Die Veränderung politischer Kommunikation im Internetzeitalter. Medien und Demokratie und die These von der Postdemokratie

ZusammenfassungAusgangspunkt ist die Frage, ob gerade die dezentrale digitale Kommunikation dazu beitragen kann, die postdemokratische Erstarrung öffentlicher Diskurse zu überwinden. Der nachfolgende Beitrag möchte über den Stand der politischen Digitalisierung informieren und die wesentlichen Effekte benennen. Als weiteres Ziel sollen normative Aspekte der Online-Kommunikation behandelt werden, die wiederum auf die Verfasstheit und Wertebasis gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhänge zurückwirken. Dafür werden im ersten Abschnitt „institutionelle Aspekte digitaler Demokratie“ skizziert. Beteiligung und Transparenz zeigen sich dabei als entscheidende Merkmale, auch wenn die jeweiligen Ansprüche in der politischen Praxis bisher nur unvollständig realisiert sind. In einem zweiten Schritt stehen digitale Politikprozesse mit besonderem Ethik-Bezug im Vordergrund, wie etwa die digitalen Spaltungen, das Verhältnis von Öffentlichkeit und Privatheit im Netz, sowie der Umgang mit Datenschutz und Überwachung. Die verschiedenen Elemente politischer und moral-orientierter Online-Kommunikation werden darüber hinaus in Bezug zur Postdemokratie-These gesetzt.AbstractIs decentralised digital communication able to overcome the postdemocratic paralysis of public discourse? While seeking to answer this question, the article describes steps of political digitization and its effects on state and society. Furthermore, the text discusses normative aspects of political online communication, which shape the disposition and core values of society. The first part of the article describes institutional aspects of digital democracy, revealing participation and transparency as key issues in the ongoing process of political modernization. The second part deals with ethical elements of the political process, such as multiple digital divides, the changing relationship between the private and public spheres on the web, as well as the growing political relevance of data protection and digital surveillance. Furthermore, the article tries to relate these political and ethical dimensions of political digitization to the academic dispute on postdemocracy in the social sciences

Wahlen, Wahlkampf und Ethik. Anmerkungen zu einem toten Winkel der Wahlforschung

Weder im Bereich der Angewandten Ethik noch aus der Perspektive der politischen Kommunikationsforschung sind bislang Untersuchungen zur ethischen Dimension von Wahlkampf und Wahlen vorgelegt worden. Dabei bietet schon die Auseinandersetzung mit den medialen Oberflächen der Wahlkampagnen zahlreiche Ansatzpunkte für eine Betrachtung aus ethischem Blickwinkel. Die Diskussion setzt sich fort in der Frage nach der Bedeutung von medial vermittelten Wählerinformationen für die Stimmabgabe und die zuletzt häufig diskutierte Option einer absichtlichen Wahlenthaltung. Schließlich finden sich auch beim Blick auf die rechtliche Dimension der Wahlorganisation diskussionswürdige Impulse, denn angesichts der zahlreichen Modernisierungen und Differenzierungen wird das Wahlrecht für viele Menschen immer mehr zu einer Blackbox. Die Problematisierung solcher Aspekte ist als ein Anstoß für eine moralisch reflektierte Debatte entlang der Themen Kampagnenführung, Wahlorganisation und Nichtwahl zu verstehen.  EnglishElections, Election Battles and Ethics; Comments Regarding a Dead Angle in Electoral AnalysisNeither in the field of applied ethics nor from the perspective of political communications research have studies pertaining to the ethical dimension of election battles or elections been presented to date. At the same time the examination of media coverage of election campaigns offers numerous starting points for the consideration of this aspect from an ethical perspective. The discussion is carried forward through the question addressing the relevance of information conveyed by the media to voters towards casting a vote and the recently much discussed option of withholding votes. Lastly, when considering the legal dimension of the election organization, we also find impulses worthy of discussion insofar as, in light of extensive modernization and increased differentiation, voting laws are becoming for many people ever more a veritable black box. The problematization of such aspects should be seen as a stimulus towards holding a morally reflective debate following the themes of campaign management, election organization and non-voting.

Making Sense of the Big Data Mess: Why Interdisciplinarity Matters in Smart Cities

