Political Parties and Higher Education Spending: Who Favours Redistribution?

A nation's endowment with human capital is an important source of economic prosperity, yet education systems as well as the amount of public spending differ both between and within industrialised countries. Traditional approaches in comparative political economy explain education spending from a perspective in which leftist parties favour human capital formation. In contrast, recent approaches claim that – with regard to public financing of higher education in stratified education systems – the basic assumptions of partisan theory rather lead to the opposite hypothesis. In such systems, a pattern of reverse redistribution emerges, under which electoral incentives let right-wing parties favour increases in higher education budgets. This article tests both claims within the decentralised German education system. Its encompassing empirical strategy provides clear support for the latter hypothesis in the 16 German states between 1992 and 2003. The results imply that the partisan composition of government and preferences for redistribution continue to matter.     

Is trust the missing root of institutions, education, and development?

We report evidence that trust is the missing root relating education, institutions, and economic development. We observe that more trust both increases education and improves legal and bureaucratic institutions, which in turn spurs economic development. We substantiate this intuition with a series of regressions that provide evidence that trust determines both education and the quality of institutions, and that education and institutions in turn affect GDP per capita.     

Theorising Power and Resistance among “Travellers”

This paper (re-)examines the literature on Traveller communities in the United Kingdom by combining parts of Michel Foucault's and Michel de Certeau's theoretical legacies. Following an ethnographic summary, I demonstrate the relevance of Foucault and Certeau for a critical understanding of the Travellers’ structural predicaments and ideological resistance in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. I argue that Foucault's outline of modern power, surveillance and classification sheds new light on the impact of social control agencies and the implementation of legislative changes, such as the 1968 Caravan Sites Act, on (semi-)nomadic and/or self-employed groups. The implications of more recent legal developments are discussed as symptoms of postmodernity and the further ideological marginalisation of “non-consuming nomads”. I then argue that some of Certeau's key concepts, including the “strategies/tactics” distinction, illuminate the Travellers’ modalities of resistance and symbolisms of difference. Completing a two-way dynamic between theory and data, the article also shows that existing empirical material on Travellers highlights some of the weaknesses in Foucault's and Certeau's respective thought. Finally, I turn to Foucault's “analytics” to account for intra-group power and resistance, and hence to challenge the common portrayal of Foucault as a “theorist of domination” in juxtaposition to Certeau as a “theorist of subversion”.     

The Land Election in Brandenburg 2009

This election report presents condensed information on the election campaign, the results and the coalition formation of the 2009 Land election in Brandenburg. The SPD with its hugely popular Prime Minister Matthias Platzeck emerged as strongest party, leaving the Left Party in second and the CDU in third place. The stark difference between the CDU's and SPD's result in the Land election and the national election that was held on the same day underlines that Brandenburg is still both a stronghold of the SPD and a wasteland for the CDU. Coalition negotiations led to a – for many surprising – end of the ten year long SPD/CDU coalition and to the formation of the first ‘red–red’ government between SPD and Left Party in Brandenburg. Accompanied by heated debates about the Left Party's past and the position of the SPD towards it, Matthias Platzeck was re-elected as Prime Minister of Brandenburg.     

A Fatal Case of CO2 Intoxication in a Fermentation Tank

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is an odorless constituent of air. Higher concentrations can be detected in geothermal and automotive emissions, fermentation, and sublimation of dry ice. An unskilled worker entered a fermentation tank to clean it, which had not been done for about 5 months allowing for high concentrations of CO₂ to build up. A second worker entered the tank to rescue the first one. Shortly after both were found the first worker was rescued directly whereas the tank had to be rotated to pull the second worker out. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was successful only for the first worker. Medico‐legal autopsy showed bruises, hematoma, myocardial hemorrhage, and edema of the lungs. The right lung was vacuum degassed in an argon atmosphere and quadrupole‐mass‐spectrometry showed an elevated CO₂ content in lung gases. Thus, CO₂ intoxication/asphyxia in a vitiated atmosphere due to fermentation of wine mash was established as the cause of death.     

Microscopic Analysis of Sharp Force Trauma in Bone and Cartilage: A Validation Study,,

Sharp force trauma research lacks agreement on reported error rates for correctly identifying toolmark characteristics on bone and cartilage. This study provides error rates for determining blade class (serrated, partially serrated, nonserrated) and type of edge bevel (left, right, even). Three analysts examined cuts to a wax medium, cartilage, and bone using two types of microscopes. Additionally, the observers examined impressions taken from the wax medium and the cartilage. Overall, a total of 504 observations were performed. Serrated blades were distinguishable from nonserrated blades due to their patterned striations. Some difficulties were encountered in distinguishing serrated and partially serrated blades; however, when these groups were considered together as one classification type (serrated), classification accuracy improved from 79% to 96%. Classification accuracy for edge bevel was 65%. Error rates were similar when comparing direct observation of the cut marks versus indirect observation (impressions). Additionally, the type of microscope used did not affect error rates.     

Identification of a Carbonized Body Using Implanted Surgical Plates: The Importance of Computed Tomography

In addition to clinical examination, forensic odontologists can use diagnostic imaging as an auxiliary method for identification. This paper reports a case where forensic odontologists from the Afrânio Peixoto Legal Medicine Institute in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) positively identified a carbonized and partially calcined body using oral and maxillofacial imaging. The cadaver showed several metallic plates fixed with metallic screws on bones of the neurocranium and viscerocranium. Family members provided spiral computed tomography scans of the skull and a panoramic radiograph that were acquired after an accident that required surgical procedures. Comparative analysis between the clinical exam and the maxillofacial images demonstrated complete coincidence, confirming the victim's identity. Dactyloscopy, which is the most commonly used method of identification, was not possible because of the body carbonization. Thus, diagnostic imaging, especially computed tomography, was essential for elucidation of this case.