This article examines some issues related to the visions of the ancient Greeks on the polis, the emergence of (classical) Athenian democracy and the transition from Greek democracy to Roman (republican) democracy. It supports the idea that in the analysis of the evolution of the democratic phenomenon, a logical succession of distinct stages is noticed - from ancient democracy, to modern democracy and, finally, to the democracy of the future. Particular attention is paid to the understanding of the ancient Greeks on the fortress, because the city-state, being a form of organization specific to Ancient Greece, fulfilled several roles - military, political, economic and religious. But the main function was the political one, represented by certain leading institutions of the inhabitants of the polis. It is shown that the concept of democracy was created to describe an evolving reality, a type of city-state in which the citizens govern themselfs. The Athens was, in fact, not the only democracy of the ancient Greek world, but it manifested itself most fully through its stability and durability for about two centuries. Considering that the glory moments of the (classical) Athenian democracy comprise three prominent figures - Solon, Clistene and Pericle, the institutions of this democracy are identified and at the same time described. It is concluded that the Athenian polis aimed at a systemic interrelation between the state and society, andthe participation in the governance of the citizen-governors assumed that the people (the demos) would engage in legislative and legal functions.
The article explores the rationale of the Romanian political community as defined by its successive constitutional layouts, since the first fundamental law of 1866, including the Communist constitutional settings, and concluding with the post-communist constitutional design. This consistency of the political community is tested by means of an analytical distinction between the Nation-State and the National State. The former is understood as the institutional underpinning of a community bearing a political project. The latter is seen as the institutional outcome of an ethnic group and the warrant of its political integrity. Such an examination of the Romanian constitutional production sheds light on the historical and unambiguous predominance of the National State, while the Nation State emerged briefly and warily in the Romanian setting in the form of the socialist nation state. By the same token, this approach questions the adequacy between democracy and this rationale of the Romanian political community. While the socialist Nation State, as it was constitutionally designed, failed to guarantee the effectiveness of popular democracy, the Romanian National State, as it was shaped by the successive constitutional texts, pre-communist and post-communist, was always unable to accommodate completely with democracy.
This study aims to answer the question whether Christian Orthodoxy can inspire political movements. In so doing we start from the political theories of modernity where the link between Christianity and democracy is central. Our result sounds unexpected: interaction between Orthodoxy and democracy seems to not have a perspective. It is too late for it since most political movements in post-communism do not have the religious identity of their members as criterion. The situation was not different before. As an example the effort of the orthodox theologians and laymen in Romania before the outbreak of the Second World War is quoted here. Almost without an exception all focused and restricted their interest on the question of the nation. Therein we see the principal reason for the above postulated perspective of an orthodox political doctrine until now. On the European level the situation looks also no better. Even the parties, which attribute themselves the Christian values, have at present large difficulties to convey their message. It remains only to hope that the political actors rediscover the social and actively support the Christian ethics in the public area. Only so can democracy be regarded as one of the most important binding forces also under the Christians.
Turkey first applied for EU membership in 1987 and started negotiations for full membership in October 2005 after lengthy and challenging negotiations between EU member states. This master's thesis attempts to examine the relationship between the negotiations for EU membership that are going on between Turkey and the EU Commission and the public discussion on the subject. The research material consists of selected posts on the Financial Times discussion forum and the Acquis communautaire and Copenhagen criteria. By comparing the research material this thesis attempts to investigate if the public deliberation and official negotiations focus on the same issues and requirements for membership. The theoretical background for this analysis is deliberative democracy, according to which public debate should be a prerequisite for agenda setting and decision making. The findings of the thesis reveal that the public discussion does touch on the acquis communautaire and Copenhagen criteria to some degree, but the public is also concerned with non-acquis issues such as the culture and history. A unique feature of the accession negotiations is also the amount of commentary from heads of state regarding the negotiations, which was also noted in the research material. In the light of deliberative democratic theory it can be noted that the public may take part in the discussion over Turkey's membership, but it has little or no chances of setting the agenda for the negotiations.
