Governing Social Cohesion in Shrinking Cities: The Cases of Ostrava,Genoa and Leipzig

Social cohesion always appears more frequently as a policy goal of the European strategy that promotes the integration of spatial, economic, and social dimensions of growth. This comprehensive approach also has to deal with the social consequences of demographic change, tackle urban poverty, and guarantee access to amenities in isolated neighbourhoods. Such objectives represent specific challenges for shrinking cities, where processes of population decline, job losses and economic constraints as well as financial restrictions create a much more complicated starting position and might make the achievement of the social cohesion even more difficult than in non-shrinking cities. Set against this background, this paper analyses the efforts of three shrinking cities (Ostrava, Genoa, Leipzig) to promote social cohesion under the condition of urban shrinkage, and examines which policies are being promoted to solve problems such as ethnic segregation, ageing, and socio-spatial inequalities. The results show that even though shrinkage does lead to increased challenges for social cohesion, the attempts of policies to tackle them still appear to be secondary priorities, sectoral rather than comprehensive, and involve a certain delay.     

Five Factions,Two Parties: Caucus Membership in the House of Representatives, 1994–2002

This paper examines the extent of ideological cohesion and distinction of two Republican congressional factions (the conservative Republican Study Committee and the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership) and three Democratic congressional caucuses (the moderate Blue Dog Coalition, the liberal Congressional Black Caucus, and the liberal Congressional Progressive Caucus) in the House of Representatives from 1994 to 2002. Whereas much of the literature on congressional caucuses has focused on the reasons members join such groups and the policy and political orientations of those groups, this paper examines how much unity exists in the voting behavior of the members of Congress who join caucuses in comparison to their fellow partisans not in a faction. Although political parties are still a major unifying force for their respective party members, we do find that factional members are more ideologically cohesive than are nonfactional members. Joining a faction is not an insignificant activity for members. Factions allow like-minded colleagues to come together and vote on common issues, at times against direction of their party.     

Labour mobility in the Euroregion Galicia–Norte de Portugal: constraints faced by cross-border commuters

ABSTRACT

Removing barriers to labour mobility is expected to contribute to processes of spatial integration in cross-border regions, by an efficient allocation of labour and consequently a convergence between territories separated by a common border. Nevertheless, despite the de-bordering process within the European Union, administrative, legal and language barriers still hamper cross-border labour mobility, preventing the process of labour market integration. The aim of this paper is to identify obstacles to the mobility of cross-border workers commuting within the Euroregion Galicia–Norte de Portugal. The methodology employed combines the analysis of official data on labour mobility with qualitative data gathered from interviews with cross-border commuters, aimed at finding explanations for the different attitudes towards cross-border mobility inside this Euroregion. While traditional push and pull factors remain relevant in explaining cross-border labour flows, the qualitative information offers new insights into different levels of indifference from cross-border workers. The result is a fragmented labour market where Norte de Portugal is providing low-qualified, low-wage labour, whereas Galicia is contributing with well-paid, qualified labour.