TY - JOUR A1 - Jann, Werner A1 - Wegrich, Kai T1 - Generalists and specialists in executive politics: Why ambitious meta-policies so often fail JF - Public administration N2 - 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. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12614 SN - 0033-3298 SN - 1467-9299 VL - 97 IS - 4 SP - 845 EP - 860 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - GEN A1 - Kay, Alex James T1 - Speaking the unspeakable BT - the portrayal of the Wannsee Conference in the film Conspiracy T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam Philosophische Reihe N2 - 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. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Philosophische Reihe - 162 KW - Nazi Germany KW - Wannsee conference KW - Jewish question KW - Holocaust KW - film Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-434230 SN - 1866-8380 IS - 162 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kay, Alex James T1 - Speaking the Unspeakable BT - The Portrayal of the Wannsee Conference in the Film Conspiracy JF - Holocaust Studies: A Journal of Culture and History N2 - 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. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/17504902.2019.1637492 VL - 27 IS - 2 SP - 187 EP - 200 PB - Routledge CY - Abingdon, Oxon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kaya, Muzaffer T1 - The potentials and challenges of left populism in Turkey BT - the case of the peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) JF - British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies N2 - 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. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/13530194.2019.1634398 SN - 1353-0194 SN - 1469-3542 VL - 46 IS - 5 SP - 797 EP - 812 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Leib, Julia T1 - The security and justice approach in liberia’s peace process BT - mechanistic evidence and local perception JF - Peace economics, peace science, and public policy N2 - 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. KW - Liberia KW - peace process KW - peacekeeping KW - process tracing KW - survey KW - transitional justice Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1515/peps-2019-0033 SN - 1554-8597 VL - 25 IS - 4 PB - de Gruyter CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lewis, Simon A1 - Waligorska, Magdalena T1 - Introduction: Poland’s Wars of Symbols JF - East European Politics and Societies: and Cultures N2 - 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. KW - Poland KW - nationalism KW - political symbols KW - culture KW - populism Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0888325418821418 SN - 0888-3254 SN - 1533-8371 VL - 33 IS - 2 SP - 423 EP - 434 PB - Sage Publ. CY - Thousand Oaks ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Liese, Andrea Margit A1 - Reiners, Nina T1 - The Eye of the Beholder? BT - The Contestation of Values and International Law ; Comment on Tiyanjana Maluwa JF - The International Rule of Law: Rise or Decline? Y1 - 2019 SN - 0191879398 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198843603.003.0021 SP - 335 EP - 343 PB - Oxford University Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mielke, Jahel T1 - Signals for 2 degrees C BT - the influence of policies, market factors and civil society actions on investment decisions for green infrastructure JF - Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment N2 - 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. KW - Green infrastructure investment KW - policy signals KW - green finance KW - climate change KW - institutional investors Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/20430795.2018.1528809 SN - 2043-0795 SN - 2043-0809 VL - 9 IS - 2 SP - 87 EP - 115 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - März, Moses Alexander T1 - Imagining a politics of relation BT - Glissant’s border thought and the German border JF - Tydskrif vir letterkunde N2 - This study explores the theoretical and political potentials of Édouard Glissant’s philosophy of relation and its approach to the issues of borders, migration, and the setup of political communities as proposed by his pensée nouvelle de la frontière (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. KW - Edouard Glissant KW - politics of relation KW - Germany KW - border regime Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.17159/2309-9070/tvl.v.56i1.6271 SN - 0041-476X VL - 56 IS - 1 SP - 49 EP - 61 PB - University of Pretoria CY - Pretoria ER - TY - THES A1 - Nasery, Mustafa T1 - The success and failure of civil service reforms in Afghanistan T1 - Erfolg und Misserfolg der Reformen im öffentlichen Dienst Afghanistans BT - a critical study of reforms in a fragile and conflict-affected state BT - eine kritische Studie der Reformen in einem fragilen und konfliktbeladenen Staat N2 - 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. N2 - Die Regierung wird einen motivierten, leistungsbasierten, leistungsorientierten und professionellen öffentlichen Dienst schaffen, der den Versuchungen der Korruption widersteht und effiziente, effektive und transparente öffentliche Dienstlesitungen anbietet, die Kundinnen und Kunden nicht dazu zwingt, Bestechungsgelder zu zahlen. — (GoIRA, 2006, p. 106) Wir waren in einem schwarzen Loch! Wir hatten ein leeres Glas und unsererseits nichts, um es zu füllen! Deshalb haben wir alles angenommen, was uns jemand anbot; so wurde unser Glas gefüllt; so haben wir unseren öffentlichen Dienst reformiert. — (Früherer Berater der IARCSC, persönliches Interview, August 2015) Wie und unter welchen Umständen wurden die Reformen des öffentlichen Dienstes in Afghanistan nach Ende der Taliban Zeit initiiert? Was waren die Ziele der Reformen und in welchem Maß wurden sie erreicht? Wer waren die führenden in- und ausländischen Akteure, die am Prozess beteiligt waren? Welche spezifischen Faktoren haben den Erfolg und Misserfolg der Reform des öffentlichen Dienstes Afghanistans seit 2002 beeinflusst? Diesen grundlegenden Fragen folgend, zeichnet diese Forschungsarbeit den verhängnisvollen Prozess der Reform des afghanischen öffentlichen Dienstes in einem Umfeld nach, in dem eine Vielzahl kontextueller, programmatischer und externer Faktoren die Ausgestaltung und Umsetzung der Reformen beeinflussten, die ausschließlich von internationalen Gemeinschaft finanziert und technisch unterstützt wurden. Die qualitative Untersuchung konzentriert sich auf drei Komponenten der Reform – Einstellung, Vergütung und Bewertung der Beamtinnen und Beamten – und liefert ein detailliertes Bild über den öffentlichen Dienst vor der Reform und der Hauptentwicklungen im Personalwesen in der Vergangenheit. Nach einer Diskussion über Inhalt und Zweck der wichtigsten Reformprogramme, zeigt die Studie das Ausmaß der Veränderungen in Politik und Praxis auf, indem sie die Ergebnisse und Auswirkungen der Reformen untersucht. Darüber hinaus definiert die Studie spezifische Faktoren, die dazu geführt haben, dass die meisten der angestrebten Reformziele nicht erreicht wurden. Dabei untersucht und erklärt sie, wie ein überwältigender Einfluss der internationalen Akteure mit widersprüchlichen Interessen zusammenwirkte mit großangelegter Korruption, politischer Einflussnahme, Netzwerken von Klientelismus, institutionalisiertem Nepotismus, kulturell akzeptierter Vetternwirtschaft und weit verbreiteter ethnischer Patronage. Dieses sehr komplexe Umfeld verhinderte grundlegende Reformen und die Transformation eines patrimonialen öffentlichen Dienstes in einen professionellen, leistungsorientierten öffentlichen Dienst in Afghanistan. KW - public administration KW - civil service reform KW - public administration reform KW - fragile and conflict-affected states KW - governance KW - international cooperation KW - Verwaltung KW - Reform des Öffentlichen Dienstes KW - Verwaltungsreform KW - fragile und konfliktbeladene Staaten KW - Governance KW - internationale Zusammenarbeit Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-444738 ER -