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Copyright of Kurswechsel is the property of Beirat fur gesellschafts-wirtschafts-und umweltpolitische Alternativen (BEIGEWUM) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The South African Judicial Service Commission (JSC), considered to be exemplary for its independence, plays a pivotal part in judicial appointments. Yet the Commission has long been marred by tensions that have lately erupted into a full-blown conflict between those who could here be referred to as the transformationists, on the one hand, and the liberals, on the other. The transformationists, who may generally be regarded as falling within the sphere of influence of the ruling elite under the African National Congress (ANC), are bent on pursuing the policy of transformation. Hence they insist that the composition of the bench must reflect the national population profile and on individual judges' pursuing the ruling party's ideological goals. The liberals reject this as a threat to judicial independence and the professional competence of the judiciary. On close analysis the clash is based on incompatible interpretations of judicial independence and impartiality. This article is a critique of these interpretations against the backdrop of an assessment of what these notions can reasonably be expected to achieve. It is argued that the liberals are harbouring unrealistic views about judiciaries, believing them to wield power which may even extend over matters of political significance, powers on a par with or even outweighing those of the political branches. However, on proper analysis it is clear that the judiciary is in fact, firstly, inherently weak and dependent on the support of the political branches; and, secondly, it is integrated into the ruling elite with whom they share the same ideological assumptions without any inclination to oppose them. Hence, the impartiality of the courts, when it comes to politically sensitive issues, is distinctively politically (regime) relative and ideologically conditioned. Ironically the transformationists have bought into the liberals' erroneous belief in the potency of the courts (in the above-mentioned sense) and they fear, without foundation, for the political risks the courts might be posing to the ruling elite. This fear is based on an exaggerated vision of the far-reaching consequences that they ascribe to judicial independence and impartiality, believing it to render the judiciary a formidable political force on a par with the political branches. The transformationists would therefore go to extreme lengths to secure an amenable judiciary. This is exemplified by their rather improper insistence that the best candidates need not be appointed, thus compromising even the (limited) independence and impartiality which courts, on a realistic assessment, should have. In doing this the transformationists show a serious lack of appreciation of the distinctive professional nature of the judiciary, whose independence, impartiality and effectiveness are rooted not in political might but in the exceptional professional competence of the incumbents on the bench, who should be drawn from the best candidates the legal professional can produce.

The author provides the reconstruction of the Yugoslavism phenomenon in western parts of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, inhabited by the Roman Catholic population. It was rooted in activities of the Dalmatian and Slovenian revolutionary national-liberal pro-Yugoslav youth. Those integral Yugoslavian groups were base for the creation of the several Yugoslav organizations such as ORJUNA, the Yugoslav Soko, the Jadran Guard and Yugoslav Chetniks. The author devotes the main attention to Niko Bartulović, the writer, which belonged to such political and cultural circles in the city of Split. Bartulović was one of the prominent Yugoslav revolutionaries, accused during the First World War by the Austro/Hungarian authorities and later when the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was formed one of the main promoters of such pan-Yugoslav oriented organizations.

The political rise and fall of Vojvodinian Liberals, led by Mirko Čanadanović, is one of the topics from our recent history that has so far not been historiographically treated in the way it deserves, as opposed to publicist material and memoirs in which the events from the early 1970’s in Vojvodina received considerable attention. This paper is an attempt to make a sketch for the portrait of a young and promising political team, whose development was suddenly interrupted by the authoritarian intervention of Josip Broz Tito to the joy and satisfaction of certain Belgrade and Novi Sad political circles. The paper was written on the basis of the previously unreleased original material from the Archive of Vojvodina (fund of the Provincial Committee), numerous published and autobiographical sources, the periodicals published at the time and a small quantity of historiographical literature.

The article presents a report from a March 3-4, 2016 conference in Freiburg, Germany on liberal German professors, publicists, and politicians Karl von Rotteck and Carl Theodor Welcker. Topics of presentations delivered included the role of Rotteck's book "Ideen über Landstände" and "Allgemeine Geschichte" in furthering his career as a national diplomat, Welcker and Rotteck's influence on early liberalism, and Welcker's alleged influence of the 1848-1849 German revolution.

The article presents the author's views on the critical theory between sacred and profane with reference to liberals and revolutionaries. Topics discussed include secularization in the era of enlightenment, sociohistorical process of secularization, and teleological concept of creation and divine law.

