Explaining the Crisis and Electoral Decline of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the Era of Welfare State Retrenchment: 2002-2012

Jörg Michael Dostal 한독사회과학회 2012 한독사회과학논총 Vol.22 No.4

본 논문에서는 2002년 이후 하르츠(Hartz) 개혁 당시 독일 복지국가 축소에 있어서 독일사회민주당(SPD)이 주도적인 역할을 한 사실과 SPD 지지자의 급격한 감소 사이에 어떠한 상관관계가 있는지를 분석한다. 또한, SPD의 최근 정치사를 검토해봄으로써 게르하르트 슈뢰더(Gerhard Schröder) 정부가 SPD의 핵심 지지자들을 이탈하게 만든 복지삭감정책을 어떻게 발전시켰는지를 설명한다. 결론에서는 복지삭감정책이 선거에서 성공적으로 경쟁하기 위한 SPD의 능력에 대하여 어떻게 새로운 구조적 장애물을 만들어내는지 설명하기 위하여 정당 사회학자인 오토 키르크하이머(Otto Kirchheimer)의 포괄정당론(catch-all party theory)에 대하여 언급한다.

2022년 오스트리아 대통령 선거. 역할 포기, 역할 양면성, 역할 확장 속에서의 국가기구

Jorg Michael Dostal 한독사회과학회 2022 한독사회과학논총 Vol.32 No.4

Since 1951, the Austrian federal president is the only political representative directly elected by the people. This article analyzes the Austrian federal presidential election of 2022 as a case study in order to examine the political significance of this state office. First, the path dependency of the office in the First (1919-1934) and Second Republic (since 1945) is presented (section II). Next, the constitutional power resources of the federal president are examined (section III), and the relationship between the federal presidency and the other elements of the political system is further discussed (section IV). In section V, the federal election campaign of 2022 is analyzed with a focus on sociological concepts deriving from Pierre Bourdieu. It scrutinizes how the six candidates who challenged the incumbent Alexander Van der Bellen apply different forms of ‘political capital’ such as habitus, lifestyle, media access, and strategic choice of discourse. The conclusion of the paper points to the confirmation of path dependency with regard to the federal presidency, i.e. the role renunciation of the incumbent Van der Bellen was confirmed, while demands for role expansion were defeated in the 2022 campaign.

Germany’s Corona Crisis : The Authoritarian Turn in Public Policy and the Rise of the Biosecurity State (2020-2022)

Jörg Michael Dostal 한독사회과학회 2022 한독사회과학논총 Vol.32 No.1

이 논문은 2020년 1월부터 2022년 1월까지의 독일의 코로나바이러스 감염증-19 위기대응정책에 대해 연구한다. 이 시기는 크게 4단계로 구분하여 분석할 수 있다. 위기대응정책의 모든 단계는 증가하는 권위주의와 불확실하고 결함 있는 커뮤니케이션으로 특징지어진다. 전 기간에 걸쳐, 정책은 정부로부터 자금 지원을 받는 연구 기관들을 통해 상호 연결되어있는 폐쇄적인 자문 그룹에 의해 결정되었다. 다른 전문가들은 토론과 의사 결정에서 제외되었다. 정치는 거의 전적으로 mRNA 백신 캠페인의 빠른 실행에만 초점이 맞추어 졌다. 즉, 위기가 제약회사의 개입을 통해 해결될 수 있는 것처럼 묘사되었다. 이 전략은 새로운 형태의 권위주의 국가성, 즉 '바이오안전 국가 (biosecurity state)’의 도입을 의미한다. 제2장부터 4장에서는 코로나바이러스 감염증 -19 위기 발생 이후 독일 정부 정책에서의 행위자, 이념 및 조직의 영향에 관해 고찰한다. 결론적으로 본 연구는 위기 상황에서 독일의 투명하지 않은 폐쇄적인 정치과정이 자유 민주주의의 규범과 가치를 심각하게 침해하고 있다는 것을 주장한다. This article examines Corona crisis policies in Germany between January 2020 and March 2022. During this period, Corona crisis management can be analytically disaggregated into four different time periods. Each stage of policy-making included steadily growing authoritarianism combined with unclear objectives and erratic communication. Throughout the entire period, policy-making was driven by a closed community of advisors linked to government-financed research institutes, while other groups of experts were excluded from deliberation and decision-making. The almost single-minded emphasis on the rapid rollout of mRNA ‘vaccines’, i.e. efforts to ‘solve’ the crisis by way of pharmaceutical intervention, results currently in the imposition of a new form of authoritarian statehood, namely a ‘biosecurity state’. The three substantial chapters in this paper (II-IV) will discuss, in turn, how actors, ideas, and institutions affected German government policies since the start of the Corona crisis. It is argued that Germany’s closed style of policy-making under crisis conditions severely undermines the norms and values of liberal democracy.

