Hertie School Research Repository
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A big leap forward : Institutions and policies for a viable euro area
No full textEconomic and Monetary Union (EMU) reform is critical for a viableEuro area but is taking place against a backdrop of political constraints. As a contribution to this on-going discussion, this paper situates the reform debate in the context of the main lessons from the Euro crisis and the current economic and political cycle, and discusses the different elements of the reform agenda. The focus is on the main critical reform and institutional issues which remain as stumbling blocks
Measuring Political Knowledge in Web-Based Surveys: An Experimental Validation of Visual Versus Verbal Instruments
No full textDoes the opportunity to deliver visual instead of verbal stimuli of political knowledge to respondents in web-based surveys make a difference in terms of data quality? For instance, does the presentation of visual knowledge items reduce cheating, that is, looking up the answer via the Web? And do visual and verbal stimuli capture the same underlying construct? To test whether the use of visuals to measure political knowledge effectively makes a difference, we administer a question form experiment in an online survey of the German Longitudinal Election Study. Respondents are randomly assigned to one of two question formats—visual or verbal—and are asked to solve a set of eight questions on political leaders and their offices. The instruments are validated based on nonparametric item response theory and analyses of response latency. While there is no clear evidence for cheating behavior under either of the conditions, both instruments form strong knowledge scales. Results from a regression analysis indicate that the scales provide measures of closely related but not identical concepts
Koordination und Integration im E-Government
No full textDer föderale Staatsaufbau und die konsensorientierten Institutionen des deutschen Regierungssystems schaffen einen hohen Koordinationsbedarf und erschweren die Integration neuer Technologien und Politiken in bestehende Strukturen. Dies zeigt sich auch beim E-Government, also der Digitalisierung der Verwaltung. Besonders die föderale Organisation von Verwaltungszuständigkeiten verkompliziert die Koordination beim E-Government, während beispielsweise im Gesundheitsbereich die konsensorientierten Institutionen die Einführung technischer Innovationen verlangsamen. Gewisse Fortschritte Deutschlands sind im internationalen Vergleich gleichwohl zu erkennen
Public Administration and Disciplines
No full textThe public sector in our society has over the past two decades undergone substantial changes, as has the academic field studying Public Administration (PA). In the next twenty years major shifts are further expected to occur in the way futures are anticipated and different cultures are integrated. Practice will be handled in a relevant way, and more disciplines will be engaging in the field of Public Administration. The prominent scholars contributing to this book put forward research strategies and focus on priorities in the field of Public Administration. The volume will also give guidance on how to redesign teaching programmes in the field. This book will provide useful insights to compare and contrast European PA with PA in Europe, and with developments in other parts of the world
Subsidiarity and Global Governance
No full textSubsidiarity has become increasingly prominent in the theory and practice of global governance and international law. It responds to a need for a principled distribution of tasks between different layers of governance and expresses a general commitment to lower-level decisionmaking at a time when many fear that international authority might be expanding too fast. The symposium which this paper introduces interrogates the prospect and limits of the subsidiarity principle in the global context, focusing on different issue areas – regional economic integration, trade and investment, human rights, and international security, as well as cross-cutting empirical and normative aspects. This framing paper situates subsidiarity among competing principles, evaluates its appeal from a normative perspective and develops a number of conjectures about its prevalence, potential and limitations based on insights from comparative politics as well as the case studies of the project. The picture that emerges from this inquiry is not a homogeneous one. Subsidiarity is not present or desirable in all contexts, and empirically we find significant variation across issue areas and institutional settings. But the principle is beginning to shape different areas and institutional contexts, and it holds significant promise as normative and legal guidance for institutional design and the exercise of authority in the global realm. The landscape of subsidiarity is bound to remain variegated, but the concept is gaining ground and for many actors holds much appeal as a principled way of balancing the need for strong global cooperation with a continuing emphasis on the value of local self-government
Ein europäischer Rechtsrahmen für Arbeitnehmerbeteiligung in transnationalen Unternehmen
No full textIn Anbetracht der Machtfülle transnationaler Unternehmen und der sozialen Auswirkungen zunehmender Globalisierung sind neue Formen der gesellschaftlichen Einbettung von Unternehmen nötig. Arbeitnehmerbeteiligung an strategischen Unternehmensentscheidungen ist ein wichtiges Instrument zur Korrektur unternehmerischer Entscheidungen und sie ist insbesondere ein Kernbestandteil des europäischen Sozialmodells. Die Arbeitnehmerbeteiligung bleibt jedoch derzeit unterentwickelt und den gegenwärtigen Herausforderungen nicht angemessen. Ein wichtiger Ansatz zu ihrer Stärkung basiert auf der Vergewisserung ihrer Funktionen in einem institutionell heterogenen Umfeld. Verbindliche Formen der Arbeitnehmerbeteiligung müssen eine aktive Rolle bei der Formulierung von Arbeitnehmerinteressen und in der Unternehmensaufsicht spielen. Im Europarecht gibt es durchaus positive Ansätze zur Verankerung von Beteiligungsrechten von Arbeitnehmerinnen und Arbeitnehmern, die jedoch durch weitere Integration des Gesellschafsrechts unterminiert werden. Eine Lösung besteht in der Formulierung von Bereichsausnahmen in den Regelungen zum EU-Binnenmarkt und einer aktiveren politischen Gestaltung eines arbeitnehmerfreundlichen europäischen Gesellschafsrechts
Dodgy kebabs everywhere? Variety of Worldviews and Regulatory Change
No full textIn the study of risk regulation, grid‐group cultural theory has attracted considerable interest. There has, however, been a lack of a systematic interest in its claims and in methodological issues. In this article, we present five claims that are drawn from cultural theory and assess them in the light of failure in meat inspections in Germany. These claims are assessed through the analysis of argumentation as recorded in newspapers. In the light of its empirical findings, this article argues that the claims and methodology employed offer a promising avenue for further work to investigate the usefulness of this particular theoretical approach
The extended ramp model: A biomimetic model of behaviour arbitration for lightweight cognitive architectures
No full textIn this article, we present an idea for a more intuitive, low-cost, adjustable mechanism for behaviour control and management. One focus of current development in virtual agents, robotics and digital games is on increasingly complex and realistic systems that more accurately simulate intelligence found in nature. This development introduces a multitude of control parameters creating high computational costs. The resulting complexity limits the applicability of AI systems. One solution to this problem it to focus on smaller, more manageable, and flexible systems which can be simultaneously created, instantiated, and controlled. Here we introduce a biologically inspired systems-engineering approach for enriching behaviour arbitration with a low computational overhead. We focus on an easy way to control the maintenance, inhibition and alternation of high-level behaviours (goals) in cases where static priorities are undesirable. The models we consider here are biomimetic, based on neuro-cognitive research findings from dopaminic cells responsible for controlling goal switching and maintenance in the mammalian brain. The most promising model we find is applicable to selection problems with multiple conflicting goals. It utilizes a ramp function to control the execution and inhibition of behaviours more accurately than previous mechanisms, allowing an additional layer of control on existing behaviour prioritization systems