As a former diplomat currently engaged in praxis-oriented research and teaching, I examine Böckenförde’s importance in the broad context of the debate on the future of Europe. First, I trace some of Böckenförde’s specific thoughts on the development of the European Union, notably concerning trends that impact on the shared “sense of belonging” that underpins deliberative democracy. Second, accepting Böckenförde’s crucial distinction between the granular provisions of the law and an underlying ethos or sense of direction, I argue that the Böckenförde paradox is strongly supported at the roots of our culture by ancient Greek political thought, in ways that can help us develop our thinking in new directions—involving Aristotelian conceptions of orientation, community (koinōnia), and discernment. Finally, I address the challenges currently facing the European Union, taking as my point of departure President Emmanuel Macron’s evocation of the “contribution which a living Europe can bring to civilisation.” The political thought of Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde, illuminated by conceptions of orientation, community, and discernment, can help to prepare us for a future intercultural dialogue in the service of peace.

In the present research, we replicate and extend previous findings on the relations between human values and bright\dark traits of personality, using the functional theory of human values (Gouveia, 2013). Specifically, we assessed which dark traits are associated with human values and whether the dark traits explained variance in values beyond the bright traits (Big Five). While prior research has investigated the relations between the three sets of constructs mainly in Western countries, we tested whether the findings hold in Brazil (N = 819). Although values are defined as positive constructs, several value subfunctions were positively correlated with the dark traits (e.g., excitement values with narcissism), while other relations were negative. Controlling for participants' age and gender, hierarchical regressions further revealed that dark traits explain variance in values beyond bright traits, although overall bright traits were more strongly associated with values than dark traits. Together, our findings replicate previous research. Implications for our understanding of the Dark Triad and cross-cultural research are discussed.

This study examines U.S. crop producers' perceptions of climate change, itseffects on crop agriculture, and likely ways farmers would adapt to weatherextremes. Based on a survey of crop producers in four states, we find that asignificant proportion of farmers do not perceive that climate change hasbeen scientifically proven and do not believe that it will adversely affectaverage crop yields and yield variability. Farmers are likely to diversifycrops, buy crop insurance, modify lease arrangements, and exit farming inresponse to extreme weather caused by climate change.

The selection process of team leaders is fundamental if the effectiveness of teams is to be guaranteed. Human values have proven to be an important factor in the behaviour of individuals and leaders. The aim of this study is twofold. The first is to validate Schwartz's survey of human values. The second is to determine whether there are any relationships between the values held by individuals and their preferred roles in a team. Human values were measured by the items of the Schwartz Value Survey (SVS) and the preferred roles in a team were identified by the Belbin Self Perception Inventory (BSPI). The two questionnaires were answered by two samples of undergraduate students (183 and 177 students, respectively). As far as the first objective is concerned, Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) was performed at the outset to examine how well the two-dimensional circular structure, as postulated by Schwartz, was represented in the study population. Then, the results of this analysis were compared and contrasted with those of two other published studies; one by Schwartz (2006) and one by Ros and Grad (1991). As for the second objective, Pearson correlation coefficients were computed to assess the associations between the ratings on the SVS survey items and the ratings on the eight team roles as measured by the BSPI.