@article{SeyfriedAnsmann2018, author = {Seyfried, Markus and Ansmann, Moritz}, title = {Unfreezing higher education institutions?}, series = {Higher Education}, volume = {75}, journal = {Higher Education}, number = {6}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Dordrecht}, issn = {0018-1560}, doi = {10.1007/s10734-017-0185-2}, pages = {1061 -- 1076}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Quality management (QM) in teaching and learning has strongly "infected" the higher education sector and spread around the world. It has almost everywhere become an integral part of higher education reforms. While existing research on QM mainly focuses on the national level from a macro-perspective, its introduction at the institutional level is only rarely analyzed. The present article addresses this research gap. Coming from the perspective of organization studies, it examines the factors that were crucial for the introduction of QM at higher education institutions in Germany. As the introduction of QM can be considered to be a process of organizational change, the article refers to Kurt Lewin's seminal concept of "unfreezing" organizations as a theoretical starting point. Methodologically, a mixed methods approach is applied by combining qualitative data derived from interviews with institutional quality managers and quantitative data gathered from a nationwide survey. The results show that the introduction of QM is initiated by either internal or external processes. Furthermore, some institutions follow a rather voluntary approach of unfreezing, while others show modes of forced unfreezing. Consequently, the way how QM was introduced has important implications for its implementation.}, language = {en} } @article{Schmidt2018, author = {Schmidt, Peter}, title = {Market failure vs. system failure as a rationale for economic policy?}, series = {Journal of Evolutionary Economics}, volume = {28}, journal = {Journal of Evolutionary Economics}, number = {4}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {New York}, issn = {0936-9937}, doi = {10.1007/s00191-018-0564-6}, pages = {785 -- 803}, year = {2018}, abstract = {This paper reconsiders the explanation of economic policy from an evolutionary economics perspective. It contrasts the neoclassical equilibrium notions of market and government failure with the dominant evolutionary neo-Schumpeterian and Austrian-Hayekian perceptions. Based on this comparison, the paper criticizes the fact that neoclassical reasoning still prevails in non-equilibrium evolutionary economics when economic policy issues are examined. This is more than surprising, since proponents of evolutionary economics usually view their approach as incompatible with its neoclassical counterpart. In addition, it is shown that this "fallacy of failure thinking" even finds its continuation in the alternative concept of "system failure" with which some evolutionary economists try to explain and legitimate policy interventions in local, regional or national innovation systems. The paper argues that in order to prevent the otherwise fruitful and more realistic evolutionary approach from undermining its own criticism of neoclassical economics and to create a consistent as well as objective evolutionary policy framework, it is necessary to eliminate the equilibrium spirit. Finally, the paper delivers an alternative evolutionary explanation of economic policy which is able to overcome the theory-immanent contradiction of the hitherto evolutionary view on this subject.}, language = {en} } @article{Yilmaz2018, author = {Yilmaz, Zafer}, title = {Revising the culture of political protest after the gezi uprising in Turkey}, series = {Mediterranean Quarterly}, volume = {29}, journal = {Mediterranean Quarterly}, number = {3}, publisher = {Duke Univ. Press}, address = {Durham}, issn = {1047-4552}, doi = {10.1215/10474552-7003168}, pages = {55 -- 77}, year = {2018}, abstract = {The Gezi uprising can be considered a crucial turning in Turkish politics. As a response to countrywide democratic protests, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government revived the security state, escalated authoritarian tendencies, and started to organize a nationalist, Islamist, and conservative backlash. This essay argues that the Gezi Park protests revealed both the fragility of the AKP's hegemony and the limits of the dominant political group habitus, which were promoted by the party to consolidate political polarization in favor of the party's hegemony. Moreover, it is argued that the Gezi uprising transformed the culture of political protests in the country and paved the way for the emergence of affirmative resistance, radical imagination, and a new politics of desire and dignity against authoritarian and neoliberal policies.}, language = {en} } @article{Wenzel2018, author = {Wenzel, Bertolt}, title = {Rational instrument or symbolic signal?}, series = {Public Policy and Administration}, volume = {33}, journal = {Public Policy and Administration}, number = {2}, publisher = {Sage Publ.