Rights, Citizenship, and Society

2019 ◽  
pp. 45-70
Author(s):  
Peter C. Caldwell
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Federal Republic ◽  
Free Speech ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
Social Rule ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Right ◽  
State Interventions ◽  
The Relationship

The social rule of law, or social Rechtsstaat, was a second key term used in the first decade of the Federal Republic of Germany to justify extensive state interventions into society, so long as they preserved individual freedoms. Individual freedoms—such as the right to free speech, the right to enter and exit contracts, and the right to own property—required some kind of social supplement to ensure real freedom, or so the term suggested. By cementing this principle in the Basic Law, the founders opened up a debate about the justification, nature, and extent of the welfare state. Some, like Ernst Forsthoff, rejected the entire discussion as non-sensical; others, like Wolfgang Abendroth, viewed the constitutional concept as a spur to social reform. While this debate took place among lawyers, its real significance lay in the way it articulated the relationship between social policy and democracy.

scholarly journals Social and Economic Rights in the German Basic Law? An Analysis with Respect to Jurisprudence of the Federal Constitutional Court

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 190
Author(s):  
Christoph Enders
Keyword(s):  
Federal Republic ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
The State ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
Right To Participation ◽  
The Right

The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany did originally not provide for social or economic rights understood as claims to benefits. The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) did, indeed, recognise the states obligation to protect individuals against assault by others (right to security) and further ruled that everyone has the right to use facilities provided by the state under equal conditions (right to participation). These rights, however, aim to ensure that the state uses existing means as intended. In addition, the FCC by now has recognised a “right to the guarantee of a dignified minimum subsistence”. It is an original entitlement as the state is obliged to create and provide benefits for individuals in need. This new legal construction, however, misconceives the division of responsibilities between the FCC and the legislator and collides with the principle of the separation of powers

Choice and Voice – A Review

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Greener
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Service Users ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Relationship

‘Choice’ and ‘voice’ are two of the most significant means through which the public are able to participate in public services. Choice agendas position public service users as consumers, driving improvements by choosing good providers over bad, which then thrive through greater allocations of funds as money follows their selections (Le Grand, 2007). Choice-driven reforms tend to be about trying to make public services more locally responsive (Ferlie, Freeman, McDonnell, Petsoulas and Rundle-Smith, 2006). Voice-driven reforms, on the other hand, tend to position public service users as citizens, suggesting an emphasis on accountability mechanisms to drive service improvements through elections, with the possible removal of low regarded officials, or a greater involvement of local people in the running of services (Jenkins, 2006). Voice implies that citizens hold the right to participate in public services either through the political process, or through their direct involvement in the running or delivery of the services themselves. Of course, it is also possible to combine choice and voice mechanisms to try and achieve greater service responsiveness and accountability. In this review, choice reforms will be treated as those which are based upon consumer literature, and voice reforms those based upon attempting to achieve greater citizenship.Citizenship and consumption are two areas with significant literatures in their own right, but whereas the citizenship literature is widely cited in the social policy literature, the consumption literature appears rather more selectively. This review examines each area in turn in terms of its application to social policy, and then presents a synthesis of commonalties in the two literatures, which represent particularly promising avenues for exploring the relationship between public services and their users.

scholarly journals Zakres podmiotowy prawa do petycji w Niemczech

2019 ◽  
pp. 79-99
Author(s):  
Filip Zygmunt Wichrowski
Keyword(s):  
Federal Republic ◽  
Ancient Rome ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Future Possibility ◽  
The Public ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Right ◽  
The 19Th Century

The subject of this article is the right to petitions specified in Article 17 of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany. This provision regulates the individual’s right to address requests and complaints to public authorities. This publication contains an analysis of this institution with regard to entities that are entitled to exercise this right, as well as entities obliged to consider submitted petitions. The author begins the analysis of the indicated institution be reviewing the evolution of the historical right to petition, which has evolved from the institution of supplication known in ancient Rome. He indicates changes in the subjective scope of the right to petitions, focusing on the achievements of German constitu- tionalism in the 19th century. Next, the current regulation that guarantees the right to petition in Germany in its normative environment is presented. The public authorities that are the addressees of the petition have been analysed, and the scope of duties associated with receiving a complaint or request indicated. Furthermore the author describes particular types of entities that are guaranteed the right to submit petitions under the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany. In this respect, various kinds of restrictions of this right, depending on the type of the petitioner, are identified. The last part of the work contains the characteristics of various forms of petitions due to the type of author and the addressee. Various functions which currently are fulfilled by the institution of petitions were subjected to analysis. In this context, a distinction was made between individual petitions and collective petitions, tak- ing into account their subject matter and the aims intended by the petitioner. The author also shows the future possibility of a development of the discussed institution, describing the public petition to the Bundestag, which has an electronic form.

