Europinė dimensija Lietuvos referendumų kampanijose

Author(s): Aušrinė Jurgelionytė / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 71/2015

The referenda of the 21st century were also inevitably related with the European dimension: the referendum in 2003 on the membership of the Republic of Lithuania in the European Union (EU); the referendum of 2008 on exceeding the operation of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP); the referendum of 2013 on building a new nuclear power plant in the Republic of Lithuania; and the referendum of 2014 on land for sale to foreigners. These four referenda are the object of this paper. It analyses the reflections of the European dimension in the referenda campaigns. The campaign slogans are mainly taken into account when reconstructing various discursive devices. The explanatory power of the new institutionalism (discursive) theories is discussed.

Zdania odrębne w teorii polityki: Voegelina badanie symboli i Straussa poszukiwanie filozofa

Author(s): Michał Kuź / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2016

The paper summarizes the nature of Eric Voegelin’s and Leo Strauss’s methodological approaches to the study of the history of political thought, in particular, the Western political thought. The paper concludes that in both cases the thinkers stray away from the mainstream, which is currently represented by contextualism. However, in their dissenting voices both authors take very different routes. Voegelin focuses on political symbols which are grounded in the metaphysical experience of their creators, and Strauss focuses on the perennial question of philosophy and classical, discursive rationality as the criterion of philosophical inquiry. They also differ in their opinions on the role of the political philosopher. For Voegelin, the philosopher is a defender or a co-creator of political creeds. For Strauss s/he is mainly the educator of politically savvy youths and, above all, the defender of philosophy as the most noble pursuit of the mind. The paper concludes by pointing out the importance and prominence of both thinkers.

Inauguracja prezydentury Andrzeja Dudy jako zespół roszczeń legitymizacyjnych

Author(s): Małgorzata Kołodziejczak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3/2016

The author of this paper analyzes a specific political fact, namely the inauguration of presidency in modern democratic systems. Focusing on the inauguration of Andrzej Duda’s presidency, the author answers the question of whether this extensive range of activities (encompassing the act of swearing in, symbolical acts, presidential address and other speeches) is an element of a consciously created legitimacy claim made by the president-elect. Answering this question in the affirmative, the author illustrate show the claims that refer to all three of Weber’s types of legitimacy are encompassed in the successive parts of the inauguration: the swearing in refers to the legal element of legitimacy, an extensive range of symbolical acts refers to tradition, whereas the presidential address introduces yet another element justifying legitimacy, this time resulting from the heritage of Lech Kaczyński’s charisma.

The political districting problem: A survey

Author(s): Attila Tasnádi / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2011

Computer scientists and social scientists consider the political districting problem from different viewpoints. This paper gives an overview of both strands of the literature on districting in which the connections and the differences between the two approaches are highlighted.

Karykatura polityczna jako ģródão do badač nad historiû Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej Postulaty badawcze

Author(s): Tomasz Sikorski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2009

In this article author presents his research (methodological) suggestions concerning the political caricature, considered as the source material for the research on the history of the Second Polish Republic. It is hard to overvalue the role of cari¬cature as an iconographic and visual source. Caricature teaches, warns, amuses, but also creates a catalogue of typical behavior. It can become a weapon in political fight. The author has indicated the following functions of caricature: entertaining, sociological, creating and organizing the socio-political reality, psychological and communicative. Every researcher is entitled to present his own methodological proposals. In author’s opinion, a number of elements can be distinguished in the research on cari¬cature. At first, the sender of the information should be defined - "who speaks?” Secondly, the researcher has to answer the question "what?” and "when?” the caricature says (the content of the information). Thirdly, the question "who does it speak to?” (the receiver of the information) should be asked. The last essential question to be answered is: "What is the result?” (the outcome of this communication process). The issues addressed in Polish political caricatures in the period of the Second Polish Republic, presented a very broad spectrum, ranging from the current domestic policy to the International affairs. We are still waiting for the in-depth and complex analysis of the Polish political caricature (1918-1939).

