Youth Political Participation in a Transition Society

Author(s): Airi-Alina Allaste,David Cairns / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

This special issue of Studies of Transition States and Societies focuses on youth political participation in Estonia. The articles explore different dimensions of participation, providing examples of how politics is practiced by young people in a society that has undergone a relatively recent and substantial social, economic and political transformation: the shift from being an integral part of the Soviet Union to full membership of the European Union. This transition is reflected in changing patterns of activism among Estonian youth and the nature of the issues with which they engage, with participation influenced by, one the one hand, the legacies of the communist period and, on the other, the challenge of living in contemporary Europe.

Negotiating the Past: Some Issues of Transmission of Memories among Estonian Young People

Author(s): Raili Nugin / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

All across Europe, the past has always played a significant role in youth activism and continues to do so, though in different countries the extent of this role may vary. This particular article deals with the question of how the issues of the past resonate in the lives of young people in Estonia. During recent decades, the tensions between hegemonic and alternative pasts have been a source of discursive as well as physical combats among the different socio-cultural groups in Estonia and are often loaded with a political and ideological burden. In 2007, these different understandings peaked with street riots, mostly dominated by young people. Thus, understanding the mechanisms of how young people make sense of the complicated past can tell us also a lot about the reasons behind their political activism (or lack thereof). The article is especially keen on exploring the questions of mechanisms of transmission of memory — how the past is socialised in different contexts (schools, museums, home), and how difficult pasts are dealt with and negotiated in groups of different ethnic and cultural background. By doing so, it will contribute to the theoretical discussions on relations of hegemonic past and communicative memory, how in different cultural contexts the hegemonic past is moulded or contested. It will be argued that young people actively contextualise and rework the matters of the complicated past in their everyday contexts. Neither hegemonic discourse nor the communicative past is absorbed without questions but constantly negotiated.The dataset of this article consists of in-depth individual (84) and group interviews (5) predominantly with young people, but also other meaningful adults in the youngsters’ lives: their parents and grandparents, teachers and the like. In addition, participant observations are used as background data. The sample involves both ethnic Estonians and Russian-speaking minorities.

Incubating Radicalism in Hungary – the Case of Sopron and Ózd

Author(s): Domonkos Sik / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2015

The paper analyses young people’s interpretation of the past, evaluation of the present and political behaviour patterns based on semi-structured interviews (n=60) conducted in two contrasting constellations of modernization, Sopron and Ózd. First the perception of the most pressing social and political problems, second the potential of political and civic actions are compared. Finally an attempt is made to outline a “hopeless” and an “indifferent” idealtype of political culture. Together they create the opportunity for both the birth of antidemocratic tendencies and the space in which they can evolve. In this sense they provide the preconditions for “mainstreaming the extreme” that is the incubation of radicalism in Hungary.

Úvahy o roli veřejnosti v politické sféře a počátky průzkumů veřejného mínění

Author(s): Lucie Smolařová / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2/2016

This article focuses on discussions about the role of the public in the political sphere presented in the writings of philosophers and scholars examining public opinion and American democracy during the 19th and early 20th century, as well as on the political and social context that significantly influenced the beginnings of public opinion polling. In the 1930s, public opinion polls were introduced in response to the need to measure public sentiments that mainly emerged from discussions about the role of the public in American democratic governance and modern society, which were based on the European philosophical tradition and contradictory thoughts about the role of the people in the political sphere traceable to Antiquity. Gallup and other early practitioners of public opinion polling believed that polls were a tool that could significantly enhance American democracy; however, both the methodology and concept of public opinion polling have been heavily criticized since the introduction of polls. The link between the beginnings of polling and the discussions about the contours of American democracy was neglected for quite a long time.

A magyar fiatalok politikai részvételének változása

Author(s): Dániel Oross / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2016

Citizens’ political participation is a key issue of a democratic political system. The starting point of the paper is political participation of young people in democratic institutions is not merely a question of young people’s interest in politics, but also the result of institutional opportunities and mobilization channels that are available for them. The present article aims to interpret the political participation of Hungarian youth is interpreted more broadly than in former studies. On the one hand it shows how a change of attitudes occurred among Hungarian youth concerning the perception of political participation perception. On the other hand it describes the insti­tutional and social context where participation of Hungarian young people is taking place today

A radikalizmus szociális reprezentációja fiatalok körében

Author(s): István Murányi / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 3/2016

In the study, using data from an international research (Myplace), relying on the theory of social representations, we examined the understanding of radicalism of young people aged 15 to 26 and living in two towns in Hungary (Ózd and Sopron) which differ significantly regarding their political socialization. In accordance with an empirical method based on the theory, we analyzed the relationship between young people’s attitudes towards nationalism and the democratic principles and the representation of radicalism, following the structural and content characterization of the representation of radicalism through the quantification of associational responses received in the questionnaire survey conducted in 2012.

