Polizeiliche Gesichtserkennung: Menschenrechtliche Herausforderungen einer Risikotechnologie

Der Einsatz von Systemen zur Gesichtserkennung durch die Polizei ist mit Risiken für Grund- und Menschenrechte verbunden. Die Analyse zeigt auf, welche grund-, menschen- und europarechtlichen Vorgaben zu beachten sind, wenn ein polizeilicher Einsatz von Gesichtserkennungssystemen im Sicherheitsrecht normiert werden soll

Principled Politicization: When Citizens Debate the EU and its Regime Principles

In this article, building on de Wilde (2011) and Schattschneider (1960), we elaborate on the notion of principled politicization, a process of politicization by which regime principles become salient in public debate in a way that also articulates or implies structural alternatives. First, we argue that in contrast to other conceptualizations of politicization, which focus on policy issues, or "issue‐based politicization," principled politicization concerns another type of political conflict that differs in terms of topic (regime principles) and content (alternatives). As such, this type of debate is inherently related to the concept of democracy. Second, adopting an applied political theory approach, we put the notion of principled politicization to the test by empirically studying citizen discussions about the EU. We examine whether citizens draw on EU regime principles and discuss alternatives. To do so, we conduct a qualitative secondary analysis of four datasets, consisting of interviews and focus groups with participants from different socio‐economic backgrounds and political leanings. This data was collected in Belgium, France, and the UK at four different points in time (1995-2019). We report that some citizens do engage with EU regime principles and consider alternatives to the principles they observe being implemented. This article suggests that politicization can strengthen EU democratization when debates include and, in fact, reflect the challenges to democratic principles themselves

Going Against the Grain: Climate Change as a Wedge Issue for the Radical Right

Political parties often mobilise issues that can improve their electoral fortunes by splitting existing coalitions. We argue that by adopting a distinctively adversarial stance, radical right-wing parties have increasingly politicised climate change policies as a wedge issue. This strategy challenges the mainstream party consensus and seeks to mobilise voter concerns over green initiatives. Relying on state-of-the-art multilingual large language models, we empirically examine nearly half a million press releases from 76 political parties across nine European democracies to support this argument. Our findings demonstrate that the radical right's oppositional climate policy rhetoric diverges significantly from the mainstream consensus. Survey data further reveal climate policy scepticism among voters across the political spectrum, highlighting the mobilising potential of climate policies as a wedge issue. This research advances our understanding of issue competition and the politicisation of climate change

Exploring the Impact of Integrated Biological and Emotional Intelligence-Based Counseling Strategies on Cognitive, Emotional, and Behavioral Development in Preschoolers

This study investigated the effectiveness of an integrated biological and emotional intelligence-based counselling intervention on developmental outcomes in Nigerian preschoolers during the critical early childhood period. Using a randomised controlled trial design, 128 preschoolers (ages 3-5) from eight Lagos State early childhood centers were assigned to intervention (n=64) or control (n=64) groups, with assessments at baseline, mid-intervention (4.5 months), and post-intervention (9 months) using standardised cognitive assessments, behavioral rating scales, and neurophysiological measures from 32 participants. Results demonstrated significant improvements in the intervention group across all developmental domains: cognitive flexibility (d=0.76), inhibitory control (d=0.68), working memory (d=0.55), emotional awareness (d=0.73), emotion regulation (d=0.62), emotional vocabulary (d=0.79), prosocial behaviors (d=0.70), conflict resolution (d=0.67), reduced aggressive incidents (d=0.58), increased prefrontal cortex activation (d=0.73), improved neural efficiency (d=0.64), reduced stress reactivity (d=0.69), and faster stress recovery (d=0.76). Intervention effects were consistent across gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, with children having lower baseline executive function showing powerful improvements. These findings provide compelling evidence that integrated biological and emotional intelligence-based counselling approaches significantly enhance multiple developmental outcomes during the preschool period, supporting the effectiveness of the intervention in promoting lifelong foundations for emotional resilience, cognitive adaptability, and social competence

