https://booksandideas.net// Books & Ideas is the English-language mirror website of La Vie des Idées, a free online journal which has gained a large readership and established itself in France as a major place for intellectual debate since 2007. en SPIP - www.spip.net https://booksandideas.net/local/cache-vignettes/L144xH68/siteon0-04014.png?1675949311 https://booksandideas.net// 68 144 https://booksandideas.net/Doing-Away-With-Presidential-Elections https://booksandideas.net/Doing-Away-With-Presidential-Elections 2011-12-01T13:09:11Z text/html en Pierre Brunet & Arnaud Le Pillouer Politics Carousel France democracy elections De Gaulle republic Chadoc La campagne des idées <p>The election of the President of the French Republic by universal suffrage is said to represent an undeniable step forward for democracy, in that it enables the people to directly choose a leader and a type of politics. According to P. Brunet and A. Le Pillouer, however, the opposite is true: electing the president by universal suffrage destabilises our institutions and weakens political life.</p> https://booksandideas.net/The-Opacity-of-Consensus https://booksandideas.net/The-Opacity-of-Consensus 2011-11-24T08:43:21Z text/html en Stéphanie Novak Politics democracy European Union lobbying decision-making transparency vote Chadoc <p>At the Council of the European Union, decisions are usually made by consensus. Does this mean that all the countries are of one mind? In fact, disagreements are often concealed, since it is not in the interest of most countries to publicize the fact that they have been defeated. Stéphanie Novak describes the various practices that consensus entails and gives an account of the opacity presiding over the exercise of joint sovereignty.</p> https://booksandideas.net/When-Immigration-Is-a-Crime https://booksandideas.net/When-Immigration-Is-a-Crime 2011-10-24T13:05:11Z text/html en Luca d'Ambrosio International Carousel migration European Union law Chadoc <p>Over the past few years, European Union law and national laws, particularly in France and Italy, have established repressive and utilitarian immigration policies that have equated European cooperation with legal regression. What is left of the right to migrate once held sacred by theologians and jurists alike?</p>