Art 16 EMRK und die politische Integration Europas

Die Bestimmung des Art 16 EMRK wirkt wie ein Fremdkörper im System der Europäischen Menschenrechtskonvention. Sie ermöglicht den Mitgliedsstaaten des Europarates, die politische Tätigkeit von Ausländern hinsichtlich einiger Grundrechte zu beschränken. Der Wortlaut der Vorschrift lässt viele Fragen hinsichtlich ihrer Reichweite offen und führt dementsprechend zu dogmatischen Unsicherheiten. Es zeigt sich, dass den Mitgliedsstaaten bei der Beschränkung politischer Tätigkeiten von Ausländern weitgehende Gestaltungsfreiheit zukommt, jedoch willkürliche Eingriffe durch Art 16 EMRK nicht gedeckt sind. Weitaus enger als die Mitgliedsstaaten des Europarates sind die Mitglieder der Europäischen Union zusammengewachsen. Die gemeinschaftsrechtliche Integration geht mittlerweile weit über bloß wirtschaftliche Belange hinaus und ermöglicht den Unionsbürgern auch eine politische Mitwirkungsmöglichkeit in anderen EU-Staaten. Als letztes staatsbürgerliches "Reservat" ist hier noch das Wahlrecht zu den nationalen Vertretungskörpern auszumachen. In diesem Bereich hat bei dogmatischer Betrachtung auch die Bestimmung des Art 16 EMRK noch einen kleinen Anwendungsbereich.     

Advancing “Ethnic Unity” and “De-Extremization”: Ideational Governance in Xinjiang under “New Circumstances” (2012–2017)

Journal of Chinese Political Science - The central role of ideology has been one of the key features of the political system of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since 1949. One of the...     

Caretaker Governments in Czech Politics: What to Do about a Government Crisis

Czech politics suffers from a low durability of most of its governments, and frequent government crises. One of the products of this situation has been the phenomenon of caretaker governments. This article analyses why political elites have resorted to this solution, and discusses how this has reflected an older Czech tradition. Two cases of such governments are analysed in detail. The To?ovský government was characterised by the ability of the Czech president to advance his agenda through this government at a time when the party elites were divided. The Fischer government was characterised by the considerably higher role of parties that shaped and limited the agenda of the cabinet, and the president played a more static role.     

Criminal Law, the Victim and Community: The Shades of ‘We’ and the Conceptual Involvement of Community in Contemporary Criminal Law Theory

The article addresses the argument, put forward by Lernestedt, that the proprietor of the ‘criminal-law conflict’ is the community (or the community and the offender) and discusses his proposed theoretical model of criminal law trial. I raise questions regarding the legitimacy of such a model, focusing on four counts. Firstly, I assert that his assumptions about the state the individual and the old/new versions of criminal law theory are society-dependent. Secondly, I address some problems with the concept of community and particularly with the proposed conception of community, which seems to mostly exclude the offender. Thirdly, I question the need for (or added value of) such a proposed conceptual involvement of the community as an actor in the criminal law process and theory. Lastly, some potential problems with the idea of the victim as a mere “representative of us” are mentioned, including the possibly undesirable demands and limitations on the victim’s agency and issues of respect for the victim’s individuality.     

Is Nationalism Intrinsically Violent?

This article analyzes the complex and contradictory relationships between nationalism and organized violence. The author challenges the approaches that see nationalism as being inherently linked with violence and demonstrates that nationalist ideology by itself is rarely a main cause of hostile acts. The article focuses on the different forms of organized violence including wars, revolutions, terrorism, and genocide. It aims to show that the relationship between violence and nationalism cannot be properly captured by the dominant intentionalist, naturalist, and formativist perspectives. Instead the case is made that the emphasis should be given to the long-term historical processes and the relative modernity of both nationalism and organized violence. The author argues that it is very difficult to generate sustained and organized violent nationalist action. The mutation of nationalist doctrines into violent acts is generally a product of unintended structural circumstances and is characterized by its temporary nature and volatility. More specifically, this process is usually generated by the coercive bureaucratization, centrifugal ideologization, and their capacity to be embedded in the networks of microsolidarity.