The first elections to which the Romanians from all the united historical provinces took part were the parliamentary elections of November 2-8, 1919. The elections were held on the basis of the articles of a new electoral law that introduced the universal vote in the electoral practice in Romania. Thus, the Romanian rural area has become an attractive electoral basin for the political parties. Subsequently, the extension of voting rights for women also made the rural area a constant provider of votes for the candidates of political parties in both parliamentary and local elections. The first election exercise under the conditions of an extended electoral space was the local elections of February-March 1930, which were held in stages. On February 5, 1930 elections were held at the county level, and between February 9 and March 16, 1930 at the level of communes. In the communes with several villages the elections for the local councils took place on the days of 9-12 February, in the ones with a single village between 9-12, 16-19, 23-26 February and 2-4 March, and in the cities and municipalities on March 14 and 16, 1930. On February 5, 1930 elections were held for the Cahul County Council. But, the results and the way of conducting the elections were contested. On February 21, 1930, the local review committee of Chișinau admitted the contest against the elections of February 5, 1930 of the Cahul County Council and invalidated the respective elections. The Minister of the Interior Theodor C. Marinescu by his telegram from April 30, 1930 ordered the Local Ministerial Director III Chisinau to comply with the order of the Ministry of Interior no. 1972 of April 2, 1930 and to dispose, according to art. 388 of Law 167/1929 "the convening of the electoral body for the election of the Cahul county council, whose election was invalidated, necessarily until June 1, 1930". In the circumstances created, the Local Ministerial Director III Chișinau ordered the summons of the voters from Cahul county on June 1, 1930, to conduct the county elections. At the new elections on June 1, 1930, only three electoral competitors entered the race, with one less than at the February 5 elections: the National Peasant Party with two lists and the Liberal Party with a list. On the electoral lists for the participation in the county elections of June 1, 1930, 40,403 voters were included in the 15 polling stations. 24,153 voters participated in the elections, which constitutes 59.78% of the total number of those included in the lists. A considerable number of votes - 1,050, were canceled, and 287 declared void. The number of legally cast votes was 22,816. In the result of the election the electoral competitors obtained the following results: The National-Peasant Party, on both lists - 17,903 votes or 78.47% of the legally expressed votes and the Liberal Party - 4,913 votes or 21.53% of the legally expressed votes. The elections of June 1 in the Cahul county council were held under the conditions that the National-Peasant Party had achieved an absolute victory in the other counties of the country - 81.77% of the county councilors' mandates. The meeting to establish the Cahul County Council took place on July 27, 1930. The Cahul County Council elected, for a period of 5 years, as president of the Delegation of the county council the lawyer S. Botezatu, who obtained 19 votes out of 30. Members of the delegation of the county council were elected councilors V.Uzun, C. Rădulescu, Gh. Chirciu and A. Sprînceană. With the validation of the county councilors and the legal constitution of the county council's governing bodies, we can consider that the epic of elections for the county council in 1930 were completed.
Political behavior research starts from the assumption that democracy cannot function properly without citizens' political involvement. In general, studies of political activism aim to understand democratic processes, focusing on the nature of the relationship between citizens and public authorities. Despite a relatively large number of studies devoted to this research topic, many controversies remain regarding political participation in contemporary democracies. What is the optimal level of political engagement in a democracy and the consequences, how do citizens get involved in political processes, and what factors best explain the differences between participants and non-participants, respectively? These questions guide the study of the relationship between political participation and democracy in the present book.
This article attempts to analyze how the bureaucratic principles of organizing public administration evolved from Max Weber to public administration at the beginning of the 21st century. It is mentioned that M. Weber's formulation regarding the ideal type of bureaucracy is a classic approach of public administration. Public administration practice confirms that bureaucracy is not as predictable and clear as described in M. Weber's theory of bureaucracy. Unlike the ideal model of bureaucracy developed by M. Weber, the current system of public administration is an open system and incorporates much more complex features. This fact is conditioned by a series of factors that influence the activity of the public administration including: the level of development of democracy, economic and social development, information technologies, leadership style, administrative culture, professionalization of civil servants, etc.
