Fritz Plasser - Böcker

Plasser examines the changing practices of election campaigning worldwide. Based on data of an indepth survey of campaign managers and political consultants from 43 countries, he provides insights into the professional role definitions and strategic orientations determining the future of electioneering in media-centered democracies.The first section gives a state-of-the-art overview of the international literature and modernization theories describing and analyzing the ongoing process of modernization and growing professionalization of electioneering around the world. The second section deals with the topic of an Americanization of campaign practices in countries fundamentally different from the United States from a diffusion point of view. A special focus is the role of U.S. overseas consultants in influencing and modifying campaign practices in foreign countries based on indepth interviews about the professional experiences of leading figures of the Americans overseas consultancy business. The third section deals with central features of campaign practices from a comparative perspective and provides information and data about the media infrastructure and political culture indicators for 50 countries as well as a detailed comparison of country-specific campaign regulations, party system features, and campaign styles. The fourth section focuses on the results of Plasser's Global Political Consultancy Survey among 592 campaign professionals from 43 countries. The results of this first worldwide survey offer insights into professional orientations, role definitions, and practices of campaign managers and political consultants throughout the world. The fifth section discusses different area- and country-specific campaign styles from a comparative perspective. The final chapters present a global typology of distinct campaign styles across the world, summarize the central findings, and link them to the ongoing debate about the future of electioneering in media-centered democracies. An essential research tool for scholars, students, and other researchers involved with comparative electioneering, political management, and political communication.

First published in 1989. Political science in Austria is a relatively young discipline. It began to gradually establish itself in the 60's and only as recently as 1971 was it anchored in the curriculum of Austrian universities as a separate field of study. With the present book in English the editors hope to stimulate the interest of international social scientists in Austria, to overcome language barriers, and to make the topical problems and developments of Austrian democracy accessible to an international reading public. The book is intended to reflect the current state of a discipline-political science. However, it is also to be a contribution to the further development of this discipline. It should stimulate further, intensive and critical occupation with the theme "parties and the party system in Austria."

First published in 1989. Political science in Austria is a relatively young discipline. It began to gradually establish itself in the 60's and only as recently as 1971 was it anchored in the curriculum of Austrian universities as a separate field of study. With the present book in English the editors hope to stimulate the interest of international social scientists in Austria, to overcome language barriers, and to make the topical problems and developments of Austrian democracy accessible to an international reading public. The book is intended to reflect the current state of a discipline-political science. However, it is also to be a contribution to the further development of this discipline. It should stimulate further, intensive and critical occupation with the theme "parties and the party system in Austria."

How have Europe's mainstream political parties responded to the long-term decline in voter loyalties?

What are the consequences of this change in the electoral markets in which parties now operate?

Popular disengagement, disaffection, and withdrawal on the one hand, and increasing popular support for protest parties on the other, have become the hallmarks of modern European politics.

This book provides an excellent account of how political parties in Western Europe are perceiving and are responding to these contemporary challenges of electoral dealignment.

Each chapter employs a common format to present and compare the changing strategies of established parties and party systems in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, and Ireland.

The result is an invaluable portrait of the changing electoral environment and how parties are interacting with each another and voters today.

Political Parties and Electoral Change is essential reading for anybody seeking a deeper understanding of contemporary electoral politics and of the challenges facing west European party systems.

Peter Mair is Professor of Comparative Politics at Leiden University.

Wolfgang C. M ller is Professor of Political Science at the University of Mannheim and previously taught at the University of Vienna.

Fritz Plasser is Professor of Political Science at the University of Innsbruck.

How have Europe's mainstream political parties responded to the long-term decline in voter loyalties?

What are the consequences of this change in the electoral markets in which parties now operate?

Popular disengagement, disaffection, and withdrawal on the one hand, and increasing popular support for protest parties on the other, have become the hallmarks of modern European politics.

This book provides an excellent account of how political parties in Western Europe are perceiving and are responding to these contemporary challenges of electoral dealignment.

Each chapter employs a common format to present and compare the changing strategies of established parties and party systems in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, and Ireland.

The result is an invaluable portrait of the changing electoral environment and how parties are interacting with each another and voters today.

Political Parties and Electoral Change is essential reading for anybody seeking a deeper understanding of contemporary electoral politics and of the challenges facing west European party systems.

