„Campania electorală” din mai 1939: mecanisme, proceduri și comportament electoral

Author(s): Florin Grecu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 169/2012

The elections from 1st – 2nd of June 1939, during the authoritarian monarchy, 1938-1940, emphasised habits, methods and electoral mechanisms specific to any authoritarian regimes. The Maire was the one organising the elections, mainly because he was also making the electoral lists and in charge with the train transportation of the citizens to the voting precinct; trough the telephone network, the results of the elections were communicated to the Interior Ministry, who was to be informed at any moment about the data given by the Maire and also the voting and occasional incidents occurring during the elections. The need of control above the citizen’s vote represented the main mission of the local authorities during the day of the voting, precisely by the repression organs, The Police and the Constabulary.

„Cât valorează un nume?” – Viaţa privată şi discursul anonim pe Internet, Idei-cheie ale Conferinţei 5RB, 30 septembrie 2014

Author(s): David Lord Neuberger / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 4/2014

If lawyers and judges working in the same field of constitutional thickets, journalists occupy a different territory. At least in the past, judges tended to regard journalists as people willing to take an imprudent remark or observation which could be considered out of context, as sensational; journalists, however, looked to judges as to some infatuated and unapproachable individuals. The mutual suspicion that judges and journalists have maintained relied to some extent on the nature of the error in the assessment of the role of each of them. Although their roles vary widely, they share a particularly important function, namely to excoriate the power, especially the government. Sir Brian Leveson established the press privileges as follows: "A free press is able to perform valuable functions that individual free communication could not provide. It is a consequence of the position of the press as an institution of power capable of standing up and speaking the truth in the face of power" In an era of Internet, media institutions do not have a monopoly on telling the truth in the face of the power. What is clear is that the internet user’s rights must be firmly protected under certain conditions. The Internet offers new frontiers for public discourse, and the way the law protects both privacy and freedom of expression requires careful consideration in this context. Analogies with traditional print journalism may prove unnecessary, and distinctions between public and private discourse will prove difficult to maintain in a context where such differences are often vague. There is a context in which the rights established in art. 8 are of fundamental importance. The right must reflect the importance of protecting this new platform of expression, while recognizing the need to determine the duties and responsibilities of those who exercise these vital rights.

„Cine a tras în noi după 22?” Studiu asupra vinovățiilor pentru victimele Revoluției Române din decembrie 1989

Author(s): Andrei Ursu,Mădălin Hodor,Roland O. Thomasson / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 4/2018

For 28 years, justice for the bloody events of the Romanian Revolution has not been served. In the ”Timisoara gang” trial of the '90s, only a minute fraction of the guilty were investigated and indicted, and fewer yet were convicted. There has been no justice for any of the post-December 22nd victims. Through a massive disinformation campaign (”legendization”) by a number of former Securitate operatives and informers, the question of who was responsible for the December 1989 dead and wounded was obfuscated through a series of conspiracy theories that defy the historical truth and collective memory, the latter of which they in fact tried to alter. Through their proxies in the media, these ”alternative facts” ended up becoming common currency among the public at large. One of these theories is that ”the CFSN and Army” group would have orchestrated a diversion, where there were no terrorists, but only soldiers and revolutionaries shooting each other in panic. The last Revolution-related communique of the Military Prosecutor Office (S.P.M.) seems to fit the mold of that false narrative. If it is true that ”Iliescu Ion accepted the military measures, some of which had a clear diversionist character, and made them official”, then, by consequence, there must have existed those who ”unofficially” proposed those measures, as well as those who executed them: the shooters, the ones who installed the simulators, the terrorists. All of these should have been identified and indicted as well. Along with a large and diverse set of testimonies and historical and legal documents from prior investigations and trials, the study presents a set of documents recently discovered at C.N.S.A.S. which reveal a consistent and logical tableau of those responsible for the victims of the Revolution. These pieces of evidence show that the victims were not all the result of „friendly fire”. The terrorist acts, well-known in the days of the Revolution, are those that triggered the „diversion”, according to a pre-established plan. The plan was part of the ”resistance fight” envisaged by Ceausescu in the event of a foreign invasion or a popular revolt that would have chased him from power. Besides gunfire simulators, the shots also had the goal of killing, selectively, some of the revolutionaries and soldiers, for the sole purpose of panicking the population and the Army, and thus weakening the Revolution. The study identifies certain characteristics of the shootings and of the shooters, which lead to the conclusion that the latter were primarily Securitate members, especially from the 5th Directorate and U.S.L.A. This fact was confirmed by some of the Securitate heads, some of the C.F.S.N. leaders, several Army generals, and the ” Popescu-Necșești” senatorial commission report. For example, a large number of witnesses (medical doctors, military personnel, victims’ relatives), recount that the terrorists used light, caliber 5.62mm weapons (clearly for camouflage and greater mobility). There is no evidence these weapons existed in the Army’s arsenal. Instead, a recently discovered C.N.S.A.S document shows without a doubt that such weapons were used by the Securitate until December 26. The prosecutors can thus identify who shot (based on the weapons’ registration numbers). The study demonstrates this investigative path, exposing the identity of the Timisoare Securitate shooters (based on the similar ”Ambrozie lists”). These shooters were never investigated either. Finally, the study analyzes how we ended up with such a blatant, almost blanket immunity for Ceausescu’s main repressive institution. We look at the investigations which in 1990 debuted with Securitate investigators as prosecutors, the disappearance of evidence and dead bodies, and the suspicious freeing of all terrorists by Securitate proxies. The paper provides an overview of the disinformation mechanisms by which the Securitate version was propagated in the mass media and even among military prosecutors.

