Paul Stephenson
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 3680969 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Paul Stephenson |
| NOMBRES | Paul |
| APELLIDO | Stephenson |
| FIRMA | STEPHENSON P |
| AFILIACIONES | Maastricht University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7046-4252 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 43 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 151 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 44 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 1 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 1999 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2025 |
| ÍNDICE H | 5 |
The challenges of policy oversight for the European Parliament
In its scrutiny role the European Parliament (EP) makes wide use of several informational resources, including Commission evaluations and European Court of Auditors' performance audits. These crucial inputs into deliberative processes of parliamentary oversight enable committees to monitor the performance of policies financed by the EU budget. Effective scrutiny is fundamental for the throughput legitimacy and financial accountability of EU polic…
The Rich and the Pure
“Give to everyone who begs from you,” Jesus advised his followers. Most of us do not and rush on by, concerned for our safety, for what the beggar will buy with our gift of alms, for who will benefit from our gift. Fewer stop and give something: if not cash, then a snack or beverage, and their precious time. A century since Marcel Mauss published his famous essay, we all feel quite well informed about “the gift.” In this richly detailed study, Ca…
New Rome
Modern states have ever looked to antiquity for lessons, coveting Rome’s power and fearing its decline. So why did Rome collapse? Scientific study is providing novel answers. Placing texts and artifacts alongside evidence from ice cores and ancient DNA, Paul Stephenson shows the key roles of environmental disaster and pandemics in the fall of Rome.
New Rome
The Bronze Horseman of Justinian in Constantinople
In this exceedingly rich and wide-ranging study, Elena Boeck projects brilliant shafts of light onto a famous but obscure monument. A colossal equestrian statue that stood for a millennium on a towering column, The Bronze Horseman of Justinian was an urban icon for a remade Constantinople. Far taller than Constantine’s column, or any other freestanding pillar or statue of New Rome, it dominated the city’s skyline alongside the dome of Hagia Sophi…
The physical completion of the EU’s single market
Since the 1993 White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment, the Commission has emphasised the importance of trans-European networks (TENs) for the physical completion of the single market. Despite the 2004 and 2013 revisions to the TEN-T regulation, redefining and expanding the multimodal network, many projects remain unfinished. This article explores the Commission’s enduring role in EU policy coordination from the perspective of hybri…
Evaluating the measure of diverse adolescent spirituality in samples of Mexican and Salvadoran youth
Framing the European Fund for Strategic Investments
In 2014, newly elected Commission President Juncker pushed to create the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), with the aim of creating jobs and stimulating growth. With guarantees offered by the fund and the involvement of the European Investment Bank, the plan was to use €21 billion to leverage €315 billion of investment in the European economy. The EFSI legislative process was very fast with legislation emerging in just a year, with …
Norms, legitimacy and institutional independence
The European Court of Auditors (ECA), established in 1977, is the external auditor of the EU budget. It was given full EU institutional status in 1993. The Treaty of Amsterdam reaffirmed its independence and extended its audit powers. Based in Luxembourg, it employs around 900 people, of whom less than half are auditors. The ECA is meant to carry out its audit tasks in close cooperation with the supreme audit institutions (SAIs) at the national l…
Fountains and Water Culture in Byzantium
This book restores the fountains of Roman Byzantium, Byzantine Constantinople and Ottoman Istanbul, reviving the sounds, shapes, smells and sights of past water cultures. Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, is surrounded on three sides by sea, and has no major river to deliver clean, potable water. However, the cultures that thrived in this remarkable waterscape through millennia have developed and sustained diverse …
The Serpent Column
Paul Stephenson twists together multiple strands to relate the cultural biography of a unique monument, the Serpent Column, which stands today in Istanbul 2500 years after it was raised at Delphi
Serpent Column
"The Serpent Column, a bronze sculpture that has stood in Delphi and Constantinople, today Istanbul, is a Greek representation of the Near Eastern primordial combat myth: it is Typhon, a dragon defeated by Zeus, and also Python slain by Apollo. The column was created after the Battle of Plataia (479 BC), where the sky was dominated by serpentine constellations and by the spiralling tails of the Milky Way. It was erected as a votive for Apollo and…
Conclusion
A summary of main findings.
