A concise characterization of the political-administrative system of the Republic of Austria with an emphasis on its decentralization & territorial division/composition. It begins with basic information about the state, including official name, government type, territorial units, total area, population, population density, capital city, EU membership, official language, & currency. The synopsis describes briefly: (1) the historical foundation & constitutional basis of the state, (2) the government structure: the division between the legislature, the executive branch, & the office of president; the composition, election/appointment, & functions/powers of each, (3) regional & local governments, (4) division into states, counties, & communes, & (5) local government structure (the state & county assembly, the municipal council, & the office of mayor). Adapted from the source document.
Local communities have an important role in society. According to states legislature they execute local public policies. Those processes include local democracy, public administration, local economy and social entities. Also they combine public and private resources. All of these groups of factors have their own capacity. Capacity is their ability to achieve goals and consists from inside and outside factors. Capacity of local self-government is integrated capacity. It represents holistic capacity for those units. It tells us, whether they are capable of doing things they should do, according to social and political system and its demands. Local units have different level of capacity. With conceptual model and field research we tested our research hypothesis. Our hypothesis is that local self-government communities with higher capacity offer their residents broader local public services and goods. Also we studies influence of political stability and autonomy on capacity. On representative sample of municipalities in Republic of Slovenia we confirmed all ours research hypothesis. Conceptual model of capacity is a tool for analysing individual communities and for analysing the whole system of local-self government. Also many suggestions for improvement can be made.
V članku, ki temelji predvsem na arhivskem gradivu in publicistiki, je predstavljeno politično delovanje Ivana Švegla, nekdanjega avstro-ogrskega konzula v Združenih državah Amerike in Kanadi, ki je po prevratu deloval na pariški mirovni konferenci. V Začasnem narodnem predstavništvu v Beogradu je predstavljal Trst, na volitvah leta 1927 pa je kandidiral na listi Hrvaške kmečke stranke Stjepana Radića. V tem prispevku so predstavljene širše okoliščine Šveglove povezanosti z Radićevo stranko. ; This article presents the political activities of the Slovene diplomat and legal expert Ivan Krizostom Švegel (a.k.a. Hans Schwegel, 1875–1962), who primarily served as an Austro-Hungarian consul in the United States and Canada before the First World War. Although his involvement in the delegation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 has not passed unnoticed in Slovene historiography, less is known about his political career. Švegel already expressed his sympathies for the Croatian national demands at the Paris Peace Conference, especially by interceding with American diplomats for the incorporation of Rijeka by Yugoslavia and helping his Croatian counterparts settle the question concerning the affiliation of the Repaš (Hung. Répás) area along the Drava River. In the Temporary National Representation in Belgrade, Švegel represented Trieste and worked within the framework of the Yugoslav Club, headed by the president of the Pan-Slovene People's Party, Anton Korošec. However, Švegel soon parted ways with Korošec and withdrew from active politics for a few years. In the election of 1927, he ran on the ticket of the Croatian Peasant Party in the Gorski Kotar region at the personal proposal of Stjepan Radić and made his way into the Croatian parliamentary representation in the Belgrade assembly. Radić's decision to nominate Švegel as a Slovene candidate in one of the traditionally winnable Croatian constituencies for his party undoubtedly added to the chagrin of Korošec, who had long been at odds with Radić. Much to the surprise of Radić's most intimate circle, at the end of 1927 Švegel joined the rebellious faction of Ljudevit Kežman, a priest and long-standing secretary of the Croatian Peasant Party. Yet rather than hold him to blame, Radić continued to cooperate with Švegel until the fateful shooting incident in the Belgrade assembly on June 20th, 1928. During the assassination against Radić and his colleagues, Švegel, according to his own testimony, was composed enough to help lift Svetozar Pribićević from his bench to safety. In the early period of the royal dictatorship, Švegel maintained a low profile until the spring of 1930, when he joined the government as a minister without portfolio, together with three other dissidents from the former Croatian Peasant Party. After he was soon forced to leave his position in the royal government, he briefly returned to diplomacy in 1931 by being appointed envoy of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia to Buenos Aires. However, no later than 1932, he was forced to leave his office due to disagreements with other officials at the legation and the heads of the foreign ministry and to retire. As his correspondence with Marija Radić reveals, Švegel also remained a faithful adherent to Radić's views after the Second World War.
