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The Rise of Populist Electoral Authoritarianism in Turkey: a Case of Culturally Rooted Recidivism

Author(s): İlter Turan / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

The trend in Turkey’s politics toward “electoral authoritarianism” is rooted in the long history of modernization. Tensions between traditional society and modernizing elites (with strong links to the military) resulted in the series of military coups in the 20th century and weak civilian regimes. The originality of the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) since its coming to power in 2002 is that it has been able to consolidate the support of less privileged strata and to establish full control over the state. How durable is this system remains an open question.

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New and Old Authoritarianism in a Comparative Perspective

Author(s): Jerzy J. Wiatr / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

The third wave of democratization, unlike the first and the second, has not been followed by the reverse wave. However, in several countries (Russia, Belarus, Turkey, Hungary, Poland) democratically elected leaders interpret democracy narrowly, as the rule of majority only. Other conditions for democratic government (the rule of law, protecting human rights) are ignored. Such system of government differs from the authoritarian model (as defined by Juan J. Linz) and can best be called “new authoritarianism”. Poland is a special case because, while after the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2015 authoritarian practices became common, the hold on power by the ruling party (“Law and Justice”) is relatively weak. Future development of Polish politics depends mostly on the next parliamentary (2019) and presidential (2020) elections.

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Re-imaging nationhood: consolidating nativist and immigrant social bonding

Author(s): Raymond Taras / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

States are today defined less by the nation(s) in them and more by nationhood – a term that subsumes complex and diverse societies characteristic of an age of global migration. Nationhood involves a process in which otherwise different people share some combination of a language, set of values, faith, culture, identity and ideals. When managed successfully, immigration offers an opportunity to give a state the opportunity to expand the nation beyond utilitarian considerations such as labour needs and demographic decline. It begins with immigrant inclusion in the receiving society and the social cohesion that follows. Failed social integration policy results in unachieved, fragmented nationhood leading to different social pathologies. Derived largely from the French Republican tradition, nationhood emphasizes social bonding of a cross-cultural kind. Eurocentric bias focusing primarily on the origins of the nation is examined, non-Western critiques are assayed, and nation branding as a substitute for nationhood is questioned. When nationhood allows locals and immigrants to develop partnership, it is on the basis of an equilibrium established between minority and majority rights regimes.

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Individual-Level Evidence on the Relationship between Trust in Political Institutions and Generalized Trust: An Analysis in the Case of Vietnam

Author(s): An Nguyen Huu / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

The relationship between political and generalized trust has been placed in the centre of academic debate for several decades. Recent studies have found a positive link between the two constructs in democratic countries and Asian nondemocratic settings,but no correlation among them in post-communist countries. This paper extends the understanding of the link in nondemocratic settings by taking Vietnam as a case to investigate conditions behind the relationship. Using data of Vietnam from the fourth wave of Asian Barometer Survey, results of logistic regressions reveal that different types of trust in political institutions differently affect generalized trust. Trust in partisan institutions is positively associated with generalized trust, while there is no relationship between trust in checking institutions and generalized trust. Furthermore, partisanship and voluntary associational membership are demonstrated as two prominent conditions under which the variation of the link between trust in political institutions and generalized trust can be observed.

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EXPLAINING PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR THE LAW ON THE USE OF LANGUAGES IN MACEDONIA

Author(s): Josipa Rizankoska,Jasmina Trajkoska / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

This article aims to explain citizens’ support for the Law on the Use of Languages (LUL) through their demographic characteristics, political participation, party affiliation and ethnic belonging. We base this article on an empirical ordered logistic regression models using an original database of 669 Macedonian respondents. We compare the support of Macedonian public for the LUL with the support for the general idea of promotion of the use of the languages of the non-majority ethnic communities in Macedonia. We argue that both the support for promotion of minority languages in Macedonia, as well as the support for this concrete Law depends mainly on citizens’ ethnicity and party affiliation. We find statistically significant opposition for the LUL among the ethnic Macedonians, the (Macedonian / mainstream) opposition parties, the participants in the so called ‘For a Shared Macedonia’ initiative, and those whose mother tongue is a minority language other than the Albanian.

