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Cultural relations between Central Asian and the other Asian states (defined here as India, Japan, South Korea, Iran and Turkey) mostly transpire through classic and modern culture imports, shared historical narrative, and cooperation in education. South Korea, Iran and Turkey have particular his-torical links, established through diaspora and linguistic ties. There are few shared cultural touch-points to speak of, and there is a lack of comment on human rights or other values. Nevertheless, that has not prevented the identified powers investing in cultural relationships with the Central Asian states. The popularity and reach of the Asian countries’ cinematic industries into Cen-tral Asia is extensive. Countries have likewise sought to forge cultural ties by establishing cultural centres and funding educational institutions and scholarships. The presence of foreign media outlets in these Central Asian countries is significantly lower, leaving a more open space to non-Chinese or Russian sources of information and media. It is unclear to what extent this has an impact on political relationships. Overall, there are few close or intimate leadership links between the countries. Likewise, diaspora seem to do little in bringing significant value to bilateral relationships.

The aim of this paper is to study the role and impact of the world powers in Central Asia. The paper analyses the Central Asian countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turk-menistan - in terms of their economic and trade cooperation with Russia, the United States of Amer-ica and China, taking into account the impact of such developments like sanctions and labour mi-gration. The study addresses both the national and supranational levels, as it features the mapping of the role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), and the Eurasian Eco-nomic Union (EAEU). Further, it addresses the engagement of the Central Asian countries in the international trade agreements and bilateral trade by providing an outlook of the most notable invest-ment and bilateral projects and looks into the disputes that have arisen during the implementation of the said projects.

Largely under-reported, India, Japan, Iran, Turkey and South Korea represent important trading and investment partners for the Central Asian countries. In the wake of independence, all five Central Asian powers signed a range of different agreements with the five Asian powers – though the depth of these agreements varies substantially. Bilateral trade between the five Central Asian countries and the other Asian countries is broadly in favour of the non-Central Asian ones, though a considerable spike in individual bilateral trade is observed due to hydrocarbons. Of the countries in question, Turkey’s relationship is likely the most balanced in trade terms. There is some direct investment from the countries into Central Asia, with South Korean and Japa-nese projects, in particular, being focused on aid opportunities. Turkish companies focus on con-struction and all seek some access and stake in the energy sector. A number of prestige projects have been undertaken by these powers in the region, largely as conduits to improve relations rather than driven by any practical economic benefit. The impact of sanctions on Iran can be felt across the region with both direct relations with Iran being largely stunted, and the broader potential for Iran to provide an access way for Central Asian prod-ucts to reach the international market remaining under-developed. There is some labour migration to the countries in question, with some Uzbekistani migrants going to South Korea, and labour migrants from across the region going to Turkey, South Korea, Japan, and India have all articulated major cross-regional connectivity visions. In 1985 Iran, Turkey and Pakistan founded the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) that now includes the entire re-gion, is headquartered in Tehran, but has done very little in its lifespan.

This paper discusses the economic relations among the countries of Central Asia on the one hand and the European Union and its member states on the other. First, the EU interests and priorities as a whole are analysed to distinguish the role of Central Asia in the documents and agreements of the EU in the spheres of economic cooperation, development, and financial aid. Then, national interests of the six EU member states - Latvia, Italy, Finland, Germany, Poland and France - in Central Asia are reviewed as separate cases to demonstrate their sustained interests and accomplishments in relations with the five countries of the region. In the following sub-chapter, business, trade and in-vestment interests of EU in Central Asia are scrutinized.

Geography and history matter when it comes to the political and security relationship between Cen-tral Asian countries and the world powers – China, Russia and the United States. In terms of strategic partnership, there are certain national priorities among the Chinese, Russian and American political establishment when dealing with Central Asia. Whereas the Kremlin has managed to preserve its institutions and political influence in Central Asia, in particular in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajik-istan, the White House episodically addresses the region with its own Afghanistan-driven security agenda. Yet, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan remain the U.S. strategic allies in the region. Beijing is strengthening its political and security ties with Central Asian countries by providing all of them with Strategic Partner Status. There is no single regional security organization covering all five Central Asian states. However, the world powers offer their agenda both bilaterally and multilaterally within CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization), SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) and PfP/NATO (Partnership for Peace). The United States are trying to preserve their C5+1 initiative that brings them together with all Central Asian countries. As for political dialogue, Russia remains the leader in quantitative terms (numbers of visits and meetings).

