Suchergebnisse

After the peace of Karlovitz, the Mureş River became the official border between the two great empires: the Habsburg and the Ottoman Empire. In this context was organized the military border Tisa-Mureş, and the first called to defend the region were the Serbs, recognized for their military skills. The authorities created the first militarized localities in the county of Arad simultaneously with the first arrival of Serb immigrants in this region. Their presence in the city of Arad and other settlements located on the right bank of the Mureş River changed the ethnic proportions in these areas.
The situation modified after Banat was conquered by Austrians and after the abolishment of the Tisa-Mureş military border. Most Serbs emigrated to the south of Mureş River and even in Russia, their share in the city and county of Arad decreasing significantly after the mid eighteenth century.

The review in 2003 of the territorial-administrative structure for the purpose of replacing the 10 districts with 32 districts, and the creation of 252 new administrative-territorial units of the first level was, to a certain extent, a return to the old administrative organization of the Soviet period.
Democratization of the society needs to change the focus towards local initiative and the strengthening of regional centers. The improvement of the administrative-territorial structure is an effective lever to encourage local initiative and to successfully implement the functioning of the public administration.
The logical organization of a State's territory contributes to the judicious ordering of state power and administration. It meets the general interest and fully meets the local needs and requirements contained in the administrative-territorial units.
The administrative organization of the territory must meet the judicious division of the territorial limits taking into account the traditions, mentalities and the needs for good governance and democratic criteria.
The option for a particular model of administrative-territorial organization must be the result of deep scientific investigation.
The territorial-administrative reform requires a thorough preparation. It is necessary to provide substantiation of political, economic, social and financial standing of such actions. The problem of financial resources, which primarily refers to training local taxation, is a vital issue. This is because it involves financial autonomy, a central component of local autonomy, without which the decentralization can not work. Insufficient training can lead to some unexpected consequences or compromising actions.
In organization and demarcation of territorial administrative units (by number, structure, size, etc.) the social, material, financial costs and all the activities related to them can not be neglected for a short, medium or long term.

This study submits to our attention some qualitative and quantitative aspects related to urban and semi urban habitat from the former Arad County in the eighteenth century. If in 1715 there were 6 market towns, at the end of the century were already 15. Based on the conscriptions, urbariums and census, I have tried to detect the evolution of market towns during the entire eighteenth century. Reform policy of the Habsburg absolutism has determined even an economic and demographic increase in the market towns of Arad County. Between those 15 market towns of the county existing in 1787 only Arad had obvious urban characteristics. Here was concentrated 6.15% of the county population. By comparison with other counties from Transylvania and Hungary, I have pursued to dignify and quantify different aspects of the urbanization degree in the Arad County registered in the eighteenth century. The development of market towns in Arad County has had the same evolution with those of Central and Eastern Europe, because the agrarian character of these localities was predominant. The evolution towards urbanization was evident along the eighteenth century both in terms of population growth and a great social mobility and also in light of the economic and municipal development. The transformations in the direction of modernization registered during the eighteenth century were the basement of the future process of urbanization of Arad County in the century that has followed.

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.

Public access to accurate and reliable information is vital for democracies and the media play a key role in informing citizens about the political process. While a large body of research shows that media exposure influences electoral behavior, less is known about the factors that shape people's propensity to actively search information about politics in the media. Based on explanatory models of political participation and using public opinion survey data, the results show that material endowments and education along with motivational variables largely explain why some people are more prone to seek political information in the media. The results illustrate the importance of defining media exposure to political messages as a form of cognitive involvement in politics as this analytical strategy provides valuable insights into the socio-economic inequalities that bias public access to information.

During the three decades of independence, in the Republic of Moldova has been undertaken
several actions regarding the territorial reorganization of the local power and administrative
mechanisms at subnational level. But these were insufficient, and in some
cases badly achieved, being ostentatiously rejected by the political actors and officials
from the state and local public authorities. In general, the reforms and restructuring of
the public administration at the local level and, implicitly, of the territorial organization
of the local public power, have been achieved according to the political tactics and
changes, but not on the basis of coherent strategies and with clearly defined goals.
Chronologically, the process of reforming the territorial organization of the local power
has covered three distinct stages:
First stage: perpetuation of the soviet-type centralized territorial administrative delimitation,
which covers the period from the declaration of Independence till the end of
the 1998.
Second stage: trying to build the territorial system of exercising the local public power
in the spirit of the decentralization and local autonomy principles, which lasted from
the end of the 1998 till 2003.
Third stage: returning to the centralized territorial organization of the local public
power, which started in 2003 and lasts until now. There was a return at the soviet
system of local public power organization; the number of local collectivities of the first
level was increased by 30% compared to the previous period.
In this article has been analyzed these three distinct stages of the reforming process of
the local power territorial organization in the Republic of Moldova.

