Is the left alright? The SPD and the renewal of European social democracy

The late 1990s appeared to herald a new dawn for European social democracy. Social democratic governments were elected to office in Germany, the UK and France (and participated in governments in 12 of the 15 EU states). For the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the British Labour Party, this took place after long periods in opposition. For the French Socialist Party (PS), its victory in legislative elections signalled a remarkable comeback after a shattering defeat in 1993. Their rise to power was accompanied by programmatic renewal, symbolised by the ‘Neue Mitte’, the ‘Third Way’, and ‘réalisme de gauche’, and marked by convergence within the context of European integration. Yet this electoral success concealed a number of weaknesses which began to emerge at the start of the 2000s. Hierarchical leaderships, bound by the realities of government, failed to deliver (and/or communicate) distinctive social democratic agendas, undermining linkages to core supporters. This narrative is particularly relevant for recent developments in the SPD, which – after the departure of Gerhard Schröder – faces a period of strategic and programmatic uncertainty.     

The Political Value of Land: Political Reform and Land Prices in Chile

In this article, we argue that when patron‐client relations are grounded in economic relationships, such as between landlord and worker, we should expect clientelism to influence not just how public policy, the state, and the political system work, but also how the economy works. We develop a simple model of the economic consequences of electoral clientelism when voting behavior can be observed. Landlords/patrons provide economic rents to workers, and in exchange workers vote for parties favored by landlords. As votes are used by the landlords to accumulate political rents, vote control increases the demand for labor and for land. The model implies that the introduction of the Australian ballot, which destroys this form of clientelism, should lead to a fall in the price of land in those areas where patron‐client relationships are strongest. We test the predictions of the model by examining in detail the evolution of land prices in Chile around May 31, 1958, for which we collected original data. A characteristic of rural Chile at this time were patron‐client relations based on the inquilinaje system, by which a worker, the inquilino, entered into a long‐term, often hereditary, employment relationship with a landlord and lived on his landlord’s estate. We show that the introduction of the Australian ballot in 1958 led to a fall of about 26% in land prices in the areas where these patron‐client relationships were predominant.     

Marginal lands: the role of remote sensing in constructing landscapes for agrofuel development

With the growth of the biofuel complex, the concept of ‘marginal land’ has emerged as a term commonly associated with the promotion of agrofuels. Remote sensing and other data are used to globally characterize land as marginal based on predominantly biophysical features that render it ‘non-competitive’ for the purpose of commercial food agriculture. This paper explores the limitations of current geospatial technologies in determining whether marginal land is appropriate for bioenergy crops given that (i) people often have intentions behind land use that are not reflected in most routinely collected remote sensing data and (ii) a remote (and spatio-temporally static) characterization of marginality is unable to capture the shifting character of what constitutes marginality in an economic sense and is therefore a non-sequitur for guiding land use decisions on the ground. This paper also explores the latent values embedded in the ontology of a macro-scale ‘marginal land’ land cover class and advances the notion that ‘marginal land’ as an artificial spatial construct serves to re-frame land in a way that neglects socio-ecological processes in order to re-frame it in support of principles based in resource productivism.     

Fading lies: applying the verifiability approach after a period of delay

ABSTRACT

We tested the utility of applying the Verifiability Approach (VA) to witness statements after a period of delay. The delay factor is important to consider because interviewees are often not interviewed directly after witnessing an event. A total of 64 liars partook in a mock crime and then lied about it during an interview, seven days later. Truth tellers (n?=?78) partook in activities of their own choosing and told the truth about it during their interview, seven days later. All participants were split into three groups, which provided three different verbal instructions relating to the interviewer’s aim to assess the statements for the inclusion of verifiable information: no information protocol (IP) (n?=?43), the standard-IP (n?=?46) and an enhanced-IP (n?=?53). In addition to the standard VA approach of analysing verifiable details, we further examined verifiable witness information and verifiable digital information and made a distinction between verifiable details and verifiable sources. We found that truth tellers reported more verifiable digital details and sources than liars.     

From the Bonn to the Berlin republic

This article identifies semi‐sovereignty as the defining characteristic of the Bonn Republic. This is associated with an external role of reflexive multilateralism, a concentrated party system, a co‐operative opposition and a moderate policy style. The article then looks at these defining characteristics in relation to the Berlin Republic. Germany's role in external security provision is seen as the biggest change.