This research project investigates some of the most critical political questions related to climate change policymaking in an innovative and systematic manner. Specifically, we ask how the politics of climate change have evolved (or decreased) at the international political level since 2001, and in how far these international developments determine domestic policy? Linked to these questions, we investigate what options do national governments – in particular also from so-called smaller and geopolitically less powerful nations such as Switzerland – have to support and successfully adopt effective climate change protection measures? The research project combines innovative data collecting and analytical techniques such as event data analysis, social network analysis, textual analysis and discourse network analysis together with expert interviews and document analysis to study political processes over time in a systematic way. Theoretically, the research project is located at the intersection of domestic politics and international relations. On the one hand, it looks for domestic political determinants in selected key countries that help to understand the international climate change policy process. On the other hand, it analyzes to what degree political dynamics at the international level open or restrict opportunities for acting on climate change policy issues at the national level. The project is embedded in and closely coordinated with the international research program on Comparing Climate Change Policy Networks (COMPON, see http://www.compon.org) that aims at finding broad principles to explain cross-national variation in the success of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to foster the diffusion of innovative and successful policy solutions across national boundaries.
The point of departure of this project are the vast differences in the degree to which party systems reflect voter preferences in contemporary Latin America. These differences are of vital interest for researchers seeking to explain the formation of party systems and how they adapt to changes in social structure, economic conditions, and the international context after the end of the cold war. Explaining differences in party system responsiveness is also central, however, for those interested in the quality of democracy: The responsiveness of representatives to voters preferences is an integral component of a high-quality democracy (e.g., Dahl 1971; Diamond and Morlino 2005; Bühlmann et al. 2008, 2012; Przeworski 2010; Kitschelt et al. 2010a). And there is growing evidence that party systems impinge on other dimensions of the quality of democracy as well (e.g., Chavez 2003, Ríos-Figueroa and Pozas-Loyo 2010). In a prior project, we studied two routes that result in responsive party systems, one historical and one open even to those countries that lack the favorable historical preconditions of the forerunners in terms of responsiveness. Along the historical route, left-wing parties with strong ideological credentials challenged the established political forces in some countries in the early 20th century. Gradually, this crowded out the clientelistic linkages between voters and political patrons that represent the main impediment to programmatic responsiveness. In the current project, we look at a similar process observable since the process of re-democratization swept Latin America in the 1980s. Although tentatively addressed in the prior project, this process is complicated by the fact that two very different types of left parties have emerged in contemporary Latin America. Theorizing the distinction between the “moderate” and the “populist” or “radical” left has become a major research topic in recent years (Castañeda 2006; Castañeda and Morales 2008; Weyland 2009; Weyland, Madrid, and Hunter 2010, Levitsky and Roberts 2011, Remmer 2012). These authors have hypothesized that policy-based appeals are much more important in the mobilization of the moderate left, while a mixture of charismatic and clientelistic strategies is employed by the populist left. To date, however, this claim rests on shallow empirical foundations. Even more importantly, no empirical research has been conducted on the impact these two types of new leftist parties have on the party system as a whole, and more specifically on the levels of responsiveness it exhibits. This project contributes to these issues in three ways: It develops the difference between the moderate and the populist left in theoretical terms, expands our prior empirical analyses in temporal terms, and explores the dualism of programmatic (responsiveness-enhancing) and clientelistic (responsiveness-blurring) mobilization strategies. This project thus contributes to two related, but still distinct literatures. On the one hand, there has been growing interest in explaining variations in party system formation (e.g., Kitschelt et al. 2010). On the other hand, the study of the two lefts has strongly grown as well, as outlined above. Combining the first perspective, on which our prior research project was based, with the distinction between the two types of left parties both refines our prior argument, and contributes to the literature on the Latin American left.