Few of the countries examined (India, Japan, Iran, Turkey and South Korea on the one hand, the five Central Asian countries on the other) have included one another in their national strategy papers, with the exception of Turkey. Ankara features prominently in the foreign policy strategies of all five of the Central Asian states. With deep historical ties, since their independence, Central Asian states have relied on Turkey’s assistance to enter international economic, financial and political multilateral organisations. The majority of Central Asian states have also supported Japan in its bid for a UN Security Council seat and vote alongside South Korea in UN votes. Even where strategic alliances have not been outlined in overarching foreign policy, these countries have signed extensive bilateral political agreements with one another covering a variety of fields of cooperation. These have often followed periods of high levels of activity in bilateral relations and high-level (including heads of state) meetings and visits. Bilateral relations are further solidified by reciprocal diplomatic representation in each state and a variety of visa free regimes. Political ties are also underscored by shared security threats and challenges. The continued instability in Afghanistan, in particular, is a concern for countries in this region given that drug trafficking as well as the potential risks around radicalisation and terrorism remain a considerable challenge. Afghanistan is a particular driver of activity for India, Japan and South Korea. Furthermore, Central Asian republics and South Korea have a similar understanding of responsibility for international security and stability in Asia. Central Asian states and the other Asian states covered in this paper have had few disputes. There has in the past been political tension between Turkey and several Central Asian states for a variety of reasons. Iran has had a variety of disputes over territorial boundaries and natural resources, as well as Iran’s nuclear programme and the resulting restrictions placed on Iran in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an agreement between the EU and Iran on curtailing Iran’s nuclear programme. Indeed, the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty also ensured that the support for a country’s nuclear weapons programme was limited. Despite this, Iran has, by some countries, been used as a counterbalance to Russian influence in Central Asia. More recently, there have been growing tensions between Iran and Tajikistan, which reflects a concern across the region about the Islamic Republic’s negative influence. Of all the Asian states examined in this paper, India and South Korea are the most involved in the sphere of defence and security relations. They have engaged in military training, exercises, as well as arms sales and military modernisation, and India has sought the lease of an airbase in Tajikistan. Turkey has limited, but growing, potential in this area for greater cooperation.

This paper discusses the political and security relations among the countries of Central Asia on the one hand and the European Union (EU) and selected member states on the other. First, the institu-tional dimension and priorities of the EU as a whole are analysed to uncover the role of Central Asia in the documents and practices of the EU institutions. Then, the current state of play in political relations, as well as in security and military relations is assessed. Six EU member states – Latvia, Poland, Germany, Finland, France and Italy – that have shown particular interest in the EU-Central Asia relations are analysed as separate cases to demonstrate their underpinning interests and accomplishments in relation with the five Central Asian countries (the selection of these countries provides both geographical and political-economic size balance).

House of Cards, Borgen und Co. - seit einiger Zeit boomen Fernsehserien, die explizit den politischen Betrieb fokussieren. Diese erreichen nicht nur ein akademisches Nischenpublikum, sondern erzielen insgesamt hohe Zuschauerquoten. Die Beiträge des Bandes analysieren, wie der Gegenstand Politik in den Serien aufgegriffen und als Material für ihre auf Unterhaltung ausgerichteten Erzählungen aufgearbeitet wird. Über die Auseinandersetzung mit popkulturellen Produkten zeigen sie, wie politische Bilder in populären Filmen und Serien konstruiert und reproduziert werden und wie diese sich auf Wahrnehmungen und Vorstellungen von Politik auswirken. Das Interesse gilt dabei den konstruierten Bildern von Politik im Allgemeinen, aber auch den sich darin äußernden nationalen Besonderheiten.

Mercator-Professur 2005, Bundespräsident a.D. Dr. Richard von Weizsäcker 2. Vortrag Aufzeichnung vom 26. Januar 2006 aus dem Auditorium Maximum am Campus Essen der UDE.

Mercator-Professur 2007, Prof. Dr. Hanan Ashrawi. 2. Vorlesung. Aufzeichnung vom 29. Januar 2008 aus dem Auditorium Maximum des Campus Essen: - Begrüßung durch Professor Dr. rer. nat Eckart Hasselbrink - Vortrag - Fragerunde

Mercator-Professur 2005, Bundespräsident a.D. Dr. Richard von Weizsäcker 1. Vortrag Aufzeichnung vom 29. November 2005 aus dem Auditorium Maximum am Campus Duisburg der UDE.

Mercator-Professur 2007, Prof. Dr. Hanan Ashrawi. 1. Vorlesung. Aufzeichnung vom 29. November 2007 aus dem Auditorium maximum des Campus Duisburg: - Begrüßung durch den Rektor Prof. Dr. Lothar Zechlin - Vortrag - Fragerunde

Aufzeichnung des Vortrags vom 18. Oktober 2017

Was macht radikale Weltbilder so attraktiv? Und wie lässt sich die Renaissance des Extremismus kultur- und sozialwissenschaftlich erklären? Sprach man bis vor Kurzem noch davon, dass Großerzählungen auf dem Schrottplatz der Geschichte liegen, finden sie neuerdings mit der Wiederkehr des Fundamentalismus den Weg zurück in den Diskurs. Die Beiträge des Bandes stellen verschiedene Großerzählungen des Extremen vor und diskutieren, wie sie sich in Denkfiguren, Rhetoriken, Symboliken und Handlungsweisen niederschlagen. Mit Beiträgen u.a. von Claus Leggewie und Susanne Schröter.

