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The belief that democracy automatically promotes economic development while undemocratic systems do not serve it is indiscriminately accepted. In fact, the situation is more complicated as statistical analysis shows that many democracies are characterized by low dynamics of development, while in some countries with authoritarian regimes there is a high rate of economic growth and a significant improvement in the social situation. The decisive influence on economic growth is exerted by meritocracy expressed in competent governments, which operate rationally in economic policy and in the process of development do not confuse the means of policy with its objectives. Unfortunately, in the last dozen or so years, as a result of the failures of the neoliberal economic model and the crisis of liberal democracy, the number of democracies has decreased and the number of autocratic regimes has increased. New autocracies emerge. This is especially true of countries that entered the democratization phase after the end of the Cold War. Changes for the better require an evolution towards a social market economy and a new pragmatism.
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The paper is based on the results of a study of Russian citizens’ images of their own and foreign countries. Methodology included a survey with a number of open-ended questions, in-depth interviews, methods of cartography, semantic differentials and a projective test. The study has shown that such factors as an event context, cultural traditions, psychological conditions of Russian society and communication strongly influence country’s perception. Our results have proved that Russians in general do not share territorial expansionism. Recognition of the Russian culture and the value system by others is more important for them. Though at the current moment national „inferiority complex”, widely spread in 1980–2000s, still manifests itself, a new tendency, based on the growth of a national pride that started in 2014, strongly influences social moods. Our analysis of Russians’ perception of other countries enabled us to distinguish categorization mechanisms used by our citizens. So the images of other countries include „neighbors” (post-Soviet countries), „strategic partners” (India and China), „forgotten allies” (Latin America and Africa), „significant «other»” (individual European countries and a less significant EU), „enemy image” (USA) and the „tourist Mecca” (Turkey and Thailand).
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The article discusses the emergence and early development of three South-East European nationalisms: Macedonian, Montenegrin and Muslim/Bosniak, all of which were born as mass phenomena only in the second half of the 20th century. The author argues that the first three decades of the socialist Yugoslavia (1945–1974) should be considered crucial to these three nation-building processes because in this period not only the social conditions necessary for the mass production and reception of the modern national ideas were created, but also the respective national cultures were institutionalized, either fully (Macedonian) or partially (Montenegrin, Muslim/Bosniak).
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In recent days in Vietnam, the amount of fake news spreading online about the Covid-19 epidemic has shown signs of increasing, causing information confusion and complicating the situation. This fact has received significant attention from scientists. To supplement the evidence of previous studies, enrich the research literature and make policy recommendations to the Government, this study explores the factors influencing the sharing of fake news on social networks. This study was conducted through a cross-sectional survey using an intentional sampling technique (n = 200) multivariate linear regression analysis technique was applied to prove the hypotheses. Research results show that the factors of altruism, entertainment, socialization, self-promotion, and instant information sharing have a positive and meaningful impact on sharing fake news about Covid_19 on social networks.
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This study examines the effects of the proliferation of SALWs on the security of the Nigerian state. Although this issue has seldom been tackled in regular or academic literature, it reflects the author’s keen awareness that, in an era of globalization, migrants have been identified as important agents in the proliferation of SALWs into third-world countries. The paper seeks to provide an insight into the socio-economic and political variables operating in the source and destination of such movements, with particular emphasis on migrants and arms proliferation. The study uses the qualitative approach for data analysis, it relies on upon, data gathered through secondary sources, and is reinforced with the argument on the liberal theoretical framework of analysis. The paper concludes that, while weapons play a significant role in intensifying conflict that exerts enormous human and economic costs, the causes of such conflicts lie in political, economic, ethnic, and religious differences and disparities. Finally, the paper looks at the appropriateness of examining the full implications of SALWs as a border management theme and the role of complementary measures for facilitating border control.