Prispevek v luči slovenskega predsedovanja Svetu EU v prvi polovici leta 2008 predstavi institucijo Svet EU in organizacijske, posredniške, politične in nacionalne vloge, ki jih uresničuje predsedujoča država. Obravnavan je slovenski gozdno-politični okvir, ki vpliva na usmeritev za posamezno vlogo inpredstavljena teza, da sta za Slovenijo najpomembnejši organizacijska in nacionalna vloga. V okviru nacionalne vloge je pomembno pridobiti nove ideje za vsebino gozdne politike in znanja o procesu njenega oblikovanja na domači ravni in ravni Unije. ; In the light of the Slovenian presidency of the EU Council in the first half of the year 2008, the contribution presents the Council of the European Union (the EU Council) as an institution and the organizational, mediatory, political and national roles performed by the presiding state. The framework of the Slovenian forest policy is discussed, which influences the policy regarding each individual role, and the thesis presented by which the most important roles for Slovenia are the organizational and national role. Within the national role it is important to acquire new ideas regarding forest policyas well as the skills and knowledge regarding the drafting of forest policy on the level of the state and the EU.
The article is concerned with typology of differentiated author's opinions on the world economy phenomena, as internationalization, integration and globalization. The author examines, from the international political economy point of view, their differences and formulates three phases of internationalization process. The author defines also the relation of these phenomena to the process of integration and regionalization in the world economy and pays attention to frequently discussed topic of global governance as well. The author further examines the possibilities of measuring globalization process intensity on both world wide and national economy levels. The article assigns a set of characteristic features or indicators making possible to define main limits of when a given national economy can be hold as being incorporated and in what rate into the globalization process. This step of identification of globalization intensity rate is very important, as starting point, when a strategy of adaptation to globalization trends is needed to be formulated, evidently, closely with the competitiveness growth and catching-up strategy elaboration. Adapted from the source document.
Abstract. Nativism does not only present a concept, but also an ideological framework as well as a political practice related to identity politics. In the article we firstly present the theoretical reflection of nativism and operationalise the most important terms and characteristics of this phenomenon. Later, we apply the concept of nativism to the analysis of conservative populist and/or nativist political actors in the Central European region. The analysis shows how nativism, as a relatively peripheral issue in the first 10–15 years after the democratic transition, became stronger in the next period characterised by a set of crises after 2008. The analysis demonstrates how the mainstream parties in Central Europe adopted the nativist and conservative populist agenda and implemented it into mainstream politics. Furthermore, the analysis shows how Central European nativism correlates with the long-term existence of antiliberal streams that were revitalised after the fall of Communist regimes. These anti-modern societal groups were reformulated as the counter-cosmopolitan camp within the polarisation process that is clearly visible in the political arena. Keywords: nativism; national conservatism; identity politics; Central Europe
Na volilni sistem lahko gledamo kot na proces, ki ga razdelimo na fazo kandidiranja, fazo glasovanja in fazo ugotavljanja izida glasovanja. Fazo kandidiranja lahko opredelimo kot volitve pred dejanskimi volitvami, saj se že v tem delu izmed vseh, ki izpolnjujejo pogoje pasivne volilne pravice, izbere manjše število kandidatov, med katerimi lahko volivci v naslednji fazi glasujejo. Pogoji kandidiranja pri predsedniških volitvah na eni strani zagotavljajo, da se volilne tekme udeležijo najbolj kredibilni in zaupanja vredni posamezniki, na drugi strani pa poskrbijo, da se izloči tiste, ki že v tej fazi uživajo premajhno podporo in nimajo niti najmanjše možnosti za izvolitev. Ti pogoji so navadno višji kot pri drugih državnih ali lokalnih volitvah. Primerjalno gledano sta najbolj značilna pogoja višja starost in državljanstvo, ki ju mora izpolnjevati kandidat ob podpori, ki je predpisana z določenim številom podpisov ali denarnim depozitom. Kot predlagateljice nastopajo predvsem tri skupine, in sicer politične stranke, člani parlamenta in volivci. Lahko pride tudi do kombinacije med dvema ali vsemi predlagatelji. Če za