Sovereignty Crises and the EU's Moral Challenge

This article investigates the potential responsibility of the European Union (EU) for its ongoing state of permanent crisis, contending that this condition is not merely incidental or externally imposed but rather fundamentally woven into the EU's political framework. By situating the analysis at the intersection of political philosophy and the conceptual analysis of the idea of Europe, the article reconceptualises crisis not as an exceptional anomaly but as an expression of a deeper moral and symbolic failure, engaging with academic debates on how Europeanness shapes the EU's identity, legitimacy, and integrative tensions. Drawing on the works of thinkers such as Jacques Derrida and Rodolphe Gasché, it further explores the idea that the EU's recurrent crises reverberate a failure to articulate a form of sovereignty that is adequate to the uniqueness of the European historical and normative trajectory. In this context, the current rise of sovereignism does not express the need to re-appropriate sovereignty as such but rather the inalienability of the symbolic benefits inherent in such rhetoric. Sovereignism is read less as a genuine demand for enhanced state power and more as a manifestation of the EU's inability to offer a compelling political and moral alternative. Hence, the article advocates for developing a moral sovereignty that can transcend the exhausted logic of state-centric authority. Ultimately, it posits that the EU's most pressing challenge lies in affirming its political legitimacy not through technocratic governance but through a renewed ethical commitment to the European ideal as an infinite, humanist task

Who is Afraid of the Istanbul Convention? Explaining Opposition to and Support for Gender Equality

Across Europe, contention has emerged over the Istanbul Convention, a treaty combatting violence against women. The Convention has become a main arena for contention over gender and sexual equality. Right-wing forces mobilize nationally - and transnationally - to advocate for traditional values and oppose so-called 'gender ideology', while progressive actors resist efforts to curtail women's rights. Consequently, while many have ratified the Convention, several countries have not. This article asks which causes motive ratification; which causes underlie non-ratification? We present a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) on 40 European states to disentangle the causal complexity of ratification decisions. We identify four pathways for ratification, driven by feminist egalitarian norms, international conditionality, pro-European governments at odds with social opposition, and societies unwilling to mobilize for conservative religious institutions. We unpack these causal patterns in four minimalist case studies. The article reveals causation underlying contention between pro-gender, anti-gender, and state actors, and resultant policy outcomes

Der Landesbeirat für die Belange von Menschen mit Behinderungen: Empfehlungen für eine Reform

Um den Landesbeirat als Partizipationsorgan entsprechend den Vorgaben der UN-Behindertenrechtskonvention auszugestalten und eine bessere Beratung der Politik durch Menschen mit Behinderungen zu ermöglichen, empfiehlt die Monitoring-Stelle den Landesbeirat zu reformieren. Die Empfehlungen sind in diesem Dokument aufgeführt

Energy Crisis in Moldova: Russia's Game with Uncertainty

At the end of 2024, Ukraine ended its transit of gas from Russia to Moldova. Unlike many in Chișinău and the breakaway territory of Transdniestria had assumed, Russia simply stopped providing the previously subsidised de facto regime with free gas. The present crisis in Moldova could have been anticipated and prepared for better - not only by the Moldovan government but also by its supporting partners in the EU. Instead of letting Russia play them off against each other, Moldovans and Transdniestrians should finally accept that they are sitting in the same boat that either is getting back on track or continues to meander at the discretion of Russia

Die russische Propaganda wirkt

Russland hat in diesem Jahr in großem Umfang Fälschungen eingesetzt, um die Bundestagswahl in seinem Sinn zu beeinflussen. Auch der russische Auslandssender RT DE bleibt mit monatlich vier Millionen Zugriffen ein wichtiges Instrument der hybriden Kriegsführung Russlands. Die Autorin hat ca. 1000 Berichte des russischen Senders zum Wahlkampf analysiert