On Political Semiotics
Review of Introducing Relational Political Analysis: Political Semiotics as a Theory and Method [Palgrave Studies in Relational Sociology] by Peeter Selg and Andreas Ventsel. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020, 319 pp.
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Review of Introducing Relational Political Analysis: Political Semiotics as a Theory and Method [Palgrave Studies in Relational Sociology] by Peeter Selg and Andreas Ventsel. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020, 319 pp.
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Information wars and disinformation have become essential tools in the geopolitical battle which became extremely tense because of the Ukrainian war. In this battle, Russia and China exploit the open character of the Western societies, the deep societal faults created by the inner identity wars and the new technologies, from Social Media to „deep fakes”.
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The pandemic crisis and the Ukraine war have generated fear, incapacitated the official communication, and accelerated the spread of rumours and conspiracy theories. The digital environment and social media were the channels where disinformation, urban legends, myths, folk tales and high-tech online propaganda campaigns have been orchestrated to persuade, deceive, or explain the absurd that the Romanian authorities did not know how to manage or how to make sense out of. While competing with the digital platforms, the traditional press lost the public trust and was impacted by decreasing advertising incomes. However, during the pandemic crisis, people’s lives depended on the righteousness of the information provided by professional journalists. Today, the lives of those who fight in Ukraine and those who run from the war depend on the supply of correct information.
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The aim of this paper is to present and discuss the 1946 electoral campaign in Soviet occupied Romania as reflected in the editorials signed by literary critic George Călinescu, director of the newspaper „Națiunea” (The Nation). We focus on the political editorials and follow his growing devotion to the communist cause that took place between March and November 1946. Starting as a distant sympathizer in March, he will become by the time of the November elections a loyal ally and gain a seat in the Parliament as a reward for his effort.
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Electoral behavior constitutes an extremely important component in a democratic society, with a major impact on the whole country. This differs according to the environment in which the voter lives, and the electoral behavior of rural voters is important because rural Romania represents almost half of the country. Residents of rural communities are guided by different values and standards than those in urban areas, because many factors such as poverty, poor education, ageing population, traditional mentality intervene and make the rural voter have different motivations when choosing to participate in voting.
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Romania is currently suffering a significant digital divide, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The core point of this paper is an attempt to study governmental policies on aging and digitalization in Romania. The current analysis intends to determine the influence of a poorly built digital system in Romania regarding a vulnerable category, such as the elderly population. What are Romania’s current digitalization difficulties, and what solutions are available to improve the lives of senior citizens with technology and digitalization? What are the most significant consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic on the Romanian digital system? Is there enough potential for digital growth in Romania, and if so, how might this element improve the quality of life for the elder people? A review, synthesis, and analysis of the current literature are used to address the research questions. The paper is based on a secondary literature review research that aims to provide insight into the Romanian scenario. The goal of this study is to identify the barriers to technology use among Romanian older adults and establish the framework for a larger investigation. The article will also discuss the public policy in the digitalization process and in the same time the impact of the pandemic’s economic, social, cultural, and political crises on the well-being and quality of life of the elderly.
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The technological boom that characterized the last decades changes the rules in all societal domains, generating large volumes of data to be both processed and stored. The industry of communications developed new innovative communication channels and instruments (such as social media platforms and online applications that allow people to communicate across borders) that even though facilitated the communication process as a whole, generated several challenges for both network/platform administrators and cyber security agencies (the online environment becoming a new battlefield of the next generation wars, where data are the main weapons). In this context, one can conclude that mastering the art of managing large volumes of data it is a vital asset in understanding the architecture of the digital society – a reality of the 21st century. Therefore, the article aims to define, based on a process of literature review, the main characteristics of Big Data, a concept used to define the large quantity of data produced by any society nowadays. It will present the evolution of the data concept from small data to big data, the main types of big data and a common analysis framework for Big Data, all in order to provide a better understanding of the Big Data concept and its application in current societies.
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For many years, there has been a discussion in the Polish parliament on the introduction of a limit on the number of terms of office for heads of villages, mayors and presidents. In 2018, the regulation was implemented by the Law and Justice party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS). The aim of the article is to find out whether other political parties were also in favor of introducing the two-term limit. Two hypotheses were put forward. According to the first hypothesis, political parties were generally in favour of two-term limits and, according to the second hypothesis, local politicians affiliated with parties were also in favour, while non-party local politicians were sceptical about this change. The validity of the above assumptions was checked on the basis of an analysis of parliamentary work and anonymous interviews with local politicians.
