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In contrast to the other papers in this special issue, this paper reflects a specific case of co-agency between states and individual migrants, particularly students and alumni networks. Based on a qualitative case study with 29 Georgian students and 14 institutions and organizations, this paper explores the impact of Georgian alumni on polity building in Georgia. Here we can observe two phases: Firstly, the states of Georgia and of Germany act as co-agents by facilitating migration to young Georgian students by financing their studies in Germany (student scholarships) with the objective that the students return and transfer their knowledge to the country of origin. Subsequently, the Georgian alumni who studied law in Germany act as co-agents between different institutions in both countries. In doing so, they transform state institutions by themselves and contribute to the development of the legal and political system in Georgia. They do that particularly in such important legal fields like constitutional law, civic law, and criminal law, but also in the creation of parliamentarism based on a bicameral system or the promotion of separation of church and state in Georgia. That takes place after return migration as well as from Germany through transnational networks and mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The founder of the first independent and non-state-funded research institute for prehistory and early history in Germany in 1921, the UFI in Tübingen, Robert Rudolf Schmidt, deserves to be looked at again for a key phase of his life after his dismissal from university service in the spring of 1934 that has received little attention to date. And this despite the fact that his person has already been assessed several times from an academic perspective. New documents from private archives supplement his researcher CV and are suitable for re-examining narratives about his person that have already been presented from a different perspective. This applies in particular to the excavation he carried out in the Palaeolithic caves of Mauern near Rennertshofen in Bavaria, which had previously eluded closer scrutiny. During his scientific work in the 20th century, he was active in five political systems. In the German Empire (until 1918), in the Weimar Republic (until 1933), in National Socialism (until 1945), in the Allied period (until 1949) and in the last months of his life in the Federal Republic of Germany (from 1949), whose demands he faced and whose leeway he tried to utilise for his prehistoric research, but which he failed at several times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2005 most immigrants to Germany have been required to complete integration courses that include language instruction and a concluding orientation course on German history, the political system, and society. The state-approved textbooks for the orientation course are an instructive instance of state-sanctioned discourse about national belonging, immigration, and integration. This article applies a critical perspective to four such textbooks guided by the following questions: How are Germanness and national belonging portrayed? What understandings of immigration and immigrants, cultural differences, and integration do these texts present, and how do these compare to official, academic, and popular understandings? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of WISTA Wirtschaft und Statistik is the property of Statistisches Bundesamt 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.)

This article situates Germany within postcommunist Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to explain current political outcomes, particularly, the disproportionate success of the AfD in eastern Germany. Similar to CEE, politics in eastern Germany is fragmented and volatile compared to western Germany; the political system in the east reflects conservative social values; and east German patterns of discontent are similar to CEE. However, in CEE, party systems were new and thus volatile and susceptible to populist mobilization from both mainstream and radical parties. Conversely, East Germany integrated into the developed West German party system and adopted its traditional parties, lowering the east's potential for volatility and polarization. Moreover, since the east is a minority within Germany, its relative volatility has limited impact on the German system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By equating the traditional mindset with traditional beliefs (in magic, ritual, superstitions, etc.), several studies have consistently shown that such beliefs significantly influence people's political behavior and preferences. While these studies have highlighted the political consequences of a traditional mindset in several countries from the Global South, they nevertheless have little to say as to whether holding superstitious beliefs (e.g., believing in fortune tellers, horoscopes, or lucky charms) has certain political implications for countries in the Global North. In this article, we explore whether the traditional mindset has political consequences even in an industrially advanced Germany. We present an analysis of data from the German General Social Survey (GESIS 2019) showing that superstitious voters have less trust in the political system, are more inclined to think that Hitler would be remembered as a good stateman if he had not perpetrated the Holocaust, that the