Suchen wir immer an der richtigen Stelle? Einige Bemerkungen zur politikwissenschaftlichen Forschung nach dem Ende des Kalten Krieges

The essay discusses three research perspectives in the post Cold War era, namely the prospects of European Integration, the future of the Constitutional State and the stability of both international and domestic political institutions. Geopolitical issues of hegemony and hegemonic stability in Europe, the erosion of the state as the sole legitimate coercive power, public awareness of constitutional values and related ethics, the contingencies of institutional behaviour and related prerequisites of political leadership are presented as relevant though currently under-researched topics.     

Public pensions and voting on immigration

In a recent paper, Scholten and Thum (1996) analyze the impact of a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pension system with a fixed replacement ratio on the immigration policy in a democracy. We extend the analysis of median voter's choice in two respects. First, in contrast to Scholten and Thum (1996) who assume myopic voting behavior, our paper considers fully rational agents and provides a solution under this more complex behavioral assumption. Voting with rational agents yields a more liberal immigration policy than with myopic voters. Second, we examine a different decision structure with a fixed contribution rate to the pension system. In this case the majority rule leads to a completely different solution.     

Documents Received

Publications Received

Documents Received     

Anforderungen an die Erfassung, Bewertung und Sanierung von Biodiversitätsschäden nach dem Umweltschadensgesetz

Zusammenfassung  Durch das Umweltschadensgesetz wurde eine ?ffentlich-rechtliche Verpflichtung zur Kompensation für gesch?digte natürliche Ressourcen und Funktionen implementiert, die unabh?ngig von der Vorhabenzulassung oder dem Vorliegen eines Eingriffs ist und damit deutlich über die Verpflichtungen aus der naturschutzrechtlichen Eingriffsregelung hinausgeht. Bisher herrscht eine gewisse Unsicherheit im Umgang mit dem neuen Instrument. Vollzugshinweise in den L?ndern fehlen weitgehend. Auch sind F?lle, in denen das Umweltschadensgesetz zur Anwendung gelangte, bisher nicht systematisch erfasst, Rechtsprechung liegt noch nicht vor. Der Beitrag gibt daher Hinweise zur rechtlichen wie naturschutzfachlichen Operationalisierung der zentralen Regelungen zur Erfassung, Bewertung und Sanierung von Biodiversit?tssch?den und bietet Unterstützung für die Umsetzung und den Vollzug des Instrumentariums in den L?ndern.     

New challenges for universities in the knowledge triangle

This paper discusses the role of higher education institutions within the framework of the knowledge triangle between academic education, scientific research and innovation, as it has gained importance in recent years as a framework for innovation policies especially in the OECD and Europe. First, complementary concepts of universities’ outreach activities and extended role model such as ‘third mission’, ‘triple helix’, ‘entrepreneurial or civic university’ models and ‘smart specialization’ are reflected against their fit with the concept of the knowledge triangle, also with respect to new requirements for university governance. Second, a new understanding of spillovers between public sectors research and the business sector according to knowledge triangle is presented.

     

Formale und informale Institutionen in defekten Demokratien

The last quarter of the 20^th century saw the worldwide advance of democracy. However, almost three decades after the beginning of the third wave of democratization, the empirical evidence increasingly suggests that this wave could become less a triumph of political liberalism and much more a success story for a “defective” form of democracy. The mainstream of theoretical and empirical ‘consolidology’ speaks of democracies and autocracies. This crude dichotomy does not allow for more differentiated judgments and conceptualizations of the structural and functional elements of this regime-type that has developed in the grey area between consolidated, liberal democracy and open autocracy. Thus far, a theoretical concept enabling the new regime-type to be systematically differentiated from democracies based on the rule of law, the reasons for its emergence to be clearly set out, and the specific dynamics of its development to be explained, has thus far been lacking. To overcome this shortcomings this article presents a multidimensional concept of democracy that allows, to distinguish between liberal democracies based on the rule of law and defective, or illiberal, democracies. From developing a three-dimensional typology for classifying three subtypes of defective democracies (exclusive democracy, tutelary democracy, illiberal democracy), the paper is focused on the illiberal democracy, more specifically on the questions what are the defining characteristics of illiberal democracies, and what are the reasons for their emergence. We will examine the specific interdependence of formal institutions and informal institutional arrangements, which we consider to be one of the central features of illiberal democracies and, finally, we will outline possible scenarios for the future development of illiberal democracies.     

Representation and Austerity Politics: Attitudes of Greek Voters and Elites Compared

Drawing on surveys of voters and MPs in Greece, this article analyses elite–mass interaction on key policy (austerity, European integration, immigration) and ideological issues after the 2012 elections. We find that while for the government parties, New Democracy and PASOK, the level of congruence is quite high, MPs from opposition parties (SYRIZA, Golden Dawn) place themselves in more exposed positions in comparison with their voters. The observed substantial variation in the intensity and direction of congruence, across parties and issue preferences in Greece, reinforces the view that the dimensionality of political contestation is not reducible to a single ideological dimension.