In the past, economic integration in Europe was largely compatible with the persistence of different national varieties of capitalism. While product market integration intensified competition, member states could build on and foster their respective comparative advantage. To date, this no longer...

In a recent article, Caporaso and Tarrow have argued that the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is increasingly moving in a social policy direction that will ultimately put European politics on a 'Polanyian' course. We take issue with their claim and distinguish three...

At first glance, the social purpose and the democratic potential of the EU have made progress in the last 15 years. However, this impression is misleading. We argue instead that the social and democratic potentials of the EU are crucially shaped by the heterogeneity of European varieties of...

This paper starts from four observations: (1) voter turnout is declining in established democracies; (2) low turnout means socio-economically unequal turnout; (3) compulsory voting is an effective means to increase turnout; (4) even low-turnout countries, however, have neither introduced nor...

Europe's 'political space', its dimensionality and its impact on European policies have received increased academic attention lately. Yet, one very basic element of this political space, the party composition of EU member states' governments, has never been studied in a systematic way in the...

Dieser Aufsatz greift die in den Siebzigerjahren entwickelten Argumente zur Unregierbarkeit einerseits und zum Spätkapitalismus andererseits auf und befragt sie nach ihrer heutigen Relevanz. Beide Denkschulen erkannten eine Überforderung des Staats. Während linke Autoren die Ursache in den...

Mit den Vertragsänderungen des Amsterdamer Gipfels (1997) wurde die Beschäftigungspolitik offizieller Teil der Politik der EU. Mit ihr erhielten nicht nur europäische Institutionen Einfluss auf einen Politikbereich, der zuvor in nationaler Verantwortung lag, sondern mit der offenen Methode...

Corporate governance in Germany is often described as a bank-oriented, block-holder or stakeholder model where markets for corporate control have not played a significant role. This case study of the hostile takeover of Mannesmann AG by Vodafone in 2000 demonstrates how systemic changes during...

Das Papier nimmt aus sozialwissenschaftlicher Perspektive zur Debatte über die Zukunft der Aufsichtsratsmitbestimmung Stellung, indem es den Stand der empirischen Mitbestimmungsforschung zusammenfasst und weiterentwickelt. Es weist nach, dass Mitbestimmung auf Ebene der Leitungsorgane in den...

Within the context of debates over national varieties of capitalism, this paper discusses the shareholder value orientation of the 40 largest listed German companies. Three dimensions of shareholder value are distinguished: the communicative dimension, the operative dimension and the dimension...