@article{JannWegrich2019, author = {Jann, Werner and Wegrich, Kai}, title = {Generalists and specialists in executive politics: Why ambitious meta-policies so often fail}, series = {Public administration}, volume = {97}, journal = {Public administration}, number = {4}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0033-3298}, doi = {10.1111/padm.12614}, pages = {845 -- 860}, year = {2019}, abstract = {This article contributes to the politics of policy-making in executive government. It introduces the analytical distinction between generalists and specialists as antagonistic players in executive politics and develops the claim that policy specialists are in a structurally advantaged position to succeed in executive politics and to fend off attempts by generalists to influence policy choices through cross-cutting reform measures. Contrary to traditional textbook public administration, we explain the views of generalists and specialists not through their training but their positions within an organization. We combine established approaches from public policy and organization theory to substantiate this claim and to define the dilemma that generalists face when developing government-wide reform policies ('meta-policies') as well as strategies to address this problem. The article suggests that the conceptual distinction between generalists and specialists allows for a more precise analysis of the challenges for policy-making across government organizations than established approaches.}, language = {en} } @misc{Kay2019, author = {Kay, Alex James}, title = {Speaking the unspeakable}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Philosophische Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Philosophische Reihe}, number = {162}, issn = {1866-8380}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-43423}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-434230}, pages = {14}, year = {2019}, abstract = {This article discusses the filmic representation of the infamous Wannsee Conference, when fifteen senior German officials met at a villa on the shore of a Berlin lake to discuss and co-ordinate the implementation of the so-called final solution to the Jewish question. The understanding reached during the course of the ninety-minute meeting cleared the way for the Europe-wide killing of six million Jews. The article sets out to answer the principal challenge facing anyone attempting to recreate the Wannsee Conference on film: what was the atmosphere of this conference and the attitude of the participants? Moreover, it discusses various ethical aspects related to the portrayal of evil, not in actions but in words, using the medium of film. In doing so, it focuses on the BBC/HBO television film Conspiracy (2001), directed by Frank Pierson, probing its historical accuracy and discussing its artistic credibility.}, language = {en} } @article{Kay2019, author = {Kay, Alex James}, title = {Speaking the Unspeakable}, series = {Holocaust Studies: A Journal of Culture and History}, volume = {27}, journal = {Holocaust Studies: A Journal of Culture and History}, number = {2}, publisher = {Routledge}, address = {Abingdon, Oxon}, doi = {10.1080/17504902.2019.1637492}, pages = {187 -- 200}, year = {2019}, abstract = {This article discusses the filmic representation of the infamous Wannsee Conference, when fifteen senior German officials met at a villa on the shore of a Berlin lake to discuss and co-ordinate the implementation of the so-called final solution to the Jewish question. The understanding reached during the course of the ninety-minute meeting cleared the way for the Europe-wide killing of six million Jews. The article sets out to answer the principal challenge facing anyone attempting to recreate the Wannsee Conference on film: what was the atmosphere of this conference and the attitude of the participants? Moreover, it discusses various ethical aspects related to the portrayal of evil, not in actions but in words, using the medium of film. In doing so, it focuses on the BBC/HBO television film Conspiracy (2001), directed by Frank Pierson, probing its historical accuracy and discussing its artistic credibility.}, language = {en} } @article{Kaya2019, author = {Kaya, Muzaffer}, title = {The potentials and challenges of left populism in Turkey}, series = {British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies}, volume = {46}, journal = {British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies}, number = {5}, publisher = {Routledge, Taylor \& Francis Group}, address = {Abingdon}, issn = {1353-0194}, doi = {10.1080/13530194.2019.1634398}, pages = {797 -- 812}, year = {2019}, abstract = {In spring 2015, Turkey witnessed the unexpected rise of the HDP, founded by the Kurdish Liberation Movement together with the Turkish radical left, against President Erdoğan's authoritarian rule. In this article, I will employ contemporary literature on left populism to explain the HDP's rise as an alternative left hegemonic project against the neoliberal authoritarianism that Erdoğan represents. After discussing the historical context from which the HDP emerged and grew, I will evaluate its discourse and strategies based on a conceptualization of left-wing populism. Lastly, I will discuss the challenges that the HDP confronted after the June 2015 elections and the differences between the Turkish and Western European contexts for a left-wing populist strategy.}, language = {en} } @article{Leib2019, author = {Leib, Julia}, title = {The security and justice approach in liberia's peace process}, series = {Peace economics, peace science, and public policy}, volume = {25}, journal = {Peace economics, peace science, and public policy}, number = {4}, publisher = {de Gruyter}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {1554-8597}, doi = {10.1515/peps-2019-0033}, pages = {6}, year = {2019}, abstract = {From the international perspective, the peace process in Liberia has generally been described as a successful model for international peacebuilding interventions. But how do Liberians perceive the peace process in their country? The aim of this paper is to complement an institutionalist approach looking at the security and justice mechanism in Liberia with some insights into local perceptions in order to answer the following question: how do Liberians perceive the peace process in their country and which institutions have been supportive for the establishment of sustaining peace? After briefly introducing the background of the Liberian conflict and the data collection, I present first results, analyzing the mechanism linking two peacebuilding institutions (peacekeeping and transitional justice) with the establishment of sustaining peace in Liberia.}, language = {en} } @article{LewisWaligorska2019, author = {Lewis, Simon and Waligorska, Magdalena}, title = {Introduction: Poland's Wars of Symbols}, series = {East European Politics and Societies: and Cultures}, volume = {33}, journal = {East European Politics and Societies: and Cultures}, number = {2}, publisher = {Sage Publ.