Spokes in the wheel. European affairs and the parliamentary administration of German Landtage

ABSTRACT

Over the last decades, regional parliaments were considered to play a minor role in European affairs. Not only was the salience of the EU low at the regional level, but politicians elected into these bodies also often lacked vested interests and capacities to become more involved in dealing with complex multi-level questions. After the constitutional strengthening of regional parliaments in EU decision-making, this paper considers one under-researched aspect behind the growing appetite of regional parliaments to become more involved in the scrutiny of EU affairs: the role of unelected parliamentary officials. Based on qualitative interviews in 12 German regional parliaments, the authors highlight how regional parliaments exert control over their governments and what role horizontal administrative networks among parliamentary staff play in the engagement of regional parliaments in EU affairs.     

The provenance of émigrés: the validity of measuring knowledge of places

Establishing the origin of those seeking asylum is essential but difficult as asylum seekers often cannot corroborate their origin claim with documents. The aim of the present study was to assess whether asking knowledge questions, sketch questions and impossible questions are valid methods to determine the veracity of an origin claim. Participants (N?=?105) from Tilburg (truth-tellers), Maastricht (partial liars) and Gothenburg (full liars) were asked to convince an interviewer that they originated from Tilburg. Half of them prepared and half of them did not prepare themselves for the interview. They were asked 10 knowledge questions typically asked to assess the credibility of origin claims, 4 impossible questions and 1 sketch question. Participants from Tilburg answered more questions correctly than participants from Maastricht and Gothenburg. Performance also improved with preparation. Even though the results did provide some support for the validity of assessing claims about origin by asking knowledge questions, the differences between the groups were modest, and it was impossible to correctly identify all truth-tellers and liars. Changing the output modality from verbal answering to sketching contributed to the credibility assessment of origin claims, whereas impossible questions were not discriminatory.     

Justice Concerns Can Feed Nationalistic Concerns and Impede Solidarity in the Euro Crisis: How Victim Sensitivity Translates into Political Attitudes

We investigated how victim sensitivity and news media exposure conjointly contribute to the formation of political attitudes in the context of the euro crisis. Study 1 (N = 208) showed that observer-sensitive individuals were more likely and victim-sensitive individuals were less likely to support solidarity with countries in need of financial support. These correlations were mediated by affective components of political attitudes, namely nationalistic concerns, resentment about and empathic concerns with debtor countries. In Study 2 (N = 51), using a pre–post within-subjects design, we showed that framing the euro crisis in an ‘exploitation frame” (compared to a ‘solidarity frame’) in news media reports was more likely to trigger nationalistic concerns and, consequently, decrease support of solidarity in victim-sensitive individuals compared to their less victim-sensitive counterparts. These results are in line with the SeMI model and previous findings that victim sensitivity is linked to fear of being exploited in intergroup relations.     

Tax amnesties, justice perceptions, and filing behavior: a simulation study

A simulation study demonstrates the influence of perceived justice of a tax amnesty on subsequent tax compliance. In addition, it investigates how the amnesty is perceived to serve the punishment objectives retribution (i.e., giving offenders what they "deserve") and value restoration (i.e., restoring the values violated by tax evasion). Hierarchical regression analysis revealed the expected positive influence of justice on subsequent tax compliance. However, when the influence of punishment objectives was controlled for, the influence of justice disappeared, while retribution and value restoration showed positive effects on post-amnesty tax compliance.     

Examination results and autopsy findings in assaults on elderly people

As the percentage of elderly people in the population grows, violence against persons of advanced age constitutes an increasing social problem. The findings of the clinical forensic examinations (CE group) and autopsies performed on elderly violence victims (> or = 60 years) between 1999 and 2008 at the Institute of Legal Medicine of the Hanover Medical School were retrospectively analysed. In all, the study material comprised 55 victims of the CE group (35 females and 20 males, median age 73.5 years) and 55 autopsies (33 females and 22 males, median age 72.7 years). In most of the autopsy cases, the suspect was a family member or partner. In contrast, the alleged perpetrator was a stranger in most cases of the CE group. Blunt force injuries were most often found in the CE group victims (63.6%). Altogether, 38.2% (CE group) and 20.0% (autopsy cases) of the violent assaults were associated with robbery. In the majority of the CE cases, the victims suffered potentially or acute life-threatening injuries. In summary, the analysis shows that elderly people frequently become victims of robbery and blunt force injury. In most homicides of old people, the perpetrator is familiar to the victim. In surviving elderly violence victims, the assault is more likely to be reported to the police if the suspect is a stranger.     

