Petra Ahrens

This open access book is a hands-on guide on doing qualitative research in parliaments, exploring achievements and drawbacks for all. From early-career scholars looking for an ‘in’ to start their research to senior academics interested in methodological details, the book offers a novel approach to discussing qualitative methodologies. It presents unique insights based on a large-scale qualitative study in the European Parliament using interview and ethnographic data. Comprehensive yet accessible, the book accounts the step-by-step process of qualitative research in parliaments, offering a reflexive and analytical perspective that moves beyond a textbook or theory-only format.

This book provides a timely and unique contribution to current debates on how effectively voluntary party quotas address the persistent underrepresentation of women in legislatures. Using a most similar case design and a mixed-methods approach, the authors draw attention to the ways in which electoral systems and party regulations interface with voluntary party quotas in Germany and Austria. All quota parties in these countries support the goal of equal participation of women and men in elected office, and quotas are presented as a means to precisely that end. In order to assess parties’ commitment to their declared goals, and the effectiveness of quotas, the book introduces the concept of the post-quota gender gap and defines it as the difference between a party’s adopted quota and the actual share of women in legislative bodies at the national and regional level. Complementing the existing literature on recruitment and socio-cultural legacies, the authors argue that the problem of voluntary party quotas lies at the intersection of party quota design and electoral law. Either parties need to design quotas that actually work within a given electoral system, or we need legislative action geared toward advancing parity not just in candidate selection, but in the composition of legislatures. The book draws on gendered candidate and election data, on the party statutes of federal and state-level party organizations, and on interviews with party officials and party women’s organizations.

This book is an actor-centred sociological study of the EU-level processes that produce gender equality policy. Based on interviews and documentary analysis, the study unpacks the process of the “Roadmap for Equality between Women and Men 2006-2010” to explain the different roles of actors in the making of EU gender equality policies. By analysing policy processes inside institutions and among institutions, the study focuses on the internal working logics in and between EU-level institutions. It highlights the shifting spaces, openings, and constraints for the development of gender equality policies. Concentrating on EU policy programmes helps shed light on the invisible aspects of EU gender equality policy-making and how this process changed regarding actors, structure and content in the late 2000s. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of EU politics, gender politics, and public policy, as well as to institutional and non-governmental actors in the area of gender politics in Europe and the working of EU politics.

In den letzten Jahren ist in Deutschland ein neues Instrument zur besseren Wahrnehmung von Starken und Schwachen der Kommunikation des Glaubens und der kirchlichen Praxis eingesetzt worden: die Analyse soziokultureller Milieus. Sie bietet so etwas wie eine Lupe, um die Verhaftetheit kirchlicher Praxis in den Erfahrungsformen und Lebensstilen der Menschen uberhaupt sehen zu konnen. Damit werden die jeweiligen lebensstilbezogenen Attraktoren bzw. Distanzierungsmechanismen deutlich und auch prinzipiell analysierbar. Im Mittelpunkt der Untersuchung steht eine umfassende Milieuanalyse anhand einer Reprasentativbefragung bei den Evangelischen im Gebiet der grossten deutschen Landeskirche: der Evangelisch-lutherischen Landeskirche Hannovers. Zum ersten Mal wird hier das Verfahren der Korrespondenzanalyse zur Klarung des Verhaltnisses Kirche und Milieus angewendet.

Mit diesem Buch erhalten Sie den Überblick - aktuell und praxisbezogen - übersichtlich - mit 130 Farbfotos Detaillierte Porträts mit vielen Fotos der verschiedenen Farbenschläge informieren über alle charakteristischen Rassemerkmale, Besonderheiten, die Zuchtgeschichte, Nutzung und den Schau- und Zuchtwert aller vom Zentralverband Deutscher Kaninchenzüchter anerkannten Rassen.