The erosion of media trust raises concerns about the ways in which the conduit of political information could undermine citizens' trust in democracy. While a large body of research in western democracies shows that media trust is contingent on specific media-system, political and cultural factors pertaining to national contexts, little is known about the sources of media trust in the new democracies from Central and Eastern Europe. Based on statistical analyses of public opinion surveys, this research tests if levels of trust in various traditional (television, radio, written press) and alternative mediums (Internet and online social networks) are differentiated along political party lines and depending on media consumption patterns in post-communist Romania. The results reveal a stronger association between trust in political parties and trust in traditional mediums, while trust in online media is more strongly linked to consumption patterns. These findings have practical, theoretical and normative implications for the functioning of democracy in post-communist societies.

The European continent, under the urge of the events generated by the process of building Europe that has led to an enlargement of the external European Union borders towards the east, undergoes a process of alteration. No matter on which side of the EU border they may be, the citizens of the European countries are entitled to enjoy the fruit of welfare, security and freedom. The development of a coherent neighbourhood policy in Brussels becomes an imperative resulting from the need for communication and cooperation amongst people and countries.
No matter the view on the European Union external border, the dialogue on all levels of the society through the means of inter-university cooperation is a factor providing the communication needed for good neighbourhood. Thus, the stiff borders fade away. By setting up a university network comprising both partners from within and outside the European Union, a bond is established over the external border of the community. From this point of view, inter-university cooperation at the external borders of the European community turns into a promoter of good neighbourhood values.

More often than not, the State did not acknowledge the matrimonial norms as settled by the Church. This relation seems to have altered towards the end of the 19th century, when the State succeeded in imposing on the Church the respect for the general civil framework. Yet, the change was not radical. The Church and the State were still pretty connected. The State acknowledged the Church's right to be in charge with officiating marriages, with bed and home separation according to the requirements of each confession. However, the State had the right to supervise the civil and military status, the relationship between the spouses, legacy, legal guardianship, the issue of supporting children and spouses and many others. The Church admitted the involvement of the State in major demographic issues in an individual's life.
As time went by, the State became more and more complex while its legislation became ever more "lay". It is true that willy-nilly lay legislation borrowed norms and regulations belonging to Church's legislation. The frail State – Church dualism on family law was influenced by lay laws enforcing the lay legitimacy of important moments in man's life. Matrimonial laws as set out in 1894 were the most complex laws in the 19th century. Due to their clarity, they managed to put an end to misunderstandings between lay and Church authorities. Moreover, the matrimonial issues between different confessions were in favour of the State. Civil law very clearly favoured family and children's interests. They were all conceived to better supervise individual's education in a moral family where the Church would still have an influence.

There are examined the issues related to cross-border cooperation of local communities in the Republic of Moldova. It is examined the European and national regulatory framework on cross-border cooperation. There are examined the opportunities of local communities' cooperation from the Republic of Moldova within Euroregions. It is, also, elucidated the negative impact of the Counter-Reformation from 2003 on cross-border cooperation.

Divorce is, irrespective of the perspective of approaching the phenomenon from the point of view of the society typology, a form of social deviance that has as effect the dilution of family image and norms. We do not discuss here of a dilution of the traditional norms concerning family, as someone might misunderstand, it is an erosion of the idea of family in general. "Family" starts to have other forms than the "official" ones. Divorce is the last step in the process of erosion and dissolution of the central axis of the family – the marital couple. Despite the fact that we have considered the divorce as the last step in this process of dissolution, we have to admit the fact that, after the divorce, considering that the old couple had children, the existence of the family does not cease, it just takes a new form.
The research of the archives, preserved due to the parish notes (often duplicates), provides the opportunity of identifying the main issues at a certain epoch in the Romanian rural world concerning divorce and the act of divorcing. Our research is structured in two directions: 1. a broad one, through which we will make a quantitative analysis of the size of the phenomenon in the counties of Bihor and Satmar (by observing the particularities in the county seats) – in this way, we will try to calculate the divorce gross rate (by calculating the number of divorces at one thousand inhabitants); 2. the other direction, through a case study on the Greek-Catholic parishes of the diocese of Oradea, will pursue a rather qualitative analysis without ignoring the quantitative aspect. The choice of the Greek-Catholic parishes was made for several reasons: the first is the quality of the materials preserved; the second is the fact that the confession, unlike the Roman-Catholic one for instance, accepts the divorce, thus providing the opportunity of bringing to light the separations undoubtedly existing in the Catholic environment; the third is that we think that, by its position as compared to the two Churches (Catholic and Orthodox), the Uniate Church provides an image that is closer to the reality as shown on the level of the whole population in the region.

