executive actors, state based ministers in the Council, and government appointments in the Commission. This does not inevitably lead to democratic deficit; unless, as happens, the decisions taken by the executive departments at the European stage are outside the authority of domestic parliaments. Even with the creation of European Affairs Committees in every national parliament, ministers when conversing and voting in the Council, national representatives when constructing policies in The Council and bureaucrats in the Commission when ‘drafting or implementing legislation, are much more isolated from national parliamentary scrutiny and control than are national cabinet ministers or bureaucrats in the domestic policy-making process’ (Follesdal, Andreas, Hix, Simon, 2005, p2). As a consequence, governments are able to successfully disregard their parliaments when deciding upon policies at the European level. Therefore, European integration has resulted in a reduction of the influence of national parliaments and an enhancement to the authority of executives. Perhaps the institution to come in for the heaviest criticism from the Eurosceptics is the Commission which is seen as an ‘archetypal undemocratic institution, in that it is a civil service composed of appointed members’ (Cini 2010, p381), who contain extensive policy-making powers. In spite of its authority over initiating and developing new European laws, the Commission is ‘subject to little direct or even indirect public accountability’ (McCormick, John, 2008, p124). Appointments have to be accepted by Parliament, but apart from that they are made lacking reference to the electorate. The President of the Commission is selected as an outcome of behind the scenes bargaining and conciliations directed by the leaders of the member states. The commission also stands for the views of the EU in numerous international forums devoid of a mandate from the citizens. Moreover, there are very modest openings for people to take part in or contribute to the deliberations of the Commission and only limited occasions for the EP to hold it accountable for its decisions; although this has increased, being seen most clearly by the parliaments new powers under the Lisbon Treaty. Secondly and associated to the first aspect, the majority of commentators on the democratic deficit claim that the European Parliament authority is insufficient. The movement of legislative powers from national parliaments to the EU institutions has not been ‘matched by an equivalent degree of democratic accountability and legislative input on the part of the European Parliament (EP)’ (Cini 2010, p380), the solitary directly elected body at EU level. In the 1980s, many analysts argued that ‘there was a direct trade-off between the powers of the European Parliament and the powers of national parliaments’ (Follesdal, Hix, p 4), where any addition to the authority of the European Parliament would result in a ‘concomitant decrease in the powers of national parliaments (Holland, 1980).’ However, by the 1990s, such an argument had departed as academics began to understand European integration as a decline in the authority of parliaments at the national level relative to executive powers. The answer, most claimed, was to ‘increase the power of the European Parliament relative to the governments in the Council and the Commission (Williams, S. (1991).’ One of the key the arguments against the claim that authority has moved to the executive, is that national governments are the most directly accountable politicians in Europe. As Moravcsik claims ‘The democratically elected governments of the Member States, dominate the still largely territorial and intergovernmental structure of the EU’ (Moravcsik Andre, 2002, p112).’ According to this argument, the EU is still principally an intergovernmental institution; where the verdicts at the European Council and the Council of Ministers are as accountable to EU general public as the policies of national cabinets. Furthermore the New Lisbon Treaty has increased the national parliaments’ capacity to contribute along with the European institutions in the work of the EU. ‘A new clause clearly sets out the rights and duties of the national parliaments within the EU. It deals with their right to information, the way they monitor subsidiarity, and for reforming the treaties’.The EU can be seen to strengthen the state, challenging arguments of a democratic deficit, as the democratically elected national executives play an increasingly dominant role in the EU. Against the claims that the executives are outside the power of elected institutions, the most noteworthy institutional progress in the EU from the 1980’s, has been the enlarged influence of the EP in the legislative progression and in the appointment of the Commission. The EP now has veto-power over the choice of the Commission and is progressively more prepared to employ its muscle ‘against heavy lobbying from national governments, as was seen with the Parliament’s veto of the first proposed line-up of the Barroso Commission in October 2004’ (Follesdal, Hix, p 20). Also, the alterations in the use of the co-decision procedure which started under the Maastricht Treaty of 1996 and has only been increased by the last three treaties, has