Model Workers or Hardened Nazis? The Australian Debate about Admitting German Migrants, 1950-1952

Immigration policies implemented in the early 1950s by the Menzies government embraced several principles defined by the postwar Labor government, trying to accommodate employers, unions, veterans and ethnic voters within a framework of international considerations. The issue of admitting Germans severely tested the government's ability to reconcile these divergent interests. While anti-communism and established ethnic stereotypes were the undercurrents driving the debate, the practical demands of the Australian labour force, on the one hand, and the memories of the Second World War, on the other, also assumed much prominence in the public rhetoric. This study suggests that despite the existence of a common set of assumptions, both sides in the debate constructed opposing viewpoints to exploit them for partisan purposes. Groups or individuals whose concerns indeed focused on the advantages and disadvantages of admitting German migrants were shunted aside in this essentially political battle.     

Foreign Nationals as a Minority Group in the Criminal Justice System of Greece: From Offending to Victimization of non-Greek Population

During the last two decades, the overrepresentation of foreign nationals in the Greek criminal justice system constitutes a critical issue. By exploring the available statistical data and relevant surveys, this article attempts to examine how, on the one hand, groups of non-Greek nationals fare at different stages of criminal justice within the broader social and political context and whether, on the other hand, the prejudice and stereotyping against the foreign population affects directly or indirectly the attitudes of stakeholders of social control and how this escalates, in extreme cases, into hostility, racism, and xenophobic violence against them during the years of crisis.     

Are Female Offenders Underreported Compared to Male Offenders? A German-Greek Comparison of Crime Reporting,Rating of Offence Seriousness and Personal Experiences of Victimisation

The difference in official crime statistics between women and men is a constant fact in criminology, but has yet to be explained in a satisfactory way. There are few studies addressing the issue of why this gender gap is larger in registered crime than it is in self-report studies. The study at hand comprises a survey among Greek and German students to examine whether this gap could be attributed to a gender-specific reporting of crime. Participants’ self-reported experiences of victimisation and their rating of the seriousness of offences depicted in case vignettes were used to gain insight into varying tendencies to report a crime depending on the offender’s gender. The act of reporting a crime did not vary gender-specifically.     

A research topic in education law and policy: The development of regionalism and federalism in Europe and their impact on educational policy and administration

There has been an “upgrading” of the regional level in the European policy process which also has implications for educational policy and administration. At the same time federalism has become a model not only for nation states but also for the construction of Europe. While regionalism and federalism has attracted more and more scholarly attention there has been a neglect of the implications for the educational field. The article starts by looking for models of regionalisation and federalisation as a legal and political technique of conciliating between the different levels in education. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Policy-Specific Alienation and Indifference in the Calculus of Voting: A Simultaneous Model of Party Choice and Abstention

This article aims to combine the spatial models of candidate/party choice and abstention/participation choice in a single decision model and to provide empirical reaction functions. The starting point of this study is the hypothesis of a sequential ordering of candidate choice and participation choice (Riker and Ordeshook, 1973). The proposed model simultaneously considers the choice among n≥ 2 parties and the abstention option. It differentiates between policy-specific effects of alienation and indifference. The models are estimated with nested multiattributive discrete choice models which are theoretically founded on random utility theory.     

„…den Dämon finden, der seines Lebens Fäden hält.“ Theoretische Beiträge zur Funktionslogik von Lebensführung

Mitteilungen und Berichte

     

Just a Matter of Timing? Local Electoral Turnout in Germany in the Context of National and European Parliamentary Elections

This article looks at the impact of national and European elections on turnout in German local council elections. The focus is first on effects from the timing of local council elections in between two federal elections and second on turnout effects from the combination of local council elections and European parliamentary elections. Starting from considerations about the relationships between high- and low-stimulus elections the article analyses data from 111 German local council elections held between 1951 and 2008. The analyses show first that upcoming national elections do mobilise voters to cast their ballots in regions where local council turnout traditionally is low. Second, combining European and local elections tends to reinforce turnout as well.     

Gender equality in Germany: Comparing policy change across domains

Focusing on the past 25 years in three central arenas of political, social, and civil rights, this article engages in the current debate over policy change and the direction of German politics by analysing the issue of gender equality. Combining T.H. Marshall's concept of citizenship and Hall's analysis of policy change, I obtain a two-level framework that differentiates between policy changes and categorises reform in Germany in three different domains. The case studies are: quotas in political representation (political citizenship), women and reconciliation policy (social citizenship), and anti-discrimination policies (civil citizenship). Comparing policy change across domains demonstrates that change in these three arenas has occurred to different degrees and for different reasons; electoral competition has fostered policy change in representation, while the male-breadwinner model has slowed down reform for reconciliation of family and employment. A conservative affirmative action regime stands in opposition to individual anti-discrimination and limits potential change. This comparison across domains defines the dependent variable ‘policy change’ in a more nuanced way, helping to pinpoint and differentiate specific areas of reform.     

Narrating Sāṃkhya Philosophy: Bhīṣma,Janaka and Pañcaśikha at <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mahābhārata</Emphasis> 12.211–12

The account of the conversation between King Janaka and the ??i Pañca?ikha on the fate of the individual after death is one of the philosophical texts that are included in the Mok?adharmaparvan of the Mahābhārata. There are different scholarly views on the history and composition of the text as well as the philosophical teachings propagated by Pañca?ikha. In contrast to earlier studies this paper not only analyzes the whole text, but also pays attention to the narrative framework in which the philosophical discourse is embedded. In the text Bhī?ma functions as an external narrator, who relates and interprets the conversation as well as characterizes the protagonists and thereby influences the ways in which text is received by the audience. It is argued that it is important to deal with the interplay between the narrative and the philosophical discourse that is narrated, when analysing the philosophical positions that are either refuted or accepted in the text. 12.211–12 is not only a philosophical text, but also a tale about philosophical discourse in general and about how Sā?khya philosophy is taught to a non-expert audience. Seen from this perspective the text is significant for the way in which philosophical terms and issues are dealt with in the epic and adjacent non-expert texts, such as the Purā?as.