Economic aspirations, well-being and political support in recession and boom periods: the case of West Germany

Abstract. Usually the aggregate over-time relationship between economics and politics is empirically reduced to a simple one equation regression model which specifies political support as the dependent, and several economic indicators as independent variables. Here more comprehensive causal model is tested for West Germany. Economic aspirations, personal well-being, fear of the direct effects of economic crisis and political demands are introduced as intervening causal structures between the state of the economy and political support. It is demonstrated that the strength of the relationship between the economy and political support is quite different in recession and boom periods, depending on the subjective importance of economic concerns and the degree of fear of losing one's job. As the analysis of four different economic periods reveals, the effects of inflation and unemployment on political support are strongest when these indicators have an upward tendency. If they are stationary at a low or a higher level, their influences disappear.     

EG-Umwelthaftungs-Richtlinie und Biodiversität

Im April 2004 ist die Richtlinie 2004/35/EG des Europ?ischen Parlamentes und des Rates über Umwelthaftung zur Vermeidung und Sanierung von Umweltsch?den (Umwelt-Haftungs-Richtlinie – UH-RL) in Kraft getreten. Der deutsche Gesetzgeber hat die Richtlinie bis zum April 2007 in nationales Recht umzusetzen, ein Referentenentwurf liegt bereits vor. Dieser Beitrag stellt die zentralen biodiversit?tsspezifischen Regelungen der Richtlinie vor und bewertet sie vor dem Hintergrund des bestehenden deutschen Rechts. Die Richtlinie konstituiert eine ?ffentlich-rechtliche Verantwortlichkeit der Verursacher von Umweltsch?den, der Eingriffsbefugnisse der Beh?rden korrespondieren. Sie bringt an einigen Punkten Neuerungen für das deutsche Recht. Bei Sch?den an den von der Richtlinie erfassten geschützten Arten und Lebensr?umen fordert sie nicht nur die Wiederherstellung des früheren Zustandes, sondern verlangt auch einen Ausgleich für „zwischenzeitliche Verluste“.     

Reviews

Christel Lane, Christian Religion in the Soviet Union: A Sociological Study. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1978. 256 pp. £10.00.

R. Amann, J. M. Cooper, R. W. Davies (eds.), The Technological Level of Soviet Industry. New Haven, Conn, and London: Yale University Press, 1977. xxxii +575 pp. £20.00.

M. M. Kostecki, East‐West Trade and the GATT System. London: Macmillan, for the Trade Policy Research Centre, 1979. xviii + 157 pp. £12.00.

Josef C. Brada and V. S. Somanath (eds.), East‐West Trade: Theory and Evidence. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University International Development Institute, 1978. xi + 178 pp. $10.00. No index.

Jeremy R. Azrael (ed.), Soviet Nationality Policies and Practices. New York: Praeger Publishers (Praeger Special Studies), 1978. xi + 393 pp.

Robert G. Wesson, Communism and Communist Systems. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice‐Hall, 1978. x + 227 pp.

Adam Bromke and Derry Novak (eds.), The Communist States in the Era of Detente, 1971–1977. Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press, 1978. 306 pp. $7.95.

Jaroslav Krejci, Social Structure in Divided Germany. London: Croom Helm, 1976. 262 pp. £7.95.

Miklós Molnár, A Short History of the Hungarian Communist Party. Boulder, Colorado & Folkestone: Westview, Dawson, 1978, 168 pp. £9.00.

Robert N. North, Transport in Western Siberia: Tsarist and Soviet Development. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press and The Centre for Transportation Studies, 1979. viii + 364 pp. $22.00.     

Latin America: Looking North or South?: The United States and Latin America at Century's Turn

This article is adapted from a longer essay prepared at the invitation of Politica Externa in Rio de Janeiro and draws on the Astor Lecture Dr. Lowenthal delivered at St. Anthony's College, Oxford.     

Steuerung jenseits von Hierarchie

The paper sheds new light on recent debates about governance and approaches contemporary problems of governing from the perspective of contemporary theories of power. The concept of “soft governing” is developed in order to capture horizontal mechanisms of power intentionally used to govern beyond formalised hierarchies characteristic of processes of governance. The paper describes in particular the horizontal forms of governing through discursive practices, argumentation and symbols and the ways in which they interact. The example of campaigns against female genital mutilation is introduced in order to illustrate possible forms of governing beyond hierarchy.     

Institutions or Contingencies? A Cross‐Country Analysis of Management Tool Use by Public Sector Executives

Management tools are often argued to ameliorate public service performance. Indeed, evidence has emerged to support positive outcomes related to the use of management tools in a variety of public sector settings. Despite these positive outcomes, there is wide variation in the extent to which public organizations use management tools. Drawing on normative isomorphism and contingency theory, this article investigates the determinants of both organization‐oriented and client‐oriented management tool use by top public sector executives. The hypotheses are tested using data from a large‐N survey of 4,533 central government executives in 18 European countries. Country and sector fixed‐effects ordinary least squares regression models indicate that contingency theory matters more than normative isomorphism. Public executives working in organizations that are bigger and have goal clarity and executive status are more likely to use management tools. The only normative pressure that has a positive impact on management tool use is whether public sector executives have a top hierarchical position.     

Reform des Schadensersatzrechts

Der im Jahre 2005 vorgelegte Entwurf zur Reform des Schadensersatzrechts (Griss, JBl 2005, 273) hat eine hoch kontroverse Diskussion ausgel?st. Dies ist an sich zu begrü?en, denn die kritische überprüfung konkurrierender Standpunkte und L?sungen im Rahmen offener Auseinandersetzung ist der N?hrboden für rechtswissenschaftliche Erkenntnis und rechtspolitischen Fortschritt. Im konkreten Fall beschleicht den neutralen Beobachter jedoch mitunter der Eindruck, die Konfrontation erfolge aus purer Lust am Konflikt und verschütte damit die weiterführende Debatte zur Sache. Die folgenden überlegungen dienen dem Ziel, die inhaltlichen Weichenstellungen des Entwurfs vor dem Hintergrund des geltenden Rechts und der europ?ischen Entwicklungen unvoreingenommen zu würdigen.     

Besprechungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Die Anlage-Umwelt-Debatte: Alte Konzepte und neue Einsichten

In this article the question is considered whether and to what extent human behavior and personality are innate or learnt. For that reason the biologically orientated research on behavior and American Behaviorism are compared and criticized. The dualism between those two theoretical approaches is resolved in the modern developmental and personality-psychological disposition-environment debate. Human behavior is neither solely biologically determined nor fully learnt. The narrow interconnection of genetic disposition, early formative influences before and immediately after birth and societal influences is illustrated in detail using aggressive and violent behavior as an example. It becomes clear that the human brain is a social organ which awaits social influences in a particular way and personality is accordingly formed.