JUGOSLAWIEN — Kann den Krise so bunt sein?
Neither economic rehabilitation nor direct collapse; sharper climate against intellectuals, but no general muzzle-decree: in Yugoslavia, the crisis is contradictory.
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Neither economic rehabilitation nor direct collapse; sharper climate against intellectuals, but no general muzzle-decree: in Yugoslavia, the crisis is contradictory.
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While in every other Eastern European country the terms "dissident critic" and "oppositionist" are likely to coincide exactly, they are falling apart in Hungary. András Hegedűs is one of the former; and even if there are many links connectim him with the latter, he never forgets to distinguish himself from the "democratic opposition" - with a great deal of political instinct and a dash of cunning. On the occasion of a stay of the former Prime Minister of Hungary in Vienna, "vote against" had occasion for a - in many points controversial - conversation.
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On April 20, Ms. Françoise Baluka presented the following text to the public in Paris. We publish some extracts from it. Edmund Baluka was sentenced in April 1983 by a military court in Bydgoszcz to ten years in prison.
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The article discusses the processes of the „Arab Spring“, starting in December 2010 in Tunis, how the protest march affected regions countries, were after the revolutionary process, the ruling regimes have lowdown (Tunisia, Egypt, Libya). The focus is on the impact and role of the regional actors which were involved in the Syrian civil confrontation.
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What are civil society organizations? What are their functions? Are they relevant? How are they perceived? Do they promote social inclusion? Are they known by rural dwellers? These germane questions led to this study. The general objective of the study is to examine the perception of rural dwellers on the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in promoting social inclusion in Nigeria, using rural areas of Lagos and Ogun states as a case study. The study adopts a survey research design and utilized a structured questionnaire as the research instrument. Eight hundred questionnaire was administered to rural dwellers selected from twenty towns; twenty districts; and forty streets of Badagry and Ipokia Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Lagos and Ogun states respectively, using a multistage and random sampling technique. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chisquare inferential statistics. Findings show that although rural dwellers of Lagos and Ogun states know of the existence of CSOs, they are not properly informed of their functions. The result also yields evidence that rural dwellers are not convinced of the relevance of CSOs and their role in social inclusion. The study, therefore, recommends that CSOs should intensify their efforts of social inclusion in rural areas and engage more rural dwellers of Nigeria in their programmes, particularly in the rural areas of Lagos and Ogun states. This, the study argues, is necessary for engendering sustainable development.
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The aim of the paper is to analyse theoretical preconditions for functioning of NGOs in social welfare The role of NGOs in social welfare is discussed, the concept of NGOs and their role in social welfare is explained and interpreted drawing on three contextual approaches: the structural functionalism, social conflict theories and P. Bourdieu’s theory of social fields. The structural functionalism and social conflict theories were chosen because they deal with the discussed object at macro level, meanwhile Bourdieu’s theory of social fields allows to combine both, micro and macro, levels. The structural functionalism theory was chosen because it helps investigate society at macro level by symbolically framing all elements of its functions and disfunctions and thus reveal as if two sides of society: the perfect and the desirable, the imperfect and the problematic. This picture of extremes allows to reveal society failings and identify its weaknesses in a structured way seeking to fulfill and restore its need for order. The conflict theory was chosen as a counterweight to functionalism and order denial emphasised by this paradigm, to a strive to look at the object, NGOs, not from the point of view of order but from the point of view of change and conflicts that affect them. Bourdieu’s theory helps identify the agents that function in the field of social welfare and their role, whether they are dominant and dominated, as well as the power of other agents functioning in the same field. According to this theory, capital (social, economic, cultural) is a very important factor because the agents, while fulfilling their functions, can use it for changes and the development of social welfare. Structural functionalism is the paradigm of positive extremes for which modern society is too dynamic and too individualized. The social conflict paradigm helps identify the competing sides in a structured way and make intuitive assumptions about what they are competing for, i.e. identify what power and authority they are competing for. However, this paradigm does not help explain our rather complex modern society the needs, values and attitudes of which are rapidly changing. The interests of three society sectors, the state, the market and the third sector, collide in the field of social welfare, their competition for power is an ongoing process and, depending on the distribution of social, economic and cultural capital, the agents, their power, role and even the location from which they affect citizens’ social welfare may change from dominant to dominated and vice versa.
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This paper aims to investigate the change in EU rhetoric on enlargement to the Western Balkans using analysis and comparison of the arguments of EU officials and strategic documents, which are closely related to the Union's enlargement policy to the Western Balkans, after the European Council summits on the enlargement of the Union, in 2003 and 2018. Following the fundamental tendency to enlarge the Union in the context of the common foreign and security policy, European officials articulated this differently in the context of the two summits. While during and after the first Summit, the European Union was presented in various discursive representations as a highly successful political community capable of attracting countries to adapt to its strict rules and norms to achieve the possibility of integration; during the second Summit, in 2018, the importance of the accession of the Western Balkan countries to the Union was persistently emphasized. In this way, the patronizing discourse present in rhetorical representations during and after the first Summit was replaced by the discourse according to which the European Union insists on the accession of these countries to the Union, regardless of the complete fulfillment of previously set normative criteria. The reason for that is the growing influence of China in the Western Balkans and the growing Russian appetite for power and political action in this region.
