Suchergebnisse

The EU is bound to respect the national identities of Member States. States might, at occasions, define their national identities in ways that breach inclusive constitutional values (e.g. equality) protected under TEU Article 2. The assumption behind the recognition of diverse constitutional identities is the peaceful coexistence of both, which is challenged by illiberal national developments. Instead, we see a zero-sum game between the constitutional recognition of exclusive values (e.g. dominant ethnicity or religion) and inclusive constitutional values; every gain by the proponents of emergent authoritarianism translates to a loss on the side of constitutional democracy. While exclusive norms appear in virtually every constitutional system, a critical mass of exclusive values can lead to the hollowing out of a democratic order, both on the national and on the supranational level. To try to draw the line where this shift happens, we are relying on the limits of toleration, and recognition, of exclusive norms and identity elements of minority communities in liberal theories of multiculturalism (e.g. Raz, Taylor, Kymlicka). We think that the case of illiberal minorities raise structurally similar theoretical questions, insights, and experiences than the dilemma defined above, the challenge of illiberal Member States undermining EU fundamental values.

This paper aims to give a comprehensive picture of the objectives and perspectives behind the creation of the Central European Initiative (CEI). It also analyzes the role of CEI in the political, economic and social transition in the post-Socialist states. The article studies how CEI helped the integration of the Central European countries to the Western institutions, especially to the European Union (EU). The cooperation was founded in 1989 by Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Yugoslavia. It was unique and special in the era, as it had member states from totally different political and economic blocks. There are more approaches to explain the creation of this cooperation. According to the Liberal one, the founder states wished to create a flexible platform for the cooperation of countries from different blocks. This was also a political initiative to overcome on the divisions of bipolarity and the Cold War. The laid down political objectives in the official documents included the values represented by the European institutions. These values were adopted by the post-Socialist states. At the project level, the initiatives of CEI indirectly contributed to the economic and social transition in these countries. CEI and EU progressively built their close relations, and the support of EU integration became the mission of CEI. If we study the EU accessions in the region, we can state, CEI had a successful and important role in bringing closer the post-Socialist states to the EU.

The fragmentation of the Montenegrin society is significant, in terms of identities, ethnic groups and political values as well. However, the subsidized nature of the alternative of joining the EU is significant and almost unified, which can not be stated in the case of the NATO membership at all. The above mentioned fragmentation goes also with strong political division but the internal conflicts of the past 20 years have not led to violent occurrences, civil war, which can be considered a remarkable phenomenon among the Western-Balkan relations. The country is characterized by organized crime, nepotism, the presence of clan-like phenomena, corruption and the underdevelopment of democratic culture. Among the tasks of Montenegro regarding its accession to the EU, besides strengthening the jurisdiction, reducing the political nature of the administration, the fight againstorganized crime and in this context the elimination of the extensive corruption are prominently included.

This article considers the relationship between centralised, exogenous institutions and the embedded, endogenous institutions of rural governance in Europe through an examination of the evaluation procedures of the European LEADER programme. LEADER is presented in the literature as progressive in terms of innovation and stakeholder engagement. Yet, while the planning and management of LEADER embraces heterogeneity and participation, programmatic evaluation is centralised and is held at arms length from the delivery organisations. The article reviews previous efforts to improve evaluation in LEADER and considers alternative strategies for evaluation, contrasting LEADER practice with participatory evaluation methodologies in the wider international context. Can evaluation in itself be valuable as a mode of social learn-ing and hence a driver for endogenous development in rural communities in Europe? The article concludes by examining the challenges in producing a hybrid form of evaluation that accommodates both endogenous and exogenous values.

Considering the recent series of events and intensified diplomatic and economic relations, many experts envisage a new Cold War between the two superpowers of the twenty-first century. Although the Chinese-American relationship over the last half-century has experienced some great moments, it has mostly been characterised by less amicable or even hostile attitudes, as well as economically volatile competition. The pragmatic realist approach and diplomatic appeasement of the 1970s and 1980s served mutual interests for the two countries against their common foe, the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, concerning their political values and visions, the democratic US and the Marxist-Maoist People's Republic of China have proven to be two irreconcilable political and social experiments, worlds apart from each other's spheres and paradigms. Within the context of the drastically altered global political milieu of the new millennium, the two great powers have manoeuvred themselves into heated confrontational positions over the last decade, not even excluding the possibility of a severe clash of interests in the future.

As a starting point, the study underlines that one cannot speak about a homogenous Slovak nation and politics in the middle of the 19th century; therefore, it gives an overview of the plebeian-middle-class movement, of its system of values, programme, and documents in 1848—1849, 1861, and in the period of the Compromise negotiations. Afterwards, it presents the nobility of Upper Hungary, with a Slovak mother tongue and ethnic feeling, who, according to its identity in the framework of the states, has belonged to the feudal Natio Hungarica. As the narrower focus of the study, the author takes the Slovak perspective and summarizes the ethnic dimensions of the activity of parliaments in 1861 and from 1865 on. The Slovak national movement could not send its own deputy, the interests of the Slavs of northern Hungary thus being represented by Adolf Dobriansky, born as a Ruthenian; however, the Nationalities Law, Art. 1868: XLIV. could be codified rather due to the mentioned Slovak-speaking nobility, standing behind the party of Ferenc Deák. Finally, we are provided a picture of the rival programmes of different newspapers that divided the Slovak public opinion, and in connection with the law we can read about their first reactions and experiences.

