NATO între politică și opinie publică

Author(s): Alexandra SARCINSCHI / Language(s): Romanian Issue: II/2008

Political debates, intentions and actions are essential for analyzing NATO’s evolution, but we shall also take into account the psycho-social representations of individuals and groups on the Alliance’s role and status in the world. We consider this an important part of the analysis due to the premises that national and international security is not only about nation states and their interests, but also about individuals and their interests. Thus, this paper is focused on analyzing public opinion in NATO member countries and partners on Alliance’s enlargement and missions.

Административната реформа в Министерството на вътрешните работи и искането на омбудсмана за противоконституционост

Author(s): Nikolay Arabadzhiyski / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2017

The aim of the study is to present some of the problematic aspects of the administrative reform in the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria carried out in 2017. The new legislative provisions transformed the official legal relations of the employees from the administrative structures of the Ministry of Interior, in official legal relations under the Law on civil servants and in labor relations under the Labor Code. The reform triggered their dissatisfaction. At their request, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria lodged a request to the Constitutional Court to declare the provisions of the Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Ministry of Interior unconstitutional. The study aims to support the opinion that the Ombudsman's request is unfounded and should be rejected by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Концепция сложных моделей децентрализации государственного управления

Author(s): Olga Alexandrovna Kashuro / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1/2017

The article is devoted to the study of complex forms and models of decentralization in public administration. For the empirical basis, the author took the experience of public administration in the field of sports in India. The author's models of state management are presented in the article: level-dissociated, level-consonant (contamination), poly-subject intra-level and mono-subject intra-level.

Public Prosecution Service and its role in supervision of decentralized public administration in Slovakia

Author(s): Jaroslav Mihálik,Bystrík Šramel / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2018

The system of decentralized public administration creates a vital environment for better interaction between the state, its sub units and citizens. Despite all benefits, the growing nature of bureaucratic procedures and power distribution seem to attract more attention, mainly from the reasons of unprecedented mechanisms of control. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate the potential of Public Prosecution Service in Slovakia to control the decentralized public administration being provided with a statutory power to monitor the field of public administration as a whole and whether the competence to exercise supervision over the law-abidingness should not be entrusted to other public authorities, such as the Public Defender of Rights. The paper is conceived as a case study of methods of prosecutorial supervision and their practical application in Slovakia.

Establishment of state bodies’s performance assessment system

Author(s): Gulimzhan Suleimenova,Margarita Kadyrova,Aliya Kenzhebaeva / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2018

Formation of the modern system of public administration in independent Kazakhstan since the early 1990s has been accompanied by the development and implementation of new institutions. One such institution is an institution of annual evaluation of state bodies performance as a mechanism to increase manageability and effectiveness of their activities.The article is produced on the basis of results of a section within the research work under the topic: "Institutionalization of the assessment system for government agencies’ performance in the Republic of Kazakhstan: current status and development prospects" implemented within the framework of the grant project under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan.The article is devoted to the formation of the assessing system for government agencies’ performance, the specifics of its implementation in Kazakhstan.

Decentralization of public administration in the process of building a democratic society

Author(s): Nataliia Gavkalova,Irina Kolupaieva / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2018

Full integration of Ukraine into the European political and economic environment requires further democratization of social processes. A complete transition from an authoritarian or totalitarian regime to a democracy is essential for the creation of a new economic basis of society. This transformation of public consciousness, as an inevitable stage in the construction of a market economy requires new forms of organization of state regulation of all the processes in different sectors and at different levels. The modern concept of Public administration is firmly established as the standard form of organization of processes and technological support of public administration in Ukraine. The using of a certain unified model of decentralization of Public administration in the framework of Local Self Government will ensure the necessary level of transparency in dealing with many of the common problems of regional development, including those in the context of economic liberalization.

Barack Obama’s Rhetorical Management of Public Opinion in the Context of Focusing Events

Author(s): Marta Rzepecka / Language(s): English Issue: 19/2018

This article explores President Barack Obama’s management of public opinion regarding his policy towards the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)1 by analyzing the content of the address delivered on 10 September 2014 concerning the US strategy to defeat ISIL. Set in the context of the Obama administration’s approach to American foreign policy and with particular reference to videos released by ISIL showing the execution of US journalists, James W. Foley and Steven Sotloff, the analysis offers insights into how external events affect presidential attention, agendas, and public opinion management.

Činnost veřejné správy České republiky hodnocena metodou analýzy rizika

Author(s): Petr Rožnák,Karel Kubečka / Language(s): Czech Issue: 3/2018

This paper deals with the activities of the public administration of the Czech Republic. It appeared recently, that the responsible persons were held accountable for wrong decisions, both of technical and political nature. In some cases, these decisions were also used against responsible persons at all levels. The aim of our research was to find out how the Risk Analysis can be used to identify and manage risks effectively. It shows an alternative option to use the mathematical model, called SWOT, in the decision-making processes of public authorities. This model can partially eliminate the subjective influences of judges and responsible persons who decide on the final verdict. This research is based on the analysis of the present Czech legal norms and their application in the decisions of the local administration. The results show that the use of the model SWOT can help to avoid wrong decisions of public administration. It can also reveal weak and strong aspects of decision-making processes. As there is a need to decide and take correct actions at all levels of the government, one of the risk analysis methods may be used as a supporting instrument. In this case, SWOT matrix was chosen as a basic and universal method that can be easily applied.

