Compulsory Voting Rules,Reluctant Voters and Ideological Proximity Voting

Political Behavior - Political theorists have argued that democracies should strive for high turnout, leading to an argument for the introduction of compulsory voting, one of the surest ways to...     

Additional variability at the D12S391 STR locus in an Austrian population sample: sequencing data and allele distribution

The highly polymorphic STR locus D12S391 was investigated in an Austrian population sample (N=150) by PCR-amplification, comparative detection on native and denaturing polyacrylamide gels and solid phase single stranded sequencing of three size variant alleles and several additional alleles. A total of 15 alleles, distinguishable by size under denaturing conditions, could be detected. No deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed in the population investigated (P=0.52). Sequencing of size variants designated 17.3 and 18.3 showed an incomplete (GAT) repeat unit at position two of the tandem region. Additional new sequence variants due to varying compositions of the number of (AGAT) and (AGAC) repeats could be identified. Due to distinct electrophoretical mobilities of alleles of the same size but different sequence structures, denaturing detection conditions should be employed when the aim is standardization.     

Forest certification as a global environmental governance tool: What is the macro-effectiveness of the Forest Stewardship Council?

Sustainable forest management is a key challenge for local and global governance. The Forest Stewardship Council has emerged as one of the solutions to global forest deterioration and is generally regarded as the prime example of certification as a global governance tool. This article examines the macro-effectiveness of certification on halting deforestation and examines the relationship between certification and governance institutions. The article finds that the macro-effectiveness of certification on halting deforestation is still limited due to the “stuck at the bottom” problem of developing countries, which are kept out of the certification process, and the market-driven nature of certification initiatives. The article does not find a relationship between certification and governance institutions at the macro level. It does find, however, significant variation in certification uptake between countries, pointing to the potential of this policy tool. The implications of the results are discussed.     

Domestic intelligence and German military leaders, 1914–18

The top of the German domestic intelligence system was taken over by the military during World War I. The rest of the system for collecting and reporting remained in local and regional political police hands. The military leaders did not make good use of the information they received, especially about labour and Social Democracy. The essay presents the ways that the system of gathering and reporting information functioned, including its wartime changes under the state of siege. Three specific issues are followed up with the reporting system for 1917–18. Then the essay shows how the military leaders responded to raw and filtered information before exploring why they made such inadequate use of the very thorough reports which they received.     

Postmaterialism and electoral choice before and after German unification

This article examines the implications of German unification for the relationship between postmaterial values and voters’ party preference. Based on longitudinal data covering 1983 through to 1995, the article argues and shows empirically that, in the post‐communist context: economic, immigration, and security issues became more salient to voters, while postmaterial issues, such as environmentalism are reduced in salience; as a result, the proportion of materialists increased sharply while the proportion of postmaterialists decreased substantially; which affects the competitive position of parties. In particular, while the CDU/CSU is in a favourable position to address materialist issues without upsetting a delicate balance between materialist and postmaterialist constituencies, the SPD faces a strategic quandary in trying to satisfy both types of constituencies. These developments at least temporarily reduce the effect of postmaterialism on voters’ partisanship. Against this backdrop, we assess the continuous relevance of postmaterialism for the future of electoral politics in Germany.     

Is There a Relationship Between Street Heroin Purity and Drug‐Related Emergencies and/or Drug‐Related Deaths? An Analysis from Vienna,Austria*

This study examines the quality of street heroin seized in Vienna in 1999 and whether there was a relationship between the purity of street heroin and the number of heroin-related emergencies as well as the number of heroin-related deaths. Street heroin confiscated by the Viennese police, run-sheets of drug-related emergencies, and postmortem reports of drug-related deaths in Vienna in 1999 were analyzed. A total of 415 retail samples with a total weight of 128.02 g contained a median percentage of 6.5% diacetylmorphine (range: 0.0-47.0%). All the samples contained a diluent, mainly lactose, as well as adulterants, such as caffeine and/or paracetamol. During the study period, 75 heroin-related deaths and 387 heroin-related emergencies were registered in Vienna. Time-series analysis revealed no statistically significant relationship between the rate of heroin-related incidents and the diacetylmorphine concentration of street heroin samples confiscated in Vienna in 1999. The widely held belief that the number of heroin-related deaths could be explained simply through fluctuations in the purity of street heroin could not be substantiated, even though the results of this study do not rule out an association between the purity of heroin and heroin-related deaths/emergencies.