Regulating government (’s share): the fifty-percent rule of the federal constitutional court in Germany

Some numbers in the political sphere seem to be chosen rather arbitrarily. One example might be the rule set out by the Second Senate of the German Federal Constitutional Court in 1995 that the overall tax load on assets must be limited to 50% of the yield on those assets. This rule was understood by many as a general principle for taxation. The article first sketches the socio-political climate under which the rule originated: a rise of neo-liberal thought met with the inability of the political institutions to reform the German welfare state with its ever-growing expenses. The Constitutional Court’s intervention is interpreted as a reaction to this stagnation in politics. An analysis from the perspective of Constitutional Law, however, reveals that the 50% rule cannot be convincingly based on the German Basic Law, and instead must be seen as a political move of the Court. But this move did not follow an economic rationality, either; for an optimal government’s share can only be determined in relation to the economic performance of a country and not by fixing it generally at a maximum of 50% of GDP. The demise of the 50% rule already began four years later. In 2006, finally, the Senate moved away from the individual rights-based approach of 1995 to a more general assessment, taking also into account an increasingly globalized tax competition. The reason for this clear-cut change in the Court’s jurisprudence can be found in a change of the socio-political and institutional parameters, thus witnessing to the effect of the political climate on court decisions. The analysis also shows that the rule was created and abandoned only on the basis of an “introverted” legal discussion, economic arguments hardly playing any role in the process. The new line of the Senate, however, might guarantee for a better integration of economic science into tax policy by exchanging fixed limits for a “discursive” model, demanding from the tax legislator better reasons for higher taxes.     

Unanimous constitutional consent and the immigration problem

This paper utilizes the cross-cutting cleavages approach to evaluate the probability of a unanimous constitutional consent and, based on these results, discusses the implications of immigration on an existing constitutional consent. It is shown that previous conclusions of beneficial effects stemming from a multitude of political dimensions for a unanimous constitutional consent crucially depend on the assumption of an extreme mode of intrapersonal compensation of constitutional majority and minority preferences. These conclusions are reversed once you consider more restrictive schemes of such intrapersonal compensation. Since, furthermore, the probability of constitutional consent unambiguously falls with a growing size of the collectivity, only a policy of selective and controlled immigration will be able to guarantee with regard to the existing cleavages of a society that the existing constitutional consent will not be damaged or destroyed, whereas uncontrolled immigration, possibly based on ethical norms, will risk the breakdown of any constitutional consent in a society.     

Aufgaben- und Instrumentenwandel dargestellt am Beispiel der schweizerischen Forstpolitik

Die staatliche Entwicklung in der Schweiz für die letzten 150 Jahre wird am Beispiel der Forstpolitik aufgerollt. Die Analyse dieses Politikfeldes zeigt als wichtigstes Ergebnis die inkrementale Anpassung von Interventionen und Inhalten an das sich stetig ändernde Umfeld. Adapationsmechanismen wie die Einflussnahme anderer forstrelevanter Politikbereiche (Politikverflechtung) oder auch veränderte externe Rahmenbedingungen (Waldsterben, sinkende Holzpreise, Finanzknappheit etc.) erklären, warum sich die Forstpolitik gegenüber anderen Policies geöffnet hat. Zunehmende Vernetzung der Forstpolitik, neue Akteurkonfigurationen und eine flexible Politik der Bundesverwaltung haben zusätzlich zur Erhöhung des Veränderungspotentials beigetragen. Begünstigt werden die genannten Prozesse durch den wachsenden Legitimationsbedarf der Politik. Die inhaltliche Anpassung der Policy hat ebenfalls auf der institutionellen Ebene Veränderungen induziert. Eine direkte Übertragbarkeit der politikfeldspezifischen Schlüsse auf institutionelle Reformen ist schwierig, weil die Interessen dort noch bedeutend vielfältiger sind.     

