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There is evidence that democracies are under threat around the world while the quest for strong leaders is increasing. Although the causes of these developments are complex and multifaceted, here we focus on one factor: the extent to which citizens express materialist and post-materialist concerns. We explore whether objective higher levels of democracy are differentially associated with materialist and post-materialist concerns and, in turn, whether this is related to the wish for a strong leader. Testing this hypothesis across 27 countries (N = 5,741) demonstrated a direct negative effect of democracies' development on the wish for a strong leader. Further, multi-level mediation analysis showed that the relation between the Democracy Index and the wish for a strong leader was mediated by materialist concerns. This pattern of results suggests that lower levels of democracy are associated with enhanced concerns about basic needs and this is linked to greater support for strong leaders.

There is evidence that democracies are under threat around the world while the quest for strong leaders is increasing. Although the causes of these developments are complex and multifaceted, here we focus on one factor: the extent to which citizens express materialist and post-materialist concerns. We explore whether objective higher levels of democracy are differentially associated with materialist and post-materialist concerns and, in turn, whether this is related to the wish for a strong leader. Testing this hypothesis across 27 countries (N = 5,741) demonstrated a direct negative effect of democracies' development on the wish for a strong leader. Further, multi-level mediation analysis showed that the relation between the Democracy Index and the wish for a strong leader was mediated by materialist concerns. This pattern of results suggests that lower levels of democracy are associated with enhanced concerns about basic needs and this is linked to greater support for strong leaders. ; reviewed ; acceptedVersion

There is evidence that democracies are under threat around the world while the quest for strong leaders is increasing. Although the causes of these developments are complex and multifaceted, here we focus on one factor: the extent to which citizens express materialist and post-materialist concerns. We explore whether objective higher levels of democracy are differentially associated with materialist and post-materialist concerns and, in turn, whether this is related to the wish for a strong leader. Testing this hypothesis across 27 countries (N = 5,741) demonstrated a direct negative effect of democracies' development on the wish for a strong leader. Further, multi-level mediation analysis showed that the relation between the Democracy Index and the wish for a strong leader was mediated by materialist concerns. This pattern of results suggests that lower levels of democracy are associated with enhanced concerns about basic needs and this is linked to greater support for strong leaders. ; peerReviewed ; publishedVersion

There is evidence that democracies are under threat around the world while the quest for strong leaders is increasing. Although the causes of these developments are complex and multifaceted, here we focus on one factor: the extent to which citizens express materialist and post-materialist concerns. We explore whether objective higher levels of democracy are differentially associated with materialist and post-materialist concerns and, in turn, whether this is related to the wish for a strong leader. Testing this hypothesis across 27 countries (N = 5,741) demonstrated a direct negative effect of democracies' development on the wish for a strong leader. Further, multi-level mediation analysis showed that the relation between the Democracy Index and the wish for a strong leader was mediated by materialist concerns. This pattern of results suggests that lower levels of democracy are associated with enhanced concerns about basic needs and this is linked to greater support for strong leaders.

Societal inequality has been found to harm the mental and physical health of its members and undermine overall social cohesion. Here, we tested the hypothesis that economic inequality is associated with a wish for a strong leader in a study involving 28 countries from five continents (Study 1, N = 6,112), a study involving an Australian community sample (Study 2, N = 515), and two experiments (Study 3a, N = 96; Study 3b, N = 296). We found correlational (Studies 1 and 2) and experimental (Studies 3a and 3b) evidence for our prediction that higher inequality enhances the wish for a strong leader. We also found that this relationship is mediated by perceptions of anomie, except in the case of objective inequality in Study 1. This suggests that societal inequality enhances the perception that society is breaking down (anomie) and that a strong leader is needed to restore order (even when that leader is willing to challenge democratic values).

Societal inequality has been found to harm the mental and physical health of its members and undermine overall social cohesion. Here, we tested the hypothesis that economic inequality is associated with a wish for a strong leader in a study involving 28 countries from five continents (Study 1, N = 6,112), a study involving an Australian community sample (Study 2, N = 515), and two experiments (Study 3a, N = 96; Study 3b, N = 296). We found correlational (Studies 1 and 2) and experimental (Studies 3a and 3b) evidence for our prediction that higher inequality enhances the wish for a strong leader. We also found that this relationship is mediated by perceptions of anomie, except in the case of objective inequality in Study 1. This suggests that societal inequality enhances the perception that society is breaking down (anomie) and that a strong leader is needed to restore order (even when that leader is willing to challenge democratic values).

