The European Social Contract and the European Public Sphere

Abstract:  The possible existence of a European democracy does not depend on the prerequisite of a homogeneous public sphere but on the understanding of the relationship between the normative basis of a European democracy—here a social contract—the structure of the European public sphere and the corresponding institutions. The normative concept of democracy as expressed in social contract theory is neither bound to the city-state nor the nation-state, but can be transferred to the European level. To realise the normative aims of the social contract the democratic institutions have to be—and were in the city—and the nation state—adapted to the structure of the respective public sphere. Two institutional characteristics of the democratic European polity could correspond to the heterogeneous European public sphere: (1) a cooperation of institutions with clearly separated and limited competences—contrary to the ideal-type sovereign institutions with broad competences in the nation-state, and (2) the policy field-oriented structure—contrary to the more uniform and functional structure of democratic institutions in the nation states.     

Public Private Partnership als „Negotiated Order“ —

Der Beitrag versteht Public Private Partnership (PPP) als negotiated order — als Produkt kontextgebundener Aushandlungsprozesse zwischen Akteuren der öffentlichen und privaten Welt. Am Beispiel der vorvertraglichen Phase von drei Entwicklungspartnerschaften der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) werden auf Grundlage der Negotiated-Order-Theorie drei zentrale Thesen herausgestellt: PPP-Aushandlungsprozesse sind durch informelle Vorverständigungen gekennzeichnet, in denen Legitimationsanforderungen beider Welten frühzeitig auf spezifische Handlungskontexte abgestimmt werden. Diese Vorleistung wird von ?bridging agents“ erbracht, die als Vertreter öffentlicher und privater Organisationen und einer gemeinsamen Fachwelt Handlungskontexte interpretieren und damit Verhandlungsspielräume schaffen ?to get things done“ aber auch beschränken. Sie orientieren sich dabei an kontextbezogenen Praktiken der Zusammenarbeit, die den Charakter — die negotiated order — einer jeden PPP prägen. Bewähren sich diese Praktiken im Rahmen einer PPP, so gehen diese in die Vorstellungswelt der Akteure im Alltag über und geben eine Vorlage für zukünftige (PPP-)Kooperationen.     

Deficiencies in the Development of European Criminal Law

Criminal law is beginning to outgrow the shoes which were fitted to it by European law. It is seeking to come of age, to play the role in European law previously reserved to commercial law, private law, employment law, and public law in the broadest sense. Economic knowledge and legal-political organisational interests have long grouped around 'European criminal law'; a still vaguely determined object. A desire also exists to make criminal law justiciable in Europe. Thus, the ranks of the contributions to European criminal law are swelling, European associations of lawyers are developing, legal practitioners are launching appeals3 and winning influence within European institutions. These institutions themselves are beginning to accept and to use criminal law as a political option. This article aims to (I) reflect upon the contents of this development, (II) to clarify their tendencies, and (III) to examine the contents of these premised tendencies, in order to (IV) furnish a critical evaluation.     

Social security and intergenerational redistribution: A generational accounting perspective

This paper is concerned with the analysis of intergenerational redistribution in a pay-as-you-go financed social security scheme. Instead of annual fiscal indicators, we apply generational accounts to calculate the intertemporal effects arising from a projected aging process. As a case study, the institutional settings and the parameterization of our model refer to the conditions found in Germany in 1989. Additionally, the intergenerational impacts of the German 1992 Pension Reform Act are taken into account. Our findings suggest that the major reform measures affect the distribution of the demographic burden between future and presently living generations. However, the burden is shifted in favor of the generations currently alive, thereby contradicting the explicit political intentions and aggravating the situation for future generations.     

Postmortem noninvasive virtual autopsy: extrapleural hemorrhage after blunt thoracic trauma

A 19-year-old man speeding recklessly along a highway caused a left-frontal crash with another car. After his vehicle came to a standstill, he climbed out of the wreck and crawled across the tarmac to the other side of the road, where he died several minutes after the accident and before the arrival of an ambulance. Postmortem multislice computed tomography (MSCT) demonstrated fractures of the first, second, and third ribs and scapula on the left, an extrapleural hemorrhage in the apical region of the left thorax, as well as a large amount of blood in the left thoracic cavity. These radiologic findings were indicative of a delayed rupture of a traumatic extrapleural hematoma into the pleural space. A traditional autopsy confirmed the very rare diagnosis of a traumatic extrapleural hemorrhage with a delayed rupture.     

The European Union in global environmental governance: Leadership in the making?

For well over a decade, the European Union (EU) has proclaimed its leadership role in global environmental governance (GEG). In this article, we examine both the nature of its leadership and the underlying conditions for ‘actorness’ upon which leadership must depend. The EU’s record in the global conferences as well as its influence on the reform of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) are also investigated. We argue that the EU has frequently sought to shape international environmental negotiations and promote sustainable development as an organising principle of global governance. Despite its inadequate status at the UN and internal problems, it has had a significant effect on the global agenda. However, due to persistent diplomatic opposition from other coalitions, its real, directly visible influence has been more modest. For genuine directional leadership, which goes beyond the defence of self-interest, the Union will have to make internal policy coherence a greater priority. Moreover, apart from relying solely on its weighty presence in the international system or its potential capabilities, the EU needs to achieve a high level of credibility in order to enhance its powers of persuasion.

The Validity of Ear Prediction Guidelines Used in Facial Approximation*,†,‡

Abstract: This study examined eight previously published ear prediction methods by Welcker, Gerasimov, Fedosyutkin and Nainys, and Broadbent and Mathews. Computed tomography scans of 78 living adults (n₁) did not support any of these previously published recommendations. Free earlobes were found to accompany protruding supramastoid crests (Pearson’s χ² < 0.05); and ear length [l] and width [w] differed by sex (p < 0.05), correlated with age (r = 0.38[l]; 0.32[w]), and correlated with facial height (r = 0.37[l]; 0.30[w]). New regression equations (for ear length and width) were generated using these variables in several samples and, where possible, cross‐validated using independent data (n₁ = 78, n₂ = 2190, n₃ = 1328, n₄ = 1010, and n₅ = 47). As a result of these analyses, four valid and tested methods for ear prediction were identified, but large degrees of error continue to make accurate prediction of the ear, from the skull, problematic.