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.     

Political Journals in Germany

Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries possessed a wealth of monthly political journals. The period after the Second World War saw a renaissance of monthly journals, which offered orientation to a populace disoriented by National Socialism and war. Today there is a limited number of monthly political journals and their total circulation does not exceed 100,000. But their readership constitutes the small group of citizens who take an interest in politics and in political discourse. Their quantitative influence cannot be measured, their qualitative influence cannot be overestimated. The article focuses mainly on the magazines Neue Gesellschaft/Frankfurter Hefte and Die Politische Meinung. The former is supported by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, the latter by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.     

Kritik und Neubewertung politischer Repräsentation: vom Hindernis zur Möglichkeitsbedingung politischer Freiheit

In participatory democratic theory we see a positive reassessment of political representation these days. Whereas until recently representation has at best been accepted as an unavoidable substitute for direct democracy, newer theories regard representation as constitutive for democratic political action. Such a turn in the assessment of representation has become possible by dismissing an autonomy-oriented concept of democracy that goes back to Rousseau, and of which a modified version is represented by Jürgen Habermas today. The new interpretations understand representation not in the sense of an as perfect as possible transmission of the will of the represented to the representative, but as a relation of difference which allows for plural acting and political judgment in the first place. Although the discussion of these theories shows that they can offer an interesting theoretical reconstruction of representative democracy, they remain very vague in specifiying concrete possibilities of political action and democratic participation for the represented.     

Identification properties of the office binding machine

The office binding machine is designed to punch a series of rectangular shaped holes along the edge of paper stock. These holes facilitate insertion of a plastic ring to bind the pages into a notebook.Research was conducted to determine if punched holes in paper could be identified as the work of a particular binding machine. Alignment, spacing and imperfections along the edges of the punch marks were considered.It was concluded that in some instances it is possible to identify the product of a binding operation with the punching machine.     

Citizenship without representation? Blackface,misogyny and parody in Die Antwoord,Lupé Fiasco and Angel Haze

Abstract

This article explores Die Antwoord's blackface politics to question whether the concept of citizenship has any value in a context where marginal artists’ attempts to represent themselves on their own terms are overshadowed by the global reach of corporate entertainment media monopolies, and by the legacy of racism and sexism in the music industry. It analyses the work of Die Antwoord, Lupé Fiasco and Angel Haze to contend that global capital undermines the nation-state's ability to secure its citizens’ economic or cultural interests. Using Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri's concept of Empire, the author argues that corporate globalisation undermines the sovereignty of the nation-state, effectively compromising democratic ideals. The global appeal of Die Antwoord tells us a great deal about the extent to which diverse cultural expressions are marginalised, as well as the extent to which colonial conceptions of race, gender and class endear in public discourse – specifically in light of the continuing appeal of blackface in the mainstream entertainment industry.     

09年模具设计与制造专业人才素质及需求状况调查研究

为了了解企业对用人的建议、要求,便于调整专业方向,培养出适合行业需要的人才,在四月期间,我们对长三角和珠三角等多家企业进行了企业人才需求状况的调查,获取社会对模具人才需求的情况,明确学院模具专业的学生培养目标。对市场调查进行汇总、统计和分析,进行模具专业课程建设的调研。     

《回归》中父亲的缺场与儿子的追寻

德国当代著名作家本哈德·施林克在2006年出版的长篇小说《回归》中讲述了一个父亲的缺场与儿子追寻的故事。小说中父亲的缺场充分体现了父亲身份是一种心理和文化的事实,而儿子对父亲的追寻实际上是自己对父亲角色形象的描摹过程,藉此自己逐渐走向成熟,成为一名合格的父亲。就此,我们可以从信仰的迷失、德国的历史以及女性主义思想冲击等方面阐释缺场与追寻的深层原因。     

EU citizens: Challenging the notion of German National Political Community, 1990–2005

This article assesses the extent to which Germany's adaptation of European Union legal norms through altering the criteria for access to territory and rights has challenged the judicial and conceptual boundaries of its notion of national political community. It compares the policies that directly affected EU citizens’ and other immigrant groups’ access to German territory, citizenship and social integration programs. It may be seen that, in enjoying a unique and privileged position between Germans and the other foreigners, this group not only challenges and undermines the justification for this very distinction, but also transforms the concept of ‘otherness’.     

FRAMING OF JACOB ZUMA AND POLYGAMY IN DIE BURGER (2008–2013)

ABSTRACT

The traditional practice of polygamy, whereby a person is married to more than one spouse at the same time, entered the public discourse in South Africa primarily through President Jacob Zuma's weddings in 2008, 2010 and 2012. This article aims to reflect the discussion of Zuma's polygamy in particularly the Afrikaans communities of South Africa from 2008 to 2013, as the Afrikaans language newspaper Die Burger targets this segment of the broader society. Drawing on framing theory, three major themes emerged from this analysis. First, writers in Die Burger want Jacob Zuma to be a modern head of state instead of a traditional man. Second, they believe that the particular cultural right to practise polygamy violates women's human rights. Third, they see Jacob Zuma and polygamy not as a private but as a public issue, since taxpayers are supporting his family financially.     

Politischer Opportunismus und Haushaltsdefizite in den westdeutschen Bundesländern

This article analyzes fiscal political business cycles in the West-German Länder. By linking the theory of political business cycles with the insights of the theory of economic voting, I argue that the German Länder governments do not have an incentive to raise the budget deficit in order to signal economic competence to the electorate. Despite having an incentive to spend more before an election in order to provide public goods to the voters, governments cannot finance the supply of public goods with higher deficits because voters prefer healthy fiscal policies. An empirical analysis of the West-German Länder between 1970 and 2003 bolsters the theoretical claims. A government that expands the deficit before an election thus experiences a loss in voter support. Consequently, governments tend to reduce the budget deficit in pre-election years.