Michael Zürn | Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung - WZB (original) (raw)
Papers by Michael Zürn
EconStor Open Access Articles, 1993
EconStor Open Access Articles, 1994
Politische Vierteljahresschrift, 2013
Perspectives on Politics, May 26, 2021
Politische Vierteljahresschrift, 2011
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2018
EconStor Open Access Articles, 1991
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 1989
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2010
EconStor Open Access Articles, 1987
EconStor Open Access Articles, 1992
Review of International Studies, Oct 2, 2017
transcript Verlag eBooks, Jun 7, 2022
Perspectives on Politics, 2008
cized “positivist” approaches. Second, although he claims that his interpretation of the history ... more cized “positivist” approaches. Second, although he claims that his interpretation of the history of the region represents thick description and “political anthropology,” in fact the empirical analysis provided in the book is based not upon social history of communism but rather upon textbook-like accounts of major figures, such as Lenin, Stalin, and Tito, or events such as the Great Terror or World War II. Ordinary people and their everyday experiences under communism (which should lie at the heart of his analysis) appear only rather occasionally. It is thus unclear why the verbose historical narrative presented in the book is regarded as anthropology. Finally, even Wydra’s treatment of what he considers “critical events” demonstrates his limited knowledge of the history of the region. For example, he argues that Mikhail Gorbachev’s glasnost was nothing but “constitutional guarantees of basic human and civil rights,” and that the central problem of perestroika was the transformation of economic order and property rights (p. 190). Here and elsewhere, Wydra grossly oversimplifies complex connections. Yet the search for new approaches to the study of communism and its collapse, and the use of social theory to ground such approaches, are important efforts, and in advancing them, Communism and the Emergence of Democracy should be welcomed. At the same time, the book suffers from its identification with the logic of a “clash of academic civilizations,” counterposing mainstream positivist political science and Wydra’s own interpretivist view despite the fact that these different approaches are not mutually exclusive. For example, the politics of identity— which actually lies at the heart of the book—can usefully be analyzed through the lenses of the constructivist paradigm widely used in studies of nationalism and international relations, which successfully combines both positivist and anthropological perspectives. In the end, building bridges between different scholarly understandings, rather than presenting overstated rebuttals of major approaches and literatures, is a sounder and more fruitful way to contribute to the development of contemporary political science.
EconStor Open Access Articles, 1994
Oxford University Press eBooks, Oct 6, 1993
The purpose of this chapter is twofold. In its first part (sect. 2) we seek to put regime analysi... more The purpose of this chapter is twofold. In its first part (sect. 2) we seek to put regime analysis into the broader context of thinking about social order. Three issues are addressed: In section 2.1 we discuss the basic underlying concern of international regime analysis, ie the ...
Springer eBooks, 2017
Die von Wolfgang Merkel geschilderten Erosionsprozesse der eingebetteten Demokratie versuche ich ... more Die von Wolfgang Merkel geschilderten Erosionsprozesse der eingebetteten Demokratie versuche ich im ersten Schritt dieses Beitrags als Folgewirkungen einer reduzierten Eff ektivitat zu beschreiben. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser These – so der zweite Schritt in der Argumentation – ist die demokratietheoretische Kritik an Kompetenztransfers an die Europaische Union und an internationale Institutionen zu uberdenken. Indem durch die Globalisierung neue okonomische, soziale und politische Raume entstehen, kommt die Gleichsetzung des normativen Konzepts der Demokratie mit dessen Institutionalisierung in Form der nationalstaatlich begrenzten parlamentarischen Demokratie, die vielen der Merkel’schen Analysen zugrunde liegt, ins Wanken Das fuhrt mich zum dritten Schritt der Argumentation: Die Erosion nationalstaatlicher Eff ektivitat wird nur dann zum unuberwindbaren Demokratiedefekt, wenn die Demokratisierung supranationaler Regime ausgeschlossen und die Demokratiequalitat nur vom Zustand der nationalen Demokratie bestimmt werden. Im Ergebnis fuhrt diese Lage dazu, so der vierte Schritt meiner Argumentation, dass die Dominanz des demokratischen Prinzips als zentrales Legitimationsnarrativ politischer Ordnungen herausgefordert ist.
Oxford University Press eBooks, Jul 11, 2019
The introduction develops a framework for analysing demands for change put forward towards contem... more The introduction develops a framework for analysing demands for change put forward towards contemporary world orders by both rising power and NGOs. It identifies two significant changes in world politics over the last two decades: the rise of new powers, and the rise of international authority. Against this backdrop, we present the conceptual tools to allow for comparisons in demands across actors and issue areas. In these ways, we aim at contributing to core debates in international politics: What kind of challenge to world order do rising powers represent? Do they constitute a coherent group in international politics? Do their demands have a systemic nature, or do we observe variance over different policy fields and forms of international institutions? Do rising powers’ and transnational NGOs’ demands intersect or diverge?