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Russia's invasion of Ukraine has drastically disrupted food chains, threatened global population well-being and raised the prospect of a collapse in agri-food-related realms across the world. Food security has once again become a major source of worry and a top priority on the European public agenda. The public sphere has experienced a revival of this notion and relevant actors are calibrating their communication strategy around this concept. Despite being recognized as having one of the most effective systems for ensuring the quantity and the quality of food, the European Union has started to communicate constantly on issues of food security. Pan-European press, such as Euractiv, has begun to devote particular attention to this subject. The objective of this paper is to identify European media patterns of the concept of food security and to classify useful interpretation grids that meet newsworthiness criteria, using framing theory, in order to observe how they functions in relation to communication purposes. It uses an exploratory approach with quantitative and qualitative methods for a fruitful understanding of the concept within broader notions of the mass communication process.
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By the basic principles of the criminal trial, we understand those rules of a general nature based on which the entire development of the criminal trial is regulated. The fundamental principles of the criminal trial are written as basic rules in the Criminal Procedure Code. Apart from these principles, procedural doctrine, judicial practice and other legal provisions enshrine other fundamental ideas that can be considered principles. Among these, the principle of equality of arms and the principle of immediacy are among the most important, because along with the presumption of innocence, they are the guarantors of the rights of the suspect or the accused.
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The main aim of the paper is to provide a chronological overview of the development and history of the study of journalism at the Faculty of Political Science from its foundation in 1970 to the present day. Four key periods are identified in the paper, i.e.: 1) the one-year and two-year study period; 2) the four-year study period; 3) the period of implementation of practical work in journalism studies; 4) the period of implementation of the Bologna reform. The paper relies on records, published texts and transcripts of conversations with professors of political science and journalism who, in various ways, participated in the development of this study at the Faculty of Political Sciences, which now spans more than 50 years. The main part of the work is focused on recording the facts that were relevant for upgrading the study of journalism and what the study is today in the Croatian context. This paper confirms that the only constant in the development of the study of journalism is the constant re-examination of the conception and reform thereof as extensively as possible. Digital technology requires quick response, knowledge and skills, but the concern for fair access to the journalism profession has remained the same throughout the decades.
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The article focuses on the fact that wars acquire a hybrid character in the 21st century. It is emphasized that the new ways of waging war are aimed at destroying the state from the inside by unbalancing all organizational systems of the state, when national features are destroyed, economic and political subordination to the aggressor occurs. The article details the essence and content of modern wars that are referred to as organizational wars and highlights some aspects of their essence are highlighted in the context of international relations. It is shown that the main tool of organizational warfare is the technology of “controlled chaos”, which involves the use of a strategy of indirect approach and effects-based operations, and that the maximum effect of organizational weapons is achieved in network societies.
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On September 8, 2022, the Institute for the Investigation of the Crimes of Communism and the Memory of the Romanian Exile (IICCMER) organized, at the Jockey Club Bucharest, in partnership with the "Nicolae Iorga" Institute of History of the Romanian Academy, the "Petre Andrei" University in Iași and Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Bucharest, the debate "Mikhail Gorbachev and the failure of the Soviet experiment". The event was moderated by the historian Cosmin Popa (Institute of History "Nicolae Iorga" of the Romanian Academy) and had as guests Sorin Bocancea (political scientist, "Petre Andrei" University of Iasi), Stelian Tănase (political scientist) and Doru Tompea (political scientist) , "Petre Andrei" University from Iasi).
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Our paper discusses academic writing for political science undergraduate higher education students. In the first part it focuses on the main topics in academic writing in political science, such as citation, references list, academic style, plagiarism. The second part focuses on recent discussions of teaching strategies in the field. While depicting a global picture in discussing trends in the literature, the paper also employs a minor focus on Romania. The paper makes a contribution to understanding the literature on academic writing in undergraduate political science higher education and helps comprehend recent pedagogical trends and developments.
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In theoretical and applied terms, the report first presents the most general requirements of international humanitarian law for the reception, temporary accommodation and care of persons seeking temporary protection from military conflicts. On the basis of modern theoretical statements and lessons from practice, the requirements for the construction of primary reception centers for refugees and centers for assistance to persons seeking temporary protection are systematized. An overview of the current legislation in connection with the granting of various types of status and the resulting rights of refugees has been made. In this logical connection, the responsibilities and obligations of various institutions from the central and local ones for the preparation of operational plans for preparation and action in case of a refugee wave are presented.
