Contact shot from infantry weapons with a flash-suppressor

The number of reports on contact shots from firearms with a flash suppressor attached to the muzzle is small. On the basis of a case report (suicidal shot to the forehead with a Kalschnikow AKMS 47 assault rifle) the morphological peculiarities (characteristics soot pattern, relatively small powder cavity and only minor skin tears in the presence of a bony support) are presented and the conclusions to be drawn from the findings regarding the flash-suppressor, the shot distance, the angle of the shot and the way of holding the weapon are discussed.     

Partizipation in politischen Parteien. Eine empirische Analyse des Mobilisierungspotenzials politischer Parteien sowie der Struktur innerparteilicher Partizipation in Deutschland

Why do citizens become members of political parties? And why are some party members activists and others not? These guiding questions are analyzed within the context of the general incentives model proposed by Seyd and Whiteley. The basis of the empirical analyses is a survey of the German population as well as a survey of the German party members. It is shown that soft incentives can be sufficient for the decision to become a member of a political party while hard incentives are the main predictor of the decision to become active within a party. Since soft incentives had become less widespread these findings contribute to an explanation of the declining number of party members in Germany.     

the impact of constitutional structures and collective and competitive veto points on income inequality in industrialized democracies

This paper presents the first systematic, empirical examination of the impact of constitutional structures on income inequality among eighteen OECD countries. Our pooled time series/cross–sectional panel analysis (n = 18, t = 2) reveals that consensual political institutions are systematically related to lower income inequalities while the reverse is true for majoritarian political institutions. We also make a crucial distinction between 'collective' and 'competitive' veto points. Our multiple regression results provide strong evidence that collective veto points depress income inequalities while competitive veto points tend to widen the inequality of incomes. Thus, some institutional veto points have constraining effects on policy while others have 'enabling' effects.     

The personality of stealth democrats: how traits shape attitudes towards expert-based governments

While some scholars call for mechanisms to give citizens a greater voice in politics, others critically question the demand for more citizen participation. Rather, they find that the people do not want to be involved in politics and prefer independent experts to make political decisions. This perspective is captured by Hibbing and Theiss-Morse in their concept of stealth democracy. They describe stealth democrats as people who think that political debates are unnecessary or who naturally avoid all sorts of conflict. Especially the latter argument points to a potential psychological underpinning of stealth attitudes, which forms the starting point of the investigation here. This article evaluates the personality of stealth democrats and makes use of a well-known concept to capture personality traits, the ‘Big Five’ model. Analysing unique survey data from Switzerland, the results reveal significant relationships between personality traits such as conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism and stealth attitudes.     

Framing and dominant metaphors in the coverage of North Korea in the Australian media

Through the selective allocation of attention, framing and metaphors in covering foreign affairs and countries, media narratives often act to delegitimise, marginalise and demonise international actors. Focusing on Australian reportage of North Korea in The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald and from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2012, this paper explicates how the framing mechanisms utilised in media point to media complicity in reinforcing a negative, adversarial orientation towards North Korea. It also discusses implications for how Australians view the North Korean people, Australian–North Korean relations, and policy pertaining to Northeast Asia more broadly.     

Das soziale Kapital der Schweiz: vergleichende Einschätzungen zu Aspekten des Vertrauens und der sozialen Einbindung

Diese Arbeit präsentiert die erste vergleichend angelegte empirische Einschätzung zum Bestand des Sozialkapitals in der Schweiz. Hinsichtlich des zivilgesellschaftlichen Engagements in Vereinen und Freiwilligenorganisationen und gemessen am zwischenmenschlichen Vertrauen ist die Schweiz im internationalen Vergleich keinem Niedergang des sozialen Kapitals ausgesetzt, wie dies etwa für die Vereinigten Staaten konstatiert wird. Hingegen nimmt das Vertrauen in die politischen Institutionen und Akteure des Landes über die Zeit ab. Im internationalen Vergleich rangiert die Schweiz hinsichtlich ihres Bestandes an sozialem Kapital im oberen Mittelfeld. Weiter zeigen die Auswertungen, dass die deutschschweizer Sprachregion einen höheren Sozialkapitalbestand aufweist als die lateinischen Sprachregionen. Ein ressourcenreiches Profil begünstigt zudem den individuellen Erwerb von Sozialvermögen in Form von sozialem Vertrauen oder der Mitgliedschaft in Freiwilligenorganisationen.