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This article takes up the transnational comedy career of Trevor Noah as a way to explore how the political work of racial comedy can manifest, circulate and indeed communicate differently across different racial-political contexts. Through the close textual analysis of two key comic performances –“The Daywalker” (2009) and “Son of Patricia” (2018), produced and (initially) circulated in South Africa and the USA, respectively – this article explores the extent to which Noah’s comic treatment of race has shifted between the two contexts. In particular, attention is paid to how Noah incites, navigates and mitigates potential sources of offence surrounding racial anxieties in the two contexts, and how he evokes his own “mixed-race” status in order to open up spaces of permission that allow him to joke about otherwise taboo subjects. Rejecting the claim that the politics of Noah’s comedy is emancipatory or progressive in any straightforward way, by means of formal analyses we argue that his comic treatment of race does not enact any singular politics, but rather that the political work of his racial humour shifts relative to its wider political contexts. Thus, rather than drawing a clear line between light entertainment and politically meaningful humour, this article argues that the political valence of racial joking can be understood as contingent upon wider discourses of race that circulate in national-cultural contexts.
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This research focuses on evaluating the impacts of technological advancements and their extended future aspects on exercising human rights in society and politics. Furthermore, the current prospects of technological advancements contribute a great portion to the advancement of society and culture. However, it also emerges and involves politics in the scenario. The research aims to explore different aspects of modern technological advancements in terms of determining the possible implementations of technology in society and politics. As a part of the research methodology, it can be highlighted that the research follows a primary research method. It collects primary quantitative data through an online survey by following a random sampling procedure. The sample population of the online survey was 50, and the ultimate sample size of this research is 39. The significance of the research lies over the identification of the technological advancements as it is the major component that impacts the future social and political community.
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The main objective of this article is to analyze the importance of digital transformation and the funds provided by way of the Next Generation EU (NGEU) plan, taking into account the Spanish case. Through the working hypothesis, it was established that the Iberian country has a wide margin for improvement in the context of digitalization. Likewise, that NGEU forms a key impulse for the recovery from the crisis caused by Covid-19, as well as for the implementation of new digital technologies in Spain. The use of the Digital Economy and Society Index, developed by the European Commission, has allowed us to carry out empirical research. The evaluation of the current situation and the progress of Spain in the field of analysis, as well as the putting it in perspective regarding the rest of the Member States, have been undertaken. Moreover, the Eurostat database has been employed, in addition to the estimations of the Spanish executive exposed through the Digital Agenda 2025, to examine investment in R&D and intangible assets and try to assess the importance of the EU recovery fund for Spain's development and progress in the digitization framework. Finally, the hypothesis and the objectives have been achieved.
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This paper examined whether the revised enlargement methodology represented another step in the direction of gradual EU membership of the Western Balkans. The research problem was based on considerations that the EU enlargement domain has for years been characterized by political stagnation. The research aimed to show that a differentiated accession approach might have been beneficial for Serbia, as a front-runner membership candidate. In terms of methods, the author analyzes the concepts and the applicability of the ‘three-tiered accession’ and ‘staged accession’, having in mind the recently altered enlargement methodology. The author argues that the gradual integration would have been beneficial for two reasons: 1) validating the candidates’ already achieved progress, offering tangible incentives, and potentially preventing the democratic backsliding; 2) taking the pre-scheduled accession dates off the table. Considering that the EU is unlikely to expand further, the author concludes that the gradual membership concept might apply solely to the WB, while also reassuring the Member States regarding the primacy of individual merits and excluding the speedy accessions proposals.
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The objective of this study is to describe two Pennsylvania cities' unique approaches to smart and connected technology design and implementation around mobility, public safety, and sustainability. Harrisburg and Pittsburgh are emerging leaders implementing their unique smart and connected approach. These two cities are undergoing a physical, technological, and demographic transformation, which impacts social and economic issues. As a result, many distinct aspects and elements of these cities play an increasingly important role in defining the quality of life of the diverse citizenry.Cities depend on newer and emerging technologies, such as smart streetlights, autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, shared mobility, and the Internet of Things(IoT) connected devices to improve health, safety, general welfare, and quality of life for citizens. Moreover, in smart cities, citizens' activities are not limited to their homes. Thus, smart spaces need to connect the smart city to the smart home seamlessly into a smart home concept [1]. The smart and connected cities concept is defined and visualized differently by each city depending on the context, needs and funding. As a result, each city initiates intelligent technology strategies, tools, and partnerships in its approach to developing and implementing the parameters that frame a just, equitable, and inclusive smart city. This multi-case study describes each city’s smart city and connected goals, successes and challenges to answer the research question: How has Pittsburgh and Harrisburg defined and implemented the concept of Smart City to better manage its emergent needs as a result of changing demographics?