Clinical forensic examination findings in assault cases among adolescents

Child and youth criminality has risen markedly over the past 25 years and causes increasing concern to the general public. The clinical forensic examination cases of youth violence victims examined at the Institute of Legal Medicine of the Hanover Medical School and its Oldenburg Branch between 1999 and 2008 were retrospectively analyzed. In all, 55 adolescents (37 females, 18 males; median age 15.5 years) were examined. In most cases the suspect was a close (40.0%) or passing (23.6%) acquaintance. 16 assaults were committed by two or more adolescents jointly. Most of the juveniles were victims of sexual assaults (56.4%). In 15 victims of sexual offences (51.7%) diagnostic findings were obtained on the basis of anogenital injuries and/or the presence of sperm. In summary, the analysis shows that adolescents frequently become victims of sexual assault. In addition, youth violence is often committed in a group.     

Homicide,Psychopathy, and Aging—A Nationwide Register‐based Case‐comparison Study of Homicide Offenders Aged 60 Years or Older*

Abstract: With populations aging there have been some concerns on elderly offending. We compared elderly homicide offenders with a younger comparison group with special emphasis on psychopathy. We analyzed nationwide register‐based material on all homicide offenders aged 60 or older who were in a forensic psychiatric examination in Finland 1995–2004 and their gender‐matched comparison group of younger homicide offenders. The offenders 60 years or older were diagnosed less often than the younger ones with drug dependence and personality disorders and more often with dementia and physical illnesses. The mean Psychopathy Checklist—Revised total scores as well as factor and facet scores were lower in the 60 or older age group. The group 60 years or older had significantly lower scores on eight individual items of social deviance. The interpersonal/affective factor 1 scores did not differ. Understanding the possible underlying phenomena of violent behavior may provide help for developing services for the elderly.     

Patients' rights to complain in Finnish psychiatric care: An overview

Cuts in resources for Finnish psychiatric care may jeopardize the realization of patients' rights in mental health settings. The right to complain is a basic right of all patients in Finland, and is especially important to patients treated involuntarily and also to those who have experienced coercive treatment methods during their hospitalizations. In Finland, a patient's right to complain is guaranteed by law, both in legislation and in national quality recommendations. The complaint process in Finland is very complex, and there are several ways to make a complaint that are not always familiar to patients with severe illnesses. Psychiatric patients may have cognitive impairments that make the formulation of a complaint difficult. Despite help from the patient ombudsman, unbalanced power structures in psychiatric hospitals, insufficient information and long evaluation of appeals makes the complaint process very demanding for psychiatric patients.     

Explaining differences in EMAS participation rates across Europe: the importance of institutions,incomplete information and path dependence

What factors shape environmental policies across Europe? In order to answer this question most economists would probably adopt a Public Choice approach. This approach has convincingly explained some aspects of environmental policies that exist in a similar fashion across Europe. But why do many environmental policies differ across European countries? This article argues that in order to understand differences in environmental policies in Europe North’s analysis of institutional change focusing on formal and informal institutions, incomplete information and path dependence is useful. North’s approach is applied to explain differences in a particular field of European environmental policy: The implementation of the EU’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. The starting point of the analysis is the observation that participation of companies in EMAS markedly differs between countries. It is shown that these differences can be explained with differences in formal and informal institutions in the three Member States, incomplete information of relevant actors, and path dependence.     

Outsmarting the Liars: The Benefit of Asking Unanticipated Questions

We hypothesised that the responses of pairs of liars would correspond less with each other than would responses of pairs of truth tellers, but only when the responses are given to unanticipated questions. Liars and truth tellers were interviewed individually about having had lunch together in a restaurant. The interviewer asked typical opening questions which we expected the liars to anticipate, followed by questions about spatial and/or temporal information which we expected suspects not to anticipate, and also a request to draw the layout of the restaurant. The results supported the hypothesis, and based on correspondence in responses to the unanticipated questions, up to 80% of liars and truth tellers could be correctly classified, particularly when assessing drawings.