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

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.

Niezatarte pręgi

Author(s): Marcin Darmas / Language(s): Polish Issue: 16/2019

ANALYSIS OF THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL CHARTER AND ITS IMPORTANCE FOR THE PROTECTION OF SELECTED GROUPS OF WORKING WOMEN

Author(s): Zdenka Dudić,Branislav Dudić,Branka Agbaba / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

Both the 1961 European Social Charter and its revised version of 1996 constitute international social and economic rights treaties ratified by the Member States of the Council of Europe. Together with the European Treaty for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, they are the cornerstones of the contractual system for the protection of human rights in the member countries of the Council of Europe. Moreover, these contracts have contributed significantly to the development of European human rights standards in the areas of personal management, labour law and social security law. Nevertheless, it receives minimal attention from legal theorists. This leads to problems in its interpretation in practice. Through scientific and doctrinal interpretation, authors examine the various provisions of the European Social Charter. They seek answers to practical application problems through scientific literature as well as the case-law of the European Court of Justice. The aim and result of the authors’ work is to examine individual documents, to compare them and analyse the differences. The aim of the authors' work is also to evaluate the impact of the case law of the European Court of Justice in connection with the implementation of the Charter into the legal order as well as application practice. The benefit of this article is also the analysis of the impact of the Charter on the rights of working women.

The Strategy of Human Rights Study in Education

Author(s): Anush Balian,Nataliya Seysebayeva,Natalia Efremova,Liliia Danylchenko / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2020

Building strategies in the field of the contemporary human rights study is based exclusively on the above-mentioned doctrinal-normative and social ideological approaches forming the foundation of the constitutional law of the democratic countries in the sphere of the human rights outlining, understanding, recognition and employment. But of special importance there is the author's approach to the realization of the human rights study performed by the representatives of the human population's young generation in the framework of the humanitarian education in the academic sphere. They live in the new conditions of the further advance of the globalization's global tendencies, which is connected with the human rights phenomenology and its strategic role and importance in the human society's existence and stable functioning.

Практика, базирана на доказателства, и дистанционно обучение през XXI век – нови перспективи

Author(s): Dobrinka Georgieva,Maya Tcholakova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2020

At a time when higher education is modernizing and becoming more dependent on technology, the paradigm of master's degree in allied health specialties such as speech-language pathology (SLP) and social work (SW) requires decisive and urgent change. The development of information technologies prompts revisioning the preparation of distance education (DE) curricula in these health disciplines. Allied health professions, including SLP and SW, need to develop knowledge, skills, and competencies in graduate student education. This article presents a theoretical overview and subsequent analysis of the existing paradigm in a number of countries, focusing on the role of evidence-based practice (EBP) in the implementation of DE at the master's degree level.

Финансова грамотност и финансово поведение на българските студенти

Author(s): Krasimir Marinov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2020

Participation of individuals in the economic and social life also depends on their ability to understand the basic financial concepts. Knowledge and skills in managing personal finances are becoming increasingly important under the influence of many trends, with the problem of young people's financial literacy being particularly relevant. The article presents the results of an empirical study of the financial literacy of Bulgarian students. The study's findings reveal the impact of several variables, such as gender, income, specialty, educational level, etc., on the level of financial literacy of students, as well as the impact of financial literacy on students' financial behavior, manifested through decisions on budget availability and control, on the availability of an emergency amount, on actions in case of income reduction, on retirement savings, etc.

Сливането на висшите училища в България като форма за консолидация

Author(s): Margarita Bachvarova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2020

This article deals with the problems of optimization of higher education through consolidation of the schools of higher education with the aim to enhance the quality of education and allow opportunities for their establishment as competitive academic institutions. The primary scientific results refer to generalization of the legal methods of cooperation among them, comparative study on the globally established methods and analysis of the merger as a sub variety of transformation. The author gives credibility to the thesis that the factual consolidation is associated with a change of the legal personality of the schools of higher education through merger and/or acquisition. A matter for scientific analysis is the legal framework of transformation regulated by the Higher Education Act.

Отзив рецензия на обучителен пакет от помагала в системата на предучилищното и училищното образование

Author(s): Irina Koleva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2020

Гражданското образование – ново предизвикателство пред обучението по история

Author(s): Kostadin Paev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2020

Starting from the school year 2020/2021, the Bulgarian school will begin studying a separate subject “Civic Education”. Previous practice has provided that civic education at school should be realized through its integrated study in general subjects, among which “History and Civilizations” played a leading role.The purpose of this publication is to analyze and predict whether, in the new situation, the place of history of students' civic education and their formation as citizens will be maintained or weakened.

Budilova, L., M. Jakoubek. Bulgarian Protestants and the Czech Village of Voyvodovo. Sofia, 2018

Author(s): Vasil Dimitrov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2020

Процедурата BLUP като статистически инструмент в педагогическо изследване за влиянието на web-базирани образователни ресурси при формиране на екологични компетентности в биологичната подготовка на седмокласници

Author(s): Zlatka Vakleva,Margarita Panayotova,Dimo Penkov,Tonya Georgieva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2020

The study presents highlights of a pedagogical experiment on the contribution of web-based educational resources for the formation of environmental competencies in the teaching of biology and health education in 7th grade. The experimental data were subjected to statistical processing with the procedural model BLUP (Best Linear Unbiased Prediction). Thus, we demonstrate the possibilities for application of this statistical model in pedagogical research, which is the purpose of this study.