developed from the idea of merely cooperation first commencing under the SEA in 1986, ‘legislation cannot be passed under the co-decision procedure without majority support in both the Council and the European Parliament (Follesdal, Hix, p 22). The extension of the co-decision procedure can be seen in the areas including ‘legal immigration, penal judicial cooperation (Eurojust, crime prevention, alignment of prison standards, offences and penalties), police cooperation (Europol) and some aspects of trade policy and agriculture’. It can therefore be argued that the EU has addressed the democratic deficit by significantly increasing the powers of the EP and in giving it a role in almost all lawmaking, in turn weakening the powers of the less representative institutions. Despite the extension of the co-decision procedure under The Lisbon Treaty it remains true that the EP does not possess several of the powers of a ‘real’ legislature. For one it is unable to increase revenues or initiate novel laws and has a highly restricted ability to keep the Commission accountable for its judgments. While the EP may have the ability to veto national governments’ selection for the Commission President and the group of the Commissioners, the governments remain the agenda-setters with regards to the appointments of the Commission and in any new policy implemented in the EU. The trouble with the institutional approaches to the democratic deficit is that they ignore the equally significant socio-psychological viewpoints of this uncharted occurrence. The bigger dilemma is the connection, or lack of it, between the rising democratic politics inside the EU institutions and the opinions of the public. In spite of the rising influence of the EP, ‘there are no European’ elections, largely as a result of there being no European demos. EU citizens vote for their governments, who represent them in the Council and nominate Commissioners. EU citizens also elect the EP. Nevertheless, none of the domestic elections neither the EP elections are actually ‘European; elections: they are not fought over ‘the personalities and parties at the European level or the direction of the EU policy agenda’ (Follesdal, Hix, p 4). State based elections are about national as opposed to European concerns, as ‘parties collude to keep the issue of Europe off the domestic agenda’ (Hix, S, 1999, p78). EP elections also tend to be decided on issues unrelated to Europe, as ‘parties and the media treat them as mid-term national contests’ (Follesdal, Hix, p7), this can be shown recently by the success of many radical fringe parties in the 2009 election as a sign of discontent with the political elite and the failures of many government parties, notably the Labour party in the UK. Protest votes as a way of voicing displeasure with parties in government and increasingly failing turnout at European elections signify that as described of the first EP elections as ‘second-order national contests’ (Reif K, Schmitt H, 1980, p44), is increasingly relevant. Although many national states have also endured their own form of democratic deficit, the perception remains that the trouble is considerably stronger in the EU, which has given way to a disturbing detachment between the EU institutions and its citizens. Psychologically, the EU is so unlike the national democratic bodies that citizens struggle to identify with it. As a result the institutions often appear distant and mysterious, meaning it is certainly not unexpected that anti-European media are capable of engendering public suspicion and resentment towards the EU. The Lisbon Treaty has attempted to give a more influential voice to its citizens; ‘thanks to the Citizens’ Initiative, one million citizens from a number of Member States have the possibility to call on the Commission to bring forward new policy proposals’. Only time will tell if this policy has the desire effect, but if it would have to be an unexpectedly successful policy for it to make any real impact with regards to voter enthusiasm for the EU. In conclusion, whether there is a democratic deficit depends partly on how the EU is understood. If it viewed as a Federation, or has a desire to turn into one, in that case the ‘necessary links between citizens and the EU institutions are indeed weak. But if it is viewed as a confederation, then the links are unusually strong’ (McCormick, 2008, p126). indispensable links connecting citizens and EU institutions are certainly too frail; however, if understood as a confederation then the links are remarkably tight; where they are only expected to be indirect with national governments representing their citizens at the central authority. There may well be a persuasive case claim that the EU is not deficient with regards to democratic practices or formal legitimacy, but a question mark does linger over the union’s social capacity. ‘Democratic or not, the EU doesn’t yet seem to have won over the hearts and minds of its citizens'(Smith, Julia, 2003, p3); meaning that no new constitution will on its own solve the problem of a democratic deficit within the EU. Does the EU Suffer From a Democratic Deficit? | Essay
As a Project manager what measures are you going to take for your organization under below mentioned critical questions.

