| AP* | Comparative Government and Politics Examination | | | What You Need to Know |
__ Corrections _____________________________
|
Duma and "no confidence" votes Back in 2002, I wrote about the powers of the Russian Duma that, "There is no mechanism for a no confidence vote." That sentence survived two revisions of the chapter and appears on page 72 of the third edition (copyright 2008). It's no longer correct. One of Chris Pears' students at Minnetonka High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota pointed out the obsolete description. Thank you very much, whoever you are. The Duma can, in fact, vote no confidence in the prime minister and the government. The legislators must pass two consecutive no confidence votes for the action to be effective. However, if the Duma does that, the president can either choose a new prime minister acceptable to the Duma or dissolve the Duma and call for new elections. That second option discourages legislators from voting no confidence in a government since they'd have to give up their perks of office (like Moscow apartments, offices, and staffs) and stand for election. Given the present dominance of United Russia, the chances that the Duma would even consider voting no confidence in Putin's government are for all practical purposes nil. Chapter 6, Article 117 of the Russian Constitution: 3. The State Duma may express no confidence in the Government of the Russian Federation. A resolution of no confidence in the Government shall be adopted by a majority of votes of the total number of deputies of the State Duma. After the State Duma has expressed no confidence in the Government of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation shall have the right to announce the resignation of the Government or to reject the decision of the State Duma. In the event that the State Duma expresses no confidence in the Government of the Russian Federation again within three months, the President of the Russian Federation shall announce the resignation of the Government or dissolve the State Duma. |
|
EU Commission Mark Honig, who teaches at Esperanza High School in Anaheim, California (and is head wrestling coach for the Aztecs) wrote me about something in Chapter 12 ("International Organizations"). When describing the EU Commission on pg. 156, I wrote, "The member countries' governments appoint the members of the commission. The number of members appointed by each country is proportional to its national population.' Careful reader Honig expressed some confusion because he "was under the impression that there are 27 commissioners on the EU commission, one from each member state." He's absolutely right. I am wrong. The EU web site specifically says, "The Commission consists of 27 men and women -- one from each EU country. They are assisted by about 24 000 civil servants, most of whom work in Brussels." I wondered if I'd been thinking of the whole bureaucracy when I wrote that errant line. After all another page on the EU web site says, "The term 'Commission' is used in two senses. First, it refers to the team of men and women -- one from each EU country -- appointed to run the institution and take its decisions. Secondly, the term 'Commission' refers to the institution itself and to its staff." But, when I looked further, I found that "14% of Eurocrats are Belgian," which is understandable since most of the bureaucracy is headquartered in Brussels. So, the civil service is not chosen with regard to the populations of member countries. I don't know where the incorrect information came from. The EU web site was my primary source for what I wrote. I was wrong. Thank you Mark Honig. |
|
Flying to Nigeria A comment I made in the chapter on Nigeria (Chapter 9) is no longer accurate. I said that because of drug smuggling, it was not possible to fly directly from the USA to Nigeria. Beginning in January 2008, that changed. An article in This Day, a Lagos newspaper, reported in mid-December (2007), "Two local airlines, Arik Air and Virgin Nigeria, will start flying directly to the United States of America in 2008. "North American Airlines currently flies direct to New York while Delta Airlines, which recently began operations in Nigeria, flies direct to Atlanta, Georgia with a plan to also fly directly to New York from June 2008." The problem of drug smuggling continues. An article in The Economist on the same mid-December day reported, "Illicit drugs flow in from all over and then flow out to Europe." The article began, "A FAIRLY typical recent morning at Murtala Mohammed, Lagos's main airport, saw four traffickers carrying cocaine, heroin or marijuana caught, arrested and X-rayed before noon..." |
__ Updates ________________________________
Return to the List of Supporting Pages |
Return to What You Need to Know
_________________________________________________________
*AP and Advanced Placement Program are registered trademarks of the College Entrance Examination Board,
which was not involved with the production of and does not endorse this book or this Web site.
kw 092703 o/kw 10.01.09 r