„Człowiek” w postnowożytnym świecie. Koncepcja humanizmu w myśli Tomasza Manna

Author(s): Agnieszka Turoń-Kowalska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 19/2017

European culture and civilisation are currently an ongoing continuation of Enlightenment tradition which left the rules derived from the Socratic‑ Christian order behind, often negating them. They put its foundation often in abandoning the absolute, transcendent values, principles of good and evil that determined a human being indisputably. Humanism placed a human being in the centre of interest — all concepts that attributed inherent „disablement” to him were rejected. Though, autonomy of a human being and relativismof values caused self‑negation of the Enlightenment legacy. The world faced the totalitarian European civilisation of 20th century. Thomas Mann — a German intellectual — carried out an analysis of the concept of humanism. On the one hand he indicated the weakness of the idea because humanism enabled monstrous ideologies to emerge, the realisation of which takes the form of extermination in the death camps. On the other hand, however, he underlined the significance of those ideas, pointing out that they cannot be absolutely abandoned so that the idea of humanity wouldn’t be destroyed completely. In his concept hetries to build a “bridge” between the old and the need for the return to the new humanism. Despite a century that separates us from the tragedy that took place in the humanistic Europe, current condition of culture and nationalist feeling reappearing on the European political scene may raise anxiety. It’s worth taking up the reflection on the problems and the history of the idea of humanism.

„Dacă America și Europa nu se consultă și nu acționează împreună într-un mod sistematic, în curând nu va mai exista Occident”

Discuție pe marginea lucrării Zbigniew BRZEZINSKI, Brent SCOWCROFT, moderator David IGNATIUS, America și lumea. Conversații despre viitorul politicii externe americane, traducere de Andreea Năstase, Ediura Antet, București, 2009, 231 pagini)

Author(s): Florin Diaconu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: II/2009

„Democrația românească”, teorie și metodă

Author(s): Romulus Brâncoveanu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 173/2013

This is a comment on the type of democracy in Romania, as illiberal democracy. Given the Romanian democratization process, we can hope that, in the future, all populisms and politicization will cease, and a true liberal and constitutional democracy will be installed, which will not be a „Romanian democracy” as Paul Wolfowitz suggested to be exported in Iraq. The question is whether it is good or not to „export” such a political model. „Romanian democracy” could be an exporting model only as an alternative to dictatorship and under the assumption that it will be adjusted in time, under the external pressure.

