Grand Coalition and Multi-Party Competition: Explaining Slowing Reforms in Gender Policy in Germany (2009–13)

Since 2005, the Christian Democrats (CDU) modernised family and labour market policy by supporting gender equality. Recent explanations trace this back to their competition with the Social Democrats (SPD) for female voters. What is missing from these accounts is a discussion of coalition dynamics. We argue that the drive for modernisation faltered under Angela Merkel's second term for three reasons: (1) coalitional dynamics in the new Conservative–Liberal coalition; (2) the traditionalist CSU wanted to distinguish itself from the moderate impulses of the CDU; and (3) the CDU reacted by moving away from its former ‘social democratisation’. As a result, gender equality policies in the family and labour market slowed and developed increasing inconsistency by indicating not only openness for modern but also emphasising conservative ideas. Despite the inherent contradictions this appealed to many different voters and contributed to a substantial victory for the CDU in the federal election of 2013.     

Building Social Cohesion Through Intergroup Contact: Evaluation of a Large-Scale Intervention to Improve Intergroup Relations Among Adolescents

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Past research has found intergroup contact to be a promising intervention to reduce prejudice and has identified adolescence as the developmental period during...     

Sources of EU Support: The Case of Germany

The determinants of support for European integration and the European Union have been analysed by previous research from a comparative perspective: factors that help to explain the differences between the levels of support of the EU member states are considered to be the factors that drive EU support in general. This article takes a different approach using a cross-time perspective to identify the sources of EU support and to investigate the causal structure of the effects. We analyse German support for European integration which is very volatile over time and test potential explanations for these fluctuations. Three bundles of factors are considered: the economy, the increasing scope of EU policies, and the domestic political process. It appears that all three are associated with fluctuations of German support for European integration. However, domestic politics seems to be mightier than often understood. The empirical evidence that is presented in support of these claims is taken from the Mannheim Eurobarometer Trendfile and recent Eurobarometer surveys, from the Comparative Political Data Set, and from the official handbook of the Bundestag.     

Familie und Beruf im Leben von Männern

In this paper empirical results on general changes in marriage and fertility, as well as on the relationship of family and work, are presented with a focus on men. In contrast to the long standing neglect of men’s roles in family research and family politics, current empirical studies indicate crucial points in men’s lives affecting their realization of marriage and fatherhood. Especially the individual employment history, career development, private life pattern and experience in the family of origin play an important role. Men contribute to the general changes in marriage and parenthood with their own history. Additionally, the reverse perspective, namely the impact of private life patterns on the professional careers of men, points to a crucial change in Western Germany: the former positive effect of a marriage on a man’s professional career is no longer as significant. Only taking the life histories of both women and men into account gives an appropriate insight into the general change of family, fertility and work.     

Philosophy in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mahābhārata</Emphasis> and the History of Indian Philosophy

The study of philosophical terms and doctrines in the Mahābhārata touches not only on important aspects of the contents, composition and the historical contexts of the epic, but also on the historiography of Indian philosophy. General ideas about the textual history of the epic and the distinction between “didactic” and “narrative” parts have influenced the study of epic philosophy no less than academic discussions about what is philosophy in India and how it developed. This results in different evaluations of the place of philosophical texts in the epic and their relationship to the history of Indian philosophy. While some scholars have suggested that there is a “philosophy of the epic” its composers wished to propagate, others have argued that “philosophy” is included in the epic either in a “proto” form or in a variety of doctrines (often presented is “mixed” or “unsystematic” ways) they deemed relevant. The article discusses these views and some of the heuristic assumptions on which they are based. It proposes to widen the scope of analysis by paying more attention to the interplay of narrative and didactic passages, the various ways in which philosophy is presented in the epic, and its connection to a larger spectrum of the reception of philosophy in textual genres and by audiences outside the expert circles of the philosophical schools.     

Eruption times of permanent teeth in children and adolescents of Paderborn, Westphalia, Germany

The eruption times of permanent teeth and the sequence of tooth eruption were investigated in 1535 individuals aged 3 to 24 years. Wisdom teeth were excluded from the evaluation. All individuals were inhabitants of Paderborn, Westphalia, Germany. The results were compared to results of other German studies on tooth eruption of the 20th century. The teeth emerged symmetrically in each jaw. However, teeth erupted earlier in the mandible than in the maxilla. Teeth erupted earlier in females than in males. The sequence of emerging teeth in the maxilla is identical in both sexes: first molar, central incisor, lateral incisor, first premolar, and canine, second premolar, second molar. The sequence of tooth eruption of the mandible is identical in both sexes but differs from the maxillary sequence: first molar, central incisor, lateral incisor, canine, first premolar, second premolar, second molar. Since the fifties of the last century the acceleration of teeth emergence has not increased in German studies on this subject.     

Assignment of a bite-mark on the victim's skin to the dentition of the perpetrator by means of anomalies in the number and position of the frontal teeth

This report is about a bite mark on the breast of a female corpse. The woman had been killed by ligature strangulation at the age of 76 years. The investigation of the dental casts of a suspected man showed some anomalies in the dentition and orthodontic variations. A comparison of the bite mark with these anomalies demonstrated the correspondence of several details. Consequently, the probability that the suspect was responsible for the bite mark was regarded as being very high. During the further investigations the suspect admitted the offence including the bite injury to the breast. The authors emphasize the importance of an exact photographic documentation as an indispensable prerequisite for an odontological comparison.