In this article, a few theoretical aspects of citizens' political sophistication are analyzed: contextual concepts that are used, different conceptions of political sophistication, variables used in the research and factors implementing political sophistication. Most of the academic works on political sophistication come from Western countries, therefore the assumptions used by foreign scholars are applied in the case of Lithuania. Political sophistication is understood as political knowledge held by an individual as well as his/her interest in politics. In the empirical part of this article, the results of the 2008 representative survey data statistical analysis are presented: Lithuanian citizens' political sophistication index and factors that implement the level of political sophistication. One can conclude that the most influential factor that causes the existing level of political sophistication is citizens' age. Relatively more political sophisticated are older, better educated citizens who discuss political issues with others more frequently, use more information sources (radio, Internet, press, TV news) and gain comparatively higher income. Adapted from the source document.
There are no simple answers when it comes to explaining what information technologies would change in public management. Conceptually the electronic government is a rather new research field, therefore it lacks universally accepted definitions & causal models. Therefore this article attempts to make a contribution in theoretical terms: it develops the idea that technologies provide an impetus towards development of a new institutional public management model, which is fundamentally different from the traditional rational bureaucracy & New Public Management. Having defined the main features of the IT-based model, the article discusses the possible mechanism of change -- ie., to what extent within this mechanism the IT can be considered an independent variable? Adapted from the source document.
Straipsnyje siekiama paaiskinti, kodel Andriaus Kubiliaus vyriausybes partijos (TS-LKD, LRLS ir LiCS), nepaisant nepalankiu aplinkybiu ir prognoziu, sugebejo gerai pasirodyti 2012 m. Seimo rinkimuose ir tapti daugiausia balsu gavusia valdanciaja koalicija nuo Lietuvos Nepriklausomybes atkurimo. Naudojamos dvi pagrindines teorijos: partines tapatybes ir ekonominio balsavimo. Atitinkamai pagal jas straipsnyje iskeliamos ir tikrinamos dvi hipotezes, kuriu pirmoji numato lemiama partines tapatybes vaidmeni, o antroji teigia, kad A. Kubiliaus vyriausybes partijos pritrauke ir nauju, racionalia ekonominio balsavimo logika besiremianciu rinkeju. 2012 m. porinkimines apklausos duomenu individo lygmeniu analize suteikia paramos abiem hipotezems. Straipsnyje daroma isvada, kad partine tapatybe buvo butina, taciau nepakankama gero vyriausybes pasirodymo 2012 m. Seimo rinkimuose salyga: dalis ekonomika vertinusiu kaip blogejancia istikimu rinkeju buvo prarasta, taciau siuos praradimus kompensavo nauju ekonomika retrospektyviai teigiamai vertinusiu rinkeju dalis This article aims to explain why the parties of Andrius Kubilius' government (HU-LCD, LRLM and LCU), notwithstanding the unfavourable circumstances and corresponding forecasts, managed to perform well in 2012 Seimas elections and became the first governing coalition according to the joint received vote share since the restoration of Lithuania's independence. Two main theories are employed: party identification and economic voting. Corresponding to them, two hypotheses are raised and tested in this article: first hypothesis anticipates a decisive role of party identification and the second one asserts that the parties in A. Kubilius' government attracted new voters according to the logic of economic voting. Analysis of individual level data from the 2012 post-electoral survey provides support for both hypotheses. The article concludes that party identification was necessary, though not sufficient condition of good government performance in the 2012 Seimas elections: a part of the faithful voters was lost, but these losses were compensated by new voters that positively (and retrospectively) evaluated the economy of Lithuania. Adapted from the source document.
Aim of the article is to explore whether existing possibilities to join online political discussions have any politicizing effect on social networks. Politicizing effect is defined both in quantitative & qualitative terms. Internet may enlarge existing networks by providing opportunities to connect to new people & to engage with them in political conversations. Internet may also provide new experiences of political talk, assuming that offline political conversations tend to avoid disagreement, while online communication is better adapted to expression of divergent opinions & discussions. Yet such potential of the Internet to expose people to cross-cutting conversation depends on the motivations of its users. To explore the actual effect of the Internet on politicization of social networks data of representative survey of Lithuanian population is analyzed. Adapted from the source document.
The contemporary information & communication technologies (ICT) will not, by themselves, resolve the issues, faced by Lithuanian public administration in designing & implementing its policies. This is the major argument of the article, supported by the available empirical information & various secondary sources. Why the bureaucracy, which is often considered as being slow, inflexible & inertic should suddenly change due to the mere fact of ICT being purchased & installed? The answer is often based on some intuitive logic, which is called in this article the "ideal model of e-government." The first of the assumptions in this model claim that the public sector has the right skills to select the relevant technology. The next assumption is that once the technology is installed, it will be used competently & open-mindedly -- with the right capacities, motivations & leaders available to do that. In turn, if the technology is used competently, one can indeed expect improvements in public policy making & implementation: organizational change, better inter-institutional co-operation, development of e-services, etc. Notably, many ICT projects in the public sector fail & Lithuania is no exception in this respect. The investment does not necessarily lead to a meaningful organizational change, it does not enhance co-operation between institutions & does not improve communication & trust between the citizens & the state. Surely, the e-government is a rather new development, so one should hardly expect that all the visions will be successful outright. However, while at least some of the major problems may be anticipated in advance, the solutions are not always clear-cut. In order to take a full advantage of the ICT potential in the public sector, a clear choice of an actual model of public administration is necessary. Here a number of classic dilemmas may be identified -- regarding the relations between the public & the private sectors, internal control within the organization, sharing of responsibilities between organizations, etc. It is argued in the article that the answers to these questions in Lithuania are clear only in the official strategies & statements. Meanwhile the practice shows, that the relations between the public & the private sector are unbalanced, organizations lack the culture of critically assessing their achievements, institutions are carefully avoiding "interference" from outside into their internal matters & government is far from being conceived as a "service" to the citizens. It is also noted, that the differences between the official rhetoric & the practice may well be explained by the experience of both the soviet period as well as the accession to the EU: the institutions developed the skill of flexible adjustment to the dominant discourse without finding it necessary to change the essence of policy process. All in all, while the ICT do provide opportunities for improvement of public management, in order to take a full advantage of these opportunities it is necessary to resolve some of the classical dilemmas of public administration. In order to do that, some deeper changes of attitudes, values, & culture are necessary both in the public sector as well as in the society at large. Therefore, notwithstanding the expectation of the big change towards modernization of public sector the old saying of "plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose" is applicable for estimating the potential of the ICT to change the public sector. Adapted from the source document.
