Bündnisse für Arbeit: Nationale Handlungsfähigkeit im europäischen Regimewettbewerb

In recent years, new forms of tripartite concertation between governments, employers’ confederations and trade unions have re-emerged in the form of social pacts. The paper aims at explaining the emergence of social pacts under the impact of European regime competition. It argues that governments increasingly seek structural reforms of the labour market in order to solve the employment crisis. These structural reforms are however hardly attainable without the co-operation of the social partners. Using tripartite agreements, governments try to get the acceptance of trade unions to a reform policy which is conducive for employment growth. While social pacts are struck under the impact of regime competition, the political exchange between trade unions and governments does not have to foster this competition, but social pacts can facilitate European co-ordination of employment policies, since they strengthen the role of social partners.     

Antwort auf die Replik von Marc Bühlmann,Wolfgang Merkel,Lisa Müller und Bernhard Weßels zum Forumsbeitrag von Thomas Müller und Susanne Pickel

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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Volkserziehung oder Institutionenreform? Ein Kommentar zu Werner Patzelts Bürgerschelte in der PVS 4/1998

Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag greift Patzelts These eines „latenten Verfassungskonflikts“ zwischen Bürgern und Politikern auf. Patzelts Auffassung, derzufolge die Demokratievorstellungen der Bürger falsch und korrekturbedürftig seien, stelle ich drei Thesen entgegen. Erstens sind die Demokratievorstellungen von Politikern und Bürgern nicht einfach falsch oder richtig; vielmehr zeichnen sie sich durch Gegens?tze aus, die sich aus den unterschiedlichen Rollenperspektiven von Politikanbietern und Politikabnehmern ergeben. Zweitens sind diese Gegens?tze nicht durch Erziehung, sondern nur durch Anreizver?nderungen — und das hei?t: durch institutionelle Reformen — zu überbrücken. Gefragt ist ein Anreizsystem, das den Rollentausch zwischen Bürgern und Politikern erm?glicht und damit deren wechselseitige Lernbereitschaft erh?ht. Als meine dritte These lege ich dar, dass die Ausstattung des Souver?ns mit Sachstimmrechten genau diesen Rollentausch erm?glicht und deshalb geeignet ist, das institutionelle Anreizsystem in der geforderten Weise zu rejustieren.

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zu: Werner Patzelt, 1998: Ein latenter Verfassungskonflikt? Die Deutschen und ihr parlamentarisches Regierungssystem, in: Politische Vierteljahresschrift 39 (4), 725–757.     

Regierungsbildung im deutschen Fünf-Parteiensystem

Since 2005 all five parliamentary parties in the German Bundestag have coalition potential in the sense that they are able to enter at least one minimal winning coalition, that is a coalition without parties which are not necessary for a majority. Given the number of each party’s members of parliament, the strategic coalition situation is fixed as the set of possible minimal winning coalitions. With certain assumptions (no party will gain an absolute majority, the party system consists of two larger and three smaller parties etc.) two strategic coalition situations are possible as a consequence of the Bundestag election in September 2009: the same as the existing one where only CDU/CSU and SPD can form a two party majority government, and an alternative, predicted currently (February/March 2009) by pollsters, where the largest party, probably the CDU/CSU, can form a two party majority coalition also with the third largest party, probably the FDP. In addition, several three party coalitions are also possible. Which of these coalitions will actually be formed will be determined by the policy distances between the parties which are identified in a two dimensional policy space (economic and social issue positions of parties). The possible minimal winning coalitions are further constrained by the majority coalitions in the so-called cycle set as defined by Schofield.     

Ein Schlüssel zum Erfolg?

Between 1990 and 2005, eleven referenda took place in the German Länder. Of these initiatives, seven were accepted by the voters, while the remaining four were unsuccessful. This pattern raises the question as to whether certain factors lead to increased likelihood of success at the ballot-box. Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), the following analyses demonstrate that, taken separately, none of the conditions examined in this article have positive effects on the chances of popular endorsement. Instead, a certain combination of conditions seems to be associated with successful initiatives.     

Kooperative Politikberatung ohne machtpolitisches Kalkül?

