Gemeinsame Obsorge der Mutter und ihrer gleichgeschlechtlichen Lebensgefährtin unzulässig

Eine gemeinsame Obsorge des leiblichen Elternteils mit einem Pflegeelternteil (zB dem Lebensgef?hrten oder der Lebensgef?hrtin der au?erehelichen Mutter) nach dem Modell der leiblichen Eltern ist nicht zul?ssig. Nach § 8 Abs 4 EPG dürfen eingetragene Partner nicht gemeinsam ein Kind an Kindes statt oder die Kinder des jeweils anderen an Kindes statt annehmen. Damit zeigt der Gesetzgeber unmissverst?ndlich auf, dass er in der gleichgeschlechtlichen Partnerschaft nicht das Modell leiblicher Eltern erblickt. Das gilt umso mehr für gleichgeschlechtliche Partner, die nicht institutionell verbunden sind. Auch verschiedengeschlechtlichen Lebensgef?hrten ist die gemeinsame Obsorge für ein Kind, das nicht von beiden abstammt, versagt; eine Diskriminierung aufgrund der sexuellen Orientierung liegt daher nicht vor. Dass gleichgeschlechtliche Partner unter den Familienbegriff des Art 8 MRK fallen k?nnen, bedeutet nicht, dass gleichgeschlechtlichen Paaren die gemeinsame Obsorge für ein leibliches Kind eines der beiden übertragen werden müsse. Eine Verpflichtung der Vertragsstaaten der MRK, Personen die Obsorge für Kinder zu erm?glichen, ohne dass diesen Personen die volle Elternschaft zuk?me, ist keinem Urteil des EGMR zu entnehmen.     

Intra-Party Dissent as a Constraint in Policy Competition: Mapping and Analysing the Positioning of Political Parties in the German Refugee Debate from August to November 2015

The large influx of refugees into Germany in late 2015 gave rise to a period of intensified party competition over a single issue: refugees. This paper examines German parties’ reactions to this issue suddenly becoming highly important and voter preferences shifting to a more restrictive stance. It does so by analysing the parties’ positions on the issue from August to November 2015 based on statements from more than 1000 quality newspaper articles. The analysis shows that there was no uniform shift in line with the change in public opinion but a pattern of polarisation. Moreover, converging party position changes sparked intra-party criticism that was in turn followed by divergence – a pattern observable for the Green Party as well as for the Christian Democrats. Altogether, these findings suggest that policy motives, which induce intra-party dissent, impede parties opportunistically trying to follow shifts in public opinion in the short term.     

Voting while ailing? The effect of voter facilitation instruments on health-related differences in turnout

Several studies suggest that people suffering from ill health or disabilities have a lower propensity to vote. Using six rounds of the European Social Survey, we examine whether the effect of health or functional disabilities on electoral participation is less or more pronounced in countries which utilize a wider range of facilitation instruments, such as advance or postal voting, proxy voting and voting outside the polling stations. Our findings show that with the exception of proxy voting, voter facilitation instruments not only have insignificant main effects but also a negative interaction effect with poor health/functional ability (FA). As a result, voter facilitation intensifies the health-related differences but not by activating those who are more active to begin with, as suggested in previous studies. The endogeneity argument thus seems most warranted explanation for our findings: countries with low turnout among people with impaired FA or health are more likely to adapt facilitation practices.     

The National Research Council’s Rankings of Doctoral Programs in Public Affairs

Using the National Research Council (NRC) data, this study aimed to answer two questions: What are the factors that contributed the most to the rankings of public affairs programs? Are there more specific patterns in the rankings of the doctoral programs in public affairs? The results indicate that faculty research productivity is the most important predictor of the rankings of the doctoral programs in the NRC dataset. The results of cluster analyses show that there are programs at large public universities, which are ranked highly and have highly diverse faculty and students.     

The (dis)continuation of Scottish nationalism? A discursive comparison of the Scottish National Party and National Collective

The Scottish independence referendum in 2014 was propelled by the Scottish National Party (SNP), but the referendum also saw the emergence of a plethora of pro-independence groups. One of the most prominent was National Collective (NC), a cultural movement emphasizing the empowerment of the younger electorate. NC has been described as part of a radical pro-independence movement, heralding the end of the nationalist hegemony and the arrival of a new post-nationalist politics in Scotland. This article investigates that claim from a political discourse perspective by analysing interviews conducted with NC and SNP representatives. The analysis of the interview data is framed by Gorski’s conception of nationalism as discourse and mobilization, and the ideological presentation of these two organizations are analysed by drawing on Freeden’s morphological approach. The findings suggest a great degree of discursive overlap between NC and the SNP but wide divergences in terms of imagined recipient scope.     

Drawing Cyprus: Power-sharing,identity and expectations among the next generation in northern Cyprus

In order to capture how young people in northern Cyprus see the Cyprus Question, we asked more than 300 students to ‘draw Cyprus’ and surveyed their political attitudes, as well as their identities and preferences for the future of the island. The results show that the Turkish Cypriot students, in comparison with the students from Turkey and from the other countries, are more supportive of a decentralized federative structure, identify themselves with the Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot identities, and more willing to embrace a consociational approach to the Cyprus Question.