„Democratizarea Germaniei se poate considera înfăptuită în anul 1990”. Interviu cu Dr. Robert Grünbaum

Author(s): Alexander Rubel / Language(s): Issue: 07/2015

From 26 to 28 November 2014, within the project “After 25 years. Communism in Eastern Europe", conducted by the Faculty of Political Science from "Petre Andrei" University of Iași, the Institute for the Study of Ideologies and the "Polis" magazine, took place an event called "25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall", organized in partnership with the German Cultural Centre of Iași. The event brought together: the opening exhibition "The wall. A boundary inside Germany" (organized by "The Federal Foundation for the Investigation of Communist Dictatorship" with help from the newspapers "BILD" and "Die Welt"), two conferences, film projections and a concert in memory of the victims of communism, conducted by Ulrich Backofen. Invited to this event, Dr. Robert Grünbaum held the Conference entitled "The peaceful Revolution and the fall of the wall. The GDR in the fall of 1989 ". His presence in Iași was an occasion for an interview about the fall of the Berlin wall and the meaning it had and still has for Germany and for the entire Europe.

„DEMOKRACJA O NISKIEJ JAKOŚCI” (LOW-QUALITY DEMOCRACY) – ZASADNOŚĆ STOSOWANIA POJĘCIA I HOROWITZOWSKA EGZEMPLIFIKACJA NA PRZYKŁADZIE INDONEZJI

Author(s): Krzysztof Trzciński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 44/2016

This article discusses problems relating to terms used to define former authoritarian states, which are already called democratic, although they are still characterized by some undemocratic features. The latest English language literature on political science relating to this subject uses three terms that are similar in meaning: illiberal democracy, flawed democracy and low-quality democracy. They have not been conceptualized so far. This means that there has been no transition from the stage of ideas or views on their content, i.e. pre-theoretical notions to theorized concepts. Consequently, the terms cannot be understood unequivocally. The term ‘low-quality democracy’ has been recently propagated by Donald L. Horowitz, a renowned American political scientist. This researcher uses the term primarily to name the type of political regime that was formed after 1998 in Indonesia – the third largest democratic country in terms of population in the world. Not only does Horowitz use this term, but he also tries to explain its importance using the example of the imperfections that characterize the young Indonesian democracy. The article is to clarify three issues: firstly, what is the content of the term ‘low-quality democracy’, exemplified – according to Horowitz – by the Indonesian democracy; secondly, what problems of low-quality democracy has Horowitz identified on the example of Indonesia; and thirdly, should this term be used in political science literature if similar terms such as illiberal democracy and flawed democracy are also used?

„Denn nur der Name ist mein Feind” – Alternative Szenarien zur Lösung der griechisch-mazedonischen Namensfrage

Author(s): Oliver Schwarz,Heinz-Jürgen Axt / Language(s): German Issue: 05-06/2006

Like Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, the Greek-Macedonian name dispute belongs to the classics on the stage of politics. But in contrast to the well-known end of these two narrative characters, it is up to the decision-making of the real political actors in Greece and Macedonia to avoid such a kind of tragedy in the name dispute. Referring to the Macedonian position in this issue, a recent change has to be noticed: Since July 2006, a new conservative government rules the Western Balkans state. Using this change of administration as a starting point, the following article discusses several scenarios for the solution of the Greek-Macedonian name dispute. Reflecting the European integration process of Macedonia, three possibilities will be analyzed: The name dispute will be solved before the start of the EU negotiation talks, a solution will be found during these talks or the dispute will be solved after the entry of Macedonia into the European Union. Before the chances of realization of these three scenarios will be evaluated, the background of the Greek-Macedonian name dispute will be presented, the up-to-now approaches of the dispute will be described and the new positioning of Prime Minister Gruevski’s administration will be discussed.

„Die Genossen sollen auch Auffassungen überprüfen, die die Sprache als Hauptproblem betrachten.“ Sorb. Sprache als Politikfeld der Domowina in der DDR

Author(s): Ludwig Elle / Language(s): German Issue: 2/2008

Problems relating to the maintenance and use of the Sorbian language always played a prominent role in the work of the Domowina. On the one hand the Sorbian language was regarded as an essential element in Sorbian identity, but on the other hand the attempts by the Domowina as an organization to support the language were subordinated to the political and ideological constraints imposed by SED policy. The languages policy of the Domowina described in this piece is divided into three phases. Up to the middle of the 1950s the dominant positions were those which interpreted issues of language as the basic problem of the nationalities policy (“Lusatia will become bilingual”). Up to the end of the 1960s it was more the case that problems relating to the Sorbian language were downplayed. From the 1970s the leadership of the Domowina gave greater attention to the interests of the Sorbian language again in view of the decline in the everyday use of the language in both parts of Lusatia, which was becoming evermore apparent.