Societal inequality has been found to harm the mental and physical health of its members and undermine overall social cohesion. Here, we tested the hypothesis that economic inequality is associated with a wish for a strong leader in a study involving 28 countries from five continents (Study 1, N = 6,112), a study involving an Australian community sample (Study 2, N = 515), and two experiments (Study 3a, N = 96; Study 3b, N = 296). We found correlational (Studies 1 and 2) and experimental (Studies 3a and 3b) evidence for our prediction that higher inequality enhances the wish for a strong leader. We also found that this relationship is mediated by perceptions of anomie, except in the case of objective inequality in Study 1. This suggests that societal inequality enhances the perception that society is breaking down (anomie) and that a strong leader is needed to restore order (even when that leader is willing to challenge democratic values). ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published

A large proportion of European biodiversity today depends on habitat provided by low-intensity farming practices, yet this resource is declining as European agriculture intensifies. Within the European Union, particularly the central and eastern new member states have retained relatively large areas of species-rich farmland, but despite increased investment in nature conservation here in recent years, farmland biodiversity trends appear to be worsening. Although the high biodiversity value of Central and Eastern European farmland has long been reported, the amount of research in the international literature focused on farmland biodiversity in this region remains comparatively tiny, and measures within the EU Common Agricultural Policy are relatively poorly adapted to support it. In this opinion study, we argue that, 10 years after the accession of the first eastern EU new member states, the continued under-representation of the low-intensity farmland in Central and Eastern Europe in the international literature and EU policy is impeding the development of sound, evidence-based conservation interventions. The biodiversity benefits for Europe of existing low-intensity farmland, particularly in the central and eastern states, should be harnessed before they are lost. Instead of waiting for species-rich farmland to further decline, targeted research and monitoring to create locally appropriate conservation strategies for these habitats is needed now.

A large proportion of European biodiversity today depends on habitat provided by low-intensity farming practices, yet this resource is declining as European agriculture intensifies. Within the European Union, particularly the central and eastern new member states have retained relatively large areas of species-rich farmland, but despite increased investment in nature conservation here in recent years, farmland biodiversity trends appear to be worsening. Although the high biodiversity value of Central and Eastern European farmland has long been reported, the amount of research in the international literature focused on farmland biodiversity in this region remains comparatively tiny, and measures within the EU Common Agricultural Policy are relatively poorly adapted to support it. In this opinion study, we argue that, 10years after the accession of the first eastern EU new member states, the continued under-representation of the low-intensity farmland in Central and Eastern Europe in the international literature and EU policy is impeding the development of sound, evidence-based conservation interventions. The biodiversity benefits for Europe of existing low-intensity farmland, particularly in the central and eastern states, should be harnessed before they are lost. Instead of waiting for species-rich farmland to further decline, targeted research and monitoring to create locally appropriate conservation strategies for these habitats is needed now. ; Peer reviewed

A large proportion of European biodiversity today depends on habitat provided by low-intensity farming practices, yet this resource is declining as European agriculture intensifies. Within the European Union, particularly the central and eastern new member states have retained relatively large areas of species-rich farmland, but despite increased investment in nature conservation here in recent years, farmland biodiversity trends appear to be worsening. Although the high biodiversity value of Central and Eastern European farmland has long been reported, the amount of research in the international literature focused on farmland biodiversity in this region remains comparatively tiny, and measures within the EU Common Agricultural Policy are relatively poorly adapted to support it. In this opinion study, we argue that, 10 years after the accession of the first eastern EU new member states, the continued under-representation of the low-intensity farmland in Central and Eastern Europe in the international literature and EU policy is impeding the development of sound, evidence-based conservation interventions. The biodiversity benefits for Europe of existing low-intensity farmland, particularly in the central and eastern states, should be harnessed before they are lost. Instead of waiting for species-rich farmland to further decline, targeted research and monitoring to create locally appropriate conservation strategies for these habitats is needed now. ; peerReviewed

