From Merkel to Kramp‐Karrenbauer: Can German Christian Democracy Reinvent Itself?

Germany's Christian Democrats have started preparing for the time after Angela Merkel. After ten years as German chancellor facing a weak opposition, Merkel unexpectedly split the country in late 2015 and early 2016 because of her ‘open border’ policies that allowed more than 1 million refugees and migrants to rapidly enter Germany. Her management of the subsequent crisis was largely considered a failure and her party suffered a series of dramatic election defeats. Reacting to the negative electoral feedback, and in particular the breakthrough of the rightist and anti‐immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), the Christian Democratic Union organised an intra‐party contest to replace Merkel as party leader. Three candidates with different political profiles, Annegret Kramp‐Karrenbauer, Friedrich Merz and Jens Spahn, contested the election. By voting for Kramp‐Karrenbauer, the CDU membership voiced support for maintaining a large‐scale political coalition based on efforts to find compromises between different party wings and social and cultural interests.     

How interest groups influence public opinion: Arguments matter more than the sources

Through what mechanism do interest groups shape public opinion on concrete policies? In this article, three hypotheses are proposed that distinguish between the effect of the arguments conveyed by interest groups and the effect of interest groups as source cues. Two survey experiments on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TIPP) and the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change allow the testing of these hypotheses. The resulting evidence from several countries shows that, with respect to interest groups’ attempts at shaping public opinion, arguments matter more than their sources. This is so even when accounting for people's trust in the interest groups that serve as source cues and for people's level of information about a policy. The finding that interest groups affect public opinion via arguments rather than as source cues has implications for the literature on elite influence on public opinion and the normative evaluation of interest group activities.     

Venue Preference and Earthquake Mitigation Policy: Expanding the Micro‐Model of Policy Choice

Seismologists have reported that a majority of recent earthquakes in Oklahoma have been triggered by the activities of oil and gas companies. Despite this fact, there is evidence of strong opposition toward earthquake mitigation policy. In this article, we argue that how individuals define issues affect their policy choice. Furthermore, we incorporate the concept of venue shopping from the literature on macro theories of the policy process to investigate the effect of problem definition in shaping individual venue preference for policy choice. Using unique survey data, we find that problem definition, particularly issue causality and issue image, is strongly related to individual support for earthquake mitigation policy. However, a more nuanced relationship between individual problem definition and venue preference is observed. Our findings contribute to scholarly endeavors to understand the politics of problem definition at an individual level, which may be the precursor of understanding policy choices at the institutional level.     

Automated DNA casework workflow: A retrospective study of the first implementation of FIDL at the Netherlands Forensic Institute

FIDL is a fast and automated DNA identification line which represents a series of software solutions automating the process from raw capillary electrophoresis data to reporting. This retrospective study provides insight in the numbers of cases, turnaround time, results compared to the standard workflow and the benefits automation has in a large volume workflow.     

关于提升法学（医药卫生）专业社会效益的思考

随着社会的需求，法学（医药卫生）这一专业应运而生。然而，缺乏实践性的法学教育使得培养出的大量法科毕业生无法满足现实法律实务工作的要求，那么本期待能弥补法学教育实践性缺乏这一困境的法学（医药卫生）教育能否带来很好的社会效益呢？本文将针对如何提升法学（医药卫生）专业的社会效益这一新的现实问题，从几个方面提出自己的一些思考。     

TST碎石弹性材料在桥梁接缝中的应用

对 TST碎石弹性材料在桥梁接缝中的应用效果和表现出的特点进行阐述 ,从施工过程、工程资金、工程质量、工程效益方面对比 ,提倡推广应用 TST碎石弹性新材料。     

论人民政协的政治资源

人民政协政治资源是人民政协事业发展的根本基础。人民政协政治资源已经形成一定的规范和特色,但还存在着配置不足、运作不好和作用不够等问题。建设人民政协政治资源,需要遵循资源要素发育规律、质量规律和作用规律,健全政治资源生成机制、作用机制和管理机制,全方位加以推进,实现体系健全、结构合理、功能完善的发展目标。     

我国科技人力资源总量测算方法的研究

本文以我国的科技人力资源为研究对象,对中国科技人力资源发展研究报告中关于科技人力资源的测算方法进行了分析和解读,认为中国科技人力资源总量的测算需从深化理论研究、建立评价体系、构建专门的数据库这几个方面进行完善。     

生态权不应当进入法律的界域

生态只能是一种自然权利或道德权利 ,不应当进入法律的界域。这是因为 :权利主体只能是人 ,并且只有人主张和实现权利 ,而且法律关系的性质是人与人之间的社会关系。     

Sachbezugsverordnung

§ 2 der Sachbezugsverordnungen wird als gesetzwidrig aufgehoben (wobei die Aufhebung der zuletzt genannten Bestimmung mit Ablauf des 31. 12. 2008 in Kraft tritt).