Political Science

This paper focuses on the financing patterns of R&D (research and experimental development) in Germany. Primarily we reflected on the experiences of West Germany and the method of our analysis is based on expert interviews, of which most were carried out in December 1992. A twofold approach was followed. (1) Firstly, the structural framework of the German R&D system, and its financing, are described with a particular emphasis on the policy profiles of the DFG (German Research Society) and the BMFT (Federal Ministry of Research and Technology). Additionally, we also covered the latest trends in the financing of academic research. (2) Secondly, we aimed at three German success models for the financing of R&D. These are: – The Verbund-Research (Collaborative Research) of the BMFT: Within this scheme academic and industrial research partners are linked and the BMFT only partially finances those clusters (the threshold of financing for the BMFT is 50%). – The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FhG/Fraunhofer Society): The FhG, a nonuniversity research network, has a mixed funding base, consisting of three components – public basic funding, public contract funding and private (industrial) contract funding. – The implementation of foundations: The two major German foundations, the Volkswagen Foundation (VW-Stiftung) and the Environment Foundation (Umwelt-Stiftung), originated from the privatization of public industrial ownership. The German foundations play a key role for the financing of R&D and developed, through a special policy profile, a division of labor with public institutions (like the DFG and BMFT).

This essay deals with two questions: Is an internal pluralism of cultures compatible with the basic norms of a political order supported by principles of liberalism and democracy? Can societies remain integrated at the level of territorial political communities when they become increasingly mobile and open for international migration? Both questions are answered affirmatively, but with certain reservations against evolutionary optimism and cosmopolitan liberalism. Modernity has unleashed a dynamic of cultural homogenisation within nation-states, and at the global level, too. This has not eliminated cultural boundaries but rather turned them into political ones, charged with potentials for violent conflict. Liberal norms of tolerance are not strong enough to undermine the logics of nationalism and modern racism. New inclusive forms of democratic citizenship ought to represent rather than restrain internal cultural plurality, and at the same time provide incentives for boundary transgressions and against communal closure. With regard to the second question, there is a contradiction between the acceleration of international migrations on the one hand, and the need for stable and bounded membership in democratic polities on the other. This conflict can be resolved by developing transnational forms of citizenship which are based on territorial residence but allow for external, changing, and multiple forms of political membership. However, even if narrow conceptions of national sovereignty can be overcome, the national institutionalisation of social rights and the global gaps of unequal social citizenship still remain as the main obstacle for a universal right of free movement.

The aim of this paper is to approach comparatively the industrial policies for the rail-transportation industries. The central proposition of this concept, presented here, is, that no country can organize all industries equally competitive. Important is the existence of a strong nucleus. Such nuclei, labelled as »complexes«, cluster around specific product or market segments and major supplier companies, R&D facilities, institutions of finance and public agencies. The co-operative behavior (synergy) results from transactions of goods, services, information, know-how, personnel etc. For the Austrian industries one such nucleus is the complex of railtransportation, as sketched here. As of transportation and environmental issues the build-up of this complex has a very high priority in the Alpinetransit country Austria. Because of its ecological and social sensitiveness the rail-based transportation can expect major growth potentials. Important outputpotentials could be realized by the currently protected domestic industries and service companies if they are capable of competitively streamlining themselves for the slowly opening European market. For reasons like the small-size of the domestic suppliers and a high share of foreign companies in the area of equipment only a co-operative strategy appears viable by linking small-sized and medium-sized domestic enterprises with foreign corporations.

Actual macro-theories of nationalism lack a systematic integration into a metatheory. The paper proposes to use systems theory as a conceptual tool for this requirement by examining two of its branches. First, an attempt is made to determine a systematic location of the notion of nation in Niklas Luhmann's framework. Luhmann himself did not, until now, include the problem of nationalism into his concept. The author, therefore, proposes to embed the notion of nation into Luhmann's concept either by arguing that it refers to the scope of a political system or by arguing that it refers to the self-description of a society. It follows that any theory of the nation should be regarded as a »theory of reflection« (Reflexionstheorie) of a politically defined society. But, as a concept of identification cannot be formulated without referring to the individual, a purely systemic approach only describes half of the phenomenon. Therefore, second, the author takes up Peter M. Hejl's approach, which does not only use Humberto Maturana's concept of autopoiesis by analogy, but attempts to work out its consequences for social theory. Following this branch of systems theory, nationalism can be conceptualized as a consequence of the resurgence of competing self-descriptions inside one spatial unit. By combining the macro- and the micro-approaches in such a way, the crafting of a systemic theory of nationalism may be advanced.

In 1984 a comprehensive initiative was started in Nordrhein-Westfalen (FRG) aimed at the development and implementation of new technologies. Part of this initiative was a programme called "Mensch und Technik - Sozialverträgliche Technikgestaltung". This programme represents an innovative approach towards a socially oriented technology policy. The programme supports the industrial restructuring and modernization process which was enforced by the intensified international economic competition. The programme involves two strategies: a) developing alternative technological trajectories in the field of information and communication technology b) promoting joint efforts of a cooperative and participative design and implementation of new products and production processes. The article discusses the conceptual and organizational development of the programme and evaluates its outcome. Proposals are made as to how the efficiency of such a programme could be increased. Finally, the relevance of a socially oriented technology policy for Austria is assessed.

Is "neocorporatist concertation" an exportable product? Invented and made in Europe, can it be adopted and adapted in contexts so radically different as in Latin America? And if so, under what conditions? Looking through the Latin American discussion on "social concertation", as well as the North American and European literature on "neocorporatism", the present article tries to provide some systematical insights to this question. It argues that "discoursive" forms of macroeconomic decisionmaking are conditional upon five sets of factors: (1) logical preconditions (the existence of actors and their mutual recognition), (2) conditions of entry (the prevalence of consensual policy styles and recognized relations of interdependence), (3) acceptability of outcomes (the functional and strategic rationality of negotiation results), (4) the successfull management of temporal constraints (scarcity of time and uncertainty) and finally (5) the overcoming of "external" political constraints (intrastate and intraorganizational limiting factors). All these conditions of "social concertation" are highly demanding. Consequently, the article concludes that efforts of "neocorporatist" poliy-making in Latin America are feasible – while their probability of success is rather modest.

The starting point of the article is the controversy between French and German thought as presented by authors like, among others, Lyotard and Habermas. The ongoing debate about the status of (scientific) "knowledge", the crises of its foundations and the radical questioning of the concept of "reason" has led to the debate about "postmodernism". Substantial differences in the intentions, functions and meanings of French and German discourse are due to different theoretical approaches, intellectual traditions and disciplinary developments. Misunderstandings and distorted perceptions of the opponent's reasoning are rooted in these different perspectives. One of the main targets of polemic criticism is the notion of "consensus" which plays an important role in Habermas' theorizing. Wishing to prepare ground for sober discussion the article deals with the various meanings and changing roles of the notion of "consensus" in Habermas' thought. The author argues that the idea of "consensus" functions in Habermas' work as an instrument to explain the meaning of the concept of "truth" (chapter 2), to elaborate a strong but specified notion of "communicative reason" (chapter 3) and to lay the foundations for a critical theory of society (chapter 4). By isolating the philosophical and sociological meanings and implications of the notion of "consensus" the article provides evidence that there is more common ground between the disputants in other areas than one might have expected.