Theodore Shabad: In Memoriam

Many observers of Russian politics since 1993, and particularly in the Putin years, have pointed to great and growing deficits in the democratic character and performance of its institutions. Do Russians share this increasingly pessimistic view of Russian democracy and politics under Putin? These issues are addressed using data from national surveys conducted in Russia on six occasions between 1993 and 2007. A possible discrepancy between many elite and international estimates of Russian democracy in practice and the views of ordinary Russian citizens is investigated with attention focused on whether there was a shift in values away from democracy.     

Protestantism and Social Liberalism in Imperial Germany: Gustav Adolf Deissmann (1866–1937) and Friedrich Naumann (1860–1919)*

Adolf Deissmann was an internationally prominent German theologian, celebrated primarily for his groundbreaking contributions in the widely divergent fields of post‐classical Greek philology, lexicography, the archaeological excavations of Ephesus, international conciliation and leading role in the nascent ecumenical movement. Less known — yet of considerable consequence — is his involvement with social liberal politics, especially his friendship with, and staunch backing of, Friedrich Naumann, a onetime Protestant pastor turned liberal career politician, pioneer of European integration and, ultimately, the first president of the German Democratic Party. This paper investigates to what degree these two men were intellectually indebted to each other in their mutual search to find a way forward to reconcile Germany's sharply divided class‐society through Protestant‐based social politics — and that in an era deeply troubled with seemingly insoluble conflicts over the form of the future German Reich.     

The Pursuit of Power. Europe 1815–1914: To Hell and Back. Europe 1914–1949

The Pursuit of Power. Europe 1815–1914 . By Richard J. Evans (London: Allen Lane, 2016), pp.xxiv + 819, maps and colour plates, £25.00 (hb). To Hell and Back. Europe 1914–1949 . By Ian Kershaw (London: Allen Lane, 2015), pp.xx + 593, maps and colour and b/w plates. £30.00 (hb).     

“In the Corridors of Power”: How the Animal Movement Changed Australian Politics, 1979–1991

Foreshadowed by the anti‐war cause, women's and gay liberation struggles, and the conservation movement, and inspired by Peter Singer's 1975 book Animal Liberation, a fresh wave of animal activism emerged in Australia in the mid‐seventies. In the struggle for animal rights, campaigners used a range of methods, but what characterised the eighties was their lobbying. They engaged politicians, built alliances, and participated in the state. By doing so, they changed Australian politics: they extended the political agenda; influenced public policy; and reshaped the state bureaucracy to include new avenues for addressing animal protection. At the same time, their outcomes were limited, sometimes founded on compromise and failure. The property status of animals was a fundamental constraint that produced differentiated and contradictory policy outcomes. The degree to which the animal movement succeeded in reducing animal suffering is a contentious matter that divides minimalist and maximalist accounts. Ultimately, however, animal advocates were instrumental in advancing the basic animal protection framework evident in Australia today.     

Welfare States Facing HIV/AIDS. Organizational Responses in Western Europe (1981–91)

In this article the author analyzes comparatively several organizational models which were introduced in a dozen West European countries to address the problem of HIV/AIDS. Analyzing some aspects of the organizational design, the logic of intervention (sectorial or global), the type of actors (public or private) and the type of relations between actors, she elaborates a typology of responses. Three types are identified, presenting unexpected variants in respect to general typologies of the western welfare state. The author also notes that a form of social regulation based on private actors has been adopted in all countries under consideration. These results lead her to the hypothesis that the factors of innovation or modernization in administrations facing the management of such problems are grounded in new forms of collaboration between actors of different legal status.