Suchergebnisse

One of the consequences of the collapse of the Soviet Union was the outbreak of several conflicts in the post-Soviet area and the emergence of the so-called para-states. Based on the systemic method of treating parastates as a system, internal and external influence factors will be indicated. The article aims to present the reasons for creating para-states and analyze internal and external determinants, i.e. attributes of their statehood as factors that guarantee their operation and ensure continued survival. In this context, the thesis was made that Russian political, economic, and military support for para-states ensures their functioning. Moreover, the article indicates the role of para-states in the Russian Federation's foreign policy towards the post- Soviet area, with which the central thesis of the article is related. It says that supporting para-states politically, financially, and militarily is one of the instruments of Russia's policy towards the post-Soviet area and is intended to keep it within the Russian sphere of influence.

Artykuł jest poświęcony miejscu obszaru poradzieckiego w rosyjskiej polityce zagranicznej od rozpadu Związku Radzieckiego w 1991 do 2021 roku. Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie znaczenia obszaru poradzieckiego w rosyjskiej polityce zagranicznej oraz celów i instrumentów tej polityki wobec obszaru poradzieckiego po rozpadzie ZSRR. W ciągu 30 lat po rozpadzie Związku Radzieckiego na obszarze poradzieckim miały miejsce procesy reintegracji i dezintegracji. Dochodziło do wielu konfliktów zbrojnych, stał się on także polem rywalizacji w stosunkach międzynarodowych. Federacja Rosyjska wykorzystuje wszelkie możliwe instrumenty oddziaływania, aby utrzymać kontrolę nad obszarem poradzieckim i nadal traktuje go jako wyłączną strefę wpływów Rosji i priorytetowy kierunek rosyjskiej polityki zagranicznej. The article is devoted to the post-Soviet area's place in Russian foreign policy from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 to 2021. The aim of this article is to present the importance of the post-Soviet area in Russian foreign policy and the goals and instruments of this policy towards the post-Soviet area after the collapse of the USSR. In the 30 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, reintegration and disintegration processes took place in the post-Soviet area. There were numerous armed conflicts, and it also became a field of competition in international relations. The Russian Federation uses all possible influence instruments to maintain control over the post-Soviet area and still treats it as the exclusive sphere of Russian influence and Russian foreign policy's priority direction.

The article deals with the evolution of the political system in the Slovak Republic following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia with an indication of the non-democratic trends emerging from 1993 to 2016. Based on democracy indicators, there are two periods in which manifestations of non-democratic behavior occured and they triggered a response from the international community in the form of criticism of the government's actions and lowering the democratic views of the country. The first period covers the years of Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar's rule ( 1993–1998), and the second one concerns the years 2006–2010 when Robert Fico's First Government was active. The author points out the causes, manifestations and effects of these non-democratic behaviors for the political system, internal and foreign policy of the Slovak Republic.

The book is an attempt at summarizing the 25 years of existence of the Visegrad Group asa regional formation, founded in 1991 under the name of the Visegrad Triangle, and only later, due to the break-up of Czechoslovakia, renamed to the Visegrad Group, from then on including four cooperating countries – the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. The work consists of five chapters that sketch the three dimensions of cooperation within the group: political, sectorial and civic. In the first chapter the author familiarizes the reader with the concepts of the region, regionalism, regional cooperation, the idea of the Central Europe, and then consequently presents the Visegrad Group against the backdrop of other regional formations that sprouted in the Central-Eastern Europe in the beginning of the 90s of the 20th century, as part of the wider trend of the period called the New Regionalism. The second chapter, dedicated to the creation and functioning of the Visegrad Group, discusses the genesis of the Group, the aims of cooperation in both the preaccession and postaccession period, the stages and mechanisms of cooperation, the attitudes of particular countries to the very idea of the visegrad cooperation and the motivations for creating this structure. The third chapter outlines the subject of the visegrad cooperation in reference to its four most important areas: political and economic coooperation within the group itself, cooperation within the European Union, cooperation in terms of the NATO membership, and cooperation with other partners, particularly with regards to the Visegrad plus formula. The fourth chapter tackles the activity of the only institutional structure the member countries of the Visegrad Group have formed, namely the International Visegrad Fund. The author analyses all of the forms of financial support such as grants, scholarships or artist-in-residence programs granted by the Fund as part of numerous programs within its offer. In the fifth chapter the author assesses the successes and failures of the Visegrad Group over the course of the twenty five years of its existence, points to the factors that have influenced, and will continue so, the development of the visegrad cooperation in both positive and negative ways, as well as attempts to sketch the future prospects of the Group.

One of the most important element of political and democratic transformation after 1989 in Central and Eastern European countries was the local government reform. The main aim of that reform was to renew the local government structure and replace the soviet system of councils which was highly centralized administrative and bureaucratic system. The introduction of territorial self‑government was considered as essential task in the process of political changes after fall of communism. The basic regulations of the local government system were included in the Constitutions, acts on local government and acts on free local elections adopted in ten Central and Eastern European countries which became the members of European Union in 2004 (Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary) and in 2007 (Bulgaria and Romania). The main principles of local government reform in Central and Eastern European countries were: — democratization and decentralization — autonomy from the central government — establishment of independent local budgets — property transformation — democratic local elections.

