Suchergebnisse

"The author presents a case study of efforts to enhance the quality of teaching and learning at Kassel University. The study resulted from an extended internship - an internship of at least eight weeks' duration was an obligatory part of the MAHE Program - and examines the potentials and limitations of improving the teaching- and learning-based profile of Kassel University. The theoretical and conceptual part of the contribution discusses institutional profile-building of German universities and what it means in terms of potentials and limitations to establish a profile based on teaching and learning rather than research, global competitiveness or a high position on ranking scales. In addition, the heterogeneous disciplinary cultures (of the university?) are taken into account. The author identifies three factors that influence the decision for a profile based on excellence in teaching and learning: resources, heterogeneity of disciplinary cultures, and level of research. The author concludes that young, middle-sized universities like Kassel are often under pressure to excel in all functions (teaching, research, services), but there being considerable limitations to do this, a careful decision is needed on the function to focus in order to establish a profile if at all." (excerpt).

The article presents the main results of the survey (1992–2003) on interethnic orientations of Ukrainian population measured according to the social distance scale by Bogardus adapted in Ukraine by the article's author in 1990. The obtained data made it possible to reveal a number of phenomena ("over-caution", "Eastern Slavic isolation", "redoubled border control", "high jump", "unanimous isolation"), and paradoxes of the mass interethnic self-consciousness of population (paradox of the "national identification", the "good attitude" paradox). New results confirmed the growing orientations (in the mass consciousness) to the larger ethnic distance, which promotes development of national and governmental isolation. The author paid much attention to a story about the methods (the social distance scale) development and their approbation in Ukraine.

"This chapter offers insights into the regulation of both political campaign communication and the regulation of media structures and content across the globe. The author first discusses conflicts between media regulation and media freedom as well as different possibilities for the regulation of media structure, infrastructure and content that are aimed at securing the surrounding conditions for democratic political communication. Then, the chapter reflects on the rationales for regulating campaigns before providing an overview of existing regulation in countries worldwide. Specifically, limits on contributions and expenditures, transparency requirements, public subsidies and other restrictions are touched upon. In the final section, the author draws several conclusions and examines the delicate influence of political actors and media organizations on the regulatory measures that directly affect themselves." (publisher's description)

"The author critically examines the EU's role as an international children's rights actor. The promotion of children's rights as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is a key objective of EU external policy. This contribution assesses the effectiveness of external action of the EU aimed at upholding children's rights. These rights have emerged as an entrenched EU accession condition and the EU has also attempted to address children's rights violation via the employment of thematic programs part of the EU development and democratization policies. Nevertheless, according to the author, EU policy on children's rights has faced various shortcomings that are further described in the chapter. Despite these drawbacks the EU has emerged as a compelling international children's rights actor." (author's abstract)

"The author critically examines the EU's role as an international children's rights actor. The promotion of children's rights as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is a key objective of EU external policy. This contribution assesses the effectiveness of external action of the EU aimed at upholding children's rights. These rights have emerged as an entrenched EU accession condition and the EU has also attempted to address children's rights violation via the employment of thematic programs part of the EU development and democratization policies. Nevertheless, according to the author, EU policy on children's rights has faced various shortcomings that are further described in the chapter. Despite these drawbacks the EU has emerged as a compelling international children's rights actor." (author's abstract).

The article reviews pragmatic, conservative, radical, idealistic, neutral, critical, and vulgar-managerial worldview approaches to the interpretation of public relations' social role in a society wide-familiar within the theory and practice of Western countries. Sharing the American scholar James Grunig's and his colleagues' point of view on the normative theory of ethical PR, the author shows that only in case of the practical application of symmetrical (ideal) model of communication between organizations and publics, the social institute of public relations may overcome an utilitarian approach to ethics and become more effective and socially responsible. The author comes to the conclusion that application of such a symmetrical model of public relations in Ukraine will promote the democratic development and creation of a civil society in this country.

"Drawing primarily from societal constructivist perspectives, the author traces the contemporary interregional EU-East Asia relations. Regarding the themes of shared identity and interests prominent in constructivism, the author argues that fundamental problems in this EU relationship with East Asia must be urgently addressed. Although enduring economic and political EU engagement is present in this region, the external perception of the East Asian public of the EU is undervalued and misunderstood. The rise of China should lead to the EU to reconcile its policy inconsistencies juxtaposed with its self-perception as a 'normative power'. Engagements with ASEAN could be considered by the EU to be promising for exporting its model of multilevel governance or to enhance its actorness and legitimacy. Identification of pursuing shared interests would reinvigorate interregional relations." (author's abstract)

