A Conceptual History of Political Regimes: Democracy, Dictatorship, and Authoritarianism

Author(s): Adam Przeworski / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

The labels we attach today to distinguish political regimes have histories. Applying them without understanding these histories is sometimes anachronistic and ethnocentric. I have little new to say about “democracy” and “dictatorship”, so that the discussion of these concepts is just a reminder. “Authoritarianism”, however, is a dubious neologism. I advance two claims: (1) In all regimes the power to command and be obeyed entails some dose of reason-giving, (2) What distinguishes regimes is the form and the extent to which the authority of rulers is monopolised by physical force. I conclude that the concept of “authoritarianism” adds little to the distinction between democracy and dictatorship.

Some of the Foremost Challenges to the Status Quo

Author(s): Zygmunt Bauman / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

Donald Trump’s election, results of the British referendum on membership in the EU and the rise of populist parties in Europe constitute various aspects of the challenges to the status quo resulting from the growing economic and cultural gap between privileged elites and the masses, as well as from the immigration from less developed regions to the rich countries of North America and Western Europe. The existing democratic systems have been unable to cope with these challenges and a fundamental change in the status quo is necessary if authoritarian trend is to be stopped.

Authoritarianism with an Electoral Face in Africa

Author(s): Peter Anyang Nyongo / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

This essay is about how authoritarian regimes in Africa use so-called democratic elections to stay in power or to avoid being removed from power. Some of these elections are blatantly rigged; some are semi-competitive and occasionally lend legitimacy to such regimes as being somehow approved by the people or based on the consent of the people. Since Africa is such a big continent with nation-states which have had different histories since independence, we cannot make watertight generalizations, though “typologies” very often prove useful in making comparative studies. In this case, we shall use Kenya as a typical case of former plantation colonies which political economies are comparable and the fortunes of democratic governance quite similar. We conclude that the struggle for democratic governance will always be rooted in people’s need to be governed and yet to control their governors.

Christopher Steed “A Question of Worth: Economy, Society and the Quantification of Human Value”

Author(s): Wojciech Rafałowski / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

Social bots influence

Author(s): Anita Zupanič / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

Use of social bots on social media platforms is spreading. Their use became prominent in US 2010 midterm elections and later in 2016 presidential elections between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton. In Turkey and Russia social bots were not used just for one purpose, they silenced political opposition, sent out propaganda and padded the number of social media followers. They had avatars with pictures on social media platforms. Social bots were clearly connected to PRI party in Mexico, whose leader Enrique Peña Nieto won the 2012 election. The case of 2015 UK general election shows that when more resources are put into social bots, the more effective they are.

Jednostka w systemie (realnego) kapitalizmu: analiza korpusowa społecznych wyobrażeń o relacji łączącej jednostki i system społeczny

Author(s): Agnieszka Karlińska,Maja Sawicka / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2019

This paper aims to identify and reconstruct social imaginary connected with the category of „social system”, and to answer the question how, thirty years after the systemic transformation in Poland, the relation between the individual and the system is conceptualized. The analysis stems from the research into psycho-social consequences of the transformation. However, it is innovative since it employs the methods and tools ofcorpus linguistics. The corpus encompasses the content of 12 focus group interviews (FGI) and of 29 in-depth interviews (IDI) carried out in different Polish cities duringthe project „Values in the times of (global) crisis” financed by National Science Centre(NCN grant no. 2016/21//B/HS6/03199). The results indicate the tendency to locate the individual in an antagonistic opposition towards the social system. A feeling that individuals’ claims towards the system are unsatisfied, and a sense that system blocks and limits individual opportunities, are manifestations of this antagonism.

Kobylin-Borzymy: mechanizmy dziedziczenia postaw politycznych w społeczności lokalnej

Author(s): Antonina Baczyńska,Daniel Jakubowski,Michał Wilkowiecki,Piotr Kopyta,Witold Chyło,Mateusz Wojda,Nikodem Grzegdala,Krystian Pakuła,Łukasz Luczek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2019

The article presents some results of a field study of intergenerational mechanisms of transmission of political attitudes in a rural community of Kobylin-Borzymy located inthe Podlasie region in northeastern Poland. Using quantitative and qualitative methods researchers analyse factors underlying the extremely high and stable electoral results ofthe right-wing parties in this community. The data collected during extensive qualitative interviews have been analysed in the broad context of socio-economical preconditions characteristic for this community. The authors come to the conclusion that the influence of Roman Catholicism and regional traditions are the key factors explaining attitudes and behaviour of members of the community. Values and practices related to both elements serve as an intermediate factor in sustaining the political climate in a long term and determine the decisions of the electorate.

Transitions Online_Around the Bloc-8 July

Author(s): Ioana Caloianu / Language(s): English Issue: 07/13/2020

Highlights from our coverage region: commemorations for Srebrenica; Chechen exiles antsy after killing; curfew protests in Belgrade; alleged MP kidnapping in Moldova; plague in Mongolia.

Мелничарството и законите за насърчение на местната индустрия от 1894 и 1905 година

Author(s): Rumyana Parvanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2020

The article examines the stages through which the flour-milling industry passed between the late 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century. Several factors contributed to the upward trend in the milling – the increase in cereal yields, the construction of a railway network and the establishment of new banks. The article details are considered laws encouragement of the Bulgarian industry (1894, 1905) and their application in the milling. It is proved that they contributed to the introduction of new technologies, accelerated the industrialization of the country and expanded the marketability of the economy.