Ролята на публичните политики в стратегическите документи за регионално развитие в България

Author(s): Petya B. Dimitrova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 02 BG/2018

In the last decades of the XX century, there has been a tendency to change the government's approach in decisions-making. This change is mainly due to the widespread and increasingly used of public policies which help the management elite to choose informed and correct decision to cope with problems that have arisen. Public policies are evolving both in the scientific and in government fields. They contribute to the research, analysis, and offer a number of options to overcome problems, regardless of the sphere of governance. They are called “public” because they serve the needs of the government, but they are also “sectoral” because they address specific areas such as healthcare, infrastructure, education, etc. Another important feature of public policies is that they are related to strategic management. Public policies take a place in the development of strategies, plans and programs, part of which are strategic documents for regional development. Public policies are an integral part of implementing strategic documents. Exactly by them the priorities and aims set by the government are realized.

The role of public policies in strategic documents for regional development in Bulgaria

Author(s): Petya B. Dimitrova / Language(s): English Issue: 02 EN/2018

In the last decades of the XX century, there has been a tendency to change the government's approach in decisions-making. This change is mainly due to the widespread and increasingly used of public policies which help the management elite to choose informed and correct decision to cope with problems that have arisen. Public policies are evolving both in the scientific and in government fields. They contribute to the research, analysis, and offer a number of options to overcome problems, regardless of the sphere of governance. They are called “public” because they serve the needs of the government, but they are also “sectoral” because they address specific areas such as healthcare, infrastructure, education, etc. Another important feature of public policies is that they are related to strategic management. Public policies take a place in the development of strategies, plans and programs, part of which are strategic documents for regional development. Public policies are an integral part of implementing strategic documents. Exactly by them the priorities and aims set by the government are realized.

Istota służby w działalności funkcjonariuszy organów ochrony bezpieczeństwa i porządku publicznego

Author(s): Wojciech Lis / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2017

Ensuring and protecting security and public order is a duty of the state. The related tasks are carried out first of all through security and public order authorities. The purpose of their functioning is to serve the public service. The level and quality of life of all members of the state community depend on the quality of public service provided by the officers of security and public order authorities.

Służba publiczna wobec umiędzynarodowienia administracji (na przykładzie administracji antymonopolowej)

Author(s): Mateusz Błachucki / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2017

The article aims at presenting the connection between growing international cooperation of public administration in relation to organization and functioning of public service. The presentation is made with the example of the antimonopoly administration. It begins with a short description of the legal basis of international cooperation of the Polish competition authority. It is followed with a short overview of different modes of this cooperation on global, European and bilateral levels. Despite extensive international cooperation of the Polish competition authority, its internal organization is rather inefficient and fails to deliver relevant input from the international cooperation into internal works of the authority. Similarly, civil servants of the competition authority are not offered to rise their skills in relation to foreign cooperation as well as there are no transfers between jurisdictional departments and the department for the international cooperation which keeps those departments separated.

Charakterystyka służby publicznej we Francji

Author(s): Magdalena Michalak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2017

Civil and public service are one of the crucial elements of the system of public administration in every democratic country. Because of their importance, ongoing discussions on their modernization are conducted. Involving knowledge and experience of other states may be useful in bringing these discussions on new tracks and may prove beneficial in terms of national reforms. In case of civil and public service, such inspiration may be found, inter alia, in the French system in which these parts of the public administration are said not only to be important elements of the state but also of the whole society and are held in high regard.

CITY-MAKING THROUGH URBAN GARDENING: PUBLIC SPACE AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN ZAGREB

Author(s): Valentina Gulin Zrnić,Tihana Rubić / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

This paper focuses on four examples of Zagreb urban gardening communities: their actors, their structures, and the aims of the established gardens. The article begins by introducing the practice and perception of the illegal (“wild”) gardens that have existed in Zagreb on vacant and derelict plots for decades. A discussion of the changing contexts of urban gardening within the last few years follows. Further ethnographic examples of new, alternative, and hybrid gardens indicate the variety of organizational methods and actors involved, types of communality and solidarity, and the negotiation and debate regarding discursive, structural, and governance issues. The analysis aims to examine the heterogeneity of gardening communities in Zagreb and to illuminate the dynamics (changes and modifi cations) of various relationships that are constituent to the phenomenon. The article concludes by considering the politics of space, particularly the transformation of urban public spaces, and the potential of gardening initiatives in the sphere of contemporary urban governance strategies.

Pr. Maxim (Iuliu-Marius) Morariu, Autobiografia spirituală a lui Dag Hammarsjkold - o abordare teologică, Cluj-Napoca, Argonaut Publishing House, 2017, 145 p.