More...Improving the quality of life
Turbulent times marked by fast societal changes and various people or nature induced crises point to the need to improve citizens’ quality of life (QoL). With the accelerated technological development, the information technology and data are becoming increasingly used as a tool for the improvement of QoL. The development of Open Data (OD) portals, which display vast amount of public sector data, is one of the means to help creating a new value for the society and economy. The goal of this paper is to assess the availability of local government OD through OD portals and its potential to improve the quality of life of the local community. This research focuses on the analysis of the availability and content of the OD on the OD portals will be carried out on the example local governments in Croatia. The paper explores (1) To what extent is local government OD available to users (citizens, private sector, civil sector) via OD portals? (2) Is there a potential for the available OD to improve the quality of life? The results show that only a minority of local governments (less than two percent) publish their datasets on the OD portals, that the number and technical features of datasets is modest, and that they lack wider applicability. Compared to Eurostat QoL typology, citizens’ everyday life is hardly to be improved, although available OD might positively affect political and economic dimension of QoL The findings open up new research questions for academics, but also have implications to practitioners indicating the shortcomings in the approach to OD. The paper innovatively links the availability of data with QoL typology, given that the improvement of citizens lives is at the core of concept of OD.
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The goal of the organization is to maintain and increase productivity of its resources including human capital. A clear assessment of all the available resources to management provides requisite information to enable them to allocate work tasks and monitor and assess outputs. The way work is done is changing across most industries and the future of work is one that has been celebrated and researched by experts and scholars alike. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has opened up the virtual work sphere as a paradigm for all organizations to explore, and many otherwise traditional work arrangements are beginning to innovate around how their work functions are achieved. This paper explores the concepts of smart cities, the future of work and virtual work. And through a mixed method of interviews and surveys identifies how organizations are leveraging on the advantages of smart cities in planning and implementing work arrangements for their employees in order to cope with the current pandemic and what their strategy would be overall when the situation comes back to normal. About 8 top managers were interviewed and 59 employees currently working virtually were surveyed. Responses were analysed and connectivity, flexibility and autonomy were identified as factors organizations considered as they planned and implemented virtual work arrangements. And their outlook for the future certainly included virtual work arrangement for at least a fraction of their employees as working from home, cafes, hotels etc has become a norm today and is generally accepted as a legitimate work arrangement between organizations and their employees.
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The Macedonian election rules, i.e. the setting of the electoral system, produce a double effect, an effect on the voter, and an effect on the party system. Therefore, each change in the electoral regulations would not only alter the voters’ comportment but also impact the political parties. Considering these effects, the paper aimed to compare the attitudes of the citizens and political parties regarding the electoral legislature (both for the parliamentary and local elections); and produce adequate electoral solutions as a corrective for the detected shortcomings of the current regulations. The paper relied on content analysis of theoretical literature and research, empirical qualitative research based on citizens’ focus groups from each region in Macedonia, questioned political parties, and additional data analysis. The ultimate findings propose a way to promote the equal value of each vote, proportional regional representation, and MPs' accountability at the parliamentary elections. For the local elections, the proposed solution referred to reducing the election cost, the possibility of political bargaining, and preserving the legitimacy of elected mayors.