Nazi regime also had a good side, and that the Jews are different and, in any case, have too much influence. Hence, dissemination of superstitious beliefs could make right-wing populists more electorally appealing and successful than they once were. We believe our findings to be of some importance as they show that if the proliferation of superstitious beliefs continues unchecked, they may transform our political systems in ways that policy makers and democratic forces should strive to avoid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article understands how women and girls in the Grand Duchy of Saxe‐Weimar‐Eisenach negotiated core issues in the Age of Revolutions: early industrialization and political representation. The baroness Julie von Bechtolsheim (1751–1847) leveraged war, widowhood, courtly connections, and poetry to pursue a public 'career' as First Principal of Eisenach's Women's Association (Frauenverein) from 1814 to 1831, establishing a material link between her private estate and the political estate. The Association itself was contrived as a polity in microcosm. Accusations of Bechtolsheim's 'despotic' governance prompted a majority bourgeois managerial staff to establish electoral conventions. Not all women had equal claim to citizenship, however. The Association's records reveal a Romantic theory of labour that reinforced a social order built on women's work, and its 'Industry School' sustained a supply of female labour into the state's predominant industry, linen manufacture, as into the servant's quarters of its affluent homes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Attitudes to climate-friendly policies often align with individual political leaning and associated media consumption patterns, but the mechanisms explaining this relationship are not well understood. This study presents an in-depth qualitative analysis of portrayals of political actors from 229 articles published in six German and US news outlets during May–July 2019. The results show that the outlets consumed by left- and right-leaning audiences emphasise oppositional identity portrayals, portraying features that are likely to trigger a negative response towards political identities typically opposed by their recipients. The outlets with a more balanced or centrist audience offer a wider array of identity portrayals and emphasise policy questions over fundamental beliefs. Observed patterns differ considerably between Germany and the US, reflecting political and media system differences. The results offer insight into how media reporting can contribute to political polarisation and consensus-building regarding climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polities shape power structures and interaction patterns between actors in policymaking processes. Although the social fabric of interactions is key to successful policymaking, it remains unclear which relational structures are typically found across political systems. By adopting a network approach, we analyse differences in power structures and interaction patterns across four policy networks in German and Swiss consensual–federal, French majoritarian–unitary, and hybrid Dutch consensual–unitary democracies. Using survey data from 149 state and non‐state actors, we fit exponential random graph models and calculate predicted probabilities to compare the four networks. Results show that the consensus democracies institutionalize neighbourhoods of networks where actors share power and collaborate with opponents. Our case of a majoritarian democracy illustrates power concentration with restricted access to competitors, limiting the need to interact and search for compromises with opponents. Findings allow future work to differentiate typical from atypical network structures, given the embeddedness into a political system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Swiss Political Science Review is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Despite the rising electoral success of independent local parties in many European countries, empirical evidence about their members is still rare. Therefore, the study aims to answer three questions to reach new insights: Who are these members? Which incentives motivate them to join, and how is intra-party participation structured? Based on a cross-sectional postal survey in Germany, the results show that members of independent local parties and national parties have mostly the same socioeconomic background and thus differ from the average general population. Independent local party members join their organisations mainly to promote an apolitical style of local decision-making and facilitate local democracy. Within independent local parties, different types of participation are present; while some members are fully engaged, others are mainly involved as elected representatives in public office or interested in social exchange. The interplay of membership incentives, civic skills and individual resources explains the variation of intra-party participation, whereby membership incentives are the most powerful explanatory factor. This study shows that independent local parties represent an alternative for those who have joined national parties. Thus, they provide an essential linkage between citizens and the (local) political system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on Czechoslovak reportage journalism and its reflection of political events in Germany during 1933, when the political system underwent a fundamental