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The article deals with the political aspects of revolutionary art of Richard Wagner. Through reading of Wagner’s artistic-philosophical project by his most influential interpreters – Friedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Mann and Theodor Adorno – author offers intellectual history of the reception of this project. Discourse on Wagner’s revolutionary art leads to the assessment of the influence Wagner’s cultural anti-Semitism and nationalism had on European politics in 20th century.
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The article aims at evaluating the municipal amalgamation process as a way of reforming local government, by two criteria – efficiency in service provision and level of democracy. Those issues are applied onto a Finnish case study, as amalgamation is more common in Northern Europe. The author gives a review of amalgamation studies in the world and of the extensive evaluation reports of amalgamation reform in Finland. The paper examines amalgamation policy from two perspectives – from the instrumental or goal-oriented view and from the process aspect. The findings on the relatively high number of instances of amalgamation in Finland are the following: the main process-driving factors were political parties that mostly supported the reform and the underlying urge to construct larger entities which made municipalities take part in the process. The level of efficiency in the new, amalgamated municipalities is not necessarily higher, as efficient service provision can be found both in small and large municipalities. Efficiency is more determined by the dynamics of a municipal economy while the size of a municipality alone does not make a difference. As amalgamations change the nature of local political life they affect democracy both positively and negatively.
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This essay is an inquiry into the fundamentals of contemporary liberalism. I defend the following claim: the premises of contemporary liberal theory cannot avoid referring to the ideal of equality of individuals in some way. Equality is a principle to organize the fundamental level of the theory from which to derive the principles for organizing liberal institutions. To support these claims, I distinguish justificatory from perfectionist liberalism, and then look into some of the most relevant theories of contemporary political philosophy that provide the ethical basis for contemporary liberalism.
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The article shows basic characteristics of participative democracy. First part is devoted to its theoretical foundations that are derived from its criticism of liberalism and parliamentary democracy. Using the case study of Germany the article explores how this model functions in the context of industrial companies. In the next part the article discusses the new system of participatory decision-making on city budgeting in Brazil. In the last part the author explores the relationship between contemporary modes of communication and principles of participatory democracy, and criticism that this model of democracy faces.
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The article discusses the contribution of Croatian political science to the development of democracy in Croatia. The focus of the analysis is the concept of culture which author talks about in five steps. In the first step it is understood in the modern key, in the second step as different for nature and in the third as different from society. In the fourth step author differentiates political culture from political economy and political institutions, but in the fifth part there is an attempt to show culture as a fundamental part of politics, policy and polity. On the basis of these insights author shows that the matrix of Croatian political science is more and more devoted to scientific investigation of politics as culture as both study of political culture and as a source of development as politics as culture.
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The recent referendum on Scottish independence was characterised by a failing on behalf of the Better Together campaign to articulate a positive vision and conception of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In particular, any persuasive notion of Britishness was notable by its absence. This paper attempts to shed light on the question of nationalism, in the British context in particular, by turning to the history of political thought, and the philosophical reflections of two British liberals, Richard Price and John Stuart mill. Their ideas are set out with reference to the civic/ethnic distinction and two main claims are presented. The first is that despite Price’s emphasis on a civic patriotism and mill’s embracing of many elements of ethnic nationalism, both their accounts ultimately cohere around the centrality of a “national history”. empirical doubts about the sustainability of the civic/ethnic divide are here reflected in philosophical discussions of nationalism. The second claim is that Price and mill’s account draw attention to the historical difficulty of constructing a persuasive British nationality whilst simultaneously suggesting the only obvious prospect for its succesful reconfiguration, namely the articulation of a genuinely British national history.
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The emergence of ‘policy analysis’ as a skilled occupation in the governmental process raised questions about the significance of this work for democratic control in government, and the relationship between the discourses of elected leadership, expert policy analysis, and public norms and understandings, in the construction of policy. The questions are even more acute in the ‘transitional polities’ of Eastern Europe, where the norms of democratic accountability are less well established, but the rules of the game are ‘under reconstruction’. This paper reviews the way the themes of professionalism and +participation relate to policy work in transitional polities, the tensions that policy workers face, and the way that the diverse discourses available are mobilized in the discursive construction of policy and policy work.
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The article explores the activities of local goverment in Poland to support the enterpreneurs and increase the inflow of new investment into region. The authors claim that in order to maximize chances for economic and social growth local authorities should support development of companies which already operate in their area, try to attract new ones and develop entrepreneurial attitudes and aspirations among the local inhabitants to increase the number of new businesses.
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In the context of the forthcoming presidential swearing-in ceremony, the article looks at the selected issues related to the legal status and functioning of the National Assembly. Under the 1997 Constitution of Poland, the National Assembly consists of both chambers of the Polish Parliament (the Sejm and the Senate). The body has the authority to declare the President’s permanent incapacity to exercise his duties due to the state of his health, and bring an indictment against the President to the State Tribunal. The National Assembly is also called in order to receive the President’s oath of office and hear a presidential address.
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