„Ефектът Медичи“ – бизнес модели в международните отношения

Author(s): Evgeniya Vasileva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2018

The political and corporate world is becoming increasingly technological, networked and inseparable, which provides and permits interdisciplinary, unlimited and diverse research frameworks and models. This article is an attempt to apply analytical tools from the field of business management and strategic planning for analysis in the field of international relations, diplomacy and everyday policy making. The assumption is that innovation in ideas stems from combining, colliding, merging of existing concepts and cultures and not from hard discipline differentiations.

СПЕЦИФІКА ІДЕОЛОГІЇ В ПАРАДИГМІ ПОСТМОДЕРНУ

Author(s): Svitlana Vyktorivna Kutsepal / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 2/2017

The article explores the semantic content of the concept of «ideology» in the postmodern paradigm and analyzes ideology as an instrument of political action.It is proved that the 20th century has set the task for the European community to solve which is very difficult – to orientate and find oneself in the landscape of absolute worldview freedom, to resist the «terror of complete freedom» (Z. Bauman), because the total pluralism of postmodernity is most clearly manifested in the ideological sphere of social consciousness, where the faith of the Modern Age and the socialist-communist dogma are denied. Humanity is compelled to build its own ontological reality not only materially, but also symbolically – by word and idea. World outlook problems turn into means of political influence.This results in awareness of the need to develop the most comprehensive picture of the world, overcoming the ideological deficit, building a world outlook «foundation», which will ensure the possibility and effectiveness of public consensus, will allow the information of multiple world pictures to the generally accepted model. Humanity finds the way out of this worldview crisis in the topos of ideology, which is designed to try on the coexistence of different worldviews in the conditions of the autonomization of the political sphere.It is argued the thesis that lining around the central mythologeme, ideology is capable of implosion of other, additional, politically significant meanings, thanks to which it is possible to turn the population into an electorate.It is proved that the specificity of ideologies in postmodern conditions is that both left and right ideologies have arhizomatic nature, due to which the emphasis is made depending on the situation or on the conceptual or emotional component, they both are declared substantively equivalent in the intellectual dimension of the political sphere. That is why modern ideology often has a mystifying, illusory character (K. Manngheim), carries out a hidden, non-reflective influence, calls for romantics, and the pragmatists are the first to distribute the results of their struggle.

ПРОБЛЕМА НЕПОТИЗМУ В СУЧАСНОМУ УКРАЇНСЬКОМУ СУСПІЛЬСТВІ

Author(s): Olena Mykolaivna Sakhan / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 2/2017

A problem of nepotism in the modern Ukrainian society is viewed as one of manifestations and powerful sources of corruption which shows itself as practice of placing one’s relatives, acquaintances, friends or persons within a high-ranked individual’s circle to certain offices without regard to their professional skills and training at other people’s expense. It has been underlined that a destructive result of the nepotism’s personnel policies lies in the fact that unfavourable psychological climate is established among the staff, «unhealthy» organizational set-up is formed, basics of teamwork are ruined, and employees who enjoy no protection lose motivation to fulfill their duties properly; as social lifts are broken, young and talented specialists have no opportunities to be promoted, improve their financial and social status, and this causes migration of an able-to-work, highly-trained portion of the population abroad. The above factors decrease work efficiency of employees in certain teams and lead to deterioration of growth indexes and rates of an institution (establishment, organization, etc.) which ceases developing. Attention is drawn to the fact that immorality and unlawfulness of nepotism manifests itself as ignoring interests of a community (society, state), especially at the state and local levels; as interests of merely a small group of people who are linked through family or mental relations; this causes conflicts between family clans in pursuit of domination over that certain area, and tension in the society. It has been emphasized, that Ukrainian officials justifying themselves by the fact that «tradition» of showing favouritism to relatives and friends is rooted in our people’s minds have made a wide use of practice of nepotism and have turned Ukraine to a «state of developed nepotism» for only twenty-five years. Manifestations of corruption with nepotism atop enhance as a number of officials increases, that’s why the size of the officialdom which shall not be greater than that established by the European regulations must be controlled. It has been concluded that in order to overcome the problem of nepotism in the Ukrainian society, these very personnel policies and similar discriminatory practices which are applied to recruitment in the state’s various agencies must be abandoned, and officials must be punished severely for their wrongdoings starting with the top authorities and administration. For that end, bearing in mind experience of advanced states which made success in their struggle against corruptive phenomena, the society and authorities should focus their efforts on activation of anti-corruption bodies’ work and enhancement of control over compliance with requirements of the Ukrainian legislation in force which sets limits on placement of immediate relatives to senior public offices and promotes prevention of corruption. Establishment of anti-corruption mentality in citizens and strong intolerance of public opinion to any sorts and forms of corruption in all spheres of public life shall be facilitated through educational institutions and the mass media on the basis of world-recognized educational standards.

