Das Parlament in der Mediengesellschaft — Verschränkungen zwischen parlamentarischer und massenmedialer Arena

The assumed decline of parliaments’ power in the political decision making process is blamed on a complex social and political transformation. Among others, changes in the structures of the public space, especially the emergence of mass communication, represent a crucial challenge for parliamentary representation. Parliaments depend on a functioning external communication, since their relations to the public are a central source of parliamentary legitimacy and power. In two fields one can observe an evident overlapping between the systems of parliament and mass media: in parliament’s management of communication and in parliament’s procedures of opinion forming and decision making. In a case study of the German Bundestag, processes of adaptation to the structures of the mass media system can be found in these areas. Adaptation comes to its limits where it collides with the necessity to provide space for bargaining processes. Furthermore, the processes of adaptation illustrate how political actors realize and structurally actualize the ambigious relationship between publicity and power.     

Municipalisation in Australia: The Case of Launceston 1880–1914

This article expands upon the crucial role of the state in the provision of infrastructure in late‐nineteenth century Australia by examining the hitherto overlooked role of local government, and in particular, the provision of municipal services in Launceston, Tasmania's second largest city. From the 1890s, socialist groups across Europe actively sought to control councils, believing “good” local government the key to social reform. Municipalisation in Tasmania had more pragmatic origins. Colonial governments encouraged local‐level service provision to prevent the draining of their own finances. In Launceston an ideological element occasionally surfaced. But municipalisation was driven by resentment of a neglectful Tasmanian government, by the desire to modernise the town, by intent to secure new sources of revenue, and by the strong civic pride of businessmen.     

危机中的俄罗斯:一个超级能源大国的终结

叶利钦时期俄罗斯的掠夺式资本主义导致了后苏联时期俄罗斯经济转型的灾难性后果。普京当政后对这一政策进行了大幅修正,转而奉行传统俄罗斯式的反市场经济模式。强力部门人士进入权力核心,国家控制取代市场运营成为主要战略。重组能源部门并借此巩固新的政治权力基础,进而恢复俄罗斯超级大国地位,构成了普京当局的优先政策。俄罗斯经济在普京作为俄罗斯总统任内的强势复苏似乎标志着俄构建能源超级大国的战略进展顺利,但金融危机的冲击暴露了现存俄罗斯制度的危险性。俄已经错过了调整经济结构的宝贵机会,克里姆林宫将能源同时作为财富增长和外交杠杆的时代已经结束。在这一背景下,梅普共治体制的改革以及经济政策的调整也许将成为可能。但历史的惯性和重负经常使俄在经历混乱失序后回归原点。俄罗斯市场经济的转型必将是一个漫长的过程。     

AGAINST THE SPIRIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT: THE MAKING OF TASMANIAN TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING LEGISLATION

Abstract: Town planning as part of a wider program of postwar reconstruction gained support in Tasmania in the 1940s. This support resulted in the passage of the Town and Country Planning Act 1944, the first major major piece of town planning legislation in Tasmania. This article examines the background to this statute, focusing on the deliberations of a joint committee of parliament appointed to hear the views of interested parties on town planning. Particular attention is devoted to the dispute over whether municipal councils or a town planning board with wide powers should regulate town planning. The land use planning reforms introduced in 1993 are also assessed.     

Free choice of legal fee shifting rules?

In every country in the world parties to private litigation are subject to a predetermined fee shifting regime. While there are no institutionalized opt-out provisions so far, we demonstrate that such provisions could improve welfare. We argue that private negotiations are not a viable alternative to such opt-out provisions. We derive the conditions under which welfare improvements occur and suggest an applicable design for such an opt-out scheme.     

Punishment and Security

Policymakers and the public widely believe that punishment can reduce crime and therefore improve security. Empirical data, however, prove the preventive effect of punishment to be very limited at best. Especially, the assumption that imposing longer sentences will reduce crime rates seems erroneous. In our opinion, this misconception is due to a confusion of time perspectives: Criminal law necessarily looks back to the past, as it reacts to a deed. Security, on the other hand, means preventing dangers, and its focus must be the future. Hence, time orientation of criminal law and the logic of protection clash. Criminal law cannot provide the security wished for. The same mistake is repeated in the prevalent theories of punishment, notably the relative or unified theories of punishment. Security cannot be achieved or fostered through harsher punishment or punishment threats. On the other hand, one means of decreasing crime is increasing the number of policemen.     

The myth of success: the emergence and maintenance of a specialized gang unit in Stockholm,Sweden

Street gangs and organized crime groups pose a unique challenge to police departments across the globe. Given their penchant for public displays of affiliation through well-recognized signs and symbols, their presence is often associated with media attention and public scrutiny, which threatens the legitimacy of the police and creates added pressure to generate a specific and public response to the threat these groups pose. The current study documents how the Stockholm County, Sweden, police developed and maintained an anti-gang operation in response to an emerging gang problem. While police officials labeled the anti-gang initiative a success in the news media, analyses of prosecution statistics and internal police documents demonstrate a less than ideal effect of this operation. Potential reasons for the discrepancy in public pronouncements of programmatic success relative to evaluation of official data are discussed.