The Tobacco Prevention Fund (TPF) was set up particularly to finance measures to stop people from starting to smoke, make it easier to give up smoking and protect non-smokers against passive smoking. Projects supported by the Tobacco Prevention Fund (TPF) have to satisfy high quality requirements and make a contribution to the national tobacco control strategy, namely the National Programme Tobacco 2008-2016. The regulation requires an evaluation of the effectiveness of the financed measures. Up to now these evaluation reports delivered project-related information only and served as a basis for decision-making on the project level. The TPF aims at a management of the general funding-decisions above the project level based on evaluations. Goal of the present study is to assess the quality of the existing commissioned evaluation reports in a meta-evaluation. Based on the results of these assessments the study develops strategies that allow the TPF to improve its evaluation practice.
(English summary below) Zusammenfassung Im Auftrag der Gemeindeammänner-Vereinigung des Kantons Aargau und des kantonalen Departements Volkswirtschaft und Inneres soll in dieser Studie aufgezeigt werden, wie und warum sich die Milizorganisation in den Aargauer Gemeinden über die letzten 40 Jahre verändert hat. Der Fokus liegt dabei auf der Auswahl an Kandidierenden bei kommunalen Exekutivwahlen, der Amtsdauer und der Fluktuation in Exekutivgremien sowie auf den individuellen Gründen für frühzeitige Rücktritte. Weiter sollen Faktoren identifiziert werden, welche die Auswahl und Amtsdauer von Gemeindeexekutiven positiv beeinflussen. Drei Module sind für die Durchführung der Studie vorgesehen: (1) Erhebung und Analyse der Entwicklung der Exekutivgremien in Aargauer Gemeinden, (2) Analyse individueller Rücktrittsgründe aus der Gemeindeexekutive auf der Basis einer bestehenden Befragung, und (3) Synthese und Diskussion verschiedener Modelle zur Reform der Milizorganisation. Präsentation erster Zwischenresultate an den 6. Aarauer Demokratietagen vom 27./28. März 2014. Schlussbericht veröffentlicht am 17. Dezember 2014, öffentliche Podiumsdiskussion am 26. Februar 2015 (siehe externen Link). --- Summary This study – commissioned by the Association of Municipal Presidents of the canton of Argovia and the cantonal Department of Economics and Internal Affairs – explores how and why the militia (lay people) organisation of municipal executives in the canton of Argovia has changed over the last 40 years. Of particular interest is the choice of candidates at executive elections, the tenure of office and the fluctuation in executive bodies as well as the individual reasons for early resignations. Moreover we examine the factors positively affecting the choice and the tenure of office. Three modules are planned for conducting the study: (1) data collection and analysis with regard to the development of executive municipal bodies in Argovia, (2) analysis of the individual reasons for early resignations based on an existing survey, and (3) synthesis and discussion of different models for reforming the lay people organisation. Presentation of first results at the 6th Aarau Democracy Days on March 27./28. 2014. Final report published on December 17, 2014, public discussion event on February 26, 2015 (see external link).
Since 2008, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) implements together with the Federal Office of Sport and in coordination with the cantons and Health Promotion Switzerland the National Programme on Nutrition and Physical Activity. This programme aims to promote a healthy lifestyle, e.g. balanced diet and regular physical activities. The Federal Council has extended the programme in 2012 till 2016. Within this programme, the FOPH has launched the initiative actionsanté. This initiative aims to motivate the economy to take voluntary actions to support the individual and the community in choosing a lifestyle that is more active and food that is more balanced. The initiative actionsanté aims that companies take actions in the following for areas in order to promote a healthy lifestyle: A) consumer information, B) marketing/promotion, C) food composition and food supply, and D) promoting an environment that supports physical activity. The FOPH has established partnerships with various private enterprises in these areas. The present study commissioned by the FOPH analyses the possibility to further develop the concept of the initiative actionsanté. On the one hand, the study presents the current international practice and the literature dealing with similar initiatives of other West European countries and international organisations. On the other hand, the stakeholders of the initiative actionsanté were involved in the analysis through guidelines based interviews or a workshop. In this way, the study takes into account the international developments and the stakeholders’ experiences and visions in order to formulate recommendations for the future refinement of the initiative actionsanté.
