Suchergebnisse

Swedish political parties are characterized by their markedly different support across geographical space. In most cases, the sources of these regional variations date back to the time of the founding of the parties. Moreover, the regional strongholds and the areas of weak support for the parties have survived major societal changes such as the transition from the agrarian to the industrial society, emigration, and urbanization. Why is it that a certain area evolves a political tradition that sets it apart from neighboring areas? This study addresses itself to this and similar topics with empirical emphasis on the Swedish Social Democratic Party (the SAP).The study is based on the conviction that the regional imbalance in the SAP vote originates in the interaction/competition between various social and political movements in the local environment. The initial model used to explain these imbalances comprises three different factors that influence the party's vote: the socio-economic structure, the local organizational environment and the effect of local party organizational efforts.In order to test the importance of these factors three different areas were selected; one strong, one weak, and one unstable in terms of the Social Democratic vote.The findings show that no single factor alone accounts for the variance in the regional support of the SAP. Rather, what is decisive are the interactions within the structural and social properties of a context.By way of conclusion, this study lends support to the following conclusions of the prospects for the SAP to mobilize the electorate: to establish itself in the local setting the party needs an organizational culture, a local party organization and the absence of strong local opinion against the party's activities and organizational efforts. The party also seems to be favored by a high level of political mobilization (participation), whereas there is nothing to suggest that the SAP's prospects of becoming successful are hampered by competition from the left-wing parties. ; digitalisering@umu

The article aims at describing the regional differentiation of the turnout and of the support for major political parties in the parliamentary elections of 19 September 1994. Having analysed the aforesaid differentiation, one may note voividships with a consistently high (Wielkopolska, Małopolska) and consistently low electoral turnouts. Compared to the elections of 1991, the support for the Democratic Left Alliance has grown considerably throughout the whole country except the Zamosc voivodship, whereas the support for the Democratic Union has increased only in 7 voivodships (including the Poznań voivodship). One of the principal axes of competition was between peasant parties (PSL, PSL-PL) and townspeople parties (the Democratic Union, the Liberal Democratic Congress, the Labour Union). ; Digitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/2016

The geopolitical location of Poland in Central Europe determines the role of platform between the countries of Western and Eastern Europe. This location nowadays and very probably access to Eropean Union's structures and the NATO in near future will support the development of economic relations in Eastern Europe and will enable an additional source of income for the country by transit including through the sea ports. To make this development real it's necessary to expand the transport infrastructure for all means of transport because its present weakness is a barrier for goods transportation and it negatively influences the development of the region and the country - it's irrevocable condition of effective transport policy performing to consider the transit policy. The analysis of changes in transit services realization in Polish ports makes conclude that the transport and transit policy is inefficacious or even there's no such a policy. The statistical data show that the turnover broke down in 1991. The evident transit decreasing in railway transport and inland shipping caused by modification of Polish geopolitical location, economic transformation process in Central Europe, the fall of Soviet Union and Council for Mutual Economic Aid had the unprofitable effect on reloading of goods and transit reloading in Polish ports in the years 1991-96. After 1991, the Ukrainian and Belarusan transit determined by geopolitical factors has appeared. After independence regaining by Ukraine this country faced with the problem of reconstructing transport connections with foreign countries, especially in the direction: Odessa - Gdańsk and Gdynia. The substantially important for Polish- Ukrainian co-operation will be constructing of the transport track linking ports of Black Sea via Lvov and Lublin to ports of Gdańsk Bay: "Via Intermare". This assignment will enable to increase activity of regions crossed by the track and also will strengthen economic relations between Poland and Ukraine. The economic crisis in Central Europe caused not only transit decreasing but also competition among the transit countries. In this competition Poland is rather weak competitor because of insufficient transport infrastructure. Also teh changes of geopolitical location highly influenced the amount and directions of cargoes reloaded in Polish ports. These negative processes are a result of lack of univocally defined aims and instruments of the transit policy. ; Marcin Polom

