Does Coup-Proofing Work? Political–Military Relations in Authoritarian Regimes amid the Arab Uprisings

The popular mass uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) call into question the assumption, widespread prior to the “Arab Spring”, that militaries in these countries were subservient to civilianized and consolidated authoritarian regime incumbents. In most countries militaries have stepped in to suppress uprisings, replace incumbents, or cause civil wars. The analysis of political-military relations explains the immediate outcome of popular mass mobilization in the MENA region and helps re-conceptualize coup-proofing as an important authoritarian survival strategy. Accounting for variation in the degree of officers' loyalty toward incumbents provides an opportunity to test the efficacy of coup-proofing. The article accounts for questions largely ignored in the theoretical literature: which coup-proofing mechanisms work best, and under which circumstances? In a qualitative comparison of Egypt and Syria, the article illustrates that authoritarian regimes have applied fundamentally different coup-proofing strategies. The Syrian regime has engineered integrative strategies to tie officers closer to the incumbent, provoking a greater degree of loyalty during regime crisis than in Egypt where officers were excluded from politics.     

Soziale Gerechtigkeit und der Wirkungsgrad der Mitbestimmung

Der Beitrag diskutiert die Frage, warum Betriebsräte in Unternehmen mit ähnlicher rechtlicher, ökonomischer oder organisatorischer Struktur in jeweils unterschiedlichem Ausmaß an den Entscheidungen ihrer Geschäftsleitungen beteiligt sind. Im Anschluss an eine kritische Diskussion der motivationalen Basisannahmen des Mitbestimmungshandelns wird behauptet, dass Gerechtigkeitseinstellungen zur Formierung und zur Legitimation von Interessen gegenüber der Verteilung von Gütern und Lasten im Unternehmen beitragen. Je nachdem, in welcher Konstellation ergebnis- und ordnungsbezogene Gerechtigkeitseinstellungen von einer Belegschaft vertreten werden, ergibt sich eine andere Machtposition des Betriebsrats und somit ein anderer Wirkungsgrad der Mitbestimmung im jeweiligen Unternehmen. Inwiefern die postulierten Zusammenhänge empirisch Bestand haben, wird unter Rückgriff auf Daten aus einer Beschäftigtenbefragung untersucht, die 1999 in 21 Unternehmen der deutschen Metallindustrie durchgeführt wurde.     

Selected Problems in the Theory of Customary International Law

Netherlands International Law Review -     

Der Feinstaubschleier lichtet sich – rechtlich

Für den Fall einer überschreitung des Immissionsgrenzwerts für Feinstaubpartikel PM₁₀ befürwortet das BVerwG zu Recht einen Anspruch Betroffener auf planunabh?ngige luftqualit?tsverbessernde Ma?nahmen. Dazu geh?ren auch Beschr?nkungen des Stra?enverkehrs. Nicht überzeugend ist die Verneinung eines Anspruchs auf Aufstellung eines Aktionsplans. Ein solcher Anspruch ist wegen der spezifischen Ermittlungs- und Koordinierungsfunktion des Aktionsplans zur effektiven Durchsetzung des drittschützenden Grenzwerts unerl?sslich und deshalb aus Perspektive des deutschen wie des europ?ischen Rechts geboten.     

A polychromatic turn in corruption research?

Arnold Heidenheimer's last paper features an imaginative attempt to elaborate on his well-known “black-gray-white corruptio” typology by introducing metaphoric elements of color. How might those ideas work in practice? This article develops three specific questions that could guide further research on that question. The first involves an extended historical and etymological inquiry sufficient to bring out the diverse origins and referents of “corruptio” as a term of analysis; the second, exploring ways to extend the concept of corruption--typically applied to the realms of government and politics--to business and to the growing numbers of ways in which businesses and states interact; and third, attempting to draw more precise distinctions among lobbying, illegal political finance, and political corruption. The discussion concludes with a first sketch of a model drawing those three lines of inquiry together.     

FDI Liberalisation,Firm Heterogeneity and Foreign Ownership: German Firm Decisions in Reforming India

The paper investigates the role of firm-level productivity and industry-level R&D for multinational enterprises' (MNEs') choice of undertaking foreign direct investment (FDI), and the share of ownership in foreign affiliates. Two firm-specific datasets on German MNEs with varying equity stakes in Indian affiliates are used to account for the two-step decision process. The paper also analyses how German firm decisions were affected by the liberalisation of FDI regulations in India. Results show remarkable differences between the selection and the ownership share equation, and also between the pre-reform and post-reform periods. The evidence clearly reveals the trade-offs involved in selective FDI approvals and foreign ownership restrictions.     

The Shadow Negotiation and the Interest-Based Approach at Kaiser Permanente

As interesting and significant as the Kaiser Permanente case is in and of itself, there were many parallel negotiations that took place just below the surface of the overt negotiations. The author focuses on this "shadow negotiation," exploring a series of strategic moves that took place in the case, enabling the parties to craft their negotiation process. These shadow negotiations involved positioning moves, process moves, power moves, and appreciative moves. The parallel shadow negotiation was a significant factor in the success of the Kaiser Permanente negotiations.