The German Federal Election of 2017: How the Wedge Issue of Refugees and Migration Took the Shine off Chancellor Merkel and Transformed the Party System

The 2017 German federal election delivered dramatic electoral decline of the two traditional main parties, the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who had governed Germany in a ‘grand coalition’ government since 2013. The main reason for this outcome was the decision by Chancellor Angela Merkel to open Germany's borders for refugees and migrants, an unprecedented policy that abandoned border controls and remained in place between September 2015 and March 2016. This article focuses on how the refugee and migration problem subsequently turned into a wedge issue, splitting most German political parties and handing a major election victory to the main critics of Merkel's decision, namely the rightist Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the right‐wing liberals of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). Rather than explaining these developments in isolation, the article highlights how past welfare state retrenchment and fear over future economic prosperity make significant groups of the electorate, including former supporters of left‐of‐centre parties, lose confidence in the ability of the political system to deliver stability and social integration.     

农垦企业职工队伍现实问题的理论思考

改革开放以来,农垦企业职工队伍发生重大变化,其社会地位、队伍构成、劳动者权益、社会保障等出现了新的情况,既有转型期作为农垦产业大军的排头兵作用,也客观存在着属于弱势群体特性,探讨和研究农垦企业职工队伍的现实问题,是当前化解社会矛盾,构建农垦和谐社会值得重视的新课题。     

民族问题的核心是国家认同问题

民族问题的核心是国家认同问题.多民族国家解决民族问题的核心任务是将国民对各自民族的忠诚转变为对国家的忠诚,在尊重多元的民族认同基础上建构国家认同.国家认同建没包括政治认同建设和文化认同建设.其中,文化认同建设是根本,稳固的文化认同可以消解政治认同危机时国家认同危机的程度."民族问题的核心是国家认同问题"的观点,要求我们解决民族问题的基本原则和制度安排必须及时同应国家一体化建构与民族文化多元发展的互动态势.     

中印边界问题研究综述

中印边界问题是中印关系发展中所面临的主要问题,由此而引发的1962年的中印边界战争,更是在国际冷战史上占有突出地位的重大事件之一,对当时和以后许多国家关系的演变产生了重要影响。这一问题现在引起了国内外学者越来越多的关注,围绕这一问题出现了大量研究成果。     

关于加强中国热点外交的若干对策思考

目前中国热点外交所面临的挑战和存在的问题,主要反映在思想、理论与实践等领域。为解决这些问题,在思想上,中国要从战略高度对热点外交进行定位,具体表现在要从统筹国际和国内两个大局的高度看待热点外交的战略重要性,要从中国的价值理念与外交政策定位热点外交的指导思想与目标。在理论研究方面,中国要从国家利益、地缘政治、介入和参与的身份与环境要求等角度,对热点问题分类,并建立长效研究机制。在实践方面,中国应通过灵活运用外交基本原则、完善特使制度、增强外交统筹和平衡、加强中美战略对话、加大对伊朗核问题参与力度、创新外援体制、创新公共外交机制,解决当前热点外交面临的紧迫问题。     

论民事判决既判力的客观范围

民事判决既判力理论是民事诉讼法的基本理论之一,我国在这一理论方面的研究还比较少.同时,既判力理论又是一种相当复杂的理论,对于其客观范围的界定就是一个较困难的议题,而且既判力的客观范围又与诉讼标的理论、"争点效"、一部请求之间有着千丝万缕的关系,其范围也随着诉讼标的理论、争点效、一部请求的不同认定而宽窄不一.     

试论网络虚拟财产的法律保护

随着有关网络虚拟财产的纠纷不断增多,网络虚拟财产保护已经引起人们的广泛关注,而我国就虚拟财产的保护却面临法律难题.为此,笔者建议应尽快完善和出台有效的法律,维护网络世界的安全.     

被忽略的债券制度史①——中国（公司）债券市场的法律瓶颈②

中国债券市场的制度建设长期未能得到足够重视,公司债券市场的发展也存在较多问题。例如,发行市场规模偏小、交投不活跃、交易所市场发展缓慢等。这些问题,或多或少都与债券市场的规范瓶颈有关。例如,债券发行过分偏向某些特殊企业、债券市场监管权的不当分割、发行与上市的不当管制、交易性保护机制欠缺、救济性保护措施不完善,等等。解决债券市场的法律瓶颈,将使中国公司债市场迎来爆发式增长。     

How party‒issue linkages vary between election manifestos and media debates

Abstract

Existing research on party behaviour has largely focused on the drivers of issue salience in direct party communication. However, less is known about party?issue linkages in election campaigns covered by the mass media, from which most voters get their information about party positions. Against this background, this article explores how two important drivers of issue salience in direct party communication – issue ownership and systemic salience – play out in the media. Based on considerations about the news value of specific party?issue associations, one would expect both relationships to be particularly important in the media. Despite substantial similarities in party?issue linkages across platforms, a comparison of manifestos and newspaper content reveals evidence for this claim. In particular, smaller parties are hardly covered in the news on issues they do not own, while large parties are especially covered on salient topics. These findings contribute to our understanding of issue competition in mediated environments.     

The more the better? Cumulative issue ownership and intra-campaign party switching

We contribute to the literature on short term changes in voters' party preferences (or intra-campaign party switching), by advancing a factor that has been neglected so far: Voters' perceptions about parties' issue competence. We develop a model of party switching that includes both classic predictors and issue ownership considerations. Moreover, in contrast to the usual single issue ownership conception focusing on the party deemed most competent to solve the most important problem, we argue that voters base their party choice on their perceptions of parties' competence on a variety of issues, i.e. on cumulative issue ownership. We test our model on panel data from the 2015 Swiss election study. The change in competence perceptions appears as a strong predictor of party switching: The higher the increase in the number of issues on which voters see a party as most competent during the campaign, the higher their likelihood to switch to that party.