This article describes why the Polish government has pushed for an invocation to Christian traditions in the European Union Constitution. It is ar- gued that this is a rather 'unfortunate' outcome of the political alliance between the Catholic Church and the Polish left, especially between President Alek- sander Kwas ́niewski and the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD). This alliance al- lowed the SLD to legitimize their rule in the post-socialist Poland, and it was a result of a political competition between them and the post-Solidarnos ́c ́ elites. As a result, John Paul II became the central integrative metaphor for the Polish society at large, which brought back in the marginalized as well as allowed the transition establishment to win the EU accession referendum in 2003. The arti- cle (which was written when Leszek Miller was still Prime Minister) demon- strates how this alliance crystallized and presents various elements of the cult of the Pope in Poland that followed. Finally, it argues that the worship of the Pope is not an example of nationalism, but of populism, understood not as a peripheral but as a central political force, and advocates for more research on the 'politics of emotions' at work in the centers and not in peripheries.

In this dissertation, the Swedish transport aid constitutes a case study with the aim of empirically testing the presence of institutional path dependency. In New Institutional Economics the concept institutional path dependency is used for analyzing why institutions that do not promote growth are developed even when better solutions are available. In this study, institutional path dependency is defined in the following way: institutional path dependency is when new institutional conditions develop in a way that maintains an economic and social practice within the sector of the economy that the institutional condition regulates. The transport aid was introduced in 1971 and is a part of Swedish regional policy. The transport aid is allocated to certain goods-producing companies in northern Sweden in order to subsidize their cost of transportation. The aim was that these companies would strengthen their ability to compete in markets in southern Sweden and abroad. In order to perform a test of the existence of path dependency, three criteria for path dependence were defined. The first of these criteria is that new institutional conditions arise with a maintained practice within the regulated sector. The second criterion for path dependency is that the institutional condition subsists when there are other alternatives which are better and well-known from the point of view of public economy. A third criterion for path dependency is that an institutional condition is given a new legitimacy when interest groups state new motives for it. The study has shown that a practice from the previous traffic policy has lived on in the institutional condition of the transport aid, through a continued subsidization of the cost of transportation similar to a historical tradition in early railway policy (for example in the Norrland tariff). A relatively large part of the transport aid has in practice been subsidizing transports of relatively unprocessed goods, which was a reason for the criticism that the transport aid received in previous studies. A practice from earlier traffic policy, which entailed leveled costs of transportation, has been difficult to combine in practice with goals from regional policy that have emphasized growth and industrial development. This indicates a path dependent development of the transport aid, since it's practice seems to be related to another "path" than main stream regional policy. Since the transport aid was continuously criticized in parliamentary reports and debates for conserving the economic structure in the support area and for distorting the competition on the transport market, there was probably a certain pressure to change the transport aid or replace it with other measures that were more neutral with regard to competition. This pressure of change was brought to a head in the parliamentary resolution from 1990, when the Government suggested radical changes in the design and organization of the transport aid. The Government bill was however rejected by Parliament, and the transport aid continued in the same form as before. Therefore, the transport aid has not followed changes in regional policy at large, neither with regard to organization nor formal goals, in spite of the fact that both the Government and the officials in the Transport Council (the administrative organization) have urged on an adjustment of the transport aid to fit the general direction of the regional policy at large. If the general direction of the regional policy in the 80s and 90s reflects a more growth oriented economic policy, then the transport aid has resisted institutional change, in spite of the fact that better and more well-known alternatives have existed with regard to promoting growth. The second criterion for institutional path dependency may therefore be considered fulfilled. Interest groups have on several occasions expanded the base for legitimacy of the transport aid by presenting new arguments to support it. One example of expanded legitimacy is that the transport aid was directed towards small and medium-sized companies in the 1980s. Such arguments were not presented when the transport aid was introduced in 1970, but was later emphasized by members of the Center Party and the Social Democratic Party. An interesting aspect of this institutional change is that the new motives also were characterized by ideological preferences for equality, since the transport aid with the help of this change would be able to support small firms in their competition with large firms in the same sector. This supports the assertion that the legitimacy of the transport aid has been derived from informal ideological preferences for equality rather than ideological preferences for growth, though the formal goals for the transport aid have been growth related. The conclusion is consequently that interest groups over time have managed to establish a stronger ideological legitimacy for the transport aid. All three criteria for institutional path dependency can therefore be considered fulfilled in the case of the transport aid. ; digitalisering@umu