The paper contributes to the discussion about policy advice, initiated by Falk et al. in PVS 2/2007. Based on a differentiation between output- and input oriented politics, several notions of advice and knowledge are discussed. This leads to the insight that the relevance of studies in political science does rely on the careful consideration of the strategic influence of knowledge in the political process. The fruitfulness of such a perspective is exemplified by a short view on some institutional developments in the field of political advice. A detailed analysis of the newly organised economic policy report “Gemeinschaftsdiagnose” then reveals that the diagnosis of new cooperative modes of governmental acting, as postulated by Falk et al., has to be modified. Particularly with regard to core fields of governmental acting, like economic and social policy, there is an unbroken continuity of hierarchical forms of governing.     

„Politische Führung“ als politikwissenschaftliches Problem

‘Political leadership’ is one of the classic subjects of political science research on an international scale. Recently, in modern western democracies, ‘leadership’ has gained additional importance as a political function to evaluate governments and political leaders and is seen as rather independent of the policy dimension of leadership. Despite this increased relevance of ‘political leadership’, it has remained among the most neglected major issues in political science, particularly within research in the German-speaking world. This article discusses a wide range of recent approaches to studying ‘political leadership’. It then argues in favour of an ‘interactionist’ approach which takes into account both of the crucial empirical variables which influence the leadership process, the institutional, societal, and personal factors as well as political circumstances, and the normative expectations towards political leadership in modern established democracies.     

包青天的B面

精明和糊涂 正史中,包拯断的案子只有两个:出任天长(今安徽天长)知县时处理的“割牛舌案”和担任知谏院时复查的“冒任皇子案”.在第一个案件中,包拯处事明敏,颇有见识,他将计就计,不但抓获了真凶,还保全了被害耕牛的农户的利益,可谓一箭双雕.在第二个案件中,他处事认真,不偏不倚,在百官都含含糊糊地处理嫌犯,打算顾全宋仁宗的颜面时,只有包拯一查到底,将真相公之于众,维护了法律的尊严,其“青天”形象不言而喻.但野史中却流传下来不少包拯断案的糗事.     

Vom strategischen Nutzen des Wissens für die Politikberatung

In recent years, the field of political consulting and policy advice has gained growing attention and, thus, has been subject of important debates regarding its key concepts and theoretical foundations. This paper sets out to defend the authors' original thesis which has been challenged in the course of these debates. We argue that, along with classical oneway modes of consultation, a new way of interaction between political decision makers and consultants has emerged. The knowledge deriving from these cooperative discourses is not merely an external source for the preparation and legitimation of political decisions. It is integral part of the policy process and may unfold its potential as long as it meets the standards of epistemic and political robustness.     

Experimente in der Politikwissenschaft: Vom Mauerblümchen zum Mainstream

The use of experimental research designs is on the rise. Internationally, experiments are becoming ever more established in the field, as shown by the increasing number of journal articles, books, and conferences. In German political science, however, using experimental methods is still rather uncommon. After a (brief) discussion of the relevance of experiments for political science, we will—in general terms—introduce the logic of experimental research as well as different types of experiments. Then we shall provide a (selective) overview of experimental research in political science that has been conducted: First, we cursorily review the state of (experimental) research done in the fields of elections and public opinion, public goods and collective action, social trust and finally legislative bargaining and decision-making. Following that, we discuss in greater detail the field experimental strand of research studying voter mobilization.     

Die Deutschen und die Türkeifrage: eine Analyse der Einstellungen zum Antrag der Türkei auf Mitgliedschaft in der Europäischen Union

In this paper, I examine the sources of support for Turkey’s EU-entry in the German public. I propose several models and explore their respective empirical validity using survey data gathered in May and June 2005. The analysis shows that neither trust in the federal government nor evaluations of the EU institutions play a role in attitudes toward Turkey’s bid for membership. By contrast, attitudes towards this issue are considerably affected by preferences about EU enlargement and, more strongly, by beliefs about whether Turkey at least partly belongs to Europe. Likewise, when forming attitudes towards Turkey’s bid for EU membership, Germans appear to consider the presumed consequences of including Turkey in the EU. Both East and West Germans are particularly likely to take consequences for regional security into account. The paper concludes with a discussion of several implications for German public opinion on this EU issue.     

