Heller,Schmitt and the Euro

Heller understood that Schmitt's ‘authoritarian state’ was in fact the liberal state in its pure form, weak in relation to the capitalist economy but strong in fending off democratic interventions in its operation. Had he lived, Heller would not have been surprised by the close affinities between Schmittian economic authoritarianism and postwar German ordoliberalism, as mediated by a figure like Alexander Rüstow. Neoliberalism as today we know it drew heavily on ordoliberal doctrine, in particular through Friedrich von Hayek who managed to merge it with Austrian economics into a powerful ideological force to replace Keynesianism after the 1970s. Today the European Union, especially in its incorporation as monetary union, closely follows the liberal‐authoritarian template as devised by Schmitt and others in the final years of the Weimar Republic. The paper shows this with reference to the five European‐level institutions that today govern the European free market while protecting it from democratic interference: the Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the European Court of Justice and the European Central Bank.     

Das neue Raumordnungsgesetz

Zusammenfassung  Zum Jahreswechsel wurde das neue Raumordnungsgesetz verkündet, zur Jahresmitte wird das Gesetz in vollem Umfang in Kraft treten. Trotz mancher Verbesserungen im Detail ist es dem Gesetzgeber jedoch nicht gelungen, die rudiment?re Rolle des Bundes in der Raumentwicklungspolitik nennenswert aufzuwerten. Insgesamt best?tigt das in v?lligem Konsens von Bund und L?ndern ausgehandelte Gesetz die Befürchtung, dass die durch die F?deralismusreform 2006 geschaffenen L?nderabweichungsrechte die f?deralen Verantwortlichkeiten keineswegs entflechten, sondern vielmehr bereits im Gesetzgebungsverfahren einen kompromisshaften Konsens von L?ndern und Bund erzwingen.     

Distribution of ethyl glucuronide in rib bone marrow, other tissues and body liquids as proof of alcohol consumption before death

Postmortem ethyl glucuronide (EtG) concentrations in rib bone marrow, liver, muscle, fat tissue, urine, blood and bile have been determined by LC-MS/MS. Samples have been taken from twelve corpses during autopsies. In nine corpses EtG could be detected, corresponding blood ethanol concentrations (BAC) were 0.04-0.37 g%. In three cases, no EtG was found; two of these cases showed postmortem BACs - possibly due to putrefaction - of 0.01 and 0.1g%. In rib bone marrow, which is easily accessible during autopsy, EtG concentrations (0.77-9.36 microg/g) have been lower than in blood (2.24-20.46 microg/mL) in eight of nine cases and comparable or higher than in muscle tissue. Therefore, rib bone marrow has been found suitable as matrix for EtG determination. The highest EtG concentrations have been found in urine in all but one case, where the resorption of ethanol had been incomplete. Second highest EtG concentrations have been detected in liver samples. In two cases with putrefaction, EtG could not be detected. In these cases, the detectable ethanol might have been produced partially or in total by postmortem fermentation. However, instability of EtG during putrefaction cannot be totally excluded which might result in a total loss of EtG.     

Sexual sadism

Definitions of sexual sadism in ICD-10 and DSM-IV will be presented as well as the historical routes of the concept. Today studies on differently selected clinical samples reveal a different distribution of sexual sadism versus masochism with masochism prevailing in general especially outpatient psychiatric facilities, and sadism prevailing in forensic settings, thus corroborating the concept of two separated diagnoses sadism versus masochism. In forensic settings the diagnosis of a sadistic character disorder (sadistic personality disorder [SPD] according DSM-III-R) is found to a much higher degree than in other clinical samples (50-fold). Our own follow-up study on a forensic sample implies that sadism as a paraphilia is of relevance for relapse-rates of sex-offenders. Symptoms of SPD can be combined with sexual sadism, or occur independently. This may corroborate arguments in favor of a dimensional concept of sexual sadism. Symptoms of SPD may then be a sign of generalization of sadistic traits at least in some cases. A concept of two factors contributing to sadistic pleasure is suggested, one taking the aspect of bodily gratification by sexual-aggressive stimuli as decisive, and the other taking inner representation of hostile objects into consideration (stressing the antisocial-anger-rage aspect).     

Institutionen und Reformpolitik: Drei Fallstudien zur Vetospieler-Theorie

Der Artikel rekonstruiert und diskutiert die viel zitierte Vetospieler-?Theorie“ von George Tsebelis. Als eine ?Theorie“, die zumindest implizit dem handlungsorientierten Paradigma rationaler neo-institutioneller Theorien folgt, verspricht sie das statische Vorurteil von strukturalistischen Variablen-Ansätzen in der vergleichenden Politikforschung zu überwinden. Mit den drei Parametern Zahl der Vetospieler,policy congruence zwischen ihnen und interne Kohäsion der Spieler glaubt Tsebelis einen Ansatz gefunden zu haben, der Stabilität und Wandel von Policies erklären und voraussagen kann. Dies gilt für Untersuchungen mit wenigen und vielen Untersuchungsfällen. Die theoretische Konstruktion ist sparsam, elegant und erscheint in sich zunächst schlüssig. Wie erklärungskräftig sie ex post ist, wird anhand von drei Fallstudien der rot-grünen Regierungskoalition von 1998 bis 2002 getestet: der Steuerreform, der Rentenreform und der (ausgebliebenen) Reform des Arbeitsmarktes. Die Untersuchungen zeigen neben dem zweifellosen Erklärungspotenzial die Grenzen und Schwächen von Tsebelis’ Theorie auf. Aus der theoretischen Diskussion und der empirischen Überprüfung werden abschließend Vorschläge zur Weiterentwicklung des Ansatzes gemacht.     

Socio-Cultural Differences and International Competition Law

The purpose of this study is to explore socio-cultural divergence¹ among contracting parties, members and potential candidates that could favour or complicate the establishment of an effective² set of common competition rules at World Trade Organisation (WTO) level. Therefore, the focus is on historical, religious, ideological and systemic differences in relation to competition rules that might otherwise be overlooked during the negotiations, but later prove crucial or even detrimental to the actual implementation of thus only formally common international rules.     

Editorial

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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Editorial

     

Die Ordnungsidee kooperativer Gemeinwohlkonkreitsierung

Ohne Zusammenfassung Besprechungsessay zu Gunnar Folke Schuppert: Verwaltungswissenschaft. Verwaltung, Verwaltungsrecht, Verwaltungslehre. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft 2000, 1023 S., DM 187,-/95,61 Euro.     

Issue transfer and symbolic legislation: a case study of the Austrian Equal Treatment Act

Abstract. Three strategies which may emerge out of politicians' concepts of rationality (problems solving, agenda management, creation of consensus) are applied to one of the main features of Austrian politics, namely the differentation of policy sectors dominated either by political parties or interest groups. The Equal Treatment Act, which had been transferred from the corporatist arena to the arena of the party system, involved the rationalities of both political parties and interest groups. This paper analyses the 'extended' process of legislation of this law (including implementation). The empirical findings are then linked to the theoretical propositions about the rationalities of the respective political actors. Finally, hypotheses about the conditions of issue transfers from the corporatist arena into the arena of the party system are suggested.