Smart cities use vast amounts of (big) data, often creating what we call an urban "data mess". In this article, we show the diversity and complexity of data that make up this mess and outline examples of urban data processing. Furthermore, we point out problems with the sector-specific perspective that is usually taken when dealing with smart cities. We argue that a collective way of dealing with data across sectors and disciplines needs to be found. To achieve that, we advocate for more interdisciplinary cooperation between different disciplines and stakeholder groups. The Pandemic Recovery Dashboard of the City of Los Angeles gives a first impression of how this could work. We aim to show that approaching data in smart cities from an interdisciplinary angle may help deal with the data mess in smart cities - both for researchers and city developers."Smart Cities" stützen sich auf große Datenmengen ("Big Data") - wobei die unterschiedlichen Daten häufig in ungeordneter Form vorliegen (engl.: "data mess"). Im Beitrag widmen wir uns dieser Diversität im städtischen Datenbestand und skizzieren Beispiele urbaner Datenverarbeitung. Dabei verweisen wir auf Probleme und Herausforderungen einer engen, an einzelne Bereiche gebundenen Datennutzung: Aus unserer Sicht fehlt bislang ein gemeinschaftlicher, sektorübergreifender Ansatz zum Umgang mit Smart-City-Daten. Aus diesem Grund sind mehr interdisziplinäre Kooperationen erforderlich, d.h. die Zusammenarbeit unterschiedlicher Disziplinen und Stakeholder-Gruppen. Das Pandemic Recovery Dashboard der Stadt Los Angeles gibt einen ersten Eindruck davon, wie urbane Daten erfolgreich genutzt werden können. Wir argumentieren dafür, dass Daten in Smart Cities am besten in ganzheitlicher Perspektive bearbeitet und der städtische Datendschungel so übersichtlicher gestaltet werden kann - für Wissenschaft und Praxis

Echtzeit-Öffentlichkeiten. Neue digitale Medienordnungen und neue Verantwortungsdimensionen

Der Strukturwandel von Öffentlichkeiten ist an der Entstehung, der Entwicklung und den Folgen von Echtzeit-Öffentlichkeiten ablesbar. Mit Echtzeit-Öffentlichkeiten werden Phänome- ne öffentlicher Foren und Agenden bezeichnet, die unmittelbar, in „Echtzeit“ aufgrund verschiedenartiger Rahmenbedingungen entstehen. Diese Art von Öffentlichkeiten stellen neue Herausforderungen für Ethik und Verantwortungswahrnehmung dar. Der Beitrag problematisiert Echtzeit-Öffentlichkeiten vor dem Hintergrund eines kurzen Abrisses zur Öffentlichkeitstheorie und fragt, worin Notwendigkeiten einer Neuziehung von Grenzen bisheriger medienethischer und medienverantwortlicher Ausdehnung bestehen.  English Klaus-Dieter Altmeppen/Christoph Bieber/Alexander Filipović/ Jessica Heesen: Real-Time Publics. The New Digital Media Order and New Dimensions of Responsibility The structural transformation of publics is recognizable through the emergence, development and consequences of a real-time public. The term “real-time publics” deno- tes the phenomena surrounding public forums and agendas, which immediately come into existence in “real-time”, due to various circumstances. These types of publics repre- sent new challenges with regard to ethics and the exercise of responsibility. This paper problematizes real-time publics before the backdrop of a short outline concerning pu- blic theory and addresses, with regard to redrawing the lines towards an expansion of preexisting media-ethics and responsibility, wherein the requirements may lie.

The relevance of complement in pemphigoid diseases: A critical appraisal

Pemphigoid diseases are autoimmune chronic inflammatory skin diseases, which are characterized by blistering of the skin and/or mucous membranes, and circulating and tissue-bound autoantibodies. The well-established pathomechanisms comprise autoantibodies targeting various structural proteins located at the dermal-epidermal junction, leading to complement factor binding and activation. Several effector cells are thus attracted and activated, which in turn inflict characteristic tissue damage and subepidermal blistering. Moreover, the detection of linear complement deposits in the skin is a diagnostic hallmark of all pemphigoid diseases. However, recent studies showed that blistering might also occur independently of complement. This review reassesses the importance of complement in pemphigoid diseases based on current research by contrasting and contextualizing data from in vitro, murine and human studies

Review of the regulations concerning organic dairy calf rearing in seven European countries

This review constitutes a part of the Core Organic project ‘ProYoungStock’ – Promoting young stock and cow health and welfare by natural feeding systems. The overarching aim of the project is to improve young stock rearing systems concerning animal welfare-friendly husbandry, feeding and disease prevention by identifying approaches on different levels. More natural rearing systems are one approach to solve welfare problems in current calf rearing. Previous studies have shown considerable variations in herd characteristics and management strategies between organic dairy farms in Europe. The differences have been associated with regional and national conditions for organic farming. However, it is possible that differences in national legislation also play a part in these variations. Relevant EU and national rules on organic production and animal welfare were compiled in the following seven European countries: Sweden (SE), France (FR), Poland (PL), Germany (DE), Italy (IT), Austria (AT), and Switzerland (CH). The purpose was to provide information on drivers and barriers for cow-calf contact systems in organic dairy production and to identify possible areas for improvement and/or harmonization. Our results did not identify any major barriers in national rules for the use of rearing systems allowing cow-calf contact. Instead, cow-calf contact is promoted by the requirement to feed organic calves preferably maternal milk during the first three months of their life. Specifications regarding calf rearing derives from animal protection legislation rather than regulations of organic farming but milk hygiene regulations can also have an influence on practicability of cow-calf contact. Variations in national legislation can affect details of design and implementation of cow-calf systems, however, other factors (e.g. overall conditions for organic dairy farming, traditions, economics and disease prevention strategies) rather than regulations likely play more important roles

