More than two decades of deconstruction, renovation, and reconstruction have left the urban environments in the former German Democratic Republic completely transformed. This volume considers the ...changing urban landscapes in the former East - and how the filling of previous absences and the absence of previous presence - creates the cultural landscape of modern unified Germany. This broadens our understanding of this transformation by examining often-neglected cities, spaces, or structures, and historical narration and preservation.
Based on published primary and secondary materials and oral interviews with some eighty communal and organizational leaders, experts and scholars, this book provides a comparative account of the ...reconstruction of Jewish communal life in both Germany and in Austria (where 98% live in the capital, Vienna) after 1945. The author explains the process of reconstruction over the next six decades, and its results in each country.The monograph focuses on the variety of prevailing perceptions about topics such as: the state of Israel, one's relationship to the country of residence, the Jewish religion, the aftermath of the Holocaust, and the influx of post-soviet immigrants. Cohen- Weisz examines the changes in Jewish group identity and its impact on the development of communities. The study analyzes the similarities and differences in regard to the political, social, institutional and identity developments within the two countries, and their changing attitudes and relationships with surrounding societies; it seeks to show the evolution of these two country's Jewish communities in diverse national political circumstances and varying post-war governmental policies.
Immigration and Crime Marie, Olivier; Pinotti, Paolo
The Journal of economic perspectives,
01/2024, Letnik:
38, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The association between immigration and crime has long been a subject of debate, and only recently have we encountered systematic empirical evidence on this issue. Data shows that immigrants, often ...younger, male, and less educated compared to natives, are disproportionately represented among offenders in numerous host countries. However, existing research, inclusive of our analysis of new international data, consistently indicates that immigration does not significantly impact local crime rates in these countries. Furthermore, recent studies underscore that obtaining legal status diminishes immigrants' involvement in criminal activities. Finally, we discuss potential explanations for the apparent incongruity between immigrants' overrepresentation among offenders and the null effect of immigration on crime rates.
Germany Kitschelt, Herbert; Streeck, Wolfgang
03/2004
eBook
From the 1960s to the 1980s, observers gave the name "Model Germany" to the Federal Republic. They saw in Germany a political-economic "model" that was able to weather many economic challenges. ..."Model Germany" permitted political competition, while coordinating public policy among interest associations and private businesses so that changes would only take place only in a balanced and positive way. Since the early 1990s this "German Model" has faced serious troubles. Authors in this book describe its disintegration in the past decade and probe into the causes of this. Articles argue that it is Germany's national and European integration that has triggered the model's unravelling. These processes are paralleled by tendencies in public opinion, social life styles, and political mobilization in parties, interest groups, and social movements. The strains of "model Germany" show up in the transformation of industrial relations, corporate governance structures, and social and immigration policies in Germany.
1. From Stability to Stagnation: Germany at the beginning of the Twenty-First Century Part 1: National Unification and European Integration 2. German Unification and 'Model Germany': An adventure in institutional conservatism 3. Germany and European Integration: A shifting of tectonic plates Part 2: Labour Markets, Life Styles and Political Preferences 4. New Ways of Life or Old Rigidities?: Changes in social structure and life courses and their political impact 5. The Crumbling Pillars of Social Partnership 6. Political-Economic Context and Partisan Strategies in the German Federal Elections, 1990-2002 7. The Changing Role of Political Protest Movements Part 3: Reorganisation of State and Political Economy 8. Corporate Governance and the Disintegration of Organised Capitalism in the 1990s 9. The State of the Welfare State: German social policy between macroeconomic retrenchment and microeconomic recalibration 10. The Politics of Citizenship in the New Republic
The Politics of the New Germany Green, Simon; Hough, Dan; Miskimmon, Alister
2012, 20130301, 2011, 2013-03-01, 20120101
eBook
The Politics of the New Germany continues to provide the most comprehensive, authoritative and up-to-date textbook on contemporary German Politics. The text takes a new approach to understanding ...politics in the post-unification Federal Republic. Assuming only elementary knowledge, it focuses on a series of the most important debates and issues in Germany today with the aim of helping students understand both the workings of the country's key institutions and some of the most important policy challenges facing German politicians.
For this second edition, the content has been comprehensively updated throughout, augmented by additional factboxes and data, and features new material on:
Grand coalition
Lisbon treaty
Constitutional court
Financial crisis
Reform of social policy
Afghanistan.
Written in a straightforward style by three experts, each of the chapters draws on a rich variety of real-world examples. In doing so, it highlights both the challenges and opportunities facing policy-makers in such areas as foreign affairs, economic policy, immigration, identity politics and institutional reform. The book also takes a bird's-eye view of the big debates that have defined German politics over time, regardless of which political parties happened to be in power. It pinpoints three key themes that have characterised German politics over the last sixty years; reconciliation, consensus and transformation.
The book is a comprehensive, yet highly accessible, overview of politics in 21st Century Germany and should be essential reading for students of politics and international relations, as well as of European and German studies.
The Dynamics of Right-Wing Extremism within German Society explores the prevalence of right-wing extremist attitudes in Germany. The book provides a thorough psychosocial and sociological theory of ...general authoritarian dynamics to explain broader societal attitudes, particularly focusing on right-wing extremism. It provides a uniquely long-term perspective on the different dimensions of right-wing extremism—the affinity for dictatorial forms of government, chauvinist attitudes, the trivialisation or justification of National Socialism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and social Darwinism. The first chapter delineates the theoretical framework of authoritarian dynamics, while subsequent chapters provide an in-depth analysis of empirical findings and distinguish authoritarian and democratic typologies. The authors focus on recognition of authoritarian statehood and anti-Semitism; the relationship between religion and right-wing extremism; and support for the radical-right populist party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). The innovative theoretical approach of this book scrutinizes the theory of authoritarianism in the contemporary world. This book provides unique empirical data and will be of interest to scholars of German politics, anti-democratic attitudes and prejudices, sociology, political science, and social psychology.
Having won a two-third majority in Parliament at the 2010 elections, the Hungarian political party Fidesz removed many of the institutional obstacles of exerting power. Just like the party, the state ...itself was placed under the control of a single individual, who since then has applied the techniques used within his party to enforce submission and obedience onto society as a whole. In a new approach the author characterizes the system as the ‘organized over-world’, the ‘state employing mafia methods’ and the ’adopted political family', applying these categories not as metaphors but elements of a coherent conceptual framework.The actions of the post-communist mafia state model are closely aligned with the interests of power and wealth concentrated in the hands of a small group of insiders. While the traditional mafia channeled wealth and economic players into its spheres of influence by means of direct coercion, the mafia state does the same by means of parliamentary legislation, legal prosecution, tax authority, police forces and secret service. The innovative conceptual framework of the book is important and timely not only for Hungary, but also for other post-communist countries subjected to autocratic rules.
In the aftermath of a terrorist attack political stakes are high: legislators fear being seen as lenient or indifferent and often grant the executive broader authorities without thorough debate. The ...judiciary's role, too, is restricted: constitutional structure and cultural norms narrow the courts' ability to check the executive at all but the margins. The dominant 'Security or Freedom' framework for evaluating counterterrorist law thus fails to capture an important characteristic: increased executive power that shifts the balance between branches of government. This book re-calculates the cost of counterterrorist law to the United Kingdom and the United States, arguing that the damage caused is significantly greater than first appears. Donohue warns that the proliferation of biological and nuclear materials, together with willingness on the part of extremists to sacrifice themselves, may drive each country to take increasingly drastic measures with a resultant shift in the basic structure of both states.
