The EU Party System after Eastern Enlargement

From 1953 on, a party system of the European Union has been build up with, at the end,\ud some 6 or 7 distinct and more or less cohesive parties acting in parliament and beyond. It\ud has been said that this party system was “ready for power” during the 5th legislature of the\ud directly elected European Parliament. In this article we ask whether and how Eastern\ud enlargement has changed this state of affairs. The result of the empirical analysis is\ud remarkably ambivalent: first, Eastern enlargement has increased the proportion of\ud “homeless” MEPs, i.e. the non-aligned, and has at the same time added to the strength of\ud the conservative majority of the house. Second, it did not significantly affect the format of the\ud party system nor the stature of its political groups, neither their distinctiveness nor their\ud cohesiveness. And third, the parties from the new Eastern member countries are not yet very\ud well “rooted” in their national electorates. This is why the diagnosis of this early examination\ud has to remain somewhat inconclusive – probably for some years to come

The EU Party System after Eastern Enlargement. IHS Political Science Series: 2006, No. 105

From 1953 on, a party system of the European Union has been build up with, at the end, some 6 or 7 distinct and more or less cohesive parties acting in parliament and beyond. It has been said that this party system was “ready for power” during the 5th legislature of the directly elected European Parliament. In this article we ask whether and how Eastern enlargement has changed this state of affairs. The result of the empirical analysis is remarkably ambivalent: first, Eastern enlargement has increased the proportion of “homeless” MEPs, i.e. the non-aligned, and has at the same time added to the strength of the conservative majority of the house. Second, it did not significantly affect the format of the party system nor the stature of its political groups, neither their distinctiveness nor their cohesiveness. And third, the parties from the new Eastern member countries are not yet very well “rooted” in their national electorates. This is why the diagnosis of this early examination has to remain somewhat inconclusive – probably for some years to come

Dynamics in European Political Identity

The creation of a political community is a difficult yet vital task for the European Union. Using Eurobarometer time series of 25 years and the European Election Study of 2004, this article reviews the state of the development of a 'sense of community' with regard to two concepts: Identity is measured in terms of perceived citizenship and pride to be a European citizen; we‐feeling is captured by assessing trust in European people and acceptance of new member countries. A collective identity is growing slowly among the European citizens, but the data suggest a center-periphery distinction between the core members and the joiners of the different enlargement waves. EU citizens trust each other, but the East-West continental divide still remains detectable

The EU party system after eastern enlargement

'Seit 1953 hat sich ein Parteiensystem der Europäischen Union (EU) herausgebildet, das aus mittlerweile 6 bis 7 mehr oder weniger kohärenten Parteien besteht, die im Europäischen Parlament und darüber hinaus operieren. Manche Beobachter haben behauptet, dass dieses Parteiensystem in der 5. Legislaturperiode seit der Direktwahl des Europäischen Parlaments 'ready for power' gewesen sei. In diesem Paper wird der Frage nachgegangen, ob und wie die Osterweiterung diesen Stand der Dinge verändert hat. Das Resultat der empirischen Analyse ist auffallend ambivalent. Erstens hat die Osterweiterung den Anteil an 'heimatlosen' - d.h. nicht an Fraktionen gebundenen - Europaparlamentariern erhöht und gleichzeitig die konservative Mehrheit im Parlament gestärkt. Zweitens hat die Osterweiterung das Format des Parteiensystems und die Gestalt der Fraktionen nicht signifikant verändert - weder ihre Unterschiedlichkeit noch ihre Kohärenz. Und drittens sind die Parteien der neuen osteuropäischen Mitgliedsstaaten noch nicht richtig in den nationalen Wählerschaften verankert. Zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt lassen sich daher noch keine eindeutigen Schlussfolgerungen über die Auswirkungen der Osterweiterung auf das EU-Parteiensystem ziehen.' (Autorenreferat)'From 1953 on, a party system of the European Union has been build up with, at the end, some 6 or 7 distinct and more or less cohesive parties acting in parliament and beyond. It has been said that this party system was 'ready for power' during the 5th legislature of the directly elected European Parliament. In this article we ask whether and how Eastern enlargement has changed this state of affairs. The result of the empirical analysis is remarkably ambivalent: first, Eastern enlargement has increased the proportion of 'homeless' MEPs, i.e. the non-aligned, and has at the same time added to the strength of the conservative majority of the house. Second, it did not significantly affect the format of the party system nor the stature of its political groups, neither their distinctiveness nor their cohesiveness. And third, the parties from the new Eastern member countries are not yet very well 'rooted' in their national electorates. This is why the diagnosis of this early examination has to remain somewhat inconclusive - probably for some years to come.' (author's abstract)

Electoral Systems and Government Arrangements:Preferences of Parliamentary Candidates in Germany, the Netherlands and New Zealand

