Heiko Pleines
Biographic Data
| ID | 846002 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Heiko Pleines |
| GIVEN NAMES | Heiko |
| FAMILY NAME | Pleines |
| SIGNATURE | PLEINES H |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Bremen |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5204-8482 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 57 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 27 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Unter Druck, aber nicht am Ende
Das Elend lindern
Rethinking energy materialities in the shadow of Russia's war on Ukraine
Assessing Socialist Past and Sociodemographic Present
Since the mid-2000s, there has been no study of characteristics of political elites at large in East Central European countries. Accordingly, an assessment of long-term trends is not possible beyond narrow case studies of elite sub-segments. This research note introduces a new dataset covering officeholders for 3,277 position/years in six countries (the Czech Republic, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine) for seven reference years …
Protests by journalists in competitive authoritarian regimes
Studies of competitive authoritarian regimes regularly emphasize the political importance of media ownership, commonly assuming that the owners' views are mirrored in the journalists' writing and thus depriving journalists of a distinctive role. We move beyond this narrow perspective, analysing anti-regime protests by journalists in order to develop a better understanding of their role in competitive authoritarian regimes. Our exploratory case st…
Abhängig oder nicht abhängig
The economies of the EU and Russia are closely intertwined through the trade in natural gas. The transport of liquid gas in tankers, the liberalisation of the natural gas market, and the addition of new interconnectors to the pipeline network in Europe make it possible to react to a suspension of natural gas supplies. Nevertheless, a disruption of delivery would have serious consequences for both sides. Therefore, Moscow is not considering natura…
The Agency of Journalists in Competitive Authoritarian Regimes
On the example of Ukraine during the Yanukovich presidency (2010–2014) this article explores which factors support journalists’ agency in relation to censorship pressure in a competitive authoritarian regime. It shows that a critical mass of journalists existed who reacted to censorship pressure with rejection. Based, first of all, on 31 semi-structured interviews, we examine the working conditions of prominent national journalists and analyse ho…
Debates about export pipelines from the post-Soviet region
The Agency of Recipient Countries in Transnational Policy-Related Knowledge Transfer
Current research on transnational knowledge transfer has a strong bias toward (often conditionality-based) advice originating in the core OECD world and focuses nearly exclusively on the link from a source to a target of knowledge transfer. This contribution provides a broader and more nuanced picture by looking at the reverse logic of non-OECD countries proactively searching abroad for policy advice and assessing this advice based on their own r…
Integrating development aid into social policy
In many low‐ and lower‐middle‐income countries, development aid accounts for a large share of social expenditures. However, its fragmentation is among the major challenges to the efficiency and sustainability of policy measures. In reaction to this challenge, the Sector‐Wide Approach (SWAp) to development aid proposes pooling resources in order to improve cooperation and increase ownership by the recipient state. The SWAp to health care in Kyrgyz…
The framing of IMF and World Bank in political reform debates
The article presents a content analysis of assessments of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in parliamentary debates in Russia (1998–2008) and Ukraine (2010–2019) in order to understand the position of domestic actors in cases of conditionality-based international support. Russia and Ukraine offer the opportunity to compare periods with and without an active loan agreement with the IMF for domestic actors across the full politi…
Trajectories of political protest in post-Soviet spaces
KEYWORDS: political protestssocial movementsauthoritarian regimespolitical culturemulti-method approach
Energy materiality
This jointly authored essay reviews recent scholarship in the social sciences, broadly understood, that focuses on the materiality of energy. Although this work is extraordinarily diverse in its disciplinary and interdisciplinary influences and its theoretical and methodological commitments, we discern four areas of convergence and divergence that we term the locations, uses, relationalities, and analytical roles of energy materiality. We trace t…
The Political Role of Business Magnates in Competitive Authoritarian Regimes