Germany’s Corona Crisis: The State of Emergency and Policy (Mis)learning

Jörg Michael Dostal 한독사회과학회 2021 한독사회과학논총 Vol.31 No.1

본 연구에서는 2020년 1월부터 2021년 3월까지의 독일의 코로나 위기관리정책을 분 석하였다. 이 논문에서는 두 가지의 이론적인 전망을 제시하였다. 첫째, “위기상황”의 국 가의 개입과 자유민주주의 정치에 대한 그 영향력에 관한 것으로서, 공론장이 폐쇄되고 탑다운 방식의 행정명령적인 정치로의 대체를 꼽을 수 있다. 둘째, 위기환경에서 정치적 인 학습의 다양한 형태를 다루었다. 정치적인 학습이 이루어져야 하는 장이 폐쇄되었기 때문에, 독일 정부 위기관리는 효율적인 정책 실행에는 실패했다는 점이 요지이다. 이로 써 위기는 비효율성과 연결된 권위주의와 결합되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 독일 연방정부, 주정부, 지방자치단체의 ‘슬로우’에 대한 다양한 분석틀이 소개되고 평가된다. This article analyzes Germany’s policy-making in response to the Corona crisis between January 2020 and March 2021. Two theoretical perspectives are advanced. The first concerns how the government’s imposition of a ‘state of emergency’ affects liberal democratic policy-making resulting in the closure of deliberation in favor of top-down imposition. The second perspective looks at different types of policy learning under crisis conditions. The central thesis is that Germany’s emergency regime failed to facilitate effective policy-making since it closed down venues in which policy learning could occur. Thus, the state of emergency combined authoritarianism and inefficiency. A variety of explanations are advanced to clarify causes for the sluggishness of the German federal, regional, and local government levels to meet Corona-related challenges.

Die „Zeitschrift für Geopolitik“ zwischen 1951 und 1968 : Korea-, Vietnam- und Kalter Krieg aus deutscher und eurasischer Sicht