parlamentarne volitve velja prevlada političnih strank kot predlagateljev, je pri predsedniških volitvah drugače, saj se daje več poudarka članom parlamenta in volivcem. Za razliko od večine evropskih držav Republika Slovenija ne predpisuje strožjih omejitev za predsedniške kandidate, ampak določa enake pogoje za pridobitev pasivne in aktivne volilne pravice, pri tem pa lahko kandidata predlagajo politične stranke, poslanci državnega zbora in volivci. Volilni predpisi pa prepovedujejo, da bi lahko nekdo bil hkrati kandidat za Predsednika republike in za poslanca Državnega zbora ali člana Državnega sveta in je lahko na to funkcijo izvoljen največ dvakrat zaporedoma. ; Electoral system can be determined as a process that is divided into the phase of nomination, the voting phase and the phase that indentifies the results of voting. A smaller number of candidates that are eligible for election is selected in the phase of nominaton and among those voters can vote in the next phase. That is why nomination phase can be defined as the elections before actual elections. The conditions in the nomination phase on one hand ensure that the most credible and trusted individuals take part in elections and on the other hand the conditions eliminate those who do not have enough support and do not even have the slightest chance of being elected. These conditions are usually higher than in any other national or local elections. In comparative terms, most typical conditions are higher age and citizenship and those conditions must be met by a candidate, who also needs a support which is prescribed by a certain number of signatures or cash deposit. The proposers are mainly three groups – political parties, members of parliament and voters. There may also be a combination between two or all of the proposers. Unlike in parliamentary elections where political parties dominate as proposers, in the presidential election voters and members are more important proposers than political parties. Unlike most European countries Republic of Slovenia does not prescribe stricter limits for presidential candidates but stipulates the same conditions for obtaining the right to stand and right to vote. Candidates can be nominated by political parties, deputies of the national assembly and voters. The electoral regulations prohibit that one may be a candidate for the president of the republic and a member of the national assembly or a member of the national council at the same time. No one can be elected as the President of the Republic of Slovenia more than twice in a row.
Obstaja veliko študij, ki se ukvarjajo s primerjalnim vrednotenjem e-uprave. Razlog za tako popularnost primerjalnega vrednotenja je interes različnih držav za boljši vpogled v trenutno specifično fazo razvoja e-uprave na nacionalni ravni. Ta vpogled hkrati razkriva pozitivne in negativne plati razvoja v primerjavi z drugimi državami ter tiste vidike, ki jih je treba izboljšati. Namen naše študije, ki vsebuje analizo razvitosti e-uprave v Sloveniji, Avstriji, Hrvaški, Danski in Estoniji v letih 2014, 2015 in 2016, je ugotoviti, ali v izbranih državah obstaja povezanost med stopnjo razvitosti e-uprave in drugimi izbranimi dejavniki razvitosti države (višina bruto domačega proizvoda, stopnja izobrazbe in stopnja interakcije z javnimi organi). Za opisovanje ključnih pojmov e-uprave in kazalnikov razvitosti smo uporabili metodo deskripcije, s komparativno in statistično metodo pa smo primerjali izmerjene vrednosti izbranih kazalnikov. Ugotovitve analize ne nakazujejo povezanosti med višino BDP in stopnjo razvitosti euprave. Pri nižji in srednji stopnji izobrazbe obstaja negativna povezanost, kar pomeni, da manjši kot so deleži prebivalstva z nižjo oziroma srednjo izobrazbo, bolj se povečuje stopnja razvitosti e-uprave. Delež prebivalstva z visoko izobrazbo pa je pozitivno povezan s stopnjo razvitosti e-uprave. Močna pozitivna povezanost je prav tako prisotna med stopnjo interakcije z javno upravo in stopnjo razvoja e-uprave. Izjema je le Slovenija, kjer se stopnja interakcije z javnimi organi znižuje s povečevanjem stopnje razvitosti e-uprave. S primerjalno analizo smo pridobili boljši vpogled v stanje e-uprave v izbranih državah ter s tem prispevali k boljšemu razumevanju obravnavanega področja in k identifikaciji povezanosti razvitosti e-uprave z drugimi kazalniki razvoja države. ; There are many studies dealing with comparative evaluation of e-government. The reason for such popularity of comparative evaluation is the interest of different countries for a better insight into the current, specific phase of e-government development at the national level. At the same time, this insight reveals positive and negative aspects of development in comparison with other countries and emphasizes those aspects that need to be improved. The purpose of