"In his contribution the author emphasizes the external dimension of the EU 's fight against terrorism. Top priority of international security policy has been the continued activities of Al Qaeda and affiliated terrorist actors. The EU has attempted to develop an extensive counterterrorism policy since 9/11. The aim of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive overview of the EU's external dimension and its changing global role. A brief historical overview of EU counterterrorism cooperation is followed by surveying three strands of the EU's current counterterrorism policy. The impact on this policy from the Treaty of Lisbon is equally assessed current initiatives for reinforced security assistance to Sub-Saharan Africa is outlined. The author concludes that the EU has faced limitations in mobilizing available instruments and resources to combat terrorism beyond its borders." (author's abstract)

"The author uses a constructivist approach to address the question of how important natural resources serve as tools or sources of power in the 21st century. After examining existing approaches towards resource power and offering an insightful assessment of todays distribution of key resources, the author analyses in this article the importance of resources in international relations by using Wendt's conceptions of three different ontological perceptions of world politics that form three idiosyncratic role models of interstate relations: Hobbesian, Lockean, Kantian. He points out that depending on the ontological perception of international relations by the international actors involved and the role model applied by them, the importance of resources as sources of power varies significantly and therefore there is neither an automatic link between natural resources and power nor between scarcity and conflict." (author's abstract)

"This chapter discusses research on different kinds of media frames in political coverage which have been shown to significantly affect how politics is perceived and understood by citizens. After defining issue/ policy substance, strategic game, thematic, and episodic framing as key features of the portrayal of politics in today's media coverage, the chapter discusses various reasons why these frames are so commonly used in journalism, After that, the chapter reviews empirical research on the development of the presence of the different frames across time. Furthermore, differences between countries and news organizations are discussed. The author argues that although research shows that the various frames are indeed an important ingredient of political coverage, general conclusions are hampered by differences in operationalizations and the lack of comparative research efforts. The author therefore calls for more standardized investigations and truly comparative studies on this important topic." (publisher's description)

"The author concentrates on the important tactical and strategic impacts of Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAVs) for 21st century power relations. Taking recent military experiences as a starting point, he outlines how UAVs are already changing the ways air power is gained and exercised by Western and non-Western militaries, e.g. by using drones for better battlefield awareness. He sketches out likely future developments within this important field and shows that drones are set to fundamentally alter the traditionally air power hierarchy as they allow for military air assets that are cheaper (compared to the costs of traditional jets and Bombers) and easier to manufacture (particularly due to dual-use technologies) - something that particularly benefits developing countries. Given the rising global demand for drones and the increasingly tougher industrial competition, the author concludes with a call for a stronger European cooperation in order to avoid failing behind militarily and technologically." (author's abstract)

The pseudo-alternative nature of the forthcoming presidential election in Russia is a logical out come of the vertical of power and influence that has been formed for many years in this state. Starting from that pre supposition, the author analyzes the public opinion dynamics among Russian citizens relative to the assumed criteria of choice as to a presidential contender on behalf of the party in power (i.e. "winner"), on the one hand, as well as the electoral intentions and expectations of the population, on the other hand. Based on this analysis, the author concludes that the interdependence between the functions of the ruling clique and the masses may change as a result of a transition from a "procedural" to an historical choice. A new structure of society characterized by a gradual weakening of the highest ranks can pave the way for modern patterns of two-sided dependencies in the future.

The article deals with the demographic situation in Ukraine at the close of 20th century. Changes in population size and proportions of its forming sources after the last All-Soviet Union general census of the population (1989) are the focus of attention in the article. The author investigates the main features of fertility, mortality, marriages, divorces and demographic development of Ukrainian family for this period of time. There was also examined the contribution of natural increase/decrease of population and its net-migration to the process of depopulation and deepening of the demographic crisis in the country. The author remarked the tendency to growth of the indices of demographic loading per 1000 midyear population of working age and transformations in its structure. There was predicted the further aging of population and lessening of its labour potential in the nearest future. There are no reasons to expect any swift positive changes in the demographic situation now. The demographic crisis is deepening.

[The] article falls into two chief parts. Part I provides an introduction to religious education in Europewhile exploring six key characteristics. Part II presents European developments concerning guiding principles, developments in the European institutions and comparative European projects as well as existing networks. Finally [the author summarises] some perspectives for religious education. (Orig.).

"In this article the author addresses the question of the ontology of power and rule-setting in the international monetary system. By distinguishing between two dimensions of monetary power - autonomy and influence - he offers an innovative approach towards power in the international monetary system. Within this context he examines and analyses different developments, outlining a diffusion of power among states as well as between states and non-state actors rather in the dimension of autonomy than in the dimension of influence. The author introduces the concept of leaderless diffusion, meaning that leadership in the system has been more scattered than relocated. He argues that a power shift has taken place from few very powerful states towards a growing number of autonomous actors, especially when it comes to rule-setting abilities within the monetary system. Furthermore, he outlines that on the level of governance, a distinction should be made between the individual state and the global system and thus offers an elaborated approach towards understanding monetary and economic power in the 21st century." (author's abstract)