Die Zeit der Entscheidung. Kontingenz, Ambiguität und die Politisierung der Politik - Ein Versuch 
Friedbert W. Rüb, Universität Hamburg
The paper challenges rationalist theories of politics by pointing out that decisionmaking is increasingly subject to contingencies. Modern policy analysis is characterized by a problemsolving bias that stands in the way of an adequate description of political reality. Political actors' strategies to cope with increasing contingencies are discussed and an alternative framework for analysis is proposed and outlined.
Rationalität und Deliberation. Grenzen und Möglichkeiten einer Verbindung von Rational Choice- und Diskurstheorie
Claudia Landwehr, Universität Hamburg
Within democratic theory, rational choice theories are regarded as conflicting with theories of deliberative democracy. I argue that the central analytical contrast between these theories consists in their differing focus on preferences: while rational choice takes them to be stable for the time frame in question and exogenous to the decision process to be analysed, deliberative theory is concerned with their formation and transformation. The latter tends to reduce preferences to beliefs, disregarding the impact of stable and exogenous interests, while the former devotes too little attention to the formation and revision of preferences within decision processes. Where decision processes display features of bargaining as well as deliberation, a model of preferences that accommodates both stability and transformation seems to be required. I propose such a model, which regards preferences as derived and relatively stable. The model suspends the classical distinction between desire-based and value-based preferences and incorporates both utility-maximising and argumentative rationality, claiming that we need both in every decision – the former to choose the relevant dimension and the latter to assess the options within it.
Von der Staatsgründung zu den neuen Historikern - Israels Identität im Wandel
Thorsten Thiel, RWTH Aachen
Assuming the thesis that the formation of a collective memory is a decisive roadblock on the way to peace negotiations in the middle-East conflict, this article examines the development of Israeli identity. In doing so, the focus is on the influence of political myths on national unity during the settlement period. Furthermore, the memory of the Shoah holds great significance for the Israeli self-perception. The discourse on this topic has changed since the 1960s – with the positive consequence that suffering is acknowledged, and the disadvantage that the standpoint of the victim complicates negotiations. Since the end of the 1980s, the topic of dealing with national narratives has been critically discussed in Israel. The argument initiated by the “New Historians” is interpreted as a consequence of intra-Israeli diversification. Overall, this discourse has been profitable, although the historical sciences have gained less than expected. While de-mythologisation now applies only to a moderate portion of the society, on the widening margins safety-mindedness and religious legitimation prevent the admission of personal errors.
Der Technik Kern - soziale Folgen technischer Innovationen am Beispiel des Tonträgers
Markus R. Friederici / Frank Schulz / Matthias-S. Stromeyer, Hamburg
The meaning of sound carriers for music culture as well as its meaning for socialisation seems to be well-known. But empirical data in this area - in spite of their high social relevance – are scarce and superficial. The change of the media scenery with regard to electronic data highways and apparently unrestricted storage capacities of suitable media has forced the sound carrier industry to act – which necessitates a basic discussion about economic and legal, but also social results of music communication. Hence, the purpose of the present paper is to characterize the sound carrier in its function as a socio-technical system to document consequences of technical innovations.