DEMOCRACY

Author(s): Milica Kastratović / Language(s): English Issue: 15/2015

Both our daily intake / interpretation of democracy in the media, family, public transport and generally all around us, as well as extensive research on the relationship between the democracy in our country, etc., require more complex study of this phenomenon by professional individuals and institutions. Certainly, we can not ignore the many theoretical explanations of the concept and the term of democracy by various authors, but we also witness both its vagueness and ambiguity. Commitment to research this topic has arisen because of the importance and advantages of democracy as a kind of political order, but also because of the lack of the negative characteristics of this phenomenon. Economic development favors the development of democracy as developed societies are based on respect for property rights and ownership of pluralism, ensuring the right to work, etc. Historical heritage and from it created social awareness and climate are eitherlimiting or encouraging elements for the development of democracy. Civil society is based on the principles of autonomy, associativity and the public, and it actually represents the legitimacy of the modern state. This paper provides an overview of democracy in modern conditions and points out some of the problems, challenges and issues facing democracy in the future. “Democracy (yet) does not live here, and will not soon, and we just hope it shall not permanently move out,” this is one of the titles within a public opinion survey conducted in 2014 in Serbia by the National Democratic Institute and CeSID. One cannot remain indifferent to this, therefore, this paper presents parts of this research, among other things.

BATTLING OVER ROMANIAN RED PAST. THE MEMORY OF COMMUNISM BETWEEN ELITIST CULTURAL TRAUMA AND POPULAR COLLECTIVE NOSTALGIA

Author(s): Mihai Stelian Rusu / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2015

This paper examines the mnemonic battle fought over the Romanian communist past between the active forces of intellectual democratic elites and the passive resistance of the majority of the population. The former try to impose a narrative of cultural trauma regarding the communist past against the latter`s popular resistance expressed by strong nostalgic attachments towards the same communist past. The paper investigate the formation of the new official consensus on the communist legacy as cultural trauma, proposing a three stage sequence of its articulation: i) the breakthrough made by detention memorialistic literature in the aftermath of 1989 Revolution; ii) the officialization of 'communism-as-cultural-trauma' narrative by the Tismăneanu Report condemning the communist regime; iii) the institutionalization of the cultural trauma narrative in the educational system. All these struggles over the memory of communism from the part of the anticommunist political elites are tacitly countered by strong popular nostalgia, as revealed by extensive survey data.

István Bibó

Author(s): Alexandra Laignel-Lavastine / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 21/2016

Rođen u Budimpešti 1911., iste godine kad i Miłosz, Istvan Bibo je umro 1979., tri godine nakon Patočke. Bibo spada među najpronicljivije, ali i najmanje poznate europske političke mislioce druge polovice 20. stoljeća. No, imamo li ideju promišljanja na mađarskom? Miłosz je još jednom imao pravo: ≫Morat ćete hodati na rukama, ništa ne pomaže≪.

There Is Great Disorder under the Heavens

Author(s): Aleksandar Matković,Wolfgang Streeck / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2017

Hasan Kafija Pruščak - život i djelo

Author(s): Fehim Nametak / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 01+02/1995

Zahvaljujući podacima koje sam ostavlja u svome autobiografskom djelu, Pruščakova biografija nam je poznatija od biografija svih njegovih suvremenika koji su stvarali djela na jednom od tri orijentalna jezika - arapskom, turskom ili perzijskom. Međutim, to je biografija koja govori isključivo o njegovu školovanju, službovanju i njegovim djelima. Biografija je dosta štura, ako se očekuju u njoj podaci o privatnom životu, o porodičnom životu, o eventualnom potomstvu.

Wolność warunkowana cnotą: moralne podstawy wspólnotowego ładu politycznego w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej

Author(s): Dorota Pietrzyk-Reeves / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2017

In the sixteenth century the three terms “law”, “liberty” and “respublica” became intertwinedin a broader conception of a well-ordered political community, civitas libera, which was seen as theonly guarantee of liberty and the public good. For the authors who belong to the tradition of classicalrepublicanism, one of the central questions concerned the nature of the conditions that need to be fulfilledin order to meet the requirements of civil liberty and political obligation. Unlike modern politicalphilosophers who have introduced the language of rights, they understood civil freedom as being oneof the benefits derived from living under a well-ordered government – res publica for the attainmentof which virtue was of crucial importance. This article focuses on the Polish republican discourse of the sixteenth century that was preoccupiedwith these questions.

Porażka Nowej Lewicy?