„Discernământul politic și juridic” al Securității. Deghizările represiunii în timpul regimului Ceaușescu

Author(s): Andrei Ursu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 1/2018

The stated goal of Ceausescu’s political repression was to create the image of an opposition-free Romania. The Securitate focused its efforts on the „neutralization”, „from the start and with discerning political and judicial judgement”, of „dissident nuclei”; on discovering „hostile writings” and „intentions”; and on stopping the flow of letters to Radio Free Europe „defaming the situation in the country” and the dictatorial couple. Based on dossiers existing at CNSAS, this paper analyzes what the Securitate meant by „discerning political and judicial judgement”: camouflaging the repression „usually under the cover of the Militia” and disguising the „actions against the socialist order” as „nonpolitical crimes”. As much as possible, the Securitate officers were ordered to „dissimulate themselves” and only prosecute political offenses as such „when there was no other option”. The statistics reviewed show that thousands of lesser-known cases of opposition existed, which were „resolved” by the Securitate through fake trials, similar to that of Gheorghe Ursu. The conclusion is that Romania had a significantly larger opposition in the ’70s and ’80s than was previously known. Thanks to concealment, the dissidents formally investigated and convicted for political crimes represented but a small percentage of the total number of victims of the final two decades of communism in Romania.

„Diskurzus” vagy „süket duma”? Gondolatok, megjegyzések Szabó Márton: Közpolitikai diskurzuselemzés c. dolgozatához

Author(s): György Gajduschek / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1/2013

Mielőtt a dolgozattal kapcsolatos észrevételeimet megtenném, érdemes rögzíteni azt az alapállást, amelyről kritikámat megfogalmazom. Ez egy pozitivista, ilyenként kétségkívül idejétmúlt álláspont, aminek lényege, kissé leegyszerűsítve, az a hit, hogy van „odakint” egy megismerhető és leírható objektív valóság.

„Dobra zmiana” w polityce zagranicznej RP

Author(s): Agnieszka Bieńczyk-Missala / Language(s): Polish Issue: 22/2016

The article discusses Poland’s foreign policy in 2016/2017, the year Poland faced criticism of international institutions, e.g. of the European Commission which initiated the rule of law procedure against Poland because of the unconstitutional changes introduced by the country’s government. Poland called for a debate on EU’s future reform, but was against further political integration and emphasized the need to come back to ‘EU roots’ and to guarantee respect for state sovereignty. The government focused on deepening its cooperation with the UK and the V4 states. 2016 was a breakthrough year in terms of security. During the summit in Warsaw in July 2016, NATO decided to strengthen the Alliance’s military presence in the East, among others in Poland. The greatest surprise in Poland’s Eastern policy was the development of relations with Belarus.

„Dodatkowy dzień tygodnia” Leonarda Borkowicza

Author(s): Katarzyna Rembacka / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2013

„Drei fröhliche baltische Tiger“ ? – Erfahrungen nach mehr als einem Jahrzehnt Wirtschaftstransformation in den baltischen Ländern

Author(s): Gerhard Schüsselbauer / Language(s): German Issue: 01-02/2003

Die Überschrift dieses Beitrags lehnt sich an an den Titel des Romans „Drei traurige Tiger“ des kubanischen Schriftstellers Guillermo Cabrera Infante.

„Dylemat (nie)bezpieczeństwa” we współczesnych konfliktach zbrojnych

Author(s): Jacek Reginia-Zacharski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1-2/2011

Mimo obowiązującego formalnie od wejścia w życie Karty Narodów Zjednoczonych zakazu użycia siły w stosunkach międzynarodowych, liczba konfl iktów zbrojnych i wojen utrzymuje się na stosunkowo wysokim (choć zmieniającym się) poziomie, zamykającym się pomiędzy liczbami 20 i 401. Jak uzmysławiają przytoczone poniżej wyniki badań jakościowo-ilościowych, po 1988 r. można było obserwować rosnącą przewagę konfl iktów rozgrywających się w schemacie innym niż państwo–państwo lub państwo–grupa państw. Zjawiska te nabrały szczególnej wyrazistości w ostatnich dwóch dekadach, naznaczonych głębokimi przewartościowaniami, w jakości i kształcie stosunków międzynarodowych.

