From Armed Neutrality to External Dependence: Swiss Security in the 21st Century

Abstract: Historically, Swiss identity was founded on beliefs in federalism, direct democracy and armed neutrality. Given continued popular support for autonomous self‐defense in an era of transnational threats, it is worth examining whether a small economically interdependent state, such as Switzerland, is single‐handedly capable of providing for its own security. To preview our conclusions, every facet of Switzerland’s security, whether against military threats, terrorism or natural disasters, today benefits from substantial international inputs. At base, Switzerland’s increasing security dependence has been driven by the following dynamics: 1) the general development of institutionalized international cooperation; 2) the evolving nature of the threats Switzerland faces; and 3) political efforts to “securitize” issues not hitherto considered as security problems. Because Swiss security dependence owes more to broad structural factors than deliberate choices, policymakers would be better off embracing this reality by proactively using international organizations to address transnational challenges.     

Taxing Higher Incomes: What Makes the High-Income Earners Consent to More Progressive Taxation in Latin America?

When do high-income earners get ‘on board’ with the fiscal contract and accept paying a larger share of the tax burden? Progressive taxes perform particularly poorly in developing countries. We argue that the common opposition of the affluent to more progressive taxation is not merely connected to administrative limitations to coercively enforce compliance, but also to the uncertainty that high-income earners associate with the returns to taxes. Because coercion is not an option, there is a need to convince high-income earners to ‘invest’ in the public system via taxes. Trust in institutions is decisive for the fiscal contract. Expecting that paid contributions will be used in a sensible manner, high-income earners will be more supportive of progressive income taxation. We study tax composition preferences of a cross-section of Latin American countries using public opinion data from LAPOP for 2012. Findings reveal that higher levels of trust in political institutions strongly mitigate the opposition of the affluent towards more progressive taxation.     

Mass homicide and suicide deadliness and outcome

A study of 98 lone, rampage killers in the United States from 1949 to 1999 found that those who were killed by police officers killed and wounded more victims than those who completed suicide who, in turn, killed or wounded more victims than those who were captured. Those rampage killers who completed suicide were less likely to be judged schizophrenic and more likely to be killing present or former co-workers.     

Das gesellschaftliche Gehäuse der Persönlichkeit

Der vorliegende Text schlägt eine Rezeption der Weberschen Soziologie vor, der zufolge sich der Webersche Kulturbegriff als systemtheoretischer Gesellschaftsbegriff lesen lässt. Entscheidende Argumente dafür finden sich in der relativistischen Anlage der Weberschen Studien, die den Befund der Vergleichbarkeit nicht als Hinweis auf Integrationsbedürfnisse lesen, sondern auf evolutionäre Unterschiede, die Eigengesetzlichkeiten betonen. Eine solchermaßen angelegte Differenzierungstheorie betont Unterschiede, ohne diese von vornherein als gesellschaftliche Plausibilität zu interpretieren. Die Plausibilitätsprüfung unterschiedlicher Rationalitäten findet stattdessen bei Weber über die Darstellung vonethoi statt. Ethoi lassen sich aus dieser Perspektive als (soziologische) Produktion von guten Motiven lesen, die jedoch gleichzeitig auch die schlechten Motive mitherstellen. Mit Nikolas Rose lässt sich diese Vorgehensweise als ein Verfahren desethicalizing authority entschlüsseln, in dessen Verlauf eine psychologisch betreute Motivproduktion als entscheidender Inklusionsmechanismus traditionelle Autoritäten (Persönlichkeit) ablöst. Insofern hat der Webersche Kulturbegriff Folgen, die wir systemtheoretisch als Ethisierung der Kultur bzw. Kulturalisierung der Ethik beschreiben würden: Eine konsequent relativistische Lesart der Differenzierungstheorie — eben dies hat Weber mit Hilfe seines evolutionstheoretischen Arguments ermöglicht — verlagert Integrationsprobleme auf die Ebene der Anerkennung von Kulturen.

     

Aquatic fatalities--a systematic retrospective analysis

In a retrospective analysis of the autopsy material (n = 5,767) of the Institute of Legal Medicine of the Hanover Medical School covering the period of 1998-2007, all aquatic fatalities were evaluated, categorized and systematically compared under epidemiological and forensic criteria. The total of 156 cases of death by drowning (2.7 % of all autopsies) included 38 bathtub drownings and 28 deaths in the water for which no pathological anatomical cause of death could be reliably demonstrated. A control group (n = 221) was investigated for the presence of aqueous liquid in the sphenoid sinuses and compared with the findings of the drowning cases without signs of putrefaction. About 16 % of the control cases had fluid in the sphenoid sinuses compared with 57.6 % in the drowning group. Most of the drowning victims were men (60.9 %), whereas in the group of bathtub drownings the majority were women. More than half of the drowning cases (n = 89) could be classified as accidents. The individual groups showed a different incidence of findings associated with drowning.     

Ex Pluribus Unum: Fusion of the European Communities into the European Union

Abstract: This article presents the main legal approaches used in constructing the relationships between the TEU, TEC, TEAC and TECSC and the institutions set up by them. It argues that the dominant approaches which separate the European Union from the European Communities run into serious difficulties when explaining the normative framework and the actual practice of the EU institutions. In contrast, the proposed 'unity thesis' asserts that de lege lata the European Union can be considered one entity from the point of view of the organisation, its actions and its law, The article develops in detail the legal premises and some of the consequences of this thesis.