https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/128076 2026-04-11T14:20:30Z 2026-04-11T14:20:30Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/129522 2024-12-03T14:03:04Z 2013-11-12T00:00:00Z

Title: Why Democracies are less likely to fight each other : the Kantian peace and democratic peace theory Abstract: In this public discussion, chaired by Dr Marcello Carammia, Professor Caranti spoke about Immanuel Kant and the so-called Democratic Peace Theory (DPT), and linked it to his studies, arguing that despite appearances Kant's model is very different from DPT's, that it is more convincing from a normative perspective, and that it is supported by evidence better than DPT.

2013-11-12T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/129519 2024-12-03T13:36:40Z 2013-05-15T00:00:00Z

Title: The Euro crisis and national elections in Malta and Italy Abstract: Following an introduction by Dr Carammia, Dr Tronconi started his talk by discussing the results of the Italian general election of 24- 25 February 2013, and its impact on the Italian political and party systems. He entered into the various complexities of the ”bonus adjusted” proportional representation of the Italian electoral system, showing how the sum of regional-level majority bonuses employed to elect the Senate is likely to result into a partisan composition different from the House of Representatives, where there is only one national-level majority bonus. This raises a number of problems, because according to the Italian Constitution the two Chambers have the same powers and, crucially, they both take part in the investiture of governments. Dr Tronconi moved on to the particularities of the last election. He focused especially on the ‘phenomenon’ of the Five Star Movement (M5S, Movimento Cinque Stelle), the political party (self-described as a ‘movement’) founded by Beppe Grillo which was running for its first national election. Even though the polls pointed to a good result, the large amount of support obtained by the M5S – 25.5 percent of all votes – surprised commentators and politicians alike. In terms of voting results, therefore, three main blocks emerged from the elections: the M5S, the traditional centre-left (29.5%) and centre-right (29.1%). Both of the latter coalitions lost a large amount of their share of votes to the M5S. The new block led by Prof .Mario Monti obtained only 10.1%. The tiny majority of votes obtained nationally by the centre-left coalition gave it the electoral bonus in the Chamber of Deputies, resulting in a clear majority of 55 percent of seats there. However, the system of regional bonuses resulted in a lack of majority in the Senate. As a consequence, the parliament was stuck for two months, while it also had to decide on the appointment of a new President of the Republic – that eventually led to the unprecedented re-election of President Giorgio Napolitano. The sum of political shock, lack of majority in the Senate, unwillingness of the M5S to enter in a coalition with or support a centre-left government, and the inability of the Partito Democratico to build any feasible alternative, resulted in the formation of Enrico Letta’s government, supported by the centre-right and centre-left coalitions and by Mario Monti’s block - an unexpected outcome and an unstable government. Dr Tronconi ended his talk by examining the M5S in greater detail. Following Dr. Tronconi’s discussion, Prof. Pace took the stand, and commenced his talk on the 2013 election in Malta. He first described the Maltese electoral system, and then entered into the main points of this year’s election results. Prof. Pace remarked that the electoral result was one of the most staggering results of the post-war period. A nine seat majority in Parliament, as obtained by the Labour Party, had not been seen for most of the post-war elections. Prof. Pace went on to provide some facts on past Maltese elections, starting from the election of 1921. Subsequently, Prof. Pace discussed the various factors which may have influenced the 2013 result and the Labour victory. These factors could form the basis of further studies for students of Malta’s electoral process. They included, amongst others, the fact that the Labour Party had a new leader, the long time in which the Nationalist Party had been in government, the better delivery of Labour’s political message, and Labour’s stands and offer of a solution on key issues of public concern such as those related to the provision of energy. The governing party seemed to be trailing behind the Opposition throughout the electoral campaign. Prof Pace also mentioned that for future research it may be interesting to study the trend that has been set of MEPs coming from the European Parliament to national politics for this seems to go against popular perceptions that national MPs seek an MEP job after they are done with national politics. It remains to be seen whether this trend continues in the future and how it compares with the rest of the EU member states, as well as what effects it will have on Malta’s political system. Following Dr Tronconi’s and Prof. Pace’s talks, a number of questions were taken from the audience and addressed by the speakers, resulting in a lively debate. Description: On Wednesday 15 May 2013, a discussion on the recent elections in Italy and Malta was held at the European Documentation Centre (EDC), hosted by the Institute for European Studies.