A radikalizmus inkubációja Magyarországon – Sopron és Ózd esete

Author(s): Domonkos Sik / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 3/2016

The paper analyses young people’s interpretation of the past, evaluation of the present and political behaviour patterns based on semi-structured interviews (n=60) conducted in two contrasting constellations of modernization, Sopron and Ózd. First the perception of the most pressing social and political problems, second the potential of political and civic actions are compared. Finally an attempt is made to outline a ‚hopeless’ and an ‚indifferent’ idealtype of political culture. Together they create the opportunity for both the birth of antidemocratic tendencies and the space in which they can evolve. In this sense they provide the preconditions for ‚mainstreaming the extreme’ that is the incubation of radicalism in Hungary.

Demokrácia: válság vagy nem válság?

Author(s): László Levente Balogh / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2016

THE IMPACT OF PUBLIC HEALTH CARE SERVICES ON THE PATIENTS’ PERCEPTION AS REGARDS THE HEALTH INSTITUTIONS BRAND ON THE BACKGROUND OF THE HEALTH REFORM IN ROMANIA

Author(s): Florin-Alexandru Luca,Corina Anamaria Ioan,Constantin Sasu,Alina-Costina Luca / Language(s): English Issue: 49/2015

The impact and responsibility the health care organization, in present case the health care unit, have on patients are special. This is due to the fact that the health care units provide intangible and non-measurable services. Therefore, the responsibilities of the medical care, as well as the impact the services have on patients are, in turn, difficult to be measured. With the progress of the Romanian health care and the emergence of the private medical care providers, the reputation of a medical doctor, medical care unit, respectively, acting in public or private domain, works as a fancy label in the eyes of the consumers. Unlike other types of services, the health care services and the medical doctor, irrespective of the field of specialization are assessed by consumers only from the point of view of their perception. Only few of consumers have the necessary competences to perform an objective evaluation. The particularity which adds value to the hereby work consists exactly of the difficulty to perform a measurable analysis. This paper aims to identify the impact of public health services in Romania has on patients and on the perception that they have to fund medical institutions in the reform process.

O wartościowaniu dóbr ekonomicznych

Author(s): Wojciech Giza / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3/2015

The presented study includes an analysis of the category of ‘good’ on the basis of philosophy and economics. Particular attention was paid here to the factors deter- mining the monetary value (price) of an economic good. While achieving the as- sumed objective of the research, answers to the following questions were sought: What is the difference, therefore, in the interpretation of good as an axiomatic cat- egory and good which the economy deals with? What is the basis for the valuation of goods which are the subject of economic analysis? While seeking answers to these questions, an attempt was made to justify the thesis according to which con- temporary understanding of the way of valuating goods by the market is limited to accepting the price understood as a variable representing a kind of relationship set in a given time period.

Evropská občanská iniciativa jako nástroj rozvoje občansko-politické participace pohledem konceptu struktury politických příležitostí

Author(s): Lukáš Novotný,Pavel Maškarinec / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2017

European Citizens’ Initiative as a Tool for Advancing Civic/Political Participation: APolitical Opportunity Structure Perspective The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) is the institutional innovations that have sought to enhance the participatory nature of EU politics. This paper demonstrates that the current form of ECI is not a tool for active participation of citizens in shaping of the European politics. On the contrary, the practice of the ECI is totally at odds with the reasons why this tool was anchored in the Lisbon Treaty. Similarly, a high number of rejected registrations suggests, that the Commission itself sees that it is unable to solve the problem, or it is not willing to agree to enforce fundamental changes. Actually, there were registered only those initiatives that was focused on particulars. Thus, although the dynamic multilevel model of political opportunity structure might suggest that the ECI institutional settings is an example of an open international (European) political opportunity structure, our analysis showed, that, in practice, this is markedly closed political opportunity structure, mainly due to the influence of the Commission. Significant decrease of submitted ECI, after three years since the introduction of this institute, confirms that the initial euphoria of the involvement of citizens to the decision-making mechanisms of the EU does not take place, and instead of strengthening democratization and the creation of a common European political space, the ECI may act more in the direction of further deepening of the democratic deficit and alienating European citizens from the idea of a common Europe.