transformation into a totalitarian dictatorship led by Adolf Hitler. The study shows and analyses the interwar form of written reportage and reflects German events through texts by three prominent Czechoslovak journalists: Franta Kocourek, Géza Včelička and Egon Erwin Kisch. The study describes their narrative strategies and shows how journalistic work was influenced by the ideological positions of these Czechoslowak reporters. Despite their differing political positions, all three of them were united in their clear criticism of the NSDAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does political ambivalence increase vote switching? While the effects of ambivalence on vote switching have been investigated in the American political system, its application to multi-party systems has not been explored. To address this gap, this article investigates the effects of ambivalence on vote intention switching and vote switching in Germany's multi-party system, which has recently experienced electoral instability. Using the German Longitudinal Election Study (gles), the article teases out the mechanics of party ambivalence, leader ambivalence, and party-leader ambivalence. The results suggest that ambivalence increases the probability of voters switching parties during the pre-election campaigning period and between two consecutive elections. Ambivalence therefore has important implications for vote switching and for understanding the underlying determinants of electoral volatility in twenty-first-century politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aftermath of unification, studies consistently uncovered differences in trust between citizens of the east and west of Germany. This article examines if this remains the case. It evaluates the trends and individual-level drivers of trust from 1984 to 2018 using data from the German General Social Survey (allbus) showing, first, that Germans are cautiously trusting of institutions, trust is more extensive than at any point since unification, and the differences between the east and west have narrowed; and, second, that trust is shaped by factors that are broadly similar between the two parts of the country. Multivariate models and post-estimation analyses show that trust is steeped in a variety of phenomena, some of which provide it with resilience and durability. The study rejects suggestions that Germany is suffering from a legitimacy crisis and concludes that the project of national integration is more complete than has previously been thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is uncontested that political trust is highly relevant in democratic political systems. Although scholars have begun to study to a larger extent political trust in new democracies, this latter interest has faded away in recent times. To reinvigorate awareness of this area, thirty years after German reunification, we take stock of political trust in East and West Germany. Drawing on ESS data from 2002 to 2018 (ESS 1–9), we study empirically the convergence hypothesis in view of both the levels of political trust and the particular quality of citizens' trust in its democratic institutions. Our findings show that we can still not speak of a convergence of the mere levels of trust in East and West Germany: East Germans do still display lower levels of trust in both representative and regulatory institutions. Regarding the quality of political trust, however, the gap between East and West is less pronounced. These findings are highly relevant for both research on the social and psychological underpinnings of trust and the assessment of the consequences of the undemocratic heritage for the German political system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Moderne Staat is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH 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.)

A plentitude of research has analyzed citizens’ belief in conspiracy theories and its individual‐level correlates. Yet, the effects of (political) context factors on the causes and effects of individual belief in conspiracy theories are still neglected. However, such context should be especially relevant when it comes to the impact of one’s belief in conspiracy theories on one’s political preference. In this article, we argue that the communication of governmental actors exerts a moderating influence on the link leading from a belief in conspiracy theories to political attitudes. In a nutshell, the belief in conspiracy theories should make citizens less likely to distrust their government—and the political system in general—in contexts where these theories are shared or at least publicly represented by governmental actors. Using two original data sets with data from Germany, Poland, and Jordan (Study 1) and data from Germany, Poland, Sweden, and France (Study 2), we test our argument based on an overall sample of about 10,000 cases. Our results indicate that higher degrees of generic conspiracy theories beliefs are associated with higher levels of political distrust across countries. Yet, confirming our argument, such an effect takes place less strongly in those countries in which governmental actors use conspiracy theories as a political communication strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of European Integration History 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 Moderne Staat is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH 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.)