}, address = {Thousand Oaks}, issn = {0888-3254}, doi = {10.1177/0888325418821418}, pages = {423 -- 434}, year = {2019}, abstract = {This introduction to the special section on Poland's wars of symbols analyzes the symbolic contestation that has characterized the country in recent years, studying a range of phenomena including nation, gender, memory, and religious symbolism within the overall framework of political conflict. In doing so, it offers a multidisciplinary view on political fractures that have resonated throughout Europe and the "West." Overall, the four case studies in this section study ways in which national symbols, topoi, and narratives have been deployed as tools in drawing and redrawing boundaries within society, polarizing and mobilizing the political camps as well as contesting and resisting power. These studies enable us to situate recent political events in a historical perspective, mapping the rise of populism in Poland against the background of legacies specific to the East-Central European region.}, language = {en} } @article{LieseReiners2019, author = {Liese, Andrea Margit and Reiners, Nina}, title = {The Eye of the Beholder?}, series = {The International Rule of Law: Rise or Decline?}, journal = {The International Rule of Law: Rise or Decline?}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, address = {Oxford}, isbn = {0191879398}, doi = {10.1093/oso/9780198843603.003.0021}, pages = {335 -- 343}, year = {2019}, language = {en} } @article{Mielke2019, author = {Mielke, Jahel}, title = {Signals for 2 degrees C}, series = {Journal of Sustainable Finance \& Investment}, volume = {9}, journal = {Journal of Sustainable Finance \& Investment}, number = {2}, publisher = {Routledge, Taylor \& Francis Group}, address = {Abingdon}, issn = {2043-0795}, doi = {10.1080/20430795.2018.1528809}, pages = {87 -- 115}, year = {2019}, abstract = {The targets of the Paris Agreement make it necessary to redirect finance flows towards sustainable, low-carbon infrastructures and technologies. Currently, the potential of institutional investors to help finance this transition is widely discussed. Thus, this paper takes a closer look at influence factors for green investment decisions of large European insurance companies. With a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, the importance of policy, market and civil society signals is evaluated. In summary, respondents favor measures that promote green investment, such as feed-in tariffs or adjustments of capital charges for green assets, over ones that make carbon-intensive investments less attractive, such as the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies or a carbon price. While investors currently see a low impact of the carbon price, they rank a substantial reform as an important signal for the future. Respondents also emphasize that policy signals have to be coherent and credible to coordinate expectations.}, language = {en} } @article{Maerz2019, author = {M{\"a}rz, Moses Alexander}, title = {Imagining a politics of relation}, series = {Tydskrif vir letterkunde}, volume = {56}, journal = {Tydskrif vir letterkunde}, number = {1}, publisher = {University of Pretoria}, address = {Pretoria}, issn = {0041-476X}, doi = {10.17159/2309-9070/tvl.v.56i1.6271}, pages = {49 -- 61}, year = {2019}, abstract = {This study explores the theoretical and political potentials of {\´E}douard Glissant's philosophy of relation and its approach to the issues of borders, migration, and the setup of political communities as proposed by his pens{\´e}e nouvelle de la fronti{\`e}re (new border thought), against the background of the German migration crisis of 2015. The main argument of this article is that Glissant's work offers an alternative epistemological and normative framework through which the contemporary political issues arising around the phenomenon of repressive border regimes can be studied. To demonstrate this point, this article works with Glissant's border thought as an analytical lens and proposes a pathway for studying the contemporary German border regime. Particular emphasis is placed on the identification of potential areas where a Glissantian politics of relation could intervene with the goal of transforming borders from impermeable walls into points of passage. By exploring the political implications of his border thought, as well as the larger philosophical context from which it emerges, while using a transdisciplinary approach that borrows from literary and political studies, this work contributes to ongoing debates in postcolonial studies on borders and borderlessness, as well as Glissant's political legacy in the twenty-first century.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Nasery2019, author = {Nasery, Mustafa}, title = {The success and failure of civil service reforms in Afghanistan}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-44473}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-444738}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {viii, 258}, year = {2019}, abstract = {The Government will create a motivated, merit-based, performance-driven, and professional civil service that is resistant to temptations of corruption and which provides efficient, effective and transparent public services that do not force customers to pay bribes. — (GoIRA, 2006, p. 106) We were in a black hole! We had an empty glass and had nothing from our side to fill it with! Thus, we accepted anything anybody offered; that is how our glass was filled; that is how we reformed our civil service. — (Former Advisor to IARCSC, personal communication, August 2015) How and under what conditions were the post-Taleban Civil Service Reforms of Afghanistan initiated? What were the main components of the reforms? What were their objectives and to which extent were they achieved? Who were the leading domestic and foreign actors involved in the process? Finally, what specific factors influenced the success and failure Afghanistan's Civil Service Reforms since 2002? Guided by such fundamental questions, this research studies the wicked process of reforming the Afghan civil service in an environment where a variety of contextual, programmatic, and external factors affected the design and implementation of reforms that were entirely funded and technically assisted by the international community. Focusing on the core components of reforms—recruitment, remuneration, and appraisal of civil servants—the qualitative study provides a detailed picture of the pre-reform civil service and its major human resources developments in the past. Following discussions on the content and purposes of the main reform programs, it will then analyze the extent of changes in policies and practices by examining the outputs and effects of these reforms. Moreover, the study defines the specific factors that led the reforms toward a situation where most of the intended objectives remain unachieved. Doing so, it explores and explains how an overwhelming influence of international actors with conflicting interests, large-scale corruption, political interference, networks of patronage, institutionalized nepotism, culturally accepted cronyism and widespread ethnic favoritism created a very complex environment and prevented the reforms from transforming Afghanistan's patrimonial civil service into a professional civil service, which is driven by performance and merit.}, language = {en} }