Integration,functional differentiation and problem‐solving in multilevel governance

The European Union (EU) is currently facing unprecedented challenges to its problem‐solving capacity, such as those represented by pressing transnational crises and by bottom‐up criticisms towards the European integration process. Moreover, the EU is said to compensate its weak input legitimacy with an enhanced problem‐solving capacity. However, the notion of problem‐solving itself has remained remarkably vague in the multilevel governance (MLG) literature. This symposium analyses problem‐solving in different MLG settings. In this introduction, we identify procedural and operational notions of problem‐solving in MLG, and present a structural framework to guide the comparative analyses of multilevel systems along the dimensions of political integration, functional differentiation and decentralization. The contributions to the symposium illustrate how structural elements of different multilevel systems shape both the policy‐making process and the politics of problem‐solving within these systems. In doing so, they pave the way for further comparative research.     

Eating the Rich vs. Feeding the Poor: Borrowing Constraints and the Reluctance to Redistribute

This paper offers an explanation why most democracies arecharacterized by moderate taxation of wealth although thewealth distribution is persistently skewed to the right. Wemodel an economy in which agents have to acquire highereducation to qualify for skilled work and in which capitalmarket imperfections prevent poor individuals from making sucha profitable human capital investment. If these borrowingconstraints do not bind for members of the middle class, theymay rationally reject redistribution although both the currentand the future median of the wealth distribution are below themean.     

Gesellschaft und Religion

In Habermas’ well-known speech Faith and knowledge (given on the occasion of accepting the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, 2001) the term “post-secular society” is of key importance. The present article examines the term from the perspective of the sociology of religion, outlining the gradual changes in Habermas’ conception of the importance of religion and its place in society. The value of the term “post-secular” proves to be of very limited value in characterising the present time. Nor is there any improvement to be found in Höhn’s suggested linking the terms of “post-secular” and “post-religious”. Still, using the term “post-secular society” helps to go beyond some of the intensely narrow views of being secular as favoured by modern societies.     

Values and Votes: The Indirect Effect of Personal Values on Voting Behavior

Recent research from social psychology suggests that personal values predict political behavior, such as vote choice. In contrast to previous studies, it is hypothesized in this article that personal values influence voting behavior only indirectly through political value orientation. Drawing on the personal value concept of Shalom Schwartz, structural equation models based on Swiss electoral data (SELECTS 2007) are applied to test the hypothesis of indirect effects. The empirical analysis shows that the effects of personal values are indeed mediated by political values, but that their indirect impact on vote choice remains substantial. It is argued on a theoretical level that personal values need first to be translated (or transformed) into political values to become effective on voting behavior.