Einleitung: Berufsbildungs‐ und Hochschulpolitik in der Schweiz, Österreich und Deutschland

Politikwissenschaftliche Bildungsforschung hat bislang vier Schwerpunkte: Vergleichende Policy‐Analyse, Prozesse der Internationalisierung und Europäisierung, Arbeiten der vergleichenden politischen Ökonomie sowie Studien zu den Effekten von Bildungsinstitutionen und ‐politiken. Auf der Grundlage einer dichten Analyse der gegenwärtigen Transformation und Reform von Bildungs‐ und Ausbildungssystemen in der Schweiz, Österreich und Deutschland ergänzen die Artikel‐ und Forumsbeiträge dieses Sonderheftes diese Perspektiven um drei spezifische Punkte, die in der zukünftigen Forschung zum Wandel von Bildungssystemen vertieft werden sollten: erstens die Untersuchung der Wechselwirkungen zwischen Bildungspolitik und der föderalen Entscheidungsarena, zweitens die Analyse des Einflusses von Machtverteilung und der Dynamik politischer Koalitionen auf Reformen und drittens die Unterscheidung zwischen Reformpolitik und Prozessen des institutionellen Wandels.     

Migrants and their families in the home country: a bi-directional influence on voting behaviour

ABSTRACT

The voting behaviour of migrants has been studied extensively but limited attention has been paid to how the discussion with families in the home country can be important. This article analyzes under what circumstances migrants influence or are influenced by their families in voting decisions. The analysis uses individual-level data from a survey conducted in 2018 on a sample of 1,839 Romanian migrants. The results indicate that most migrants are not engaged in acts of persuasion about voting. Those who influence their families have a direct interest in the election results, are informed about what happens in the country and are politically active. The migrants who are influenced by their families have limited experience in the countries of residence and strong ties to their home country.     

Zur Unterschutzstellung von Europäischen Vogelschutzgebieten nach dem Urteil des BVerwG zur B 50/Hochmoselübergang

Das faktische Vogelschutzgebiet ist ein richterrechtlich geschaffenes Institut, das die vollständige Umsetzung der Vogelschutzrichtlinie sichern soll. Im Zusammenspiel mit Art. 7 FFH-RL, der bestimmt, dass auf zu besonderen Schutzgebieten erklärte Gebiete statt des Art. 4 Abs. 4 S. 1 Vogelschutz-Richtlinie (V-RL) das wirtschaftsfreundlichere Regime der Abs. 2–4 des Art. 6 Flora-Fauna-Habitat-Richtlinie (FFH-RL) Anwendung findet, wird das Naturschutzrecht um einen ihm eigentlich fremden Gedanken angereichert: Flächen, die i.S. von Art. 4 Abs. 1 S. 3 und Abs. 2 V-RL zu den für den Erhalt der europäischen Vogelarten zahlen- und flächenmäßig geeignetsten Gebieten gehören, müssen zu Schutzgebieten (Special Protection Areas—SPA) erklärt werden, damit sie in ihrer ökologischen Funktion durch die Ausführung von Bauvorhaben beeinträchtigt oder ggf. sogar zerstört werden dürfen. Diese naturschützerisch schwer nachvollziehbare Logik der Schutzgebietsausweisung zwecks Herstellung von Planungssicherheit für Infrastrukturvorhaben prägt auch das B 50-Urteil des BVerwG.* Der Autor ist Referent im Hessischen Ministerium für Umwelt, ländlichen Raum und Verbraucherschutz. Der Beitrag gibt seine persönliche Meinung wieder.     

Der Kampf um knappe Mittel: Die Bestimmungsfaktoren der öffentlichen, privaten und sektoralen Bildungsausgaben im OECD-Länder-Vergleich

This article identifies the statistical determinants of public, private, and sectoral education spending in 21 OECD countries in the time period from 1980 to 2002. It is shown that socio-economic variables like the economic well-being of a country and the size of the youth population are important factors driving spending. In addition, political and institutional factors like the partisan composition of the government or the number of veto points play a major role as well. Private spending can in part substitute for a lack of public spending. The analysis of public spending on higher education shows that countries with left governments and a high openness of trade exhibit higher levels of spending, probably to compensate for negative externalities of internationalization.     

The value of skull-photo superimpositions in identifying corpses found in domestic settings

The identification of decomposed corpses found in domestic settings is frequently problematic because comparative material for methods such as forensic odontostomatology, comparative X-ray analysis, or DNA analysis, is not available. In the case presented here, a photograph from an old, expired passport could be used to successfully identify a "domestic setting" corpse in a skull-photo superimposition. In an additional DNA analysis, 13 STR-loci could be amplified from tissue samples taken from the corpse. DNA comparison with the presumed brother of the deceased yielded a probability of 97.09% for siblingship. Y-STR-analysis was, therefore, performed. The results showed that all of the systems for the presumed brother and the corpse conformed, with the exception of the DYS390 locus, in which allele 21 was found for the corpse and allele 22 for the brother. Despite the rapid development of other identification procedures, skull-photo superimpositions remain an important means of identification. Last not least this is due to the increasing ubiquity of personal photo documents in the age of digital photography. The validity of the results from a DNA analysis in an identification process depends largely on the authenticity of the samples available for comparison and the degree to which the DNA from the corpse is preserved. In the case presented by the authors, positive identification of the corpse solely on the basis of the DNA analysis would not have been possible. Numerous constellations can be imagined for decomposed corpses found in domestic settings for which skull-photo superimpositions may be the only possible option for identifying the corpse.     

Criteria for the classification as a "domestic-setting corpse"--a literature search and review to define the term

In German medical and media circles (daily routine, specialist literature, press, novels), the term "domestic-setting corpse" is frequently used, but the term is only vaguely defined. The authors thus decided to perform an in-depth study of the literature, including historic textbooks and all German- and English-language medicolegal journals, going as far back as their first issues, in an attempt to more clearly define the term. Inclusion criteria used in the search were a post-mortem interval of at least 24 hours prior to discovery and discovery of the corpse in a domestic setting. In the literature, 37 cases that complied with the above-mentioned inclusion criteria were found. These cases frequently described "advanced decomposition", often "unclear cause of death" and "problems in identification". These characteristics can thus be considered as being additional pointers in the definition. However, we suggest that the two general defining characteristics of a "domestic-setting corpse" are a post-mortem interval of more than 24 hours before discovery and the discovery of the corpse in a domestic setting.