German Approach Research Articles

УЧАСТИЕ ФРГ В БОРЬБЕ С МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫМ ТЕРРОРИЗМОМ НА ТЕРРИТОРИИ СОМАЛИ

Staying Somalia in a state of instability is a serious threat for the security of the international community, including countries and institutions of the West. At the modern period, its key element is the activity of the international terrorist structure Al Shabab. Germany and its EU partners face with the problem of the revitalization of Al Shabab terrorists. The methodological basis of the paper is the theories of armed conflicts resolution and the con-struction of armed forces (at the example of the Somalian national army). The key research methods are the event-analyses and the comparative analyses. The aim of the article is the research of the German approach to resolving the “Somali problem”. In this regard, the first task is to study the previous experience of Germany in counteracting with in-stability in Somalia in the 1990-s and since the late 2000-s. (in the framework of counteracting piracy). The second task, on the solution of which is paid the main attention in the article, is the research of complex usage by Germany of its political, military and economic tools for the weakening of Al Shabab. The article studies German participation in the EU mission for the reform of the security sector of Somali. At this base, the article concludes about the military participation of Germany in the struggle with the international terrorism. The article covers the course, problems and prospects of using the national army of Somalia for fighting against Al-Shabab in the south, as well as separatist currents in the northern part of the country. The paper researches German promotion in restoring the structures of power in the country and the process of federalization as the key direction of the stabilization in Somalia. The article covers the features of German economic participation in the decision of deep internal Somali problems, which mainly led to the appearance and strengthening of the Al Shabab positions. The research paper concludes about the measures, which are needed from Germany for the full de-feat of Al Shabab and future minimization of the terrorist threat from the Horn of Africa states for Ger-many and the EU.

How to Interconnect Universities with Nonprofit Organizations for Service-Learning: A German Approach

This article aims to foster faculty understanding of civil society and nonprofit organizations (NPOs) as potential service-learning partners for universities. The authors describe the sociological and economic characteristics of civil society and NPOs in Germany, then offer proposals for how faculty at German universities can approach civil society organizations. The outcomes of these proposed approaches, the authors argue, are comparable and applicable to the NPO sector in other countries with developed civil societies. The presented strategies serve as inspirations for faculty and show the existing intertconnections between universities and civil society. The article may help universities to realize the potentials of service-learning collaboration with NPOs.

New human biomonitoring methods for chemicals of concern—the German approach to enhance relevance

In Germany strong efforts have been made within the last years to develop new methods for human biomonitoring (HBM). The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) and the German Chemical Industry Association e. V. (VCI) cooperate since 2010 to increase the knowledge on the internal exposure of the general population to chemicals. The projects aim is to promote human biomonitoring by developing new analytical methods Key partner of the cooperation is the German Environment Agency (UBA) which has been entrusted with the scientific coordination. Another key partner is the "HBM Expert Panel" which each year puts together a list of chemicals of interest to the project from which the Steering Committee of the project choses up to five substances for which method development will be started. Emphasis is placed on substances with either a potential health relevance or on substances to which the general population is potentially exposed to a considerable extent. The HBM Expert Panel also advises on method development. Once a method is developed, it is usually first applied to about 40 non-occupationally exposed individuals. A next step is applying the methods to different samples. Either, if the time trend is of major interest, to samples from the German Environmental Specimen Bank, or, in case exposure sources and distribution of exposure levels in the general population are the focus, the new methods are applied to samples from children and adolescents from the population representative 5th German Environmental Survey (GerES V). Results are expected in late 2018. This article describes the challenges faced during method development and solutions found. An overview presents the 34 selected substances, the 14 methods developed and the 7 HBM-I values derived in the period from 2010 to mid 2016.

Private versus state-owned housing in Berlin: Changing provision of low-income households

Housing privatization in Germany was heavily pursued after the unification until the mid-2000s. Berlin, which once was the stronghold of state-owned housing in the early 1990s, became the center of housing privatization due to decisions of national and local policymakers. Compared to other European countries, the German (and Berlin) approach was characterized by en-bloc sales of huge portfolios and entire companies to yield-oriented Anglo-American investors. Until the mid-2000s, the critical discussion of the housing privatization highlighted a massive displacement of tenants with a low social status (hereafter referred to as low-income households) from the privatized stocks causing social segregation processes, associated with ownership. However, letting strategies of the new investors were aimed at the allocation of low-income households instead of displacing them. This development as well as a transformation of the remaining state-owned housing companies led to a change of the allocation of especially low-income tenants. In the light of these developments, the presented study examines the correlation of social and ownership structure in Berlin's neighborhoods and, thus, contributes to the ongoing debate of private and state-owned housing owners' influence on the tenant allocation in Berlin's neighborhoods. Unlike previous research, focusing on qualitative case studies, this study applies a statistical approach to reveal the increased relevance of low-income households in financial investors' housing stocks.