Jörg Michael Dostal 한독사회과학회 2017 한독사회과학논총 Vol.27 No.4

본 논문은 지정학논총(Zeitschrift für Geopolitik)의 세 번째 출판시기를 연구한 것이다. 1951년부터 서독에서 출간된 이 시기의 잡지 편집자는 1951년부터 1955년까지 칼 하인츠 페퍼(Karl Heinz Pfeffer)였고, 1956년부터 1968년까지는 롤프 힌더(Rolf Hinder)였다. 물론 이 잡지는 이미 바이마르공화국과 나치독일에서 출간된 바 있다. 본 논문의 서론에서는 편집자이자 사회학 박사인 페퍼박사와 힌더박사에 대해 짧게 소개한다. 제2장에서는 고전적인 지정학자인 알프레드 T. 마한(Alfred T. Mahan), 핼포드 J. 맥킨더(Halford J. Mackinder), 지정학논총의 창간시기인 1924년에서 1944년까지의 편집자 인 칼 하우스호퍼(Karl Haushofer)와 니콜라스 J. 스파이크맨(Nicholas J. Spykman) 의 4명의 사상가에 대해 설명한다. 여기서 이들의 냉전에 대한 때로는 모순적인 생각들이 어떻게 이용 되었는지 보여줄 것이다. 제3장과 제4장에서는 서독의 “내셔널 중립주의”의 발전시도를 다루고, 이어서 부분적으로 냉전 중의 한국전쟁과 베트남전쟁의 경험에 반응하여 형성된 권력비판적이고 평화적인 입장에 대한 지정학논총의 관심을 다룬다. 결론 부분에서는 한편으로 유라시아 대륙의 블록 아이디어의 의미와 다른 한편에서는 미국, 러시아와 중국 사이의 현재진행중인 갈등 속에서 글로벌한 헤게모니 요구 (고전적인 지정학의 사고형태)의 지속적인 중요성을 강조하고자 한다. This article examines the third publishing period of the ‘Journal of Geopolitics’ (Zeitschrift für Geopolitik) following its re-founding in the Federal Republic of Germany under the editorship of sociologists Karl Heinz Pfeffer (1951 to 1956) and Rolf Hinder (1956 to 1968). The monthly journal had already been published in two earlier periods, namely in Weimar Republic Germany and under the Nazi regime (1924-1944). The first section provides some biographical background on the two editors Pfeffer and Hinder. The second part discusses four classical geopolitical thinkers, namely Alfred T. Mahan, Halford J. Mackinder, Karl Haushofer (the founding editor of the Journal of Geopolitics in charge of the publication between 1924 and 1944), and Nicholas J. Spykman. This section further examines how their often rather contradictory geopolitical ideas were applied during the Cold War period. The third and fourth parts deal with efforts to develop a West German ‘national neutralism’ during the Cold War, examining shifts in the journal’s political line away from power politics and in favor of pacifism, which was at least partially motivated by the experience of the wars in Korea and Vietnam. The conclusion highlights the ongoing relevance of ideas of a Eurasian continental bloc, on the one hand, and of demands for global hegemony on the other – major themes of classical geopolitical thinking – in contemporary conflicts between the USA, Russia, and China.

The Developmental Welfare State and Social Policy: Shifting From Basic to Universal Social Protection

Jörg Michael Dostal 서울대학교행정대학원 2010 Journal of Policy Studies Vol.25 No.3

Most people would agree that developing countries should advance from basic, informal, and insecure welfare provision toward universal, formal,and secure welfare regimes. This article examines how analytical concepts of developmental statehood and developmental welfare statehood might be applied to this issue. In particular, how is it possible to combine economic and social development objectives in a mutually beneficial manner? The article reviews the history of both concepts and some of their shortcomings; examines policy features of developmental (welfare) statehood, focusing on the examples of South Korea and four other countries that have frequently been referred to as “East Asian welfare regimes”; and explores some policy options for developing countries seeking to expand their economic and social policy-making capabilities.

The German Political Economy Between Deregulation and Re-regulation: Party Discourses on Minimum Wage Policies

Jorg Michael Dostal 서울대학교행정대학원 2012 Journal of Policy Studies Vol.27 No.2

In the German political economy of the early 21st century, labor market policymaking has shifted toward deregulation and liberalization. In particular, the so-called Hartz labor market reforms of the Social Democratic Party and Green Party government, introduced in 2002 and 2003, pushed for employment growth in low-wage and deregulated employment sectors. This article focuses on one of the key debates triggered by Germany’s labor market deregulation after 2002, namely whether the introduction of a statutory minimum wage is required to re-regulate the country’s labor market. Based on interviews with members of the five political parties in the German federal parliament and analysis of each party’s policy-making discourses over time (2002-2012), the article suggests that the deregulation of the last decade has triggered demand for new policies of re-regulation. This would include the introduction of a statutory minimum wage in Germany at some future point in time. However, such re-regulation does not question earlier labor market liberalization but serves as a political side-payment to ingrain the shift of the German political economy toward a more liberal regime.