Webdoc, четен от образовани геймъри

Author(s): Alexandra Ilieva,Georgi Kosev,Veselina Krasteva,Denis Medarov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 7/2020

The text is composed of four analyses, prepared as course assignments for the “Interactive story and combined storytelling” course, part of the “Digital media and videogames” Master’s program at FJMC. The object of the analyses are the following works: Prison Valley, 2010, Pirate Fishing – an interactive investigation, 2012, Universe Within: Digital Lives in the Global Highrise”, 2015, Bury Me, My Love, 2017.

Methodological Orientations and Educational Strategies in the Formation of the Modern Age Thinking

Author(s): Svetlana Hanaba,Nataliia Bakhmat / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2020

The article outlines methodological guidelines for the development of thinking in education. Relevant and productive is the thinking that aims not only to explain the unknown, but also to find the unknown and the unbelievable in the known and the obvious. This is a thinking of a different order, which is first in overcoming the existing boundaries, in “combining of not combined”, i.e. different, not reduced, etc. Its vitality is possible only if it constantly changes, destroys, balancing on the brink of chaos. It is emphasized that this thinking is not carried out in a well-defined way, it moves in agendas and changes in different directions, overcoming the boundaries of outlined representations, opening new horizons of understanding of being and place in it. It is argued that the development of thinking in education aims to move from learning focused mainly on memorizing a certain amount of knowledge to self-conscious understanding of them.

Културна памет – „инсталирана памет“. Психология на колективната памет като инструмент за политическа власт

Author(s): Dimitar Petkov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2020

The thesis of this article is that the cultural (collective) memory at the current society is a part of the political power. The cultural (collective) memory is an “installed memory” which is needed for the creation of the own image of society. It justifies and legitimates the existence of power structure. The power takes care of the mold of the societies collective memory. From this point of view we may not perceive the cultural memory just as an implement for differentiation and right to the political existence of some concrete community. Because it is about and of something else, namely it is about power which must be served from the collective memory. The power rules the cultural memory and the power takes a decision what concrete have to be remembered and whatnot it means what have to be forgotten. The ideology of power plays an essential role in this process. The cultural memory is an “installed” memory because the government decides what kind of fulcrums to be imposed into it with the purpose of this memory to work in service of the power structures. The cultural memory also creates a special psychology in its bearers and this affects their behavior and perception of the world.

Развиване на интегрирани дизайн базирани педагогически и изобразителни умения в неформална среда

Author(s): Ani Zlateva,Katya Tineva-Giurkovska / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 7/2020

This paper includes tracing and analysing the dynamics of integrated design based pedagogical and art skills of children placed in an informal educational environment. In the conceptual frame of the research are included theoretical and empiric pedagogical models that provoke childrens’ thinking and develop their creativity, knowledge and skills for creative experiments. Art techniques that are attractive to children are preferred (paper application, drawing with wax and water colour, tampon painting, template printing). Interactive processes are being tracked in the report, and some integrated connections with different scientific subjects – pedagogy, art, history, archaeology, semiotics, combinatorics of the shape-forming etc., are made, brought out on a theoretical and analytical level. The interdisciplinary and analytical approach when researching the processes connected with childrens’ free creative choice when communicating with historical artefacts takes an important part of the project. Children are given the opportunity to form visual culture and the capability to perceive and understand the sculptural achievements of the ancient Balkan civilizations and cultures in a fun and interactive way. In order to fulfil and scientifically develop the project we chose artefacts from the rich historical heritage of the region of Stara Zagora – collection of prehistory and early mid-centuries of the Historical museum. For children acquiring a different type of visual-plastic skills and techniques helps achieve an integrated innovative design thinking, which is very fundamental for achieving main pedagogical purposes and methods aimed entirely at the contemporary needs of the social environment. For the analysis of the received data we used standard methods for pedagogical researches which include: empirical – pedagogical experiment, praximetric – observation, analysis of childrens’ creativity, content analysis, quantity and quality analysis of the received empiric data, expert evaluation. The conclusions made could help the development of the future pedagogical practice in a museum environment not only in the fine arts educational area but also in all educational fields.

Самоефективност на детски и начални учители за приобщаване на деца със специални образователни потребности в двигателното обучение

Author(s): Galena Terzieva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 7/2020

The purpose of this article is to explore the confidence of preschool and primary school teachers in their ability to include children with special educational needs in physical education activities. The study involved 120 preschool teachers and 100 primary school teachers. They complete a modified and adapted version of the Block “Self-Efficacy Scale for Physical Education Teacher Education Majors toward Inclusion – SE-PETE-D” questionnaire. The results show that respondents have a moderate level of inclusive self-efficacy and, despite their hesitation, are more confident in their ability to include children with special educational needs in motor education. Also, teachers who have personal contact with people with disabilities, experience in inclusive physical education or feel prepared show a higher degree of inclusive self-efficacy.