Berichte aus der Politik

Participation of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in political and public life is a human right as well as an important factor that promotes social inclusive development. When PWDs participate in political and public life their voice is heard and reflected in policy decisions. Despite the significant numbers of PWDs in the Balkan region, research suggests that PWDs continue to experience systemic exclusion from mainstream governance and developmental processes. This exclusion has been particularly acute in the areas of political representation in elective and appointed positions, with limited efforts by political parties to provide a conducive environment for PWDs to engage in politics. There is a need to address the persistent gap within Balkan region’s political culture led and perpetuated by political parties while strengthening direct engagement between political parties and civil society, and the critical knowledge gaps within political parties to create and promote more inclusive political discourse, political commitments and public policymaking.

Kultur und Kunst in der DDR waren in einem spezifischen Sinn politische Kultur und Kunst, nämlich in ihrer Bezogenheit auf ein politisches System totaler Herrschaft. Das gemeinsame Sinnfundament von Kadern und Künstlern lag in der auf einer moralischen Ontologie der guten Zwecke aufbauenden Geschichtstheorie; beide teilten die daraus abgeleitete Idee des Aufbaus einer Neuen Gesellschaft und der Schaffung des Neuen Menschen.
Untersuchungsgegenstand diese Studie sind die der Kunstproduktion vorausliegenden polit-ästhetischen Positionen des Marxismus-Leninismus sowie deren politisch-praktische Umsetzung in den einzelnen Phasen der SED-Diktatur. Kenntlich gemacht wird dabei die Kontinuität der von der KPD/SED betriebenen Kulturrevolution: sie schließt direkt an die Tradition der proletarisch-revolutionären Kunst der Weimarer Republik und der stalinistischen Sowjetunion an.
Zudem wird die im Kultursektor virulente Disharmonie zwischen normativen Vorgaben und deren Ausführung in den vorliegenden Werke analysiert. Deutlich wird, was ihr zugrunde liegt - eine Aporie: Die Rettung der Idee vor der Wirklichkeit ist der vornehmste Auftrag der Kunst, der ihr unter dem Titel der Wirklichkeitsdarstellung erteilt wird. Aus dieser Aporie gibt es kein Entrinnen; ihre Spannung macht sie zum Indikator und wirkenden Faktor der Erosion der Macht.

Inherently, all political players must ensure that their preferences are sufficiently represented in the outcome during bargaining. However, emphasizing the ideological distance between cabinet parties is only one side of the coin. What has been ignored so far is that bargaining occurs between political players but also within them.

The present doctoral thesis contributes to this research gap by appending partisan theory by an intra-party perspective. Therefore, it emphasizes the relevance of cohesion – as similarity of ideological preferences within political parties - as crucial for government survival. Further, it argues that cohesion within parties enables the latter to act unified and be less susceptible to expulsion through other actors. Therefore, acting cohesively contributes to higher utility extraction and a stronger impact on political outcomes.

Several studies have examined the puzzle of varying lengths of governmental terms between countries. The present volume contributes to this research tradition in two regards. First, it offers a new theoretical approach for explaining government duration by considering intra-party preference structures as a determinant for government survival. Second, it applies a new measurement for government duration and develop a completely new and innovative measurement for government cohesion. In so doing, the study advances our knowledge about party behavior and its impact on macro-comparative phenomena such as differences in government duration.