Peter Mair is Professor of Comparative Politics at Leiden University.

Wolfgang C. M ller is Professor of Political Science at the University of Mannheim and previously taught at the University of Vienna.

Fritz Plasser is Professor of Political Science at the University of Innsbruck.

For more than a generation after World War II, offi cial government doctrine and many Austrians insisted they had been victims of Nazi aggression in 1938 and, therefore, bore no responsibility for German war crimes. During the past twenty years this myth has been revised to include a more complex past, one with both Austrian perpetrators and victims.Part one describes soldiers from Austria who fought in the German Wehrmacht, a history only recently unearthed. Richard Germann covers units and theaters Austrian fought in, while Th omas Grischany demonstrates how well they fought. Ela Hornung looks at case studies of denunciation of fellow soldiers, while Barbara Stelzl-Marx analyzes Austrian soldiers who were active in resistance at the end of the war. Stefan Karner summarizes POW treatment on the Eastern front. Part two deals with the increasingly diffi cult life on the Austrian homefront. Fritz Keller takes a look at how Vienna survived growing food shortages. Ingrid Bhler takes a rare look at life in small-town Austria. Andrea Strutz analyzes narratives of Jewish refugees forced to leave for the United States. Peter Ruggenthaler and Philipp Lesiak examine the use of slave laborers. And Brigitte Kepplinger summarizes the Nazi euthanasia program.The third part deals with legacies of the war, particularly postwar restitution and memory issues. Based on new sources from Soviet archives, Nikita Petrov describes the Red Army liberation. Winfried Garscha analyzes postwar war crimes trials against Austrians. Brigitte Bailer-Galanda and Eva Blimlinger present a survey of postwar restitution of property. And Heidemarie Uhl deals with Austrian memories of the war.

Contemporary philosophy has reasserted the belief that philosophy has practical tasks. This turn reflects an understanding that the life of the individual and the community is not molded merely by personal needs and fortunes but also by the strength of dominant ideas. For Nicolai Hartmann, ideas are spiritual powers belonging to the realm of thought, but thought has its own strict discipline and critique of events. In his view, theory must include within its scope problems of the contemporary world and cooperation in work that needs doing.New Ways of Ontology stands in opposition to the tradition of Heidegger. With deep appreciation of the history of philosophical controversy, Hartmann divides mistakes of the old ontology into those related to its method and those concerning its content. Hartmann finds a common mistake behind methodological approaches inspired by late German romanticism in attempts to develop a complete systematic account of the categories of being not only of the ideal, but of real being.The main task of New Ways of Ontology is to reveal and analyze interdependences and interconnections. The divisions of being and becoming, of the separation of existence and essence, as well as the old view that the real and the ideal exclude each other, require revision. For Hartmann, whose ideas take us close to modern social science research, ontology is the neutral category that includes subject and object, and gets beyond old realism and modern idealism alike.

Compared to the late 1970s, when the Austrian voting behavior was characterized by extraordinary stability, low electoral volatility, and high turnout rates, the 1980s and 1990s stand for exceptional changes and ruptures elicited primarily by the rise of the right wing populist FPi (Freedom Party of Austria). This volume of collected papers investigates the permanent changes of Austrian voting behavior over the past forty years and analyzes causes and consequences for party competition and the electoral process in Austria during the first decade of the twenty-first century.Some of the contributions include Oliver Rathkolb's wide-ranging historical typology which addresses the Austrian voters in the twentieth century from the perspective of expanding voting laws and the struggle for political participation and integration. Based on compact trend data of Austrian Election Studies, Fritz Plasser and Peter A. Ulram present an empirical overview of trends and patterns in Austrian voting behavior covering the period from 1970 to 2006. Both the rising electoral volatility and the permanent increase of constant non-voters since the 1980s are dealt with. The development and dynamics of regional elections in Austria since the mid-1980s are reconstructed and related to the electoral behavior on the federal level.Kurt Richard Luther analyzes electoral strategies and the rise and fall of Austrian right wing populism from 1986 to 2006, focusing in particular upon changing styles of electoral mobilization. The media's role in framing the Austrian campaign discourse and the specific characteristics of campaign coverage in Austria are also in focus. This well-conceived volume also contains review essays, book reviews, and the annual review of Austrian politics. A mandatory selection for the bookshelves of all those interested in Austria or European Studies, this book provides invaluable information regarding the electoral process in Austria.

