Zum Begriff Zweit-"Wohnung" nach Kärntner ZweitwohnsitzabgabeG

Beheizbarkeit und (ganzj?hrige) Wasserzufuhr sind nicht Voraussetzung dafür, dass eine Zweit-"Wohnung" iSd K-ZWAG vorliegt.     

Auf drei Jahre befristeter Mietvertrag – Anhebung des Mietzinses durch Gerichtsvergleich

Der zehnfache Wert der Jahresleistung bildet auch dann die Bemessungsgrundlage für eine Erg?nzungspauschalgebühr, wenn zu einem auf bestimmte Zeit (drei Jahre) abgeschlossenen Mietvertrag im Gerichtsvergleich vereinbart wird, dass dieser mit folgender ?nderung aufrecht bleibt. "Die Kl?gerin wird ab … einen Mietzins in H?he von … entrichten."     

Unzulässige Klauseln in Bauträgerverträgen

Die Pflicht zur gesetzeskonformen, ausgewogenen Interessenwahrung in Bautr?gervertr?gen wird bei der Gestaltung der vom Bautr?ger verwendeten Vertragsformbl?tter oftmals verletzt. Konsumentenschutzorganisationen haben diese Praxis kritisiert und die Verwendung gesetzeskonformer Klauseln verlangt. Trotz der vielfach gerechtfertigten Kritik darf die Forderung nach Konsumentenschutz nicht dazu führen, dass es für den Bautr?ger unm?glich wird, die in der Natur des Bautr?gergesch?ftes liegenden grundlegenden Gestaltungs- und Abwicklungskriterien im zul?ssigen Rahmen anzuwenden.     

Abwehr allgemeiner Gefahren für die öffentliche Sicherheit von einem Wohnhaus (Felssturz)

Der Schutz vor einer Gefahr, die das ?ffentliche Gemeinschaftsleben st?rt, aber keinem bestimmten Verwaltungszweig zugeh?rt (hier: Schutz eines Wohnhauses vor einem sich aus einer Felswand von einem darüber liegenden Hanggrundstück l?senden Felsbrocken), f?llt unter den Voraussetzungen des Art 118 Abs 6 B-VG in die Zust?ndigkeit der Gemeinde (eigener Wirkungsbereich). Der Bürgermeister darf (nach § 47 Abs 1 stmk GemO) zur Gefahrenabwehr unaufschiebbare "Verfügungen" treffen. Dazu kann er Dritte verpflichten, zur Gefahrenabwehr unerl?ssliche Eingriffe zu dulden, nicht aber dazu, vertretbare Leistungen (zB die unverzügliche Errichtung eines Fangzaunes) selbst – auf deren eigene Kosten – zu erbringen.     

Community security: human security at 21

The concept of human security has come a long way since its introduction in the UNDP Human Development Report in 1994. There are now a number of global and regional initiatives aimed at promoting human security issues. However, the achievements over the last two decades may be less impressive when one starts to explicate the progress of each of the key elements subsumed under the broad concept of human security. This paper will examine the extent to which community security, as one of the elements of human security, has been advanced through the security discourses and practices in the international arena. Using ASEAN as a case study, the paper argues that the massive gaps in human development, security and democracy hinder progress in promoting community security. The paper further argues that in developing states, community security is still very much the domain of the state.     

Agriculture in Shifting Climates: The Configuration and Ripeness of Problem Understandings in Uganda and Senegal

The international community has advocated the adoption of climate‐smart agriculture (CSA) as lower‐income countries deal with the negative consequences of climate change. Scaling up such policies, practices, and programs successfully will require support from a variety of local stakeholders. Such support requires alignment between CSA solutions and the problem understandings of stakeholders. However, problem understandings can differ across individuals, stakeholder groups, and geographic areas. Consequently, we examine understandings of climate problems and socioeconomic and infrastructure problems related to agriculture among different stakeholder groups in Uganda and Senegal. We operationalized and measured these problem understandings following the detailed guidance of the political will and public will approach for analyzing social change. Semistructured interviews elicited stakeholder‐generated lists of problems for each group. Limited quantification of problem understandings and their relative importance or “ripeness” demonstrates how contexts might shape opportunities for CSA.     

Agenda‐Setting at the Energy‐Water Nexus: Constructing and Maintaining a Policy Monopoly in U.S. Hydraulic Fracturing Regulation

Despite calls to increase federal oversight of hydraulic fracturing (HF), the U.S. Congress has maintained a regulatory system in which environmental regulatory authority is devolved to the states. We argue that this system is characterized by a long‐standing “policy monopoly”: a form of stability in policy agenda‐setting in which a specific manner of framing and regulating a policy issue becomes hegemonic. Integrating theories on agenda‐setting and environmental discourse analysis, we develop a nuanced conceptualization of policy monopoly that emphasizes the significance of regulatory history, public perceptions, industry–government relations, and environmental “storylines.” We evaluate how a policy monopoly in U.S. HF regulation has been constructed and maintained through a historical analysis of oil and gas regulation and a discourse analysis of eleven select congressional energy committee hearings. This research extends scholarship on agenda‐setting by better illuminating the importance of political economic and geographic factors shaping regulatory agendas and outcomes.     

The Role of Scientific Excellence in the Changing Meaning of Maize in Mexico

Making policy is giving a meaning to objects. This perspective on policy making gained importance in the 1990s with the emergence of discursive approaches. In this article, we use the concepts of Hajer's discourse coalition approach to shed light on the evolving meaning of maize in Mexican society. Specifically, we trace a parallel between the evolution of biotechnology policy and discourses on maize over a 25‐year period. The article argues that until recently, the protection against biotechnological manipulations enjoyed by maize has been bolstered by a discourse granting the plant a special status in the country's history. However, the emergence of a new discourse grounded on the practice of scientific excellence is now challenging the old perspectives, and also finding support among government officials. As a result, the Mexican policies granting maize special protection is changing, and this policy change will likely trigger changes in the symbolic meaning of maize.     

On‐Bill Financing Programs to Support Low‐Carbon Energy Technologies: An Agent‐Oriented Assessment

On‐bill financing (OBF) schemes have been welcomed as innovative mechanisms for encouraging the adoption of low‐carbon energy technologies. Yet while the potential effects of these schemes have received growing attention, less is known about their actual performance. Departing from New Institutional Economics and insights from Behavioral Economics, this theory‐driven assessment examines the How$mart^® program in Kansas (United States) and the Green Deal in the United Kingdom. The study identifies the mechanisms designed to trigger behavioral change and technology adoption. We focus on market agents, and related market failures and behavioral anomalies that often prevent energy efficiency improvements. The paper adds to our theoretical and empirical understanding of public and utility‐driven OBF programs applied to the residential sector. Our findings suggest that simple, carefully designed on‐bill programs, where the financing of efficient technologies takes the form of a service rather than a loan, are more effective for the diffusion of low‐carbon energy technology and the reduction of transaction costs. At the same time, on bill‐financing schemes challenge the core business of utilities, and given the complexities and dynamics of energy efficiency markets and energy use, other policy interventions are needed.     

India and the responsibility to protect

‘Responsibility to protect’ (R2P) is an ‘emerging norm’ of international relations, which has been invoked with the intervention in Libya in 2011. Even though this intervention was demanded by several Third World countries and organisations, these have subsequently had second thoughts about the matter and have come to regard R2P as Western neo-imperialism. This article seeks to explain this apparent paradox, with a special focus on India. It also identifies possible compromises by advocating a broader approach to R2P, stressing the responsibility to prevent and to rebuild. It also draws attention to ‘R2P lite’, including the protection of civilians in armed conflicts.