our study, which includes the analysis of the development of e-government in Slovenia, Austria, Croatia, Denmark and Estonia in 2014, 2015 and 2016, is to determine whether a correlation between the level of development of egovernment and other selected factors of the country's development (amount of gross domestic product, level of education, level of interaction with public authorities) exists in selected countries. In order to describe the key concepts of e-government and development indicators, a descriptive method was used, and with the comparative and statistical method we compared the measured value of the selected indicators. The findings of the analysis do not indicate the correlation between the level of GDP and the level of development of e-government. At the lower and middle level of education, there is a negative correlation, which means that smaller the proportions of the population with lower and secondary education are, higher is the level of development of e-government. The proportion of the population with higher education positively correlates with the level of e-government development. A strong positive correlation is also present between the level of interaction with public authorities and the level of egovernment development. The only exception is Slovenia, where the level of interaction with public authorities is decreasing by increasing the level of e-government development. With our comparative analysis we gained a better insight into the condition of egovernment in selected countries and thus contributed to a better understanding of the area as well as identified the connection between the development of e-government and other indicators of the country's development.
Namen dela je predvsem proučiti oblikovanje, delovanje, vlogo in pomen Demosa kot instrumenta in akterja nacionalne emancipacije in demokratične tranzicije na Slovenskem. Pred osrednjim delom analize so opredeljeni ključni pojmi in koncepti: definicija nacionalizma ter glavni teoretični pristopi k nacionalizmu, opredelitev demokracije in demokratizacije. Za celovito razumevanje vloge in pomena posameznih političnih akterjev, kakršen je bil konec osemdesetih in v začetku devetdesetih Demos, je potrebno dobro poznati zgodovinske okoliščine. Najprej sem v poglavju o zgodovinskih mejnikih oblikovanja slovenske nacionalne identitete poskušala dokazati, da pomembni procesi v osemdesetih in devetdesetih letih niso vznikli sami od sebe, ampak imajo dolgo zgodovinsko podlago. V nadaljevanju obravnavam širjenje političnega prostora, obdobje liberalizacije in razcveta civilne družbe ter ključne procese in dogodke na poti v pluralno družbo. Procesi liberalizacije so soustvarjali tudi politično okolje, v katerem je začela nastajati politična opozicija. Konec osemdesetih let, tik pred nastankom Demosa, sta se izoblikovala dva konsistentna in nekompatibilna narodno-politična programa, ki sta simbolizirala politično polarizacijo. Nove, alternativne 'zveze' so se začele povezovati v pričakovanju demokratičnih volitev in soočenja s skupino družbenopolitičnih organizacij z Zvezo komunistov na čelu. Osrednji del disertacije predstavlja obravnava Demosa, akterja demokratizacije. Znotraj tega obdobja namenjam posebno pozornost najvidnejši osebnosti združene demokratične opozicije Jožetu Pučniku, analiziram predvolilne programe, rezultate volitev, ter oblikovanje novih oblastnih organov. V tem kontekstu analiziram tudi njihovo sodelovanje s Predsedstvom republike Slovenije. V nadaljevanju orišem vlogo Demosa v osamosvojitvenih procesih. Demos je v svojih glavnih namerah uspel, kljub temu, da ga niso ustrezno podpirali mediji, ni imel ustrezne zaslombe v gospodarstvu, pa tudi ne v državni upravi in, razen slovenske vojske in do neke mere policije, v represivnih organih oblasti. Kljub temu je uresničil glavne cilje, za uspešno izpeljano tranzicijo oziroma bolj popolno in konsolidirano demokratizacijo pa mu je zmanjkalo tako časa kot politične moči. Proces uvedbe demokracije, kot drugi od Demosovih ciljev, je bil uresničen v institucionalnem smislu, z vzpostavitvijo temeljnih demokratičnih struktur. Istočasno pa je bil Demos ključni dejavnik ne le pri oblikovanju splošnega soglasja o nujnosti osamosvojitve slovenskega naroda, ki se izraža v visokem rezultatu slovenskega plebiscita 23. decembra 1990, ampak je bil tudi glavni akter in instrument nacionalne osamosvojitve, obrambe slovenske samostojnosti v vojni za Slovenijo ter mednarodnega priznanja. ; The purpose of the thesis is primarily to examine the creation, operations, role and importance of Demos – Democratic Opposition of Slovenia as an instrument and actor of national emancipation and democratic transition in Slovenia. Prior to the central part of the analysis key terms and concepts are identified: definition of nationalism and the main