When soft regulation is not enough: The integrated pollution prevention and control directive of the European Union

Recent debates regarding the effectiveness of regulatory policymaking in the European Union (EU) focus on the merits of soft, non-binding forms of regulation between public and private actors. The emergence of less coercive forms of regulation is analyzed as a response to powerful functional pressures emanating from the complexity of regulatory issues, as well as the need to secure flexibility and adaptability of regulation to distinctive territorial economic, environmental, administrative, and social conditions. In this article we empirically assess the above normative claims regarding the effectiveness of soft regulation vis-à-vis uniformly binding legislation. We draw on an exploratory investigation of the application of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive of the EU in four countries. Our study reveals that effectiveness in the application of soft policy instruments is largely contingent upon strong cognitive, material, and political capacities of both state regulators and industrial actors involved in regulatory policymaking. In the absence of those conditions, the application of soft, legally non-binding regulation may lead to adverse effects, such as non-compliance and the “hollowing out” of the systems of environmental permits to industry. In the medium term, such developments can undermine the normative authority of the EU.     

Suicide in children, youths and young adults

Suicides among children and youths are tragic events. The suicide cases of children, youths and young adults examined between 1995 and 2009 at the Institute of Legal Medicine of the Hanover Medical School were retrospectively analyzed. Altogether, 54 suicides among children, youths and young adults (37 males, 17 females; median age 17.5 years) were evaluated. The suicide victims were predominantly male (68.5%). The vast majority used "hard" methods such as hanging, jumping from a height or being run over by a train. In seven cases (13.0%) psychiatric disorders were known. Seven victims (13.0%) left a suicide note. Suicide was most frequently (40.7%) committed in the open air (40.7%). In addition, the evaluation shows that at the time of committing suicide more than 40% of the youths and adolescents, in whom a chemical toxicological examination was performed, were under the influence of alcohol, medical and/or illegal drugs.     

Arts Organizations and Branding: Creating a New Joint Brand for Three Arts Organizations

This article investigates brand architecture by analyzing stakeholder perceptions of brand images when a new joint brand is created for the existing brands of three arts organizations. The theoretical framework is based on previous literature on brand architecture and brand image. The empirical study is based on a quantitative, 418-respondent survey among stakeholders of these three arts organizations. The study makes two major theoretical contributions. First, the results show that the new joint brand can be endorsed by the existing sub-brands, contrary to brand-architecture literature. Second, even in the case of a new brand, stakeholders perceive the functional attributes as important.     

Was heißt Pragmatismus? Boltanski meets Dewey

Within sociological academia, Luc Boltanski is supposed to be one of the leading figures of neo-pragmatism. However, his references to the classics of the American philosophical movement at the beginning of the twentieth century are rare and unsystematic. Is Boltanski a pragmatist? But what does it mean to be a pragmatist? Facing the actual rebirth of pragmatism and its inherent heterogeneity, a more precise definition is needed. The paper addresses the works of Boltanski through the lenses of the philosophy of John Dewey and puts it to a pragmatist test which comes to a positive conclusion: Boltanski indeed reanimates central principles of pragmatism and translates them towards an experimental methodology. But he meets his normative limits considering the connection between sociology and social critique. The paper concludes with a proposal for a sociological experimentalism following Dewey which includes the question of critique.     

Fatal attacks of zoo animals on humans--a case report

Media reports about fatal work accidents in zoos caused by zoo animals seem to appear in increasing numbers all around the world. In many cases the cause of such an accident can only be clarified by a detailed reconstruction of the event in combination with the autopsy results. This applies particularly in cases where no eyewitnesses were present. This report is about the case of a musk ox that killed its keeper, in which the fatal accident could be completely reconstructed.     

State making in the Horn of Africa: notes on Eritrea and prospects for the end of violent conflict in the Horn

This paper looks at the Eritrean state-making process in light of the 1998–2000 Eritreo-Ethiopian war and its aftermath. Three historical layers are discussed as determining the workings of the present Eritrean state. Their most important legacies are concerns around territorial integrity coupled with a deep mistrust of the international community, and a political system based on mobilisation coupled with authoritarian control. The war had two major consequences for the Eritrean polity: It led to many ruptures within the state, and it re-enforced deeply held suspicions towards the main international actors engaged in finding a sustainable solution. The latter's involvement has resulted in a stalemate. Looking into the future, in a best-case scenario, pressure will be put on Ethiopia to accept once and for all its boundary with Eritrea as defined by international law. At the same time, this could open the way for domestic change towards constitutional government in Eritrea. At present, lacking a base for mutual engagement, future prospects for both countries, but more so for Eritrea, look bleak.     

Organizing Babylon - On the Different Conceptions of Policy Networks

A 'Babylonian' variety of policy network concepts and applications can be found in the literature. Neither is there a common understanding of what policy networks actually are, nor has it been agreed whether policy networks constitute a mere metaphor, a method, an analytical tool or a proper theory. The aim of this article is to review the state of the art in the field of policy networks. Special attention is given to the German conception of policy networks which is different from the one predominant in the Anglo-Saxon literature. While British and American scholars usually conceive policy networks as a model of state/society relations in a given issue area, German works tend to treat policy networks as an alternative form of governance to hierarchy and market. It is argued that this conception of policy networks goes beyond serving as a mere analytical tool box for studying public policy-making. Yet, both the German and the Anglo-Saxon conception of policy networks face a common challenge: first, it still remains to be systematically shown that policy networks do not only exist but are really relevant to policy-making, and second, the problem of the ambiguity of policy networks has to be tackled, as policy networks can both enhance and reduce the efficiency and legitimacy of policy-making.     

Experimentalist governance: An introduction

This symposium critically engages with the volume Experimentalist Governance in the European Union: Towards a New Architecture (2010), edited by Charles F. Sabel and Jonathan Zeitlin. “Experimentalist Governance” (EG) opens up an original theoretical perspective on the emergent governance architecture of the EU and sheds new light on developments in key policy sectors. This symposium brings together a transatlantic group of distinguished political scientists and legal scholars to discuss the added value of EG as a concept for analysis, its theoretical underpinnings, empirical relevance, and normative implications, in terms of legitimacy. Contributors discuss EG from different disciplinary and theoretical perspectives, referring to a variety of empirical examples in the EU context and beyond. The symposium closes with a response from the authors to their critics. This collection of essays sheds new light on debates around the nature of the EU and democratic governance beyond the nation state.     

Blood aspiration as a vital sign detected by postmortem computed tomography imaging

Blood aspiration is a significant forensic finding. In this study, we examined the value of postmortem computed tomography (CT) imaging in evaluating findings of blood aspiration. We selected 37 cases with autopsy evidence of blood in the lungs and/or in the airways previously submitted to total-body CT scanning. The CT-images were retrospectively analyzed. In one case with pulmonary blood aspiration, biopsy specimens were obtained under CT guide for histological examination. In six cases, CT detected pulmonary abnormalities suggestive of blood aspiration, not mentioned in the autopsy reports. CT reconstructions provided additional data about the distribution and extent of aspiration. In one needle-biopsied case, the pulmonary specimens showed blood in the alveoli. We suggest the use of CT imaging as a tool complementary to traditional techniques in cases of blood aspiration to avoid misdiagnosis, to guide the investigation of lung tissue, and to allow for more evidence-based inferences on the cause of death.