Final report for the CORE Organic Cofund funded project “Promoting young stock and cow health and welfare by natural feeding systems- ProYoungStock”

The ProYoungStock project aimed to improve the lives of young cattle and conducted research in 8 European countries: Austria (AT), France (FR), Germany (DE), Italy (IT), Poland (PL), Slovenia (SI), Sweden (SE), and Switzerland (CH). Interviews with 104 dairy farmers in AT, FR, DE, IT, SE, CH showed that many diverse cow-calf contact systems (CCC) are practised in Europe. Better animal welfare and reduced labour were perceived as benefits of CCC, while stress when cow and calf are separated, lower amounts of saleable milk, and building constraints were seen as challenges. Trials in different countries with either focus on feeding strategies (e. g. more milk, use of supplements as linseeds or tannins, silage vs. no silage) or different rearing systems (i.e. 7 different CCC systems compared to control without CCC) revealed the following results concerning: Calf growth: Calves benefited from increased milk levels (10-12 l/day compared to 6-8 l/day) (DE, AT), from permanent CCC compared to control (PL), from CCC when fed by dams before morning milking and with 6 h/day access to dams until weaning. But there was no impact when CCC of 6 h/day was carried out for only 3 weeks (FR) as well as when CCC was restricted to 2 x 30 min/d until 16 weeks of life. These results show that CCC alone does not necessarily promote calf growth! Behaviour disorders and welfare: Main behaviour disorders in calves are sucking each other (cross sucking) or manipulating any objects with their mouth. We observed less cross sucking in calves with permanent foster cow contact and with 2x30 min/d contact to the dam (CH, PL). Calves with permanent foster cow contact also manipulated less objects compared to bucket fed calves (PL). Increased milk feeding (DE) and limited access to the dam 2x30 min/d (CH) however, did not reduce those manipulations. CCC calves had lower hair cortisol contents (less stress) before weaning, but after weaning they vocalized earlier and longer (indicating stress) than control calves. (FR). Calf health: Immunoglobulin-levels in calves’ serum from mothers supplemented with linseeds 30 days before and after calving were higher than in calves from control mothers (PL). However, calf health in 5 variations of CCC systems did not differ compared to control systems (PL, FR, SE, and CH). We found no relevant effect of CCC on the gut microbiota development in calves, nor on the passive immune transfer from cows to neonatal calves (FR), nor on a further build-up of the active immune defence during the pre-weaning period (FR, CH). Cow health: There were no differences in somatic cell count (udder health indicator) and cows’ health events in 3 variations of CCC-systems compared to control (FR, SE). CCC practices did not influence contents of immunoglobulin G and lactoferrin in cow’s milk (FR, CH). Reproductive performance of multiparous cows did not differ between CCC and control, but was improved in primiparous cows in CCC systems (FR, CH, and SE). Extensively reared animals showed lower disease incidences than animals that did not have this experience (AT, FR), but there was no influence of extensive rearing on calving interval (AT, FR, SI). There was no difference between farms with or without silage feeding regarding reproduction (AT, DE, SI), but a negative effect of silage free rearing on udder health was found (AT, DE). Milk contents: In CCC-systems we found higher protein contents and lower fat contents (except when calves suckled before milking) than in milk from control cows (FR). Linseed-feeding before calving increased unsaturated fatty acids in colostrum (PL). Milk and fat yields were higher with silage feeding than without in AT, DE, FR, but lower in SI. Feeding tannin extracts to cows during the dry season (hay feeding) revealed lower urea contents, a better fatty acid profile and a higher antioxidant capacity in milk and cheese (IT). Meat quality: pH of meat 24 h after slaughter was lower in calves with foster cow rearing, but the main fatty acids did not differ between calves from CCC systems and control (PL, CH). Economic impact of CCC: CCC systems produced 21% to 43% less saleable milk compared to control. The best compromise between milk yield and calf growth was reached with 6 – 9 h CCC between morning and evening milking until weaning (SE, FR). Ecological impact of tannin feeding: In vitro blended tannin extracts reduced ruminal protein degradation and ammonia and methane emissions; especially when hay feeding was simulated (IT). As there is no one-fits all solution (but there are many pieces of a puzzle), the large variation in management led us to organise many workshops for farmers, so they could exchange on the diverse possibilities of CCC and find out which is the best one for their farm. Those workshops are great to introduce CCC-systems because farmers advise farmers. More information for farmers and the scientific community is available at www.proyoungstock.net

Formen von Informalität: "Policy-Leaks" vs. "Politics-Leaks"

Die mediale Darstellung von Leaks lässt leicht darauf schließen, dass Leaks ein zwar interessantes, da neues, aber zumindest einheitliches Phänomen im internationalen System darstellen. Christoph Bieber von der Universität Duisburg-Essen bricht mit dieser Vor- und Darstellung, indem er anhand bestimmter vergangener Veröffentlichungen unterschiedliche Arten des Leaking differenziert, und dabei sowohl „Policy-“ wie auch „Politics-“ Leaks identifiziert..