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Linz was built at the instigation of Bishop Rudigier in 1862 to 1935 during a period of intense controversy between the Catholic Church and the Liberal and the Social Democrat Parties, in which the bishop vigorously participated, as proved by various sources. This paper draws on the minutes of the Upper Austrian provincial assembly and of the town council of Linz as its sources, but also on local newspaper reports. The reports show a gradual shift in focus from the building process towards the cathedral’s function as a memorial building for Bishop Rudigier. After 1918, May Day celebrations were held at the same time as the anniversary celebration of the church’s dedication, leading to tensions between the political camps. After the assassination of Federal Chancellor Dollfuß, a memorial inscription was placed on a cathedral door, causing controversies until today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a questionnaire which was sent to all party and parliamentary group leaders in the German Länder, the questions was asked how relevant the single parties consider specific ministries, portfolios and policy fields. As expected, state prime ministers were judged to be most important. Furthermore, the Ministers of Finance are believed to hold a key position. On the level of portfolios, finance, education as well as energy are judged very important. On the contrary, portfolios such as sports, federal and European affairs and forestry, but also classical portfolios such as justice are evaluated as being less relevant. Combining similar portfolios into broader policy fields leads to non-surprising results: Social Democrats and Socialists value "Labor and Social Affairs" as highly important, while Christian Democrats as well as Liberals emphasize "Finance" as the most important policy field. "Environment" plays an outstanding role for the Greens. But there are also some unexpected results such as the high value of "Agriculture" given by Greens and the low importance of "Education" by Christian Democrats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After only two-and-a-half years in power, Schleswig-Holstein voters ousted the coalition of Christian Democrats and Liberals. The early election was ordered by the state supreme court which ruled the old election law unconstitutional. Being unsatisfied with the former government's performance, most voters desired a change. Thorsten Albig, the Social Democratic candidate for prime minister, was far more popular than his opponent, so he avoided any negative campaigning. Nevertheless, Social Democrats and Greens came short of a majority and therefore formed a coalition with the Danish minority party which assumed power in Schleswig-Holstein for the first time. The coalition formed within 38 days - a rather short time for a formerly untested alliance of three partners. After the coalition agreement was signed the new prime minister was elected with the votes of the coalition and two members of the newly elected Pirate Party which had won its third state election in a row. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Politik is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Politik is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article inquires in how far the elections in Hungary in spring 2010 actually should be evaluated as decisive turning point since the political changes in 1989/1990. Contrary to earlier parliamentary elections, basic changes concerning the parties' political spectrum happened. These changes are by no way of meteoric nature, since the sole leadership of the ruling party FIDESZ represents a real option that goes beyond this election period. FIDESZ's victory, which secures a comfortable 2/3 majority, is not the result of an overwhelming election campaign, but is due to the self-destructive behavior of the Socialists and the left-wing Liberals, whose scandals and corruption incidents were a rewarding subject for the press. The opposition parties in Hungary have been dramatically weakened, not so much by the election results, but by other immanent reasons. Thus the government's main focus lies in the fight against the right-wing extremist party Jobbik, which recently appeared on the political scenery. It is obvious that the second Orbfin government seizes its chance to make those plans a success that didn't show any results so far - such as the granting of a dual citizenship for Hungarian minorities abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 1998 the Democratic Party of Japan was formed as a liberal alternative to both the ruling Liberal Democrats and the Social Democrats. The DPJ not only managed to stay alive but also developed into an effective challenger of the LDP. Twice the DPJ seemed close to taking power, only to have their chances thwarted by then prime minister Koizumi. Indeed, the first ten years of the DPJ have not been a linear success story. The party has repeatedly been hit by problems and has also largely failed to develop a distinctive programmatic profile. Yet, in the face of ill-conceived political priorities and weak leadership on the part of then prime minister Abe, the DPJ was able to triumph in the 2007 upper house elections - only to see their reputation severely damaged by DPJ head Ozawa's apparent willingness to enter into a grand coalition with the LDE While such plans have been shelved for the moment, the DPJ has emerged weakened from the episode. Despite the fact that the Fukuda administration has fallen from public favour in recent months, the DPJ will have a hard time trying to unseat the LDP-led government in the next lower house elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]