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Albania’s national interest is the integration into the European Union. To fulfill this objective, every state component, public institutions, civil society, the media, and the citizens, play a very important role. The main focus of this paper is the public sphere, the attitudes of Albanian citizens toward the EU membership, and their role in the process. By applying qualitative and quantitative methods, the main theories of the field, global and regional indexes, studies, surveys, interviews, and personal observations, we aim to focus on the citizens' attitudes toward the EU membership process. Our in-depth analyses have shown that the Albanian institutions, CSOs, and media to inform and include the citizens in the Europeanization process have not been effective enough. Thus, there is a knowledge gap between sensitive groups and the other part of society.
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Nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons represent the biggest danger to humanity. During the Cold War, the US and USSR provided ‘umbrella protection’ to convince allies not to acquire nuclear weapons. Most ‘newly’ independent nations never had such security during the Cold War since they were not part of a power bloc. During the Iran-Iraq conflict (1980-1988), the Islamic Republic of Iran was attacked with chemical weapons. Since Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), an Iranian exile organization, exposed Iran's hidden nuclear program in 2002, the topic has gained worldwide attention. Iran's nuclear agenda has produced a worldwide catastrophe despite its NPT membership. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful and respects Islamic values. Most US politicians and academics consider Iran a rough nation with political and strategic concerns, including regional hegemony, human rights, terrorism, WMD proliferation, and military operations beyond the border. This study examines Iran's nuclear policies to demonstrate its essence, goal, and strategy.
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The paper analyzed the challenges of poverty in Montenegro. It provided an overview of the structure and scope of UN action in Montenegro and general sustainable development policies and their national implementation. The objective was to research the contributions of the UN system to the sustainable development of Montenegro while focusing on the role of the UNDP in eradicating poverty. The methodology consisted of the literature overview and the case scenario analysis of integrated social protection and employment policies. In addition, secondary data analysis has been employed to complement the research findings. The paper has identified the national socio-economic situation and the contributions of the UNDP in eradicating poverty through the design and implementation of integrative policies. The research proved the importance of the UNDP in fighting poverty in Montenegro and the effective role of the UN in achieving sustainable development.
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In this article the author attempts to describe the social and political reasons of the authoritarian shift in Poland under the Law & Justice (PiS) coalition government. The nationalist and catholic ideology is at the root of dismantling the institutions of the state of law. Unfulfilled economic and social aspirations of large segments of the society were the real reason for the approval of the populist and antidemocratic actions of L&J government. Secondly, the disastrous presidential and parliamentary campaigns of the Civic Platform in 2015 opened the door to power for L&J. There were several self-organized spontaneous protests against antidemocratic policies of the L&J government, but the followers of the governing party have been and still are big enough in number thanks to the support of the Catholic Church hierarchy for the government. Polarization of the Polish society has never been bigger, but prodemocratic attitudes have also been growing recently. Strong prodemocratic local governments and the unanimous support of the majority of the population for the Ukrainian refugees are among the factors of hope for the democratic shift in the Polish electorate, but the opposition parties must undertake a more united and determined action.
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Between 20 and 25 of June, 2022, Professor Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak was guest of Babes Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca. In her Romanian trip, she was accompaniated by her sister, Professor Maitreyi Chandra. The two of them offered a wonderful talk, on June 22, On Women’s Education in India. The audience had the opportunity to learn details about the educational system of India and how it changed during time. Their dialogue was transcribed by Georgiana Nicoara, PhD student at the Faculty of Letters, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca.
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In this article, I intend to discuss the Arendtian conception of culture. In her influential essay “Crisis in Culture: Its Social and Its Political Significance,” Arendt argues that culture is at risk of disappearing under conditions of modernity. In her view, modernity is the age of mass society that leads to the destruction of culture and the development of mass culture. This is the situation Arendt has in mind when she speaks of a “crisis in culture,” a situation she describes as worldlessness. Culture, according to her, is a phenomenon of the world. Because of this conviction, argues Arendt, culture has a closer relationship to politics. The article is divided into two parts. In the first part, I explore Arendt's critical reflection on the modern attitude to culture. In the second part, I examine her analysis of the relationship between culture and politics. Throughout these parts, I suggest a reading of Arendt that illustrates her understanding of culture based on the authority of Greek and Roman thought and Kant’s Critique of Judgment.
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