Mit Blick auf die Emanzipationsthematik wird in dem Aufsatz gezeigt, wie die in Gestalt von Hegels objektivem Geistes-Konzept rezipierte politische Philosophie bei Ludwig Feuerbach, Bruno und Edgar Bauer sowie Karl Marx modifiziert wird.

“One Belt, One Road” is an extensive and complex initiative whose potential effect and influence are still currently pending for answers. This paper addresses the following research question: What is the effect of the New Silk Road intercontinental railways on the trade between China and its trading partners in Central Asia and Europe? We focus on nine railway lines connecting Europe and China, which started operations between 2011 and 2015. The countries’ trade patterns with railway connections to China are then compared to the countries without railway connections to China. We find the intercontinental railways have a positive effect on China’s exports to its trading partners in Central Asia and Europe, especially concerning exports of manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, and miscellaneous manufactured articles. Moreover, the intercontinental railways have a positive effect on China’s imports of food and live animals from its trading partners.

The challenges of a polycentric world necessitate new ways of addressing global problems. Of late, strategic partnerships have become prominent features in the foreign profiles of international actors. They can be seen as a practice of cooperation, and can be further broken down to patterned actions, such as diplomacy and summitry. These practices feature prominently in the ASEAN-China strategic partnership for two reasons. First, diplomacy has proven to be pivotal in both the securitization and the desecuritization of the South China Sea maritime dispute. Second, summitry is the foundation of the ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations, which was formally established in 1996, and on which the strategic partnership is built. Looking at the ASEAN-China strategic partnership from the perspective of practice theory can then identify the constitutive effects of practices on regional cooperation. This effectively moves the discussion about strategic partnerships from what they are to how they operate in international relations. The practices of diplomacy and summitry in ASEAN-China relations can then be argued as the key forces behind regional cooperation.

We examine the role of informal social ties and of relationship orientation in two types of inter-organizational research collaborations in South Korea: new product development (NPD) collaborations and university-industry research collaborations (UICs). An in-depth content analysis of five NPD collaborations and five UICs reveals that whereas both informal social ties and relationship orientation are prevalent in research collaborations in Korea, they play different roles for relationship quality and collaboration outcomes. Informal social ties strongly vary in their types and strength, and enhance relationship quality and outcomes only when they are well-aligned with the task-specific requirements for a given collaboration. Relationship orientation manifests itself both in task-related and social exchanges between collaboration partners. A strong relationship resulting from such exchanges often enhances outcomes such as knowledge acquisition and business performance.

Jahrbuch der Braunschweigischen Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft, vol. 2017Jahrbuch 2017 der Braunschweigischen Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft, vol. 2017, p. 44

Why have so few countries managed to leave systematic corruption behind, while in many others modernization is still a mere façade? How do we escape the trap of corruption, to reach a governance system based on ethical universalism? In this unique book, Alina Mungiu-Pippidi and Michael Johnston lead a team of eminent researchers on an illuminating path towards deconstructing the few virtuous circles in contemporary governance. The book combines a solid theoretical framework with quantitative evidence and case studies from around the world. While extracting lessons to be learned from the success cases covered, Transitions to Good Governance avoids being prescriptive and successfully contributes to the understanding of virtuous circles in contemporary good governance.

Despite significant investment, contemporary anticorruption efforts have failed to be effective. A new index — the Index of Public Integrity — offers a transparent, evidence-based approach to controlling corruption and measuring progress.

This paper combines two strands of the experimental sunspot literature. It extends the rare literature that focuses experimentally on the coordination problems caused by sunspot variables. It also extends the literature that focuses on coordination games that have a payoff-dominant and a divergent risk-dominant equilibrium. To achieve this, we use a repeated three-player stag hunt game with fixed groups. In our experiment, a sunspot variable points randomly at the risk-dominant or the payoff-dominant choice. We find out-of-equilibrium behavior (discoordination) caused by the sunspot variable in the short run. In the long run, the sunspot variable can lead to coordination of the payoff-dominated equilibrium (miscoordination). If the sunspot-generating process points more frequently to the risk-dominant choice, some groups converge to the sunspot equilibrium.

