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How can a qualitative life course approach inform the analysis of the impact of disability policy on individual lives? This contribution puts forward the concept of policy reception in an effort to apply the key principles of a life course perspective to the study of policy impact, a perspective which is of particular relevance in the case of disability policy. Drawing on a broader qualitative study of the reception of disability policy in France, the paper, focusing on the in-depth analysis of two life stories, makes two main contributions. The first is theoretical, putting forward the concept of policy reception to address the missing link between “the state and the life course,” as pointed out by Mayer and Schoepflin (1989). The second is methodological, detailing how biographical interviews, following this life course approach, can be used to operationalize this concept of policy reception. These contributions are illustrated by study results focusing on the reception of disability-related educational policies.

The aim of this chapter is to argue that charisma is a collective representation, and that charismatic authority is a social status that derives more from the “recognition” of the followers than from the “magnetism” of the leaders. I contend further that a close reading of Max Weber shows that he, too, saw charisma in this light.

I develop my argument by a close reading of many of the most relevant texts on the subject. This includes not only the renowned texts on this subject by Max Weber, but also many books and articles that interpret or criticize Weber’s views.

I pay exceptionally close attention to key arguments and texts, several of which have been overlooked in the past.

Writers for whom charisma is personal magnetism tend to assume that charismatic rule is natural and that the full realization of democratic norms is unlikely. Authority, in this view, emanates from rulers unbound by popular constraint. I argue that, in fact, authority draws both its mandate and its energy from the public, and that rulers depend on the loyalty of their subjects, which is never assured. So charismatic claimants are dependent on popular choice, not vice versa.

I advocate a “culturalist” interpretation of Weber, which runs counter to the dominant “personalist” account. Conventional interpreters, under the sway of theology or mass psychology, misread Weber as a romantic, for whom charisma is primal and undemocratic rule is destiny. This essay offers a counter-reading.

German universities (GU) require an active control to ensure fulfillment of the strategic goals and to strengthen their competitiveness against other national and international institutions for higher education. Implementing a performance measurement and management (PMM) is one possible way of achieving this. But, the instrument has not yet arrived in GU. Therefore, this chapter describes the specific requirements for implementation of PMM in a GU.

With the intention to deeply understand processes, structures and decisions, and in order to derive the necessary transformations for PMM in GU as well as to contribute profound recommendation for an appropriate implementation of PMM in GU we investigated a GU using a case study design. Hence, the case university, which illustrates phenomena in real-world context.

The findings of the case study are threefold. First, the traditional categories of PMM are inadequate for GU and have to be adapted to the specific requirements of every university. Second, performance measures differ from those in companies concerning addressees, complexity of data supply, and goal conflicts. Third, the basic principle of controllability is not valid for GU. These differences to PMM systems in business companies have to be considered during implementation of PMM in universities and highlight needfulness of transformations.

Student speech has and continues to be a contested issue in schools. While the Supreme Court ruled in Tinker that students do not shed their rights at the schoolhouse gate, in the Kuhlmeier and Fraser decisions the Court gave school officials greater latitude in regulating student speech, especially when it bears the imprimatur of the school. However, in its Frederick decision, the Court established school officials as the arbiters of the meaning of student speech. This chapter will explore the underlying values in schools that rejected the speech of Fraser while accepting the speech act of cheerleaders’ dance routines. It will examine how the interpretation of these speech acts by school officials contributes to gender reproduction, with all the inequalities imposed.

This chapter provides an overview of the South Pacific states from geographic, environmental, cultural, political, economic and demographic perspectives. Topics covered include environments and hazards, climate change, cultural diversity, colonialism and late independence, economic development, population and migration, trade, and aid. The contribution of the most important industries of agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining and tourism are reviewed. In terms of the future, it is argued that the key challenge in the South Pacific states is that of creating sustainable development, alongside employment and growth, and coping with environmental change.

Many jurisdictions fine illegal cartels using penalty guidelines that presume an arbitrary 10% overcharge. This article surveys more than 700 published economic studies and judicial decisions that contain 2,041 quantitative estimates of overcharges of hard-core cartels. The primary findings are: (1) the median average long-run overcharge for all types of cartels over all time periods is 23.0%; (2) the mean average is at least 49%; (3) overcharges reached their zenith in 1891–1945 and have trended downward ever since; (4) 6% of the cartel episodes are zero; (5) median overcharges of international-membership cartels are 38% higher than those of domestic cartels; (6) convicted cartels are on average 19% more effective at raising prices as unpunished cartels; (7) bid-rigging conduct displays 25% lower markups than price-fixing cartels; (8) contemporary cartels targeted by class actions have higher overcharges; and (9) when cartels operate at peak effectiveness, price changes are 60–80% higher than the whole episode. Historical penalty guidelines aimed at optimally deterring cartels are likely to be too low.