Intellectual Property and Agricultural Science and Innovation in Germany and the United States

In the 1950s and 1960s, prominent institutional economists in the United States offered what became the orthodox theory on the obstacles to commercializing scientific knowledge. According to this theory, scientific knowledge has inherent qualities that make it a public good. Since the 1970s, however, neoliberalism has emphasized the need to convert public goods to private goods to enhance economic growth, and this theory has had global impacts on policies governing the generation and diffusion of scientific research and innovation. We critique the foundational conceptualizations of scientific knowledge as either public or private by examining Germany’s treatment of scientific outputs as club goods. We then compare the relative impacts on social welfare of distinct United States and German approaches to food and agricultural research and innovation. We conclude with reflections on how these findings might contribute to a democratic debate on how best to manage scientific knowledge to enhance social welfare.

Medium/forma nas teorias alemãs das mídias: exterioridade, a priori tecnológico-medial, corporalidade, presença e Kulturtechnik

Starting from the medium/form distinction, I expect to demonstrate that this is a key feature of German media theory and its main authors, like Kittler, Gumbrecht and others. From that distinction, other concepts that characterize the German approach are developed: externality, technological- medial a priori, corporality, presence and cultural techniques. My proposal is to turn German media theory upside down: if a given materiality is a heuristic tool that expresses a medium, my proposal is to treat German media theory as an exploratory probe that brings out a certain epistemology with theoretical tools, thus producing a specific kind of academic subjectivity.Keywords: epistemology, media studies, German media theory, materiality of communication, media archaeology.

Encouraging behavioural change towards sustainable tourism: a German approach to free public transport for tourists

ABSTRACTConstantly growing transport demand by tourists within holiday destinations and related increases in CO2 emissions have helped foster a new trend amongst German destinations towards promoting a green transportation mode for vacationers. A key innovation is the “Gästeticket” or Guest Ticket concept, which offers tourists free public transport, on buses and trains, within defined destination areas throughout their stay. This paper describes the background to this concept, and the many different ways in which it has been created, designed, implemented and administered. A qualitative research methodology interviewed key public and private sector stakeholders, including local and regional politicians, accommodation providers, public transport providers and public transport authorities to identify favourable starting conditions, successful financial and institutional implementation strategies, and both supporters and opponents of guest tickets. Local politicians and many small accommodation providers opposed the concept, while regional and national politicians supported it, as did public transport providers and public transport authorities. The concept is compared to the more holistic Alpine Pearls concept founded in Austria, and the case made for better explanation of the Guest Ticket concept to its opponents, better marketing, further research and closer cooperation between transport providers and planners with tourism attractions and accommodation providers.

Exploring the transnational translation of ideas: German social work education in Palestine in the 1930s and 1940s

AbstractThis article explores the transnational exchange of knowledge of ideas in social work in the first half of the twentieth century. Drawing upon the notion of transnational translation of knowledge, the study presented here sheds light on the interaction between the knowledge and ideas brought to Palestine in the early 1930s by German social worker refugees, and the dominant perceptions, values, and conditions of the Jewish community in that country. The case study follows the efforts to introduce a German model of social work education into Palestine and, particularly, the struggle of leading German-Jewish social worker Siddy Wronsky and others to legitimize the approach of social work developed in Weimar Germany in the 1920s. While a system of local social work institutions did eventually emerge during the period studied, the effort to effectively introduce the German social work approach into Palestine was less successful. The failure to gain legitimacy of the German approach to social work in a ...

Are We Doing Enough? Change and Continuity in the German Approach to Crisis Management

In the two-and-a-half decades since unification Germany has developed a distinctive approach towards international crisis management. This approach accepts the need to engage in the full spectrum of military and civilian operations but maintains a clear preference for the latter. Consequently, the European Union with its profile as a civil–military actor in international security is the preferred framework for German contributions. The article analyses the development of the German approach during the governments of Gerhard Schröder and Angela Merkel in the light of three interlinked debates on German foreign policy: continuity and change; multilateralism; and leadership. The announcement of a more active German foreign policy in 2014 has reanimated these debates. Concentrating its efforts on networked security and capacity building Germany has become an indispensable player in international crisis management. At the same time Germany's deeply rooted attachment to a culture of military restraint and continued reluctance to lead, limit its ability to work for necessary reforms at the European level.