Jahrbuch der Braunschweigischen Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft, vol. 2016Jahrbuch 2016 der Braunschweigischen Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft, vol. 2016, p. 86

This paper provides a literature review and preliminary field observations on the topic of political representation in the Chinese cyberspace. The authors demonstrate that multiple new communication platforms are being established in the Chinese cyberspace. These new platforms not only transform conventional forms of political representation but also create new representative patterns, such as in cases of interactive and connective e-representations. They conclude that the proliferation of new communication technologies has been transforming the relationships between representatives and represented as well as between the state and society. Furthermore, in this paper the authors take their analysis beyond the description of the Chinese case and argue that the Chinese case also contributes to the Western theory of political representation. More specifically, they question the performative nature of claim-making and the role of “performer” and the “audience”. They propose two concepts of interactive and connective e-representations and further claim that the current developments in the Chinese cyberspace may signal a new digital turn in the theory of political representation.

Despite the high international consensus on the enormous potential of the Belt and Road Initiative for reconfiguring international relations in Eurasia and beyond, and the consequent attention raised by this strategy throughout the world, there are still many unanswered questions. The present paper analyzes the case studies of the Yuxinou (渝新欧) and the Yixinou (义新欧) railway lines to tackle three debates surrounding this initiative: its scope, whether this is a merely economic scheme or also has a geostrategic dimension; its actors, underlining the coordinated action of Chinese central and local authorities; and its implications on EU-China relations, with emphasis on trade imbalances and the consolidation of global value chains. Both secondary and primary sources have been used in this paper, including interviews with relevant officials, business people, and scholars from China, Germany, and Spain.

China’s economics education started at the beginning of the 20th century, when China was learning from the Western civilization, and accordingly economics curriculum system was introduced as well. As the communist government was established in 1949, economics education in China was interrupted, started to follow a conventional Marxism, and almost acted as ideological education approach and as a tool to economic plan. The fundamental economic reform from 1980s brought modern economics back to China, and from 1990s, economists who were educated in Europe and the USA introduced Western Economics, of which majority are neoliberalism, to China’s Universities, and the popular economics textbooks and curriculum prevailed in China as well. This made the existing socialism economics education struggling in the research evaluation and classroom, although the Communist Party still is giving strong support to Marxism. The 2005 debate between Marxist and Neoliberalism actually reflected two monism tried to lead whole China’s economics education. A hidden issue behind the learning from the West is that China’s economists are keeping pursuing an approach based on China’s reality, which in particular has been reinforced by the recent impressive economic success. Generally, China’s economists have a common sense of that China did not follow a single economic theory to lead its reform and development, and believe that China’s success can contribute to economics, although none tells what is a China’s idiosyncratic economics. Hence, an unknown monism might be emerging in China, but pluralism may act as a channel for understanding Chinese economy, and accordingly be the essential parts of China’s idiosyncrasy economics, which will be a new monism.

The aim of this paper is to unveil the main cultural patterns adopted by the Chinese leadership to project smart power abroad, and to provide a new perspective on the claims by Chinese scholars and politicians who argue that a new paradigm in international relations is being promoted by Beijing. Principles as “inclusiveness”, “win-win cooperation”, “peaceful rise”, “harmonious world” – often raised in relation with China’s vision for a new global order and its flagship policy, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – are part of a new narrative which cannot replace, for instance, fundamental issues as a clear regulatory framework needed for enterprises willing to participate in BRI-related infrastructural and energy projects. The lack of a clear legal framework is at the moment one of the most important problem hindering foreign firms’ ability to invest and grow within the China-led initiative. The importance of this study rests on the necessity to find new interpretative insights to understand the main driving forces behind China's foreign policy (often not complying with Western-set rules and practices) by assessing the role of Chinese classical culture in the projection of China's smart power. The main cultural patterns and perspectives guiding Chinese policies abroad; the possibility that the Chinese government is introducing a narrative shift in global policy practices; the surfacing of a possible new way for international relations consistently based on an effort to improve international relations and enhance the state of world affairs, or maybe simply of a strategic scheme meant to avoid creating a clearer framework which could guarantee access to the initiative to all interested parts, at the same time limiting Beijing's power to arbitrarily choose partners and directions, will all be objects of reflection.

Economists believe in (monetary) incentives. However, in the specialized area of prosocial behaviours, (monetary) incentives could backfire because extrinsic motivation might crowd out intrinsic motivation. Moreover, national differences in the perception of incentives should also be considered, taking the cultural background of individuals into account. In this project, we ran a real effort experiment in Germany and in China. In addition to an extrinsic monetary incentive (personal payment) to the subjects, we made a donation to UNICEF, and the amount of the donation depended on the effort of the subjects, which served as an intrinsic motivation. The results indicate that with respect to activities with a prosocial element, Germans tended to exert a high level of effort, regardless of the alternation of the art and the level of their payoff; in contrast, the Chinese did react to extrinsic monetary incentives and exerted more effort with a linear payment or if the level of payment was high. Females exerted significantly more effort than males, and this was true for both the German and Chinese subjects. The last finding is that the Chinese were more motivated by a fixed non-monetary payment than a fixed monetary payment, if the level of payment was relatively low.

