Politics and History - State and Politics

Pirate flag in the wind; Photo: Olaf Haensel

15 “Pirates” in Berlin's City Parliament – What Happens Next?

With 8.9 per cent of the votes cast the Pirate Party achieved a sensational success in the Berlin elections.More ...

Section of the cover of “Nach uns die kernschmelze”; © Klett-Cotta

“That is frivolous” – Robert Spaemann on “hubris in the atomic age”

The small volume Nach uns die Kernschmelze holds up a mirror to our conduct with technology. What we see in it should shame us!More ...

“9/11” – Ten Years Later

The widely voiced assertion that after those events nothing would be the same may, at any rate, be safely filed away. Yet it is true that much is now different.More ...

“We need more global cooperation” – An Interview with Globalisation Critic Harald Schumann

Is globalisation in danger of failing due to its own contradictions and causing exactly the opposite effect?More ...

A Cultural History of Internal Security since 1968

“Internal security” is looked upon not only as a condition of social stability, but also as a kind of state-guaranteed basic right.More ...

Article 1 Sentence 1 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany at the regional court builiding in the city of Frankfurt/Main; (CC) Dontworry

Jürgen Habermas’s “Concept of Human Dignity and the Realistic Utopia of Human Rights”

Human dignity is not a product of human rights, but is rather the basis of their normative validity.More ...

Policy Advice and Civic Education – the Göttingen Institute for the Study of Democracy

Will the Combination of policy advice and civic education give added value for citizens, politics and scholarship?More ...

What Does “War” Mean Today?

Peacekeeping or war effort? The boundaries are blurred. And the concept of war is becoming ever more multi-faceted ...More ...

“Leitmotif: Pro-Europeanism” – Expert on European Law Rudolf Streinz about the Treaty of Lisbon

The Treaty of Lisbon came into force on December 1, 2009 and now forms the binding international working basis for the states of the European Union.More ...

The Right To Vote From Birth On?

Are young people under the age of 18 being wrongfully denied the right to take part in German general elections?More ...

The Basic Law In A State of Change – Does Germany Still Have A Good Constitution?

The German people have no problem with the difference between the text of the constitution and constitutional practice so long as they do not have the impression that state actions lack legitimacy.More ...

Section of the book cover for “Im Herbst der Volksparteien”; © Transcript Verlag

“Is the End Nigh for Germany’s Mainstream Parties?” – Franz Walter analyses the crisis facing Germany’s party system

Is the end nigh for Germany’s mainstream parties?More ...

Election day chart of “Die Linke”; © LMU

Inspiration from the Stock Exchange – New Methods of Election Analysis

Demoscopic analysts for years have been endeavouring to reliably capture the mood of the electorate. Now there are some new methods that bode well for the future.More ...

Five Years of an Enlarged EU

Five years after the big EU enlargement round the European Commission takes positive stock.More ...

International Criminal Court © GNU-Lizenz

The International Criminal Court

After centuries of impunity, individuals that have committed grave atrocities such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes can today be tried before the permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Haag.More ...

Remembering Or Forgetting? Cultural Policy and Cultural Memory

“Culture Makes History / History Makes Culture” was the motto of the Fifth Federal Conference for Cultural Policy, which was organised by the Association for Cultural Policy and the Federal Agency for Civic Education, and took place in June 2009 in Berlin.More ...

Section of the “Das PARTEI-Buch” cover ; © KiWi

Satire is the best Taskmaster – How to Launch a Political Party and Gain Power

The satirist, Martin Sonneborn, describes how he campaigned for votes for his party. And he gives us the low-down on how political propaganda works.More ...

European elections, 2009; © elza – Fotolia.com

The European Parliament – Not A Toothless Tiger

Historically low participation in the European elections and the strengthening of europhobe forces are not indications of only a crisis of trust. They are rather symptoms of a widespread misjudgement of the actual significance of the European parliament in the structure of power.More ...

German Political Parties System In A State Of Flux

Due to a lack of alternatives the Grand Coalition represents a sea change in the German political parties system. For the elections in 2009 a myriad of coalition constellations seems to be on the cards.More ...

The Federal Republic of Germany Turns 60

The Federal Republic of Germany has turned 60. The vast majority of Germans, not only those in the west, may feel justified in seeing in this a reason for celebration. The anniversary marks a continuing success story. This is all the more so in comparison with the other systems that Germany has known in the last 200 years.More ...

