http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32859 2026-04-07T08:28:35Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32893 Title: Continuing Contestation of the Concept of Democracy: A Norm or a Right? Authors: Conway, G Abstract: Democracy was one of the concepts given by Gallie as contested, and the practice and articulation of the concept since Gallie wrote in the 1950s suggest the understanding of democracy as a jural concept remains disputed. Gallie’s theory of an essentially contested concept supposed there exists recognised or shared ideas of political or philosophical importance subject nonetheless to ongoing contestation as to their meaning that is not marginal. More recent scholarship has tended to affirm Gallie’s analysis of democracy, with refinements about how to articulate the extent or character of contestedness, and notwithstanding the widespread adoption of democratic systems of government after the Cold War. Held identifies over ten different conceptions as to how a democracy can be structured, while scholars also disagree about the measurement of a democratic standard whatever the structural form self-described democratic institutions may take, especially regarding the concept of participation and regarding procedural and substantive accounts of democracy (or of the quality of democracy). Scholars have also recently disputed the status of democracy as a ‘right’, in the sense of it having a normative status beyond what recognition may be given to it in particular national systems. While the notion of democracy as a right may be considered the strongest expression of its normative value, international practice, including, for example, in the EU and Council of Europe, has strengthened claims for the global normative standing of democracy beyond individual States. Taking Gallie’s concept of essentially contested concepts as a starting point, this paper considers to what extent a core normative content of the concept of democracy can be identified, including to what extent the concept overlaps or interacts with other politically and legally endorsed norms such as rights and the rule of law. Description: 20 slides. 2024-07-07T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32892 Title: The Evolution of UK-EU Relations since Brexit Authors: Conway, G Abstract: The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) between the EU and UK covers a very broad range of areas of cooperation, from the core integration issue of trade to criminal justice, while still leaving numerous matters open for further agreement and negotiation. Since the TCA was adopted in late 2019, the major subsequent agreement has been the Windsor Framework, primarily concerned with further reconciling the exceptional situation of Northern Ireland as being in principle within both the EU and UK internal markets. Amongst the issues publicly identified as having potential for greater agreement between both sides is mutual recognition in trade in goods, a framework for which could not be agreed in the TCA. This has been amongst the most noticeable practical effects of Brexit, at least for traders if not for the general public, as it has required an extensive phased new set of trading arrangements, as well as the pragmatic negotiation of a rolling over of CE recognition. This paper evaluates the longer-term significance of the Windsor Framework as an adjustment to the TCA as well as the matters which could be considered to be obviously outstanding or with an evident potential for further negotiation and agreement in the right political circumstances, including mutual recognition. It seeks to put the development of ongoing cooperation under the TCA in the political context of the future EU-UK political relationship and whether the UK is likely to prefer either a close and cooperative alignment with the EU or a more self-assertive path of differentiation. Description: 18 slides. 2024-09-01T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32891 Title: Evaluating Proposals for Taxation of Space Activities from the Perspective of Space as a Global Commons Authors: Conway, G; Jelfs, P Abstract: The term ‘commons’ has become widely used in recent years to convey shared or cooperative ownership or governance of natural resources, including more open access and global natural resources such as outer space. Governance of commons has a financial dimension to it, including the financing of governance institutions and processes, while also possibly entailing a system of taxation, e.g. applied to the income derived from the exploitation of natural resources. This paper first places taxation in the context of space as commons, i.e. in the context of the range and types of regulation of activities in space that currently exist, especially at international level. It assesses the issue of regulation of space in light of Ostrom’s institutional grammar and subsequent literature on regulating commons. In light of this discussion, it then surveys and evaluates several existing proposals for global taxes relating to space or proposals that are closely analogous to taxation of space activities, in particular: Brock & McMaster on global aviation taxes (2018), Savir’s proposal regarding space-related royalties (2021), and Caljuri on the OECD Model Convention relating to double taxation (2023). The paper concludes by considering the implications for taxation of understanding space within the framework of governance of a commons. Description: 13 slides. Abstract available at: https://2025.iasc-commons.org/abstract_author/author-397/ . 2025-06-16T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32890 Title: Norm Typology and the Study of Commons Authors: Conway, G Abstract: Ostrom’s institutional grammar provides an analytical framework for identifying different rule-types used in the governance of commons, in other words, it provides a typology of rules for how commons can be regulated. Outside of Ostrom’s institutional grammar, norm typology is also found in particular in legal theory, most famously in Hohfeld’s oft-cited (though less often applied) study of jural relations (1919), while a more recent example is Frändberg’s study of the foundations of legal order (2018). By identifying the formal characteristics of rules in general and of different rule types, such analysis provides standards for the appraisal of particular substantive rules. In particular, Ostrom’s institutional grammar provides an overall framework for apprehending the range of possible rule types in the regulation of commons, as well as design principles derived from empirical studies allowing optimal approaches to commons governance. Ostrom made some reference to Hohfeld’s work, but did not use it extensively or compare her rule types to Hohfeld’s jural relations, while Ostrom’s work has been little cited in legal scholarship. Within literature inspired by Ostrom’s institutional grammar, some authors have suggested adjusting aspects of Östrom’s typology (such as Siddiki et al 2011), while others have not relied on Ostrom’ rule types, instead adopting a considerably more detailed typology of rules (de Moor et al 2016). This paper considers Ostrom’s institutional grammar in light of legal norm typology to assess to what extent the latter might be a basis for critiquing or supplementing Ostrom’s approach. Description: 33 slides. Abstract available at: https://2025.iasc-commons.org/abstract_author/author-189/ . 2025-06-16T00:00:00Z