We examine elite support for electoral arrangements in Germany and New Zealand. Both countries share a mixed electoral system (MMP) that combines single member districts with proportional representation. New Zealand's experience with MMP is relatively brief, having held just three elections since 1996 while Germany's experience dates back to the 1950s. Using data collected through surveys of parliamentary candidates we consider how various factors such as partisan self-interest, minority status, incumbency, ideology, and attitudes about candidate selection structure support for the electoral system. We find strong overall support for MMP in both countries, with small parties and those to the left of the ideological spectrum being most supportive of the system. Those who are dissatisfied with MMP are likely to be those dissatisfied with the candidate selection process or those in the opposition

Got milk? Breastfeeding and milk analysis of a mother on chronic hemodialysis

Purpose: Women on dialysis rarely become pregnant. However, the overall rate of successful pregnancies is increasing in this patient population and breastfeeding becomes an option for mothers on dialysis. In this study we performed a systematic breast milk composition analysis of a mother on chronic hemodialysis (HD). Methods: Specimens of breast milk and blood were collected in regular intervals before and after HD from a 39-year old woman starting on day 10 postpartum. Samples were analyzed for electrolytes, retention solutes, nutrients and other laboratory measurements. Breast milk samples from low-risk mothers matched for postpartum age were used as controls. Results: Significantly higher levels of creatinine and urea were found in pre-HD breast milk when compared to post-HD. A similar post-dialytic decrease was only found for uric acid but not for any other investigated parameter. Conversely, sodium and chloride were significantly increased in post-HD samples. Compared to controls creatinine and urea were significantly higher in pre-HD samples while the difference remained only significant for post-HD creatinine. Phosphate was significantly lower in pre- and post-HD breast milk when compared to controls, whereas calcium showed no significant differences. In terms of nutrient components glucose levels showed a strong trend for a decrease, whereas protein, triglycerides and cholesterol did not differ. Similarly, no significant differences were found in iron, potassium and magnesium content. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge this is the first report on a breastfeeding mother on chronic dialysis. Although we found differences in creatinine, urea, sodium, chloride and phosphate, our general analysis showed high similarity of our patient’s breast milk to samples from low-risk control mothers. Significant variations in breast milk composition between pre- and post-HD samples suggest that breastfeeding might be preferably performed after dialysis treatment. In summary, our findings indicate that breastfeeding can be considered a viable option for newborns of mothers on dialysis

Got milk? Breastfeeding and milk analysis of a mother on chronic hemodialysis

Purpose: Women on dialysis rarely become pregnant. However, the overall rate of successful pregnancies is increasing in this patient population and breastfeeding becomes an option for mothers on dialysis. In this study we performed a systematic breast milk composition analysis of a mother on chronic hemodialysis (HD). Methods: Specimens of breast milk and blood were collected in regular intervals before and after HD from a 39-year old woman starting on day 10 postpartum. Samples were analyzed for electrolytes, retention solutes, nutrients and other laboratory measurements. Breast milk samples from low-risk mothers matched for postpartum age were used as controls. Results: Significantly higher levels of creatinine and urea were found in pre-HD breast milk when compared to post-HD. A similar post-dialytic decrease was only found for uric acid but not for any other investigated parameter. Conversely, sodium and chloride were significantly increased in post-HD samples. Compared to controls creatinine and urea were significantly higher in pre-HD samples while the difference remained only significant for post-HD creatinine. Phosphate was significantly lower in pre- and post-HD breast milk when compared to controls, whereas calcium showed no significant differences. In terms of nutrient components glucose levels showed a strong trend for a decrease, whereas protein, triglycerides and cholesterol did not differ. Similarly, no significant differences were found in iron, potassium and magnesium content. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge this is the first report on a breastfeeding mother on chronic dialysis. Although we found differences in creatinine, urea, sodium, chloride and phosphate, our general analysis showed high similarity of our patient’s breast milk to samples from low-risk control mothers. Significant variations in breast milk composition between pre- and post-HD samples suggest that breastfeeding might be preferably performed after dialysis treatment. In summary, our findings indicate that breastfeeding can be considered a viable option for newborns of mothers on dialysis

Orbital breathing effects in the computation of x-ray d-ion spectra in solids by ab initio wave-function-based methods

In existing theoretical approaches to core-level excitations of transition-metal ions in solids relaxation and polarization effects due to the inner core hole are often ignored or described phenomenologically. Here we set up an ab initio computational scheme that explicitly accounts for such physics in the calculation of x-ray absorption and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering spectra. Good agreement is found with experimental transition-metal $L$-edge data for the strongly correlated $d^9$ cuprate Li$_2$CuO$_2$, for which we determine the absolute scattering intensities. The newly developed methodology opens the way for the investigation of even more complex $d^n$ electronic structures of group VI B to VIII B correlated oxide compounds