Dynamics of Deconsolidating Democracies of Poland, Hungary and Romania

Author(s): Flavius Cristian Mărcău / Language(s): English Issue: 14/2019

The deconsolidation of democracy is a new phenomenon which is not provided forin the specialized works. This phenomenon was supposed to be unlikely or possible only through acoup d’etat or after a war. But countries such as Poland, Hungary and Romania (in an incipientform) have shown us that functional democracy can be diluted as a cosequence of some controversialpolitical measures. In this study we aim at observing what has happened in these three states and towhat extent deconsolidation of democracy has been possible and especially if this process is a reversibleone. We want to understand if this democratic deconstruction can appear in young democratic states ormay appear at random, irrespective of the democratic tradition present in that state.

LACK OF FACT CHECKING IN MASS MEDIA IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Author(s): Gadirova Nigar / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2018

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the situation with fact checking, the way the journalists follow the principles of ethical codes while providing information to the mass, whether they choose to be led by information published in online platforms by ordinary people, or, on the contrary, to be the frontrunner source of information to the mass, by providing correct information not fake news. For this we analyze the general role of the media in society, the challenges the journalism faces in the digital age, the role of social networks as source of information, situation with breaking news, ethical challenges journalism is facing in the digital age, cases of fake news with harmful impact, the role of journalists in the digital age. And as a result of analyzed we came to the opinion that these days it is very important for the society to see the quality news written by professional journalists with true fact.

Interpretive Scholarship in Contemporary International Relations

Author(s): Xymena Kurowska / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2020

Interpretive International Relations (IR) has become a robust and diverse research programme, consolidating across various subfields of the discipline. However, this is a recent phenomenon. While early classical realists and English School scholars clearly drew on interpretive thought, these contributions did not coalesce into a well defined and specifically interpretive research agenda. The ‘interpretive turn’ in social sciences and humanities in the 1970s and epistemological pluralisation of political science and IR in the 1990s slowly made space for interpretive theory and research. This paper reconstructs, first, what makes interpretive IR distinct, and, second, what it means to engage in interpretive inquiry in this field, conceptually and substantively. It discusses in particular the implications of the monist ontological position that interpretivists tend to occupy and the conditions of knowledge production within the hermeneutical circle. These reject the possibility of transcending the context and bring to bear the researcher’s involvement in knowledge production as inevitable but generative. The paper also explicates the still poorly understood concept of ‘intersubjectivity’ as being defining for the interpretivist sensibility and one which directly contests positivist ideals. Interpretive IR scholarship serves as a veritable showcase for interpretive research practice, and points to the growing significance and volume of such scholarship.

Dlaczego polityka okalecza rozmowę. Pesymistyczna analiza porównawcza z optymistyczną konkluzją

Author(s): Iwona Barwicka-Tylek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2020

Contemporary political discourse often refers to dialogue and conversation as an important, if not the most important, element of a healthy democracy. Improving communication between public authorities and citizens, as well as between citizens themselves, is the goal of numerous practical democratic innovations. In the article, the historical perspective is used to argue that there is at least one obstacle which impedes a reliable democratic dialogue. The obstacle in question is the loss of dialectical competence, the causes of which I analyze referring to ancient philosophical debates on the role of the word in politics. Dialectic had been seen as the art of wise conversation since antiquity, but it soon fell victim to intellectual battles among philosophers, who saw it, at best, as a method of reaching the truth, and sophists, for whom dialectic was mainly a tool to creatively manipulate opinions of others. The unique political value of dialectic had been neglected over time and thus the dialogue itself became mutilated: deprived of the important prefix ‘dia-’ and reduced to the possibility of mere articulation of one’s opinions and interests. I argue that the restoration of genuine dialogue in a democracy requires a deeper understanding of the nature of dialectical opinions engaged in political conversation, and the correct application of the dialectical method in the Aristotelian sense of the term.