Divorce, common-law marriage and illegitimacy (irrespective of its forms) were, no matter the society typology as the phenomenon is approached, forms of social deviation that entailed the dilution of the family image and norms. We do not discuss here about a dilution of the traditional norms concerning family, as someone might misunderstand, it was an erosion of the idea of family in general. The "family" could acquire different forms as compared to the "official" one. Paradoxically, all these were not only the result of personal emancipation, when the youth broke from the traditional norms, which were strongly influenced by religious norms and values, and would have got involved in "dangerous and shameful relationships". The peasant "forgot" to marry his woman not out of emancipation. The theory of personal emancipation leading to the erosion of the idea of family through the dilution of traditional norms, which was valid from the urban perspective (here, due to the affirmation of modernity, the alterity of religious norms led to such relationships), was not supported in the peasant countryside.
The Church fought all these. In fact, the bishopric sent guidelines to priests to take steps against common-law marriages very often. Despite priests' endeavours, the results were not considerable. Few priests could boast (after the first recommendation) in their subsequent parish report to have significantly contributed to diminishing the number of common-law marriages in their parish. The Church faced another issue brought about by its long debate with the State to control the act of marriage. The marriage laws set out in 1894 were the most complex laws regulating the political-religious relations in the matrimonial field in the second half of the 19th century. Due to their clarity, they managed to put an end to the conflicts between the lay and church authorities. Moreover, the debate concerning matrimonial issues for different confessions ended, too, in favour of the State. The State managed to impose its authority in the matrimonial field. The Church was thus compelled to accept the increased competence of the State by introducing the civil documents. All these caused mutations that triggered very different behaviours. Nevertheless, the Church kept imposing religious marriage, divorce and re-marriage for all its parishioners. In such a situation, by analysing the evolution of common-law marriages from the perspective of the Church, we may notice that, on the level of the whole area we focused on, there was a greater easiness in approaching religious marriage after 1895, once the compulsory civil marriage was imposed. The perception of the divorce also changed when the civil matrimonial law was introduced at the end of 1894. Through a last effort, as the Church did not acknowledge lay divorce, they did not grant the right to a second marriage to the individuals. Moreover, from the perspective of the Church, the possible future marriage was considered as a mere common-law marriage, although the State approved of the divorce and the second marriage in which a divorced partner was involved.

The European Charter of Local Self-Government is, so far, the first and most important international political tool which guarantees the development of decentralization of public power and local autonomy. It represents the commitment of the Council of Europe's member country to promote in the internal organization of their states, a new distribution of functions and powers in order to support the development of subnational levels.
In carrying out the delimitation process of responsibilities between levels of public power's achievement we should start from the provisions of The European Charter of Local Self-Government which is based on institutional practices and structures, tested for decades in dozen of European countries. That means rationing, giving up improper structures, which would result the removing of the vertical power and as consequence the demolition of foundations on which inefficiency and corruption are based on. The necessity of transferring the resources and powers to the local level is dictated by a vital imperative – the strengthening of local public authorities' capacities and potential in order to locally provide a maximum volume of qualitative public services. This requires creating a clear and simple demarcation algorithm of responsibilities between the levels of exercise of public power.

The socio-professional element in marital options was extremely reduced taking into account that we have considered a rural area almost in its entirety. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, this world used to have a strong traditional propensity with a low number of professional options, as most inhabitants were mainly involved in agriculture. As a consequence, when speaking about the socio-professional determinism in choosing a marriage partner, we have to take into account the fact that most youth getting married had mostly rural professions. On the other hand, the socio-professional element was more active in urban area and in the environment dominated by Roman-Catholic or Reformed population.
The social and professional status undoubtedly had an important role in achieving and settling a family despite the reduced number of options. Personal emancipation and socio-professional status had a determining influence on choosing a partner. The phenomenon was more obvious in the city and towards the beginning of the 20th century in other rural places, where the traditional left room to a process of socio-economic modernisation under the influence of the increasing number of non-agricultural activities. As one can easily anticipate, these changes led to new mental perceptions and hence to a new reaction of the community. Deep changes could be noticed as this area joined an economic circuit leading to new mutations in several economic sectors. Economic development and the spreading of non-agricultural activities associated to urban development whose influence was ever growing entailed changes in family relations. There were also mutations in family relations, domestic group and household resources. These changes were not yet visible in all places in the region: some were still anchored in the traditional where the new had a hard time to penetrate, while major changes on the level of the collective mental could not be seized during the time we analysed.
The large scale analysis of the phenomenon has led to the conclusion that where there were better socio-professional options, their determinism on marriage could be identified as highly important. How can we determine the way in which the socio-professional element influenced marriage? To what extent a young man with a superior social and professional status had more marital options? To what extent other "constraints" (confession, ethnie, civil status, age, etc.) were less important when facing strong socio-professional determinism? More precisely, was a man with a superior socio-professional status wanted by many young women despite old age, his civil status as a widower or a divorcee, of if he had a different confession or ethnie? To identify the mechanism of this determinism, we suggest a more complex analysis where the socio-professional element should be corroborated with other marriage determinisms or constraints. From these premises, we will attempt to make a methodological analysis of the socio-professional status from three points of view: ethno-confessional element, civil status and age of partners.

The name is one of the essential basic elements of the identity of a local collectivity. The local collectivity is self-identified and individualized through its name, in relation to the other collectivities of the same type.
The name of local collectivities have functioned and developed during the centuries. Their meaning, content and evolution provide the valuable information concerning the evolution of local collectivities over time.
The return to the traditional names of local territorial collectivities was the first stage of the attempts to the territorial-administrative reform in Moldova.
Although, many localities have reestablished their historical names, the process is not ended. Still today, one can find in toponymic landscape of Moldova, the names of localities which are improper to the national spirit and historical traditions.
The procedure regarding the assignment or change of the designation and the return to the historical names of local collectivities is in the process of examination.