Duverger's concept: Semi–presidential government revisited

The article attempts to follow up the fate of the concept Maurice Duverger created to explain the regime of the French Fifth Republic: semi–presidential government. Duverger expounded the concept in his fundamental book Échec au roi in 1978, trying to illustrate the fact that regimes of this type worked quite differently in the seven Western and Northern European countries that institutionalized it. 'Semi–presidentialism' is now widely, but very often controversially, used. The recent appearance of such regimes in newly democratizing states points to the fact that this form of government is often the preferred solution in times of transition. A critical review of Duverger's concept seems expedient as the diversification of these regimes raises new and perhaps intriguing questions. Due to the rejection of Duverger's concept or its ignorance in parts of the European scientific community, it is necessary to defend it as an important tool for political analysis. Moreover, it opens the opportunity for the examination of fundamental problems in political science.     

The quality of the legal system and labor market performance around the world

Using data on 75 countries for six years in the period 1995–2003, this paper analyzes empirically whether and to what extent the quality of the legal system affects the performance of the labor market. According to the regression results, a legal system characterized by a dependent judiciary, biased courts, a lack of intellectual property protection and a lack of integrity increases unemployment and lowers the employment level. The magnitude of the effect seems to be substantial, particularly among young people.

History and Institutions in the Rebuilding of Social Capital after Forced Resettlement in the Philippines and Indonesia

Resettlement results in the loss of social capital from which poor households can draw resources for sustenance, survival and wellbeing. While Putnam deems social capital formation as pre-determined by a community’s history of civic engagement, the institutional view argues that social capital is generated through the institutions’ interventions. Utilising a comparative approach involving two resettlement sites, one in the Philippines and one in Indonesia, this article presents findings on the explanatory power of these two perspectives. The Philippine case is greatly influenced by the institutional interventions while the Indonesian case testifies to the validity of the theoretical perspective of Putnam.     

Globalisation and the Theorisation of Language

If we wish to understand how the processes of globalisation affect language, the paper argues, we need a theory of meaning capable of demonstrating how precisely cultural practice can be said to be inside language. Corporeal semantics offers such a theory of meaning, according to which culturally overdetermined nonverbal sign clusters activate empty signifiers to produce meaning. A special focus of the paper is concealed, cultural deixis, which is responsible for fundamental modifications of discursive surfaces.     

Rechtsprobleme bei der Errichtung von Windkraftanlagen aus Sicht der Gemeinde

Zusammenfassung  Windenergieanlagen haben nicht nur positive klimapolitische und energiepolitische Effekte, sondern auch negative Auswirkungen auf die Umwelt. Insbesondere die Gemeinden sehen sich mit Problemen im Zusammenhang mit der Errichtung von Windkraftanlagen konfrontiert, wobei die Windanlagenbetreiber mitunter durchaus rüde Methoden zur Durchsetzung ihrer Anliegen anwenden. Daraus folgend entstehen h?ufig Interessenkonflikte innerhalb der Gemeinde. Beide Problemstellungen werden in dem Beitrag untersucht.