Suchergebnisse

The structural-functional features of the European political system are analyzed. The author correlates the structure and the functions of the national political system with the functionality of the European supra-national structures. The efficiency of the decision making process and the functionality of any type of political system is influenced by the level of political culture and the degree of maturity of the political actors. The need to correlate interests of different states: EU members, candidates or those in process to adhere to the EU, determines the supra-national structures: European Council, European Union Council, European Parliament, EU Court of Justice, EU Court of Accounts, European Central Bank to honor honestly and responsibly their functions, respecting democratic principles of political communication, of cooperation and co-work. In conclusion, the author states that the European political system is functional, efficient, viable due to the capacity of institutions to ensure a dynamic stability both at community level and national one. The fact that at the moment the European Union is an international political actor with legal status and its components (Member States) that share the same rights and obligations represents a unique experience, interesting for the contemporary political theory.

Mixed marriage is one of the factors providing the link between interethnic and interreligious communities. Ethnic and confessional diversity of the population imposes a communication, an interference of different ethno-confessional communities. As these communities were living together, it was natural that this "cooperation" should be visible in the case of marriage. Given the context, mixed marriages acquired an innate multiculturalism due to the need for living together. The "social barriers" completed the ethnic and confessional differences. The State becoming more and more powerful in time imposed itself and promoted a new perception of mixed marriage through a lay legislation. On the other hand, in the mixed Greek-Catholic and Roman-Catholic communities, inter-confessional marriages were more easily accepted officially as both confessions were under the same hierarchic authority, the Pope. It is important to get a glimpse of the ethnic structures and their dynamics, as well as of the confessional realities to have a clear image in the analysis of interethnic or inter-confessional marriages. Marriage may be one of the social mechanisms to change the demographic volume of certain communities not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively, and to alter traditional spiritual values.

The history from ancient times to the present has demonstrated the inherent conflict in inter-human relations. Conflicts are a result of the interaction and communication of individuals, so they persist as long as man is. At present, conflicts are greatly influenced both by the nature of the people and by the specific nature of the work of social-political organizations and institutions. The issue of conflicting conflicts and situations has become a key issue for many philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, etc. But regardless of the high interest and long history there is no unanimously accepted understanding of the essence and nature of the conflict. The political sphere is a specific area that has a permanent and obviously conflictual character compared to other spheres of social life. Its origin is in the very nature of political relations, as relations of power, which presuppose the leadership of some and the subordination of others. That is, the power relations are based on the dominance of some people and their interests over others, which gives birth to clashes and confrontations. Political conflicts are a consequence of confrontations in a complex and multi-level system of leadership and subordination. This article will determine the conceptual, functional and structural dimention of conflicts, in particular will analize the multitude of theories that explane the expression of the conflicts in social and political life, constructive and negative approaches on functions of conflicts, dynamical dimension and paerticularites of political conflict management.

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.