All around the world cities are growing and becoming “metropolitan areas”, vast urban regions that spread beyond the confines of cities, regions, and even nation-states. In the era of globalization, mega- and meta-cities are gaining in importance, just as political decision-making is increasingly shifting to the local and urban-regional level. The growing mismatch between urban sprawl and institutional organization has led to the emergence, in metropolitan areas, of new, complex governance structures beyond the state. These are challenging traditional political institutions and the democratic quality of policy-making in these areas. How are the citizens, and local voters, able to deal with these complex structures, the shifting or fading away of territorial borders, and the emergence of new political levels? This project will explore this topic by studying eight European metropolitan areas with different types of governance structures: London, Birmingham, Paris, Lyon, Berlin, Stuttgart, Bern, and Zurich. In particular, the project will focus on the following questions: • How do citizens perceive the political system of their metropolitan area? • How are political behavior, attitudes, and perceptions of the legitimacy of the governance structures shaped by media systems and content? • How do the different types of governance, as well as media reporting about them, influence citizens’ political attitudes, interest, and participation? This project builds on two projects on the legitimacy of governance structures in metropolitan areas completed in Phases I and II of the NCCR Democracy. The aim of the current project is to use these results to examine the link between institutional design, media markets and content, and citizens’ political attitudes and behavior.
Collaboration with Simon Bornschier. Analysis of the emergence of responsive party systems in 12 countries. The project combines comparative historical analysis and quantitative statistical methods to empirically analyse processes of democratisation in Latin America. The hypothesis is that the way conflicts were mobilised early on affects the long-term balance between clientelistic and programmatic mobilisation strategies employed by parties.
This project aims to investigate the cultural roots of populism in eight European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy). A long-term analysis over a period of approximately 40 years will be carried out in order to find out whether changes in political, cultural and media conditions are reflected in different levels and types of populism.
SNF Grant 100017_146104; CHF 246’958.-, main applicant with Bruno Wüest, Thomas Kurer and Matthias Enggist This project was concerned with the political reactions of European citizens to the financial disaster and the harsh economic consequences that hit them from the late 2008 onwards. Starting from a political economy perspective, we asked how European citizens reacted towards the crisis and what implications these individual reactions had for the variation of protests at the societal level. By integrating previously separate research on social movements, economic voting and social risks, we offered an encompassing analytical argument to explain the variation in protest reactions across Europe.
Die politische Bildung der Schweizer Jugend ist lückenhaft. Dies gilt insbesondere für jene politischen Prozesse und komplexen Zusammenhänge, die wenig mediale Präsenz erhalten und nicht dem Muster personalisierbarer Mediendarstellung entsprechen. Hierzu gehört mit dem Gesetzgebungsverfahren ein zentrales Element der Schweizer Demokratie, von dem zumeist nur die öffentlich wirksamen Bereiche wahrgenommen werden: Teile der parlamentarischen Beratung und allfällige Abstimmungsdebatten, falls das Referendum ergriffen wurde. Seit Jahren wird von der Politik der schlechte Stand politischer Bildung bei Jugendlichen beklagt. Die Schulen sind ihrerseits interessiert an guten Produkten, um politische Bildung nachhaltig zu gestalten. Mit dem angeleiteten Planspiel „Play Swiss Lex“ [Arbeitstitel] möchten das Zentrum für Demokratie Aarau und die Etharion GmbH ein Produkt entwickeln, das auf dieses Bedürfnis ideal zugeschnitten ist. Das Produkt baut auf den Erfahrungen mit dem erfolgreichen Planspiel „Europäische-Politik-Simulation EPS“ auf, welches EuroSoc in Deutschland seit Jahren mit grossem Zuspruch verkauft. Ein angeleitetes Planspiel zur schweizerischen Gesetzgebung hat gegenüber anderen herkömmlichen Lehrmitteln und Planspiel-Angeboten den Vorteil, anhand eines konkreten, in der wirklichen Politik vorgefallenen Beispiels die Abläufe und Unwägbarkeiten politischer Entscheidungsprozesse aufzuzeigen. Es entspricht einem nachweislichen Bedürfnis und stösst bereits in der Konzeptphase auf ein grosses Interesse.