Singing Social Inclusion: Towards the Applicability of German Approaches to Community Building in Australian Choral Music

Germany is a country with a proud musical heritage. Music making in community is Germany’s largest civic activity and there are a vast number of active choirs and choral organisations. Choral singing is valued as a cultural asset and national export. In this article I survey the recent history of choral singing in Germany, a civic movement that is expanding and changing beyond traditional understandings of what it means to be a “choir” and with evolving organisational structures supporting its growth. This article summarises findings of a larger 2014 study undertaken for the Australian German Association (AGA) and the Goethe Institut. It offers a number of suggestions for colleagues, leaders, and policy-makers who work in choral music in Australia, a country with a vibrant choral music scene but with much potential to improve its supporting institutional structures. As a community music research project, it may provide wider context for music therapists with an interest in community music therapy in particular. This article was first published in Sing Out (Vol. 32, No. 2, 2015)[1] and is adapted here to share my experiences and findings beyond Australia’s choral music community.

The Health Care Strengthening Act: The next level of integrated care in Germany

The lack of integration of health-care sectors and specialist groups is widely accepted as a necessity to effectively address the most urgent challenges in modern health care systems. Germany follows a more decentralized approach that allows for many degrees of freedom. With its latest bill, the German government has introduced several measures to explicitly foster the integration of health-care services. This article presents the historic development of integrated care services and offers insights into the construction of integrated care programs in the German health-care system. The measures of integrated care within the Health Care Strengthening Act are presented and discussed in detail from the perspective of the provider, the payer, and the political arena. In addition, the effects of the new act are assessed using scenario technique based on an analysis of the effects of previously implemented health policy reforms. Germany now has a flourishing integrated care scene with many integrated care programs being able to contain costs and improve quality. Although it will be still a long journey for Germany to reach the coordination of care standards set by leading countries such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand or Switzerland, international health policy makers may deliberately and selectively adopt elements of the German approach such as the extensive freedom of contract, the strong patient-focus by allowing for very need-driven and regional solutions, or the substantial start-up funding allowing for more unproven and progressive endeavors to further improve their own health systems.

A parametric study of different analytical design methods to determine the axial bearing capacity of monopiles

In Europe many offshore wind power parks have already been realized and more are planned. Often monopiles are used as foundation for wind power plants. The determination of the axial pile capacity of monopiles is among the important issues for offshore energy projects. Despite progress made so far in this field, there are still big challenges faced by researchers. Among them is to provide guidance to assist engineers in the selection of an appropriate design method for the soil condition and pile configuration of interest. First, different state of the art methods (API, Fugro-05, ICP-05, NGI-05 and UWA-05) together with two new methods (HKU-12 and a German approach) to determine the axial bearing capacity based on the cone resistance of the soil are presented. Afterwards there is a summary of different approaches to determine the average cone resistance value. Furthermore a sensitivity analysis is carried out to show the influence of the pile diameter and the cone resistance on the predicted axial bearing capacity of the different design methods. In the last part, published field tests are used to compare the presented design methods and to identify their potential for reliable predictions for engineering practice. In addition to existing publications, these comparisons contain the two new design methods to determine the axial bearing capacity.

ПРОПАГАНДА КАК ФАКТОР ПОЛИТИКИ ГЕРМАНИИ

ПРОПАГАНДА КАК ФАКТОР ПОЛИТИКИ ГЕРМАНИИ

Negotiating varieties of capitalism? Crisis and change in contemporary British and German labour migration policies

ABSTRACTJust a decade ago, the liberal British and cautious German approaches to labour migration policy (LMP) counted as institutional spillovers of two opposed varieties of capitalism. Since 2014, however, Germany has offered one of the most liberal labour migration legislations across the rich world, while the Coalition government in London has severely curbed the rules of admission. Is the explanatory power of capitalist variation already exhausted for comparative labour migration policies? To what extent has the economic crisis disrupted policy paths? By adopting a cultural political economy perspective, this paper examines the interaction of crisis discourses and capitalist varieties in explaining LMP changes. A comparison shows that Britain treats the liberal market economy’s openness to foreign workers as a root cause for a deeply felt migration control crisis and seeks to tame firms’ profitability strategies with restrictive policies. By contrast, German decision-makers have come to view the skill provision mechanisms of the coordinated market economy as key cure to the perceived demographic crisis, liberalising migration routes alongside this economic coordination model. Overall, the paper dethrones capitalist varieties as seemingly deterministic informants of labour migration policies. Instead, policies have both the aim and capacity to negotiate national capitalisms according to shifting notions of crisis.

Preferred supplier contracts in post-patent prescription drug markets.