With the so-called war on terror launched by the USA in 2001, a new era started in one of the fields of the propaganda war -- the Internet. Ability to disseminate information to as wide as possible audience due to globality of the Internet has become a powerful mean of influence. Many Muslim politically engaged religiously motivated groups, who perceive themselves to be in the state of such war, create their own elaborate web-sites. "KavkazCenter" is just one of them. "KavkazCenter" declares itself to be a product of the Chechen Independent International Islamic Internet Agency, which was set up in 1999 in Grozny by the Chechen National Center for Strategic Research & Political Technologies. However, its content is somewhat problematic, as the site appears to have been solely a propaganda tool for the Chechen Jihadist group Riyadhu as-Salihin, led by the late Shamil Basayev, who often boasted about his organized bloody attacks, frequently against civilians. Lithuania first noticed the site in early 2003, when it started being serviced by a Lithuanian firm "Microlink Data," which at the time hosted the site on its server. Back then the Lithuanian State Security Department (SSD) declared the site to be free from terrorist propaganda & insisted it did not pose any threat to Lithuania, though it was known that the site had been earlier closed down in the USA & the UK. However, half a year later the very same SSD confiscated the server of the firm "Elneta," which at that time hosted the site, thus shutting down its operations from Lithuania. This launched a long marathon of legal deliberations going all the way up to the Constitutional Court. The case divided the Lithuanian public into two parts -- those, who considered the "KavkazCenter" to be an information agency of independence-seeking Chechen freedom fighters & those, who considered the site to contain terrorist propaganda. The "defenders" group was championed by some MPs, Soviet-era dissidents, while the "accusers" group was led by the SSD. The unfolding of the case revealed that both sides were ill-prepared to meet the challenge the site "KavkazCenter" had caused. One can argue that even state institutions were taken by surprise by it. This first of all applies to the SSD, who showed itself at its worst -- its lack of professionalism was astonishing. At the same time, gaps in legislation & by extension in the work of courts were exposed. Most journalists, who took to bashing of the SSD for presumed persecution of media on the freedom of expression grounds, displayed ignorance & lack of deeper insight into the case. The general public was left puzzled. Moreover, Russia's involvement, though often referred to in the media, has never been fully revealed. The epopee of the "KavkazCenter" in Lithuania sucked both the Lithuanian government & the general society into the whirlpool of the global information wars. And though the experience shows that most of the actors were ill-prepared or not prepared at all, the very experience is very useful -- it allowed for identifying of the weaknesses in political, legal & social life of the country. Learning from its mistakes, the society can progress & improve. It is plausible to hope that in the event of another "kavkazcentr," the Lithuanian government & non-state actors will be better informed & equipped to tackle the issue. Adapted from the source document.
Straipsnio tikslas yra isnagrineti Lietuvos ziniasklaidos auditorijos fragmentacija rinkimu kampanijos metu ir nustatyti, kurie kanalai labiausiai gali susieti auditorija tarpusavyje. Straipsnyje apzvelgiama fragmentacijos reiksme demokratijai ir jos tyrimuose vartojamos savokos, pristatomi empirinio tyrimo poziuriai, besiremiantys auditorijos sutapimo analize. Remiantis reprezentatyvios apklausos duomenimis ir pristatytais poziuriais, analizuo-jama Lietuvos ziniasklaidos auditorijos fragmentacija. Kadangi nustatytas gana didelis skirtingu kanalu susiklojimas, straipsnyje daroma isvada, kad Lietuvos ziniasklaidos auditorija kol kas nera labai fragmentiska. Taciau palyginimas su ankstesniu metu duomenimis rodo tam tikrus fragmentacijos didejimo polinkius. Labiausiai Lietuvos ziniasklaidos auditorija susiejantis kanalas yra televizija, taciau vis didesne svarba igyja ir populiarus interneto portalai The aim of the article is to analyse the extent of media audience fragmentation in Lithuania during the 2012 Parliament election campaign and to define which media channels are best able to unify the audience. The article reviews the significance of fragmentation in terms of democracy and concepts used in its analysis, and presents approaches for its empirical study, based on audience duplication. On the basis of this approach and data from a representative survey, the fragmentation of Lithuanian media audience is analysed. Since the analysis shows a considerable overlap of audience of different media outlets, the main conclusion is made that the Lithuanian media audience is not (yet) fragmented. The media that unites the biggest share of the audience is television, although popular internet portals are also becoming very important. Adapted from the source document.