„Nord“ und „Süd“ im globalen Regieren

The debate on global governance has been focused primarily on the highly industrialized countries of the OECD world. However, domestic preconditions for cooperative and effective global governance tend to be precarious in many non-OECD countries. The consideration of such factors allows to identify different types of global governance strategies employed by developing countries, which have severe implications for the concept of global governance. Such a perspective from liberal foreign policy analysis also enables a differentiated analysis of normative challenges of global governance.     

Reading Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on the Armenian genocide of 1915

ABSTRACT

The debate on where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey and universally known as the ‘Father of the Turks’, stood in regard to the colossal violence committed against Armenians during the First World War has become a fiercely contested part of the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process, especially within the past few years. Ulgen aims to clear away the clouds of dust surrounding Kemal by delving into his texts and examining his role in the reification of Turkish denial of the destruction of Ottoman Armenians. Based on a textual analysis of his entire corpus, including Nutuk—the Great Speech of 1927 and the master-narrative of modern Turkish history and national identity—her article examines and documents how his charismatic leadership helped to consolidate both the myth of ‘murderous Armenians’ and that of the Turks as an ‘oppressed nation’ (mazlum millet), monumentalizing both in official Turkish historiography. Ulgen argues that Kemal's portrayal of Armenians and the Armenian Question was generally consistent across the years and in various political documents, as well as being consistent with contemporary Turkish representations of the events of 1915. What really tips the balance towards Turkish innocence in Kemal's representation of the conflict is not his framing of the issue per se but the stark difference in the rhetoric he deploys in depicting Armenian and Turkish atrocities and, hence, Armenians and Turks. The undeniable authority of this discursive regime is central to the resilience of Turkish denial today.     

B股市场出现新特征

中国B股市场于6月1日全面对内资开放,即境内居民手中的全部外汇资金都可进入B股市场。这是继今年2月19日管理层允许境内居民2月19日以前的外汇资金进入B股市场后,B股市场对内的第二次开放。这对前一时期火爆B股市场来说,无疑是一个利好消息。但六一之后的B股市场并未出现投资者所预期的上涨,而是出现了明显的调整态势,指数出现了一定下滑,成交量也出现了萎缩。由此造成一些投资者对B股市场今后的形势产生了困惑,那么究竟该如何看待目前的市场调整?今后的市场格局将会如何演化呢?     

美国H-1B职位解读

王先生,中国公民,最近刚刚毕业于美国某大学的MBA专业,在一家产品配送中心担任经理职位.雇主为他申请了H-1B,申请职位为"总经理".拥有MBA职位,王先生当然可以胜任这个职位,但移民局会批准他的H-1B申请么?可能不会.     

两家B股公司获准增发A股 B股市场再度引起关注

近日，继中国葡萄酒行业的龙头、纯 B股企业烟台张裕葡萄酿酒股份有限公司宣布增发不到 4000万 A股后，另一家纯 B股企业山东晨鸣纸业股份有限公司也宣布发行数量不超过 7000万 A股。这标志着中国证监会有关 B股公司增发 A股的试点工作进入了深化阶段，也使 B股市场在经历了上半年的红火之后，再度为人关注。 增发 A股： B股企业的又一热点 由于 B股市场存在的种种不足， B股公司在很长一段时间以来，融资功能较弱。据悉，为了进一步激活 B股市场，也是为了使条件较好的纯 B股公司获得新的发展契机，中国证监会准备先以 4家 B股公司…     

Regionalisierung und Dezentralisierung in Mittel- und Südosteuropa 1997–2007

The review essay takes stock of the last decade of decentralisation and regionalisation research in Central and South Eastern Europe. Classifying the existing scholarship with regard to its focus of analysis, its explanatory programme, and methodological predilections, we suggest to distinguish three different agendas: system transformation, EU conditionality and subnational governance. We argue that scholarly interest in regionalisation and decentralisation issues from the perspective of state transformation or Europeanisation is vanishing. Instead, we witness the emergence of a subnational governance approach which is rooted in comparative politics and policy analysis. The debate about decentralisation and regionalisation in CEEC is thus in a process of “normalising” and converging with the Western European subnational political discourse.