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SEEKING A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: HOW TO DEFINE AND IDENTIFY POPULIST PARTIES?

Author(s): Aneta Pinková,Vlastimil Havlík / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Recent decades have seen a pronounced rise in political parties which may be identified as populist. Scholars have reacted with an increased number of studies devoted to the phenomena of party populism and other expressions of populism. Special attention has been paid to political parties identified as radical right-wing populist parties and nationalist populist parties. (Former) Communist political parties have also often been included under the populist umbrella (see, e.g., Deegan-Krause 2007, March 2008).

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Collaboration and fusion of Basque local media: opportunities for development and for citizen participation

Author(s): Eneko Bidegain,Aitor Zuberogoitia,Txema Egaña,Ainhoa Larrañaga / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The local professional press in Basque started around 1989–1990. It has been predominantly located in villages, but from 2000 onwards it began to spread through the valleys and regions. This process is not yet complete. As such, this chapter aims to analyse the mechanisms of collaboration among Basque local media, which are using new technologies and striving to develop community participation. The Basque language is spoken in the Basque Country, and is a minority language due to the linguistic policies of Spain and France, which impose Spanish and French as primary languages but do not confer the same rights on Basque. The Basque language is not official in the northern (French) part of the country; it is co-official in the southern (Spanish) part, but only Spanish is obligatory. Thus, there is a situation of diglossia throughout the Basque Country, in which the Basque language is always the weaker.

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Foreword: Youth in the Kurdistan Region and Their Past and Present Roles

Author(s): Karwan Jamal Tahir / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Youth are an essential part of any nation’s social, political, cultural, and economic capital. Nations and countries have defined this capital differently, and while there is no universally agreed international definition of the youth age group, the United Nations, for statistical purposes, describes “youth” as persons between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four.

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Youth Political Participation and Prospects for Democratic Reform in Iraqi Kurdistan

Author(s): Munir H. Mohammad / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Since the establishment of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in 1991, political participation among youth has generally been an unseparated reality in the region’s political space. In the last three decades, Kurdish youth in the KRG have participated in three main activities: voting in local and national elections; participating in decision making institutions such as parliament, political parties, and civil society groups; and participating in informal politics such as demonstrations and protests. Despite youth participation in these three types of political activities, democratic reform in Iraqi Kurdistan (IK) remains weak and largely unsuccessful. Presently, the KRG faces serious challenges in consolidating its nascent democracy. This chapter asks why Kurdish youth participation has had limited impact in producing democratic reform and consolidating democracy in IK. It addresses this issue and aims to assess democratic reform in the Kurdistan region in regard to youth political participation. More specifically, it attempts to shed light on the current political situation of youth in IK, with a particular focus on their formal and informal participation in politics and the implications of their participation for democratic reform in Iraqi Kurdistan.

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LGBTQ Forced Migrants’ Labor Market Integration in Mexico City: Perspectives From Mexican Government Agencies, International Organizations, and Mexican Civil Society

Author(s): Rolando Diaz / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Mexico’s increasingly diverse migration patterns, from Spanish Republicans and Ashkenazi Jews to Haitian and Black African groups, have captured the interest of researchers across disciplines. Eclipsed by the politics of Mexican migration to the US, Mexico has a long history of immigration, emigration, refuge, transit, and return migration. These realities compound Mexican migration policy and coupled with the gendered experiences of migration, generate a complicated journey for migrants, especially those pertaining to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer (LGBTQ) community.

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Youth and Politics in Bouteflika’s Algeria: Engagement at a Distance from ‘Politics’

Author(s): Layla Baamara / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

As mass popular mobilization emerged in Algeria on 22 February 2019, the reading of the Hirak in both the press and scholarly research were quick to describe the new movement 2019 as ‘the year of awakening of Algerian youth.’ A corollary of this common reading of ongoing events is the existence of a formerly apathetic and depoliticized youth. Prior to 22 February, journalists and observers of political life in Algeria tended to stress youth’s disinterest in politics, a discourse which was echoed in political and associational spheres. In interviews carried out as recently as 2017, for example, a 31-year-old member of a local association in the wilaya (province) of Tlemcen commented that ‘young people couldn’t care less about politics’ while the director of an association for environmental protection in the east of the country said with regret, ‘young people are not sufficiently politicized. There’s a widespread couldn’t-care-less attitude, they are resigned, it’s a pity’ (Anonymous interviews with author, 2017).