Oxford University Press eBooks, Apr 19, 2018
The global governance system rests on three normative principles, each of which qualifies the Wes... more The global governance system rests on three normative principles, each of which qualifies the Westphalian principle of sovereignty. The first questions the implicit notion that all political communities are territorially segmented by highlighting the notion of common goods that need to be achieved together. The second questions the idea that political authorities are absolute by noting the rights of individuals and entitlements of non-state actors that they have independent of being members of a state. The third principle questions the notion that there are no authorities other than the state by mooting the possibility of international authority. This chapter discusses these normative principles and their “empirical appropriateness.” In using the method of rational reconstruction, it is shown that the assumptions of a global governance system seem to be better suited to understand world politics in the twenty-first century than the notion of an anarchic international system or an international society.
EconStor Open Access Articles, 1993
EconStor Open Access Articles, 1994
Politische Vierteljahresschrift, 2013
Perspectives on Politics, May 26, 2021
Politische Vierteljahresschrift, 2011
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2018
EconStor Open Access Articles, 1991
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 1989
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2010
EconStor Open Access Articles, 1987
EconStor Open Access Articles, 1992
Review of International Studies, Oct 2, 2017
transcript Verlag eBooks, Jun 7, 2022
Perspectives on Politics, 2008
cized “positivist” approaches. Second, although he claims that his interpretation of the history ... more cized “positivist” approaches. Second, although he claims that his interpretation of the history of the region represents thick description and “political anthropology,” in fact the empirical analysis provided in the book is based not upon social history of communism but rather upon textbook-like accounts of major figures, such as Lenin, Stalin, and Tito, or events such as the Great Terror or World War II. Ordinary people and their everyday experiences under communism (which should lie at the heart of his analysis) appear only rather occasionally. It is thus unclear why the verbose historical narrative presented in the book is regarded as anthropology. Finally, even Wydra’s treatment of what he considers “critical events” demonstrates his limited knowledge of the history of the region. For example, he argues that Mikhail Gorbachev’s glasnost was nothing but “constitutional guarantees of basic human and civil rights,” and that the central problem of perestroika was the transformation of economic order and property rights (p. 190). Here and elsewhere, Wydra grossly oversimplifies complex connections. Yet the search for new approaches to the study of communism and its collapse, and the use of social theory to ground such approaches, are important efforts, and in advancing them, Communism and the Emergence of Democracy should be welcomed. At the same time, the book suffers from its identification with the logic of a “clash of academic civilizations,” counterposing mainstream positivist political science and Wydra’s own interpretivist view despite the fact that these different approaches are not mutually exclusive. For example, the politics of identity— which actually lies at the heart of the book—can usefully be analyzed through the lenses of the constructivist paradigm widely used in studies of nationalism and international relations, which successfully combines both positivist and anthropological perspectives. In the end, building bridges between different scholarly understandings, rather than presenting overstated rebuttals of major approaches and literatures, is a sounder and more fruitful way to contribute to the development of contemporary political science.
EconStor Open Access Articles, 1994
Oxford University Press eBooks, Oct 6, 1993
The purpose of this chapter is twofold. In its first part (sect. 2) we seek to put regime analysi... more The purpose of this chapter is twofold. In its first part (sect. 2) we seek to put regime analysis into the broader context of thinking about social order. Three issues are addressed: In section 2.1 we discuss the basic underlying concern of international regime analysis, ie the ...
Springer eBooks, 2017
Die von Wolfgang Merkel geschilderten Erosionsprozesse der eingebetteten Demokratie versuche ich ... more Die von Wolfgang Merkel geschilderten Erosionsprozesse der eingebetteten Demokratie versuche ich im ersten Schritt dieses Beitrags als Folgewirkungen einer reduzierten Eff ektivitat zu beschreiben. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser These – so der zweite Schritt in der Argumentation – ist die demokratietheoretische Kritik an Kompetenztransfers an die Europaische Union und an internationale Institutionen zu uberdenken. Indem durch die Globalisierung neue okonomische, soziale und politische Raume entstehen, kommt die Gleichsetzung des normativen Konzepts der Demokratie mit dessen Institutionalisierung in Form der nationalstaatlich begrenzten parlamentarischen Demokratie, die vielen der Merkel’schen Analysen zugrunde liegt, ins Wanken Das fuhrt mich zum dritten Schritt der Argumentation: Die Erosion nationalstaatlicher Eff ektivitat wird nur dann zum unuberwindbaren Demokratiedefekt, wenn die Demokratisierung supranationaler Regime ausgeschlossen und die Demokratiequalitat nur vom Zustand der nationalen Demokratie bestimmt werden. Im Ergebnis fuhrt diese Lage dazu, so der vierte Schritt meiner Argumentation, dass die Dominanz des demokratischen Prinzips als zentrales Legitimationsnarrativ politischer Ordnungen herausgefordert ist.
