Suchergebnisse

In this article is analyzed the essence and importance of soft power in the US foreign speech, as well as directions of activity of this instrument under the conditions of the Republic of Moldova. The soft power concept, its manifestations and its main sources are determined. It is argued that soft power is a mean to obtain favorable results, relying on conviction, voluntary participation, sympathy and attraction, representing the ability to influence other states in order to achieve own goals, through cooperation in certain areas, directed towards persuasion and formation of a positive perception. It is noted that the US government pays particular attention to soft power tools, implemented by both government agencies and a large number of community organizations and individuals, with the purpose of shaping a positive external image of the state. Regarding the implementation of the US soft power instruments under the conditions of the Republic of Moldova, it is concluded that the USA offers real opportunities in order to know and capitalize the achievements of the American nation. Given that the US is a superpower on the international arena, development of a strategic partnership between the Republic of Moldova and the US has a particular relevance in solving several problems that our state cope with, such as state integrity, European integration, democratization of society, etc. US has a rich and successful experience in the use of soft power, that is why the Republic of Moldova should "adopt" some certain aspects of the soft action in its foreign policy.

Since its origins, in the context of the Cold War's beginning, NATO has been a robust defensive alliance, acting in accordance with UN Charter, as a collective defence structure based on solidarity and mutual trust. Nowadays it has 28 member states and one can say that it fulfilled its main role: to protect the West against communist/Soviet threats using the deterrence and containmemt tools. Neither USSR nor its main instrument, the Warsaw Pact dare to attack the Euro-Altantic area. Our main assumption is that because the specific national interests of each member state, because of the domestic-constitutional issues and bureaucratic obstacles, the Alliance cannot yet forge a common strategic culture for all its members and also lacks a common lens for detecting real risks and therats, be they nation states or non-states actors. Nowadays, Russia and Islamic State are the main adversaries for the Western states, thus NATO should be more effective in dealing with them. And there is a need for reform and transformation. Divergences between adepts of territorial defence and those of pro-active "out of area" missions go in addition to divergences concerning the neeed for increased defence budgets for all members and especially concering the attitude towards Russia. Moscow used economic and energy tools trying to divise some allies like Hungary, Greece and Bulgaria and it partially succeeded. Using some theories of alliances and of democratic peace, resorting to recent facts and figures related to NATO's activities and plans, will help the reader understand the problem of increasing the power vs. increasing the security dilemma and the prospect of future conflicts.

The reforming of the local power territorial organization in the Republic of Moldova is an obvious fact. The need for change is known at the government and civil society levels and it is frequently addressed by the academic environment. The article summarizes the multiplicity of approaches, positions and expected outcomes of the reform in a synthetic model that includes the principles, objectives and conditions of the successful implementation of the local power territorial organization reform in the Republic of Moldova. It is argued the idea of abandoning the paradigm of the "administrative-territorial organization of the state territory" in favour of the public power territorial organization paradigm. The pursued aim is to reduce the theoretical and conceptual fragility of the reform.

Since 1992, in the wake of the first elections held in May 1990 and the adoption
of a Constitution in 1991, parliamentary and local elections have been held
every four years. Romanian electorate voted six times in presidential elections
and seven times in referenda (referenda were more numerous than the ones
organized during the whole modern history of the country). Reinvented in 1989,
Romanian political parties had to pass all these tests. The main purpose of the
article is to give a comprehensive, systematic and detailed view on Romanian
parties' performance, both in terms of votes and mandates. Therefore, data is
organized following four main criteria: legal status, the mobilization in electoral
competitions, parliamentary status, and participation to government.