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NIGERIA’S REGIONAL AMBITIONS: CHANNELS AND CHALLENGES

Author(s): Aslam Khan,Lawan Cheri / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

Nigeria is the most populous black nation in the world, member of the UN Security Council and largest economy of Africa. In addition to its globally acknowledged qualitative oil, it also has large deposits of mineral resources including tin, coal and gypsum, gold and lead. The country is not only engaged in a passionate competition with South Africa to attain the position of a continental superpower preparatory towards becoming a globally acknowledge giant but also comfortably playing a big-brother role among Africa nations. This paper uses documentary analysis to examine Nigeria’s social, economic and global potentials of fulfilling its dreams vis-a-vis the potentials of its competitor(s). The paper found out that Nigeria faces multidimensional challenges on its path towards continental leadership ranging from domestic problems of rising crime, incessant insurgency, dilapidated infrastructure, growing unemployment, over-reliance on dwindling oil income and leadership crises among others to intense competition from other strong African countries like South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia. The paper concludes that the country’s goal of a regional superpower status is achievable but Nigeria must address its domestic challenges to win the race of attaining continental hegemony.

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DETERMINANTS AND IMPACTS OF POLITICS OF GODFATHERISM AND REGIONALISM IN THE YOBE STATE

Author(s): Mustapha Alhaji Ali,Hadiza Mali Bukar,Abdulkarim Babagana / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

The politics of godfatherism and regionalism has become a phenomenon in the political development of many nations Nigeria inclusive. The paper examined the determinants and impacts of politics of godson and regionalism in Yobe state. Indeed, the politics of godson or the elites have entered every hook and crannies of the state and have affected the political arrangement of the political system. The paper is qualitative in nature, data were generated from secondary sources where several related articles, newspapers, magazines, books were consulted etc. In explaining the topic under study, the researcher adopted Elite theory. This theory was propounded by Vilfredo Pareto in 1935, the postulation of the theory is that elites could only be replaced by another set of elites, meaning that the majority are unavoidably governed by the minority. The study found that the politics of godfatherism courses and affect the political development of Yobe state by restricting power in the hands of the few, in a specific geopolitical zone of the state. This has leads to inter-party and intra-party defections, decamping and conflicts among the party members. Therefore, the study recommends the adoption of the direct primary election in chosen candidate in all level of governance. INEC should also make a law that will discourage money politics and punish culpritinvolved in such an illegal act. To minimize the politics of Godfatherism, there is a need for political awareness campaigns on the effects of political godson on the political development of the state.

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(RE)SHAPING POLITICAL CULTURE AND PARTICIPATION THROUGH SOCIAL NETWORKS

Author(s): Marija Andreeva / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

The influence of social networks is growing intensely. They do not only influence only certain aspects of our lives, but they also influence political participation and political culture. In recent years, this influence has been very notable. We have seen a change of policies as a result of pressure, a lot of significant political movements started via social networks. This paper concentrates on the influence of social networks on political participation and political culture. The paper tries to foresee the future implications and the intertwining of social networks and political culture and political participation. It also gives conclusions for the past, present and future implications and it gives a comparison between political participation before and after the rise of social networks. It also analyses the positive and negative implications that social network could have on political participation.

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DIFFERENT SCENARIOS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION’S AGENDA 2030

Author(s): Goran Bandov,Nikolina Herceg Kolman / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

This article examines the potential for implementation of Agenda 2030 in the EU. In the first part, the article outlines how the EU shifted and adapted its policy framework after the adoption of the Agenda 2030. In the second part, it analyzes the role of governance for the implementation of the Agenda and possible scenarios for the implementation of the Agenda 2030 in the EU. In the final part, the article examines scenarios for the future of the EU, as defined in the White Paper for the Future of Europe in 2017, concluding that comprehensive implementation of the Agenda is possible only under the scenario in which all EU member states do much more together, but with an important caveat.

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THE INFORMATIVE COMPONENT OF THE MACEDONIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AS AN IMMANENT PART OF THE EURO-INTEGRATIVE PROCESS

Author(s): Mladen Karadjoski,Goran Ilik,Artur Adamczyk / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

This article analyzes the informative component of the Macedonian public administration as an imminent part of the accession process towards the European Union. The interaction of the public administration with the citizens, NGO's, media and other relevant "stakeholders" in the Macedonian society is an additional impetus for the acceleration and improvement of the integrative process. The main research methods which will be used in this paper are a descriptive method, content analysis method, and comparative method.