Ques-1-Looking ahead to 2022 and beyond, what does the future hold for the supply chain?Ques-2-What technology disruptors deserve immediate attention? Ques-3-What are the biggest risks being faced by the supply chain leaders? Ques-4-What role does social media play in supply chain strategy going forwards? Ques-5-What are the future necessities in the field of SCM4.0 applied to sustainable supply chain management? Requirments:You are required to choose any company (Saudi Company is
Preferred) focusing on supply chain.Ensure that you follow the APA style in your project and
references.The minimum number of required references is 5.Total critical questions length should be between 800 to 1000 words. Keep plagiarism level as low as 2%
As a Project manager what measures are you going to take for your organization under below mentioned critical questions

MIS 201 Saudi Electronic University Nucor Steel Manufacturing Presentation.

presentation about a project has to be perfect with pictures Executive summaryThis assignment investigates the informational technology and the strategic issues of the most profitable steel and iron producing company in America, the Nucor company. The company has its headquarters located in Charlotte, the northern part of California. The company was founded in the year 1940, and its current CEO is Leon Top Alan. Additionally, the paper also focuses on the mission statement and the existing structure that governs its operations. It is worth noting the Nucor operations structure is decentralized in that there is a clear channel under which leadership systems are being conducted. Relatively we are also going to focus on the different competitive strategies used by the company. In this relation, strategies like cost leadership, differentiation, and focus strategy will be focused upon, and in the end, the best approach will be addressed. In cost leadership, the company adapting this strategy ensure that produce their products at a meager cost. In a differentiation strategy, the company ensures that they produce things different from other companies, meaning they produce a unique product from others. In the focus strategy, the company ensures that they only target a very narrow market unto which they are willing to selling their products to and try to develop their products to meet this target market effectively and appropriately (Vohra,2017). In Nucor company, the most effective strategy is a cost-effective strategy, and it is the one they have used to be successful. The technology used by the company doing its operations is also to be addressed in this paper. In this regard, the IT infrastructure is going to be of great importance. In the case of Nucor company, they have adopted the use of both hardware and software. The majorly used software is that of 3D Building Information Modeling BIM, which has enabled them to effectively keep their data. The analysis of the current systems which are in place is going to be considered.
MIS 201 Saudi Electronic University Nucor Steel Manufacturing Presentation

Southern New Hampshire University Process Improvement Toolbox Discussion

Southern New Hampshire University Process Improvement Toolbox Discussion.

This is a discussion posting.You have just been asked by your manager to lead a process improvement team. Your manager has asked you to identify a process that needs improvement within the business. Think about a business process for your current employer or a former employer that could use some improvement. If you cannot think of a business process for an employer, think about a process in your personal life.Provide a description of the process and explain why you think that this process needs some improvement. Within this module you have been introduced to several quality tools. As the leader of this process improvement team you have decided to use at least two of these quality tools to help with this process improvement project.Identify a minimum of two quality tools that you will use in this process improvement project. Provide a brief description about the quality tool and explain how this tool will help your team improve the process. Finally, describe the overall improvement that you hope to achieve by using these quality tools
Southern New Hampshire University Process Improvement Toolbox Discussion

included below and in the attached PDF Resources are included

cheap assignment writing service . PROMPTS – Respond in complete sentences, either in writing, as a presentation, uploaded oral responses, etc. The format is up to you! These do not need to be answered one-by-one/numbered in order–as long as all prompts are answered the approach and level of formality is up to you. As a new teacher, how do you see yourself implementing RJ in your classroom? What challenges to you see in implementing RJ? What specific benefits do you see it having in your classroom? What steps will you take to incorporate RJ, in general? b. ACTIVITY – Draft a classroom management plan based on what you have read in this module (and this course all together) and what you learned about RJ. The format of this plan is your choice (a list, a table, a presentation, etc.), but complete this with an eye toward your current/future classroom (you want to create something you can use!). Here are the items to consider in your plan (and this list is not exhaustive, this can be a jumping-off point): What types of routines will you have in your classroom (including arrivals, departures, switching classes, starting the day, ending the day, moving around the classroom, etc.)? What types of classroom policies will you have (e.g., water, food, cell phones, bathroom, tardiness, homework, interactions, material use/sharing, etc.)? What will be your class rules, and how will those be determined and enforced? What will be your discipline policies, and how will those be determined? (e.g., students breaking class rules, etc.)? Why are these routines/policies/rules in place and how do they reflect restorative practices?

