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This article deals with comparison of fiscal decentralization systems in EU-27 according to selected quantitative criteria and certain European Charter of Local Self-Government principles. The results of comparative analysis show that, a higher number of lower levels of government usually indicate a greater share of local finance within the total public finance, however, this finding does not confirm the inverse link. Even though, the structure of expenditures in EU-27 countries is quite similar, the shares of funds for the implementation of individual tasks and competencies differ significantly from country to country. On average, the countries allocate most funds to education, social security, healthcare, administration and political systems, with only a quarter of the countries recording the same or higher amounts of revenues than expenditures. Most of the countries still cover the existing deficit either through transfers from the central to lower levels of government or through equalisation schemes or borrowing, which otherwise represents a departure from one of the basic principles of the Charter. Adapted from the source document.

There have been many important studies on leadership in the public administration discipline; however, scholarly inquiry still lags behind related disciplines such as psychology and business administration. This article helps fill that gap by analyzing the role that public leaders play in making work more meaningful for their employees, which, in turn, has a positive influence on employee job outcomes. Specifically, the authors analyze the mediating role of work meaningfulness in the relationships between leader‐member exchange and organizational commitment, work effort, and work‐to‐family enrichment. Samples from education, health care, and local government are used. Results show that leadership strongly influences work meaningfulness, which, in turn, influences job outcomes. In addition, the impact and extent of leadership and work meaningfulness are higher in health care and education than in local government. The results emphasize the importance of leadership and meaningful work in the public sector.

This paper examines the climate rhetoric and climate action of the Obama administration in its first term. It first traces the trajectory of the term "climate change" as used in 1,908 speeches by administration officials from January 2008 to December 2011; after an apex in 2009, the phrase nearly disappeared. Second, the article details the history of US international climate funding since 2009. In the Obama administration's first budget alone (Fiscal Year 2010), dedicated climate change foreign assistance increased from $321 million to $1.008 billion. Using anonymous administration sources, "fast start finance" reports, and the Congressional Research Service, the paper details the numbers and behind-the-scenes details of President Obama's apparent determination to prioritize climate finance despite powerful congressional opposition. Although these seemingly contradictory trends in rhetoric and finance can be seen as cohering in a highly strategic, energy-focused "two-level game" by the administration, the program's longevity is endangered.

International audience ; La question de l'adaptation de l'agriculture et de la forêt au changement climatique peut s'envisager selon deux grandes approches, dont les conséquences en termes de recherche et d'action diffèrent assez radicalement. La première approche consiste à considérer l'agriculture et la forêt, comme c'est de plus en plus le cas, comme des filières parmi d'autres, l'agriculteur faisant figure d'agent productif parmi beaucoup d'autres. Une telle approche trouve sa justification dans la baisse tendancielle de la contribution de l'agriculture et de la forêt au produit intérieur brut ; elle s'explique plus fondamentalement par le fait anthropologique majeur selon lequel la culture agricole et rurale des sociétés occidentales se délite à grande vitesse à partir de la seconde moitié du XXe siècle (Serres, 2001). Dès lors, aucun traitement de faveur n'est à prévoir : les acteurs des filières agricoles et forestières ne devront compter que sur eux-mêmes afin de trouver les conditions et les moyens de l'adaptation, au même titre que l'industrie automobile ou tout autre secteur tenu d'innover pour survivre aux contraintes et défis que le réchauffement planétaire impose à leur activité. Certains résisteront, beaucoup disparaîtront. La société n'influencera pas ou peu l'évolution des choses. La compétitivité, la capacité d'innovation technologique et le marché imposeront leurs lois.Une seconde approche est cependant possible, pour peu que l'on mobilise à bon escient la notion de territoire, une notion généralement absente des débats et processus internationaux consacrés au changement climatique. Selon Le Robert (2004), le territoire est une « étendue de pays sur laquelle s'exerce une autorité, une juridiction ». Plusieurs disciplines relevant des sciences humaines et sociales enrichissent cette acception juridique en définissant le territoire comme un espace faisant l'objet d'une appropriation matérielle et symbolique par une collectivité humaine. Plus que des limites administratives ou politiques, le ...