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Hybrid, Culture-Based, and Youthful: The New Political Commitment of Youth in Post-Revolutionary Tunisia

Author(s): Mounir Saidani / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In the last year of Ben Ali’s reign, pre-revolutionary Tunisia was officially proclaimed the ‘Year of Youth,’ with the politicians then in office once again putting forward political slogans focusing on a rapprochement with young people. As part of this endeavor, Ben Ali even went so far as proposing to the UN that ‘2010 be proclaimed as the International Year of Youth’ and that ‘a world youth congress be held [that year] under the aegis of the United Nations’ – an initiative adopted by the General Assembly in its 64th session. These efforts at outreach were being undertaken as young Tunisians were showing increasing signs of disaffection from various official political institutions, as attendance at cultural and youth centers under the auspices of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs (whose meager budget never reached the 1% required by UNESCO) confirmed. Importantly, this alienation was not solely a manifestation of antipathy towards the Ben Ali regime; even after the revolution, in 2014, the number of young people attending youth centers did not exceed 71,627 (47,106 boys and 24,521 girls) (Statistiques Tunisie 2013-2014). Indeed, official statistics show that attendance at the youth venues known as ‘Youth Houses’ (Maisons des Jeunes) and ‘Culture Houses’ (Maisons de Culture) was in fact much lower.

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Syrian Revolutionary Youth: The Lost and Found of Political Agency

Author(s): Hadia Kawikji / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

With the cracking open of the political and civic space in 2011, Syrian youth were afforded the rare opportunity to emerge as direct and legitimately recognized political actors – something which had been denied them under the decades of repression of the Assad regime. First assuming the role of revolutionary vanguard and leading the protest movements calling for the downfall of the regime, the experience of Syrian youth in political representation was further honed through the formation of revolutionary councils. Yet despite this, Syrian youth were quickly sidelined as political actors. The revolutionary councils became isolated by institutions established by traditional elites, while young people themselves began delegating the representation of their demands to those more experienced in political affairs. This loss of representation, along with frustration with the actions (or lack thereof) of the international community, generated disillusionment among Syrian youth who had been passionate about the cause of political change. These dynamics, in turn, pushed youth revolutionaries to re-direct their activism towards local councils.

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Političke partije i kampanje

Author(s): Lisa McLean / Language(s): Montenegrine Publication Year: 0

Max Weber once referred to political parties as “the children of democracy,” but in recent years civil society, in the new and emerging democracies, has often become the favored child of international efforts to assist democracy. The international community has promoted civic organizations, assisted them, and supported their expansion and development, often building on the ruins of discredited political parties. This has been a good and necessary endeavor. Yet, strengthening civic organizations, which represent the demand side of the political equation, without providing commensurate assistance to the political organizations that must aggregate the interests of those very groups, ultimately damages the democratic equilibrium. The neglect of political parties, and parliaments, can undermine the very democratic process that development assistance seeks to enhance. This article tries to explain why parties are fundamental to a functioning democracy and how parties in established democracies organize themselves to compete in elections.

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Demokratija (još) ne stanuje ovde