Taking a sociological approach to associations and uncovering the social roles of such foundations provides an eye-opening perspective. This gradually developing sociological research field involves various forms of analyses of voluntary organizations and the investigation of the nature of organizational life. Associations, which are among the indispensable non-governmental institutions of a democratic country, are closely related to Turkish society in every field, such as political, social, legal, economic, etc., and they also shape the lifestyles of the people. The research aims to present the and sociological analysis of the Siegerland Kemalist Thought Association (SADD) as a non-governmental organization founded by Turkish refugees who migrated to Germany and to reveal the organizational culture of the association, especially how this culture is perceived, internalized, and reproduced by its members. The research's main data is based on in-depth interviews performed between 04.04.2019 and 20.11.2019 with the President of the Association, the Secretary of the Association, and the members-consisting of 11 people. As a result of the research, it was determined that the association contributed to the integration of Turkish immigrants in Germany and the solution of socio-cultural and economic problems. It has been observed that the members identify Ataturk with the motherland Turkey and construct the concept of citizenship, identity, and affiliation based on Ataturk. It was also observed that the association actively organizes travel, national and sports activities, and traditional breakfasts, thus reproducing the Turkish identity with various practices in daily life. It has been observed that previous studies on the Sociology of Voluntary Association focused solely on the democratic effect of the associations on the society and the political system in which they operate, rather than the ways they are perceived by the members and their effects on individuals. However, this study aimed to show that - compared to structural-functional studies - individual-oriented, symbolic-interactionist, and/or Weberian studies can also be beneficial in understanding associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assesses the models of Indonesia and Germany's public radio and particularly compares the two countries' policies regarding their broadcasters. It begins by tracing the history of the two countries' former state-run radio and the influence of political parallelism on the radio governance. This study applies qualitative methods and finds German and Indonesian public radio has been strongly influenced by changes in their countries' political systems. Public radio in both countries experienced similar trips in post-autocracies but reaching different destinations. Germany's radio has experienced rapid changes and enjoyed editorial freedom. Meanwhile, Indonesia's public radio blends government and public interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay is an outcome of the pandemic, which in 2020 pushed me to reorient a sabbatical to studies of German legal culture. It combines an autobiographical background in Germany in the 1950s and 1960s with a longstanding interest in legal history, legal pluralism, legal culture, and gender and law. These fields are addressed from different angles, which demonstrate considerable changes of political and legal systems and cultures in German (speaking) areas. Within the last half century, a culture of silence and shame has attempted to come to terms with a patriarchal past, while also combining political cultures and economies from two parts of Germany, which merged a generation ago, and are still very diverse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article "The Localization of the Federal Republic. Ideas and Symbols of Political Geography after 1945" examines the connection between space and society in the scientific discussion. Terms such as "homeland" and "Europe" are analyzed and their political significance is discussed. The book "The Localization of the Federal Republic. Ideas and Symbols of Political Geography after 1945" deals with political localizations in the Federal Republic of Germany and the associated actors, conflicts, and developments. Case studies from the Federal Republic are presented that shed light on the process of political localizations. The influence of America and Americanization in Germany are also addressed. The conflicts surrounding the legal succession of the Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft für Raumforschung are also discussed. The text emphasizes the importance of spatial aspects for political systems and societal developments and calls for an open discourse on these topics. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Politische Theorie is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH 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.)

We use a hazard model to identify the factors that drive the emergence of inter-municipal cooperation (IMC) in tasks of internal administration in West-Germany between 2003 and 2014. Our first focus rests on the role of population decline. The results show that municipalities situated in clusters of shrinking municipalities are more likely to start IMC. Second, we test for the role of political cycles in the timing of IMC-arrangements. There is no direct effect of the proximity to elections yet IMC in election years is more (less) likely among municipalities characterised by high (low) fiscal capacity and administrative expenditures. In addition, state subsidies for IMC are found to have a strong positive impact on the emergence of IMC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For Germany, 2021 is a turning point in the evolution of political life, following the results of the recent federal parliamentary elections in September. These brought a certain balance among the democratic political parties, but also a decrease in the number of parliamentarians in the Bundestag at the left and right extremities of the German political scene. It also ends a period dominated by one of the most trusted German politicians, the Christian Democrat Angela Merkel, who decided to retire from political life. In this context, a new vision is expected for the implementation of the policies and reforms promised by the political parties of the new Governing Coalition, which was decided following the negotiations that took place throughout the month of October. At the same time, all European states within the EU and the NATO allies, as well as some partner states, expect greater international involvement from Germany and more responsibilities. As a result, based on the new security challenges in Europe, where the Russian Federation's expansionist tendencies at the Eu's eastern border and within the Black sea are growing, and China has become a major global player, the three political parties that will form the new government have already expressed their commitment to pay more attention to foreign and security policy. In this regard, the new Coalition fully supports the „revitalization“ of the transatlantic relationship and the strengthening of EU-NATO cooperation in order to increase the European defense and security and, at the same time, has expressed its interest in Germany becoming a „key player“ at European level as well as internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ideology analyses play an important role in Cultural Discourse Studies because they investigate complex meaning production within various political systems and power structures. The notion of ideology can be analysed in different dimensions. Whereas Marx and Engels proposed a negative as well as a positive conception of ideology, sociologists such as Mannheim understood ideologies as sets of ideas and general world views. Some scholars in Discourse Studies seem to follow a conception of ideology that is located in-between Mannheim's conception and Marx's negative idea of 'false consciousness'. In this paper we define ideology as a political discourse practice devoted to exerting power and influence. Following Marx's positive notion, ideology is seen as a modality that regulates the relationship between the subject and a specific system of knowledge related to political action. Here, ideology refers to discourses as knowledge/ power regimes where the political-power aspect is suppressed through the subjectivation process itself. Following Gramsci, Foucault and Lacan, our theoretical framework helps us to analyse ideological discourse practices as different modalities of subjectivation. We propose three types of ideological subjectivation: oppressive forms, normalizing forms and resisting forms. Finally, these forms are illustrated with examples from economic expert discourses from Italy and Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of History Pages is the property of National Technical University of Ukraine KPI 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.)