This contribution examines the role of business magnates (“oligarchs”) in political transitions away from competitive authoritarianism and towards either full authoritarianism or democracy. Based on 65 cases of competitive authoritarian regimes named in the academic literature, 24 historical cases with politically active business magnates are identified for further investigation. The analysis shows that in about half of those cases business magna…
Transparency and quality assessment of research data in post-Soviet area studies
The social sciences are increasingly addressing the quality of research data and debating ways to improve data transparency, that is, the availability of original research data to corroborate claims made in academic publications. This article offers a systematic discussion of related problems and challenges with the example of post-Soviet area studies. It goes on to examine ways to improve data transparency. Although the Internet has a huge poten…
The Meaning of ‘Limited Pluralism’ in Media Reporting under Authoritarian Rule
Research on mass media in authoritarian regimes focuses more on state mechanisms of control than on actual media reporting and on moments of crises much more than on times of stable functioning of the regime. In order to shed more light on the role of journalistic mass media in authoritarian regimes, this article deals with the actual limits of pluralism in media reporting regarding policy issues in ‘ordinary’ authoritarian politics. Looking at p…
The International–Domestic Nexus in Anti-corruption Policy Making
This article looks at the application, in the anti-corruption realm, of the analytical framework developed for transnational human rights advocacy by Risse, Ropp, and Sikkink. Focusing on Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, this article shows that the level of integration with Western actors on the state and corporate levels determined the degree to which the transnational anti-corruption regime has been accepted in the Caspian region. As t…
Introduction
Mixing geopolitics and business
As political elites in the Caspian countries see themselves as actors who determine the fate of their countries and not as mere objects of international power struggles or as managers of pipeline projects, this contribution examines how domestic elites assess different pipeline projects. Based on close to 1,500 TV reports from national TV stations, which are seen as the mouthpiece of the ruling elites, we analyze the arguments surrounding oil and…
Trust and Informal Practice among Elites in East Central Europe, South East Europe and the West Balkans
The article examines patterns of generalised and institutional trust among elites in East Central Europe, South East Europe and the West Balkans. It enquires into the extent to which such trust can predict elite perceptions and behaviour concerning informal practice. The article builds on surveys of elite representatives in seven post-socialist states. Survey findings are complemented with and illustrated by findings from qualitative in-depth int…
Weakness as Precondition of Smooth Integration? Representation Strategies of Functional Interest Groups from New Member States at the EU Level
Based on an empirical study of business associations, trade unions and value-based NGOs from new EU member states this contribution argues that interest groups from the new Central and East European member states could smoothly be integrated into the EU system of interest representation with the help of European umbrella organisations. European umbrella organisations offer immediate access to the EU level, provide a role model of engagement at th…
Gergana Bulanova-Hristova, Von Sofia nach Brüssel Korrupte Demokratisierung im Kontext der europäischen Integration
Article Gergana Bulanova-Hristova, Von Sofia nach Brüssel Korrupte Demokratisierung im Kontext der europäischen Integration was published on March 1, 2011 in the journal Comparative Southeast European Studies (volume 59, issue 3)
Is this the way to Brussels? CEE civil society involvement in EU governance
Reformblockaden in der Wirtschaftspolitik
Heiko Pleines untersucht im Rahmen einer Analyse der Politikfelder Agrarpolitik, Kohlerestrukturierung und Privatisierung den Einfluss von Wirtschaftslobbies auf die Politik vergleichend für Polen, Russland und die Ukraine. Der Schwerpunkt der Analyse liegt dabei auf Reformblockaden, d.h. es wird untersucht, unter welchen Bedingungen die Einflussnahme nichtstaatlicher Akteure eine politische Entscheidungsfindung verhindert. Ein besseres Verständn…
Reformblockaden in der Wirtschaftspolitik
Is this the way to Brussels? CEE civil society involvement in EU governance
Transparency and quality assessment of research data in post-Soviet area studies
The social sciences are increasingly addressing the quality of research data and debating ways to improve data transparency, that is, the availability of original research data to corroborate claims made in academic publications. This article offers a systematic discussion of related problems and challenges with the example of post-Soviet area studies. It goes on to examine ways to improve data transparency. Although the Internet has a huge poten…
