Reviews

Vladimir Shlapentokh, Soviet Intellectuals and Political Power: The Post‐Stalin Era. London: I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 1990, xiv + 321 pp., £19.95

Jadwiga Staniszkis, The Dynamics of the Breakthrough in Eastern Europe. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1991, xiii + 303 pp., £25.00, $35.00.

Richard Sakwa, Gorbachev and his Reforms, 1985–1990. London: Philip Allan, 1990, xiv + 459 pp., £35.00 h/b, £12.95 p/b.

Julian Cooper, The Soviet Defence Industry: Conversion and Reform. London: Pinter Publishers, 1991, ix + 111 pp., £22.50 h/b, £8.95 p/b.

Elizabeth Winiecki & Jan Winiecki, The Structural Legacy of the Soviet‐Type Economy. London: CRCE, 1992, 133 pp., £6.50 p/b.

Marsha Siefert, ed., Mass Culture and Perestroika in the Soviet Union. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991, 200 pp., $35.00.

Anne White, De‐Stalinization and the House of Culture. Declining state control over leisure in the USSR, Poland and Hungary, 1953–89. London and New York: Routledge, 1990, x+195 pp., £30.00.

Deborah Adelman, The ‘Children of Perestroika’. Moscow Teenagers Talk About Their Lives and the Future. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe Inc., 1991, xxiii + 256 pp., $24.95.

Michael Marrese & Sándor Richter, eds, The Challenge of Simultaneous Economic Relations with East and West. London: Macmillan, 1990, xviii + 216 pp., £45.00.

David W. Hunter, Western Trade Pressure on the Soviet Union. Basingstoke: Macmillan Academic and Professional Ltd, 1991, xii + 163 pp., £45.00

Pierre Maurer, La Reconciliation Sovieto‐Yougoslave, 1954–1958: Illusions et Disillusions de Tito. Cousset, Fribourg: Editions Delval, 1991, 474 pp., no price.     

Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann und die „gute“ Verfassung

The primary focus of the historian and political scientist Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann (1785–1860) was the importance of constitution. Dahlmann perceived the concept of constitution not as a written legal document but rather, following the thinking of Aristotle, as the good order of a political community. This constitutional concept was Dahlmann’s guide in dealing with three particular political challenges: the quest for Schleswig-Holstein’s unity with the German nation, his leadership in the protest of seven Göttingen professors against the constitutional coup of the new king of Hanover in 1837, and his contribution to the German Constitution of 1849. Dahlmann’s main legacy is the importance of integrating constitutional topics into today’s research and teaching of politics and polity.     

Skin penetration assessment of less lethal kinetic energy munitions

The development of less-lethal technologies has provided law enforcement personnel with an alternative to lethal force. Although the less lethal projectile was produced to engender non-penetrating wounds, case studies show that there have been a number of reported penetrating injuries ranging from minor to significant in morbidity. The objective of this study was to determine the energy per unit area required to penetrate various regions of the body. Eight unembalmed postmortem human specimens were procured for this testing. Each specimen sustained a maximum of 25 impacts consisting of shots to the anterior and posterior thorax, abdomen, and legs. A 12-gauge, fin-stabilized, rubber rocket round was used as the impactor for all of the conducted tests. The energy density required for 50% risk of penetration varied from 23.99 J/cm2 for the location on the anterior rib (p = 0.000) to 52.74 J/cm2 for the location on the posterior rib (p = 0.001).     

Kapitalerhaltungsrechtliche Gedanken zum Bestandrecht

Die Kapitalerhaltung (§ 82 GmbHG, § 52 AktG) ist ein zentrales Schutzinstrument zugunsten von Gl?ubigern einer Kapitalgesellschaft. Durch die kapitalerhaltungsrechtliche Anordnung (Einlagenrückgew?hrverbot), der Gesellschafter habe nur Anspruch auf den Bilanzgewinn, sind Zuwendungen einer Kapitalgesellschaft an den Gesellschafer ohne angemessene Gegenleistung unzul?ssig. Typischerweise erfolgt aber eine unzul?ssige Zuwendung verdeckt. Die E 6 Ob 132/10w hatte sich nun mit einer solchen verdeckten Zuwendung durch Vereinbarung überh?hter Bestandzinse zugunsten eines Gesellschafters (Vermieters) zu besch?ftigen und zeigt damit die Bedeutung des Kapitalerhaltungsgrundsatzes (auch) für das Bestandrecht auf; denn gerade Bestandverh?ltnisse scheinen besonders geeignet, verbotene Einlagenrückgew?hr zu verschleiern, da durch laufende Zahlungen fremdunüblicher Bestandzinse nur sukzessive das Verm?gen der Kapitalgesellschaft verringert wird.     

Fifteen Years After Decentralization by Devolution: Political‐administrative Relations in Tanzanian Local Government

One of the professed goals of the 1998 Tanzanian Local Government Reform Program, entailing substantial decentralization, was to provide for a democratic administrative set up in local government. Elected local councils were invested with responsibilities for a wide range of policy sectors and services; the local administrative staff, formerly recruited and instructed by central government, would be appointed by and accountable to the local councils. A well‐functioning local politico‐administrative system was considered paramount to improve service delivery and ensure control of decision making by the local community. This article reports on research into the relations between councilors and administrators in two Tanzanian municipalities. Overall, these relations were found to be tense and full of discordance, caused by clashing role perceptions and mutual distrust. The research suggests that the main factor underlying the behavior and attitudes of councilors and administrators is the very system of public administration, which — despite the ambitions expressed in the Local Government Reform Program — remains very centralistic in character. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Literatur

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