Pennies from heaven: Entry fees to a socialist “paradise”

Based on a political-economic perspective, this paper assesses the former GDR-regime's policy of obligatory exchange (Pflichtumtauschsatz). ThePflichtumtausch, one of a wide array of instruments used to collect convertible currency and restrict access to the GDR, is briefly described. Following that, a demand function, relating visits to East Germany on the one hand to thePflichtumtauschsatz on the other, is estimated. The empirical evidence adduced suggests that visits to the East were considered a normal good. The next question considered is whether the GDR-regime, acting in its role as a monopolist, followed an optimal pricing policy. On both theoretical and empirical grounds this can be rejected. Visits to the East were underpriced. This resulted in a higher number of visits and lower revenue when seen from a profit-maximizing perspective. On the other hand the actual pricing was advantageous with respect to two goals: the deterrence of visits and the collection of convertible currency. Nonetheless, it is clear that the GDR-regime voluntarily restricted its revenue collection from thePflichtumtausch. This restraint, however, can be seen as its input into a political bargain. As a rule, such “good manners” in the matter of thePflichtumtausch were more than compensated by interest payments saved in the use of the Swing. The GDR-regime's generosity thus turned out to be a rather expensive good for the West Germans.     

Exporting Security: Success and Failure in the Securitization and Desecuritization of Foreign Military Interventions

Alongside humanitarian motives, the pursuit of security is the main justification given by states for their foreign military interventions. This is constructed as an ‘export of security’, part of a strategy to combat material and ideological threats abroad in order to enhance the sending state’s security. Such securitized justifications are highly ambiguous, with the military intervention itself often becoming a source of insecurity. Given the Janus-faced nature of military securitization, what are the conditions for a successful securitization move leading to foreign military intervention? In response to this question, the following article compares separate cases of security exports undertaken by the United States (US), Germany and Japan. It is argued that a stable commitment to a military intervention on the part of a sending state is only possible if the pre-intervention securitization process includes a successful desecuritization move once there are boots on the ground. This argument underlines the fundamental ambiguity of securitization moves, as well as the importance of and conditions for audience acceptance. Furthermore, this article proposes a template for exploring the links between securitization and desecuritization.     

No Country for the Market: The Regulation of Finance in Germany after the Crisis

The severity with which the financial crisis struck Germany in 2008 came as a shock to German elites. The relatively traditional shape of its bank-based financial system was supposed to isolate the country from the vagaries of Anglo-Saxon capitalism. Instead, the government was forced to unprecedented steps, such as the de facto nationalisation of banks and an unlimited guarantee on savings deposits. A comprehensive reform of financial regulation in the country seemed imperative. This article evaluates change in the institutional structure of financial sector regulation and supervision in Germany. The inconclusive debate about the reorganisation of financial supervision, the emergence of new regulation in the field of bank restructuring, and the attempted reform of the deposit insurance system are used as empirical cases. It is argued that the constraints of the German political system impeded the comprehensive reform that might have been expected after a major shock. Instead, a pattern of institutional layering was perpetuated which contains the germs of future dysfunctions.     

China's Latent Human Capital Investment: achieving milestones and competing for the top

In this paper we provide an overview of China's human capital strategy and educational achievements over the last two decades. While everyone acknowledges China as an economic superpower, very few are aware of or realize China's notable achievements in education as well as its internationalization of education. Since 1978, the landmark for the foundation of the Chinese modern higher education system, China has made tremendous strides in education both domestically and internationally. While China maintains 10% growth in GDP, albeit with a GDP per capita at a low level for a developing country, it is also producing serious scholars and a tremendous amount of scholarly output; more and more Chinese students are seeking higher education abroad; and international students are showing a rising interest in receiving education in China.     

Legal Culture and State Building: Liberal Constitutionalism and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Droit Administratif</Emphasis> in early Twentieth Century Argentina

This paper deals with the ways in which jurists and law professors applied transnational systems of public law, in particular US constitutionalism and French droit administratif, in their approaches to the state building process in late nineteenth century Argentina. In covering these movements of adaptation of a nascent legal culture to changing ideological and political circumstances, this article attempts to illuminate the strong links between the process of institutionalization of certain academic disciplines or forms of social knowledge, and modern state building in Latin America.