This article examines the crisis-ridden path from planned to market economy in Eastern Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. By analyzing the history of the highly debated Treuhandanstalt—the so-called Trust Agency and the main actor of the economic reconstruction—the discussion sheds light on the political modes of decision making in the East and especially its long-term effects. The focus is on the negotiations carried out at the Central Round Table in early 1990, the first free elections in March 1990, the deliberations between Federal and East German governments in summer 1990, the discrete bargaining strategy of the Treuhand in 1991–1992, and the massive public debates and scandals connected to the Treuhand in 1993–1994. The organization is interpreted as an exceptional regime of economic experts that managed the socioeconomic “shock” of economic reconstruction as a kind of “shield of protection” for the political system, but at the same time it was unable to buffer the dramatic sociocultural consequences of closures and mass unemployment: Recent debates and election campaigns in 2019 highlight the fact that the Treuhand is still present as a negative myth or “bad bank” of East German memory culture open for populist campaigning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the crisis-ridden path from planned to market economy in Eastern Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. By analyzing the history of the highly debated Treuhandanstalt—the so-called Trust Agency and the main actor of the economic reconstruction—the discussion sheds light on the political modes of decision making in the East and especially its long-term effects. The focus is on the negotiations carried out at the Central Round Table in early 1990, the first free elections in March 1990, the deliberations between Federal and East German governments in summer 1990, the discrete bargaining strategy of the Treuhand in 1991‒1992, and the massive public debates and scandals connected to the Treuhand in 1993‒1994. The organization is interpreted as an exceptional regime of economic experts that managed the socioeconomic "shock" of economic reconstruction as a kind of "shield of protection" for the political system, but at the same time it was unable to buffer the dramatic sociocultural consequences of closures and mass unemployment: Recent debates and election campaigns in 2019 highlight the fact that the Treuhand is still present as a negative myth or "bad bank" of East German memory culture open for populist campaigning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ballot position effects have been documented across a variety of political and electoral systems. In general, knowledge of the underlying mechanisms is limited. There is also little research on such effects in preferential-list PR systems, in which parties typically present ranked lists and thus signaling is important. This study addresses both gaps. Theoretically, we formalize four models of voter decision-making: pure appeal-based utility maximization, implying no position effects; rank-taking, where voters take cues from ballot position per se; satisficing, where choice is a function of appeal, but voters consider the options in the order of their appearance; and a hybrid "satisficing-with-rank-taking" variant. From these, we derive differential observable implications. Empirically, we exploit a quasi-experiment, created by the mixed-member electoral system that is used in the state of Bavaria, Germany. Particular electoral rules induce variation in both the observed rank and the set of competitors, and allow for estimating effects at all ranks. We find clear evidence for substantial position effects, which are strongest near the top, but discernible even for the 15th list position. In addition, a candidate's vote increases when the average appeal of higher-placed (but not that of lower-placed) competitors is lower. Overall, the evidence is most compatible with the hybrid satisficing-with-rank-taking model. Ballot position thus affects both judgment and choice of candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the background of technological change, increasing information flow, and a rising number of communication channels, new opportunities and challenges are arising for communication between interest groups and federal policymakers in Germany. To keep up with further technological developments and the increasingly fast-paced political communication system, it is crucial to analyze lobbying in the context of digital transformation in greater detail. Lobbying as a traditionally non-public part of political communication has been a challenging setting for research. Understanding the general contours of this activity is an important public need - especially for digital lobbying, where a lack of academic research exists. This paper therefore provides an in-depth analysis with emphasis on both communicating sides - lobbyists and federal parliamentarians of the German Bundestag as well as their employees. This analysis is based on a qualitative, explorative stance drawing from 15 semi-constructed interviews and an enriching ethnographic approach. The