Conceptual-typological Aspects of Local Electoral Systems A democracy cannot be built unless it is based on free elections. Elections are a sine qua non condition of democratic governance. Elections are the central procedure of representation in modern democracies, and our generation has made substantial progress in understanding how voters come to make decisions. The elections were imposed in the constitutional history of the world as activities whose social and political effervescence in society is specific, competitions in which the best ones win. In fact, we make the first finding: the local electoral system is a fundamental area of society, the way it is managed and carried out, it reflects the level of development of democracy. The country's implementing bodies are chosen and this is why it is so important that it is organized and carried out correctly, transparently and democratically. The local electoral system is essentially created for citizens and must represent their interests, which we must recognize, often in practice does not happen very often. The actuality of the theme of this article starts from the premise that an electoral system is closely linked to democracy, because it expresses its values, thus constituting an indicator of the democratic character of a society and, at the same time, it contributes to the strengthening of democracy. Although there are different realities, and the electoral procedures differ from state to state, however, it can be said that, depending on how the mandates for the eligible positions are distributed (won), there are three modalities of electoral system: majority electoral system; proportional electoral system; mixed electoral system.
Food justice denotes both a social movement and an academic discourse of theorizing what constitutes a fair food system where the benefits and harms of food production and consumption are distributed equally and where every human being has a right to food. In the general discourse of food justice, a just food system is also assumed to promote the sustainability of food systems. In this article, I point out the problems of this assumption by revealing the tensions between the social and environmental aspects of justice in food systems. They relate largely to the fact that local food is not synonymous for environmentally sustainable and low-carbon food, yet the food justice discourse has assumed that re-localization of food systems guarantees its environmental soundness. Another, related tension concerns the democratization of the food system that may aggravate the environmental burdens of the food system in certain conditions when not paired with education and scientific knowledge. I illustrate how the conflicts between various claims for justice emerge, how they could be avoided, and I also discuss how the society could foster the emergence of food citizenship that would promote justice and sustainability in food systems. Keywords: food justice, environmental sustainability, local food, food democracy ; Ruokaoikeudenmukaisuus viittaa ruokajärjestelmän reiluuteen eli siihen, miten oikeudenmukaisesti ruoan tuotannon, prosessoinnin, kaupan ja kuluttamisen hyödyt ja haitat jakaantuvat ja miten yhdenvertainen mahdollisuus ihmisillä on riittävään ja kulttuurisesti hyväksyttävään ravitsemukseen. Ruokaoikeudenmukaisuuden diskurssissa on vallinnut oletus, että ruokajärjestelmän oikeudenmukaisuus kulkee käsi kädessä järjestelmän kestävyyden kanssa. Tässä artikkelissa tarkastelen ruokaoikeudenmukaisuuden suhdetta ruokajärjestelmän ekologiseen kestävyyteen ja osoitan suhteen olevan jännitteinen tavoilla, jotka ovat toistaiseksi jääneet lähes huomiotta. Erityisesti tarkastelen lähiruoan ekologista kestävyyttä, joka on otettu usein annettuna oikeudenmukaisuuden diskursseissa: artikkelissa osoitan tämän oletuksen ongelmallisuuden. Toinen samankaltainen jännite liittyy ruokademokratian lisäämiseen, joka ei välttämättä paranna ruokajärjestelmän kestävyyttä vaan saattaa joissain tapauksissa jopa hidastaa ruokajärjestelmän kestävyystransitiota. Lopussa pohdin, miten artikkelissa tunnistettujen jännitteiden kanssa voidaan tulla toimeen ja miten ruokademokratiaa voitaisiin lisätä tavalla, joka tukee sekä oikeudenmukaisuutta että ekologisesti kestävän ruokajärjestelmän rakentamista. Avainsanat: ruokaoikeudenmukaisuus, ekologinen kestävyys, lähiruoka, ruokademokratia
The erosion of media trust raises concerns about the ways in which the conduit of political information could undermine citizens' trust in democracy. While a large body of research in western democracies shows that media trust is contingent on specific media-system, political and cultural factors pertaining to national contexts, little is known about the sources of media trust in the new democracies from Central and Eastern Europe. Based on statistical analyses of public opinion surveys, this research tests if levels of trust in various traditional (television, radio, written press) and alternative mediums (Internet and online social networks) are differentiated along political party lines and depending on media consumption patterns in post-communist Romania. The results reveal a stronger association between trust in political parties and trust in traditional mediums, while trust in online media is more strongly linked to consumption patterns. These findings have practical, theoretical and normative implications for the functioning of democracy in post-communist societies.