This study, by conducting a laboratory experiment, investigates whether social inducement can be an external instrument to promote open innovation. The study&rsquo, s findings suggest that social inducement, on average, leads subjects to invest more in open innovation projects. In particular, in an asymmetric inducement setting, both induced and non-induced subjects invest more and are more active in open innovation compared to a full inducement setting. Furthermore, economic uncertainty increases the effectiveness of social inducement, suggesting that open innovation is easier to promote in the presence of economic uncertainty. Our findings may suggest practitioners and policymakers applying public channels to communicate open innovation concepts with the public, which in turn helps the adoption of open innovation.

Taiwan has embedded itself in the global markets and established strong economic relations with many countries, especially the neighbors in East Asia. However, working in a foreign country, as part of international economic exchange is still constrained by the regulations and/or socio-cultural barriers in respective countries. Nonetheless, it is argued that transnational labor markets, which are primarily constructed by private actors, are emerging in East Asia. Taking up Taiwan as a case, this study investigates how private actors - temporary help agencies - go ahead of the states and forge institutions that facilitate labor mobility across national borders in the absence of supra-national institutions, such as EU or ASEAN Economic Community, where freedom of movement has taken place or is expected to launch. Based on interviews with staffing agencies, union activists and government officials, it is found that staffing agencies serve as a transnational HR management function, as they develop international networks and provide their clients and workers with services such as visa application and employment arrangements that accommodate to business, employment and social welfare regulations in both sending and receiving countries. Moreover, staffing agencies translate and diffuse socio-cultural meanings between countries by engaging in socio-cultural training for workers as well as their clients to ensure the success of cross-border labor placements. This research contributes to the understanding of transnational labor mobility by studying the process of building transnational institutions and how these institutions make sense to the involved actors.

In the context of the ongoing transformation of China’s economic development model, the central government under Xi Jinping announced a general upgrading of China’s skill-formation system. The initiative is part of a larger strategy to avoid the middle income trap and move towards a high-skill route of development. One of the core challenges in this respect is to consolidate the cooperation of enterprises and vocational schools and colleges, and to couple the realms of education and employment more tightly. The aim of this paper is to analyze these issues in the institutional context of state-permeated capitalism from the perspective of actor-centered institutionalism. By conducting a structured and focused comparison of the fields of nursing and mechanical engineering in two vocational colleges in Eastern China, it identifies important factors facilitative to reforms. The nursing case illustrates that bureaucratic integration and a dominance of the public sector facilitate the cooperation of schools and enterprises and the coupling of education and employment. Here, hierarchical steering can reinforce cooperation and couple education and employment via vocational qualification certificates. The fragmentation of bureaucratic authority and marketization, on the other hand, require new patterns of cooperation and coupling. The case of mechanical engineering illustrates the potential of well-performing education facilities to attract cooperation partners without direct state support, and of industry associations to play an intermediary role between schools and companies, and to develop new vocational qualifications geared to companies’ requirements. The case study design focuses on areas of vocational education with high incentives for cooperation and good material conditions. The preliminary results indicate that the generally negative assessment of China’s TVET system in the literature may be somewhat too pessimistic, and that a more differentiated analysis is needed.