Sekularizacijska debata i Bosna i Hercegovina: agenda za istraživanje

Author(s): Dino Abazović / Language(s): Bosnian,Croatian,Serbian Issue: 19/2015

U knjizi o formacijama sekularnog Talal Asad podsjeća da “jedan stari argument o potrebi da se religija odvoji od politike glasi da zato što religija suštinski pripada domenu vere i strasti, racionalni argument i delanje vođeno interesom ne mogu biti njen deo. Sekularist dopušta mogućnost da religiozna uverenja i osećanja budu prihvatljiva na nivou ličnog i privatnog, ali insistira na tome da organizovana religija, budući zasnovana na autoritetu i prinudi, uvek predstavljala pretnju za slobodu sopstva kao i za slobodu drugih.

OSNOVE SRPSKOG EKSPANZIONIZMA

Author(s): Raif Hajdarpašić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 41-42/2008

Ni srpski nacionalni egoizam nije ostajao u sferi doktrinarnih konstrukcija. Bio je u povijesti, i ostao je to i u aktualitetu, jedno od glavnih ideoloških sredstava legitimacijskog opravdavanja teritorijalnog ekspanzionizma kao supstancijalne konstante velikosrpske nacionalno državne politike. Otuda, razumijevanje srpskog mesijanizma pretpostavlja da se ono situira u širi kontekst, dakle, unutar prezentacije temeljnih konstanti srpskog nacionalizma.

Dekapilaryzacja władzy

Author(s): Rafał Drozdowski,Maciej Frąckowiak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2017

This article focuses on analyzing changes in modern forms of governance. On the basis of the literature, the authors briefly reconstruct the reasons why sociology is adopting a “soft” approach to power, that is, one that primarily explores its exercise in subjectless forms, especially outside of state institutions. The authors next consider the social conditions producing a growing desire for a more traditional kind of power, and identify the key factors that could indicate its restoration in the institutions shaping the social order of today. In conclusion, the authors attempt to determine the possible effects of a “decapillarization” of power, and especially the model of power/ governance that could emerge from it.

Varljiva istina i objektivnost kao strateški ritual

Author(s): Dragan Štavljanin / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 28/2013

The possibility of establishing the truth is one of the central issues in the media, because reality as an immediate experience in everyday life is contrary to media reality or reality as a cultural construction. In an effort to ascertain the truth, a starting point for journalists is the principle of objectivity, which entails quoting at least two sources. At the same time, it’s a democratic standard aimed at allowing for public presentation of different opinions. Although necessary, such conceived objectivity is not a sufficient, because by presenting the attitudes of the most influential factors in society, others are ignored, which leads to the reproduction of a status quo. In that case, objectivity amounts to a myth, because it does not lead to revealing and fathoming the social structure of power. At the same time, objectivity is a kind of “strategic ritual” (Tuchman), because journalists stick to it in order to enable their products to be accepted as reliable ones in a very competitive market. This, however, does not mean that we should abandon the search for truth, although many agree that this is an unattainable ideal and amounts to will o’ the wisp. Were are very firmly established criteria of checking information, as well as the credibility of sources, that could enable the audience to grasp the meaning, context and background of events and processes.

Путовање у иностранство као пракса културне потрошње у друштву Србије

Author(s): Ljubica M. Rajković / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 2/2017

The paper presents research on travelling abroad as a form of cultural consumption in the Serbian society and the motivation (interest) of consumers to participate in such tourism practice. The relation between cultural consumption and travel abroad of citizens who use services of travel agencies in Serbia was analysed through foreign travel, education, tourism interests and destinations that generate certain cultural practices. According to Bourdieu’s view on the theory of cultural consumption, class affiliation of an individual and his/her family background determine cultural consumption and ways of satisfying his/her cultural needs, so travel abroad demonstrates exceptional importance in daily life of the dominant structural groups. In the Serbia’s society, the central axis that divides the practice of cultural consumption among its citizens that travel abroad is characterized by the following dimensions: occupation, education and the place of residence. Thus, foreign travel organized by travel agencies, as a cultural form in semi-peripheral society, such as the Serbia’s society, presents a mark of distinction that is affordable only to higher layers. The survey was conducted in the period from March to May 2014 by the students of Tourism Department at the Faculty of Geography in Belgrade, as part of their compulsory practical work in Sociology of Tourism. The survey was conducted in travel agencies in Belgrade and in central Serbian towns, in accordance with their individual choices and availability of agencies. The sample was made up of respondents from urban and rural settlements, a total of 613.