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THE SOFT BALANCING OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA: BETWEEN THE EU’S NORMATIVE POWER AND EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION’S EXPANSION IN THE EASTERN EUROPE

Author(s): George Mihai Constantinescu / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2020

Having the 2014-2017 timeframe, we aim to observe the long distance duel between the EU and the EEU, the interests of the two organizations being the most visible in the Republic of Moldova, a state with a soft balancing attitude which is at the same time an observer-member of the Eurasian Economic Union, and also a signatory-member of the Association Agreement with the EU. In order of capturing as faithfully as possible this remote match, we want to analyze the European normative power in relation to the Republic of Moldova by analyzing the main changes that Moldova's trade relations with Brussels and Moscow have suffered following the signing of the Association Agreement in 2014 and the institutional crystallization of the EEU in 2015, using data provided by the Moldavian National Bureau of Statistics and analyzing the official documents which laid the foundations for the recent relationship between the Republic of Moldova and the two organizations.

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THE PROSPECT OF JOINING THE EU AND CIVIL SERVICE REFORM IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA

Author(s): Albana Rexha,Blerim Reka / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2020

The Republic of North Macedonia, a candidate country in the EU, is continuously subject to conditionality in relation to establishing a professional and effective public administration from the EU institutions and from the civil society. This paper employs the qualitative methodology of process tracing to find out whether the EU conditionality has managed to establish a merit-based civil service. The data are gathered and analyzed for a period of ten years while analyzing the legal and institutional structure of the civil service. The findings identify the factors that hampered or prolonged the implementation of reforms and they offer insights on the conditions necessary for the civil service reforms to take place.

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Perceiving Religious Mysticism in the Key of Political Repression.

Author(s): Ioana Ursu / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2019

L’effondrement des États communistes de l’Europe de l’Est a mis en lumière des histoires d’héroïsmependant la répression et fait parler d’oppression, de survie et de dignité. Cependant, les tendances historiogra-phiques récentes cherchent désormais à comprendre les aspects systémiques des quarante-cinq années de Régimecommuniste en Roumanie. Les études culturelles et sociales, l’histoire comparée, la et l’histoire orale, entre autres,interprètent et redimensionnent nos conceptions sur le mode de vie pendant le communisme. En partant d’uneapproche post-révisionniste, s’appuyant sur une analyse du discours et sur la sémantique, la présente étude sepropose d’interpréter quelques extraits des archives de la police politique (Securitate) concernant l’histoire dugroupe d’intellectuels et de clercs connu sous le nom de Rugul aprins (Buisson ardent), qui ont été cibles de la ré-pression communiste et incarcérés ensemble pour agissements contre l’ordre social. Puisque leurs préoccupations spirituelles et leur philosophie culturelle témoignaient pleinement d’une attitude anti-communiste et d’une cri-tique du régime socialiste, ils sont devenus l’objet d’un suivi informatif de la Securitate, puis inculpés lors d’un procès mené pendant la seconde vague répressive du régime, en 1958. La présente recherche suit la trame narra-tive et les thèmes du discours de la Securitate, en essayant en même temps de proposer une interprétation de la façon dont les institutions répressives se rapportaient face à l’idée de religiosité et de ‘mysticisme’.

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CRIME OF AGGRESSION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Author(s): Goran Bandov,Dorotea Ogorec / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The paper focuses on the analysis of the problem of defining the crime of aggression in the international law and international relations, focusing primarily on the historical development of the term from its initial directed efforts, all the way to its modern outcomes. Observing in a historical manner, the establishment of the definition of the crime of aggression, as well as its aligning under criminal offences has encountered several obstacles which resulted in a continuous delay of clear defining what exactly would the crime of aggression encompass. In order to fully understand the matter, the importance of several international documents is undeniable, especially the Charter of the United Nations as well as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

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SOFT POWER CONTEXT OF CHINESE INVESTMENTS TO THE EUROPEAN UNION: CHALLENGES VS. OPPORTUNITIES

Author(s): Daniela Cvetanovska / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

This paper presents a constructivist take on soft power, by analyzing the contextual factors which influence Chinese investments (COFDI) to the EU as a relevant soft power resource. The contextual analysis shows which constraining and stimulating (internal and external) factors condition COFDI in leveraging soft power for China. Additionally, the article provides solutions for soft power optimization, since soft power resources aim to entice and foster cooperative relations toward a ‘win-win’ behavior. The issues presented here have profound implications for future studies on soft power and the political economy of Chinese investments in the EU.