Der Wunsch nach einer guten Zusammenarbeit zwischen politischen und wirtschaftlichen Akteuren scheint groß zu sein. In einer immer komplexer und interdependenter werdenden Welt gibt es eine große Anzahl von Themen, die sowohl Politik als auch Wirtschaft gleichermaßen betreffen. Die Voraussetzungen erscheinen ideal, um befriedigende Lösungen für eine größtmögliche Anzahl an Akteuren zu finden: Denn neben dem wachsenden politischen Bedarf an wirtschaftsnaher Expertise und Beratung, steigt das Angebot in dem Bereich der politischen Beratung sowie der Wunsch nach mehr Partizipationsmöglichkeiten von nichtstaatlichen Akteuren. Diese auf dem ersten Blick komfortable „win-win-Situation“ birgt aber insbesondere für politische Entscheider einen Konflikt. Denn vor allem wirtschaftsnahe und ressourcenstarke Organisationen, so der Vorwurf, würden Zugang zu politischen Akteuren erhalten. Das Gemeinwohl würde daher keinen Eingang in die Zusammenarbeit von Politik und Wirtschaft bekommen. Verschiedene Organisationen haben in den letzten Jahren versucht diesen Konflikt zu lösen. Mit unterschiedlichen Konzepten und Ideen sollten neue Möglichkeiten eines Multi-Stakeholder-Dialoges initiiert werden, die den Bedarf an einer an allgemeinen Interessen orientierten Beratung decken sollen. Einer dieser Akteure ist der Senat der Wirtschaft Deutschland, der erst in 2009 gegründet wurde und sich als wirtschaftsnahe Organisation in einer dicht besetzten Branche etablieren will. Mithilfe einer Einzelfallanalyse soll in der vorliegenden Arbeit versucht werden, die strategische Organisationsentwicklung des Senats der Wirtschaft zu analysieren. Konkret sollen die Ziele, Strukturen und Instrumente des Senats der Wirtschaft untersucht werden. Dabei lautet die zentrale Frage: Mithilfe welcher Instrumente versucht der Senat der Wirtschaft eine am Gemeinwohl orientierte politische Beratung an der Schnittstelle von Politik und Wirtschaft zu ermöglichen? Zur Beschreibung der strategischen Organisationsentwicklung des Senats seit seiner Gründung in 2009/2010 wird auf die teilnehmende Beobachtung, die sich über mehrere Jahre streckt, sowie Experteninterviews und Dokumentenanalysen zurückgegriffen. Die so gesammelten Daten werden anhand eines eigens entwickelten Analyse-Schemas aufbereitet. Daraus werden Aussagen über einen möglichen innovativen Charakter der eingesetzten Instrumente dargestellt sowie Erkenntnisse für die strategische Entwicklung anderer Organisationen, die an der Schnittstelle von Politik und Wirtschaft Beratung anbieten wollen, abgeleitet. Eine zentrale Erkenntnis liegt darin, dass Organisationen trotz komplexen Einflussfaktoren stets die Balance zwischen Schein und Sein bewahren müssen. The pursuit of a good collaboration between political and economic stakeholders seems to be great. In a more and more complex and interdependent world, a vast range of different topics are equally affecting politics as well as the economy. The conditions seem to be ideal in order to find satisfying solutions for the majority of these stakeholders. Besides the growing political demand for economic expertise, a noticeable growth of political consultation as well as the aim for more participation opportunities of non-governmental stakeholders is observable. At first sight, it seems to be a convenient win-win-situation; nevertheless it also implies a conflict for political decision-makers in particular. Especially organizations which are closely business-related and imply high levels of resources, so the accusation, are granted access to political stakeholders. Therefore, the common welfare would not get admission to the collaboration of politics and economy. In the past few years, several organizations have been trying to solve this conflict. New possibilities of a multi-stakeholder dialogue are initiated by different concepts and ideas to cover the need of a consultation focusing on common interests. One of the stakeholders is the Senate of Economy. It has been founded in 2009 and wants to establish itself as a business-related organization in a densely occupied sector. Using a single-case analysis, this thesis analyzes the strategic organizational development of the Senate of Economy. To be precise, aims, structures and instruments of the Senate of Economy are to be illustrated and examined. The key question is: Which instruments are enabling the Senate of Economy to facilitate a common well-being oriented political consultation at the interface between politics and economy focusing on common interest? In order to describe the strategic organizational development of the Senate of Economy since its foundation in 2009/2010, a long-term participation observation, expert interviews as well as an analysis of documents have been applied. Hence, statements about the innovative character of the applied instruments and also findings for a strategic development for similar organizations are derived. The selected data is evaluated with a self-developed analytical scheme. Despite complex influencing factors, a central finding implies that organizations need to keep the balance between appearance and reality.