Europe’s Common Memory

In the wake of 1989, the nations of Eastern Europe have been seeking to put the memory of the past in the service of the retrieval of their national identities, and in doing so have touched on wounds that had long since been thought healed.More ...

Seeing, Wanting and Strengthening a European Identity

The political course has become clearer and self-confidence has grown. Although the Irish have yet to give their approval to the Lisbon Treaty and the Czechs also see some problems, the EU has gained in stature during the financial crisis – something that many people did not expect to happen.More ...

Europe’s Role in the World of Tomorrow – An Interview with Karsten Voigt

In the heavy turbulences of the global economic and financial crisis, and after the change of power in the USA, the world of states is re-arranging itself. An interview with the Coordinator for German-American Cooperation in the German Foreign Office, Karsten Voigt (SPD).More ...

Olaf Zimmermann, head of the German Cultural Council; © Deutscher Kulturrat

Culture As A National Objective – Interview with Olaf Zimmermann, Head of the German Cultural Council

For ten years now there has been the office of “Commissioner for Culture and the Media” in Germany. Thanks to the work done by various holders of the office it has managed to gain quite a remarkable reputation.More ...

The Right to Self-Determination over Personal Data on Trial

Twenty-five years after the Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling on the “right to self-determination over personal data” not all is exactly well with the obligation to observe confidentiality. Yet opposition is muted.More ...

Symbol image of online screening; Copyright: picture-alliance/ dpa

The Transparent User

The state, large enterprises, Internet companies and social networking sites collect huge quantities of data – and they profess to handle this data with care. Data protection commissioners sound a warning.More ...

Campaign poster for the Left Party; Copyright: Die Linke

A Place in Government – or Permanent Opposition? The Left Party as a New Political Force

It is still unclear whether the Left Party – like the Greens some 30 years ago – will establish a permanent place for itself in Germany’s party landscape.More ...

Construction and map of Europe; Copyright: European Community, 2007

Europe Must Become a Strategic Community

Europe currently lacks a clear strategic direction. Since the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, the attempt to create a new treaty basis for the European Union has run aground.More ...

International day of action against nuclear energy in Vienna; Copyright: Global 2000

A turning point in German nuclear politics?

The farewell to nuclear energy, a showcase project of the former "Red-Green" government, had been considered a settled agreement.More ...

The EU Reform Treaty (Lisbon Treaty) is signed by the EU heads of state and government as well as the EU foreign ministers at the Hieronymus Monastery. Copyright: Press and Information Office of the Federal Government of Germany

The EU Reform Treaty: "Giving the EU a Face"

It was a long and difficult birth. Many even stopped believing it would ever happen because of all the difficulties: But the Lisbon Treaty is now ready, and merely has to be ratified now. Goethe-Online spoke to Eckart D. Stratenschulte, Director of the European Academy Berlin, about the significance of the treaty and what it will change.More ...

Forward-Looking Cultural Compass

In its final report, the Study Commission on Culture in Germany presented what is probably the most comprehensive study of the cultural situation in Germany for more than 30 years.More ...

Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Heitmeyer, Institut für Konflikt- und Gewaltforschung (IKG) der Universität Bielefeld. Copyright: Universität Bielefeld

"Social Divisions and a Lack of Social Recognition Lead to Violence."

Interview with Wilhelm Heitmeyer, professor of Socialization at Bielefeld University, on teen violence and social strife.More ...

China's Growing Interest in the EU Model

Academic cooperation between Germany and China

Chinese-European cooperation is currently experiencing a boom. The mutual interest at the level of trade and economic relations is common knowledge – lesser known to date is the growing interest among Chinese political and social scientists in the "European Union model". The Mannheim Centre for European Social Research, for example, has been working closely together with the Institute of European Studies in Beijing for ten years now.More ...

Gian Enrico Rusconi; Copyright: Fondazione Bruno Kessler

A European Identity Has to Be Built

For political scientist Gian Enrico Rusconi, Europe is a community of men and women who identify with democratic values and institutions that transcend the historical borders of the nation-states.More ...

"Technically Speaking, Big Brother Can See into every Last Corner of our Lives."

The fight against international terrorism and the growing technical capabilities for monitoring flows of goods and information are threatening to undermine our right to privacy. We discussed the matter with Peter Schaar, Germany's Federal Commissioner for Data Protection.More ...

Ulrich Beck: “Those Who Play the National Card Lose”

Interview with Professor Ulrich Beck of the Institute for Sociology at the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, on national fallacies, false alternatives and a rebellion of reality called cosmopolitanism.More ...

State and Politics in Germany