Autoritářské represivní strategie a volební soutěživost

Author(s): Jaroslav Bílek / Language(s): Czech Issue: 4/2017

Elections in electoral and competitive authoritarian regimes have recently gained a great deal of attention in comparative research. This paper offers an explanation of variation in degree of electoral competitiveness in electoral authoritarianism in post-communist Europe and Eurasia. Contrary to existing research which is focused mostly on variables related to the opposition, this study concentrates on seven authoritarian repressive strategies derived from previous research about elections in hybrid regimes. For that purpose, this study compares 67 cases of elections that were carried out between 1990 and 2014, employing regression analysis and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) while engaging the new data on incumbent abuse from the Varieties of Democracy (V-DEM) project. The results highlight the importance of media censorship and legal exclusion of opposition. These findings are in a discrepancy with previous research as the two most influential repressive strategies which are usually mentioned with respect to electoral authoritarianism, i.e. economic statism and governmental control of electoral commitees, are proven as rather irrelevant in the post-communist's context.

The Unlikely Eurosceptics: the Undercurrent Anti-European Attitudes among the Young Poles and the Role of the Domestic Context

Author(s): Joanna Fomina / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

The first generation of Poles whose political horizons have been limited by their country's membership in the EU by a popular assumption should also be the most pro-European section of the society. However, empirical evidence demonstrates that despite the broad support for Poland's membership that we see on the surface, young people's perceptions of the EU are characterised by undercurrent euroscepticism. This undercurrent euroscepticism is less about a pragmatic assessment of benefits and losses, and more about concerns about emotive-symbolic issues, such as authority, self-determination, sovereignty, national identity and values. While the benefits of the EU membership are often taken for granted, the concerns about sovereignty understood in an old-fashioned way are brought to the fore in young people's perceptions of the EU. The article focuses on the role of the domestic political context and how the real and perceived generation gap plays into it. The paper calls for comprehensive education about European integration and critical thinking and media consumption literacy in order to diminish the susceptibility of young people to anti-European cues by political entrepreneurs.

The Calling of Sociology: Beyond Value-detached Professionalism and Partisan Activism

Author(s): Davorka Matić / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

Michael Burawoy’s project of public sociology provoked major debate within the sociological community about the tasks and nature of the discipline. While most participants in the debate are sympathetic to his call for a more publicly engaged sociology, many criticise him for politicising the discipline and claim that sociologists should not devote their work to promoting social justice or certain political agendas but concentrate instead on building an objective, evidence-based knowledge of society. This article argues that neither Burawoy’s public sociology nor the so-called scientific sociology constitute a proper way to address the problems of sociology’s identity crisis and its growing public irrelevance. It is suggested that Karl Mannheim provided the best answer to the questions of what it means to practice sociology and for what purposes it should be practiced. Following Mannheim’s line of thinking, the article argues that the real issue is not whether sociologists should be committed to promoting social justice or accumulating objective knowledge about society, but whether they can offer a comprehensive interpretation of the current situation and develop effective strategies to transform the existing patterns of society.

Omnivorism of Eating and 'Highbrow-Lowbrow' Distinction: Cultural Stratification in Poland

Author(s): Henryk Domański / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2017

The idea of the cultural omnivore is increasingly popular. Research in this vein argues that upper-middle class individuals prefer an above-average diversity of art, and that this diversity of tastes is the new marker of high status. Using data from the 2013 national survey, the current study replicates studies carried out in Western societies with respect to patterns of eating. By analyzing the preferences of tastes I try to establish, first-whether omnivorism in eating is mostly displayed among representatives of highbrow culture, referred to intelligentsia, second-to what extent it replaces hierarchical distinction between highbrow and lowbrow categories. It confirms that omnivorism in eating in Poland exists and dominates among higher managers and specialists-they overrun owners, middle lower classes, working class and farmers. Furthermore, although the cultural omnivorism is a new taste pattern, it correlates strongly with the cultural division in highbrow and lowbrow categories.