Eine wachsende Zahl von Studien legt nahe, dass Demokratien per se bzw. insbesondere Staaten mit einer hohen Demokratiequalität angemessenere Strategien zur Bekämpfung des anthropogenen Klimawandels entwickeln als Autokratien. Gleichzeitig fehlt es an qualitativen Analysen politischer Entscheidungsprozesse, welche die praktische Ausprägung dieses Demokratie-Klimaperformanz-Nexus analysieren. Vor diesem Hintergrund widmet sich die Dissertation der folgenden Forschungsfrage: Inwiefern beeinflusst die demokratische Qualität des Politikformulierungsprozesses zur Erneuerbaren Energien Richtlinie der Europäischen Union dessen Klimaperformanz im Zeitverlauf? Als Gründe für den EU-Fokus sind sowohl deren Bedeutung für klimapolitische Maßnahmen innerhalb Europas und global als auch die fehlenden empirischen Ergebnisse hinsichtlich des Verhältnisses zwischen Input-Legitimation und Output-Performanz auf dieser Ebene ins Feld zu führen. Um die komponentenspezifische Ausprägung der demokratischen Qualität des Entscheidungsprozesses auf deliberativ-partizipativer Basis im Zeitverlauf zu bestimmen, wurde ein disaggregiertes Analyseschema entwickelt. Auf Klimaperformanzseite wurde ferner ein bestehendes Modell zu dessen Bestimmung ausgewählt und teilweise präzisiert. Die qualitativen Daten setzen sich aus 33 Experteninterviews sowie zahlreichen Prozessdokumenten zusammen, die im Zuge eines kombinierten Ansatzes aus Process Tracing und qualitativer Inhaltsanalyse ausgewertet wurden. Die Prozessanalyse gelangt zu dem übergreifenden Fazit, dass eine gering ausgeprägte Demokratiequalität im Regelfall klimaperformativ negative Prozessentwicklungen nach sich zieht und eine hohe Demokratiequalität meist entsprechend positive Impulse setzen kann. Gleichzeitig wird deutlich, dass es zum einen Ausnahmen von dieser Regel gibt und zum anderen das Zusammenspiel verschiedener Demokratiekomponenten sowie der Zeitpunkt ihres Erscheinens im Politikprozess von entscheidender Bedeutung für eine Wirkentfaltung auf die Klimaperformanz sind. Auf Basis dieser Ergebnisse wurden unterschiedliche Ansätze zur Reformierung des EU-Mitentscheidungsverfahrens entwickelt, die sowohl die demokratische Legitimation als auch die künftige Klimaperformanz der Union positiv beeinflussen können. A growing body of findings suggests that democracies per se as well as democracies with a preferably high democratic performance develop more effective measures to fight climate change than autocracies or poor performing democracies. However, qualitative studies on the specific characteristics of this democracy-climate-nexus on policy process level are missing. Against this background, the dissertation evaluates the development of this connection in the course of the decision-making process to the Renewable Energy Directive (RE Directive) of the European Union (EU). The overarching research question is: In how far does the democratic quality of the decision-making process to the RE Directive affect its climate performance over time? The two central reasons for the EU focus are its crucial impact on climate policies in Europe and internationally as well as the still ambiguous evidence base regarding the relationship between input legitimacy and output/outcome performance on supranational level. In order to determine the process’ component-specific democratic quality on a deliberative-participatory basis over time, a disaggregated evaluation scheme was developed. Besides, a science-based tool to assess the output performance was selected and partly refined. The qualitative data of the study stems from 33 expert interviews as well as document analysis and was evaluated by combining process tracing and qualitative content analysis. The results show a clear positive relationship between a high democratic legitimacy and a strong climate performance and vice-versa. At the same time the analysis shows just very slight exceptions to this relation with regard to transparency and time pressure. Further, there are only few signs of tension between democratic components. On the basis of the case study’s results, the dissertation develops different approaches to reform the EU’s codecision-procedure that could boost both the Union’s democratic legitimacy as well as its future climate performance.

OA Förderung 2016 - OA hybrid Research suggests that nonviolent resistance (NVR) campaigns are more successful in deposing dictators than armed rebellions. However, ousting dictators is only the first step in the process of democratization. After deposing an autocratic regime, societies enter a transition phase where they must learn to consolidate the gains of democracy and bargain about the new rules of the democratic regime. But even if free, fair, and competitive elections are held, indicating a successful transition to democratic rule, uncertainty about its stability remains salient. In the period that follows, either democracy survives and proves to be resilient, or an autocratic backslide occurs. In this article, we analyze the effect of NVR campaigns on the survival of democratic regimes. Building on the literature on modes of transitions and nonviolent resistance, we argue that those democratic regimes that come into being as a result of a NVR campaign are less prone to democratic breakdown. The main mechanism which produces this effect is that the organizational culture of NVR campaigns spills over to the subsequent democratic regime fostering conditions favorable for democratic survival. We test the effect of NVR campaigns on democratic regime survival using survival analysis and propensity score matching. The results show that democratic regimes that experience NVR during the transition phase survive substantially longer than regimes without NVR.

While the last twenty years have seen the development of global rankings for corruption, allowing comparison between countries and shaming of corrupt governments, the measurements remain based largely on the perceptions of experts, and so lack both specificity and transparency. New research, based on a comprehensive theory of governance defined as the set of formal and informal institutions determining “who gets what” in a given context, allows for more specific and objective, albeit indirect, measurement of control of corruption. To uncover the institutional setting which empowers public integrity, such research tests numerous anti-corruption tools and good governance strategies in a comparative framework. The end result is an evidence-based national framework for control of corruption and a clear measure able to indicate both current status and change in corruption control from year to year or as a result of policy intervention.

This paper starts out from James C. Scott’s seminal book “Weapons of the Weak” dealing with everyday forms of collective action by private entrepreneurs. It raises the question by what kind of formal and informal mechanisms Chinese entrepreneurs exert political influence in order to protect or enforce their interests. The author explored two aspects: First, the way in which private entrepreneurs in China act in a collective manner, i. e. as a strategic group; and second, how collective action by private entrepreneurs is altering both political structures and the institutional setting of the political system and what effect this is having on stabilization of the system as a whole. In addition, this paper examines patterns of formal and informal representation of private entrepreneurs in Chinese politics. The author contends that as Chinese entrepreneurs increasingly turn to patterns of collective action they are developing into a coherent group with a broad range of strategies aimed at safeguarding their interests, and that in so doing they are playing a salient role as system stabilizers.

