Suchergebnisse

Compares results of the third parliamentary election since the end of communist rule with the 1993 election; examines significance of the right-wing victory and results for the major political parties. Solidarity Election Action (AWS), Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), Freedom Union (UW).

Der Verfasser analysiert zunächst die politische Situation im Vorfeld der Parlamentswahl 1993. Er setzt sich vor diesem Hintergrund mit dem geänderten Wahlrecht auseinander, stellt den Verlauf des Wahlkampfs dar und bewertet das Wahlergebnis. Der Verfasser macht deutlich, daß die Rückkehr der Postkommunisten an die Macht nicht als Zufall gesehen werden darf, sondern Ergebnis der sozialen Folgen des Übergangs zum Kapitalismus und der verbreiteten Enttäuschung über die Politik der Post-Solidarnosz- Parteien ist. Diese Effekte wurden durch das reformierte Wahlrecht in ihren politischen Konsequenzen verstärkt. Der Verfasser stellt abschließend die Bildung einer Koalitionsregierung aus Postkommunisten und Bauernpartei dar und weist auf Konsequenzen für die Position des Präsidenten hin. (BIOst-Wpt)

AbstractWe develop a model of international trade between three countries, one of which hosts pirates. When the number of pirate ships increases, the probability for one of the pirate ships (for one commercial ship) encountering a commercial (pirate) ship decreases (increases). Then, the commercial ships have an incentive to spend more on defence and pirate ships to invest less on attack. If pirates operate under free entry, they do not internalize the entry externality. Then, their number rises until it reaches a level such that their attack power has become negligible and the defence of the commercial ships has reached a high level. The economy settles in a full deterrence equilibrium. However, if the number of pirate ships is controlled by an authority, which maximizes piracy's profit, the economy settles in an equilibrium where piracy is active and commercial ships spend less on defence.Piracy is a substitute for trade. Piracy depends on the terms of trade of the pirate country and on the relative efficiency of the attack versus the defence.

AbstractThis paper addresses why technological progress occurred off‐and‐on in Imperial China but came to a standstill at around the time of the European Renaissance, leading to the decline of Imperial China. We suggest that the threat of war could have induced innovative activities as well as the accumulation of public capital, which led to the development of a modern sector in Imperial China. Using numerical simulation, we find a stagnated equilibrium in an agrarian economy under low threats of war and another with a high level of technological knowledge, public capital and a vibrant modern sector under strong threats. Long periods of peace would have the opposite effect. Some supportive historical evidence from urbanization is provided.

Background: The existing literature on community attitudes towards people with severe mental illness (SMI) tends to be rather general and impressionistic, with apparently conflicting findings which have yet to be adequately understood. Aims: This article undertakes to examine the community's level of tolerance towards discriminatory practice against people with SMI in three domains: family relations, employment and health care. Methods: Structured interviews with a representative sample of 507 citizens were carried out using the computer-assisted telephone interview system (CATI). Results: Our survey reveals some expected common misunderstandings about mental illness, with the older age group showing the greatest toleration towards discrimination. However, respondents showed a strong objection to discriminatory behaviour which people with SMI commonly face in health care and employment, whereas greater toleration towards discrimination was found in the family domain. Conclusions: The coexistence of misunderstandings about mental illness and public rejection of discriminatory practice against people with SMI suggests that community attitudes are multi-dimensional and more amendable than expected. The findings of this study call for target-specific educational strategies for community education, as well as accompanying policy initiatives to end discriminatory practice, if people with SMI are to be truly taken as our fellow citizens.