}, address = {London}, issn = {0952-0767}, doi = {10.1177/0952076716683764}, pages = {149 -- 169}, year = {2018}, abstract = {This article examines the reorganization of formal coordination structures in the Directorate-General for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs of the European Commission. While rational approaches in organization theory emphasize functional efficiency as an explanation for organizational design and coordination structures, the findings of this study indicate that the reorganization was not driven primarily for reasons of efficiency and to increase the coordination capacity of the organization. The study demonstrates that, even in a highly technical policy area such as fisheries management in the European Union, the (re-)design of formal organizational structures does not follow primarily a technical-instrumental rationale. Instead, the formal coordination structures have also been adapted to live up to changing expectations in the institutional environment, to modern management concepts in marine governance, and to ensure the legitimacy of the organization. However, although the empirical findings of this study substantiate the theoretical assumptions of an institutional perspective, institutional explanations alone are insufficient to comprehensively understand why organizational structures are reorganized and changed.}, language = {en} } @article{SorgeStreeck2018, author = {Sorge, Arndt and Streeck, Wolfgang}, title = {Diversified quality production revisited}, series = {Socio-economic review}, volume = {16}, journal = {Socio-economic review}, number = {3}, publisher = {Oxford Univ. Press}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {1475-1461}, doi = {10.1093/ser/mwy022}, pages = {587 -- 612}, year = {2018}, abstract = {We revisit the concept of Diversified Quality Production (DQP), which we introduced about 30 years ago. Our purpose is to examine the extent to which the concept can still be considered tenable for describing and explaining the development of the interaction between the political economy and concepts of production, notably in Germany. First, we show why and in which ways DQP was more heterogeneous than we had originally understood. Then, on the basis of evidence with respect to political, business, and economic changes in Germany, we show that DQP Mark I, a regime by and large characteristic of the 1980s, turned into DQP Mark II. In the process, major 'complementarities' disappeared between the late 1980s and now—mainly the complementarity between production modes on the one hand and industrial relations and economic regulation on the other. While the latter exhibit greater change, business strategies and production organization show more continuity, which helps explain how Germany maintained economic performance after the mid-2000s, more than other countries in Europe. Conceptually, our most important result is that the complementarities emphasized in political economy are historically relative and limited, so that they should not be postulated as stable configurations.}, language = {en} } @article{Nuesiri2018, author = {Nuesiri, Emmanuel O.}, title = {Strengths and Limitations of Conservation NGOs in Meeting Local Needs}, series = {the Anthropology of Conservation NGOS}, journal = {the Anthropology of Conservation NGOS}, publisher = {Palgrave}, address = {Basingstoke}, isbn = {978-3-319-60579-1}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-60579-1_8}, pages = {203 -- 225}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Conservation nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) are often involved in the design and implementation of global forest management initiatives such as the REDD+, which currently is being rolled out by the UNFCCC, the UN-REDD Programme and the World Bank as part of efforts to mitigate climate change. Nigeria joined the UN-REDD in 2010 and submitted its REDD+ readiness proposal in 2011. The proposal has a national component and subnational forestry activities in the Cross River State (CRS) as the pilot site. This chapter examines the involvement of local NGOs in the CRS consultative participatory meetings to validate the Nigeria-REDD proposal. It shows that political representation of local communities in the validation exercise was through customary authorities and NGOs who claim to speak for and are recognised as advocates for the communities. Local government authorities, the substantive political representatives of local communities were left out of the process. The chapter also shows how the CRS Forestry Commission, which organised the validation exercise, used NGOs as pawns to legitimise it, and how these NGOs were powerless to challenge the Forestry Commission. In contrast, local governments, the third tier of government and political authority routinely disrespected by state-level administrators, regularly challenge such higher level government actors in the courts and the national legislature. Thus, local NGOs may speak and work for local social development but compared to the substantive political representatives at the local level (e.g., local government authorities), local NGOs have limited resources to challenge the political shenanigans of the state.