Social security in the Federal Republic of Germany

1972 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 317-330
Author(s):  
Detlev Zöllner
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Federal Republic ◽  
Social Assistance ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Public Responsibility ◽  
First Time ◽  
Modern Term

Present trends and problems in the field of social security in the Federal Republic of Germany may become clearer in the light of past developments. Activities which deserve the modern term ‘social policy’ began in 1794, when a Prussian law set forth the duty of public authorities to secure for every citizen the necessary maintenance (Verpflegung) irrespective of the cause of his distress. This was the first time that public responsibility for the maintenance of the citizen was recognized in Germany, and this was the origin of what is now called the social assistance scheme (Sozialhilfe).

STAGES IN SOCIAL POLICY DEVELOPMENT

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 265-272
Author(s):  
Venelin Terziev ◽  
Preslava Dimitrova
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
National Society ◽  
Complex Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

The social policy of a country is a set of specific activities aimed at regulating the social relations between different in their social status subjects. This approach to clarifying social policy is also called functional and essentially addresses social policy as an activity to regulate the relationship of equality or inequality in society. It provides an opportunity to look for inequalities in the economic positions of individuals in relation to ownership, labor and working conditions, distribution of income and consumption, social security and health, to look for the sources of these inequalities and their social justification or undue application.The modern state takes on social functions that seek to regulate imbalances, to protect weak social positions and prevent the disintegration of the social system. It regulates the processes in society by harmonizing interests and opposing marginalization. Every modern country develops social activities that reflect the specifics of a particular society, correspond to its economic, political and cultural status. They are the result of political decisions aimed at directing and regulating the process of adaptation of the national society to the transformations of the market environment. Social policy is at the heart of the development and governance of each country. Despite the fact that too many factors and problems affect it, it largely determines the physical and mental state of the population as well as the relationships and interrelationships between people. On the other hand, social policy allows for a more global study and solving of vital social problems of civil society. On the basis of the programs and actions of political parties and state bodies, the guidelines for the development of society are outlined. Social policy should be seen as an activity to regulate the relationship of equality or inequality between different individuals and social groups in society. Its importance is determined by the possibility of establishing on the basis of the complex approach: the economic positions of the different social groups and individuals, by determining the differences between them in terms of income, consumption, working conditions, health, etc .; to explain the causes of inequality; to look for concrete and specific measures to overcome the emerging social disparities.

scholarly journals Power, Agency, Relationality and Welfare Practice

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 687-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
RACHAEL DOBSON
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Practice Research ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Working Through ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis article argues that constructions of social phenomena in social policy and welfare scholarship think about the subjects and objects of welfare practice in essentialising ways, with negativistic effects for practitioners working in ‘regulatory’ contexts such as housing and homelessness practice. It builds into debates about power, agency, social policy and welfare by bringing psychosocial and feminist theorisations of relationality to practice research. It claims that relational approaches provide a starting point for the analysis of empirical practice data, by working through the relationship between the individual and the social via an ontological unpicking and revisioning of practitioners' social worlds.

Czech Social Democracy and its “cohabitation” with the Communist Party: The story of a neglected affair

2008 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lubomír Kopeček ◽  
Pavel Pšeja
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Pragmatic Approach ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Unsuccessful Attempt ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Relationship

This article attempts to analyze developments within the Czech Left after 1989. Primarily, the authors focus on two questions: (1) How did the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) achieve its dominance of the Left? (2)What is the relationship between the Social Democrats and the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM)? We conclude that the unsuccessful attempt to move the KSČM towards a moderate leftist identity opened up a space in which the Social Democrats could thrive, at the same time gradually assuming a pragmatic approach towards the Communists. Moreover, the ability of Miloš Zeman, the leader of the Social Democrats, to build a clear non-Communist Left alternative to the hegemony of the Right during the 1990s was also very important.

Parlamentarier für Europa – Die Vernetzung des Bundestags mit europäischen interparlamentarischen Körperschaften durch Doppelmandate (1950-1969/70

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-344
Author(s):  
Paul Lukas HÄHNEL
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Federal Republic ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Interstate Cooperation ◽  
Western European ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
The Relationship

The article examines inter-parliamentary institutions as a factor for interstate cooperation in Europe in the 1950s and 1960s. For this purpose, an analysis of the relationship between the parliamentary assembly of the European Communities, the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Western European Union and their connections to the Bundestag through dual mandates is carried out. Based on the relevant literature, the article highlights formal and informal inter-organizational links as well as partly overlapping and competing competences between these inter-parliamentary institutions. By using the example of the Federal Republic of Germany, multiple connections between the Bundestag and the emerging European parliamentary level are shown. Finally, the article focuses on the disentanglement of the parliamentary levels in the 1970s.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document