„Dyplomacja” organizacji pozarządowych

Author(s): Beata Surmacz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2014

The increasing international activities of non-governmental actors contribute a novel transnational dimension to diplomacy and international relations. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) participate primarily in multi-actor decision-making processes and can shape their conduct and outcome. NGOs are not sovereign diplomatic entities; thus, they must partner with states and international organisations. However, if representation is considered an important principle of diplomacy, then NGOs are contributing to an essential change in social representation on international arena regardless of the objectives and controversies surrounding NGOs’ own diplomatic legitimacy, responsibility and capacity for representation.

„Dyplomacja” regionów – nowy instrument promowania interesów wspólnot terytorialnych w Europie

Author(s): Krzysztof Tomaszewski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 6/2006

Proces integracji europejskiej przyczynił się do wzmocnienia pozycji regionów jako podmiotów politycznych i gospodarczych. Stały się one aktywnymi uczestnikami polityki europejskiej: dysponują swoją instytucją przedstawicielską (Komitet Regionów) oraz stanowią ważny podmiot działań politycznych Unii Europejskiej w ramach polityki strukturalnej. Uwarunkowania związane z procesem integracji doprowadziły do powstania szczególnych form obecności regionów w stosunkach międzynarodowych, które można określić mianem „paradyplomacji”. Termin ten odnosi się do zdecentralizowanej działalności regionów oraz współpracy między nimi. Stanowi on nawiązanie do tradycyjnej koncepcji „dyplomacji” rozumianej jako oficjalna działalność państwa oraz jego uprawnionych organów w dziedzinie polityki zagranicznej. Artykuł dotyczy różnorodnych działań regionów podejmowanych w sferze współpracy transgranicznej. Te paradyplomatyczne inicjatywy w zależności od nasilenia mogą przybierać zróżnicowane formy, począwszy od promocji interesów ekonomicznych, a skończywszy na rewindykacjach separatystycznych. Artykuł zawiera typologię działań paradyplomacji regionów oraz przedstawia liczne przykłady państw europejskich, gdzie występują konkretne zjawiska. Dopełnieniem jego zawartości jest przybliżenie sytuacji polskich regionów w warunkach członkostwa Polski w Unii Europejskiej.

„Dyplomatyczna Republika Europy”?

Rozważania na temat wpływu wybranych rozwiązań lizbońskich na dyplomację UE w multilateralnym środowisku międzynarodowym

Author(s): Barbara Curyło / Language(s): Polish Issue: 54/2018

The aim of the reflections in this article is to analyze the impact of selected institutional solutions adopted by the Treaty of Lisbon on the EU diplomacy in contemporary international relations. The article does not refer to all regulations that concern broadly defined EU External Policy, but those which, by the nature of their connections, content of competence and meaning, became the object of special interest of the treaty architects and whose implementation was to counteract deficits in continuity, coherence and leadership in EU External Policy in pre‑Lisbon period. This assumption determined the structure of the article in which, after a brief reflection on the EU nature in context of the nature of contemporary international relations, the deficits in the institutional order of the EU External Policy before the Lisbon Treaty were analyzed and then they were confronted with treaty reforms.

„Egalitatea complexă” sau socialismul în versiunea lui Michael Walzer

Author(s): Cecilia Tohaneanu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 173/2013

This paper presents Walzer’s pluralist approach to justice as contrasted with standard egalitarian liberalist accounts such as Rawls’s. Walzer’s notion of “complex equality” is discussed in order to see whether by defending the sort of socialism attached to it, he can be still situated within the liberal tradition of thought, or the so-called “socialism of o liberal kind”, as he likes to term it, means a moving away from the basic liberal principles. In my view, since Walzer’s conventionalist and contextualist account of justice is inextricably linked to some philosophical, metatheoretical suppositions, revealing them could be useful to illuminate such a problem.