At the end of World War I, Germany was neither politically, nor culturally
"attendable", for most of the European countries. In this context, one of the main
cultural aims of the Weimar Republic will be the resumption of the cultural and
academic relations with other countries. The foreign students were invested with a
major role in this respect. The Weimar Republic has taken institutional and financial
steps in order to intensify the student migration and to repopulate its universities
with foreign students, measures that have paid off in the mid 20s. In 1925, the
percentage of foreign students in Germany reached again the pre-war level. The
groups of foreign students best represented in the German universities were the
Romanians, the Bulgarians and the Polish. The paper also takes a look at the
evolution of the foreign students in Germany during 1918-1933, focusing on their
country of origin, the preferred institutions of higher education and fields of study,
as well as on the presence of female students from foreign countries in Germany.

The parish registers of civil status, although the main sources of documentation for historical demography, are used with significant results by the other sciences such as history, ethnography, sociology, anthropology, linguistics, etc.. The perspectives of approaching the rural community and family have expanded considerably using these sources of ecclesiastical origin documentaries. The first researchers who refer to a systematic methodology that uses the parish registers of civil status as documentary sources for the completion of demographic data suggest the use of other sources, hitherto unused for this purpose. They will apply a new method, a modern innovation, the stripping and analysis of parish registers of civil status within the meaning of the reconstruction of demographic events (birth, marriage, death).
The family reconstitution method, by analyzing the parish registers of civil status proposed by L. Henry and M. Fleury, has revolutionized the field of study dealing with people. Louis Henry believes that the parish registers of civil status is the ultimate source of information for the pre-state period and this is precisely the reason for which he proposes restoring the family's biological life. Church registers are only able to give us an insight into the family in rural areas, at least for the second half of the XIX century. Church documents, the fundamental sources for researching family life, are of two categories: 1. civil status registers and annual reports of the parishes, 2. Church authorities funds, documents and minutes recorded by the bishops. These documents are complex sources for the researcher interested in historical demography, social history, and the economic history of toponymy, birthdays, etc.
Processing the data contained in these records requires a specific methodology. They allow us to observe trends that have occurred on the long-term demographic events such as: birth, marriage or death. These records are presented for a long time as their only source of documentation regarding civil status and demographic events in the life of most people. Researching these records can unveil important features of natural population movement, the phenomenon of birth, of marriage, the divorce or death. Then, an analysis of form and content of these registers can capture the cultural universe of the priests who fill these records.
These Church documents proved to be important, especially where other documentary sources (mainly those in the category of records made by the state) have proved insufficient, incomplete and unclear. The parish registers of civil status in this case are suitable for both a qualitative analysis, and a quantitative one at the level of local communities. Beyond their usefulness and significance of documentary source, these documents should be regarded as being subjective because they were managed by priests (every priest is then an exponent to promote demographic and confessional "realities" and such realities were viewed from the perspective of his own religious convictions). The parish registers, however, prove to be the only documents that allow us to penetrate the privacy of individuals in each community. A documentary is also undeniably a good dowry that researchers should promote and use in their research not only locally but also to verify and demonstrate certain behaviours and overall trends.

Local power is carried out within the territorial boundaries of local municipalities that are delimited by each other through clearly defined borders and their degree of autonomy and vitality and depends, to a large extent, on the principles underlying the territorial organization of this public power.
The author considers that the territorial organization of the public power in the Republic of Moldova must be carried out on the basis of the following principles: a) respect for human rights, b) respect for historical, national and local traditions, c) economic and financial sufficiency, d) ensuring the participation of the population in the management of local public affairs, e) maximum proximity of the local public authorities to the inhabitants, f) population consultation on issues related to the territorial organization of the public power, g) legality, h) respect of the scientific achievements.
It was concluded that there is no strict dependence on the process of the territorial organization of public power to the objective criteria for creating territorial systems for the exercise of public power. Unlike other systems, the system of territorial organization of public power is much more static. This is a necessary condition for the proper functioning of the public authorities, which must have a permanent and clearly defined territorial area of activity.
The territorial organization of power in the Republic of Moldova was influenced by the factors of social, economic, organizational, national, historical, political nature. Each of the listed factors can determine the most important aspects of the territorial structure at certain stages of state development.

