Suchergebnisse

This contribution critically analyses the four limbs of the EU's defence mechanism upholding the rule of law within the Union. The first being the individual post accession rule of law mechanism, introduced by the Commission in 2006 for the two new member states Bulgaria and Rumania. The second, and arguably most powerful limb, involves the EU Court of Justice conducting a judicial review of a member state's rule of law situation, which is of far greater concern for reviewed members than the so-called "nuclear"last-resort option of Art. 7 teu 's sanction mechanism (fourth limb) that is politically difficult to enact. With a view to the politically fraught Art. 7 teu, the Commission introduced a new "early warning"rule of law framework in 2014 which pre-emptively enables exploring dialogue-based solutions to rule-of law issues as they emerge (third limb).

Abstract  This article interprets the biographies of Polish Bolshevik revolutionaries, Feliks Dzierżyński and Karl Radek, in an attempt to concretize socialism's "nationalities problem" in two exceptional, but emblematic, identities of the fin‐de‐siècle socialist movement. It situates their internationalism against the sociology of nationalism in multiethnic imperial borderlands. It argues that the appeal of socialist internationalism was contingent on the strength of nationalism: where nationalism was more politically articulate it undermined universalist ideologies. Therefore as socialism succeeded in transcending ethnonational boundaries only in the Tsarist Russian "fourth time zone", Radek and Dzierżyński traveled eastwards from Polish nationalism to Bolshevik internationalism.

Intro -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Contributors -- Abbreviations -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- References -- Chapter 2: Economic Patriotism, the Politics of Market-Making, and the Role of the State in Twenty-First-Century Capitalism -- Economic Patriotism -- Economic Patriotism and the State in Contemporary Capitalism -- Conclusion: The Political-Economic Debate of Our Age -- References -- Chapter 3: Liberal Versus Organised Capitalism: A Historical-Comparative Perspective -- Introduction -- Theories of Intertemporal Comparison of Capitalisms -- Polányi's Pendulum and Theories of Organised Capitalism: A Phase Model -- The Crisis of the Liberal Phase of Capitalism and the Nucleus of a New Organised Phase of Capitalism -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 4: Dependent Market Economies and Wage Competition in Central and Eastern Europe -- Introduction -- An Overview of the Literature: What Explains Lower Wages in Central and Eastern Europe? -- Our Approach, Data, and Methods -- The Role of Economic Structure and Workforce Composition -- The Role of Sectors and Occupational Levels -- Conclusions: Wage Differences and Productivity Differentials -- References -- Chapter 5: The Place of Rent-Seeking and Corruption in Varieties of Capitalism Models -- Introduction -- Profits Versus Rents -- Changing and New Forms of Rents -- Institutional Consequences of Rent -- Class Reproduction Through the Accumulation of Human and Cultural Capital -- The Role of Rents in Post-Communist Capitalist Societies -- Consequences of Inequalities -- Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 6: The Emergence of the Patronage State in Central Europe: The Case of FDI-Related Policies in Hungary Since 2010 -- Introduction -- Economic Patriotism and Changing Power Relations Among the Elites of CEE -- Elites -- Networks.

The objective of the study was to analyze the transmission and application of Rahu symbolism in contemporary Thai society. Data was collected from both documents and a field study in central and eastern Thailand. It was found that in traditional Thai art, the Rahu symbol is portrayed as his face swallowing the sun or the moon. This kind of Rahu symbol is found in Buddhist temples. Such appearances of the Rahu symbol are related to the belief that Rahu has a protective function. Interestingly, the sculpture of Rahu's body rather than only his face has become popular in contemporary Thai society. Nowadays, Rahu sculptures tend to be located in specific places. A ritual of worshipping Rahu is often created with offerings of food generally of black color. In addition, the Rahu symbol is now created in several other forms such as posters, magic cloths and amulets. Such newly created art forms of Rahu are due to modern interpretations and meanings of the Rahu symbol in contemporary Thai society. These newly-developed meanings of the Rahu symbol are interesting since they can be applied to deal with people's problems in the socio-cultural and political context of contemporary Thai society.

Under the current Presidency of Putin two main areas of concern are discernible: the modernization of defence industry and the accelerated development of Siberia and, in particular, the Far East. To a certain extent, development programmes prioritized within increasingly tight budget constraints overlap, since important sections of the defence industry are located beyond the Urals. In response to China's rapidly increasing economic and military strength, there is a need both to modernise infrastructure in order to boost trade opportunities eastward and to enhance and diversify industrial capabilities, a task in which the defence industry has a role to play. The article examines the policy and financial implications of the current shift eastwards. Resistance to policy changes is strong. Private investments will need strong encouragement while the role of the state needs to increase in the short-medium term. Nationalism and ideological inclinations add to a lively policy debate often marked by harsh tones. This major turn in strategy needs to entail a certain degree of decentralization as specific long-term projects are hardly manageable from Moscow. The existing structures are manifestly inadequate. While the need for a special authority endowed with the necessary powers for coordination and control of branch and territorial projects is discussed, the appropriate balance between the representation of regional interests and federal development plans is unclear. The article argues that more could be done to stimulate the regional powers to assume their own responsibility in selecting the most suitable projects consistent with federal priorities, offering good administrative services and, when necessary, tax incentives. While establishing nation-wide economic goals, federal government should be more receptive to local demands, while strengthening its command over security issues. Mutually supportive and respectful interaction between regional and federal bodies would improve the ability to assess in an informed way opportunities and constraints for growth and better discriminate among alternative projects on the basis of their respective outturn, feasibility and cost.

Debates surrounding working longer focus mainly on increasing legal and effective retirement ages, leaving the preferred retirement age largely overlooked. There is a large East-West divide in Europe regarding the latter, with individuals in Eastern Europe wanting to retire earlier. We aim to explain this gap in terms of differences in working conditions and state-level legal conditions. Using the 2010 European Social Survey data on employed individuals aged 50-70 in 24 countries enriched with country-level information, we find that part of the explanation is found in the lower levels of job control found in Eastern Europe. Moreover, the results suggest that Karasek's job demand/control model fits better in Western than Eastern European countries. Another explanation is found at the country level, where the legal retirement age accounts for a major part of the gap in preferred retirement ages between East and West.

AbstractWhat do we know about the relationship between Europe, the European Union and European identity? While national identity is a multifaceted phenomenon, European identity has been linked to the growth of the European Union. This article attempts to analyze some of the attributes of individuals with European identity in central and eastern Europe prior to EU accession by applying existing hypotheses on correlates of European identity. The phenomenon of identification with Europe prior to EU accession provides a window into understanding the identity mechanisms that inform the concept of European identity. The first Eurobarometer surveys measuring European identification in central and eastern accession states reported a puzzling finding: that more people, not less, identified with Europe than in existing EU states. An analysis of the Eurobarometer results provides counter‐intuitive comparisons and contrasts between eastern and western Europe and uncovers potential mechanisms illustrating the content of contemporary European identity.