Fountain
Surveys the known serpentine fountains of Medieval Constantinople, and relates tales of fantastic fountains from Byzantium and further afield, including at the court of Mongke Khan. Studies the placement of a serpent fountain in scenes depicting the Annunciation to St. Anne and also that of Mary, who is portrayed as the Second Eve. Returns to the theme of temptation, now specifically by three-headed tempters. Returns to the combat myth, now to co…
Delphi
Begins with a look at Archaic Greek bronze-working, notably developments in Lakonian bronze sculpture. Considers the role of votives, notably tripods and their zoo- and anthropomorphic attachments, in engaging Apollo. Studies the role of Pausanias, Spartan general and archegos of the Greeks, in creating and dedicating the Plataian tripod. Places this in the context of other dedications following the Battles of Salamis and Plataia. Briefly sketche…
Byzantine Icons and Things
Reviews three new and recent books and offers reflections on 'thingliness'.
Starting from scratch? Analysing early institutionalization processes
This article examines the institutionalization of Community governance in the area of audit in the period prior to the establishment of the European Court of Auditors. Drawing on the literature on institutionalism and early supranational governance, it puts forward an original framework for analysing institutional dynamics that distinguishes between the institutional and the organizational/individual level, and between political and social space …
European Space Policy
Appointing the members of the European Court of Auditors
Partiendo del actual debate en el Parlamento Europeo sobre el futuro rol del Tribunal de Cuentas Europeo y el impacto que el procedimiento de designación de sus miembros puede tener en las relaciones interinstitucionales y la credibilidad de esta institución europea, este artículo analiza el contexto y desafíos de la reforma del Tribunal desde la perspectiva de su naturaleza colegial y la necesaria competencia profesional de sus miembros. Seguida…
Spain's ‘Second Transition? The Socialist Government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and The Spanish Welfare State in European Context
Reviewing edited volumes is always a tough call. It means making choices—about which chapters to draw attention to, and thus, which issues to cover or ignore. The best one can perhaps do is to cons
Gift and Reciprocity at Work? Using Mauss to Explore Justifications for the Solidarity Day in the Aftermath of the 2003 Heatwave
The August 2003 heatwave resulted in an additional 15,000 deaths in France, mostly among the very old. In the aftermath of the disaster, an annual Solidarity Day (Journée de Solidarité) was introduced as part of the reform process. By cancelling a public holiday, the French government sought to raise 2 billion euros to finance healthcare for the elderly and disabled. The first such day in May 2005 led to confusion, with opposition from unions, de…
The Skylla group in Constantinople’s hippodrome
The Skylla group was among the most famous bronze sculptures installed in the hippodrome at Constantinople. This paper suggests that the Skylla was a feature of Constantinople at its re-foundation, but perhaps originally stood facing the Bosphorus. In around AD 400 it was moved to the hippodrome where it stood until its destruction in 1204, and where it may for some time have served as a fountain
Differentiating Agency Independence
The regulations granting the establishment of EU agencies were meant to ensure institutional independence in order to insulate everyday decision-making from political pressure, vested interests and political short-termism. However, recent events, including managerial resignations and the introduction of new rules concerning conflicts of interest, have brought renewed attention to the autonomy/independence debate. This article goes beyond the trad…
Twenty years of multi-level governance
In two decades since the Maastricht Treaty, multi-level governance (MLG) has developed as a conceptual framework for profiling the 'arrangement' of policy-making activity performed within and across politico-administrative institutions located at different territorial levels. This contribution examines the ways in which the MLG literature has been employed, effectively taking stock of applied research to date. It identifies five main uses of MLG …
Napoleon, Nostalgia and Number Plates
Soon into his term as President, Nicolas Sarkozy commissioned Jacques Attali, former\nadviser to Franc ̧ois Mitterrand, to investigate ways to ‘free up’ economic growth. Decision 260 of\nthe report published in February 2008 recommended doing away with the French department completely. The report reignited a decades-long debate about streamlining the levels of France’s public administration. Drawing on websites and internet blogs, including Attal…
Twenty years of multi-level governance
In two decades since the Maastricht Treaty, multi-level governance (MLG) has developed as a conceptual framework for profiling the 'arrangement' of policy-making activity performed within and across politico-administrative institutions located at different territorial levels. This contribution examines the ways in which the MLG literature has been employed, effectively taking stock of applied research to date. It identifies five main uses of MLG …