The purpose of the monograph is to investigate the territorial organization of the local collectivities of the Republic of Moldova based on the paradigm of the territorial organization of the public power. The monograph aim is the reconfiguration of the framework for the analysis of the phenomenon of the territorial organization of local power by deliberately opting for the territorial organization approach of the public power from the perspective of social sciences, in general, and of political science, in particular, as well as the rigors imposed by the principles of the contemporary democracies relative to the realities of the Republic of Moldova. The fundamental idea of the monograph is that the existing territorial organization of the local power, being established without taking into account the needs and interests of the local collectivities, does not provide the premises for the development of the society, in general, and of the local collectivities, in particular. Identification and implementation of an optimal territorial organization system of the local power will create the necessary conditions for the affirmation of the local democracy and ensure the prosperous development of the Republic of Moldova.

The issues related to the territorial organization of public power have existed from ancient times to the present. The territorial organization of public power has a special importance in the process of building a democratic state in the Republic of Moldova.
It is necessary to clarify the essence of the concept of public power in order to reform the current system of territorial organization of public power. The author has analyzed the scientific publications from the Republic of Moldova that were designed to study the public power. The research results have found that the scientific publications do not offer competent answers to the existing problems related to the territorial organization of public power; the experience obtained in the process of reforming the territorial organization of the public power has not been systematized in theory; it is very important to give a scientific definition of the concepts related to that field for the efficient functioning of the system of public power; in the contemporary world, there is a growing interest about this issue, especially in the context of regional development, strengthening the local autonomy, deconcentration and decentralization.

The trans-ethnic voting ant the current cooperation between the Saxon and the Romanian communities in Sibiu/Hermannstadt could easily make believe in a perennial peaceful cohabitation. But the ethnic relations at the beginning of the XXth century are rather dissimilar, since they are marked by the strong affirmation of the Romanian community - especially by its political and cultural values - in the cadre of a multi-ethnic state - as Austria-Hungary - and of a Saxon dominated city - as Sibiu/Hermannstadt. The conflict between elites is pointed out by the prejudices enounced and by the symbolic weight of the disputes. More deeply, there is a conflict between two diverging political projects: the preservation of autonomy and of collective rights by the Saxon community, and the political, economic and cultural integration of the city into the recently made Romanian National state, in the aftermath of the Paris Peace Treaties. The two political projects originate -in fact- into distinctive models of citizenship: an exclusive citizenship, promoted by the Saxon community as a heritage from the Middle Ages; an integrative citizenship, preferred by the Romanian state in order to obtain a full allegiance from the new citizens. Since Romania has unexpectedly become a multi-ethnic state and minorities were more educated, urbanized and politically active, supporting the Romanian element became vital. The unsuccessful political strategies of Romanian elites, before 1920 -and of Saxon elites afterwards- lead to external sources of power: the Romanian National state and Nazi Germany. Whether Romanian authority proves to be quite successful, the German influence has disastrous consequences for the Saxon community. The persecutions and vexations following the German defeat in 1945 mark out the beginning of the great migration for the German community in Transylvania, following eight hundred years of coexistence.

