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American studies have pointed to a dramatic increase in negativity on campaign Web sites. Thus far, however, it is unclear, whether this growth of virtual mudslinging reflects either a national trend due to the competitive and highly personalized voting system, or rather an international process in the ongoing professionalization of political communication. In order to explore this question, this paper examined the use of virtual attacks on German party Web sites in two state elections, one national election, and one European parliamentary election by a quantitative content analysis. The results show that online negativity has affected German e-campaigns on all levels of the political system, with patterns similar to those found in the United States. This includes the amount and frequency of the attacks as well as their differential usage by incumbents and challengers, their respective sources, and the subject dimensions of the assaults. Only with regard to the thematic context and the targets of the attacks did German and American e-campaigns vary in their style of online negativism. These findings support the notion of a global standardization effect in Web campaign practices brought about by the general professionalization process in politics. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the issue on social classes in determining the easiness of integrating from a country of origin to another country. The study that focuses on the assimilation by Russians migrating in Germany, revealed that they are the most complex, because instead of being split on class lines, they are separated by their ethnicity as a Russian. Thus, the ease of assimilation is not based on social class but on ethnicity, understanding of the countries primary language and its culture.

We outline competing theoretical conceptions of how political elites (politicians) view rules governing elections and representation. We use survey data from Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and New Zealand to examine whether MPs and candidates for parliament are motivated by electoral self-interest, ideology, or both when evaluating proposals for changing electoral institutions. Self-interest is defined here in terms of whether candidates for office were winners or losers. We find that respondents who won election and who are in government are least supportive of proposals to change institutions, while respondents who lost elections and were from parties out of government are most supportive of institutional changes. However, these self-interest effects are attenuated by ideology. We discuss how these findings have a complex relationship with the static nature of political institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What factors aid an immigrant group in assimilating into a new country? How much does education, command of the countries main language and ethnicity and background come into play? How does the promise of citizenship and or naturalization play into the speed that one becomes an active member of society? In order to answer these questions, I will examine the immigration and assimilation of Russians into Germany. Russian immigrants to Germany are separated by their ethnicity as a Russian, namely the divide is between Ethnic Russians of Russian decent, Ethnic Germans from Russia and Russian Jews. Each group has faced various issues while immigrating to Germany, all of which will be addressed in this paper. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accounts of the post-war occupations of Germany and Japan typically stress the importance of positive incentives in gaining cooperation and deterring resistance. Yet few of these accounts examine occupation policy as it was initially conceived prior to the defeat and enacted during the initial period of surrender. As such, it remains unclear whether U.S. policymakers believed in 1945 that positive incentives would be sufficient to gain compliance. This study therefore examines the overall plans for peace as well as the specific measures to enforce that peace as detailed in occupation handbooks and manuals. I argue that the positive incentives designed to win hearts and minds so often associated with the occupations came secondary to strategies emphasizing the strategic use of violence to deter post-war resistance. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]