theoretical approaches to nationalism, definition of democracy and democratization. For comprehensive understanding of the role and importance of individual political actors, like Demos was in the late eighties and early nineties, we should also be familiar with historical circumstances. At first I tried to stress that the main events and processes in the eighties and nineties had not emerged by themselves but were results of long historical development. Next I discuss broadening of political space, a period of liberalization and flourishing of civil society and also key processes and events on the way to a pluralistic society. The liberalization processes co-created also the political environment, in which the political opposition started to take shape. At the end of the eighties, just before the establishment of Demos, two consistent and incompatible national-political programmes were formed which symbolized the political polarization. New, alternative 'unions' began to link pending democratic elections and confrontations with a group of the so-called socio-political organizations with the Communists Party at the head. The central part of the thesis is the analysis of Demos, the actor of democratization. Within this period I pay particular attention to Jože Pučnik, the most prominent personality of the united democratic opposition, I analyse election programs, results of elections and the creation of new public authorities. In this context, I analyse also their cooperation with the Presidency of the Republic of Slovenia and outline the role of Demos in the independence processes. Demos succeeded in its main intentions, despite the fact that it had not adequate support of the media, no support of the economy nor in the public service and, with the exception of the Slovenian Army and to some extent police forces, the repressive authorities. Despite all these Demos accomplished its main objectives, however, for a successful transition or a more complete and consolidated democratization it ran out of time and political power. The process of introducing democracy was realized in a formal sense, with the establishment of basic democratic structures. At the same time Demos was a key factor in the creation of the general consensus on the necessity of the Slovenian independency which is shown in the high score of the plebiscite on 23rd Dec 1990. Demos was also the key actor and an instrument of the national independence process, the defence of the Slovenian territory in the war for Slovenia as well as in the process of the international recognition of the new Slovenian sovereign state.
Uradniški svet je samostojen in neodvisen organ, ki je bil ustanovljen z namenom depolitizacije državne uprave. Člani Uradniškega sveta določijo standarde in normative ter merila za izbiro kandidatov, ki se prijavijo za položaj najvišjih javnih uslužbencev. Kadar slišimo pojem politizacije se nam takoj ustvari nekakšna slika kako politika skozi politično kadrovanje poskuša vplivati na delovanje državne uprave in tako uveljaviti svoje interese in cilje. Politizacija ni nov pojav in tudi ne redek, z njo se srečujemo vsak dan in na vseh nivojih upravljanja (lokalnem, nacionalnem in nadnacionalnem). Avtor zaključnega dela raziskuje spolitiziranost Uradniškega sveta, cilj naloge pa je kako in na kakšen način se odraža spolitiziranost Uradniškega sveta in kako le ta vpliva na imenovanje najvišjih javnih uslužbencev v Sloveniji. Na podlagi vprašalnika, intervjujev ter analize dela je avtor prišel do ugotovitev, da lahko zasledimo obrise spolitiziranosti Uradniškega sveta. Bolj kot spolitiziranost Uradniškega sveta pa se kaže kako in na kakšen način poskuša politika imenovati najvišje javne uslužbence. ; Officials Council is body outside the government and was established to depoliticize administration in Slovenia. Members of Officials Council set standards, norms and criteria for the selection of candidates for the position of senior civil servants. When we hear the notion politicization, we immediately think how politics try to influence and enforce their interest threw a form of political recruitment in administration. Politicization is not a new phenomenom and it is not uncommon. We can find politicization at every level of governance (local, national and even transnational). The author researches the politicization of the Officials Council. In particular, he is interested in how and in what way the politicization of the Officials Council is reflected and how it affects the appointment of the highest civil servants in Slovenia. Through in-depth interviews, questionnaire and analysis of the work of Officials Council the author found out that we can see politicization of the Officials Council, but more than that we can see how politics try to affect on appointing the high-ranking civil servants.