Liberalism and Tradition in the Nineteenth-Century Balkans: Toward History and Methodology of Political Transfer

Author(s): Diana Mishkova / Language(s): English Issue: 04/2012

The article sets off from a discussion of some methodological and theoretical issues pertinent to the study of ideological and institutional transfer between “centre” and “periphery” in nineteenth-century Europe. While taking into account the asymmetry in radiation and reception, it probes into the (Balkan) periphery’s political and cultural agency in reformulating and re-institutionalizing the “western model.” Rather than simply tracing movements, flows and circulation – the conventional concern of the transnational approach – the focus is on studying the transformations which occur in the process. This makes it possible to highlight the dynamics and versatility of ideational and institutional selection, interpretation, adaptation and transformation (or subversion) – in brief, the process of re-signification of ideas and institutions. The article then proceeds by exemplifying this approach in two directions. First, it examines several main channels and agents of transfer to and within the Balkan periphery illuminative of the ways ideas, practices and institutions traveled and mutated in the course of their journey; second, it surveys several characteristic instances of transfer of liberal ideas and institutions in the Balkans focusing on their legitimization and “domestication” which underscore the semantic and functional reinterpretations of modernity and tradition in the process.

Recenzja książki: Adrian Tyszkiewicz, Piotr Borowiec (red.). (2020). Teorie i podejścia badawcze geopolityki. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, ss. 642.

Author(s): Jarosław Macała / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2020

METODOLOŠKA ISTRAŽIVANJA U POLITICI I SIGURNOSTI KAO DIO KOMPJUTERSKE MANIPULACIJE PODACIMA U KREIRANJU SIGURNOSNE PERCEPCIJE JAVNOSTI

Author(s): Oliver Andonov,Toni Georgiev,Monika Andonova / Language(s): Bosnian,Croatian,Serbian Issue: 5/2019

Uobičajeno kad govorimo o sajber sigurnosti (prevedeno kao kompjuterska sigurnost sa uticajem u sajber prostoru), mislimo na hakerske napade na kompjuterske sisteme ili na sigurnost podataka, pojedinih informacija, ličnih podataka i informacija. U ovom radu naš cilj je da otvorimo jedno uslovno rečeno novo pitanje sajber sigurnosti, a koje se odnosi na metodologiju istraživanja političkih i sigurnosnih pojava sa aspekta naučnog pristupa i koriščenje suvremene kompjuterske tehnologije u kreiranju percepcije javnosti. Svakako da kreirana percepcija javnosti jeste i kreriranje javnog mnjenja, a to utiče na kretanje u društvu, ili kreiranje sigurnosne politike. Pristup metodologije istraživanja političkih i sigurnosnih nauka i njihovo prevođenje u praksi veoma često se svodi na političku pragmu sa kojom se manipuliše u okviru naučne zasnovanosti prikazanih rezultata o društvenim kretanjima ili najviše u odnosu na percepciju sigurnosnih prijetnji i izazova. Jedan takav primer uslovljavanja kreiranja sigurnosne politike jeste „sekuritizacija“ sigurnosnih problema kroz stvaranje percepcije javnosti kao uslov sekuritizacije. Sigurno da se ova percepcija ne može isključiti u odnosu na kreiranje javne komunikacije ili medija, ali smatramo da osnov upravo potkrepljivanja takvih stavova i percepcija jeste naučna potpora dobivenih rezultata. Veoma interesantan pristup koji ćemo pokušati da otvorimo kao dilemu u ovom radu, jeste pristup u mjerenju laži u politici povezanih sa realnosti sigurnosnih ugrožavanja društva. Upravo prikazivanje ove realnosti i poticanje lažnih informacija jeste deo kreiranja javne percepcije o sigurnosti, a tome pridonosi sajber prostor kao glavni medij suvremenih društava i kreiranju percepcije građana o sigurnosti na svim nivoima.

