The European policy-making machinery in the Berlin republic: hindrance or handmaiden?

This article examines European policy-making in the Berlin Republic. The basic puzzle explored is whether the policy machinery is able to facilitate the projection of a ‘new European policy’, characterised by greater emphasis upon national interests. In order to suggest answers, the article reviews the origins of the policy machinery and the changes made in the pre-unification period. It then explores the current situation in the Berlin Republic. It argues that the legacies of the past – institutional pluralism and the post-war adoption of a European identity – are not easily cast off. Although the machinery has been reorganised since 1990, notably under the Schröder/Fischer coalition, and there have been some adjustments to bilateral relations, a new European policy has not yet emerged, although it is a possible future scenario.     

The invisible hand plays dice: multiple equilibria in sects markets

Religious participation is much more widespread in the United States than in Europe, while Europeans tend to view sects more suspiciously than Americans. We propose an explanation for these patterns without assuming differences in preferences or market fundamentals. We study a religious market where both demand and supply of spiritual services are endogenous. Such markets may have multiple equilibria. Further, equilibria with more sects result in higher welfare and lower membership costs, as secular societies tend to host on average more demanding sects.     

Politische Kultur in den Zeiten der Konfliktenttarnung Zur postkommunistischen Modernisierung kollektiver Erinnerungspraktiken

Es werden ein theoretisches Konzept und eine empirische Operationalisierung politischer Kultur entwickelt, die den Bedingungen der „postnationalen Konstellation“ Rechnung tragen sollen: der empirischen und normativen Abwertung des Nationalstaats als Regulationsinstrument wie auch als Identifikationsfokus. Die nationale Form wird besonders in den postsozialistischen L?ndern zum Problem, da es hier zu einer Enttarnung von kulturellen Konflikten kommt, die unter dem sozialistischen Regime unterdrückt worden waren, heutzutage aber keine ausschlie?lich affirmative Bezugnahme auf „Nation“ mehr zulassen. Dem entsprechend wird politische Kultur aus der Perspektive eines diskursethisch informierten Zivilgesellschaftskonzepts formuliert, das ?ffentliche Debatten der kollektiven Selbstverst?ndigung in den Mittelpunkt rückt. Politische Kultur, so verstanden, ist vorfindlich in Debatten über die kollektive Vergangenheit, weil sich in diesen die argumentativen Mikrostrukturen, die jenem Verst?ndnis politischer Kultur zugrunde liegen, besonders deutlich zeigen. Die Skizze einer Erinnerungsdebatte im gegenw?rtigen Russland dient zur Exemplifizierung der Thesen und führt zu der Einsch?tzung, dass das postsowjetische Russland im Zeitraffer die Prozesse nachvollzieht, die für hochmoderne Gesellschaften typisch sind, allerdings unter dilemmatischen Bedingungen.     

Rousseaus Stellung zum utopischen Diskurs der Neuzeit

In the history of political ideas the position of Rousseau’s political theory is controversial. Many historians identify him with the utopian tradition since Thomas More stressed the collective elements in his writings. In contrast to this interpretation it is a widespread thesis that the author of the “Contrat social” must be considered as a representative of the individualistic natural rights. The following study starts with this issue. The authors show that the contractual dimension is predominant in Rousseau’s thinking but it is modified by utopian elements. So Rousseau’s “mixed paradigm” is characteristic for the second part of the 18th century when contractual realism and utopian fiction merged in the dawn of the French Revolution.     

Bildungsexpansion und Wandel des politischen Interesses in Westdeutschland zwischen 1980 und 2002

Interest in politics is a prerequisite for political participation and political engagement. The promotion of political engagement and education to politically mature citizens were basic concerns of educational reforms in the 1960s. This article focuses on the question if educational expansion has lead to a rise in political interest. To reproduce the change in political interest adequately, effects of education, age, period and cohort will be analyzed simultaneously. The data base of the empirical analyses is a cumulated data set consisting of the German General Social Survey (ALLBUS) from 1980 to 2002. Results show that there is a robust effect of education: More highly educated people are more politically interested. Regarding educational expansion evidence suggests that it actually leads to a rise in political interest.     

Sexual sadism

Definitions of sexual sadism in ICD-10 and DSM-IV will be presented as well as the historical routes of the concept. Today studies on differently selected clinical samples reveal a different distribution of sexual sadism versus masochism with masochism prevailing in general especially outpatient psychiatric facilities, and sadism prevailing in forensic settings, thus corroborating the concept of two separated diagnoses sadism versus masochism. In forensic settings the diagnosis of a sadistic character disorder (sadistic personality disorder [SPD] according DSM-III-R) is found to a much higher degree than in other clinical samples (50-fold). Our own follow-up study on a forensic sample implies that sadism as a paraphilia is of relevance for relapse-rates of sex-offenders. Symptoms of SPD can be combined with sexual sadism, or occur independently. This may corroborate arguments in favor of a dimensional concept of sexual sadism. Symptoms of SPD may then be a sign of generalization of sadistic traits at least in some cases. A concept of two factors contributing to sadistic pleasure is suggested, one taking the aspect of bodily gratification by sexual-aggressive stimuli as decisive, and the other taking inner representation of hostile objects into consideration (stressing the antisocial-anger-rage aspect).