The first part of the article deals with questions concerning the oncoming enlargement of the European Union by former eastern-bloc countries such as Poland, Hungary, the Czech and Slovakian Republics, Romania, Bulgaria as well as Slovenia and the three Baltic states. It focuses upon the "europe-Treaties" which the European Union has concluded or is going to conclude the countries obove. The question being raised is whether these treaties can be regarded as sufficient preparation for future membership in the European Union. The treaties' specific deficiencies, such as the existence of a safeguard-clause, as well as the exclusion of a unitary competition right and of the agrarian market are mentioned. The enormous differences between the GDP per capita of the most advances Vysehrad-countries and least developed members of the European Union, as well as the non-compatible structure of these countries' national economies are expected to cause extraordinary problems of adjustment. Furthermore the question is raised if the option of further integration without membership would not be a viable alternative for the oncoming 8 to 10 years. The second part of the article deals with the future perspective of an enlarged Union. First the specific three-structure of the Union is described; the Union being characterized as a "compound" of supranational and intergovernmental elements. Questions concerning the oncoming reforms of the institutions are raised. Furthermore, the article deals with the aspect of a guiding principle for future political development of the Union. The Author concludes that the idea of a European State cannot be regarded as a realistic perspective for the oncoming decades. The objective of a general supranationalisation in the field of European cooperation would inevitably lead to a fundamental conflict with the principles of democracy; this being due to the lack of a unitary European nation as the sovereign and the subject of democracy. A mixed structural "compound" not unlike the present three-pillared structure is therefore the only realistic alternative in the foreseeable furure. Moreover the entire process of cooperation demands a stronger diversification in that not all members have to participate in all fields of integration at the same time. ; Digitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/2016

This study in contemporary history describes the transformation of the public sphere in Sweden during the period 1969-1999, and analyses the role of information technology and politics in the process. The overall aim of the study is to explain how, and why, the public sphere in Jürgen Habermas sense has deteriorated during a period of rapid technological and political change, when increasing attention has been given to information technology as a new tool for improving democracy and empowering citizens. Theoretical inspiration is drawn from two perspectives within the modern history of technology and sociology of technology; the LTS (Large Technical Systems) and STS (Science, Technology and Society) approaches, as well as from the regime theory concept within political science. This multidisciplinary framework provides the theoretical basis for the study, including terms as socio-technical systems, system builder, technification, interpretative flexibility, stabilization, closing and regime change. In addition, the analysis draws upon previous research in economic history, where focus often has been on the important role of institutions. The term path dependence is central in this tradition. The starting point for the study is the process of a mutual legitimization between citizens and political actors that traditionally has taken place within the public sphere. In return for citizens support and trust, political actors have granted format rights to the public space. Two aspects of this interdependence are addressed: Freedom of speech and citizen's access to public information, and their access to arenas where an exchange of political ideas and opinions is taking place. In the study, the former is a question of the legal system and the limits to freedom of speech in new medias such as the Internet, while the latter concerns citizen's technical means and possibilities to connect to electronic networks. Research interest is concentrated on the formal political system, focusing both actors and structural factors such as technological development, media convergence, ideological change and international integration in the transformation process. Four case studies of institutional changes during formative moments, within what is defined as the legal and the technical infrastructures, are conducted and represent the empirical base of the thesis. The case studies are centered on Swedish governmental commissions, on the government itself and on proceedings in the parliament, and concerns formation and transformation of computer law, as well as the deregulation and privatization of the technical infrastructure. In the latter process Televerket (Swedish Telecom) has been an influential promoter of competition and institutional separation between tele- and data communications, representing a major regime change in favour of market relations in the technical infrastructure. In the area of computer law, the Swedish regime dominated by SCB (Statistics Sweden) was incorporated into a joint European data protection regime, resulting in limitations of freedom of speech on the Internet. These regime changes have also transformed the role of the state, constituting a "net watchers state". Another important finding is that promotion of democracy and improvement of access to the public sphere, never was on the agenda in the political transformation processes studied, although a parallel discourse on democracy and information technology existed throughout the period studied.