Политически интереси и политически ценности: методологически аспекти

Author(s): Blaga Blagoeva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2021

The article discusses some methodological issues in the study of interests and values in the philosophical and political science literature. An overview of the understanding of the nature and peculiarities of interests and values is made. An answer is sought to the question of their current understanding. Special emphasis is placed on the problem of the specifics of political interests and values and their role in the political process.

CONCEPTUALIZING STRATEGIC RISK-TAKING BY SMALL STATES UNDER GAME THEORY (A CONSTRUCTIVIST ANALYSIS)

Author(s): Shakaib RAFIQUE / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2021

This paper undertakes a constructivist analysis of Game Theory approach and presents the co conceptualization of different players in a system i.e. small states, hegemonic and counter-hegemonic states on the basis of role conceptualization , perceptions, ideals and beliefs regarding “self” and “others”. The paper then presents the dilemma faced by a small state in a system while dealing with the hegemon and counter-hegemon and introduces the concept of strategic risk-taking to encapsulate that any action (or inaction) by the small state in a system, even if it be seemingly docile in character aimed at ensuring state sovereignty, is contingent upon the perceptions, beliefs and ideals of the hegemon and counter-hegemon. The paper further argues that any action or inaction by the small state even for securing its sovereignty is deemed a risk-taking action or inaction by the greater power, mostly hegemon. The paper while presenting the case studies from South Asia explores as to how the strategic risk-taking by small states, as perceived by the hegemon or counter-hegemon leads to a lose-lose situation through creation of security dilemmatic situation as a final outcome of the gaming approaches.

Manner of usage and evaluation of information on the COVID -19 pandemic by citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina within the context of five core concepts of media literacy

Author(s): Dragana Trninić / Language(s): English Issue: 23/2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has fully revealed the significance of media literacy. A great amount of fake news, as well as information lacking background, has been distributed. The paper aims to determine the manner of usage and evaluation of information on the COVID-19 pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina within the context of five core concepts of media literacy. The results of the survey conducted online, have shown that the majority of respondents resorted to the Internet in their search for information, that they were confused by the sheer amount of information, that they often failed to double-check it, and that they were often not able to recognise any offensive content in it.

O STRATEGIJSKOJ ULOZI KONTEKSTA U TUMAČENJU POLITIČKIH DISKURSA: SUSRET TEORIJE HEGEMONIJE I LINGVISTIČKOG KONTEKSTUALIZMA

Author(s): Vedran Jerbić / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 01/2021

The aim of this paper is to critically assess Quentin Skinner’s linguistic contextualism by using the perspective of Laclau and Mouffe’s theory of hegemony. It strives to show that the theory of hegemony can offer a sort of middle way in the currently dominant discussion between so-called textualists and contextualists. By insisting on the strategic aspect of context in the interpretation of political discourses, Laclau and Mouffe are introducing a model of contextualization that does not follow traditional dichotomies between history and philosophy or particularity of context and universality of ideas. The strategic role of context would simultaneously represent a symptom of the deeper stratification of political language and meaning, and would function as a tool of the transformation of that very context.

Towards an Open Science Definition as a Political and Legal Framework: Sharing and Dissemination of Research Outputs

Author(s): Teresa Gomez-Diaz,Tomas Recio / Language(s): English Issue: 19/2020

Our proposal of an Open Science definition as a political and legal framework where research outputs are shared and disseminated in order to be rendered visible, accessible, reusable is developed, standing over the concepts enhanced by the Budapest Open Science Initiative (BOAI), and by the Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) and Open data movements. We elaborate this proposal through a detailed analysis of some selected EC policies and laws as well as of the function of research evaluation practices. The legal aspects considered in our examination include, in particular, the study of the role of licences in the context of the dissemination of research outputs.