The context, contested : histories of Yugoslavia and its violent dissolution -- The forum : the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia -- The man on trial : Slobodan Milošević -- The trial: IT-02-54, prosecutor v. Milošević -- Real justice, in time : the initial indictment of Milošević : Clint Williamson (special prosecutor for the EU Special Investigative Task Force) -- Real justice or realpolitik? the delayed indictment of Milošević / Cherif Bassiouni (DePaul University) -- Slow poison : joinder and the death of Milošević / Gideon Boas (Monash University) -- Joinder, fairness, and the goals of international criminal justice / Frédéric Mégret (McGill University) -- Difficulties for the participants : indictment correct, trial impossible / Carla del Ponte (former chief prosecutor, ICTY and ICTR) -- Outside the internal dynamics of the prosecution / Kelly Dawn Askin (Open Society Justice Initiative) -- In the shadow of non-recognition : Milošević and the self-represented accused's right to justice / Evelyn Anoya (special tribunal for Lebanon) -- The legitimacy paradox of self-representation / Yuval Shany (Hebrew University) -- Guilty without a verdict : Bosniaks' perceptions of the Milošević trial / Safia Swimelar (Elon University) -- The Hague front in the homeland war : narratives of the Milošević trial in Croatia / Christopher K. Lamont (University of Groningen) -- Another report on the banality of evil : the cultural politics of the Milošević trial in Kosovo / Vjollca Krasniqi (University of Prishtina; University of Ljubljana) -- Conversations with Milošević : two meetings, bloody hands / Veton Surroi (KOHA Media group) -- Underwhelmed : Kosovar Albanians' reactions to the Milošević trial / Frances Trix (Indiana University) -- Airing crimes, marginalizing victims : political expectations and transitional justice in Kosovo / Denisa Kostovicova (London School of Economics and Political Science) -- Framing the trial of the century : influences of, and on, international media / Klaus Bachmann (University of Social Sciences and Humanities -- Warsaw) -- The court and public opinion : negotiating tensions between trial process and public interest in Milošević / Judith Armatta (formerly Coalition for International Justice) -- Dead man's tale : deriving narrative authority from the terminated : Milošević trial / Timothy William Waters (Indiana University) -- Beyond the theater of international justice : the rule 98bis decision in Milošević / Jens Meierhenrich (London School of Economics and Political Science) -- Can we salvage a history of the Yugoslav conflicts from the Milošević trial? / Christian Axboe Nielsen (Aarhus University) -- Do historians need a verdict? / Florian Bieber (University of Graz) -- Body of evidence : the prosecution's construction of Milosevic / Marko Prelec (International Crisis Group) -- Milosevic and the justice of peace / Alexander K.A. Greenawalt (Pace University) -- The parting of ways: public reckoning with the recent past in post-Milošević Serbia / Jasna Dragović-Soso (Goldsmiths, University of London) -- Antecedents to a debate : conflicts over the transfer of Milosevic / Vesna Pejic (member of parliament of the Republic of Serbia) -- The show and the trial : the political death of Milosevic / Florian Bieber (University of Graz) -- From politics to law, to tedium, and back / Mark A. Drumbl (Washington & Lee University) -- Two sides of the same coin? judging Milosevic and Serbia before the ICTY and ICJ / Yuval Shany (Hebrew University) -- Ambiguous choices in the trials of Milosevic's Serbia / Tibor Várady (Central European University; Emory University) -- Abdicated legacy : the prosecution's use of evidence from Milosevic / Florence Hartmann (formerly office of the prosecutor, ICTY) -- The spider and the system : Milosevic and joint criminal enterprise / Harmen van der Wilt (University of Amsterdam).

Am 11. März 1994 war die Opposition im slowakischen Parlament mit einem Mißtrauensvotum gegen Premierminister Meciar erfolgreich. Die Ablösung Meciars beendete eine sich über Monate hinziehende Regierungskrise, die sowohl durch den Verlust der parlamentarischen Mehrheit seitens der Regierung als auch durch die Zerstrittenheit der Oppositionsparteien gekennzeichnet war. Die neue slowakische Koalitionsregierung unter Moravcik strebt eine Beschleunigung der marktorientierten Wirtschaftsreform und der Westintegration der Slowakei an. Sie sieht sich gleichwohl einer Vielzahl wirtschaftlicher, sozialer und politischer Probleme gegenüber. Für den Herbst 1994 wurden Neuwahlen angesetzt. (BIOst-Wpt)

