Do voting advice applications have an effect on electoral participation and voter turnout ? : Evidence from the 2007 Swiss Federal Elections

Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) render a valuable platform for tackling one of democracy's central challenges: low voter turnout. Studies indicate that lack of information and cost-benefit considerations cause voters to abstain from voting. VAAs are online voting assistance tools which match own political preferences with those of candidates and parties in elections. By assisting voters in their decision-making process prior to casting their votes, VAAs not only rebut rational choice reasoning against voting but also narrow existing information gaps. In this paper we examine the impact of VAAs on participation and voter turnout. Specifically, we present results on how the Swiss VAA smartvote affected voter turnout in the 2007 federal elections. Our analyses suggest that smartvote does have a mobilizing capacity, especially among young voters who are usually underrepresented at polls. Moreover, the study demonstrates how VAAs such as smartvote do affect citizen's propensity to deal with politics in general.

Die Debatte um die Reform der Armenpflege im Europa des 16. Jahrundert

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) Mit der vorliegenden Dokumentation werden die wichtigsten sozialen Ordnungen im Europa des 16. Jahrhunderts in unserer Gegenwartssprache publiziert und Lehrenden wie Studierenden als Arbeitsbuch an die Hand gegeben. Im gegenwärtigen Ringen um soziale Reformen angesichts der Krisen und neuen Herausforderungen, aber auch um Konvergenzen zwischen den gewachsenen nationalen Sozialordnungen in Europa ist es unabdingbar, deren sozialgeschichtliche Ausgangsbedingungen zu beleuchten. Damit soll ein zentraler Bestand des gemeinsamen sozial-kulturellen Erbes in Europa ans Licht und in unser heutiges Bewusstsein gehoben werden.