This paper analyzes the issue of nations without states in contemporary Europe between the Atlantic and the Urals. The political map of the continent comprises forty-seven countries, most of which are nation-states. However, the cultural mosaic of Europe is far more complex; there are around fifty ethnic groups (in addition to historical, territorial, or indigenous ethnic minorities and an enormous number of immigrant ethnic communities) lacking a state-based organization. Together, these people add up to 78 million, or almost 15% of the European population. Twenty-seven groups can be considered nations without states; they are culturally and ethnically based and have various forms of territorial integrity and political organization. However, they did not create a state organization, despite many attempts by some through history. Without a state organization, those communities have poorer opportunities to protect their folk culture and to reproduce various elements of ethnic identity. This is why they seek territorial autonomy or independent statehood through nationalist movements. In many cases, these ambitions are encompassed in regional movements. These movements have been popular in Europe, particularly because the idea of a "Europe of regions" as part of the European Union has had broad political support and acceptance. However, it has not actually succeeded. The EU and Europe as a whole are still a Europe of (nation)-states. In general, regional movements have been successful and through this some nations without states have attained part of their political ambitions in the form of territorial autonomy. The regionalization of former centralist states (e.g., Spain and the United Kingdom) increased the chances of ethnic survival for the Catalans, Basques, Scots, and Welsh. On the other hand, the regionalization of nations without states represented territorial division, a kind of "divide and rule" strategy serving to reduce their ambitions towards national independence. The territorial and political reconstruction of nation-states has been successful, but it did not solve all ethnic problems. The European political map reveals another interesting phenomenon: a double state for some nations. These are particularly typical for the Balkans. Because of political and territorial development after the Second World War and during the transition period in the 1990s and beyond, the principle of immutable political borders (logically encompassing the creation of new nation-states as well) led to further political and territorial divisions and (in fact, paradoxically) fragmentation. Some of these "inner" autonomous territories are functioning as de facto states. The cases of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus or Republika Srpska in Bosnia-Herzegovina are good examples of these processes. This development has not garnered much political support in most European countries or at the EU level. However, it is an undesirable reality and is certainly one of changes among the political and territorial (or even greater) challenges for the Europe of tomorrow. It forces a reexamination of the phenomenon and value of nations. The existence of nations without states represents a potential for the creation of new (nation) states.
V pričujoči raziskavi smo preučili strukturo, dejavnike in posledice politične kulture in državljanske participacije v postjugoslovanskih družbah. Uporabljenih je bilo več virov kvantitativnih podatkov, med drugim raziskava 2.178 študentov družboslovja v osmih postjugoslovanskih entitetah (M starost = 19,8 leta, SD = 1,89) ; reprezentativni vzorci Evropske raziskave vrednot (2008) ; pretekli valovi Svetovne raziskave vrednot (1995/8) in podatki raziskave jugoslovanske mladine (Jupio, 1986). Analiza na agregatni ravni je pokazala, da so v socioekonomsko manj razvitih okoljih (Kosovo, BiH in NJR Makedonija) v večji meri prisotni elementi podložniške politične kulture (Almond in Verba, 1963), v okviru katere so se kot ključni elementi na individualni ravni izkazali avtoritarnost, splošni tradicionalizem, tradicionalni pogled na spolne vloge in nacionalizem. Medentitetne razlike na merah ekonomske kulture (ekonomski egalitarizem in državni paternalizem) so povečini majhne in statistično neznačilne, saj vse entitete na obeh indikatorjih dosegajo visoke povprečne vrednosti. V skladu s predvidevanji dopolnjene modernizacijske teorije je demokratična politična kultura bolj koherentna v socioekonomsko bolj razvitih postjugoslovanskih državah, v nasprotju s teorijo pa manj razvite države dosegajo višje povprečne ravni državljanske participacije. Starost in socioekonomski status sta se izkazala za najmočnejša sociodemografska dejavnika politične kulture in državljanske participacije. Višje stopnje učinkovite demokracije (Inglehart in Welzel, 2007) dosegajo socioekonomsko bolj razvite države, ki izkazujejo tudi najvišje stopnje demokratične politične kulture. Longitudinalna analiza ni pokazala enotne smeri političnokulturnih sprememb ; slednje so v zadnjih dveh desetletjih bile v smeri večanja tako demokratičnih kot tudi nekaterih podložniških orientacij (npr. avtoritarnosti). Avtorji sklenejo, da proces demokratične