Trust in Leadership. Some observations on the process of trust building in the German Bundestag and the German Cabinet

Interpersonal trust has a significant impact on the government in parliamentary democracies. On the basis of a qualitative survey this study discusses in detail how German chancellors are able to contribute to the trust building process within the cabinet, the coalition and the (parliamentary) party. Within the analysis various ways of trust building are differentiated. A typological classification shows that the personality of the individual head of government impacts on the trust building process.

Realism in International Legislation

The status of ‘international law’ is examined critically. In the first section, the basis of (national) legislation is described. This consists of an inquiry into a credible meaning of ‘natural law’. It is focused on the question whether universal principles exist and, if so, of what kind. Section 2 deals with the issue of enforcement. National legislation invariably realizes this, but this is not obvious at the international level. Section 3 deals with human rights. It is discussed whether their presence points to the existence of ‘international law’. To this end, a possible reason for these rights to have developed is expounded.

Will Dutch-style managed competition work in the Irish health system?

In early 2011 the new Irish government announced its intention to implement a model of "managed competition" inspired by the Dutch insurance reform of 2006 (Ryan and Mikkers 2011). This is to replace the central role of government in financing and providing health care services with a system of competing health insurers who are to contract health care services on behalf of their insured. The assumptions of "managed competition" (or “consumer-driven health care“) are fourfold: that health insurers are willing and able to selectively contract and pay hospitals and other health care providers; that providers are keen to offer better and cheaper care than their competitors; and that insured and patients will act as well-informed and critical consumers in selecting the insurance plan that best fits their needs; and that governments will (mostly) keep their hands off and let the market do the work in allocating scare health resources efficiently (see Enthoven and Van de Ven 2007; Bernstein 2011). Full Opinion piece pending final approval