Oxford University Press eBooks, Jul 11, 2019
The introduction develops a framework for analysing demands for change put forward towards contem... more The introduction develops a framework for analysing demands for change put forward towards contemporary world orders by both rising power and NGOs. It identifies two significant changes in world politics over the last two decades: the rise of new powers, and the rise of international authority. Against this backdrop, we present the conceptual tools to allow for comparisons in demands across actors and issue areas. In these ways, we aim at contributing to core debates in international politics: What kind of challenge to world order do rising powers represent? Do they constitute a coherent group in international politics? Do their demands have a systemic nature, or do we observe variance over different policy fields and forms of international institutions? Do rising powers’ and transnational NGOs’ demands intersect or diverge?
Oxford University Press eBooks, Apr 19, 2018
The global governance system rests on three normative principles, each of which qualifies the Wes... more The global governance system rests on three normative principles, each of which qualifies the Westphalian principle of sovereignty. The first questions the implicit notion that all political communities are territorially segmented by highlighting the notion of common goods that need to be achieved together. The second questions the idea that political authorities are absolute by noting the rights of individuals and entitlements of non-state actors that they have independent of being members of a state. The third principle questions the notion that there are no authorities other than the state by mooting the possibility of international authority. This chapter discusses these normative principles and their “empirical appropriateness.” In using the method of rational reconstruction, it is shown that the assumptions of a global governance system seem to be better suited to understand world politics in the twenty-first century than the notion of an anarchic international system or an international society.
This book offers a major new theory of global governance, explaining both its rise and what many ... more This book offers a major new theory of global governance, explaining both its rise and what many see as its current crisis. The author suggests that world politics is now embedded in a normative and institutional structure dominated by hierarchies and power inequalities and therefore inherently creates contestation, resistance, and distributional struggles. Within an ambitious and systematic new conceptual framework, the theory makes four key contributions. Firstly, it reconstructs global governance as a political system which builds on normative principles and reflexive authorities. Second, it identifies the central legitimation problems of the global governance system with a constitutionalist setting in mind. Third, it explains the rise of state and societal contestation by identifying key endogenous dynamics and probing the causal mechanisms that produced them. Finally, it identifies the conditions under which struggles in the global governance system lead to decline or deepening.
Die Erde muss einer galaktischen Hyperraum-Umgehungsstraße weichen. So beginnt die berühmte Gesch... more Die Erde muss einer galaktischen Hyperraum-Umgehungsstraße weichen. So beginnt die berühmte Geschichte von Douglas Adams Per Anhalter durch die Galaxis. Man muss sie nicht kennen, um dieses Buch zu verstehen. Nicole Deitelhoff und Michael Zürn dient sie jedoch als Ausgangspunkt, um mit Sinn für Abenteuer und Vergnügen durch die komplexe Geschichte und die Theorienlandschaft der Internationalen Beziehungen zu navigieren. Das Fach präsentieren sie als eine Galaxis, die durch eine Vielzahl von Planeten bevölkert ist. Sie beherbergen unterschiedliche Zivilisationen, die man gemeinhin als Theorieschulen und Einzeltheorien kennt und die in ihrer Entwicklung jeweils in spezifische historische Kontexte eingebettet sind. Angesichts einer solchen, teilweise überbordenden Komplexität orientieren sich die Autoren in ihrem ebenso kurzweiligen wie informativen Lehrbuch an dem bekannten Grundgebot eines guten Reiseführers: KEINE PANIK!
Economic, cultural, and political systems formerly bounded by the borders of nation-states are in... more Economic, cultural, and political systems formerly bounded by the borders of nation-states are increasingly globalized. Politicians, civil society and other societal actors engage in publically debating issues related to globalization. Whether conflicts consolidate to form a stable cleavage depends among other factors on the extent to which they become ideologically underpinned. As the basis for such an underpinning, we identify philosophical debates about justice between globalists and statists and between universalists and contextualists as raw material that political entrepreneurs active in the public sphere can draw upon. On this basis, we identify four major bones of contention that could provide the core of such ideological underpinning: the permeability of borders; the allocation of authority between levels; the normative dignity of communities; and the patterns of justification. One ideal typical combination of those four components can be labeled cosmopolitanism – combining arguments from globalists and universalists; another communitarianism, combining statist and contextualist arguments. The more these two ideal types feature as political ideologies in public debate, the more debates about globalization solidify into a new cleavage. We develop a conceptual framework which can subsequently be used in support of empirical research analyzing the ideological foundations of globalization conflicts.
New Political …, Jan 1, 2010