The Meaning of ‘Limited Pluralism’ in Media Reporting under Authoritarian Rule
Research on mass media in authoritarian regimes focuses more on state mechanisms of control than on actual media reporting and on moments of crises much more than on times of stable functioning of the regime. In order to shed more light on the role of journalistic mass media in authoritarian regimes, this article deals with the actual limits of pluralism in media reporting regarding policy issues in ‘ordinary’ authoritarian politics. Looking at p…
The International–Domestic Nexus in Anti-corruption Policy Making
This article looks at the application, in the anti-corruption realm, of the analytical framework developed for transnational human rights advocacy by Risse, Ropp, and Sikkink. Focusing on Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, this article shows that the level of integration with Western actors on the state and corporate levels determined the degree to which the transnational anti-corruption regime has been accepted in the Caspian region. As t…
Mixing geopolitics and business
As political elites in the Caspian countries see themselves as actors who determine the fate of their countries and not as mere objects of international power struggles or as managers of pipeline projects, this contribution examines how domestic elites assess different pipeline projects. Based on close to 1,500 TV reports from national TV stations, which are seen as the mouthpiece of the ruling elites, we analyze the arguments surrounding oil and…
Trust and Informal Practice among Elites in East Central Europe, South East Europe and the West Balkans
The article examines patterns of generalised and institutional trust among elites in East Central Europe, South East Europe and the West Balkans. It enquires into the extent to which such trust can predict elite perceptions and behaviour concerning informal practice. The article builds on surveys of elite representatives in seven post-socialist states. Survey findings are complemented with and illustrated by findings from qualitative in-depth int…
Weakness as Precondition of Smooth Integration? Representation Strategies of Functional Interest Groups from New Member States at the EU Level
Based on an empirical study of business associations, trade unions and value-based NGOs from new EU member states this contribution argues that interest groups from the new Central and East European member states could smoothly be integrated into the EU system of interest representation with the help of European umbrella organisations. European umbrella organisations offer immediate access to the EU level, provide a role model of engagement at th…
Rethinking energy materialities in the shadow of Russia's war on Ukraine
Protests by journalists in competitive authoritarian regimes
Studies of competitive authoritarian regimes regularly emphasize the political importance of media ownership, commonly assuming that the owners' views are mirrored in the journalists' writing and thus depriving journalists of a distinctive role. We move beyond this narrow perspective, analysing anti-regime protests by journalists in order to develop a better understanding of their role in competitive authoritarian regimes. Our exploratory case st…
The Agency of Recipient Countries in Transnational Policy-Related Knowledge Transfer
Current research on transnational knowledge transfer has a strong bias toward (often conditionality-based) advice originating in the core OECD world and focuses nearly exclusively on the link from a source to a target of knowledge transfer. This contribution provides a broader and more nuanced picture by looking at the reverse logic of non-OECD countries proactively searching abroad for policy advice and assessing this advice based on their own r…
Integrating development aid into social policy
In many low‐ and lower‐middle‐income countries, development aid accounts for a large share of social expenditures. However, its fragmentation is among the major challenges to the efficiency and sustainability of policy measures. In reaction to this challenge, the Sector‐Wide Approach (SWAp) to development aid proposes pooling resources in order to improve cooperation and increase ownership by the recipient state. The SWAp to health care in Kyrgyz…
The framing of IMF and World Bank in political reform debates
The article presents a content analysis of assessments of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in parliamentary debates in Russia (1998–2008) and Ukraine (2010–2019) in order to understand the position of domestic actors in cases of conditionality-based international support. Russia and Ukraine offer the opportunity to compare periods with and without an active loan agreement with the IMF for domestic actors across the full politi…
Trajectories of political protest in post-Soviet spaces
KEYWORDS: political protestssocial movementsauthoritarian regimespolitical culturemulti-method approach
Manipulating Politics
