How Aspiration to Office Conditions the Impact of Government Participation on Party Platform Change

Considerable ambiguity exists regarding the effect of government/opposition status on party platform change. Existing theories predict that (1) it has no effect, (2) opposition parties change more, (3) opposition parties change more after several spells in opposition, and (4) parties’ responses vary because of different goal orientations. We propose that a party's aspiration to office, measured by its historical success or failure in entering office, determines a party's reaction to being in opposition or government. We hypothesize that, because of loss aversion, parties with low office aspiration change more when they are in government than when they are in opposition. Conversely, parties with high office aspiration change more as opposition party than as government party. We find evidence for these hypotheses through a pooled time‐series cross‐sectional analysis of 1,686 platform changes in 21 democracies, using the Comparative Manifesto Data and an innovative measure of party platform change.     

Affirmative Action: A German Perspective on the Promotion of Women's Rights with Regard to Employment

This paper discusses affirmative action policies in Germany. After German reunification, women from both east and west had hoped for a new codification of their rights, including positive obligations on the state to promote gender equality. However, the amendments to the Basic Law in November 1994 did not clearly endorse this approach. Opinions still differ as to whether Articles 3(2) and 3(3) of the Constitution allow for affirmative action with regard to women's employment. In 2001 quotas for the public employment sector were finally introduced, but the use of quotas for private sector employment still faces serious opposition. Nevertheless, the concept of affirmative action is not new to the German legal system: since the eighteenth century, quota schemes have been used to ensure the employment of (war-) disabled persons. This article examines the different approaches to employment quotas for women and disabled persons, and critically evaluates the reasons for divergence.     

Keine Vollstreckbarkeit eines Beschlusses auf Urkundenvorlage

Ein Beschluss, mit dem der Streitrichter einem Antrag auf Urkundenvorlage gem § 82 ZPO stattgab, ist kein Exekutionstitel nach § 1 Z 1 EO.     

30 Jahre FFH-Richtlinie – Erfolge und Defizite beim Schutz des europäischen Naturerbes

Natur und Recht - Im Jahr 1992 wurde von der Europäischen Gemeinschaft die FFH-Richtlinie beschlossen. Seither sind drei Jahrzehnte vergangen, gleichwohl gibt es bis heute Defizite bei der...     

CT‐Guided,Minimally Invasive,Postmortem Needle Biopsy Using the B‐Rob II Needle‐Positioning Robot

CT‐guided, minimally invasive needle biopsy techniques can be used to retrieve tissue or body fluid samples for histologic tissue diagnoses in forensic investigations. The purpose of this study was an evaluation of CT‐guided needle‐positioning robot B‐Rob II. To operate under CT guidance, we adopted the B‐Rob II robotic needle placement system and its workflow. The accuracy and speed of the procedure were tested on a gelatin phantom in a series of 21 biopsies. We achieved an average needle placement accuracy of 1.8 mm (±1.1 mm) using robotic assistance. The procedure required an average of 2 min 21 s. The needle placement accuracy for minimally invasive needle biopsies using the B‐Rob II biopsy robot is sufficiently accurate and fast for forensic postmortem examinations of focal organ changes. Further tests will be performed to test the feasibility of the robot for performing biopsies of focal organ changes in human bodies.     

Demographic socialization and reproductive behavior in a transitional context: a macro–micro perspective

This paper analyzes the impact of individuals’ socialization in a given demographic context on their later reproductive behavior in 19th century Geneva. To assess this socialization effect on the fertility of first generation immigrants, I combine family reconstitution data with Coale’s aggregate indexes of marital fertility. I then run two-level Poisson regression models predicting age-specific fertility rates as a function of individual characteristics at the lower level and as a function of province-level fertility at the higher level. The results show a strong socialization effect among couples who were already married when arriving in Geneva, whereas among immigrants who arrived as singles and who got married in Geneva the impact of demographic socialization turns out much weaker.     

Comparing Sexuality,Aggressiveness, and Antisocial Behavior of Alleged Juvenile Sexual and Violent Offenders,

Sexual delinquency in juveniles is insufficiently explored in regard to the specificity of offender characteristics. The aim is to investigate relevant areas for juvenile sexual offending in a precourt, pretreatment group. Thirty‐two alleged juvenile sexual offenders (ASO) referred to by police were compared with 32 juvenile nonsexual violent offenders (VNO) on standardized measures of aggressiveness and psychopathology, antisocial behavior, substance use problems, and sexuality. Less externalizing disorders and antisocial behavior were found among the ASOs than among the VNOs. The ASO group was sexually less experienced, had less trust in their relationship abilities, fewer victimization experiences, and reported more sexual deviance, while pornography use and obscene calls were reported less often. Few juvenile sexual offenders had severe problems in the investigated areas. Including groups of offenders before court, treatment or incarceration in research appears crucial to understand the full spectrum of sexual deviance in youth and avoid misguidance due to selection factors.