Jörg Kemmerzell

Understanding variations in party bans in Africa

The article is interested in the main reasons for the emergence and enforcement of party bans in sub-Saharan Africa. While the introduction of legal provisions that allow for the banning of particularistic political parties is the standard on the African continent, few countries actually use these provisions and actually deny registration or ban existing parties. We use qualitative comparative analysis to compare the introduction of party bans and the patterns of implementation across all sub-Saharan countries. Our analysis shows that structural conditions do matter. Countries that did not introduce legal provisions to ban political parties combine a British colonial background and a stronger tradition of multi-party democracy. With regard to the decision to actually use these provisions our analysis shows the interaction of two conditions to be decisive: Countries which have experienced ethnically motivated violence in the past and which are at the same time ‘liberalizing’ their regimes rely on party bans to restrict political party competition.

Why there is no party ban in the South African constitution

With the decision to abstain from introducing a constitutional provision for the banning of particularistic and extremist parties South Africa appears to be the exception in Africa. This article is interested in the main reasons for this particular constitutional practice. For this purpose three hypotheses will be developed. The article argues that the structures of South Africas transition to democracy, in particular the beliefs, experiences, and interests of the main transition actors, account for this specific constitutional choice.

Überlokales Handeln in der lokalen Klimapolitik. Eine Brücke zwischen globalem Anspruch und lokaler Implementation

Der Klimawandel gilt vielen Beobachtern als Musterbeispiel eines wicked problem. Er uberschreitet funktionale, territoriale und temporale Grenzen, weshalb klimapolitische Strategien per se in eine Struktur der Multilevel Governance eingebettet sind. Die lokale Ebene nimmt darin nicht nur als Ort der Umsetzung globaler, europaischer oder nationaler Klimaziele eine prominente Rolle ein, sondern auch als Ort, an dem klimapolitische Innovationen und deren Diffusion stattfinden. Zu ihrer Umsetzung greifen Stadte wiederum gezielt auf Aktivitaten im uberlokalen Handlungsraum zuruck. Anhand der Klimapolitik in drei deutschen Grosstadten untersucht dieser Beitrag Mechanismen uberlokalen Handelns, die lokalen Akteuren klimapolitische Handlungsfahigkeit verleihen. Diese Mechanismen sind hinreichend abstrakt formuliert, um stadtubergreifend untersucht zu werden, ihre Wirkung variiert jedoch in Abhangigkeit stadtspezifischer Bedingungen.

Postdemokratie als hybrides Regime

Der Begriff der Postdemokratie hat breite Resonanz in Wissenschaft und politischer Offentlichkeit gefunden. Dabei enthalt er, in seinem empirischen Gehalt insbesondere von Colin Crouch gepragt, Implikationen auf einer Vielzahl von Betrachtungsebenen. In diesem Beitrag soll es darum gehen, eine analytische Fassung des Begriffs zu umreisen und der Frage nachzugehen, inwiefern die Postdemokratie als ein politisches Regime mit systematisch abgrenzbaren Merkmalen verstanden werden kann.

Innovations in European Climate Governance and Their Impact on Local Climate Policy: An Analysis of German Major Cities

Cities and urban regions are not only the main originators of global climate change but particularly places where innovations towards a low carbon transition take place. Notably in the European context, local climate change policies are embedded in a dense structure of multilevel governance arrangements. On the level of the European Union, various instruments address climate change. With regard to climate change mitigation, policies usually are part of general long-term strategies, like the Climate and Energy Package of 2008 and its successor, the Climate and Energy Framework of 2014. This chapter concentrates on two facets of multilevel governance: first, the involvement of cities in vertical climate governance and second, their participation in horizontal structures of climate governance. The European Commission became an actor in this arena not only by setting up funding schemes but also by the founding of the Covenant of Mayors. The main research question of the chapter is: Does the inclusion of cities in multilevel governance structures and particularly the Covenant of Mayors have an impact on local climate policy? While vertical and horizontal activities show both a significant influence on the scope of local climate policy, membership in the Covenant seems to be rather an add-on for cities that are already active in climate change mitigation.