Wie lässt sich das Handeln der Regierung in modernen Gesellschaften theoretisch fassen? Schon die Autoren der amerikanischen Verfassung haben die Notwendigkeit erkannt, die Exekutivgewalt einzuhegen und sie mit der Legislative zu verschränken. Dieses Prinzip gilt bis heute, doch in modernen Gesellschaften kommt hinzu, dass die Zivilgesellschaft und ihre Medien mit Regierung und Verwaltung auf vielfältige Weise miteinander verbunden sind. Die Frage ist, wie der moderne Staat als wichtigster Akteur der Politik mit der Regierung als seinem stärksten Instrument legitime Ziele erreichen kann. Der Autor zeigt die Interdependenzen zwischen Regierung, Zivilgesellschaft, Verbänden und Parlament auf und demonstriert anhand verschiedener Beispiele, dass die Exekutive kein abgehobenes Eigenleben führt. Ein zentrales Kapitel ist die Beschreibung des Innenlebens der Ministerialbürokratie. Gerade der Einblick in die täglichen Routinen im Umgang mit der Komplexität einzelner Inputs ist aufschlussreich für die Frage nach den Möglichkeiten und Grenzen politischer Gestaltung.

This paper presents both a literature review on the issue of political representation and the preliminary framework of a sub-project on new political claims of representation in China. It is primarily concerned with portraying and typing diverse schools of thought in both a “Western” and a Chinese context, while the sub-project is part of the French-German Joint Cooperation Project “New Political Representative Claims: A Global View: France, Germany, Brazil, China, India”. The paper is organized as follows: (1) The concept of representation is examined by a brief review of the history of this concept, including the existence of two diverging strands of representation in “Western” discourses. (2) We then examine the meanings of representation, its definitions, and its peculiarities. Points (1) and (2) in particular are based on a literature review. (3) We discuss the issue of representation in a non-democratic, authoritarian setting in general and in China specifically in light of the fact that almost no literature on representation in authoritarian polities exists. (4) We outline the Chinese domestic discourse on political representation. (5) Finally, we clarify the distinction between political representation and participation on the one hand and elections as a specific feature of representation on the other. We then conclude with a summary of our preliminary findings.

Reader Der Harz als Natur- und Kulturraum: Vortragsreihe der Akademie-Vorlesungen 2016 der Braunschweigischen Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft, Akademie-Vorlesungen im Schloss, vol. 2016

The parliaments in the EU are facing a choice. They may exploit the existing possibilities, continue business as usual (possibly with declining participation in inter-parliamentary cooperation, so no change), or bypass existing interparliamentary structures. The last and most extreme scenario would mean that some national parliaments, for example the six founding members or the Member States that have adopted the euro, create their own conference, with serious repercussions to “pre-in” countries, to the EU institutions, and to the inclusiveness of economic and financial governance. The second option (business as usual) does not help building a genuine Economic and Monetary Union either. Only the first scenario would help reduce the existing weakness in democratic accountability and legitimacy, both in general, and especially in connection with the genuine EMU in the making. An inter-parliamentary conference as a place to discuss these policies could have the positive effect of gradually becoming an arena in which the future direction of the Union’s economic policy is shaped.

Vom 22. bis 25. Mai 2014 wird ein neues Europäisches Parlament gewählt. Trotz vieler Unwägbarkeiten lassen sich bereits mögliche Veränderungen durch diese Europawahl skizzieren. Zwei große Trends sind auf der Basis aktueller Prognosen wahrscheinlich: Stimmengewinne für die Fraktion der Progressiven Allianz der Sozialisten und Demokraten (S&D) bei Verlusten für die Fraktion der Europäischen Volkspartei (EVP) und Zugewinne für populistische und europakritische Parteien zulasten der etablierten Parteien. Sie würden das Europäische Parlament nicht paralysieren, aber eine (noch) stärkere Zusammenarbeit der etablierten Parteien forcieren, die auch durch den Prozess und den Zeitplan bis zum Amtsantritt der neuen Europäischen Kommission begünstigt wird. Eine Analyse des Abstimmungsverhaltens der Abgeordneten in der Legislaturperiode 2009-2014 hilft, diese möglichen Veränderungen im europäischen Machtgefüge besser einzuordnen. Da die beiden großen Fraktionen und politischen Lager gleichauf zu liegen scheinen, ist das Rennen jedoch noch völlig offen.

Verlag C. H. Beck: München 2015. 328 Seiten, € 24,95