Author(s): Herbert Marcuse / Language(s): Polish Issue: 29/2012

Teoria krytyczna Herberta Marcusego, ruchy społeczne i dialektyka „klęski Nowej Lewicy”

Author(s): Przemysław Pluciński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 29/2012

The article addresses the problem of the relationship between critical theory of Herbert Marcuse and the nature of the New Left social movements that were born in the 60s of the twentieth century. Although the so-called New Left is a broader phenomenon for the purposes of this article we made some simplifi cation, reducing it to anti-institutional, anti-hierarchical, critically-oriented social movements and the counterculture. The article also challenges the widespread myth 3M (Marx, Mao, Marcuse). The paper shows the dynamics of views of “late” Herbert Marcuse, above all portraying him as a thinker entangled in “praxis”. It discusses the legacy of the New Left from the perspective of its defeats and victories, fi nally focusing on the latter. Marcuse himself treated all the struggles started by the New Left social movements with hope, as a prelude to the struggle for a better, more just and – what is the most important – possible world. Not without a reason on the Berlin tombstone of German-American thinker appears the word: Weitermachen!

Kant a nemzetközi rendről – „örök béke” vagy hosszú távú együttműködés?

Author(s): Anita Szűcs / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 3/2017

Kant is a well appreciated theorist of International Relations, mainly because the liberal argument of the ”world order” stems from the Kantian concept of ”perpetual peace.” However, the interpretation of his philosophical legacy in the fi eld of this newly formed discipline is very controversial. Kant’s famous mature pamphlet, ”On Perpetual Peace” has been widely seen as advocating federalism, a world state and utopian pacifi sm. This study argues that instead of utopian, eternal peace Kant is primarily concerned with the roots and processes of long-term cooperation. Transcendental idealism explains the reality of international politics, which can be understood as an anarchic, competitive system where the natural state is war. Kant did not want to transcend the state system but to improve it. He shows how to subject international anarchy to law at the level of individuals, states and the international system. For him cooperation is determined by Reason, but at the same time states and human beings have free will to ignore the laws of cooperation. This study highlights how Reason can create long term cooperation in the anarchic international system.

Zasada pomocniczości jako fundament nowoczesnego państwa

Author(s): Kinga Łuczka / Language(s): Polish Issue: 13/2006

The principle of subsidiarity is an idea of functioning communities. It depicts mutual relations among the state, its citizens and indirect structures. The basic assumptions of this principle generate from the Catholic Social Teaching. The principle was formulated for the first time at the end of 19th century by Pope Leo XIII in the encyclical letter Rerum novarum.The issue of subsidiarity was also dealt by Pius XI in the encyclical letter Quadragesimo Anno, John XXIII in the encyclical letter Mater at magistra and John Paul II in the encyclical letter Centesimu annus. The principle of subsidi- arity is based on the idea that a social unit has priority over the com-munity and communities of the lower rank have priority over communities of the higher rank. Many contemporary states in their laws pertain to the principle of subsidi- arity including Polish Constitution from 1997. It is also an essentail fundament of democracy whose basic condition is the existence of numerous structures between a citizen and the state. The necessity of implementing the principle of subsidiarity is also emphasized in the European Union.

Harry Potter, avagy a politikai bölcsek köve? Populáris kultúra és politikai aktivizmus

Author(s): Tibor Dessewffy,Mikes Mezei,Natália Naszályi / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2018

In our study, we briefly review the literature on mass media effects and the fandom universe. We examine the differences in the values of Harry Potter fans with multiple techniques: online questionnaires and with data from their Facebook activity. We showed a positive connection between socio-political ideological values, a high level of public interest and the degree of Harry Potter fandom-affinity through our analysis

CONCEPTUL POLITIC DE MITTELEUROPA ÎNTRE MIT ȘI REALITATE

Author(s): Andi Mihail BANCILA / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 01/2020

The desintegration of the socialist states offered the chance to the political leaders to redefine the identity of their own nations. Even if the European Union, a creation of the occidental cultural space, presented the first option, a part of the leaders of central european states took very seriously the rebuilt of economical and cultural space of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. Even after the desinteragtion of this political and economical system, the central european world continued to refer to the rules that defined it. Despite the attempts of the communist regime to rewrite history of these nations, Mitteleurope remained a mark for the people of these lands and even became a viable option in a society that rediscovered their multicultural past.

THE POLITICAL CONCEPT OF MITTELEUROPE BETWEEN MYTH AND REALITY

Author(s): Andi Mihail BANCILA / Language(s): English Issue: 01/2020

The desintegration of the socialist states offered political leaders the chance to redefine the identity of their own nations. Even if the European Union, a creation of the occidental cultural space, represented the first option, a part of the leaders of central European states took very seriously the idea of rebuilding the economic and cultural space of the former AustroHungarian Empire. Even after the disintegration of this political and economic system, the central European world continued to refer to the rules that defined it. Despite the attempts of the communist regime to rewrite the history of these nations, Mitteleurope remained a mark for the people of these lands and even became a viable option in a society that rediscovered their multicultural past.