Author(s): Zoran Stoiljković / Language(s): Serbian Publication Year: 0

This essay considers several interrelated and interdependent processes: 1) development of excruciating economic and social transition, 2) gradual advocacy and renewal („resurrection“ ) of „suppressed“ civil society and 3) constituting of actors, procedures and rules of „electoral democracy“ , and is reduced to limits of politically impartial and ideologically uncontaminated analysis of effects and actions of transitional changes on Balkans. Starting hypothesis is a stand that, in Serbia and Montenegro, as well as in B&H, Albania and Macedonia, transition did not emerge from its initial critical phase of democratization. Fragile economy and civil society are obviously not suitable and sufficient frame for „committedness“ of political actors and stabilization of political scene, or for creation of firm constitutional limits for possible arbitrary extravagancies and decreasing movements within electoral, competitive democracy. With all the differences, Balkan countries have in common a lack of continuous and long-term democratic transition. All of them are characterized by parallel existence „coexistence” of pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial structures and their social agents. In all of them, liberalization and privatization within stagnant economy produce ascending social inequalities. All of these countries have in common a resulting dominant sense of uncertainty and with the exception of Albanians, generally pessimistic relation towards (immediate) future. Finally, all of them share a goal and desire to find themselves within EU (Blue Bird, Inflexibility trap. 2004:13) Nevertheless, the path towards European integrations demands developed strategy of transitional changes and collection of all diffused emancipating energies and potentials directed at its revival. Thereat, stabilization and consolidation of democracy is not possible without disappearance of „active and robust civil society“(Linc and Stepan, 1998). The exit from this magic circle represents only developed and operative strategy of reforms, supported by wide social and political partnership for democratic changes. Civil field and actors in this partnership have central, mobilizing, controlling and integrative role, but also important initiatory function. Social movements; and not fragmented, incoherent nongovernmental scene- often ready to accept pseudo party arrangements and engagements; may be mediators of changes, bearers of dynamics and physiology of the society- an instrument for achievement of (desirable) future. However, both potential of civil society and destiny of the reforms are connected to massive transformation of its subjects- their structure of conscience and mentality- and emanation of „adult and upright” citizens. Only the society of responsible and competent elites and active citizens, affiliated in voluntary associations, may send its authoritarian history to „dumps of history“(Marcs).

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Razvoj nevladinih organizacija u Crnoj Gori

Author(s): Stevo Muk / Language(s): Montenegrine Publication Year: 0

Mutual for all non-governmental organizations is that they are non-profit by their character, they are a product of free will association, with the goal to protect/promote interests of its members or some public interest, that represents common good, they are institutionally separated from the government or local authorities, they have their own internal structure and they are independent in creating and defining the goals, plans and implementation of activities. Non-governmental organizations in world are having growing importance and there is almost no social problem in whose solving these organisations are not included. The task and role of non-governmental organisations is to assist in humanization of life; to make the society more sensible towards important issues such as peace, protection of living environment, rights of women and underprivileged groups and similar; to protect specially endangered social groups; to develop communication between isolated individuals and create the sense of togetherness; to open topics that are significant for whole society, in the manner which is not burdened by the interest of gaining or keeping the power, to be a constant initiator of public debates regarding important issues. Montenegrin Law on non-governmental organisations, adopted in July of 1999, represents relatively adequate frame for establishment, registration and functioning of non-governmental organisations (associations and foundations). In Montenegro, more than 3300 nongovernmental organisations is registered, but the number of active non-governmental organisations is not bigger than 300. Non-governmental organisations have, with all their shortcomings, proven to represent a sector of initiative, energy, knowledge and devotion. They have raised the issues of gender equality, protection of living environment, human and minority rights, open and responsible authorities, pointed out to marginalized groups in the society, opened possibility of alternative, informal education, gave immense contribution to the quality of public policy on different levels, prepared many models of laws and other legal provisions. For further development of non-governmental organisations in Montenegro we need well taught exit strategy of foreign donors, intense development of domestic financial sources, legal and tax regulations as well as further development of internal resources and credibility, cooperation with public and commercial sector.