konsolidacije, tako političnokulturne kot tudi institucionalne, v večini postjugoslovanskih družb še ni končan. Na koncu so predstavljene implikacije raziskave. ; The present study examined structures, determinants and consequences of political culture and citizen participation in post-Yugoslav societies. Several empirical data sources were employed, among others a survey of 2,178 social science students in eight post-Yugoslav entities (M age = 19.8 years, SD = 1.89) ; representative samples from European Values Study (2008), earlier waves of World Values Survey (1995/8) and a study of Yugoslav youth Jupio carried out in 1985. The aggregate level results indicated that socio-economically less developed entities (Kosovo, BiH, and FYR Macedonia) scored higher on subject political culture (Almond and Verba, 1963), which was at the individual level found to be characterized by its four core components: authoritarianism, general traditionalism, traditional gender roles attitudes, and nationalism. Between-country differences on measures of economic cultural orientations (economic egalitarianism and state paternalism) were largely minor or insignificant, since all entities scored high on both measures. As predicted by revised modernization theory democratic political culture was found to be more coherent in socioeconomically more developed post-Yugoslav countries. Inconsistent with modernization approach results demonstrated higher levels of citizen participation in less well-off countries. Age and socioeconomic status proved to be the most potent sociodemographic predictors of political culture and citizen participation. Finally, democracy was found to be more effective (Inglehart and Welzel, 2007) in socioeconomically more developed countries, which also scored highest on measures of democratic political culture. Longitudinal analysis did not uniformly confirm substantive political culture changes with changes in the last two decades taking place in both democratic as well as authoritarian direction. Authors conclude that the process of democratic consolidation, both political-cultural as well as institutional, is far from over in the majority of post-Yugoslav entities. Implications of the results are discussed.
Evropski parlament je politično telo, ki že dolgo časa razdvaja javnost. Njegovi nasprotniki po eni strani trdijo, da je tako politično in kulturno heterogen organ nezmožen učinkovitega delovanja, po drugi strani pa naj bi evropski poslanci hitro izgubili stik s svojimi volivci ter glasovali predvsem tako, kot jim to naročijo vodje skupin. Zanimalo nas je, če evropski poslanci glasujejo dovolj avtomatično in predvidljivo, da bi lahko rezultate glasovanj uspešno napovedovali z modelom strojnega učenja. Da smo zmanjšali časovno kompleksnost smo se odločili za napovedovaje rezultatov glasovanj po političnih strankah. Najprej smo implementirali spletne pajke, s katerimi smo pridobili čim več rezultatov glasovanj in z njimi povezanih podatkov. Iz teh smo nato z interdisciplinarno kombinacijo metod podatkovnega rudarjenja ter strokovnega geopolitičnega znanja izluščili značilke in zgradili model. Rezultati so pokazali približno 80% uspešnost napovedovanja rezultatov glasovanj (uteženi oceni f1 in roc-auc). Napovedovanje je bilo bistveno bolj uspešno pri strankah s proevropsko,liberalno in globalistično politično usmeritvijo kot to velja za evroskeptične, ekonomsko socialne in nacionalistične stranke. S tem smo dodatno podprli tezo o obstoju in pomembnosti nove nacionalistično-globalistične politične delitve. Poleg tega predstavlja problem tudi razred vzdržanih glasovanj, ki ga je težko napovedati že s pomočjo človeške inteligence. ; European parliament is the major political legislative body of the EU that causes divides in public opinion since its beginning. While some of its opponents usually point out its political and culutural heterogenity as a major weakness and cause of inability to function eciently, others claim that MEPs often quickly lose their connection with voters and vote mainly as it is directed to them by the leaders of their politival groups. We wanted to nd out if MEPs voting patterns are predictable enough to be successfully predicted with machine-learning based computer model. To reduce time complexity of the problem we rather focused on joint votes of (national) political parties than individual MEPs. At rst we implemented web crawlers that we used to extract as many roll-call voting oriented data as we can. Than we combined data mining with expert geopolitcal approach to extract the features and build a model for voting prediction. Our predictions were overall nearly 80% successful (weighted f1, roc-auc), however results vary greatly between political groups. It became clear that we could easily predict votes of coallition parties with liberal-globalist political orientation while eurosceptic, economic social and nationalist parties seemed to be much more unpredictable. With that information we further backed the importance of the new nationalist-globalist political cleavage. A challenge to the model presents also a class of votes of abstention, which is hard to successfully predict even with expert human-knowledge.