The aim of our study is to reveal the relationship between doing sports and persistence among higher education students in the Northern Great Plain Region of Hungary and especially among Hungarian minority students in Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and the Ukraine. The theoretical background of the research is based on the developmental model (Brohm, 2002; Miller, Marchant, Polman, Clough, Jackson, Levy, & Nicholls, 2009; Melnick, Barnes, Farrel,l & Sabo, 2007) as well as Tinto's (1975) and Pascarella and Terenzini's (1980) institutional integration model. For the analyses, we used the database of the Center for Higher Education Research and Development (CHERD-H), which includes the higher education institutions in the border regions of the five countries under investigation (Hungary, Slovakia, the Ukraine, Romania and Serbia) (IESA 2015, N=2,017). According to our results, despite of the integration model theory, university sports membership decreases the level of persistence regardless of gender, country and social background. However, comparative analyses show that non-university sports club membership conveys values like appreciating the usefulness of learning and commitment to successfully complete exams and learning requirements. University and non-university sports club members mostly agree that they want to achieve the best possible learning outcomes.

The importance of green and renewable energy sources, as well as environmental awareness, is playing an increasing role in our lives as we move forward in time. Even at the conceptual level, it is already understandable and clear to most people what should or could be done to protect the Earth. The use of renewable energy sources, such as the energy of the sun, wind, water, and geothermal energy all contribute to the development of the environmental values of the individual and society, which is shaped by knowledge and moral convictions about the environment. As irresponsible energy-wasting behavior is unsustainable in the long run and can lead to the depletion of natural resources, the use of alternative energy sources can provide a solution to this global problem. For this reason, the main goal of the representative research is to examine the possibilities of using and applying green and renewable energy sources in the case of all 25 settlements of the micro-region of Gyöngyös in the region of Northern Hungary. A questionnaire survey was used as the primary research method, the aim of which is to explore the extent of local governments' investments in renewable energy sources, and what other methods these local governments contribute to the development of environmental awareness of the local population. Based on the results obtained, according to the investments of the local governments, solar energy (e.g. solar panels) is the most efficient energy source, which is closely followed by the use of biomass. Developments and investments related to renewable energy are implemented to a significant extent from domestic or European Union tender sources. The amount of renewable energy investments planned in the future is expected to be between HUF 10 and 25 million in the case of smaller local governments, and more than HUF 100 million in the case of larger local governments. ; A zöld- és megújuló enerigaforrások, valamint a környezettudatosság jelentősége egyre nagyobb szerepet játszik az életünkbe, ahogy haladunk előre az időben. Fogalmi meghatározás szintjén is, már a legtöbb ember számára érthető és egyértelmű, hogy mit kellene vagy lehetne tenni a Föld megóvása érdekében. A megújuló energiaforrások használata, mint pl. a nap-, szél-, folyóvizek energiája, illetve a geotermikus energia, mind hozzájárulnak az egyén és a társadalom környezeti értékrendjeinek fejlődéséhez, melyet a környezetről alkotott tudás és morális meggyőződés alakít ki. Mivel a felelőtlen energiapazarló magatartás hosszútávon nem fenntartható, és a természeti erőforrások kimerüléséhez vezethet, így az alternatív energiaforrások használata nyújthat megoldást erre a világméretű problémára. Ennek okán, a reprezentatív kutatás legfőbb célja, a zöld- és megújuló energiaforrások felhasználási és alkalmazási lehetőségeinek vizsgálata, az Észak-magyarországi régióban található Gyöngyösi járás mind a 25 településének esetében. Elsődleges kutatási módszerként kérdőíves megkérdezés került alkalmazásra, melynek célja, hogy az önkormányzatok megújuló energiaforrásokkal kapcsolatos beruházásainak mértékét feltárja, illetve, hogy ezek az önkormányzatok milyen egyéb módszerekkel járulnak hozzá a helyi lakosság környezettudattosságának fejlesztéséhez. A kapott eredmények alapján, az önkormányzatok beruházásai szerint a napenergia (pl. napelemek) a leghatékonyabb energiaforrás, amelyet szorosan követ a biomassza felhasználás. A megújuló energiához kapcsolódó fejlesztések és beruházások jelentős mértékben hazai vagy európai uniós pályázati forrásokból valósulnak meg. A jövőben tervezett megújuló energia beruházások összege, a kisebb önkormányzatok esetében várhatóan többnyire 10 - 25 millió forint között lesz, a nagyobb helyi önkormányzatok esetében pedig, több mint 100 millió forint.