Relationship Between Organization Structure, Culture And HRM

My research question is “Relationship b/w Organization Structure, Culture and HRM. It is a broad term to describe the interrelated functions of an organization. Those function whose absent encounter the problems of decline to an organization. Firstly I would like to describe the basic terminology of my research question. Organization Structure: An organizational structure is a mainly hierarchical concept of subordination of entities that collaborate and contribute to serve one common aim. (Wikipedia) Culture: The specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with Stakeholders outside the organization.” (Wikipedia) HRM The polices and practices involved in carrying out the “people” or human resource aspects of a management position, including recruiting, screening. Training rewarding and appraising. (Gary Dessler, HRM ,2005). As these three mention categories are showing these are very much interrelated with each other and I am assigned to show relationship between these in context of an organization. My motivation to select this research question is very obvious as I’m very profound of these management elements and I ll show you how I motivated on these for my thesis. As everyone knows the critical values of these functions in an organization these are the function which constitute the basic part for making an organization or a company .for example if we talk about organizational culture than we heard employees talk about aspects of an organization , what they like about working at a company: respect for individual employees. Opportunity for personal growth and responsibility. Teamwork. A feeling of family. Freedom to be creative. Minimal rules and regulations. Little or no hierarchy. These all are a rich array of benefits and services to facilitate work force balance and people attract to such organization and this is why I select this function. My second target is HRM , as it is considered that the success of an organization often depends largely on the effectiveness through which workers are recruited, hired, trained, evaluated and rewarded. This is the very crucial success factor for a small who are not relying on hr manager even. My great interest in this is because of using the appropriate human source for an organization with its affectivity. My third function to be under taken in my thesis is organization structure, organization in these modern era tend to grow to large size and bureaucracy is efficient with large size while small may come and go but today modern technological advancements tend our organization to be multi-locational with financial and technological resources to compete in global market. So a review of the evidence linkage organizational structure to employee performance and satisfaction. So I’m definitely sure to do justice with these objective of my thesis as with the advancement in each era of life it is so obvious that these three are the essential part of an organization. I’m sure I’m going through this as me my self very much interested in this topic /research question. “It `s not what we don’t know that gives us trouble it `s what we know that ain` t so.” (W . Rogers) DEVELOPMENT OF THIS AREA IN PAKISTAN In Pakistan, HR is merely a department to serve payroll management and related issues. Mostly, it has the short-termed components of HR i.e. Recruitment system. Although many Organization stands out from the rest as it has Training

