Das Internet und die Transformation der Musikindustrie

Since the late 1990s, the music industry has been undergoing a period of significant and crisis-ridden changes, which was initiated and forced by a new set of technologies: digitalization, data compression and the internet. This paper analyzes the repercussions of this new technological constellation on the socioeconomic structures and institutions of this sector. The reconstruction of this technology-based sectoral transformation shows that the constitutive impulses for restructuring came from the fringes of the sector and from external actors. The established companies in the music business were hesitant in accepting the new technological challenges. They initially reacted with blockades and containment strategies and only defined a strategical repositioning upon massive and indisputable pressure to change. The paper argues that the low ability to anticipate and adapt to these technological, organizational and institutional challenges is due to the interplay of several factors. Among these are (1.) general difficulties to anticipate the socioeconomic impact of fundamentally new technological opportunities, (2.) complex and time-consuming processes of establishing a new techno-institutional match, (3.) the technological conservatism and (4.) the oligopolistic structure of the sector as well as (5.) the hierarchically structured core companies. Together these factors obstructed a controlled sectoral transformation led by the established core players.     

Reformfähigkeit messen? Konzeptionelle Überlegungen zu einem Reformfähigkeitsindex für OECD-Staaten

In the present article, I propose to determine reform capacity based upon policy outcomes and the governing performance of executives. Both components shall be measured through expert assessments and quantitative data for the 30 OECD member states in order to construct an index of reform capacity. The concepts underpinning the index are explained and compared with existing approaches of performance and governance measurement. Criteria are developed to assess the strategic capacity of governments and the accountability-generating functions of political actors surrounding the government. The envisaged measurement and aggregation methods are described and the potential of the proposed approach is discussed.     

Die Deutschen und die Türkeifrage: eine Analyse der Einstellungen zum Antrag der Türkei auf Mitgliedschaft in der Europäischen Union

In this paper, I examine the sources of support for Turkey’s EU-entry in the German public. I propose several models and explore their respective empirical validity using survey data gathered in May and June 2005. The analysis shows that neither trust in the federal government nor evaluations of the EU institutions play a role in attitudes toward Turkey’s bid for membership. By contrast, attitudes towards this issue are considerably affected by preferences about EU enlargement and, more strongly, by beliefs about whether Turkey at least partly belongs to Europe. Likewise, when forming attitudes towards Turkey’s bid for EU membership, Germans appear to consider the presumed consequences of including Turkey in the EU. Both East and West Germans are particularly likely to take consequences for regional security into account. The paper concludes with a discussion of several implications for German public opinion on this EU issue.     

Rechtsextremistische Wahlabsicht und regionaler Kontext: Mehrebenenanalysen zur Rolle sozialer Milieus und regionaler Gruppenkonflikte in Deutschland

In this article, we test individual and contextual level hypotheses about right-wing extremist voting in Germany derived from cleavage theory and the theory of realistic group conflicts. The data base is exceptional insofar as it allows multilevel analyses of right-wing extremism that include the level of the German districts between the respondent and the federal state level. Our findings demonstrate — to our knowledge for the first time — that the contextual influence of the religious/catholic milieu as well as of the regional tradition of trade union membership reduce the likelihood of a right-wing extremist party preference. Cleavage theory is thus clearly supported. With respect to the theory of realistic group conflicts we find support for some of its implications.     

Strategisches Wählen bei der Nachwahl in Dresden zur Bundestagswahl 2005

During the German federal elections in 2005 one peculiarity occurred which had considerable consequences. Due to the death of a district candidate in Dresden, there was a by-election in this district two weeks after the regular date. As a consequence, the electors in Dresden already knew the election results in the rest of Germany, when they cast their votes. This circumstance offered many of them a golden opportunity to vote strategically. This article proves that they indeed seized this chance and discusses the legal consequences and theoretical implications of that evidence.     

论全心全意依靠工人阶级根本指导方针的现实意义及其实现途径

全心全意依靠工人阶级是我们党的根本指导方针.为什么要坚持这一方针以及如何坚持这一指导方针,是我们在建设有中国特色的社会主义过程中必须搞清楚的问题.     

The Attlee government and welfare state reforms in post-war Italian Socialism (1945–51): Between universalism and class policies

The purpose of this article is to analyse how the Italian socialist movement viewed the social reforms of the Attlee Labour government introduced just after the Second World War. The intention is to study the extent and limits of the labour influence on Italian socialism. The Labour Party made the re-founding of a new interclass social pact, a universal matter intending to meet the needs of both the working and middle classes. The Italian socialist movement monitored the Labour government’s changes with interest, assessing them from two different perspectives. The reformist wing had a better grasp of the political–ideological implications of Labour’s approach to the welfare state. Vice versa, the majority of the Italian socialists pursued a class socialism and a strong alliance with the Communist Party, rejecting the Labour social policy model. After the split of 1947, however, the two views of Italian socialism failed to develop and implement a political programme for a welfare state based on the British universalistic tendency model. The political weaknesses of Italian socialist organizations in the field of social policy contributed to the characterization of the Italian welfare state in the post-war period and fundamentally delayed its universalistic implementation, at least until the 1960s.     

歌唱与纠纷的解决--黔东南苗族口承习惯法中的诉讼与裁定

苗族历史上没有文字,口承法律文化丰富。在传统的纠纷解决过程中,理师的调解和裁定、当事人双方的自我辩护都通过唱词表现出来。唱词“引经据典”、灵活自如、生动形象,琅琅上口,理法的剖解蕴含其中,最后使各类纠纷圆满解决。本文以贵州省黔东南现存理词为基本资料,探讨无文字状态下苗族传统纠纷解决的形式和方法。     

民事审级改革略论

公正合理的审级制度是最大限度地实现司法职能和法律价值目标的前提条件.而我国司法的行政化导致法院缺乏独立性;司法腐败和地方保护主义导致法官的不独立;再审制度导致裁判的不确定和司法权威的下降.现行司法的审级制度影响法院独立行使裁判权,影响司法公正,必须进行改革.对民事审级改革中各审级法院审理的范围方式,审查程序提出了具体的改革思路.     

法治化城市的内涵及其与现代化的关系

法治化城市建设是落实我依法治国方略的举措;法治化城市的价值意蕴与法治国家具有一致性,其本身就是法治国家的重要组成部分;地方法治化城市建设是因地制宜推进法治国建设有力举措,也为国家法治建设提供经验和参考。法治化城市是法治在地域范围内的具体体现,它是以国家宪法、法律为基础,以保障人权为目的,以制约权力为重点的,适合地方城市实际的治理模式和状态,它通过规范的地方权力运作和普遍的守法意识,实现城市政治文明、经济建设、文化事业、社会秩序、公共服务等方面的全面协调发展。因此,没有法治的城市也不能称之为现代化的城市。法治化城市是城市经济现代化的动力所在,城市政治现代化的根本保证,城市文化现代化的制度基础,有利于促成人的现代化。