Łodziowa ambona z kościoła pw. św. św. Piotra i Pawła na Antokolu w Wilnie uchodzi w literaturze przedmiotu za realizację snycerską wykonaną w 1803 r. przez Giovanniego Borettiego i Niccola Piano, którzy mieli być specjalnie sprowadzeni z Mediolanu do remontu świątyni i jej dekoracji. Tymczasem obaj byli zwykłymi muratorami przybyłymi do Wilna jeszcze u schyłku XVIII w., Piano zmarł w 1802 r. Formalne cechy ambony wskazują natomiast, że została ona wykonana w latach 20. XVIII w. najpewniej według projektu Pietra Pertiego, współtwórcy znakomitego wystroju sztukatorskiego kościoła na Antokolu. Stało się to już po jego śmierci w 1714 r., a inicjatorem prac był prepozyt antokolski Piotr Procewicz, doktor filozofii i uznany kaznodzieja, który w 1737 r. objął prepozyturę kongregacji Bożego Ciała. Do świątyni kanoników regularnych laterańskich na Kazimierzu w latach 1740–1745 sprawił ambonę łodziową, wzorując ją na tej wystawionej w Wilnie.

Artykuł dotyczy rozwoju węgierskiej partii Fidesz w kontekście trzech dekad jej istnienia (1988–2018). Autorzy skupili się na przeprowadzeniu analizy ostatnich ośmiu lat jej działalności, ponieważ w tym okresie partia nieprzerwanie wygrywała kolejne wybory parlamentarne. Ukazano fenomen Fideszu, który z ugrupowania o proweniencji liberalnej i młodzieżowej przekształcił się w silną organizację konsolidującą środowiska prawicowe. Ponadto wyjaśniono mechanizmy oraz przybliżono efekty działań podjętych przez partię Viktora Orbána w celu utrzymania władzy na Węgrzech.

The book is an attempt to systematize the understanding of processes, which have been occurring in the past decades in four Central European states – Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary. The monograph has been divided into four chapters, encompassing selected issues related to the functioning of political systems of Visegrad Group states from the onset of political, economical and social transformations, which transpired after 1989. Chapter one examines theoretical, historical, and methodological problems related to circumstances of transformation processes in the selected Central European states and their further evolution. It also indicates at common and distinctive characteristics of Central European states, taking into account political-scientific and historical perspectives. The second chapter is devoted to the issue of the functioning of government entities within governmental systems of selected states. The political analysis has been divided into periods of functioning as socialist and democratic states. The next chapter indicates the changes that occurred on political scenes of the designated states in the period from before the democratic transformation until the present day. The analysis is conducted through the prism of maturing of political parties and their influence on public affairs. The fourth chapter analyzes the issues of foreign policy of Central European states, describing the creation of the Visegrad Triangle (and later – the Visegrad Group) as a forum of political and economical cooperation of three (and later – four) states in the context of integration with NATO and European Communities (and later – European Union). This publication exhibits Central Europe in terms of political science, regime, and history. The comparative property of the book, resulting from such perspective, can constitute a source for a general European analysis, as well as a more detailed case study of each of the four states described herein.

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to identify consumer buying behavior, sense of security on the market and basic economic knowledge among young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) – Asperger Syndrome, while the empirical goal is the development of conclusions and implications, which may be used in consumer strategies.


Design/methodology/approach
The research consisted of a pilot study and used the diagnostic survey method. A survey questionnaire of the own devising was used. The study used a purposive (arbitrary) sample. This was a non-probability respondent sample, consisting of subjective selection by researchers among a selected closed representative sample, the aim of which was to test the research tool (survey questionnaire) during the pilot study. The survey questionnaire was constructed on the basis of theoretical assumptions explaining consumer buying behavior and on a literature review regarding research conducted in this area. The study was conducted on adolescents aged between 16 and 19 years of age, 40 of whom suffered from ASD – Asperger syndrome and 50 of whom were without ASD – Asperger syndrome (control group).


Findings
The results indicate a limited range of consumer behaviors, a relatively poor sense of security in consumer (retail) spending and a limited understanding of fundamental consumer issues among young consumers with ASD – Asperger syndrome in comparison to people from the control group.


Practical implications
This study suggests that marketers should prepare diverse means of communication with consumers and a variety of sales strategies targeted at consumers with communication disorders. The research may be extended to include the large number of factors that influence consumer behavior among people with ASD – Asperger syndrome, together with the determination of the predictors. The factors contribute to a varying extent to constant changes in consumer behavior, which makes it necessary for longitudinal or even cyclical studies to be carried out. In further research, the research tool should be improved in terms of more precise questions relevant to a given issue and random sampling should be implemented.


Social implications
The research concept can be transferred to other vulnerable groups with communication disorders (e.g. with hearing disorders).


Originality/value
To the best of the author's knowledge, this study is the first to investigate selected aspects of consumer (and financial consumer) behavior among young people with ASD – Asperger syndrome.