Schwarzkopf and his Leadership Style Coursework

Schwarzkopf and his Leadership Style Coursework. One of the greatest leaders of the 20th century is General Schwarzkopf. His leadership style is an intriguing subject matter, because he was able to accomplish something that has never been done in the history of military warfare. Schwarzkopf spearheaded a coalition of military forces composed of military personnel, and military equipment that came from different parts of the world. He was tasked to command an alliance comprised of generals and military officers from different parts of the globe. It was a tremendous challenge to manage their egos, and to inspire them to give their best. He succeeded in persuading military leaders from different cultural backgrounds to work together. At the same time, he orchestrated a military campaign that resulted in few casualties. In addition, he was able to accomplish major goals in a few months. He defeated Saddam Hussein in less than 4 months (Schwarzkopf, 1993). If one will contrast his achievements to military generals that were faced with similar challenges in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, it is safe to say that General Schwarzkopf’s accomplishments are almost unequaled. Thus, I have decided to use his leadership style as a basis to improve my own. I was able to develop a sketch of Schwarzkopf’s leadership style by gleaning insights from his autobiographical book. I decided to use the book because of personal anecdotes, and other important information regarding Schwarzkopf. In addition, the book is also a critical source of relevant information. It was published a few years after Schwarzkopf’s successful management of Operation Dessert Storm. This historical event was a famous military operation that liberated Kuwait from invading Iraqi armed forces under the command of Saddam Hussein. Leadership Style His leadership style is a combination of Dominance-Style and Interactive-Style of leadership. There was a trace of the dominance style of leadership when Schwarzkopf compelled his subordinates, and fellow military officers to accomplish a specific goal. On the other hand, there was also a trace of the interactive style of leadership in his repertoire, because of his capability to work with others. His leadership style was characterized by humility. He was willing to work with others. He was willing to make them feel part of the winning team. Thus, he did not take all the credit for the overwhelming success of Operation Desert Storm. His leadership style was also characterized by adaptability. He was willing to adjust to the requirements of the mission. In other words, he was willing to work even if the circumstances surrounding him were far from perfect. Finally, Schwarzkopf’s leadership style was defined by cultural sensitivity. He realized that he had to be sensitive to the cultural background of the leaders that he had to work with. His complex leadership style was derived from adopting skills that were under the Dominance-Style and Interactive-Style of leadership. His effective leadership style was largely the byproduct of his upbringing and experiences. Schwarzkopf was born into a middle class family, and he lived in an affluent neighborhood. However, Schwarzkopf was not a spoiled brat. When he was a young boy, he was affected by the impact of the Second World War on American families. As a result, his family was able to experience economic hardships. At the same time, Schwarzkopf’s mother was dealing with alcoholism. Life’s problems gave Schwarzkopf the ability to understand the frailty of human nature. As a result, the multi-awarded general was able to develop a profound sense of empathy that endeared him to his subordinates. I am fascinated to learn more about Schwarzkopf’s leadership style. I believe that his experience and insights can help me improve my leadership capabilities. If I can learn how to be more interactive, and more adventurous as Schwarzkopf, then, I believe that I can become a better leader. Before going any further it is important to point out that based on the Disk Self-Assessment, I have the Cautious-Style of leadership. I like this particular leadership style because it means that I am analytical, systematic, and persistent. It also means that I love solving problems. Those who belong to this category are task-oriented leaders. I also scored high in the sub-category labeled as The Perfecter. In this particular category, leaders have the tendency to pay attention to process and details. Leaders under this category are thorough and dependable. Although you can depend on me to accomplish goals and follow-up on issues that needs resolution in the shortest possible time, I struggle when it comes to in-depth involvement with people. It is important for me to learn how to be genuinely open to people that have a different opinion or a different approach on how to solve a specific problem. I realized that my current capabilities are good enough to solve simple problems. However, when it comes to more complicated goals or objectives, it is imperative to develop the skill on how to work with other people. This is the reason why I greatly admire General Schwarzkopf. He did not only work with people that have a different approach to completing a shared task. He worked with people that spoke a different language. He worked with people that may be offended by things that we find ordinary or inconsequential. He did not only collaborated with them; he even inspired them to accomplish difficult tasks. I want to adopt certain aspects of his leadership style, especially the part that enables him to persuade people to set aside their differences in order to work as a team. My strategy for improvement is to continually learn from leaders like General Schwarzkopf. I will look for leaders that were able to blend the Dominance-Style and Interactive-Style of leadership. I will study how to communicate with other people. I will try to find out how to develop the skill to initiate a consensual and collaborative type of working process (Daft, 2014). I want to understand how to influence people through relationships, rather than through position power and authority. I want to learn how to share ideas and maintain two-way communication (Lewis, 2007). I believe that this is the only way to empower people, and encourage them to develop their skills even more. Reference Daft, R. (2014). The leadership experience. CA: Cengage Learning. Lewis, P. (2007). Management: Challenges for tomorrow’s leaders. OH: Thomson Higher Learning. Schwarzkopf, N. (1993). It doesn’t take a hero: The autobiography of General Norman Schwarzkopf. New York: Bantam Books. Schwarzkopf and his Leadership Style Coursework

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