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Evropske integracije i NVO sektor u Crnoj Gori

Author(s): Momčilo Radulović / Language(s): Montenegrine Publication Year: 0

Currently, Montenegro is, as most countries in the region, in the transitional processes whose goal should be a society established on the rule of law, democratic principle of social and political representation, respect of human rights and market economy. In one word, the society built and established as a system of good governance. However, on this path there are diverse obstacles, from objective natural and social circumstances to subjective shortcomings of the structures of public sector and their antireform (in) action. Because of all of this the process has much slower dynamics than it is expected or necessary. At the same time, Montenegro is on the beginning of the path towards European integrations, and similar obstacles are appearing on the plan of implementation of ideas, principles and standards of contemporary Europe in Montenegrin society. In order to avoid them it is necessary to establish basic preconditions of democratically organized society. Each transitional, but also a developed European country had to focus, in one phase of such socio-psychological change, on reaching particular level of social and primarily political consensus. This was necessary in order to unite the tendencies and capacities for realizing the strategy of social changes (which must comprise both political and civil strategy) and to successfully accomplish the activities on the change of values of European integrations in given society. All those experiences contribute to the conviction that work on implementation of European values and work on further democratization and social transition in Montenegro have to function simultaneously, as a singular process which will rest on both public and civil sector. In the framework of activities of the civil sector, the role of non-governmental organizations is of great significance for the development of various social, economic and political institutions, but also for necessary change of existing mentality and psychological patterns. This text describes the most important practical experiences and activities of non-governmental organisations in Montenegro that are engaged on realizing the abovementioned goals and values. Furthermore, it outlines theoretical-practical basic guidelines for concrete actions- as of non-governmental organisations and other parts of civil sector, thus of public structures, in that segment of their actions which entails cooperation with NGO sector. Also, it represents a suggestion of an action plan of activities of NGOs in Montenegro regarding the promotion of European integrations values. The action plan, as a basis for further activities in this field, comprises a definition of the type of activity, goals of the activity, timeframe of the activity, their models and methods, but also concrete categories, description and classifications of given activities- to the extent it is possible to demonstrate it in this kind of presentation.

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Organizacije civilnog društva u procesu evropskih integracija

Author(s): Miljenko Dereta / Language(s): Montenegrine Publication Year: 0

Da bi se u potpunosti razumele složenost i teškoće uspostavljanja dijaloga i saradnje između organizacija civilnog društva i institucija države/vlasti treba se podsetiti na kojim temeljima i tradicijama su nastala udruženja i nevladine organizacije u regionu koji danas zovemo zapadni Balkan.

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Aktivnosti nevladinog sektora u Crnoj Gori u vezi s evropskim integracijama

Author(s): Momčilo Radulović / Language(s): Montenegrine Publication Year: 0

Iako u Crnoj Gori postoji veliki broj nevladinih organizacija, broj onih čiji se spektar rada i interesovanja odnosi na pitanja iz oblasti evropskih integracija je veoma mali. Naime, samo je jedan određeni broj organizacija preduzimao pojedinačne aktivnosti vezane za pomenute evro-integrativne programe, a same organizacije i programi te vrste gotovo se mogu pojedinačno nabrojati.

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Demokracja, siły zbrojne i pandemia COVID-19 w Ameryce Łacińskiej

Author(s): Michał Stelmach / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

The aim of the article is to analyze civil-military relations in Latin America during theCOVID-19 pandemic. The priority is to show the role of the army in sanitary and orderactivities, as well as to examine the impact of the militarization of health policy on thecondition of democracy in the countries of the region. The author formulated two researchhypotheses: 1. the scope and intensity of the use of armed forces in the fight against thepandemic is correlated with the effectiveness of civilian state institutions and the type ofpolitical system; 2. the development of the pandemic in 2020 has significantly contributedto the change in the balance of power between civilian and military institutions, and whatis more, to the deepening of the processes of politization of the armed forces and the militarizationof politics in Latin America. The article consists of four parts. The first examinesthe changes in relations between civilian and military institutions and the role and positionof the armed forces in Latin American countries during the period of democratic transition.In the second, the author reviewed the evolution of civil-military relations in thefirst two decades of the 21st century, revealing new forms of militarism. The third partof the text examines the state of civil-military relations in the 21st century in the context ofthe crisis of democracy and the wave of social protests. In the fourth part, the author analyzedthe ways and scope of using the armed forces in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemicand the effects of the militarization of public policy on Latin American democracies.

