Europäische multiple Modernität als interzivilisatorische Konstellation

In interdisciplinary and sociological research on Europe, Euro-centric modernization premises are still dominant, i.e, the explanation of the European multi-level regime on the basis of transnational spill-over mechanisms originating from modernizing national societies in Europe. In contrast, this article will outline an inter-civilizational multiple modernities approach to Europe, based on the work of Shmuel Eisenstadt. Such an approach needs to focus on: 1. the multiplicity of modernization trajectories and modernities, particularly in view of the transformation processes in postcommunist Central and Eastern Europe; 2. the international and inter-civilizational relations and encounters between European and non-European civilizational complexes; and 3. the global role of Europe and the global impact on Europe in a globalizing world. Only in considering such an inter-civilizational and global context is it possible to adequately conceptualize, analyze and explain the dynamics of the European integration and enlargement process.     

Anforderungen an die Erfassung, Bewertung und Sanierung von Biodiversitätsschäden nach dem Umweltschadensgesetz

Zusammenfassung  Durch das Umweltschadensgesetz wurde eine ?ffentlich-rechtliche Verpflichtung zur Kompensation für gesch?digte natürliche Ressourcen und Funktionen implementiert, die unabh?ngig von der Vorhabenzulassung oder dem Vorliegen eines Eingriffs ist und damit deutlich über die Verpflichtungen aus der naturschutzrechtlichen Eingriffsregelung hinausgeht. Bisher herrscht eine gewisse Unsicherheit im Umgang mit dem neuen Instrument. Vollzugshinweise in den L?ndern fehlen weitgehend. Auch sind F?lle, in denen das Umweltschadensgesetz zur Anwendung gelangte, bisher nicht systematisch erfasst, Rechtsprechung liegt noch nicht vor. Der Beitrag gibt daher Hinweise zur rechtlichen wie naturschutzfachlichen Operationalisierung der zentralen Regelungen zur Erfassung, Bewertung und Sanierung von Biodiversit?tssch?den und bietet Unterstützung für die Umsetzung und den Vollzug des Instrumentariums in den L?ndern.     

Assessment of sexual interest using a choice reaction time task and priming: A feasibility study

Purpose. We investigated the feasibility of assessing sexual interest in hetero‐ and homosexual men using two information‐processing methods, namely a choice reaction time task and priming. The participants were expected to have longer reaction times for sexually explicit when compared with non‐explicit pictures due to sexual content‐induced delay. In addition, the reaction times of the heterosexual (N=15) and homosexual (N=11) men for pictures corresponding with their sexual interest were compared to pictures not corresponding with their sexual interest. Heterosexual men were expected to have longer reaction times during the presentation of sexually explicit female as opposed to male pictures, whereas homosexual men were expected to have the opposite pattern. Method. The participants were presented either sexually explicit or non‐explicit male and female target pictures (and primes that preceded the targets in random combinations) while simultaneously performing a choice reaction time task in three phases each containing a total of 160 prime–target pairs. Results. Both expectations were confirmed in phase 1 of the study. In phase 2, the means differed in the expected way, but the effects were not significant. In phase 3, the expected effect was moderated by a complex priming effect. Conclusions. The results suggest that the choice reaction time task is a promising way of measuring sexual interest but that questions of habituation should be given more attention in future studies.     

From Performance Budgeting to Performance Budget Management: Theory and Practice

This article examines the decades‐long practices of performance budgeting in different countries and their associated challenges from a multilayered institutional framework. Based on theory and lessons learned, the article recommends an array of strategies to address institutional and organizational barriers. It also proposes to reconceptualize performance budgeting as a performance budget management system and suggests how multiyear budget planning, financial risk assessment, policy planning, the departmental budget cycle, the program budget cycle, stakeholder engagement, regular spending reviews, and performance audits should be integrated more closely to address the long‐term fiscal challenges faced by many governments and to respond to the public pressure on agencies to do more with less.     

Zur Bedeutung „transnationalen Sozialkapitals“: Sind Grenzgebiete Laboratorien sozialer Integration in Europa?

The article focuses on transnational relations in border regions. Social capital theory assumes that in border regions special opportunity structures exist for the social integration of the population of old and new member states of the European Union based on the specific possibilities for cross-border cooperation. Border regions may be seen as “laboratories of social integration”. The article discusses whether “transnational social capital” actually develops and to what extent it adds to the social integration of the regions and of Europe. Representative survey data from the German-Polish, German-Czech, and German-French border regions – gathered on both sides of the border – serve as the basis of the analysis. Results show that currently – especially on the old outer borders of the EU – the accumulated transnational social capital adds very little to social integration at the regional and European level.