FROM SYSTEM TO MISSION

Author(s): Ileana Metea / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2008

This paper aims to be a bridge between the idea developed by what is a system informs and organization, with references to the military organization and what it means,exemplifying on one of the concrete applications represented by the missions executed within the military system. We will present the implications determined by the systemic organization on the military stability operations and the causal determinations among them. If the beginning is more theoretical and notional, the second is a log of some aspects of implementation of the management of the military structures at a tactical level, as they actually occur.

Vládnutí a političtí aktéři v obcích a krajích

Author(s): Dan Ryšavý / Language(s): Czech Issue: 04/2018

Politika vykrmování na regionální úrovni. Případ dotací pro obce ve Středočeském kraji

Author(s): Peter Spáč,Petr Voda,Stanislav Balík,Michal Pink / Language(s): Czech Issue: 04/2018

The politically motivated distribution of public funding, or porkbarrel politics, occurs for various reasons, one of which is the wish to reward political allies over political rivals. Despite the widespread nature of this practice, research in Central Europe has not yet examined this issue at every level of publication administration. The literature that does exist on this subject has mainly focused on national grant programmes, while less attention has been paid to distribution channels at lower-level administrative units. This article focuses on the distribution of subsidies in the municipalities in the Central Bohemia Region between 2014 and 2016. It uses a binary logistic regression to analyse the factors that lead to an application for a subsidy being supported. A negative binomial regression revealed what factors influence the level of subsidy granted. The results of the analysis show that party ties have a strong effect on the odds of a municipality obtaining a subsidy. This factor, however, has less of an effect on how large a subsidy the municipality obtains, and moreover only does so when the distribution of funding is taking place before an election.

Starostové, starostky a jejich priority

Author(s): Daniel Čermák,Renáta Mikešová / Language(s): Czech Issue: 04/2018

This article sets out to identify the factors that have an impact on mayoral decisions in terms of priorities for municipal development. Data from a survey conducted among Czech mayors in the years 2015 and 2016 (N = 492) are used. The sample consists of answers of mayors from municipalities of all population sizes and the sample is evenly distributed over the area of the Czech Republic. The main aim is to show the impact of geographical context, sociodemographic characteristics, and characteristics connected with political experience on mayors’ preferences for different mayoral agendas. The results of the analyses show that municipal size and the position of a municipality on the urban-suburban-rural gradient have a substantial effect on a mayor’s preference for different mayoral agendas. However, the influence of other observed characteristics cannot be overlooked either.

The Sustainable Development of Data-driven Smart Cities: Citizen-centered Urban Governance and Networked Digital Technologies

Author(s): Shirley Berke / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

Employing recent research results covering the relationship between citizen-centered urban governance and networked digital technologies, and building my argument by drawing on data collected from BI Intelligence, Black & Veatch, and McKinsey, I performed analyses and made estimates regarding smart applications that will be relevant for cities through 2025 and top three barriers to developing smarter cities in the U.S. (%). The results of a study based on data collected from 4,200 respondents provide support for my research model. Using the structural equation modeling and employing the probability sampling technique, I gathered and analyzed data through a self-administrated questionnaire.

Confronting Recent History: Media in Serbia During Aleksandar Vučić’s Ministry of Information in the Milošević Era (1998–1999)

Author(s): Mladenov Jovanović Srđan / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

Since the end of the Yugoslav wars of the nineties, Serbia seems to have fallen out of the spotlight in scholarly research. Attempting to counter this, in this article, we tackle the media suppression by the 1998-99 Ministry of Information led by Aleksandar Vučić, nowadays serving as Serbia’s President. Repositioning the spotlight from Slobodan Milošević to Aleksandar Vučić, we confront the numerous attempts of media suppression and censorship in the late nineties.

Sustainable Development Goal 16 and Institutional Imperatives: The Role of Judiciary in Nigeria

Author(s): Jide Ibietan,Stephanie C. Okafor / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

This paper discusses the role of institutional frameworks in achieving developmental goals,using Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 which emphasises Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. The judiciary in Nigeria is construed as being focal or pivotal to the realisation of this goal,hence the paper examines the inherent issues utilising a combination of primary and secondary databacked by descriptive analyses. The paper notes the existence of some institutional frameworks pointing to superficial commitment on the part of central government, but undue executive muzzling vitiates the independence of judiciary, and by its own self-imposed afflictions, the Nigerian judiciary has not demonstrated adequate capacity and readiness to effectively discharge its core functions in attaining this goal. The paper recommends robust capacity building mechanisms that incorporate expertise and professionalism in public bureaucracies, plus multi-stakeholder collaborative approach as platforms for re-invigorating institutions in Nigeria.

Bizalom és helyi kormányzás. Elméleti és hazai dilemmák

Author(s): Ilona Pálné Kovács / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 3/2019

The article attempts to understand based on theoretical literature the relationship between trust and local governance. Trust in local government has been mostly ignored by the Hungarian scientific literature. Therefore, it is difficult to find an answer to the question why trust towards local authorities is increasing, despite the drastic changes in the local government system and the narrowing room for manoeuvre locally. The author did not attempt to analyse in depth the changing institutional and social trust towards local government; rather, she wanted to point out the lack of and need for such research.

DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP AND PROGRESSIVE GOVERNMENT IN FACE OF PUBLIC DISINTEREST: LOCAL POLITICAL ELITES AND CIVIL PUBLIC IN POST-COMMUNIST TOWN

Author(s): Karel B. Müller,Aleš Lisa / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The Czech Republic, together with other post-communist countries of Central Europe, still struggles (nearly 30 year after the collapse of communism) to build a strong civil society and to perform democratic leadership and good government, securing the principles of democracy and the rule of law. In our own empirical research, we have focused on the progressive political changes occurring on a municipal level in the Czech Republic. We have surveyed three small-sized towns that have undoubtedly performed – within our research timeframe – sound democratic leadership and good government. This multi-case study combines both qualitative and quantitative methods aimed at both the local political elites and the civil public, and their mutual reflexivity. The local governments of the three towns performed democratic leadership and good government, despite very little (or the absence of) positive feedback from the local civil public. However, in all cases, the local political factions performed crucial legitimizing and deliberative functions in order to compensate for this weakness. In the one metropolitan suburban town in our study, compared to the other two peripheral towns, a higher concentration of civic elites resulted in a greater intensity of protest-like participation. Consequently, the building of a stronger political reputation was more difficult. Surprisingly, in all three towns, we found no clear correlation between the level of education and the orientation towards liberal values.

Osztály, állam és függőség az európai félperiférián

Author(s): András Bozóki / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2020

Scheiring Gábor: Egy demokrácia halála: Az autoriter kapitalizmus és a felhalmozó állam felemelkedése Magyarországon. Budapest, Napvilág Kiadó, 2019.

CONFERINȚA PRIVIND VIITORUL EUROPEI – UN POTENȚIAL TRIGGER AL REAȘEZĂRII PREȘEDINȚIEI CONSILIULUI UE ÎN ARHITECTURA COMUNITARĂ

Author(s): Alexandra Dragan / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 43/2020

It is almost certain that one of the main institutions targeted during the reflection process on EU reform (which will be launched by the Conference on the Future of Europe) will be the EU Council, amid concerns on the inefficiency of the European decision-making process. Future debates risk bringing in the spotlight sensitive issues regarding the decision-making dynamics of the EU, already unbalanced by Brexit. Once the “Pandora’s box” is opened, talks will inevitably focus on the shortcomings of the EU Council presidency. Consequently, there is a risk that the status of the EU Presidency of the Council will be jeopardized either by the disappearance of this rotating system of administrative “burden-sharing” meant for organizing the Council meetings or by further diluting the prerogatives of this office –there are already strong signals in this regard.

Governance, Internet Usage and Sustainable Development Goal of Hunger Reduction in South Africa and Nigeria

Author(s): Collins C. Ngwakwe / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

Internet technology usage is a veritable support to public governance albeit some what understudied. Objective: The objective of the paper is to evaluate whether a combination of public governance and internet usage assists in achieving sustainable development goal (SDG) of hunger reduction. Prior Work: the paper is inclined on past theories, which suggest that governance combined with internet technology is vital in achieving SDG of hunger reduction. Approach: Data were collected from the World Bank Development Indicators and from the World Wide Governance Indicators. Data were analysed using the fixed effect panel regression. Results: Results show that effective governance alone is insignificantly related to achievement of SDG goal 2, but after the inclusion of internet usage into the model, public governance proves to be significantly related to SDG 2 (hunger reduction).Implication: African governments should subsidize internet access for the poor and should prioritize governance effectiveness to reduce hunger and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2. Further research should evaluate the relationship between government subsidization of internet data for the poor and hunger reduction. Value: this paper provides first approach, which suggests that introducing internet usage into the governance variable enhances governance effectiveness toward achieving sustainable development goal of hunger reduction.

CINE CONDUCE JOCUL SOCIAL: OMUL SAU MAȘINA?

Author(s): Marian Covlea / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 45/2021

We are undoubtedly at a crossroads. For thousands of years, people have formed habits, archetypes, patrimonies. The almost sudden and even amazing leap of the past two decades has created a real vortex in people’s settled lives. Artificial intelligence – one of the wonders of civilization – and putting it to work has amazed even its creators. It seems that man is becoming more and more a robot, and robots take over many of the functions of human management. Hence the disturbing question: Who runs the social game. The man or the car?

Sweden as a “pariah state” in times of COVID-19 pandemic?

Author(s): Anna Kobierecka / Language(s): English Issue: 04/2020

The occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic brought new challenges for the governments. Those challenges refer to many different areas, among others related to aspects of a country’s image. The main research problem relates to whether making different decisions than the majority of governments impacts the perception of a state and whether it makes it a “pariah state”. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, a focus is put on Sweden, which decided to implement solutions far different from the majority of EU member states. Since Swedenis a widely recognized state, it is an interesting case to be analyzed. The main stress is put on how Sweden’s different stance on COVID-19 influences the way it is perceived by other member states and whether it makes it subject to wider restrictions. The research question refers to whether decisions made by the Swedish decision-makers during the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the way Sweden is treated and perceived by other EU member states. The research is strongly embedded in the concept of soft power and soft disempowerment. The research is based on a comparative method where data referring to both the stage of epidemics in all EU member states and the scope of implemented restrictions are confronted.