This article focuses on political aspects of Ukrainian privatisation auctions during the presidency of Leonid Kuchma. It contributes to a discussion of the role of big national investors, or so-called oligarchs, in the context of a regime of competitive authoritarianism in Ukraine. A quantitative evaluation is made by means of an assessment of the values of the winning bids in the privatisation auctions under Kuchma and this is linked to a charac…
Reformblockaden in der Wirtschaftspolitik
Heiko Pleines untersucht im Rahmen einer Analyse der Politikfelder Agrarpolitik, Kohlerestrukturierung und Privatisierung den Einfluss von Wirtschaftslobbies auf die Politik vergleichend für Polen, Russland und die Ukraine. Der Schwerpunkt der Analyse liegt dabei auf Reformblockaden, d.h. es wird untersucht, unter welchen Bedingungen die Einflussnahme nichtstaatlicher Akteure eine politische Entscheidungsfindung verhindert. Ein besseres Verständn…
Reformblockaden in der Wirtschaftspolitik
Reformblockaden in der Wirtschaftspolitik
Manipulating Politics
This article focuses on political aspects of Ukrainian privatisation auctions during the presidency of Leonid Kuchma. It contributes to a discussion of the role of big national investors, or so-called oligarchs, in the context of a regime of competitive authoritarianism in Ukraine. A quantitative evaluation is made by means of an assessment of the values of the winning bids in the privatisation auctions under Kuchma and this is linked to a charac…
Is this the way to Brussels? CEE civil society involvement in EU governance
Weakness as Precondition of Smooth Integration? Representation Strategies of Functional Interest Groups from New Member States at the EU Level
Based on an empirical study of business associations, trade unions and value-based NGOs from new EU member states this contribution argues that interest groups from the new Central and East European member states could smoothly be integrated into the EU system of interest representation with the help of European umbrella organisations. European umbrella organisations offer immediate access to the EU level, provide a role model of engagement at th…
Gergana Bulanova-Hristova, Von Sofia nach Brüssel Korrupte Demokratisierung im Kontext der europäischen Integration
Article Gergana Bulanova-Hristova, Von Sofia nach Brüssel Korrupte Demokratisierung im Kontext der europäischen Integration was published on March 1, 2011 in the journal Comparative Southeast European Studies (volume 59, issue 3)
Trust and Informal Practice among Elites in East Central Europe, South East Europe and the West Balkans
The article examines patterns of generalised and institutional trust among elites in East Central Europe, South East Europe and the West Balkans. It enquires into the extent to which such trust can predict elite perceptions and behaviour concerning informal practice. The article builds on surveys of elite representatives in seven post-socialist states. Survey findings are complemented with and illustrated by findings from qualitative in-depth int…
Introduction
Mixing geopolitics and business
As political elites in the Caspian countries see themselves as actors who determine the fate of their countries and not as mere objects of international power struggles or as managers of pipeline projects, this contribution examines how domestic elites assess different pipeline projects. Based on close to 1,500 TV reports from national TV stations, which are seen as the mouthpiece of the ruling elites, we analyze the arguments surrounding oil and…
The International–Domestic Nexus in Anti-corruption Policy Making
This article looks at the application, in the anti-corruption realm, of the analytical framework developed for transnational human rights advocacy by Risse, Ropp, and Sikkink. Focusing on Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, this article shows that the level of integration with Western actors on the state and corporate levels determined the degree to which the transnational anti-corruption regime has been accepted in the Caspian region. As t…
The Meaning of ‘Limited Pluralism’ in Media Reporting under Authoritarian Rule
Research on mass media in authoritarian regimes focuses more on state mechanisms of control than on actual media reporting and on moments of crises much more than on times of stable functioning of the regime. In order to shed more light on the role of journalistic mass media in authoritarian regimes, this article deals with the actual limits of pluralism in media reporting regarding policy issues in ‘ordinary’ authoritarian politics. Looking at p…
Energy materiality
This jointly authored essay reviews recent scholarship in the social sciences, broadly understood, that focuses on the materiality of energy. Although this work is extraordinarily diverse in its disciplinary and interdisciplinary influences and its theoretical and methodological commitments, we discern four areas of convergence and divergence that we term the locations, uses, relationalities, and analytical roles of energy materiality. We trace t…
The Political Role of Business Magnates in Competitive Authoritarian Regimes