Such famous jurists as H. Kelsen, J. Chevallier, Giorgio del Vecchio, A. Hauriou, Mircea Djuvara, François Rigaux, Ion Deleanu, Tudor Drăganu etc. expressed their views on the principles of the rule of law, which persisted for several centuries. The rule of law is never a perfect reality and no country can claim to have achieved perfection, because the rule of law is not obtained easily, it is the joint effort of the state authorities, civil society, and all the citizens. José Manuel Durão Barroso stated that "The rule of law is the cornerstone of the European Union, there is no true democracy without the rule of law and without democracy the rule of law is just an instrument in the hand of the rulers". While the European Commissioner for Justice, Viviane Reding stated that "In parallel to the economic and financial crisis, we also have been confronted on several occasions with a true "rule of law" crisis. At the beginning of April 2014, in Innsbruck (Austria), was held the academic conference entitled "Strengthening the rule of law in Europe - from a common concept to mechanisms of implementation". On April 21, 2014, the European Parliament noted, according to Article 49 of the EU Treaty, Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia, as any European country can apply to become a member of the European Union, given that they realize the principles of democracy, the fundamentals of freedom, human and minority rights and ensure the rule of law. Thus, achieving the rule of law in Moldova was and will be a permanent and current task in the coming years.
"Urban planning and development are a meeting ground for different experiences and interpretations pertaining to the desireable city, and the ways in which citizens should genuinely be able to participate in the process. This multidisciplinary book explores broadly the question of how to best approach participation today. Instead of aiming at a singular interpretation, the book sets out to develop tools for a better understanding of the different logics behind urban development and citizen participation. The authors explore themes ranging from governmental structures and settings all the way to individual lifeworlds and experiences, and provide several well-founded propositions on what participation is about.
The articles give voice to actors from the public sphere, from the third and fourth sectors, as well as to citizens in different social roles and positions. The book serves as a text book in disciplines related to urban development and participation, and as an information source for professionals and citizens interested in the topic." - "Kaupunkien kehittämisessä ja suunnittelussa kohtaavat erilaiset kokemukset ja tulkinnat hyvästä kaupungista sekä tavoista, joilla kansalaiset voivat olla prosessissa aidosti mukana. Tässä monitieteisessä teoksessa pohditaan miten osallistumista ja osallisuutta olisi tänä päivänä mielekästä lähestyä. Teoksessa ei tavoitella yhtä oikeaa tulkintaa, vaan luodaan välineitä ymmärtää kansalaisosallistumisen ja kaupunkikehityksen monitahoista logiikkaa. Kirjoittajat tarkastelevat teemoja hallinnon institutionaalisista rakenteista aina yksittäisen ihmisen kokemusmaailmaan saakka ja pohtivat monipuolisesti, mitä osallistuminen ja osallisuus lopulta ovat. Äänensä tuovat esille niin julkishallinnon toimijat, kolmannen ja neljännen sektorin aktivistit kuin erilaisissa yhteiskunnallisissa asemissa olevat asukkaatkin. Teos on tarkoitettu oppikirjaksi eri tieteenaloille sekä tietolähteeksi osallistumisen kysymysten kanssa työskenteleville ja kaupunkien kehittämisestä kiinnostuneille kansalaisille."
I present an analysis of the electorate of the left in Romania in the last 25 years (1990-2014), both longitudinal and comparative. The analysis reveals an electorate that has hardly changed since the early 1990's - it continues to be predominantly poor, old, and rural, with little education, much like the electorate of parties such as the Russian Communist Party or the Hungarian Fidesz. I argue that this profile, and its lack of evolution, is largely a product of the left's (FSN, FSDN, PDSR and PSD) lack of genuine commitment to the institutions and principles of liberal democracy.
The paper explores the merits of Protagoras' view of politics as a possible intellectual source of the post-communist theory of democracy. Unbeknownst to themselves, Romanian politicians and political scientist tend to understand the function of politics in the footsteps of Plato and Lenin, as an art, or science of leadership. Interested mainly in the effectiveness of government, they give no significant heed to the issue of rights and liberties. The great discourse of Protagoras of Abdera could supply, in a normative way, the conceptual tools for a different approach to politics, as a pedagogical rhetoric of legal and political equality.