Let's get physical
The 1994 Essen European Council agreed to prioritize 14 trans-European networks (TENs) transport infrastructure projects, including five in high-speed rail. Within a decade Commission proposals emerged to integrate ports, airports, railways, motorways and satellites within the wider trans-European network (TEN-T). This article draws on revised readings of neofunctionalism to argue for cultivated spillover's role in mediating functional pressures …
Image and venue as factors mediating latent spillover pressure for agenda-setting change
Agenda-setting in the EU has been largely approached using literature from US scholars that emerged over the last 35 years. Surprisingly perhaps, grand theory in European integration has been ignored, even though it might offer valuable insights for longitudinal studies, particularly where issues have had difficulty making it onto the policy agenda. This article seeks to reconcile neofunctionalist and agenda-setting literature, to trace the journ…
Starting from scratch? Analysing early institutionalization processes
This article examines the institutionalization of Community governance in the area of audit in the period prior to the establishment of the European Court of Auditors. Drawing on the literature on institutionalism and early supranational governance, it puts forward an original framework for analysing institutional dynamics that distinguishes between the institutional and the organizational/individual level, and between political and social space …
Theoretical Perspectives on Approaches to Policy Evaluation in the Eu
Cohesion Policy accounts for the largest area of expenditure in the EU budget. Because of its scope and redistributive nature, evaluation is particularly important. Policy analysis tends to overlook the evaluation stage. Few empirical studies seek to apply theory to EU policy evaluation. This article questions the relevance and usefulness of theorizing evaluation practice, exploring positivist, realist, and constructivist perspectives upon approa…
The Role of Working Groups of Commissioners in Co‐ordinating Policy Implementation
Analysis of the Commission's role in policy implementation has focused largely on the administrative rather than political level. Yet little attention has been paid to the importance of high‐level Commission actors, such as Commissioners and Director‐Generals at this stage. This article analyses the role of a working group (WG) of Commissioners in monitoring and co‐ordinating the implementation of trans‐European networks (TENs) in transport. It a…
The legend of Basil the Bulgar-slayer
This article surveys the reputation of the emperor Basil II as the Bulgar-slayer from the twentieth to the eleventh century. Basil featured in a number of historical and literary works at the time of the ‘Macedonian Struggle’ (1904-8). In the nineteenth century Basil was considered a key historical figure by those seeking to establish hellenic continuity: he had a particular connection with both Athens and Constantinople, the two poles of helleni…
The physical completion of the EU’s single market
Since the 1993 White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment, the Commission has emphasised the importance of trans-European networks (TENs) for the physical completion of the single market. Despite the 2004 and 2013 revisions to the TEN-T regulation, redefining and expanding the multimodal network, many projects remain unfinished. This article explores the Commission’s enduring role in EU policy coordination from the perspective of hybri…
Gift and Reciprocity at Work? Using Mauss to Explore Justifications for the Solidarity Day in the Aftermath of the 2003 Heatwave
The August 2003 heatwave resulted in an additional 15,000 deaths in France, mostly among the very old. In the aftermath of the disaster, an annual Solidarity Day (Journée de Solidarité) was introduced as part of the reform process. By cancelling a public holiday, the French government sought to raise 2 billion euros to finance healthcare for the elderly and disabled. The first such day in May 2005 led to confusion, with opposition from unions, de…
Differentiating Agency Independence
The regulations granting the establishment of EU agencies were meant to ensure institutional independence in order to insulate everyday decision-making from political pressure, vested interests and political short-termism. However, recent events, including managerial resignations and the introduction of new rules concerning conflicts of interest, have brought renewed attention to the autonomy/independence debate. This article goes beyond the trad…
From Policy to Implementation in the European Union
Catching the Train to Europe
Parliamentary european affairs committees (eacs) are the most important specialised body for scrutinising european union (eu) matters. Despite a central position in domestic policy-making, their role is often limited. In spain, the pre-eminence of the executive over the legislature is commonly assumed. This article applies moravcsik's four causal mechanisms for executive influence (initiative, institutions, information and ideas) to the analysis …
