How can international comparisons have an impact on one country while others are not affected at all? This paper examines the power of ratings & rakings (R&R) using the example of the OECD’s PISA study (Programme for International Student Assessment) and its differential impact on national...

How do international organisations (IOs) influence domestic policymaking? In the field of educational policy, IOs increasingly play an important role in shaping national debates and policies. Comparative studies as conducted by the OECD, for example, reveal strengths and weaknesses of individual...

There is a huge body of literature in the social sciences that deals with the privatization of public enterprises in developed OECD countries after World War II. In the first part of this article, we present and critically examine empirical findings of comparative inquiries on the factors...

This article examines the relationship between public administration regulation and market economy models in 20 OECD countries. Building on Pollitt and Bouckaert’s (2004) administrative dimension, we employ explorative statistical analysis to identify three distinct public administration...

This paper discusses the potential contribution of parliamentary institutions and networks to the democratization of global economic governance. It places the analysis in the context of the larger debate on the democratic deficit of international economic institutions, in particular the WTO. On...

The idea of a "chain of legitimation" is a central thought in German constitutional theory. However, the conception of a chain of legitimacy does not appear to be sufficient to justify transnational democracy. Starting from this diagnosis, the paper introduces an alternative conception of...

Seit Ende des Ost-West-Konflikts befinden sich die westlichen Streitkräfte in einem anhaltenden Transformationsprozess. Waren die Streitkräfte zuvor an der bipolaren Sicherheitskonstellation des Kalten Krieges ausgerichtet, werden sie seit 1990 umstrukturiert, um neue Missionen zu erfüllen,...