Suchergebnisse

Current changes in governing tasks that face the political systems in liberal democracies require governance to be performed in new ways. Governance can no longer take the form of sovereign rule but must be performed through various forms of metagovernance, regulation of self-regulation. The consequence is a transformation of the role that politicians play in the governance of society that endangers representative democracy aswe knowit but does not necessarily endanger representative democracy as such. A case study of the specific, narrow way in which the newmetagoverning politician role is interpreted and institutionalized in four Danish municipalities suggests that network governance marginalizes politicians and consequently weakens representative democracy. If this weakening of democracy is to be avoided, politicians must strengthen their roles in metagovernance by broadening their leadership repertoire to include framing through institutional design, storytelling, supporting and facilitating, and participating.

This working paper presents an overview of Jihadi related cases in Denmark between 1990 and 2006. The first part contains a summary of the known and verified cases and incidents and, furthermore, provides brief background information on international linkages. The second part attempts to answer three questions, all based on the empirical evidence presented: Which trends can be traced from the early 1990s to the present? What may have changed in the composition of the Jihadi environment in terms of ideological alignment, strategic perspectives and interaction with other Jihadists internationally? How did the radicalization processes take place? How did Danish citizens or residents become involved in Jihadi activities? Can one or more patterns of radicalisation be identified? To what extent were the Jihadists successful? Have they acquired a larger following? Did they have any actual impact on the battlefields?

The article focuses on the discussion of spin in the Danish media, especially during the 2005 election campaign, in which spin was a prominent issue amongst journalists. The main argument is that this is not primarily an expression of a professional, self-reflective con- sciousness regarding the shifts in the relationship between the media, society and politics. Rather, it is an expression of a self-legitimizing meta-discourse that might, however, fail to see the more structurally rooted tendencies that spin is part of - a mediatization of politics - presenting new perspectives and challenges for both politics and the media. These perspectives appear to disintegrate in the comprehen- sive but often one-dimensional and self-centered discourse of jour- nalists and communication experts, wherein they proclaim every political, communicative initiative as spin in the hunt for the disclosure of political facade.

This article presents the results of current ethnographic field research carried out in the years 2005 to 2007 by a group of Danish, Polish and German scientists. Their activities focus on important changes in the maritime culture of the southern and eastern regions of the Baltic Sea. Part I discusses the fundamental features of cultural renewal in Poland (Gdansk Bay, Vistula Lagoon) and Lithuania (Courland Lagoon, northern coast) in the period between 1920 and 2000. The treatment of each region is structured according to period. The results of the research carried out in Latvia, Estonia and Russia will follow in the second part. Within the framework of the field research, observations on ethnical aspects and infrastructures are being recorded, as well as on coastal fishing, coastal shipping, harbour operations and seaside resorts (tourism). Part II will also comprise an overall assessment of the research results.

This is a slightly revised manuscript from my keynote speech at the NIC conference 2003 in Göteborg, Sweden. The aim of the speech was to put forward research towards a critical intercultural multiperspectivism in order to understand professional intercultural communication in multicultural societies. This will be discussed in relation to a case, a job interview with an untrained Danish interviewer and a Chinese candidate.
In this written version I have tried to keep the oral form, as far as possible, and my original idea of the speech , which was to create the ground for discussion at the conference concerning intercultural communication at work and reflecting on theories in relation to changes in societies. As a consequence of this the article, I will, to a certain degree, be offering fairly simplified descriptions of various positions held within the field of intercultural research.

Is it possible to support the engineering processes with intelligent product models when the knowledge and information work is very complex? This paper describes how IT‐supported product configuration can support the complex engineering activities carried out in the quotation processes. The research has been carried out at the Centre for Product Modelling at the Technical University of Denmark in co‐operation with F.L. Smidth, a Danish cement plant manufacturer with a world‐wide leading position. The redesign of the quotation process lasted three years but, as the paper illustrates, remarkable results have been accomplished. The lead‐time for making quotations was reduced from two to four weeks to one to two days. A better quality of quotes was obtained, and the direct consumption of engineering resources for making quotations was reduced from five man‐weeks to one to two man‐days.

Do spatial dispersal policies on refugees promote their labour market outcomes? To investigate this we estimate the effects of location characteristics and the average effect of geographical mobility on the hazard rate into first job of refugees subjected to the Danish spatial dispersal policy 1986-1998. We correct for selection into relocation to another municipality by joint estimation of the duration of the first non-employment spell and time until relocation. We find, first, that the hazard rate into first job is decreasing in the local population size and the local share of immigrants. These findings support dispersal policies. Second, on average geographical mobility had large, positive effects on the hazard rate into first job, suggesting that restrictions on placed refugees' subsequent out-migration would hamper labour market integration of refugees.

Maps differences among Danish children of 5‐18 years from the perspective of children as consumers; Denmark is a society characterised by high Internet use and a high degree of gender equality. Examines purchasing power, brand awareness, and media use; the media studied were internet, TV, cinema, and mobile phones. Explains the methodology used, which was both qualitative and quantitative, used self‐report questionnaires, and divided the study group into four age groups. Concludes that there are distinct differences between boys and girls: boys are better informed about brands, have more pocket money, use the Internet more, have better access to cable and satellite television, prefer computer games to internet chat, and have more positive attitudes to advertisements; the gender differences grow, reach a maximum in the 8‐12 year old group, and then diminish.

This paper examines the remarkable development of technology and the fast learning-by-doing in the windmill industry since it emerged in the beginning of the 1980s. Based on time series of prices of windmills a dynamic cost function for producing windmills is tested. The estimations verified that learning-by-doing in the Danish windmill industry has contributed significantly to improve the cost efficiency of the producers. The technological development has been stimulated both by process and product innovations as the capacity of the individual mills has increased. The learning effect created by early subsidies from the government has consolidated the competitive advantages of the windmill cluster in Denmark and preserved the first mover advantages at the world market. The article concludes that the industry probably will enter into a matured phase in the future with more modest technological growth.

In this article, I attempt to explain the different roles of Swedish and Danish citizens when they encounter the welfare state. The case chosen is primary education, the area with the greatest variation. My thesis is that the differences arc primarily explained by the different institutional legacies in the two countries, rather than the often‐suggested alternatives, i.e., the different strength of the labor movements and the importance of Grundtvigian ideas in Denmark. I argue that in the first decades of the 20th century, Sweden and Denmark established two very different systems of school administration. Once established, these have shown a high, though by no means total, stability and the development has been path dependent. Due to the different institutional legacies, the same political ideas have often resulted in different decisions and measures in the two countries.

Denmark has the most developed public day care service in the world. The day care system is the daily condition of 281.076 children in the age group 0-5. The Nurshing of children is a timeressource that women purchase from the Welfare State institutions, and at the same time an instrument of the labour-marked which create the basis for the high workforce participation of Danish women. The ongoing subject for public discussion has been the waiting list problem. How does local councils provide room enough for the children without raising the public spendings. Surprisingly the discussion of the pedagogical contents has played a secondary role. The article ends up by recommending a serious discussion of the pedagogical aims and contents, in order to qualify the children to cope with a changing society.