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the current state of the Japanese economy, and to consider some of the major challenges it faces during these tumultuous political times. It begins with an economic policy proposal focused on Japan's muddling recovery amidst the difficult political climate presently inhibiting growth. I then discuss several domestic and global issues likely to impact recovery of the Japanese economy. Regarding macroeconomic policy, Japan should pursue growth—focusing on unemployment, overcoming a sluggish recovery, and generating revenues—until stable full employment is achieved, and then implement effective fiscal consolidation with a high priority on tax and other reforms, deregulation, and liberalization. This policy should be implemented by a strong but temporary macroeconomic package of further monetary easing and additional fiscal stimulus until deflation has ended and good growth achieved, then followed by gradual but significant tax increases as a share of GDP and an end to monetary easing. Japan currently faces several challenges to economic growth. Although government infrastructure investments in Tohoku and the quick repair of supply chain ruptures led to impressive 5.5 percent growth in the first quarter of 2012, that growth slowed sharply in the second quarter to an estimated 0.7 percent rate. Furthermore, within the Japanese government, petty political gamesmanship is peaking, economic policymaking is gridlocked, and the government faces numerous structural issues including inadequate domestic demand, fiscal consolidation, deflation, and weak labor markets. The DPJ will surely lose the upcoming election and control of the government after three years in office. In addition to Japan's still-unresolved long-run structural issues, the new government will also have to address energy policy, the role of nuclear power, trade liberalization, and financial market reforms, along with growth and the ongoing recovery effort in Tohoku. The Fukushima Daiichi plant disaster has had significant economic, political, and societal effects. Energizing an increasingly large antinuclear movement, the disaster has forced the government to examine the fate of existing nuclear plants, decide how far and how quickly nuclear power downsizing should proceed, and aggressively promote conservation and the development of renewable resources. Japan must also now confront two models for Asia-Pacific trade liberalization: the comprehensive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) of 11 nations, led by the United States; and an "Asian track," exemplified by Japan's trilateral trade negotiations with China and Korea. Though it is in Japan's best interest to proceed vigorously on the TPP track, the Japanese government will not join negotiations until next spring at the earliest, and its inability to engage in major agricultural reform soon could risk its ability to shape the rules of the TPP. Finally, the Japanese government must also pursue financial reforms after high-profile scandals revealing widespread insider trading, and after several attempts by foreign banks to manipulate the Tokyo interbank offer rate (Tibor). I am not particularly optimistic about the Japanese economy for the next several years; I am concerned about continuing economic policy gridlock and inaction. Despite my best hopes, I anticipate that the new government will only muddle along. Regardless, because of its unique position in the global economy, I still believe that ignoring Japan is a big mistake. It will continue as one of the world's five largest economies for the foreseeable future, a technological leader, and a major global economic partner and competitor. We can also learn from how Japan deals with a range of problems common to most advanced economies. In the long run, I continue tobe optimistic about Japan. As its history demonstrates, it has a record of being a strong, highly motivated, effective society, demonstrably capable of responding well to and overcoming adversity.

This summary report is based on the outcome of a study carried out by the AGMEMOD Partnership under the management of the Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI, in the Netherlands), in cooperation with the Joint Research Centre – Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (JRC-IPTS) to generate projections for the main agricultural commodity markets for each year from 2005 until 2015. The report gives a general overview of the modelling approach, the description and implementation of the baseline, further CAP reform and exchange rate change scenarios. It outlines the main results for the aggregates EU-10, EU-15, EU-25 and EU-27, focusing in particular on the features implemented in this study, and addresses issues that need further attention. Detailed documentation on the AGMEMOD modelling approach, along with the outcome of the study, is published in five reports in the JRC-IPTS technical paper series under the heading "Impact analysis of Common Agricultural Policy reform on the main agricultural commodities".

This report is based on the outcome of a study carried out by the AGMEMOD Partnership under the management of the Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI, the Netherlands), in cooperation with the Joint Research Centre – Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (JRC-IPTS) to generate yearly projections for the main agricultural commodity markets from 2005 until 2015. This report describes the modelling techniques used by the AGMEMOD Partnership, with emphasis on new commodities modelled and policy modelling approaches. Detailed documentation on the AGMEMOD modelling approach, along with the outcome of the study, is published in five reports in the JRC-IPTS Scientific and Technical Report Series under the heading "Impact analysis of Common Agricultural Policy reform on the main agricultural commodities"