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With an increase in divorce rates worldwide, it seems that marriage loses its importance and popularity. Still, many people seek romantic partners and marry for many reasons. Research points to the beneficial effects of marital and romantic relationships. What factors make a good and successful marital and romantic relationship and why marriages and relationships fall apart remains to be answered. Since the divorce rates in Bosnia and Herzegovina increase, the purpose of this study was to explore factors in good and successful marriages and reasons for divorce. This is a qualitative study in which a survey with open-ended questions was used to explore participants’ responses. With the help of convenience sampling technique, 366 participants, N= 167 married and N=199 divorced with a mean age M= 43±11 and M= 41±10 respectively were recruited. A content analysis of participants’ responses shows that both a good and successful marriage and reasons for divorce are mostly related to relational interpersonal and intrapersonal factors while external, social factors play a less important role. Married and divorced participants named understanding, love, respect, trust, tolerance, communication skills, agreement and compromise as the top qualities for a successful marriage. As the leading reasons for divorce, divorced participants listed adultery or affairs and other women, alcoholism, violence and aggression, arguments and conflict, and misunderstanding.
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The most recent presidential elections in the United States were very close ones, and raising many questions regarding the process, proved that the system needs to be revised. Given the fact that US citizens do not directly elect their presidential candidates from both major parties, this article considers the primaries’ schedule as an influential factor that shapes the final choice. The system as a whole receives much criticism every four years due to being archaic and not having direct representation of the US population overall. At the same time, the existing scholars’ analysis mainly focuses on various aspects of the US presidential system and usually does not consider the primaries’ calendar. Thus, the article examines whether the entire presidential nomination system can be called a cliff-hanger.
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The universality of the right to petition, in terms of both the broad specification of its subject matter and the group of entities entitled to petition, as well as the specification of the accessible formal requirements for filing petitions, is a challenge at the level of both lawmaking and applying the law. The need arises not only to ensure that an extensive group of entities has the opportunity to file a petition, but also to provide a guarantee that the petition will be processed and considered properly. The subject matter of this article is the analysis of the Polish legal regulations on this, as well as a review of the established practices of filing petitions with the Sejm and the Senate, as well as their comparison with the solutions applied in other countries. The findings indicate that this is a tool of a civil society commonly used in the European Union Member States. It should also be noted that the Polish solutions, as well as the practice of their application, are seen to be particularly targeted at increasing social activity and enabling the use of the potential that is inherent in the citizens, groups of citizens and all forms in which they can interact with each other.
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Indeed, the civil society in our country is a heavy abstraction, historically and ideologically burdened. In the literature we find an endless series of different opinions on the scope and functions of civil society, on its relations with the state. The culture of association is a scientifically and socially debated topic, especially in the context of our comparison with Europe. The right of association is a fundamental right in the group of political rights and freedoms, commercial rights and personal rights. This right combines the liberal idea of individual freedom with the collectivist idea of uniting the efforts of more people to achieve certain goals; the exercise of the right of association is an expression of free will. The administration is a powerful power machine, against which the individual, standing in less organized forms of social life, is always relatively powerless. A way out of this inequality, from this dependence of the citizens on the administration, can and does try to offer the modern European legislation, gradually received in our country after our accession to the European Union. The main codifying normative act in this direction is the Administrative Procedure Code.
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Based on a review of prior studies, this research seeks to enrich the management literature by examining and empirically testing the impact of each of the strategic management practices (environmental scanning, strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and strategy evaluation-monitoring) on financial and non-financial performance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). A questionnaire was developed and validated to measure strategic management practices and NGOs financial and non-financial performance. Questionnaires were distributed to projects coordinators, programs officers and administration officers of seventy-nine international NGOs operating in the Palestinian Territories. 237 questionnaires were distributed and 160 questionnaires were returned and were usable for statistical analysis. The research results demonstrates that strategic management practices have positive impact not only on financial performance but on non-financial performance of these organizations. Moreover, the research recommends that NGOs rely on strategic management as a means to achieve high performance.
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ORIGINAL SOURCE: » Prawda «, Moscow, Dezember 21st, 1957 / ORIGINAL TITLE: » Sorok let na straze bezopasnosti Sovetskogo gosudarstva « (Forty years in the service of Soviet state security); Author: I. Serov, Chairman of the State Security Committee of the USSR Council of Ministers.