Magistrska naloga preučuje dejavnike, ki so povzročili evropsko migracijsko krizo v obdobju 2015/2016 in njihov vpliv na politično dogajanje v Evropski uniji. Čeprav se je Zahodna Evropa srečevala s problematiko migracij že v preteklosti, Evropska unija ni imela izdelane in sprejete ustrezne skupne migracijske politike. Migracije so postale pomembno politično vprašanje in glavna tema volilnih kampanj. Namen naloge je predstaviti vpliv problematike migracij na odločanje volivcev. Slednji je bil dosežen z analizo volitev nekaterih držav članic ter volitev v Evropski parlament v obdobju od leta 2015 do leta 2019. Ta je pokazala vzpon desnih populističnih in nacionalističnih strank, ki so podporo volivcev pridobivale predvsem s protimigrantsko retoriko. Glede na njihov vzpon se je pojavilo vprašanje, ali bi lahko porast moči teh strank vplival na način izvajanja skupne migracijske politike in na politično prihodnost Evropske unije. Na podlagi raziskovanja lahko ugotovimo, da migracije bistveno prispevajo k gospodarskemu in družbenemu razvoju posamezne države ter s tem posledično predstavljajo eno osrednjih predvolilnih tem. Rezultati volitev so sicer potrdili porast podpore tovrstnim strankam, vendar ne v tej meri, da bi v Evropskem parlamentu dobile moč oblikovati politično prihodnost Evropske unije. Na kompleksnost migracij vplivajo različni dejavniki, predstavljeni v magistrski nalogi, ki pripomorejo k razumevanju povezave problema migracij z dogajanjem v evropskem političnem prostoru. Ugotovili smo, da migracije predstavljajo pomembno politično vprašanje, saj so odprle ne samo politični, ampak tudi varnostni in ideološki diskurz združene Evrope, kar predstavlja nove izzive za oblikovanje nadaljnje skupne politike Evropske unije in zagotavljanje njene politične stabilnosti. ; This master thesis examines the factors that caused the European migration crisis in the period 2015-2016 and their impact on the political situation in the European Union. Even though Western Europe had encountered the problem of migration already in the past, the European Union did not develop and adopt a proper common migration policy. The issue of migration became an important political question and a central theme of election campaigns. The purpose of the thesis is to present the impact of the migration issue on voters' decision-making by analysing the national elections in some EU member states and the elections to the European Parliament during the 2015-2019 period. The analysis showed the rise of right-wing populist and nationalist parties that gained the support of the voters mainly by promoting their anti-immigration positions. That trend raised concerns on whether the growth in the power of those political parties could affect the implementation of the common migration policy and the European Union's political future. According to the data gathered, migration profoundly contributes to a country's economic and social development and is therefore among the main pre-election topics. Even though the election results confirmed that right-wing populist and nationalist parties were gaining increasing support, they were still not strong enough to gain power in the European Parliament and consequently change the political future of the European Union. There are different factors that affect the complexity of migration. These factors are presented in the master thesis and help understand the connection between migration issues and the European political situation. It was found that migration is one of the major political issues that has opened not only a political, but also an ideological and security discourse in the European context, which presents new challenges in further developing a common EU policy and ensuring its political stability.
