Suchergebnisse

"An increased dissatisfaction with the functioning of democracy in Germany can be observed. Citizens have voiced their frustration over a broad range of political decisions and there is a recurring demand for more citizen participation. This study aims to answer whether unconventional forms of citizen participation add value to the quality of democracy in Germany. For the purpose of this work, conventional forms of citizen participation are differentiated from unconventional forms by the following three criteria: a mechanism is conventional if it is executed, recognized, and institutionalized by the government of the respective (geographical and political) level it takes place in. In order to answer the research question, the theoretical foundation is first presented. Next, an overview of the evolution of democracy in general is given, before exploring the grounds on which Germany's version of democracy solidified. Then the concept of citizen participation is elaborated and a new classification is introduced. In the third section of the theoretical part, the following three `channels' through which unconventional citizen participation can potentially add value to the quality of democracy in Germany are identified: by contributing to equality, democratic learning, and the effectiveness of policy-making. The causal model presented in the final chapter of the theoretical part specifies the underlying mechanism through which, in our interpretation, unconventional citizen participation potentially adds value to the quality of democracy in Germany. Based on the causal mechanism assumed, three sub-hypotheses for answering the main hypo-thesis are chosen. While this theoretical framework can be applied to various forms of unconventional citizen participation, the methodology chapter details why this single case study best fits this research design. Furthermore, the selection of the 2011 Bürgerdialog Energietechnologien für die Zukunft (Citizen Dialogue on the Future Use of Energy Technologies), commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is justified as the appropriate case for empirical analysis. In the case study, all three channels are analyzed for whether the citizen dialogue met the preconditions needed to most likely achieve an added value. Then the study assesses whether value has in fact been added to the quality of democracy. The analysis is completed by a summary of the findings in the context of the case, i.e. the citizen dialogue, and a discussion of how far these findings can be transposed to mechanisms of unconventional citizen participations in general. On that basis, the study concludes with a set of policy recommendations." (author's abstract)

"Chapter 1 outlines the different approaches seecting highly skilled immigrants in the main destination countries of the OECD and identifies the major shifts in policies which have occurred over the last decade. It also discusses the approach of the EU in entering the contest for talent, particularly the recently adopted 'blue card' initiative. (...); Chapter 2 provides an overview of highly skilled migration into OECD countries. Using recently collected data on the number of immigrants with tertiary education in the OECD, we describe the main trends in the immigration of highly skilled individuals from the receiving-country perspective. Furthermore, the use of census data for selected OECD countries allows us to look at patterns of immigration at the very top of the skill distribution. We then analyse the development in the global pool of highly skilled individuals in the origin countries.(...); Building on this descriptive analysis, Chapter 3 examines the economic, legal, and institutional determinants of highly skilled migration in detail. Drawing on Ortega and Peri (2009) and Grogger and Hanson (2008), a scale equation and a selection equation are derived from a simple migration model. Using a panel data set which comprises 74 sending and 14 OECD destination countries over the 1980 to 2005 period, we explain the scale and the skill selectivity of immigration using a large set of variables which are derived from economic and political considerations. (...); Using the same data set, Chapter 4 addresses the impact of highly educated immigrants on employment, productivity, capital accumulation, and output in the receiving countries. Using an aggregate production function framework akin to growth accounting, we decompose the migration effects into a total immigration effect and the effect of the 'brain gain', which is measured as the share of tertiary educated individuals in the immigrant population. (...); The findings in Chapter 4 suggest that total immigration is beneficial for employment, capital accumulation, and total output, and that these gains increase with the share of highly skilled individuals in the Immigrant population. Nevertheless, most receiving countries restrict immigration and are reluctant to implement immigration policies that systematically select highly skilled immigrants. Chapter 5 focuses on this puzzle. (...); Chapter 6 adopts a more long-term view and addresses the possible implications of the contest for talents from a normative perspective. It explores-political economy forces against skilled migration not with standing what would happen if developed countries compete more actively for highly skilled labour in the future. (...); Finally, chapter 7 summarizes our main findings and draws some policy conclusions. " (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))