Author(s): Ioan Emanuel Căşvean / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 11/2018

Book review

Europejski rynek medialny w 2016 roku. Monitorowanie wolności i pluralizmu mediów oraz zapowiedzi zmian w unijnym ładzie medialnym

Author(s): Alicja Jaskiernia,Michał Głowacki / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2017

Democracy and Elites

Author(s): Daniel Gaxie / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2017

From a sociological point of view the elitist phenomenon must be examined from two angles: the question of renewal of the elites, and that of their unity. When it comes to the question of renewal, internal mobility needs to be distinguished from structural mobility: that is to say, the replacement of one type of elite by another one. For example, could professional politicians give way in the future to amateurs because of the profound mistrust that affects them? Internal renewal is currently limited by the predominantly school-based mode of reproduction that is well demonstrated for the political elite, including the populist political elite, and produces selection effects. About the problem of unity of the elites, there are two distinct questions: are the various elites united, and each one cohesive? The monist hypothesis is faced with difficulties when it is applied to "modern" societies, characterized by a structural differentiation of their sectors of activity. The struggles between elites open up opportunities for the representation of interests of groups outside the elites. Political elites are divided along individual and collective interests and their divisions echo social cleavages. They must be defined and analyzed by their political and ideological tendencies and their links with various groups, but also by their relative positions within political fields. Such hypotheses highlight the distrust in established elites and the populist phenomenon in times of crisis.

Direct Democracy – Empowerment of Citizens or Instrument of the Elites?

Author(s): Max Haller / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2017

Democracy is in deep crisis today: this is indicated by decreasing turnout at elections, media that blur the distinction between information, defamation and propaganda, and the hidden influence of business corporations through tax evasion and lobbyism (Barber 1994; Crouch 2004; Preiss/Brunner 2013; Merkel 2015). In this situation, direct democracy seems to offer a new way to strengthen citizens’ political participation. However, several recent referenda have shown that the former can be used by the elites as an instrument for advancing their ambitions to power, and legitimating specific (often problematic) political aims. This paper uses a theoretically informed historical-sociological approach with the intent of explaining elites’ attitudes toward democracy. I start from democratic elite theory, which argues that elites are indispensable for the management of large and complex societies, but that they will pursue their own interests if not checked by a strong opposition and civic action from below. Six concrete hypotheses are developed: Direct democracy increases in the course of realizing democratic systems; elites are much more sceptical concerning direct democracy than citizens; the use and implementation of referenda depend on the political system (distinguishing three types); and the dysfunctions of direct democracy are mainly due to its misuse by elites, while the outcomes of strong direct democracy are mostly positive. These hypotheses are tested by looking at applications of direct democracy (referenda) in totalitarian, authoritarian and elitist democratic systems in recent European history. The paper concludes with some considerations about the necessary measures for solving the problems of direct democracy as articulated by the elites

Making a New Consensual Elite in Serbia

Author(s): Mladen Lazić,Jelena Pešić / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2017

The text firstly addresses the thesis that systemic transformation – from a socialist to a capitalist order – changes both the preconditions on the basis of which political elite is constituted, and its main characteristics. Considering the specific course of transformation in Serbia, this indicates the difficulties for the transformation of its divided political elite – characterizing the aftermath of the breakdown of socialism – into a consensual elite that represents a type prevailing in liberal-democratic systems. The political elite in Serbia may thus be defined as primarily fragmented, with initial elements of consensuality. The main thesis is examined through an analysis of the changes in the character of political elites at two different levels: subjective, regarding their attitudes towards the EU based on 2007 and 2009 IntUne data; and objective (patterns of recruitment of their members based on 1989, 2003 and 2015 data on intra – and intergenerational mobility). The main findings reveal the gradual (although not yet completed) consolidation of political elites regarding their attitudes towards the EU, but also changing patterns of elite members’ recruitment based on political competition and the increasing self-reproduction of the ruling elites, indicating the formation of biased pluralism.

The De-coupling of National Economic Elites from Political Elites: Russia and the UK Compared

Author(s): David Lane / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2017

The paper considers the effects of economic globalization on the relationship between national economic and political elites. It is contended that high levels of globalization lead to the de-coupling of economic elites from national political elites and that economic globalization also marginalizes the powers of dependent nation states. The thesis of this paper is that in economically globalized states there is a duality of power. A political elite is legitimated electorally to a national constituency but excluded from the nexus of power by globalized processes. The composition and balance between ruling elites diverge between nation states. A comparison is made between the British and Russian economic elites. The paper considers the composition of the boards of directors of twelve leading companies in the UK and fourteen in Russia. Attention is given to their national and educational background as well as their current or previous links with governments and economic institutions. On the basis of the biographies of directors and other company data, it is concluded that the economic elites in British companies are global in composition and decoupled from the UK’s political elites. Globalization moves capitalism out of a nation state framework and neo-liberalism legitimates markets over states. Such de-coupling leads to increasing political weakness of national political elites and stimulates movements for economic nationalism. Russia is considered a hybrid system with many leading companies being closely integrated with the political elite but others are more autonomous and multinational in control and ownership. The economic structure is the basis of Russia’s economic nationalism. Political leadership is considered a key variable in tipping the balance.