Suchergebnisse

Ein besonderes Problem der politischen Meinungs- und Einstellungsforschung stellt der Informations- und Wissensstand der befragten Bürger dar. Der Beitrag widmet sich diesem Problem auf dem Gebiet der Grundeinstellung zu Europa. Die Analyse erfolgt auf der Basis von semi-direktiven Interviews, die über einen Zeitraum von zwei Jahren hinweg wiederholt an einer möglichst gegensätzlichen Auswahl von 22 Personen durchgeführt wurde. Nach Bemerkungen zu Fachkompetenz-Tests, geht der Autor auf die Meinungsbildung im Fall des Europäischen Verfassungsvertrages ein und widmet sich abschließend dem Problem von fachlicher Inkompetenz und statusbedingter Kompetenz. (ICB2)

Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird versucht, Projekte kommunalen Bürgerengagements zunächst in den aktuellen gesellschaftspolitischen Diskussionszusammenhang einzuordnen. Darauf aufbauend wird die Konzeption skizziert, die einer empirischen Evaluationsstudie über 22 Projekte kommunalen Bürgerengagements zugrunde liegt. Deren Ergebnisse werden anschließend in 14 praxisnahen und anwendungsorientierten Thesen im Sinne eines Best Practice-Leitfadens für Projekte gebündelt, die versuchen, bislang staatlich organisierte Aufgaben durch kommunales Bürgerengagement zu übernehmen. Abschließend werden die Ergebnisse mit Blick auf die eingangs skizzierte gesellschaftspolitische Diskussion resümiert. (ICE2)

Die EU führt auf Initiative des Europäischen Parlaments eine Reihe von Maßnahmen zur Förderung und zum Schutz der Regional- und Minderheitensprachen Europas durch. So findet etwa eine finanzielle Unterstützung des Europäischen Büros für Sprachminderheiten und des Informationsnetzes "Mercator" statt. Außerdem gewährt die EU Unterstützungen für praktische Initiativen zum Schutz und zur Förderung von Regional- und Minderheitensprachen, vor allem im Unterrichtswesen. Die EU bleibt mit Art. 22 der Grundrechte-Charta nach Meinung des Autors jedoch unter dem Niveau, das der Europarat mit seinen Konventionen zum Schutz der Minderheitssprachen, namentlich der Charta der Regional- und Minderheitensprachen von 1992 und der Rahmenkonvention zum Schutz nationaler Minderheiten von 1995, vorgegeben hat. Besondere Rechte für die Sprecher von Minderheitensprachen sind in der Grundrechte-Charta nämlich nicht vorgesehen. Der Autor beleuchtet in seinem Beitrag die Handhabung der offiziellen Sprachen in der EU, die Aufgaben des Ressorts für Mehrsprachigkeit in der Europäischen Kommission sowie die Perspektiven für eine einheitliche Verkehrssprache in der Europäischen Union. (ICI2)

Der Beitrag betrachtet die gegenwärtige Lage der Sozialdemokratischen Partei Österreichs (SPÖ). Die sozialdemokratische Gegenwart erscheint zunächst nicht rundweg düster: Immerhin stellen die österreichischen Sozialdemokraten den Bundespräsidenten und den Bundeskanzler, die SPÖ wurde zudem bei der letzten Nationalratswahl abermals stärkste Partei. Andererseits weisen zahlreiche Indikatoren auf einen rapiden Verfall hin. Ein Mitgliederrückgang um zwei Drittel zwischen 1979 und 2008 und dazu ein paralleler Absturz des Stimmenanteils bei Nationalratswahlen von 51 Prozent auf 29 Prozent der Wähler bzw. von 47 Prozent auf 22 Prozent der Wahlberechtigten. Die SPÖ verengt sich sozialstrukturell und vor allem generationell; übrig bleibt vorwiegend die alternde Kreisky-Wählerschaft. Auch ist nicht mehr viel übrig von der SPÖ als Arbeiterpartei. Nur noch 10 bis 15 Prozent des sozialdemokratischen Elektorates sind im Jahr 2010 Arbeiter. Wenig punkten kann die SPÖ auch bei den Akademikern und bei Jugendlichen. Der Beitrag geht der Frage nach, warum die SPÖ in eine solch fundamentale Krise geraten ist: Wie reagieren die Sozialdemokraten auf den Niedergang, welche Folgen zeitigen ihre Maßnahmen oder bleiben nennenswerte Reformen trotz allem aus? (ICB2)

"The author raises the question of Europe's boundaries in the process of European integration. The debate is both of a symbolic and pragmatic nature, and can be observed not only among European nations but also elites." (Abstract)