History and Methodology of Research of the Subnational Topic in Political Science

Author(s): Volodymyr Hnatiuk / Language(s): English Issue: 4(96)/2019

Subnational topic has come a long way from its inception fifty years ago to formation of an independent research direction. This period consists of three phases. In the first phase (early 1970’s – mid 90’s) scholars start discussing a topic that was still unex¬plored at the time and examine it as a fragmentary part of whole studies. The second phase (mid 1990’s – first half of 2010’s) sees changes in methodology: studies become more complex, focused solely on subnational phenomena and are carried out using a special tool – the subnational comparative method. A methodological dichotomy is outlined as a model for the analysis of subnational regimes and their types, as well. Finally, the third (current) phase (mid 2010’s – present) is where the key changes take place: formation of in¬dependent research direction, overcoming theoretical constructs (whole-national bias and federal monism) and increase of complexity and depth of political studies. These features are entrenched in the form of methodological synthesis as a modern model for the analysis of subnational regimes and their types. The article focuses on the coverage of the classical and the modern foundations of the subnational comparative method. The author notes that modern methodology juxtaposes with ontology in the context of subnational discourse. However, in the process of studying such issues there is an urgent need to clarify, update and supplement some methodological foundations of the method.

Ellenzékiség, aktorok és a demokrácia nyitott kimenetele. Az 1990 utáni Magyarország példája

Author(s): Ervin Csizmadia / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2019

In the thirty years since the change of regime in Hungary there have been at least three forms of opposition politics (“simple” or “as usual” anti-government opposition, anti-system opposition, and resistance, plus various combinations of these), and we cannot say that – as would be expected – anti-government opposition, which is seen as the norm in consolidated democracies, has solidified. Relatively little attention has been paid by the literature to identifying these forms of opposition and describing their dynamics and character. Specifially looking at the Hungarian example, the article primarily approaches the topic from the standpoint of the political actors and does not pay as much attention to the equally important structural factors or economic and social conditions. The author relates to the literature that emphasizes the intentions and actions of the actors during the transition. The main explanatory principle is the open-ended transition and democratization, which means that contrary to the more closed and teleological democracy theories, the political actors in the thirty years of the Hungarian transition have struggled with each other in an open-ended way, thus a pre-written, textbook version of democratization could not come about.

Dessewffy, Asbóth, Tisza. Fontolva haladás és demokrácia konzervatív szemszögből

Author(s): Miklós Bálint Tóth / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1/2020

The study examines whether, by analogy to the widely used notion of liberal democracy, such an idea exists in Hungarian political thought which bears the marks of the conservative and the democratic worldviews at the same time. In other words, does conservative democracy exist? According to the hypothesis, moderate progression can be regarded as a specific variant of conservative democracy. The study has a three-tier structure. Firstly, I clarify my understanding of Hungarian conservative tradition. Secondly, I show the conservative character of moderate progression. Finally, I point out that the representatives of moderate progression consider democracy, under certain circumstances, acceptable, even supportable. To prove this, the argument draws on Aurél Dessewffy’s, János Asbóth’s and István Tisza’s works.

Machiavelli – a művész

Author(s): Zoltán Bretter / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1/2020

My paper consists of three parts. In the first part, I seek to sum up the essence of Aristotle’s normative politics, and in some points I compare Machiavelli’s and Aristotle’s relationship to politics in general. In the second part, I sum up the Aristotelian teaching concerning the difference between doing and making, to have a clear understanding of what is the tradition inherited by Renaissance humanists, through Aquinas. In the third part, I show how Machiavelli bypasses that tradition, how he shifts the emphasis from “action” to “creation”, and thus he sets the framework for the modern interpretation of politics, as something that is not part of normative politics anymore, but becomes the “art of government”.

Politika a posztfaktikus korban. Hannah Arendt az igazságról és a hazugságról a politikában

Author(s): László Levente Balogh / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2020

The statement about the ’post-truth’ age seems surprising in light of the fact that politics have always confl icted with truth, and telling the truth has never been one of the virtues of politics. There was no period in history in which truth was particularly valued in politics, or in which it was made a basic principle of selecting politicians. And yet the increasing attention paid to the relationship between politics, truth and lies suggests that there has been a change in their relationship. What is novel is not that truth has lost its signifi cance and effect in politics, but how politicians and political audiences react to it. Could politics be based on truth? Is it possible not to lie at all? It would be naive to think that lies could be eliminated from politics, and yet we cannot accept politics based on lies, because that would be cynical. It seems we have no choice but to accept that there are spheres in which we must accept, or at least tolerate the possibility of lying, but at the same time demarcate areas in protection of communal efforts in which we do not only reject lies, but consider the expression of the truth to be the only option.

Câteva reflecții despre Convenția Europeană a Drepturilor Omului – și despre drepturile omului

Author(s): / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 2/2020

A középosztály mint akarat és képzet. A középosztály normatív és leíró koncepciójának kritikája

Author(s): Márk Áron Éber / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1/2021

The concept of the middle class contains both descriptive and normative elements. Commenting the paper of Ákos Huszár and Viktor Berger “The new middle class?”, this article criticizes both the descriptive and normative elements of the middle class. The gradational concept of the middle class is a heterogeneous ensemble of the “people somewhere in the middle” in a structural-relational sense. The paper identifies the source of normative elements in the universalization and generalization of particular historical-social experiences. It proposes to replace the concept of the middle class with a conceptual tool of intermediate and intermediary classes.