Nigerian Pension Reform 2004-2010: Great Leap or Inappropriate Policy Design?

Jorg Michael Dostal 서울대학교행정대학원 2010 Journal of Policy Studies Vol.25 No.2

This paper analyses early results of the 2004 Nigerian pension reform. At the beginning of 2010, the new system of privately managed, funded pension accounts covered around four million Nigerians in a country with a workforce of around 50 million people. The study focuses on shortcomings of the new system. Most crucially, the reform has failed to contribute to basic social security in old age for the majority of Nigerians employed in the informal sector. Moreover, the minority of covered workers are also likely to experience problems. The study demonstrates in a model calculation that the funded accounts have so far produced negative real returns for pension savers. It is suggested that shortcomings of the current system are unlikely to be addressed by reform within the existing paradigm and that alternative policies, such as non-contributory universal social pensions, should be considered to expand basic social security in the Nigerian context.

A Historical-Institutionalist Analysis of the MV Sewol and MS Estonia Tragedies: Policy Lessons from Sweden for South Korea

Jorg Michael Dostal,Hyun-Jin Kim,Albin Ringstad 서울대학교행정대학원 2015 Journal of Policy Studies Vol.30 No.1

On April 16, 2014, the South Korean ship MV Sewol sank, claiming the lives of 304 passengers. The accident appeared to observers to be a manmade disaster, since all the passengers could have been rescued if adequate safety measures and disaster management procedures had been in place. The Sewol sinking has subsequently turned into a focusing event in terms of safety policy debates in South Korea. On September 28, 1994, the Swedish ship MS Estonia sank, claiming the lives of 852 people. This earlier tragedy was also a focusing event in the context of Swedish debates about safety policies. In this article, South Korean and Swedish safety policies are analyzed from a historical-institutionalist perspective. While Swedish disaster prevention systems have generally performed well in a virtuous cycle, those of South Korea have performed poorly in a vicious cycle. The article highlights how South Korean policy makers might use Swedish policies, developed in response to the 1994 MS Estonia accident, to improve their safety policies. In addition, we suggest that long-term policies focusing on comprehensive social welfare and the pooling of risks are required to restore citizens’ trust in government and to transform South Korea from a low safety into a high safety society.

From Fragile to Collapsed Statehood: The Case of the Republic of Yemen (1990-2020)

Jorg Michael Dostal 서울대학교행정대학원 2021 Journal of Policy Studies Vol.36 No.1

The unification of the two Yemeni states–the northern Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) and the southern People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), respectively–in 1990 has been a resounding failure. Merging the tribal-dominated northern and state-party dominated southern regimes meant increasing the number of factions competing for access to state resources to satisfy material and security needs of their respective networks of influence. In particular, efforts at growing the resource base of the unified state after 1990, by means of an expansion of oil and gas exploration and extraction, raised the revenue base of the state in an unsustainable manner. Such growth in national oil and gas rents increased rather than decreased competition over state authority to control the spoils. The major subsequent events, such as the 1994 civil war, the 2004-2010 “Saada wars” against the Houthi movement, the Yemeni version of the “Arab Spring” in 2011, the failure of the National Dialogue Conference (March 2013-January 2014), and the start of the Saudi and Emirati bombing campaign and subsequent ground war in Yemen since March 2015 all triggered major clashes between different factions of the Yemeni state bureaucracy, army, and civil society. On each of these occasions, efforts to freeze out some Yemeni actors produced escalating conflict between the remaining factions instead of a winning coalition that could have reestablished a degree of stability. The article explains how local, regional, and global factors have jointly overwhelmed the Yemeni actors, and how foreign intervention has led to the further deterioration of the pre-existing national crisis.