"The question of declining numbers has been central in discussions about contemporary change in political parties, civil society and social movements. The usual interpretation of this phenomenon is that it occurs because of individualization. Another interpretation is that the collective action as such has changed and resembles action in primary groups rather than in organizations and it is, in some way a victory over the iron law of oligarchy. In this article the author argues that it is instead the institution of membership that is disappearing, not just members. The author argues that, due to changes in the patterns of resource mobilization, from members to other organizations, the institution of membership as a form of affiliation is on the decline. The result of this change can be summed up as 'more organization with fewer people', in other words, the transformation to - and the creation of - a new type of organization that can be described as an intertwining of foundation and profession instead of as an intertwining of association and broad segments of the population that characterized old social movement organizations and mass political parties. The author discusses some social and political consequences of this Janus-faced change, especially the creation of new boundaries of exclusion and the new unstructured power fields (or open spaces) that open up and where new social innovations can find rich soil and new organizations can emerge." (author's abstract)

"The author researches different forms of cross-border governance in Central European border twin towns. By concentrating on both eastern and western edges of the region he presents de-bordering tendencies in the pairings located on internal EU borders and re-bordering on external ones." (Abstract)

"The author investigates national policy in Hungary. His divagations lead to the conclusion that despite state de-bordering, national re-bordering is visible. The 1848 map of Hungary serves for a symbolic manifestation of the problem of the Hungarian minorities in neighbouring states. Territory and diaspora are used as debate objects in the article." (Abstract)

"In this paper, the author shall argue that the changed nature of armed conflict demands the Implementation of two tasks: the apprehension and punishment of the evildoers and the protection of the innocent. Both aim at the same final objective - the reduction and elimination of violent conflicts. But they require different techniques and instruments. The prosecution of perpetrators requires criminal justice mechanisms. The protection of civilian people needs combat capable military troops. Both are facilitated by a smooth, efficient, reliable, reciprocal and mutually trusted interface between military, civilian and criminal justice components of a whole-of-intervention protection agenda. They require active and dose collaboration between governmental, intergovernmental and nongovernmental actors; between local, national, regional and global actors; and between military, police, civilian and humanitarian actors. They also denote a connected agenda from preventing to managing, muting and resolving conflict through governance institutions. Consequently, unlike set-piece battles between armies of enemy states where war-fighting can be isolated from diplomacy and judged on its own results (victory, stalemate or defeat on the battlefield), the success of military missions for protection of civilians is woven more seamlessly into the civilian components of the integrated agenda. This too calls for an appreciation of the complementary roles at the civil-military interface. The argument proceeds in eight parts. The author will begin by mapping the changing security landscape in general since 1945, then spend some time on the changes in peacekeeping in particular. The responsibility to protect (Ren discussed in its three components of prevention, intervention and rebuilding before looking at the parallel responsibility to prosecute. In the last two sections the author examines regional peacekeeping and then focus on Afghanistan as a specific illustration of many of the arguments." (author's abstract)

"The author describes Lampedusa island as a symbol of the 2011 border crisis in the European Union. She claims that this example illustrates both the creation of a second border-ring around Europe but also the danker of re-bordering by suspending the 'Schengen acquis' an internal EU borders. 'Externalization of Europe's borders' seems to be consequently the main tendency in the protection of EU common borders." (Abstract)

"Finally the author applies an economic development perspective to cross-border cooperation and looks for methods to evaluate its outcomes, while also stressing its symbolic role. The authors believe that this volume will not only contribute to the field of border studies, but also - by the multidisciplinary character of the contributions - inspire researchers from various academic specializations and attract them to the study of borders and borderlands." (Abstract)

"The author analyses focal points of collective memories that are 'sites of memory'. He presents the Czarina Catherine the Great monument in Ukrainian Crimea as an exemplification of the re-bordering of the Russian population, creating a sort of self-separating enclave. The russification of public space leads consequently to the exclavisation of the peninsula but also to border permeability between Russia and the Ukrainian province." (Abstract)

"This article seeks to make a contribution to a wider political science dialogue on the importance of cooperative solutions in the Scandinavian countries, with a focus on their role for democratic development and with Sweden as the empirical setting. In the article, the author maintains that democracy and the market could and should be more closely related to each other through intelligent organizational design and elaborates on a possible future for cooperative solutions outside of the traditional cooperative field and more mature industries." (author's abstract)

"This article, based on interviews with Latvian labour emigrants who left Latvia at the time of the transition from socialism to a free market economy, will explore the intricate reasoning behind the emigrants' decisions of whether or not to remain in Latvia, and how this decision indicates a means of resistance to some forms of governance. It also explores how emigration became a strategy for improving one's quality of life and transforming one's subjectivity. Furthermore, this article explores the political dimension of emigration, arguing that particular environments can entail certain modes of governance, and reveals the character of power relations between an individual and the state. From the perspective of emigration discourse, the author draws the conclusion that the question of governance becomes a question of self-governance." (author's abstract)

"In the post-industrial or service societies of Europe, consumer cooperatives are still seen as a special organizational form, somehow different from ordinary private for-profit firms as well as from voluntary organizations without commercial pursuits. But where are the movements going from here? A number of decades of extensive deregulation and restructuring of many of the industries where cooperatives traditionally are found, and a simultaneous trend within the organizations themselves, have seen a drift towards a more single-minded market orientation. The author notes this development for the case of the consumer cooperative scene in Sweden, but nevertheless maintains that there are today both space and needs for cooperative solutions in our mature societies, in particular in the (co-)production and delivery of social services." (author's abstract)