Mobilisierung, Verstärkung, Konversion? Ergebnisse eines Experiments zur Wahrnehmung der Fernsehduelle im Vorfeld der Bundestagswahl 2002

Based on an experimental study about the televised debates in the last German federal election campaign, the article analyses how the candidates — Schröder and Stoiber — were perceived by the audience. Based on real-time-response-data, the crucial role that already existing attitudes play in the process of debate perception is shown. Still, debates do have effects, although these vary among voters depending on their specific situations. Debates have a mobilizing effect on partisans, while there is a potential persuasive effect on independent voters.     

Administrative Styles in the OECD: Bureaucratic Policy-Making beyond Formal Rules

As we know from comparative public policy, bureaucracies contribute to a considerable degree to the contents and the ways of policy-making. One important driver of administrative policy-making are their specific “styles” or “cultures”. “Administrative styles” are understood here as the standard operating procedures and routines that characterize the behavior and activities of administrative bodies in initiating, drafting and implementing policy. In this article, we convey the concept of Administrative Styles to the level of International Organizations (IOs) and apply it to the Organization for Economic Development and Co-Operation (OECD). The article proceeds in three steps: First, the concept of administrative styles is introduced and refined. Drawing on expert interviews with OECD staff, we secondly show that consideration of OECD administrative styles significantly advances the literature’s understanding of the organization. Finally, we give an outlook on new research avenues and the relevance of our findings for the study of International Public Administrations (IPAs) more generally.     

The partisan–professional dichotomy revisited: Politicization and decision‐making of senior civil servants

Politicization has an ambivalent reputation among public administration scholars. While considered an effective instrument to safeguard political control over ministerial bureaucracy, partisanship of senior civil servants is likewise associated with patronage and is deemed detrimental to professionalism and meritocracy. To scrutinize this contradiction, the article examines how the party‐political background of senior civil servants influences their decision‐making behaviour. Two theoretically derived conceptions of loyalty are therefore put to the test: responsiveness and responsibility. Effects are captured by using the vignette technique in 40 in‐depth interviews with former senior civil servants from ministerial departments at federal and state level in Germany. The results are surprising in so far as they reveal that politicized senior civil servants act neither more responsively nor less responsibly than their non‐politicized peers. These findings challenge common assumptions and call for a more refined analysis of the conditions under which politicization leads to negative effects.     

Suspicious circumstances on discovery of the cadaver

The authors report on three autopsy cases in which the findings at the death scene gave rise to the suspect of non-natural, in two cases even violent causes of death. The medico-legal and criminalistic investigations led to surprising results: Death was due to acute intoxication with narcotics, supposed delirium tremens and a suicide attempt in the presence of bronchopneumonia. External force was ruled out in all three fatalities by cooperative work of police investigators and forensic medicine.     

Rhetoric and Action: What are Central Banks Doing Before Elections?

Central bank rhetoric need not always be followed bycorresponding measures. In a number of regressions coveringGermany, Japan and the U.S. we examine differences in rhetoricand actual behavior before elections, using a standard PBCmodel. Our results indicate that these three central bankshave not been influenced by electoral consideration in thepolicies they implement, but the case of the German Bundesbankindicates that it may be helpful to distinguish betweenrhetoric and action.     

Taking a sledgehammer to crack the nut: The EU Enforcement Directive

In April 2004 the EU passed the Directive on Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights amidst charges of “conflicting interest” and heavy-handed influence of the American entertainment industry. The Directive has received widespread condemnation from various sectors of the society for supporting private interest at the expense of public interest through the impositions of Mareva injunctions and Anton Piller Orders, even in instances of accidental and non-commercial infringements of the intellectual property right [Meller P. EU backs deal on copyright piracy. International Herald Tribune, NY; 2004]. This paper will examine the provisions of the Directive and determine its implications, in particular, as to whether they balance or not the rights of the right holders and public interest.