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Prywatność w Internecie w świecie pandemicznym

Author(s): Michał Sędkowski / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

The coronavirus pandemic has caused significant changes to societies around the world. One such change deals with the privacy of user-generated data on the Internet. So far, this topic has been a margin of the debate on the problems related to the wider use of the Internet at work or in everyday life. There were phenomena aimed at introducing rules governing how to collect data about Internet users, but the effectiveness of these solutions is debatable. The necessity to transfer most of the daily activities to the Internet increased the interest in the problem of protecting privacy on the Internet, and commercial entities, so far reluctant to discuss this subject, began to introduce user-friendly solutions.

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The gift of the gap

Author(s): Dimitar VANCHOV,Teodora Dimitrovska / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

To be able to talk about political activism, we first need to get acquainted with the meaning of the term civil society. This term was first introduced in theory by Leonardo Brun in the 15th century. The term is derived from two Latin terms, namely communication politica and civilis communitas. According to Alexis De Tocqueville, civil society is a self-organizing form, which is legally regulated and not directly dependent on the state. The starting point is the active social actor – citizen. Political activism in a country can be seen in several aspects. It can be viewed from the social, political and individual aspect. Activism is the most important thing in a society that helps succeed in the area of human rights and freedoms in the context of bringing a specific right or freedom into focus to the public and stakeholders. Activism is the key to modern democracies; it is the mirror of the freedom of expression through concrete actions.

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CIVIL SOCIETY: AN INEVITABLE PARTNER IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN YOUNG DEMOCRACIES

Author(s): Josip Kregar,Antonija Petričušić / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The classical democratization theories often ignore the importance of civil society in successful democratic consolidation emphasizing predominantly the importance of institutional consolidation and legislative reforms. However, institutions and legal norms are often empty shells in democratic consolidation if not promoted among political forces (representative and behavioural consolidation) and through consolidation of civil society and civic culture (attitudinal consolidation). In this article we argue that the process of democratic consolidation has many dimensions and is result of specific ideographic circumstances. The cultural (political culture) and institutional dimension (institutional building) of democratic consolidation do not correspond and have different pace and scope of changes. That is because the cultural change is slow, reinforced by mentalities which are often not supportive towards new institutional principles and blueprints, legislative changes and official politics. In such discrepancy, the phenomenon is seen as unpredictable, as a gap between programs and realities, strategies and realization. The change is perceived as formal and successes are reversible. In the emerging democracies such a gap is bridged by the activity of the civil society. Though the civil society is promoting democratic values and policies it cannot replace the main institutional skeleton of state (bureaucracy, political parties, etc.). It furthermore depends significantly on global programs and international support which subsequently might result in a strong bias toward isolation from society and the local priorities. The situation is paradoxical: the state and political elites are not ready to promote (democratic) changes and civil society organizations are marginalized to politically neutral subjects. In explaining conditions pertinent to a successful democratic consolidation, this article assesses if civil society has the capacity to promote changes of predominant social values in young democracies and induce an emergence of civic culture.

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Otec Kondelík

Author(s): Hana Librová / Language(s): Czech Publication Year: 0

České ekologické hnutí se nevyznačuje přímými akcemi v terénu ani bojovností. Přesto si jeho aktivisté vysloužili označení „ekoteroristi“, „žabičkáři“, „stromolezci“. Češi zjevně nemají zelené aktivisty rádi.

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Strategies for Activating Public-Private Partnerships of Social Service Provision of Indigenous Regions in Taiwan

Author(s): Yuan-shie Hwang,Li-hsin Chuang / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Compared with the mainstream society, the distinctively geographical, social and cultural environment of Taiwan's indigenous regions has caused many difficulties in social service provision. The model of public-private partnerships (PPPs) has been regarded as a main strategy to alleviate the difficulties. By adopting the qualitative research method and collecting data through individual in-depth interview (18 peoples) and focus group (2 groups with 11 peoples), this study aims to explore the operation and interaction of public sectors, non-profit organizations and grassroots groups in the indigenous regions, and to identify their internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) that affect social service provision, and further, to propose strategies related to activating PPPs. Based on the findings, we propose six discussions and suggestions for activating PPPs of social service provision of indigenous regions in Taiwan.

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