Democracy and Nuclear Arms Control—Destiny or Ambiguity?

Is there a particularly democratic way of dealing with nuclear arms control? Against the background of democratic peace (DP) theory, and using Immanuel Kant's writing as a starting point, this article argues that democracies should indeed develop a preference for arms control, but that Liberalism as well as the nature of nuclear weapons opens the possibility for contingent developments within a DP framework. While DP theory can thus account for the existence of variance, we maintain that a social constructivist complement based on role, identity, and enemy perception can best explain why a given democracy follows a specific path. Case studies of six Western democracies reveal a considerable variance in their nuclear arms control policies, which can indeed be traced back to the countries' respective roles, identities, and images of the Kantian “unjust enemy.”     

The external-domestic interplay in democracy promotion: a case study on public administration reform in Croatia

In this contribution we conceptualize the under-investigated interplay between external and domestic actors in democracy promotion. We first propose a typology of the instruments and means used both by external and domestic actors to influence reform outputs and then trace these instruments' effects on outcomes, thereby expanding the existing concepts of domestic agency. Although democracy promotion continues to be a rather asymmetric relationship between the “donors” and “receivers” of aid and advice, domestic actors employ a wide array of instruments to manage external demands for reform, including diplomacy, take-over, slowdown, modification, resistance, and emancipation. The article draws on a case study of European Union democracy promotion within two reform initiatives in the field of Public Administration Reform (PAR) in Croatia.     

Symptom Validity Testing in Somatoform and Dissociative Disorders: A Critical Review

When patients present with unusual, atypical, and difficult-to-understand complaints known as dissociative and somatoform disorders or medically unexplained symptoms, clinicians may administer symptom validity tests (SVTs) to determine whether or not the patient exhibits negative response bias. Such tests are especially informative in a context where incentives play a substantial role (e.g., the legal arena). If patients fail SVTs and exhibit negative response bias, how should that bias be interpreted? Some authors have argued that psychological problems (e.g., unconscious conflicts and depression) and circumstances (e.g., a cry for help) may explain such bias. In the current article, we critically review this “psychopathology = superordinate” position. We argue that (1) there is no empirical evidence to suggest that psychological problems may foster SVT failure per se and (2) that the “psychopathology = superordinate” position invites circular argumentation: to clarify the nature of the atypical symptoms, SVTs are administered and a negative response bias is found, which is explained away by the atypical symptoms. Negative response bias allows for only one conclusion: the patient’s self-report of symptoms and life history can no longer be taken at face value.     

Political Quid Pro Quo Agreements: An Experimental Study

We experimentally study the common wisdom that money buys political influence. In the game, one special interest (i.e., a corporate firm) has the opportunity to influence redistributive tax policies in her favor by transferring money to two competing candidates. The success of the investment depends on whether or not the candidates are willing and able to collude on low‐tax policies that do not harm their relative chances in the elections. In the experiment, successful political influence never materializes when the firm and candidates interact just once. By contrast, it yields substantially lower redistribution in about 40% of societies with finitely repeated encounters. However, investments are not always profitable, and profit sharing between the firm and candidates depends on prominent equity norms. Our experimental results shed new light on the complex process of buying political influence in everyday politics and help explain why only relatively few firms do actually attempt to influence policymaking.     

Europa- und völkerrechtliche Fragen beim Einsatz halbautomatischer Langwaffen zur Jagd auf Gams-, Reh- und Rotwild

Natur und Recht - 19 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 lit. c) BJagdG beschränkt den jagdlichen Einsatz automatischer Waffen. Während Vollautomaten generell verboten sind, ist die Nutzung halbautomatischer...     

Bundesstaat und Gleichheitsgrundsatz

Gleichheit und Bundesstaatlichkeit stehen in einem Spannungsverh?ltnis. Nicht nur, dass die von der Bundesstaatstheorie geforderte "arithmetische Gleichheit" angesichts realpolitischer Disparit?ten zwischen den Gliedstaaten in der Praxis kaum durchsetzbar ist, sondern auch die im Wesen des bundesstaatlichen Prinzips gelegene f?derale Differenzierung der einzelnen Landesrechtsordnungen birgt Sprengkraft in sich. Der vorliegende Beitrag geht der Frage nach, in welchem Verh?ltnis Bundesstaatlichkeit und Gleichheitsgrundsatz zueinander stehen. Dabei wird auch untersucht, welche Auswirkungen die Einbindung ?sterreichs in die Europ?ische Union auf dieses Verh?ltnis hat.     

Altes und Neues zum Grundsatz der Gewaltentrennung

Der Grundsatz der Gewaltentrennung steht heute vor der Herausforderung, jene Funktionen unter ver?nderten Rahmenbedingungen zu erfüllen, die ihm im 19. Jahrhundert zugedacht wurden. Diese Funktionen sind dem Prinzip nach heute aktueller denn je. Und sie erfordern, diesen Grundsatz mehr als bisher aus rechtsstaatlicher Perspektive zu betrachten und jene Elemente, die die Judikatur des VfGH seit Jahrzehnten unver?ndert aus ihm ableitet, einer kritischen Revision zu unterziehen.