Suchergebnisse

"This paper attempts to assess international regimes and some of the problems that appear with them, namely environmental regimes and security regimes. The paper assesses these problems through prisms of two of the major theories of international relations: Realism and Liberalism. It looks into aspects such as how these theories differ in comparison, while addressing the issues under discussion? First and foremost, what are international regimes and how do we categorize them? Analyzing the task of international regimes and explaining to some extent the significance of international environmental and security regimes for today's world is the subject of this paper." (author's abstract)

The psychological, legal, & cultural challenges faced by unemployed women in post-Soviet Russia are discussed, based on 1993/94 interview data from 64 unemployed women. During socialist rule, 90+% of women were employed, & this trend coincided with a paradoxical ideology that simultaneously emphasized gender equality in the workplace & reinforced traditional gender stereotypes. In recent years, unemployment has disproportionately affected women, & the state has promoted housewifery in an attempt to free jobs for unemployed men. This has created psychological problems for unemployed women without the jobs that once delineated prestige & status. Russian society also lacks the legal & institutional structures to support one-income, female-led households, & traditional gender stereotypes have undermined appreciation for the time & energy involved in domestic work. Gender ideology, social norms, & legal codes no longer match the situation of many Russian women. It is concluded that official gender ideology will be challenged & transformed in the near future by women seeking greater employment equality & increased appreciation for domestic work. T. Sevier

Anhand von Beispielen aus der demographischen Forschung in Kanada wird das Problem der Datenbeschaffung thematisiert. Dabei wird von einer hypothetischen Problemsequenz ausgegangen, der sich der Forscher bei der Datenbeschaffung gegenübersehen kann. Informationsprobleme über vorhandene Daten, Dokumentationsprobleme bezüglich Gehalts- oder Reichweitenirrtümern bei vorhandenen Daten, sowie Probleme der Datentransformation und ihrer Analyse werden dargestellt. (BG)

Introduces the volume & its concern with political delegation & accountability in seventeen parliamentary democracies of Western Europe. Our objective is to contribute to our empirical & theoretical comprehension of parliamentary democracy. We consider political institutions & how they at once articulate & delimit citizens' expression; governance dilemmas in parliamentary systems; & changes over time in dealing with delegation matters. This chapter also discusses the historical roots of parliamentary systems, the problematics of terminology for modern representative democracies, parliamentarism vs. presidentialism, & principal-agent strategy for addressing the difficulties of delegation & accountability. The other contributions to the volume are also briefly introduced. 1 Table, 115 References. K. Coddon

Introduces a section (see abstracts of related Chpts) of an edited Vol on the role of political opportunities as a variable in social movement explanation by addressing three principal analytic concerns: (1) the difference between political vs other types of opportunities; (2) dimensions of a political opportunity structure; & (3) application of relevant dependent variables. New avenues of research & theory on political opportunities are described, including the nature of protest cycles & political opportunities, the international context of political opportunities, & how political opportunity structures may serve as dependent variables. If conceptual confusion is to be avoided, it is argued that scholars must be explicit about which dependent variable they are seeking to explain & which dimensions of political opportunity are germane to this explanation. Section themes are briefly discussed. 1 Table. D. M. Smith

"The object of this article is to identify in clear analytic terms pervasive problems that could threaten the political authority of Western governments today. The first section defines the concept of political authority and distinguishes those problems that are central to authority. The next two sections consider whether in contemporary circumstances perennial problems of allocating resources and government organization raise new challenges to political authority. Question of political consent are considered in sections that deal with value conflict, and with civic indifference. The concluding section speculates about the chief meta-problem of political authority today: whether challenges to the effectivness of government undermine political consent as well?" (author's abstract)

"Climate change adaptation has been called a 'wicked problem par excellence.' Wicked problems are hard to define because the formulation of the problem is the problem; they are considered a symptom of another problem; they are highly resistant to solutions and extremely interconnected with other problems. Climate change problems are even more complex because they lack a well-structured policy domain, and knowledge about climate change is uncertain and contested. Given the wicked characteristics of the climate issue and its particular challenges, the question is which theories are useful starting points for the governance of climate adaptation? The chapter distinguishes between theories and concepts that focus on reflexivity, on resilience, on responsiveness and on revitalization. Instead of integrating these theories in one overarching governance approach, the chapter suggests an approach of theoretical multiplicity. It proposes that exploiting the variety of concepts and strategies based on the different theories can increase the governance capacity to deal with climate change. Finally, it addresses the moral dimension of wicked problems, which suggests that it is unacceptable to treat a wicked problem as though it were a tame one. Governance scholars nowadays risk raising expectations far beyond their ability to deliver, and thus enhance confusions over whether wicked problems are in fact tame ones." (author's abstract)

Ziel dieses Beitrages ist es, die Probleme zu identifizieren, denen die politischen Autoritäten der westlichen Regierungen heute gegenüberstehen. Im ersten Abschnitt werden das Konzept der politischen Autorität definiert und jene Probleme herausgearbeitet, die für die Autoritäten zentral sind. In den nächsten beiden Abschnitten erfolgt eine Betrachtung der Frage, ob aus den unter den gegenwärtigen Umständen andauernden Problemen der Mittelzuweisung und der Regierungsorganisation neue Herausforderungen für die politischen Autoritäten erwachsen. Fragen der politischen Zustimmung werden in den beiden Abschnitten betrachtet, die sich mit Wertkonflikten und mit behördlicher Gleichgültigkeit befassen. In dem abschließenden Abschnitt wird über das zentrale Metaproblem der politischen Autoritäten nachgedacht: Untergraben die Herausforderungen an die Wirksamkeit der Regierung die politische Zustimmung? (RW)

Im Mittelpunkt des Beitrags stehen Entwicklungen, Diskurse und Reformen im Bereich religiöser Bildung und Religionsunterricht in Italien. Der Beitrag geht zunächst auf einige historische Aspekte des Katholischen Religionsunterricht in Italien ein und betrachtet Religion im italienischen Bildungssystem. Im Anschluss daran wendet sich der Beitrag aktuellen Debatten und Kontroversen für und gegen Katholischen Religionsunterricht zu. Schließlich diskutiert der Beitrag alternative Bestrebungen und beschreibt die komplexen und schwierigen Versuche der Kommunikation zwischen den verschiedenen Gruppen. Der Beitrag geht hier auf Projekte und Erfahrungen ein und stellt abschließend Überlegungen zu dem schwierigen Diskurs bezüglich der Form und dem Stellenwert des Religionsunterrichts in Italien an. (ICA2).

Analyzes survey data from Spain & Latin America to argue that the increase in negative attitudes toward political parties is caused not so much by the performance of parties, but by inconsistencies & contradictions in citizen's beliefs, unrealistic expectations of party performance, & the increased number of demands on modern parties (Linz, 2000). Nonpartisan leaders are respected because they are 'above politics,' & parties are criticized for dividing societies. This belief is contradictory since it is the basic function of parties to represent segments of society & to compete with others for electoral positions. Citizens want their interests represented, but criticize representation of other's beliefs as 'special interests.' Although some populist reforms have been adopted, it appears that currently the ambivalence toward political parties has not led to their rejection or to the rejection of democracy. 4 Tables. L. A. Hoffman