Dieser Beitrag skizziert eine „conceptual history“ der modernen Gesellschaft. Er unterscheidet eine malthusianische Stagnationsphase und eine postmalthusianische Wachstumsphase der Weltwirtschaftsgeschichte und entwickelt anhand eines Modells zur Interdependenz wirtschaftlicher und...

The Treaty of Lisbon will introduce a number of changes to European Union (EU) external trade policy decision making. These involve the scope of exclusive competence of the EU, the role of the European Parliament and the inclusion of trade in the common external action of the EU. This article...

European integration has come to constrain the capacity for democratic political action in EU member states through the judicial constitutionalization of "economic liberties," whereas the capacity for effective political action at the European level is narrowly constrained by the multiple-veto...

Eight years after the onset of the "Great Recession," the eurozone is deeply split between "Northern" EMU economies that seem to be doing reasonably well and "Southern" countries that continue to struggle with socioeconomic catastrophe. This paper argues that the continuing malaise is a...

Wäre der Entscheidungsprozess zu Stuttgart 21 (S21) anders verlaufen, wenn es in Baden-Württemberg wirksame Mittel direkt-demokratischer Mitbestimmung gegeben hätte? Ziel dieses Beitrag ist es, Grenzen und Möglichkeiten direkt-demokratischer Verfahren am Beispiel des Großprojekts S21...

This paper empirically analyzes the political, institutional and economic sources of public deficit volatility. Using the system-GMM estimator for linear dynamic panel data models and a sample of 125 countries analyzed from 1980 to 2006, we show that higher public deficit volatility is typically...