One of the essential objectives of this work is to change the optical approach of the local power phenomenon, opting for the approach of the territorial organization of local power from the perspective of the realities of the contemporary world. Within the thematic framework of the paper, I have pursued that the territorial organization of local power to be treated from the perspective of political and administrative sciences, referring to the Moldovan realities, but also to the influences of the integration in the European space. In order to solve the theoretical and practical problems related to the efficient territorial organization of the public power, I have used the paradigm of the territorial organization of the public power as the basis of the phenomenon investigation. The key idea of the paradigm is that the phenomenon of public power in the contemporary democratic state must be tackled not only in relation to the state but more broadly in the aspect of the existence of both the public power of the people and the existence and functioning of the local collectivities' public power as a power that has the same social nature but is different as form and content from the state one. These communities have their own public power, based on two essential elements: the local population and the local electoral system through which its representative bodies (decision-making and executive) are elected. The chapters of the papers imply complex researches regarding the territorial organization of the local power, in the idea that they would allow to identify a model of territorial organization of the local power in terms of the interests and needs of local collectivities in the Republic of Moldova. The final objective of the paper was to develop a theoretical vision of the reform of the territorial organization system of local power in accordance with the new realities and that would meet the political, social and economic challenges facing the Republic of Moldova. Reforming the territorial organization of the local public power on the basis of the recommendations made in the paper will help to overcome the negative tendencies that occur in the processes taking place in the society. Searching solutions to solve or identifying possible ways to resolve a problem does not necessarily mean finding an undoubtedly mean to solve the problem or a definite answer to the existing issue. In many cases, scientific researches does not put the end point in a scientific dispute or in a contradictory approach of a phenomenon, they only develop it, broaden the knowledge space and update it, providing research space to other researchers concerned about that issues and opportunities of choice and documentation for political decision-makers.

In the interwar Romanian democracy, the main actor in this political mechanism around which the electoral system and the political parties were rounding was the King. He was designating a party in order to form the government, and afterwards the elections organized by the cabinet were inevitably won by the political party in power. As no party was designated one after another to rule the government, the sequence in power was simply and efficiently ensured. Winning the elections for each party in power was closed related to the voters dedicated to the government, meaning those who were giving their votes to the leading power. And this way, the interwar electoral puzzle was completed. The cohort of voters willing to vote for the government was influenced by many indicators such as cultural (literate) and economic ones, so that the electoral behavior differences between regions like Oltenia and Banat were significant, taking into consideration the economic gaps. Therefore, the electoral comparison between Romania and Dobrudja in the interwar period makes sense.

Efficient functioning of the local government depends on its territorial organization, which must correspond to the objective needs of building public power structures, capable of responding, in line with European standards, to the new political, social, economic and cultural realities in which located Republic of Moldova.
To investigate the phenomenon and identify efficient solutions was proposed to change the paradigm of investigation the phenomenon. It affirms the necessity to abandon the paradigm of an administrative-territorial organization and adopt a paradigm for the territorial organization of public power. In this sense, a theoretical-conceptual and methodological basis was elaborated in the domain of the territorial organization of the public power, in general, and in the local one in particular.

The key issue examined in the article is to elucidate the impact of the cooperation between local and state authorities in terms of the efficient functioning of public power in the state. There are presented arguments in favour of the cooperation of the two forms of the public power, as well as the necessary conditions for this. There were highlighted the principles of the effective cooperation between the local and state authorities. It was insisted that any administrative control of the local authorities' activity should only take into account the respect of legality and constitutional principles. In conclusion, it is mentioned that the state power cooperating with the local one contributes to ensuring the integrity and unity of the state, thus facilitating the integration of the interests of the society and state.

The theoretical and pragmatic potential of the constitutional regulations and the comparative analysis of the peculiarities related to the normative fixing and the ways of implementing the local public power in the CIS countries, which have a common historical past and similar trends on building national sovereign states, can serve as a confirmation of the institutionalization and the need for a specific form of public power called local power in a democratic society. The rationale for recognizing the local autonomy in the constitutions of the states is determined by the following circumstance, namely, the recognition of the local autonomy principle in the fundamental law of the states constitutes a guarantee that it will be developed and deepened into the national law. Without such a constitutional basis, the local autonomy cannot be successful. From this perspective, it is important to conduct a comparative study of the constitutional texts of the states because the national legislative systems governing this phenomenon are designed under the constitutional provisions. The modalities of placing the local power in the supreme laws differ from state to state. The comparative study of the constitutional texts was carried out based on the following criteria: a) the inclusion and ensuring the local autonomy in the constitutional text; b) the interpretation of the concept of local autonomy in the constitutional text; and c) the approach and recognition of local autonomy.