Hastily Arranged Marriage: Political Culture in Germany Twenty Years after Unification

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 19-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tereza Novotna

Explanations for the roots and cures of the continuous divergence between East and West German political cultures tend to fall into two camps: socialization and situation. The former emphasizes the impact of socialization before and during the GDR era and ongoing (post-communist) legacies derived from Eastern Germans' previous experience, whereas the latter focuses primarily on economic difficulties after the unification that caused dissatisfaction among the population in the Eastern parts of Germany. The article argues that in order to explain the persistence and reinvigoration of an autonomous political culture during the last two decades in the new Länder, we need to synthesize the two approaches and to add a third aspect: the unification hypothesis. Although the communist period brought about a specific political culture in the GDR, the German unification process—based rather on transplantation than on adaptation—has caused it neither to diminish nor to wither away. On the contrary, the separate (post)-communist political culture was reaffirmed and reinstalled under novel circumstances.

Author(s):  
Ilya Anatol'evich Sokov

The subject of this research is the personality of the Canadian intellectual Francis Reginald Scott and his impact upon the state and development of political culture in Canada in the XX century. The evolution of Canadian political culture during the life of F. R. Scott affected by the objective historical factors that formed its distinctive features, new political traditions and new Canadian values, as well as by intresubjective factor, through which manifested the influence of Canadian intellectuals, politicians and public figures. The research methodology leans on the scientific principles of historicism, systematicity and objectivity, intersubjective and societal approaches; and special historical methods of research, such as comparative, typological, genetic and systemic. The scientific novelty lies in tracing the evolution of Canadian political culture in the XX century. The acquired results can be used in further research of the history of political cultures of foreign countries, as well as in scientific-pedagogical activity. The author concludes the evolution of Canadian political culture during the life of F. R. Scott was affected not only by objective historical factors, but also by intresubjective factor, through which manifested the impact of political and social activity of F. R. Scott. The author’s special contribution consists in the new approach towards characterization of political cultures of different nations, which obtained their uniqueness in the course of historical development.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray Friedman ◽  
Ying-Yi Hong ◽  
Tony Simons ◽  
Shu-Cheng (Steve) Chi ◽  
Se-Hyung (David) Oh ◽  
...  

Behavioral integrity (BI)—a perception that a person acts in ways that are consistent with their words—has been shown to have an impact on many areas of work life. However, there have been few studies of BI in Eastern cultural contexts. Differences in communication style and the nature of hierarchical relationships suggest that spoken commitments are interpreted differently in the East and the West. We performed three scenario-based experiments that look at response to word–deed inconsistency in different cultures. The experiments show that Indians, Koreans, and Taiwanese do not as readily revise BI downward following a broken promise as do Americans (Study 1), that the U.S.–Indian difference is especially pronounced when the speaker is a boss rather than a subordinate (Study 2), and that people exposed to both cultures adjust perceptions of BI based on the cultural context of where the speaking occurs (Study 3).


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kjell Winkens

This thesis seeks to answer the question 'when, how, and why the Danish asylum system become more restrictive than the Swedish one between 1989 and 2001'. In the analysis of these reasons, a particular emphasis is placed on the different political perceptions of both countries’ welfare philosophies on the one hand, and their political culture on the other. The influence of anti-immigration parties on mainstream political culture is an important part of this analysis. Through a distinction between border and integration policy, it becomes clear that the Danish asylum policy becomes more restrictive in the second half of the 1990s, because of its focus on cultural integration as a duty to the welfare state. The thesis concludes with a discussion regarding the impact of (neoliberal) economic changes on solidarity within political culture.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-23
Author(s):  
Mohammed Enab

Bayt al-mal is one of the important architectural innovations that characterized the Islamic civilization. It represents the treasury of the Islamic State, which preserves the various financial resources of the State. The Bayt al-mal appeared in the era of the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him), and its layout was simple reflects the simplicity of Islam. Its location was inside the mosque or adjacent to it. Bayt al-mal developed with the expansion of the Islamic State and the Islamic conquests, and it has a special called Diwan Bayt al-mal. Domes were built in mosques as one of the branches and sections of the Bayt al-mal. These domes were dedicated to preserving the different funds of the endowments and places. The location of these domes was in the great mosques' courtyard. They rise from the courtyard's surface and based on eight columns. These domes appeared especially in Umayyad mosques in Syria and Palestine. Then they spread in most countries in the east and west of the Islamic world. This research deals with the concept of the Bayt al-mal; its names, origin, architectural development, and the reasons to build them. This research also studies the dimension of jurisprudence in the building of these domes. It used an analytical study of the architectural shape of these domes and studies the impact of functional dimension on the form and plan of these domes. This study shows the remaining examples of these domes in Islamic mosques and mentions some examples of the extinct ones.


1999 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 12-30
Author(s):  
Joan Aruz

AbstractThis paper focuses on one aspect of the representation of divinity in the Oxus region: the way in which animal and human characteristics are combined to create various supernatural creatures. Both the presence and absence of certain attributes are emphasized in the attempt to define the extent to which the Oxus region relates to that of its neighbours both east and west. There are some pervasive similarities in the artistic rendering of divine power throughout the Near East, western Central Asia and the Indus Valley. However, there are also major differences, which seem to illustrate the impact of Mesopotamian divine imagery on Harappan art, while the deities and demons of Bactria-Margiana belong to a world similar, in part, to that expressed in the arts of southern Iran.


Author(s):  
Nancy Kollmann

This chapter reveals the deep structures of Muscovite politics by explaining first its theoretical foundations (in which written texts and symbolic representations combined to present a consistent worldview) and then its practical operations (heavily dependent on kinship, marriage and patronage networks). Though it focuses on the period from Ivan III (r. 1462–1505) to the end of the seventeenth century, the chapter ends by considering the impact of Peter I (r. 1682–1725). Change trumped continuity with regard to political culture. Yet, even as they constructed a political rhetoric and elite culture on Western models, Peter and his successors echoed traditional Muscovy in their evocations of Orthodoxy, their patronage and largesse, and their patrimonial claims to power. And they achieved time-honoured Muscovite goals by maintaining stability among factional groups, enriching their elites, expanding the Empire and presiding over dynamic economic growth.


Author(s):  
Gabriel Gherasim

In the troubling sixteenth century political and religious turmoil in Europe - and particularly in France - the cosmopolitan personality of Michel de Montaigne is not only indicative for acknowledging the more and more meddling resources of culture within the realm of politics, but is also explanatory for reforming and expanding the instruments of traditional diplomacy. Specifically, the consequential insights of Montaigne's post-Renaissance humanist stance highly impacted upon certain salient developments in the field of cultural diplomacy that could be analytically framed as i) a personal imprint on reforming political culture(s) tantamount to a conspicuous signature in the field of cultural pedagogy, and ii) a commendable approach to cultural pluralism, and an influential modus operandi in the practice of cultural relations. The present study purports to reflect upon the rise of modern cultural diplomacy through highlighting the impact of the above-mentioned traits on further developments of the field in one of the most characteristic figures of early modernity, Michel de Montaigne.


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