"The history of relations between the church and political authorities have shaped remarkable differences in the influence of religion on values of population in Poland, Hungary and Czecho-Slovakia. The differences in religious involvement, both on the level of personal beliefs and institutionalized behavior, among the countries in Central-Eastern European region are quite large. In Poland the Value Survey of 1990 revealed a level of religious beliefs and practice as high as in Ireland. An obvious explanation for this similarity is that in both Poland and Ireland 'Catholicism as the dominant religion has come to serve as the symbol and guardian of the nation in times threat or domination from external sources' (Martin 1978: A General Theory of Secularization). In Hungary and the Czech Republik levels of church attendance and personal religiosity are low, rivaling the rates in several West European countries, such as France, Netherlands and Scandinavia. The impact of industrialization and urbanization, combined with the hostility of the communist regimes toward religion, resulted in a high degree of secularization among Hungarians and Czechs. This paper explores several dimensions of religious values, beliefs, attitudes and practice of Poles, Czechs and Slovacs in 1990, based on results of the EVSSG survey. It analyzes the interrelationship between such aspects of religious values and behavior as - on one hand - church attendance, institutional attachment, adherence to traditionel beliefs, confidence in the church, support for a public role of the church, and on the other hand - 'intrinsic' forms of religiosity: identifying oneself as a religious person, the importance of God in one's life, and getting comfort and strength from religion. Hypotheses dealing with the connection between religion and morality, would predict that secularization processes and a diminshing influence of the church would give rise to relativistic moral attitudes, moral permissiveness and tolerance toward different groups. The results suggest that some modification of these hypotheses on the basis of the different historical experience in this region is needed. The relationship between religious and political attitudes and behavior is particulary important in the analyzed countries, taking into account the atheistic policy of the communist regimes and the recent collapse of these regimes. These changes and the impact of socio-demographic factors, such as age, education and place of residence, though also somewhat different, allow us to predict that similar trend toward secularization and individualization will occur as have been observed in Western Europe." (Autorenreferat)

The paper focuses on the activities of the Eurodistrict PAMINA in the cross-border labour market, including the associated training measures. Here the concrete needs and practice-oriented approaches of a dynamic labour market region meet the complex challenges of a multi-level system, the governance of which is not fully developed. This is a constellation that has obstructed the implementation of a number of promising ideas. The Eurodistrict PAMINA lies at the interface between national and cross-border metropolitan regions and within the area of the greatest commuter flows in Europe (Upper Rhine and Greater Region), where PAMINA is testing a local strategy based primarily on bringing together the qualified actors and improving coherence between measures and funding policies.

Der vorliegende Band stellt in drei Hauptkapiteln die aktuellen Entwicklungen in der qualitativen Bildungsforschung dar. Es wird erstens die Entwicklung qualitativer Methoden und Forschungsansätze in der Erziehungswissenschaft in Brasilien und Deutschland in einem allgemeinen Überblick zusammengefasst, einschließlich der verschiedenen Bereiche der Bildungsforschung und ihrer Professionalisierung. Der zweite und dritte Teil des Bandes bezieht sich speziell auf die dokumentarische Methode, die in den letzten 20 Jahren entwickelt wurde und gegenwärtig in verschiedenen Forschungsbereichen angewendet wird. Diese Methode wird exemplarisch für verschiedene Themen der Bildungsforschung aufgezeigt und am Beispiel der Interpretation von Text- und Bildmaterial verdeutlicht. Die Einleitung der Autoren orientiert sich am Aufbau des vorliegenden Bandes. Nach einigen allgemeinen Informationen über bestehende Kooperationen im Bereich der qualitativen Forschung werden Überlegungen zur Bedeutung qualitativer Methoden in der Erziehungswissenschaft sowie zu aktuellen Debatten und Herausforderungen in Brasilien und Deutschland angestellt. Es wird außerdem eine kurze Einführung in die Ursprünge, die gegenwärtige Entwicklung und die aktuelle Bedeutung der dokumentarischen Methode in der Erziehungswissenschaft gegeben. (ICI)

"In this paper, subjecitve well-being, as measured by survey questions on life satisfaction and happiness, is investigated from a sociological-comparative point of view. The central thesis is that happiness will be greater the more freedom a person has in her/his life decisions. It is hypothesized,therefore, that happiness will be higher in all those social contexts (micro and macro) which provide a person with greater freedom. Hence, happiness should be higher among the employed, among the persons in higher positions and with higher incomes, and happiness should also be higher in free market and democratic, and in less stratified societies. A comparative emperical analysis (multilevel regression) is carried out, using survey data on 41 nations from the World Value Survey 1995-97. The finding that happiness is related significantly to the degree of individual freedom is fully confirmed. It also has been proven that people who live in circumstances providng providing more freedom of personal choice are happier; this happens only through their perception and trough their expected change (improvement or stagnation) in the future" (author's abstract)