Agreements of Economic Integration and the Choice of National Environmental Policies

This paper analyzes the question whether and in which respect agreements of (regional) economic integration affect the choice of environmental policies by individual countries. We focus our interdisciplinary analysis on the agreements of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). We find that these agreements primarily restrict a country's choice among possible instruments to achieve a certain environmental level or target, but do, in principle, not restrict its choice with regard to the environmental target or level itself. We also show that this type of restriction is likely to benefit the individual countries and the world as a whole because it tends to promote the implementation of more efficient environmental policy instruments. A brief analysis of the case of Switzerland illustrates this point.     

Literatur

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Non-violent political protest in East Germany in the 1980s: Protestant church,opposition groups and the people

The main aim of this article is to explore why the activists of the ‘peaceful revolution’ in East Germany (GDR) employed non-violent means of protest (e.g., peace prayers, human chains, appeals). The link between Lutheran Church and opposition groups is also covered. To deal with these questions, a qualitative methodological perspective is applied. Members of East German civil rights groups, participants in Leipzig demonstrations in 1989 and experts were interviewed; pamphlets, manifestos from and about action groups and social science studies were analysed. Results show that there are moral and religious as well as tactical and rational reasons to act in a non-violent way.     

The grundgesetz after 50 years: Analysing changes in the German constitution

Fifty years after its original drafting, the German constitution has seen its text amended many times. Indeed, among OECD countries, the Grundgesetz has one of the highest rates of constitutional change. This article analyses these changes. It does so in a quantitative manner in its first section, before proceeding to ask how the numerous changes can be explained. Three approaches from the legal and political science literature are presented: one emphasising historical‐structural factors, one analysing changes as constitutional revisionism, and an institutional approach which focuses on the conditions for constitutional amendment. The strengths and weaknesses of each approach are then compared and contrasted, before the article concludes with an assessment of the characteristics of German constitutional policy.     

Die Fachhochschulen in der Schweiz: Pfadabhängigkeit und Profilbildung

Der Aufbau der Fachhochschulen zu Beginn der 1990er Jahre fand in einem unschweizerisch rasanten Tempo statt und führte zu einer Differenzierung und wachsenden Vielfalt im Schweizer Hochschulwesen. Der Beitrag geht erstens der Frage nach, wie sich im Planungsprozess das hochschulpolitische Feld ausdifferenziert hat, welche Akteure sich positioniert haben, welches ihre Leitvorstellungen sind und wie sie zusammenwirken. Anhand von empirischen Daten kann zweitens gezeigt werden, welches Profil der Fachhochschulen unter diesen Voraussetzungen entstehen konnte. Dieses wird datenbasiert für das Lehrpersonal, die Studierenden und die Forschung dokumentiert. Im Kern werden damit Fragen der vertikalen Strukturierung des tertiären Bildungssystems und der Positionierung der Ausbildung hochqualifizierter Arbeitskräfte thematisiert. Zwei sich ergänzende theoretische Perspektiven helfen, die Befunde in einen systematischen Zusammenhang zu stellen und zu interpretieren.     

Labour,neo-liberalism and the conflict over economic and monetary union: a comparative analysis of British and German trade unions

Trade unions have generally been neglected in the discussion of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the related neo-liberal restructuring of European social relations of production. This article helps to fill this gap through a comparison of British and German unions' position on EMU and European co-operation. It is demonstrated that there is a split between British transnational production sector unions, which support EMU and Europe-wide co-operation, and British national sector unions, which criticise the deflationary implications of EMU and focus on the national level in their policy-making efforts. In Germany, by contrast, EMU is generally accepted by unions with the exception of the construction workers' union. A division between internationally oriented and nationally oriented sector unions can only be identified in relation to the issue of Europe-wide co-operation, where the former are in favour and the latter reluctant. Importantly, however, unions in both countries strongly criticise neo-liberal economics, whether they support or oppose EMU. This may become the basis for a counter, neo-liberal strategy within the European Union.