}, language = {en} } @article{Hustedt2018, author = {Hustedt, Thurid}, title = {Germany: the smooth and silent emergence of advisory roles}, series = {Ministers, minders and Mandarins : an international study of relationships at the executive summit of parliamentary democracies (2018)}, journal = {Ministers, minders and Mandarins : an international study of relationships at the executive summit of parliamentary democracies (2018)}, publisher = {Edward Elgar Publishing LTD}, address = {Cheltenham}, isbn = {978-1-78643-169-1}, pages = {72 -- 90}, year = {2018}, language = {en} } @article{ElsaesserHickmannStehle2018, author = {Els{\"a}sser, Joshua Philipp and Hickmann, Thomas and Stehle, Fee}, title = {The Role of Cities in South Africa's Energy Gridlock}, series = {Case Studies in the Environment}, volume = {2}, journal = {Case Studies in the Environment}, number = {1}, publisher = {University of California Press}, address = {Oakland}, issn = {2473-9510}, doi = {10.1525/cse.2018.001297}, pages = {1 -- 7}, year = {2018}, abstract = {South Africa's energy sector finds itself in a gridlock situation. The sector is controlled by the state-owned utility Eskom holding the monopoly on the generation and transmission of electricity, which is almost exclusively produced from domestically extracted coal. At the same time, the constitutional mandate enables municipalities to distribute and sell electricity generated by Eskom to local consumers, which constitutes a large part of the cities' municipal income. This is a strong disincentive for city governments to promote reductions in energy consumption and substantially limits the scope for urban action on energy efficiency and renewable energies. In the present case study, we portray the current development in South Africa's energy policy and trace how deadlocked legal, financial, and institutional barriers block the transition from a coal-based energy system toward a greener and more sustainable energy economy. We furthermore point to the efforts of major South African cities to introduce low-carbon strategies in their jurisdictions and highlight key challenges for the future development of the country's energy sector. By engaging with this case study, readers will become familiar with a prime example of the wider phenomenon of national political-economic obstacles to the progress in sustainable urban development.}, language = {en} } @article{Scheller2018, author = {Scheller, Henrik}, title = {German Federalism: On the Way to a "Cooperative Centralism"?}, series = {Identities, trust, and cohesion in federal systems: public perspectives}, journal = {Identities, trust, and cohesion in federal systems: public perspectives}, publisher = {McGill-Queens University Press}, address = {Montreal}, isbn = {978-1-55339-535-5}, pages = {255 -- 279}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Germany has a long tradition of federalism extending far back in history (Ziblatt 2004; Broschek 2011). This tradition has always been characterized by a discrepancy between the attitudes of the public to its federalism and the reform ideas of the (political) elites. While the public has a strong desire for an equality of living conditions, solidarity, social cohesion, and cooperation between the orders of government, academic discourse is shaped by calls for wide-ranging federalism reforms, which are oriented toward the American model of "dual federalism." Against this background, this chapter contrasts public attitudes on key aspects of the federal system with long-lasting academic recommendations for reform. Light will be shed on the general perception of the federal system as a whole, the division of powers, and in particular the issue of joint decision-making (Politikverflechtung) between the orders of government-all issues that have been repeatedly interrogated in various surveys. A further aspect of these polls is the question of the extent to which solidarity or competition shall be realized between the federal and Land governments-a question that is highly controversial in politics and academia (especially in the fiscal equalization debate), though public perceptions are quite different.}, language = {en} } @article{GanghofEppnerPoerschke2018, author = {Ganghof, Steffen and Eppner, Sebastian and P{\"o}rschke, Alexander}, title = {Australian bicameralism as semi-parliamentarism}, series = {Australian Journal of Political Science}, volume = {53}, journal = {Australian Journal of Political Science}, number = {2}, publisher = {Routledge, Taylor \& Francis Group}, address = {Abingdon}, issn = {1036-1146}, doi = {10.1080/10361146.2018.1451487}, pages = {211 -- 233}, year = {2018}, abstract = {The article analyses the type of bicameralism we find in Australia as a distinct executive-legislative system - a hybrid between parliamentary and presidential government - which we call 'semi-parliamentary government'. We argue that this hybrid presents an important and underappreciated alternative to pure parliamentary government as well as presidential forms of the power-separation, and that it can achieve a certain balance between competing models or visions of democracy. We specify theoretically how the semi-parliamentary separation of powers contributes to the balancing of democratic visions and propose a conceptual framework for comparing democratic visions. We use this framework to locate the Australian Commonwealth, all Australian states and 22 advanced democratic nation-states on a two-dimensional empirical map of democratic patterns for the period from 1995 to 2015.}, language = {en} }