Innovation and institutional quality: Evidence from OECD countries

Author(s): Serap Bariş / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2019

Focusing the effect of innovations on economic growth, the literature has not adequately cared about what determines the innovations or innovative capacity. However, policy makers and business leaders have accepted the need for creating platforms and institutions that promote innovative activities since it was accepted that innovations were the basic key to economic growth. This study focuses on the effect of institutions or institutional quality on the innovations. In this study where OECD countries have been selected as the sampling (1996–2015 period) and World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators represent institutional quality while the number of patent application represents the innovation, the effect of institutional quality on the innovations has been examined through the methods of panel data analysis. Innovation is positively related to voice and accountability, political stability and rule of law while it is negatively related to control of corruption. Moreover, there has been no relationship determined between government effectiveness and regulatory quality and innovation. Findings of this study suggest that it is highly difficult to state what is the net effect of institutional quality on the innovations.

REGIONAL COOPERATION OF DEVELOPMENT IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Author(s): Ardhana Januar Mahardhani,Sri Suwitri,Soesilo Zauhar,Hartuti Purnaweni / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2021

Decentralization in the field of local government is very necessary for regional development, it is highly recommended by local governments to improve the economy or form new regional planning. Different conditions between neighboring regions make cooperation as an alternative in the development process. This paper is a literature review of an inter-regional cooperation between local governments that can lead to development progress. In this paper an example is given of cases in the East Java Province in which the province has done a lot of cooperation between regions, but even so there are still many weaknesses that exist in the implementation of such cooperation so that development cannot be carried out properly.

Does governance matter? Country-level determinants of operational risk

Author(s): Edina Berlinger,Judit Lilla Keresztúri,Ágnes Lublóy,Zsuzsanna Tamásné Vőneki / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2021

The severity and frequency of operational loss events show high variability across the globe. In this paper, we first examine the extent to which the quality of country-level governance measured by the Worldwide Governance Indicators explains cross-country variation of operational losses. We use the comprehensive database of SAS OpRisk Global for the period of 2008–2019 covering 132 countries and 8,144 loss events with a total loss amount of almost 490 billion USD. Our findings indicate that the governance indicators lost their explanatory power over the past decades, which contradicts the academic consensus and calls for new explanatory variables. To find these variables, we hypothesize that the changes are driven by some important megatrends such as economic development and technological advancement, globalization, and sustainability. Accordingly, we propose an extended model where the number of mobile subscribers, the export to GDP ratio, and the poverty headcount ratio were significant for the frequency. For severity, only GDP is a significant and robust explanatory variable. Investors, regulators, and analysts should, therefore, concentrate on these factors if they wish to model, manage, or mitigate operational risks.

A Nemzeti Együttműködés Rendszere a világjárvány előtt

Author(s): Mihály Laki / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2021

Brave New Hungary. Mapping the „System of National Cooperation”. Edited by János Kovács Mátyás and Balázs Trencsényi, Lexington Books, Lanham–Bouder– New York-London, 2020

Devlet Desteğinin Saldırgan Devlet Dışı Aktörler Üzerindeki Etkisi: ABD Desteği ve Naip Savaş Örneği Olarak Suriye İç Savaşı

Author(s): Sinan DEMİRDÜZEN,Merve Suna Özel Özcan / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 29/2021

States give direct, indirect, formal, and informal aid to violent non-state actors. Historical foreign aid examples suggest that foreign aid to violent non-state actors are free from the development degree and ideology of the state and the region in general. This article initially examines how and to what degree states give foreign aids to these non-state actors. The second purpose of the article is to reveal the underlying reason behind the foreign aid to non-state actors. We suggest that most effective and tangible foreign aid to violent non-state actors are steming from the instrumental foreign policies of states. We will also examine the surrogate warfare as a method that paves the wave to such foreign aids. We utilized from case study method to test our theory in Syrian civil war in general and relationship between the US and PYD/YPG/SDG in general. Finally, we also explore the non-state actor dimension of the issue. Our aim here is to reveal the effects of foreign aids on violent non-state actors. We concluded that foreign aid might endanger the future of violent-nonstate actors, especially when there is a high dependency to such aids.

Tajvan: de facto država, ili zaostavština Hladnog rata – između nezavisnosti i „jedne Kine“

Author(s): Sanja Stanković / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 1172/2018

The paper analyzes the position of Taiwan (the Republic of China) in the east Asian power distribution from the Cold War "pioneer of democracy," which had its first direct elections in 1996 and acted as a containment instrument to the growing power of the People's Republic of China, to a possible acquisition of the status of another Chinese special administrative region like Hong Kong and Macau. the work deals with the hypothetical prospect of Taipei to gain independence, with or without a direct conflict between the world's two largest economies, the People’s Republic of China and the United States.