This contribution examines the role of business magnates (“oligarchs”) in political transitions away from competitive authoritarianism and towards either full authoritarianism or democracy. Based on 65 cases of competitive authoritarian regimes named in the academic literature, 24 historical cases with politically active business magnates are identified for further investigation. The analysis shows that in about half of those cases business magna…
Transparency and quality assessment of research data in post-Soviet area studies
The social sciences are increasingly addressing the quality of research data and debating ways to improve data transparency, that is, the availability of original research data to corroborate claims made in academic publications. This article offers a systematic discussion of related problems and challenges with the example of post-Soviet area studies. It goes on to examine ways to improve data transparency. Although the Internet has a huge poten…
The framing of IMF and World Bank in political reform debates
The article presents a content analysis of assessments of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in parliamentary debates in Russia (1998–2008) and Ukraine (2010–2019) in order to understand the position of domestic actors in cases of conditionality-based international support. Russia and Ukraine offer the opportunity to compare periods with and without an active loan agreement with the IMF for domestic actors across the full politi…
Trajectories of political protest in post-Soviet spaces
KEYWORDS: political protestssocial movementsauthoritarian regimespolitical culturemulti-method approach
Abhängig oder nicht abhängig
The economies of the EU and Russia are closely intertwined through the trade in natural gas. The transport of liquid gas in tankers, the liberalisation of the natural gas market, and the addition of new interconnectors to the pipeline network in Europe make it possible to react to a suspension of natural gas supplies. Nevertheless, a disruption of delivery would have serious consequences for both sides. Therefore, Moscow is not considering natura…
The Agency of Journalists in Competitive Authoritarian Regimes
On the example of Ukraine during the Yanukovich presidency (2010–2014) this article explores which factors support journalists’ agency in relation to censorship pressure in a competitive authoritarian regime. It shows that a critical mass of journalists existed who reacted to censorship pressure with rejection. Based, first of all, on 31 semi-structured interviews, we examine the working conditions of prominent national journalists and analyse ho…
Debates about export pipelines from the post-Soviet region
The Agency of Recipient Countries in Transnational Policy-Related Knowledge Transfer
Current research on transnational knowledge transfer has a strong bias toward (often conditionality-based) advice originating in the core OECD world and focuses nearly exclusively on the link from a source to a target of knowledge transfer. This contribution provides a broader and more nuanced picture by looking at the reverse logic of non-OECD countries proactively searching abroad for policy advice and assessing this advice based on their own r…
Integrating development aid into social policy
In many low‐ and lower‐middle‐income countries, development aid accounts for a large share of social expenditures. However, its fragmentation is among the major challenges to the efficiency and sustainability of policy measures. In reaction to this challenge, the Sector‐Wide Approach (SWAp) to development aid proposes pooling resources in order to improve cooperation and increase ownership by the recipient state. The SWAp to health care in Kyrgyz…
Protests by journalists in competitive authoritarian regimes
Studies of competitive authoritarian regimes regularly emphasize the political importance of media ownership, commonly assuming that the owners' views are mirrored in the journalists' writing and thus depriving journalists of a distinctive role. We move beyond this narrow perspective, analysing anti-regime protests by journalists in order to develop a better understanding of their role in competitive authoritarian regimes. Our exploratory case st…
Rethinking energy materialities in the shadow of Russia's war on Ukraine
Assessing Socialist Past and Sociodemographic Present
Since the mid-2000s, there has been no study of characteristics of political elites at large in East Central European countries. Accordingly, an assessment of long-term trends is not possible beyond narrow case studies of elite sub-segments. This research note introduces a new dataset covering officeholders for 3,277 position/years in six countries (the Czech Republic, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine) for seven reference years …
Political science (21 works) · Law (15 works) · Law (14 works) · Politics (14 works) · Political economy (11 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Economics (10 works) · Authoritarianism (6 works) · Business (6 works) · Engineering (6 works)