Suchergebnisse

This article explores the political dynamics that have led to the adoption of inflation targeting in Israel, within the context of a broader process of policy paradigm shift. We consider inflation targeting as an institutional arrangement with far reaching consequences for the distribution of power between different state agencies. Therefore, like other processes of institutional change, its adoption is not the simple outcome of smooth processes of learning and acceptance of more rational and efficient practices. Rather, it is the result of political conflicts among state actors seeking to improve their positions in the political-economic field. On the basis of a detailed study of the political conflicts that emerged around the adoption of inflation targeting in Israel between the central bank and the Ministry of Finance, we illustrate the contested character of the institutionalization of the neo-liberal policy paradigm and highlight the actions of local political actors as a major mechanism through which worldwide diffusion of institutional practices takes place. Adapted from the source document.

The Eurovision Song Contest is an international contest of artistic prowess. The organization of the voting process in the contest aims to create a 'veil of ignorance' that promotes unbiased evaluations by providing an equal opportunity for all contestants. This study scrutinizes the departure of the Eurovision Song Contest's outcomes from its ideal organizational conception and points to systematic preferences among European blocs. By analyzing the patterns of relations between four empirically derived European blocs, this study shows that hegemony results from the unique structural position that the Western bloc occupies. This bloc enjoys a persistent position of a tertius gaudens that results from the fact that (a) nations in this bloc favor each other and export few points to other blocs; (b) the Northern and Mediterranean blocs avoid each other, and therefore allocate their surplus votes to the Western bloc. The Western bloc longitudinally sustains its hegemonic position through the persistence of between- and within-bloc exchange relations. The assumed veil of ignorance legitimizes this structural advantage. We propose that the fairness of the 'veil or ignorance' both secures hegemony and - when analyzed appropriately - helps to uncover it.

Der Übersichtsbericht zur militärsoziologischen Forschung in Israel bezieht sich auf Analysen und Daten, die in den letzten 30 Jahren an Universitäten und außeruniversitären Forschungseinrichtungen zum Verhältnis von Militär, Staat und Gesellschaft produziert worden sind. Die Entwicklung vollzog sich dabei in folgenden Schritten: ein kontinuierliches Wachstum von Publikationen bis Anfang der 80er Jahre zum oben genannten allgemeinen Verhältnis und seit den 80er Jahren eine wachsende Differenzierung der Fragestellungen auf spezifische Belange des Militärs in seiner "chronisch" angespannten geostrategischen Lage im Nahen Osten. Drei Schwerpunkt lassen sich hier ausmachen: (1) die landesinterne Debatte um die Identität professionalisierter Streitkräfte in einer demokratischen Gesellschaft; (2) der Legitimationsschwund in Bezug auf die Notwendigkeit einer permanent hochgerüsteten Armee und die Schwächung des Konsens zur nationalen Sicherheitspolitik und (3) die Veränderungen der Wahrnehmung des Militärs in der Öffentlichkeit und im Reflexionssystem des Militärs an den Hochschulen. (ICA).