2013-05-15T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/129518 2024-12-03T12:56:31Z 2013-04-08T00:00:00Z

Title: The Lisbon treaty and citizenship in Europe Abstract: Following a brief introduction by Mr Bugelli on the main theme, the European Year of Citizens 2013, Prof. Pace spoke on the topic of ‘More Powers to the European Parliament and European Citizenship’. He said that, as EU citizens, people stand to benefit from additional rights than they would as citizens of their individual nation state. Professor Pace also discussed the current economic crisis and how this is causing many to associate the EU and EU citizenship with negative developments. However, he also noted that opinion polls show that a majority of persons still believe that the EU is more adept at dealing with the crisis than the individual member states. Turning to the role of the European Parliament in the crisis, Prof. Pace said that although the Lisbon Treaty has given the Parliament significant power, the EP still did not play a major role in the economic crisis. He argued that this marginal role would not help increase voter turnout at next year’s European elections. Dr Harwood subsequently delivered a talk entitled ‘The Committee on a People’s Europe and the Politics behind EU Citizenship’. Dr Harwood said that the Committee, was set up 30 years ago to find ways of creating a stronger link between the citizens of the EU member states and the EU institutions. The Committee had identified many practical recommendations on how to achieve this, such as an EU anthem and flag, together with more practical goals such as the four freedoms. Despite this, polls have shown that the ‘cultural’ dimensions of the Committee’s recommendations, particularly the anthem and flag have taken second place in importance to more concrete aspects of the EU, such as free movement and the single currency. The problem such aspects of identity pose centres on the fact that many of these key components of EU identity, especially the single currency, are now in jeopardy because of the economic crisis. Dr Carammia delivered the final talk of the discussion, entitled ‘The EU governance after the Lisbon Treaty: institutional complexity and democratic legitimacy’. Dr Carammia said that the Convention on the Future of Europe, which eventually led to the Lisbon Treaty, had amongst its aims that of addressing the EU’s institutional complexity. Dr Carammia argued however that if a democratic deficit exists it does not lie in EU’s complex institutions and cumbersome decision-making procedures. He summarised the main positions in the academic literature – pointing out how different views about the EU’s democratic deficit are related to different understandings of what the EU is and should be. The conclusion of his talk was that the EU is departing from the model of a ‘regulatory state’ concerned with the efficient regulation of economic activities, and is increasingly dealing with redistributive policies. Redistribution, in turn, raises political conflict, and if such conflict is not made the object of contestation within EU institutions it can only attract discontent toward the EU as a whole – and against the very project of EU integration. In his view, a politically legitimised EU government, one that is also opposed by a minority competing on the basis of an alternative programme of government, would be an effective way to depoliticise EU integration (what the EU is) while focusing political conflict on EU activities (what the EU does). At the end of the discussion, on behalf of the European Commission Representation in Malta, Mr Martin Bugelli presented a number of new academic books to Prof. Pace. The books are to be kept at the European Documentation Centre, to be used for reference work by students. The panel discussion was very well attended by a good number of students and members of the public. Description: A panel discussion entitled ‘The Lisbon Treaty and Citizenship in Europe’ was held on 8 April at the European Documentation Centre, housed at the Institute for European Studies. The event was organised in collaboration with the European Commission Representation, Malta. The panel was composed of Mr Martin Bugelli (Head of European Commission Representation Malta), Prof. Roderick Pace (Director of the Institute for European Studies and Jean Monnet Chair), Dr Mark Harwood (Senior Lecturer in European Studies) and Dr Marcello Carammia (Lecturer in European Studies).

2013-04-08T00:00:00Z