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THE ALBANIAN QUESTION AT THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE DURING 1919-1920

Author(s): Erjon Dervishi / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

This paper aims to bring to the public one of the most important moments in the history of modern times of Albania. After the Albanian independence on 28 November 1912 and international recognition of Albanian state on 29 July 1913, in 1919-1920, many national and international events unraveled which initially posed a real danger for Albania to become an independent state. The Paris Peace Conference, organized after the First World War by the Great Powers which win the war, and in which 27 winning states took part, became the real world center of that time. The Albanian point of view was headed directly at this Conference, with the hope to gain its independence and to win the right of self determination for its people. The main issues of the Conference were: border correction, especially in the southern part of Albania, relations between the Balkan states regarding Albania, the position of Italy, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the position of Greece over Albania, and the real threat of secret pact during the First World War and the new role of American President, Woodrow Wilson. This paper also aims to bring the attitude of the Albanian delegation at the Paris Peace Conference and the position of Italy, France, Great Britain and Greece.

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FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN TIMES OF COVID-19: CHILLING EFFECT IN HUNGARY AND SERBIA

Author(s): Kristina Ćendić,Gergely Gosztonyi / Language(s): English Issue: Suppl./2020

New technologies have opened several risks to safety of journalists. More importantly, in the state of emergency caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, journalists and media actors have shifted their activities online more than ever, which also made them more prone to digital threats and attacks. In some regimes there are even organized intimidation campaigns against political opponents causing chilling effect and self-censorship, and jeopardizing freedom of expression in general. Hungary as a member of the European Union since 2004 and Serbia as a leading candidate to join the EU are two countries where the problems and concerns about media freedom is growing every day. The fear from the unknown during the international pandemic gave opportunity to some governments to hide their real political agendas and cover their desire for the 'good-old-fashioned' censorship. The number of countries where some kind of censorship could be found is growing every day. The authors will show two country-case-studies from Hungary and Serbia, where the leaders and the political situations are very similar and could show a (good or bad) example to other countries that would like to follow the illiberal views on media issues.

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CHINA’S PUBLIC DIPLOMACY: EVOLUTION, CHALLENGES, AND THE GREEK CASE

Author(s): Georgios Zacharias / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2021

The construction of a positive international image is profoundly correlated with advancing one’s national interests abroad. Influencing foreign audiences and creating multisided links with countries of interest, is the main objective of public diplomacy. In the highly interconnected XXI century, countries have increasingly invested in that practice, assisted by major technological advancements. China is not an exception. The current paper will examine in which ways the latter conducts public diplomacy and through which actors. The study will also try to showcase the evolution and challenges that took place in this domain. Afterward, the case study of Greece will be considered, presenting the Chinese actors engaging in the country, the practices they use, and how the bilateral relationship has been affected. The essay will conclude with estimating the total effectiveness of the practices, possible challenges that exist, and several insights for future reference.

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THE ESCALATION OF CONFLICT BETWEEN ARMENIANS AND AZERBAIJANIS AND THE PROBLEMS OF PEACEFUL RESOLUTION OF THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH WAR

Author(s): Valeri Modebadze / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2021

This article explains why it is so difficult to achieve peace in Nagorno-Karabakh and what factors prevent the peaceful resolution of the conflict. This conflict is very difficult to resolve because the conflicting parties have contradictory geopolitical interests and cannot achieve consensus during negotiations. We have to take into account Russia’s geopolitical interests in South Caucasus that Kremlin is interested in freezing this conflict to weaken both states, Azerbaijan and Armenia, and bring them back to Russia’s orbit. Moscow aims to establish firm control over South Caucasus which was viewed in the past as a ‘Russian backyard’. Russia still views South Caucasus as its zone of influence and tries to bring this region back into Russia’s orbit.

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INTERNATIONAL LEGAL STANDARDS IN COMBATING CHILD ONLINE SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION

Author(s): Bistra Netkova,Ariana Qosaj Mustafa / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2021

The general international standards are being discussed in this article, as well as more relevant ones concerned with the problem of sexual exploitation and child abuse. Further, the article discusses a growing understanding of children’s exposure to violence, strengthened commitments to secure their safety and protection, and significant international implementation efforts to mobilize support for prevention and response and to help change attitudes and behavior which condone violence against children. With the fast development of the internet and online social networks, the article ends with a conclusion in identifying criminal law benchmarks based on the previously identified general international standards.

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