Compared to the late 1970s, when the Austrian voting behavior was characterized by extraordinary stability, low electoral volatility, and high turnout rates, the 1980s and 1990s stand for exceptional changes and ruptures elicited primarily by the rise of the right wing populist FPi (Freedom Party of Austria). This volume of collected papers investigates the permanent changes of Austrian voting behavior over the past forty years and analyzes causes and consequences for party competition and the electoral process in Austria during the first decade of the twenty-first century.Some of the contributions include Oliver Rathkolb's wide-ranging historical typology which addresses the Austrian voters in the twentieth century from the perspective of expanding voting laws and the struggle for political participation and integration. Based on compact trend data of Austrian Election Studies, Fritz Plasser and Peter A. Ulram present an empirical overview of trends and patterns in Austrian voting behavior covering the period from 1970 to 2006. Both the rising electoral volatility and the permanent increase of constant non-voters since the 1980s are dealt with. The development and dynamics of regional elections in Austria since the mid-1980s are reconstructed and related to the electoral behavior on the federal level.Kurt Richard Luther analyzes electoral strategies and the rise and fall of Austrian right wing populism from 1986 to 2006, focusing in particular upon changing styles of electoral mobilization. The media's role in framing the Austrian campaign discourse and the specific characteristics of campaign coverage in Austria are also in focus. This well-conceived volume also contains review essays, book reviews, and the annual review of Austrian politics. A mandatory selection for the bookshelves of all those interested in Austria or European Studies, this book provides invaluable information regarding the electoral process in Austria.

For more than a generation after World War II, offi cial government doctrine and many Austrians insisted they had been victims of Nazi aggression in 1938 and, therefore, bore no responsibility for German war crimes. During the past twenty years this myth has been revised to include a more complex past, one with both Austrian perpetrators and victims.Part one describes soldiers from Austria who fought in the German Wehrmacht, a history only recently unearthed. Richard Germann covers units and theaters Austrian fought in, while Th omas Grischany demonstrates how well they fought. Ela Hornung looks at case studies of denunciation of fellow soldiers, while Barbara Stelzl-Marx analyzes Austrian soldiers who were active in resistance at the end of the war. Stefan Karner summarizes POW treatment on the Eastern front. Part two deals with the increasingly diffi cult life on the Austrian homefront. Fritz Keller takes a look at how Vienna survived growing food shortages. Ingrid Bhler takes a rare look at life in small-town Austria. Andrea Strutz analyzes narratives of Jewish refugees forced to leave for the United States. Peter Ruggenthaler and Philipp Lesiak examine the use of slave laborers. And Brigitte Kepplinger summarizes the Nazi euthanasia program.The third part deals with legacies of the war, particularly postwar restitution and memory issues. Based on new sources from Soviet archives, Nikita Petrov describes the Red Army liberation. Winfried Garscha analyzes postwar war crimes trials against Austrians. Brigitte Bailer-Galanda and Eva Blimlinger present a survey of postwar restitution of property. And Heidemarie Uhl deals with Austrian memories of the war.

Contemporary philosophy has reasserted the belief that philosophy has practical tasks. This turn reflects an understanding that the life of the individual and the community is not molded merely by personal needs and fortunes but also by the strength of dominant ideas. For Nicolai Hartmann, ideas are spiritual powers belonging to the realm of thought, but thought has its own strict discipline and critique of events. In his view, theory must include within its scope problems of the contemporary world and cooperation in work that needs doing.New Ways of Ontology stands in opposition to the tradition of Heidegger. With deep appreciation of the history of philosophical controversy, Hartmann divides mistakes of the old ontology into those related to its method and those concerning its content. Hartmann finds a common mistake behind methodological approaches inspired by late German romanticism in attempts to develop a complete systematic account of the categories of being—not only of the ideal, but of real being.The main task of New Ways of Ontology is to reveal and analyze interdependences and interconnections. The divisions of being and becoming, of the separation of existence and essence, as well as the old view that the real and the ideal exclude each other, require revision. For Hartmann, whose ideas take us close to modern social science research, ontology is the neutral category that includes subject and object, and gets beyond old realism and modern idealism alike.