In recent years, the expiration of patents for large drug classes has increased the importance of post-patent drug markets. However, previous research has focused solely on patent drug markets. In this study, the authors evaluate the influence of preferred supplier contracts, the German approach to tendering, in post-patent drug markets using a hierarchical market share attraction model. The authors find that preferred supplier contracts are a powerful strategic instrument for generic manufacturers in a highly competitive environment. They quantify the effects of signing a preferred supplier contract and show that brand-name manufacturers are vulnerable to tendering. Therefore, brand-name manufacturers should readjust their strategies and consider including preferred supplier contracts in their marketing mix. In addition, the authors employ a simulation to demonstrate that a first-mover advantage might be gained from signing a preferred supplier contract. Furthermore, their results can be used as a blueprint for decision makers in the pharmaceutical industry to assess the market share effects of different contracting strategies regarding preferred supplier contracts.

Determining Damages for Patent Infringement in China

This article examines the determination of damages for patent infringement in China. Based on empirical data, Chinese judicial precedence and judicial interpretations, this article depicts how the size of damages for patent infringement is determined through three methods (the patentee’s actual loss, the infringer’s profits and reasonable royalties) and statutory damages in China. In particular, it makes a comparison between Chinese and German approaches. The comparison finds that Chinese courts have insisted on unrealistic standards of proof on the part of patentees for entitlement to the three methods. Therefore, this has relegated the patentees to statutory damages that are not designed to compensate their losses in most patent infringement trials. This article suggests easing the burdens of proof for the patentees under the three methods while strictly observing the restriction on recourse to statutory damages.

Academic Freedom and Rights to University Teaching Materials: A Comparison of Swedish, American and German Approaches

This article explores the issue of the ownership of teaching materials from a comparative law perspective, the legal systems invoked being Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. The ownership of teaching materials has become a more compelling question as teaching materials become more digitalized and more easily rendered into commercial assets. A shift in approach by certain educational institutions with respect to this issue of who owns the rights to teaching materials has been underway during the past decade. As teaching materials have become more and more digitally packageable and reproducible, to the extent of even having virtual classrooms, the issue of ownership now takes on different legal as well as financial values. The ownership of rights to teaching materials touches upon several different areas of law: employment law, labour law, contract law, constitutional law, academic freedom and intellectual property rights law, and to date is not definitively resolved either in custom, agreement or by law in any of the three jurisdictions chosen. The conclusion here is that given the interests involved, the integrity of authors as well as the academic freedom of teachers, a constitutional approach transcending the employment and labour law approaches needs to be taken to guarantee the greatest amount of academic freedom. The directed work approach is found to best balance the different interests involved.

Cross-Border Information – The German Approach

This note, presented at the 6th Assembly of the International Association of Tax Judges, which took place in Lucerne (Switzerland) on 4 and 5 September 2015, examines the German provisions regarding cross-border information exchange.

Ordoliberalism and the macroeconomic policy in the face of the euro crisis

The global economic crisis and the crisis in the euro zone exposed the deep differences of opinion between German economists and scientists from Anglo-Saxon countries. The German approach conceptually differs in the views on the strategies and tools of anti-crisis policy, especially fiscal stimulus in the Keynesian-style, quantitative easing monetary policy of the ECB, the question of financial assistance to Greece and restructuring its debt. The other areas of difference are the approach to the rules in macroeconomic policy, fiscal consolidation, and interpretation of current account surplus. Given the size and performance of the German economy it is important to understand the reasons for these opposites, which constitute the research goal of this article. Considerations are based on the thesis that ordoliberal thought still has a strong impact on the practice of macroeconomic policy in Germany and also at the European level. The analysis is built on the short overview of ideological foundations of the German social market economy and its most important postulates, which then will be applied for interpretation of intellectual distinctions between economists from Germany and other countries in the theoretical and practical dimensions of the economic policy observed in Europe. The methodology includes the critical literature studies and the comparative analysis of macroeconomic policy through the prism of economic thought.

The Protection of National Constitutional Identity and the Limits of European Integration at the Occasion of theGauweilerCase

This contribution revisits theBundesverfassungsgericht'sorder for reference in theGauweilercase and focuses on two aspects of that order that until now have not received much scholarly attention. The first concerns the German federal constitutional court's dissociation of constitutional identity review under the German Basic Law from national identity review under Article 4(2) TEU. While the decision on the Lisbon Treaty had suggested that the two go “hand in hand”, theBundesverfassungsgerichtnow emphasizes the “fundamental” difference between the concept of national identity under Article 4(2) TEU on the one hand and the German concept of constitutional identity on the other. The second element is the German federal constitutional court's contention that its approach toultra viresand constitutional identity review can also be found in the constitutional law of many other member states. Yet, careful analysis demonstrates that while there does indeed seem to be a trend in that direction, and several elements of the German approach can also be found in other countries, very few national courts are as adamant as theBundesverfassungsgericht, and only a handful have developed their position with the same level of detail and ardor.