Party organisation and party competitiveness: The case of the Austrian People's Party, 1945–1992

Abstract. This article links party organisation to party performance, examining their relationship over almost half a century in an in-depth case study of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). It proceeds from the assumption that party organisation does matter for party performance, at least indirectly, and that the adaptation of the party organisation to a changing environment is, in the long run, the only viable strategy for party goal achievement. While the ÖVP's environment was subject to important changes, all of which worked against the party, it has failed to adapt to them. This, in turn, has reduced the competitiveness of the ÖVP. Consequently its record in achieving most of its party goals has been rather poor since 1970. The reconstruction of the intra-party discussions reveals that the party leadership had access to analyses identifying the structural weaknesses of the party organisation since the late 1950s. The ÖVP's failure to adapt is explained by using the 'nested games' approach of Tsebelis (1990). In order to enhance the understanding of organisational dynamics of parties in a more general sense, the case of the ÖVP is related to the work of Panebianco (1988) and Janda (1990).     

FROM THE EUROPEANIZATION OF LAWMAKING TO THE EUROPEANIZATION OF NATIONAL LEGAL ORDERS: THE CASE OF AUSTRIA

This article addresses the scope of legal Europeanization with regard to Austria, a 1995 accession country. Depending on the choice among several plausible indicators of legal Europeanization, the relative impact of the EU varies greatly. The share of EU-related legislation peaked in the pre-accession period when most of the acquis communautaire needed to be adopted. In the membership period, legislation that relates to the EU accounts for almost 25 per cent of the enactments. Although government decrees outnumber laws as the means of transposition, EU-related rules constitute a much smaller share of delegated legislation. Collectively, EU-related rules constitute a tenth of Austrian legislation. Yet by mid-2003, 42 per cent of Austria's original laws—the core of its legislation—were related to EU rules. While falling short of some inflated expectations, legal Europeanization is indeed a major feature of Austrian legislation. The article confirms expectations derived from the political controversy of EU affairs, federalism, and legal traditions. When we refer to 'legal orders' in the article we mean the entire body of legislation in force; we use the term 'legislation' to refer to recent additions to the body of legislation.     

LEGAL EUROPEANIZATION: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES

By mid-2003, the legal orders (the entire bodies of legislation in force) of three EU member states – Austria , Denmark, and The Netherlands – contained between 10.5 and 14.2 per cent of rules devoted to the transposition of EU directives. Only a few ministerial jurisdictions contain more than 20 per cent of Europeanized rules. The member states show remarkable differences in the use of parliamentary versus delegated legislation as a means of transposition. The comparison of the three cases tentatively suggests that different legal traditions and the parliamentary involvement in EU affairs are important factors that account for cross-national differences.     

Turkey’s Public Administration Today: An Overview and Appraisal

ABSTRACT

This study overviews and appraises Turkey’s contemporary public administration system. Its prominent characterizing features are discussed, with an emphasis on both the achievements and problem areas. Turkey has a long history of strong traditional bureaucratic practices and culture, from which its contemporary public administration system has emerged since the Republic was established almost a century ago. Despite its many achievements, public administration has its problems, generally the product of conflicts between tradition and modernity. Due emphasis should, however, be given to addressing the challenges of its over-politicization, strengthening governance practices, enhancing the human factor, and instituting further modern administrative reforms.     

视频侦查中多摄像头下嫌疑目标同一的概率研究

目的视频侦查中的时空轨迹信息是很多案件侦破的关键,但在证据准备和法庭质证阶段,如何使用这些信息目前并没有方法依据。本文针对视频侦查中轨迹信息的证据转化问题,开展理论分析,建立概率方法。方法结合视频侦查的典型过程,定义了摄像头下人物的人体、衣着和交通工具等特征;对不同的特征根据其出现的可能性进行针对性的概率估计以得到概率上限,对多摄像头下嫌疑人作案和逃窜过程的概率进行表示;基于图模型构造贝叶斯网络对轨迹追踪问题进行建模,并对模型利用贝叶斯网络特性进行求解,以得到似然比结果。结果结合视频侦查场景给出了问题中似然比的公式和近似计算方法。1)通过分解提出时段、时序和方向假设建立了一种时空特征概率模型分析方法;2)提出了视频图像中衣服、人体、交通工具特征的概率分析思路框架;3)得到了假设条件下的似然比结果;4)给出了假设条件对概率计算的影响,讨论了实际应用中后验比估计的方法及方法的使用限制因素。结论本文建立的理论分析方法首次为视频追踪结果的证据应用提供量化参考模型,从概率的角度解释了视频轨迹追踪结果为什么可以成为证据,有助于提升视频追踪证据的证明力:基于视频中能观察到的常见的十二个特征(体态、上衣颜色、上衣纹理、上衣款式、裤子款式、裤子颜色、鞋子款式、鞋子颜色、头发长度、摩托车款式、摩托车颜色、摩托车行李箱样式)的条件,对于具有相同特征的目标依次出现在三个摄像头下(摄像头之间没有分叉路口)的案例,计算得到的似然比(第一个摄像头下的目标与第三个摄像头下的目标为同一目标和不同目标条件下,出现给定特征的可能性之比)下限超过10;量级。     

The Freedom of Seduction

For most of human history, the other half of the species, women, were on the sidelines. Now they are central actors in all our societies as we negotiate the fraught transition from male‐dominated tradition to modernity and beyond. In this section we hear the voices of powerful women who in their own lives are making this historic shift.