Byzantium Transformed, c. 950-1200
Two phenomena were paramount in the transformation, and ultimate collapse, of the Byzantine imperial system in the period c. 950-1204: sustained economic and demographic growth, which the state failed fully to direct or exploit; and the emergence of a powerful, self-conscious aristocracy, willing to exploit resources to the detriment of the state. During the tenth and eleventh centuries imperial policies were devised which aimed to bolster existi…
Byzantine policy towards Paristrion in the mid-eleventh century
Archaeological and numismatic evidence for Byzantine activity in Paristrion, the lands beside the lower Danube, are surveyed and interpreted alongside the few pertinent written sources. It is suggested that the onset of Pecheneg invasions across the lower Danube, shortly after the death of Basil II (d. 1025), provoked his successors to implement a policy which allowed the Pechenegs, and other northern peoples, controlled access to markets and mer…
The legend of Basil the Bulgar-slayer
This article surveys the reputation of the emperor Basil II as the Bulgar-slayer from the twentieth to the eleventh century. Basil featured in a number of historical and literary works at the time of the ‘Macedonian Struggle’ (1904-8). In the nineteenth century Basil was considered a key historical figure by those seeking to establish hellenic continuity: he had a particular connection with both Athens and Constantinople, the two poles of helleni…
Images of the Bulgar-slayer
Following A. Cutler and G. Prinzing, this paper maintains that two works of art, Basil’s psalter portrait and the imperial silk in Bamberg Cathedral (Gunthertuch), cannot be associated with Basil II’s victory over the Bulgarians in 1018. A third work, a series of portraits known only from a late twelfth-century epigram, is adduced as evidence for the importance of Basil to the imperial image cultivated by the Komnenoi and Angeloi. The conclusions…
Byzantium's Balkan frontier
Anna Comnena’s Alexiad as a source for the Second Crusade
This article presents an overview of recent work by Byzantinists on the Alexiad of Anna Comnena, in particular her account of the First Crusade. It suggests that, since the Alexiad was composed at the time of the Second Crusade, it reflects the concerns of the mid-twelfth, not late eleventh century. In particular, Anna’s account of the First Crusade is coloured by a concern to counter the claims of mid-twelfth-century panegyrical literature produ…
Byzantium Transformed, c 950-1200
Two phenomena were paramount in the transformation, and ultimate collapse, of the Byzantine imperial system in the period c. 950-1204: sustained economic and demographic growth, which the state failed fully lo direct or exploit; and the emergence of a powerful, self-conscious aristocracy, willing to exploit resources to the detriment of the state. During the tenth and eleventh centuries imperial policies were devised which aimed to bolster existi…
Byzantium Transformed, c. 950-1200
Two phenomena were paramount in the transformation, and ultimate collapse, of the Byzantine imperial system in the period c. 950-1204: sustained economic and demographic growth, which the state failed fully to direct or exploit; and the emergence of a powerful, self-conscious aristocracy, willing to exploit resources to the detriment of the state. During the tenth and eleventh centuries imperial policies were devised which aimed to bolster existi…
Byzantine Style, Religion and Civilization
Strategy and Policy for Trans‐European Networks – By D. Johnson and C. Turner
Europeanization and Multilevel Governance – Cohesion Policy in the European Union and Britain – By I. Bache
Europeanization and Multilevel Governance – Cohesion Policy in the European Union and Britain , by I. Bache ( Lanham/New York : Rowman & Littlefield , 2008 , ISBN 9780742541337 ); xii + 193pp. , £21.99 pb . For long simply a ‘simple polity’, Britain has recently undergone profound changes in governance. This book investigates the extent to which EU cohesion policy has promoted multi-level governance (MLG) and assesses which seemingly associated c…
Hot Under the Collar
In the sweltering temperatures of August 2003 there were over 15,000 fatalities in France, the majority among the elderly. The heatwave (canicule) was the greatest natural catastrophe in Europe for 50 years. Political mismanagement contributed to the death toll and government initially to blame medical services. However, other politico-cultural, societal and psychological factors may have contributed to the failure to protect the most vulnerable …
Global Europe Social Europe
Catching the Train to Europe
Parliamentary european affairs committees (eacs) are the most important specialised body for scrutinising european union (eu) matters. Despite a central position in domestic policy-making, their role is often limited. In spain, the pre-eminence of the executive over the legislature is commonly assumed. This article applies moravcsik's four causal mechanisms for executive influence (initiative, institutions, information and ideas) to the analysis …