SECOND INSTANCE ADMINISTRATIVE COMMISSIONS AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE COURTS EFFICIENCY IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA

Author(s): Iskra Akimovska-Maletić,Dragan Gocevski / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

The paper aims to evaluate the direct and indirect determinants of the system for administrative legal protection efficiency in the Republic of North Macedonia. For this purpose, the paper analyzes the legal and institutional framework of administrative authorities i.e. the second instance administrative commissions that act on the appeal against the decisions of the first instance administrative bodies, as well as the legal and institutional framework of the Administrative and Higher Administrative Court that provide administrative-judicial protection against administrative acts. The paper assesses internal efficiency determinants for three second instance state commissions that provide legal protection in administrative procedure in the country, independently, as well as the two administrative courts: staff (administrative staff, number of elected members of second instance commissions, number of judges), number of newly formed cases, number of resolved cases and number of unresolved cases at the end of a year.

Around the Bloc-Friday, 18 September

Author(s): Ioana Caloianu / Language(s): English Issue: 09/21/2020

Regional headlines: animal rights in Poland; war of words in Belarus; military games in Eastern Europe; informal payments in Moldova; and Turkmenistan dusts off Parthian past.

Transitions Online_Around the Bloc-Thursday, 22 October 2020

Author(s): Ky Krauthamer / Language(s): English Issue: 10/26/2020

Regional headlines: cluster bombs in Karabakh; Pole gets asylum in Norway; Ukrainian elections; EU and Kosovo at cross purposes; and a gold strike in Siberia.

Commentary: Three Lessons in Chaotism

Author(s): Martin Ehl / Language(s): English Issue: 11/02/2020

What remains of public trust in the state is vanishing as the pandemic roars back into Central Europe.

Transitions Online_Around the Bloc-Friday, 30 October 2020

Author(s): Ky Krauthamer / Language(s): English Issue: 11/02/2020

Regional headlines: Belarusian borders closed; Syrians in the Karabakh war; Gulenist fights extradition from Albania; Three Seas summit; and a rule of law institute.

Transitions Online_Around the Bloc-Monday, 12 October, 2020

Author(s): Ioana Caloianu / Language(s): English Issue: 10/19/2020

Regional headlines: elections in Tajikistan and Lithuania; Belarusian president meets jailed opposition; crackdown in Khabarovsk; and military games in Serbia.

Transitions Online_Around the Bloc-Tuesday, 13 October, 2020

Author(s): Ioana Caloianu / Language(s): English Issue: 10/19/2020

Regional headlines: coronavirus in Czechia; EU sanctions for Minsk and Moscow; state of emergency in Bishkek; an “earthquake bomb” in Poland; and nuclear energy in Romania.

Ukraine’s International Obligations in the Field of Mother-Tongue-Medium Education of Minorities

Author(s): István Csernicskó / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

On September 5, 2017, the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine voted for the Ukrainian Law “On Education”. Around Article 7 of the Law, discussions broke out, which gradually turned into one of the most acute conflicts in both internal political life and the external relations of Ukraine. The conflict rose from an internal to an international level when Hungary blocked the organization of high-level political meetings between Ukraine and NATO. The present paper examines Ukraine’s obligations in the field of mother-tongue-medium education of minorities. Kyiv had assumed such obligations with the ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Based on the official reports of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of Council of Europe bodies from 2017, the paper also examines how Ukraine fulfils its international obligations in this area.

Стратегия „Хоризонт Европа“ 2021–2027 – нова възможност за развитие на научните изследвания

Author(s): Radka Petrova Ivanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 6/2020

Creating innovations means also the pursuit of effective research and development activities which to include both research and educational institutions and business organizations, that are the main users of innovations. Bulgaria has the capacity to carry out R&D in terms of human potential, but does not have sufficient own financial resources to invest in it. In this regard, the programs developed by the EU to promote innovation activity in the Member States are useful for Bulgaria. This article examines the extent of absorption of the funds allocated under operational programs for innovation activity in Bulgaria for the period 2014 – 2020, as well as the place of Bulgaria among the other Member States in regard to the average level of the innovation index. Attention is focused on the research opportunities under the new EU Framework Program – „Horizon Europe“.

Book review

Author(s): Theodora Saltidou / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2020

GEOPOLITICS OF NEAR-SPACE: INCREASING NATIONAL POWER THROUGH SPACEPLANE DEPLOYMENT

Author(s): Bekim Nuhija,Sami Mehmeti,Stefani Stojchevska / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2021

With the delimitation of airspace and outer space being a continuous issue, various arguments intend to analyze the viewpoint of the geopolitics of near-space being considered neither as part of Astropolitik, nor the geopolitics of airspace. Consequently, a comparative methodology in regards to the multidimensional objectives of geopolitics is followed: (1) evolving a theoretical military basis of spaceplane deployment; (2) examining the natural background of the geopolitics of near-space; (3) constructing the ‘history-future’ relation of the geopolitics of near-space; and (4) analyzing the increasing of America’s national power through spaceplane deployment. Principle results obtained from the theoretical comparative methodology consequently determine the fundamental establishment of the geopolitics of near-space.