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In this study, I am applying the feminist institutionalist model developed by Annesley et al. (2019) to analyze cabinet formation in three Slovak governments by focusing on the actors, formal and informal rules, and the process of ministerial selection. By interviewing political actors who participated in the cabinet formation, I am uncovering which type of criteria—experiential, affiliational, or representational—are decisive in selecting a ministrable. It is the affiliational criteria that were decisive in most of the cases of ministerial selection in Slovakia, as the need for experience is a prescriptive but very flexible criterion that can be disregarded when needed. On the other hand, representational criteria played no role in cabinet formation in Slovakia. Consequently, this study reveals how the interplay of formal and informal norms and rules maintains a gendered regime of ministerial selection that conserves the political disadvantage of women in Slovak cabinets. The characteristics of an institutional setting, such as that of the party system, play an important role in the gendered regime as well. A small number of portfolios and a high number of parties in coalitions create conditions where only a few party leaders are usually appointed to the cabinet. Weak party organizations, lack of women’s organizations within parties, and the absence of conviction among the selectors highlighting the benefits of gender equality offer little hope for the future improvement of gender balance in Slovak cabinets.
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Region Bliskiego Wschodu w historii ludzkości odgrywał istotne znaczenie geopolityczne i geoekonomiczne. Wynikało to z jego położenia geograficznego, co powodowało, że stanowił swego rodzaju „pomost” w handlu łączącym Europę z Azją i Afryką. Współcześnie jednym z kluczowym aspektów są znajdujące się na tych obszarach znaczące złoża ropy naftowej, a także zbiegające się interesy geopolityczne mocarstw regionalnych i globalnych. Doprowadziło to do sytuacji, że region ten stał się jednym z kluczowych obszarów geopolitycznych i geoekonomicznych we współczesnej polityce międzynarodowej. Historycznie w tym regionie dominowały państwa o reżimie autorytarnym lub monarchicznym. Pod koniec 2010 i na początku 2011 r. doszło jednak do masowych wystąpień w szeregu krajów regionu. Protestująca ludność dążyła do poprawy swojej sytuacji politycznej i socjoekonomicznej, a wystąpienia nazwane zostały później Arabką Wiosną. Arabska Wiosna zmieniła krajobraz polityczny regionu, co dotyczyło zwłaszcza reżimów w Egipcie, Libii, Tunezji i Jemenie. Przemiany w krajach arabskich miały szereg skutków politycznych, społeczno-ekonomicznych i geostrategicznych. Sytuacja w poszczególnych państwach jest nierozerwalnie związana z polityką regionalną i globalną. Kluczowe są tu uwarunkowania geopolityczne i geoekonomiczne, uwzględniając role globalnych i lokalnych graczy, tj. Stanów Zjednoczonych, Chin, Rosji, Turcji, Izraela, Iranu czy Arabii Saudyjskiej. Arabska Wiosna nasiliła geopolityczną rywalizację i rozprzestrzeniła ją na Syrię. W artykule podjęto się próby charakterystyki definicji pojęć geopolityki oraz geoekonomii. Celem głównym było przedstawienie przeobrażeń geopolitycznych oraz geoekonomicznych w regionie Bliskiego Wschodu po wydarzeniach Arabskiej Wiosny z 2011 r. [The Middle East region has played an important geopolitical and geoeconomic role throughout human history. This was due to its geographic location, which made it a kind of „bridge” in trade connecting Europe with Asia and Africa. Nowadays, one of the key aspects is the significant oil deposits located in these areas, as well as the converging geopolitical interests of regional and global powers. This has led to the region becoming one of the key geopolitical and geo-economic areas in modern international politics. Historically, the region has been dominated by states with authoritarian or monarchical regimes. In late 2010 and early 2011, however, there were mass uprisings in a number of countries in the region seeking to improve the political and socioeconomic situation of the societies living there, and the uprisings were later dubbed the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring changed the political landscape of the region, which especially affected the regimes in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen. The Arab transition has had a number of political, socioeconomic and geostrategic effects. The situation in individual countries is inextricably linked to regional and global politics. Geopolitical and geo-economic factors and conditions are key, taking into account the roles of global and local players, i.e. the United States, China, Russia, Turkey, Israel, Iran or Saudi Arabia. The Arab Spring intensified the geopolitical rivalry and spread it to Syria. The article attempts to characterize the definitions of the concepts of geopolitics and geo-economics. The main objective was to present the changes in geopolitical and geo-economic conditions in the Middle East region after the events of the Arab Spring of 2011.]
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The study examines the historical roots of the American political system and the emergence of US state institutions. The interactions between the legislative and executive branches of government in the country are interpreted in detail. The peculiarities of the system of „balance and counterweights“ between the President and the Congress as leading institutions in the country, as well as the mechanisms for their effective cooperation (as part of the overall political process) are highlighted.
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