Byzantine World
Let's get physical
The 1994 Essen European Council agreed to prioritize 14 trans-European networks (TENs) transport infrastructure projects, including five in high-speed rail. Within a decade Commission proposals emerged to integrate ports, airports, railways, motorways and satellites within the wider trans-European network (TEN-T). This article draws on revised readings of neofunctionalism to argue for cultivated spillover's role in mediating functional pressures …
The Role of Working Groups of Commissioners in Co‐ordinating Policy Implementation
Analysis of the Commission's role in policy implementation has focused largely on the administrative rather than political level. Yet little attention has been paid to the importance of high‐level Commission actors, such as Commissioners and Director‐Generals at this stage. This article analyses the role of a working group (WG) of Commissioners in monitoring and co‐ordinating the implementation of trans‐European networks (TENs) in transport. It a…
From Policy to Implementation in the European Union
The Death of French Culture (trans. Andrew BROWN)
Donald MORRISON & Antoine COMPAGNON, Polity Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-7456-4994-8, £12.99 (pbk), 132 pp. At first glance this book might appear as a cheap attempt at culture-bashing. It is an English
Napoleon, Nostalgia and Number Plates
Soon into his term as President, Nicolas Sarkozy commissioned Jacques Attali, former\nadviser to Franc ̧ois Mitterrand, to investigate ways to ‘free up’ economic growth. Decision 260 of\nthe report published in February 2008 recommended doing away with the French department completely. The report reignited a decades-long debate about streamlining the levels of France’s public administration. Drawing on websites and internet blogs, including Attal…
Theoretical Perspectives on Approaches to Policy Evaluation in the Eu
Cohesion Policy accounts for the largest area of expenditure in the EU budget. Because of its scope and redistributive nature, evaluation is particularly important. Policy analysis tends to overlook the evaluation stage. Few empirical studies seek to apply theory to EU policy evaluation. This article questions the relevance and usefulness of theorizing evaluation practice, exploring positivist, realist, and constructivist perspectives upon approa…
Image and venue as factors mediating latent spillover pressure for agenda-setting change
Agenda-setting in the EU has been largely approached using literature from US scholars that emerged over the last 35 years. Surprisingly perhaps, grand theory in European integration has been ignored, even though it might offer valuable insights for longitudinal studies, particularly where issues have had difficulty making it onto the policy agenda. This article seeks to reconcile neofunctionalist and agenda-setting literature, to trace the journ…
The Skylla group in Constantinople’s hippodrome
The Skylla group was among the most famous bronze sculptures installed in the hippodrome at Constantinople. This paper suggests that the Skylla was a feature of Constantinople at its re-foundation, but perhaps originally stood facing the Bosphorus. In around AD 400 it was moved to the hippodrome where it stood until its destruction in 1204, and where it may for some time have served as a fountain
Differentiating Agency Independence
The regulations granting the establishment of EU agencies were meant to ensure institutional independence in order to insulate everyday decision-making from political pressure, vested interests and political short-termism. However, recent events, including managerial resignations and the introduction of new rules concerning conflicts of interest, have brought renewed attention to the autonomy/independence debate. This article goes beyond the trad…
Twenty years of multi-level governance
In two decades since the Maastricht Treaty, multi-level governance (MLG) has developed as a conceptual framework for profiling the 'arrangement' of policy-making activity performed within and across politico-administrative institutions located at different territorial levels. This contribution examines the ways in which the MLG literature has been employed, effectively taking stock of applied research to date. It identifies five main uses of MLG …
Appointing the members of the European Court of Auditors
Partiendo del actual debate en el Parlamento Europeo sobre el futuro rol del Tribunal de Cuentas Europeo y el impacto que el procedimiento de designación de sus miembros puede tener en las relaciones interinstitucionales y la credibilidad de esta institución europea, este artículo analiza el contexto y desafíos de la reforma del Tribunal desde la perspectiva de su naturaleza colegial y la necesaria competencia profesional de sus miembros. Seguida…
Political science (24 obras) · Law (22 obras) · Law (17 obras) · Politics (17 obras) · European Union Policy and Governance (15 obras) · History (15 obras) · Economics (13 obras) · Sociology (13 obras) · Ancient history (12 obras) · Byzantine Studies and History (12 obras)