first authors' exclusive experience from working inside a lobby agency and also inside the German Bundestag helped this study to contribute to lobbying research with the focus to better understand how the effect of digital transformation in lobbying is perceived in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates responses to EU public procurement directives in Norway, England and Germany, with a particular focus on health and social services. We used a comparative national patterns approach to analyse parliamentary debates, consultative statements, the media and interviews with stakeholders. The literature contains prominent arguments suggesting that health and social service governance regimes are converging on the liberal model. Some authors argue that with its focus on policies which create markets, the EU is a driving force with an increasing relevance for market-based governance practices. However, the role of EU legislation is unclear as procurement regimes in relation to the governance of health and social services constitute a highly ambiguous terrain. Our study enabled us to show that the form of the debate is highly dependent on path-dependent mechanisms and the degree of openness of the national political system that provides channels for interests to be articulated. Indeed, the Norwegian case study serves as an excellent example of why marketisation has not advanced to the degree predicted in the literature: an inclusive and open political system and a strong non-profit health and service sector meant that the non-profit groups managed to turn the debate in their favour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Since the reunification of Germany, a debate on the professional activities of GDR psychotherapists has rised up. This debate is partly conducted by the spirit of coming to terms with the past and partly by legitimizing therapeutic activities in the GDR. The aim of this work is to show in individual patterns the professional self-image of selected GDR psychotherapists. The study focused from a sociological perspective with the intention of differentiating this topic. In course of this, the range of political positioning of GDR psychotherapists will also be determined on a case-by-case basis and it will be shown how this was shaped in the often named "niche of psychotherapy"., Methods: Based on-biographical interviews, educational biographical trajectories of GDR psychotherapists were reconstructed. The interviews were analyzed using grounded theory in a circular process of material selection and theory development. According to the principle of maximum contrast (theoretical sampling), four women were selected for reconstruction from a sample of 39 interviews from the joint project Seelenarbeit im Sozialismus (Soul Work in Socialism) and analyzed using Teifel's (2005) coding guide based on educational theory., Results: Within the four cases, extremely individual educational biographies emerge on the levels of the coding strategy (meaning/structure perspective and mode of action), each showing different characteristics with regard to their ability to adopt a reflexive stance and the adoption of professional agency. The cases also show different characteristics with regard to their different positions on the system of GDR., Discussion: The results of the case reconstructions can be summarized in an overarching scheme. This shows that the role of each individual's educational access, their educational paths and their individual practice of action must be seen in relation to the influence of the political system and the ability to adopt a professional attitude. The psychotherapists of the GDR cannot be understood per se as a group acting subversively against the state., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

The system of representative democracy is under considerable strain. Its institutions are struggling to maintain legitimacy, and its elected representatives are failing to keep their monopoly on (formal) political representation. An emerging multitude of (new) claim makers contests the authority of elected representatives as well as the functioning of the existing system of representative democracy by alleging misrepresentation. In this article, we identify a significant shortcoming in Saward's claims-making approach; specifically, we argue that it offers little direction in addressing misrepresentation. We distinguish between claims of representation and claims of misrepresentation, and show how the latter can fulfill one, two or all three of the following functions: (1) they appeal to an enemy/antagonist (strategy), (2) identify causes of misrepresentation related to policies, politics, and polity (persuasion), and (3) claim to create a new linkage to "the people", sometimes present themselves as new representatives (reframing). To test this proposed framework, we compare claims of misrepresentation in Brazil made by civil society groups (before and during the presidential impeachment between 2014 and 2016) and in Germany (focusing on the parliamentarians of the Alternative for Germany during the first six months of mandate). Our results suggest that claims of