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In democracy-oriented countries, organizing and conducting elections is a complex process that involves the active participation of a huge number of stakeholders. It is very important to realize an active and passive suffrage of every citizen in B&H. In order to organize this process in accordance with legal regulations, it is necessary to ensure the participation of as many citizens as possible. A lot of stakeholeders are involved in this process: voters, election observers, election administration, media and other stakeholders. In November 2020, local elections were organized in B&H. Citizens had the opportunity to elect mayors and members of municipality/city councils. The complex election process itself is further complicated by the fact that it was organized and conducted when B&H faced a pandemic caused by the virus COVID-19. The Central Election Commission of B&H as the main institution when it comes to prescribing recommendations, but also conducting elections, as well as before local election administrations there are a lot of security questions and challenges. It was necessary to answer how to organize and conduct local elections in accordance with law regulations, but not to endanger the health and lives of B&H citizens.
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The aim of the article is to analyze the mechanisms of civic participation in Russia. The basic question: is the concept of a citizen redefined today and what potential does grassroots initiative of informal groups have for civil society. Participation is a social innovation in the post-Soviet area. It is difficult to define development prospects. It is a response to the growing need for co-participation in the decisions of executive authorities and an opportunity to increase public trust and democratization of the regime. The mechanism, however, is still underdeveloped. In the future, the priority trend in civic participation in Russia will be the increase in the use of Internet technologies and increasing their reach in the population (portals, e-administration). Co-participation in the transformation of Russia’s regions takes place both in the format of cooperation with local government and as part of independent social and cultural initiatives. This allows to create new leaders in Russia. The local potential for the implementation of participatory instruments in the Russian Federation is still very low. The author uses the analytical-descriptive method to study the development of the participation process in the framework of various models used in Russia in this area.
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This essay focuses on the politics of the Black lesbian body in the Diaspora. Audre Lorde’s autobiographical/biomythographical novel Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982), as a female künstlerromane, narrativizes her polyamorous relationships with several women and presents the body as a contact zone of conflicting forces from which negotiations of the Black lesbian body in the Diaspora emerge, discursively mapping out an emotional cartography of identity, home, and belonging. The palimpsestic female body in Zami resists monolithic interpretations—it is Black, physically challenged, it is queer. The intersectional nexus of race, class, gender, sexuality, and Diaspora informs notions of the queer body. Furthermore, by embodying otherness, the body works to negotiate alternative spaces. Lorde writes the body into Zami the text, and the act of writing becomes empowering, informing the concept of the queer diasporic body with an alternative agential potential, portraying the woman as a “house of difference.” This essay interrogates this complex intersectional milieu of the diasporic, Black, lesbian, disabled body vis-à-vis the cumulative forces of racial, sexual, and socio-political repressions in mid-twentieth-century North American society as represented in/through Zami, specifically concerning refashioning constructs of queer intimacy, belonging, and home.
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The aim of this article is to analyse the role of the local historical policy in the context of government/self-government relations. Referring to Max Weber’s category of ideal types, it is assumed that three types of relations can be discerned in the relations between government and self-government in the context of the above-mentioned policy: cooperation, striving for independence on the part of self-government and conscious opposition. I have assumed that it has an integrative, legitimising, ideological promotional character. It can also be used as one of the factors limiting the omnipotence of the central government. Drawing conclusions is made more difficult by the fact of the diverse activities undertaken by self-governments and the dynamically changing interactions between central government and self-government. The analysis of legal acts, selected examples of the policy of remembrance pursued by local authorities and the journalism leads to the conclusion that local historical policies are carried out in cooperation with the state administration. Recently, however, the dispute over sites of remembrance has been used to emphasise the independence of the self-government. Conscious opposition exists at the ideological level and is connected to a different vision of the past presented by self-governments dominated by political parties opposed to the government.
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The citizenship of the Union, established by the Maastricht Treaty, became, by virtue of CJEU case law, a fundamental status of nationals of the Member States enabling those who find themselves in the same situation to enjoy the same treatment in law irrespective of their nationality. The paper aims to research how the CJEU expanded the EU law application by using the citizenship of the Union and where it set the limits to this expansion. To this end, following the introductory part of the paper, the issues of acquisition and loss of Union citizenship have been analysed. The third part of the paper researches into the CJEU case law regarding expansion of EU law application through the citizenship of the Union. This expansion was first conducted by eliminating both economic and cross-border links as conditio sine qua non of EU law application. The fourth part of the paper considers the possibility of emancipation of EU citizenship from the concept of Member State nationality regarding relevant TEU and TFEU provisions and CJEU case law. Finally, the paper concludes that CJEU has greatly encouraged the expansion of citizenship of the Union but has also limited this expansion by attaching it to national citizenship, which is in line with relevant TEU and TFEU provisions.
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