misrepresentation are not intrinsically democratic or undemocratic, but are instead ambiguous, have different manifestations and disparate impacts on the representative system. Our article contributes to the conceptual development of the claims approach and to further understanding several critical and current challenges to representative democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The system of anatomical body procurement had to be reorganized in Germany after the end of the Second World War. At that time, the country had been split up and, in its Western zones of occupation, which eventually would form the Federal Republic of Germany, a democratic form of government was reintroduced. While political and economic conditions were improving, well-known obstacles of sufficient body supply turned out to be increasingly complicated to overcome. This development led to the dissolution of the traditional system of body procurement which had, during the centuries and political systems, always depended on the state. From the 1960s onwards, it became solely reliant on willed body donations. The article deals with the question how this fundamental change came to be, and which motives and arguments on the side of the anatomists as well as the administration were crucial for the final decision of limiting body procurement to willed donations. Using the example of the anatomical institute of Munich University, it is possible not only to highlight the political process of dealing with the problem of anatomical body procurement after 1945. Additionally, the quantitative changes in body supply resulting from those developments will be presented and analyzed. Thereby it can be displayed how the dissolution of the traditional system meant the solution of its inherent problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Almost three decades ago, a paradigm change in funding policies for rural regions took effect in Europe and Germany involving a move towards cooperative, actor-oriented regional development. Although meanwhile a large number of elaborated evaluations of different types on the effects of programmes for regional development was provided in particular, the results of impact evaluations do not allow distinct conclusions if the programmes have the intended impacts on the economic and demographic development of the German regions. Presented here is the first impact evaluation for Germany - if not for Europe - comprising projects and competitions from various policy fields of regional development, covering 27 programmes in five policy fields in the period from 1991 to 2016. Although the number of programmes and not the amount of funding gional development policies in a multi-level political system has emerged. Measures to develop business-support infrastructures and trade investments, e.g. ERDF (European Regional Development Fund), are completed by increasing supportive instruments like regional cooperation, networking and management structures. However, the funding is remote from classic development programmes. The basic theoretical framework behind this paradigm shift is provided by the concepts of "relational economic geography" (Bathelt, Glückler 2002), which focuses more on the institutional context of a space and interactions between actors than classical regional-economic approaches. The theoretical stringency of these concepts and their empirical underpinnings are, however, the subject of dispute within economic geography (Schätzl 2003: 243). The effectiveness of these was analysed, the results serve to strengthen doubts about the effectiveness of the regional development programmes. In any case, a simple accumulation of a large number of funded regional development activities does not have measurable effects on the demographic and economic evolution of the regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's views on the constitution of Weimar Republic. Topics discussed include argument that there is a change of perspective to the Weimar Constitution; the anniversary of the Decree of the WRV of 11 August 2019 to be celebrated in Germany; and political failure of the constitution and its alleged causes.

In the German Bundesrat, an arena of horizontal intergovernmental relations, sixteen L€ander governments composed of approximately 170 governmental departments coordinate and negotiate their positions on federal motions. This article analyzes the coordination process and argues that the interests that the actors pursue, as well as the coordination strategies stemming fromthese interests, are less clear-cut than commonly assumed. Based on a novel network dataset collected by the author, evidence is found for sectoral, political party, and territorial coordination strategies. The main findings are first, that political party coordination in Germany ismore frequent than territorial coordination but performs a structuring instead of a substantial function during the coordination process. Second, sectoral coordination mainly takes place at an early stage of the coordination process and is able to solve a bulk of coordination problems by drawing on expert knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]