In November 2023 local elections were held in Moldova, during which heads of administrations of settlements and members (councilors) of local councils were elected. The election results showed that the popularity of the ruling pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) has declined significantly over the past two years. PAS candidates failed to win the mayoral elections in Chisinau and other major cities of Moldova. At the same time, the elections also demonstrated the weakness of the opposition, represented primarily by the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM). The success of the new centrist National Alternative Movement (MAN) in the elections to the Chisinau Municipal Council became a sensation of the elections. Analyzing the results of local elections, the author concludes that electoral cleavages persist in Moldova due to socio-cultural and ethnolinguistic factors.
The article is devoted to ideological and political changes of the British Labour Party in the late XXth and at the beginning of the XXIst centuries. The author considers the main characteristic features of the British Labourism, the causes of the Labour Party's crisis in the late 70-s, and the ideological renewal of the party during the following years. The modernization of the Labour Party under Tony Blair's leadership, main principles of "The New Labourism" and "The Third Way", and the evolution of the Labour Party under Blair's successors are also thoroughly analyzed. The author comes to a conclusion that the New Labourism wasn't a rupture with Labour tradition, but rather its new interpretation.
The author proposes an investigation into the alter-globalization movement. The movement's origin and development, its aims, organizational principles, participants and the role of Internet in its ascent are considered. The main ideological trends within the alter-globalization movement are also analyzed in the article. A conclusion is made that the alter-globalization is a new social and political phenomenon. It essentially differs from the XXth century political parties and movements. The article also considers the causes of the present crisis of the alter-globalization movement.
The article is devoted to the investigation of key social and political factors forming Russia's investment image. The author notes that investment attractiveness of Russia is now on a low level and tries to discover the causes of this phenomenon. In the article the meaning of such concepts as "investment image", "investment climate", "business climate" is explained. The author stresses that improvement of the investment climate in the country is the precondition of the change for the better of its investment image. Examining main factors of political risk in Russia he arrives at a conclusion that these factors are connected with the peculiarities of the present model of Russian "crony" capitalism combining the elements of bureaucratic and speculative trade capitalism. In the author's view, the uncontrolled rule of bureaucracy, reinforced by "statism", to a considerable extent deteriorates the investment climate in Russia. Thus, a conclusion is drawn that the modernization of political system is an important prerequisite of improvement of Russia's investment image.
The article is devoted to the evolution of the West European social democracy in the late 20th and early 21st century. The author analyses the causes of the social democracy crisis in 1980-90s and considers its attempts to meet the challenges of globalization and the "new economy". Modernization of the British Labour Party under Tony Blair's leadership and updating of the German Social Democratic Party initiated by Gerhard Schröder are thoroughly examined in the article. Political and ideological processes ongoing in such parties as the French Socialist Party, the Dutch Labour Party, the Swedish Social Democratic Party, the Austrian Social Democratic Party are also considered. The author comes to a conclusion that the radical shift towards social liberalism took place merely in the British Labour Party. Schröder's attempt to modernize the German Social Democratic Party turned out to be unsuccessful, while other European social democratic parties did not regard Blair's "Third Way" as a suitable model for them.
The rise of the right-wing populism has become a distinguishing feature of the political life of European countries at the beginning of the 21st century. Over the last 20—25 years, right-wing populist parties have turned from once marginal associations into an important component of the partypolitical system of the EU countries. The key components of the ideology of the parties of this type include ethno-cultural nationalism, anti-immigrant attitudes, anti-globalism, and euroscepticism. Similarly to other populists, their representatives claim to express the interests of the "true" people, which they understand as an organic unity that is opposed to the self-serving and morally degraded establishment. The German version of right-wing populism manifests itself in the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which stands somewhat apart from the European right-wing populist organizations and differs from most of them in its genesis. The AfD was founded in 2013 by the conservatives and national liberals and in the first few years of its existence it used to be in fact a national conservative eurosceptic party. Although later its right-wing component became stronger, the party still decisively dissociates itself from right-wing radicalism and denies any connection with the German right-wing tradition. The preservation of the national and cultural identity of Germany, the restriction of the influx of immigrants, the rejection of the euro and the transformation of the European Union into an association of sovereign states are among the most important AfD's principles set out in the party platform. The electoral base of the AfD consists of those Germans who lose out from globalization, do not accept multiculturalism and are concerned about the influx of migrants from other cultures into Germany. The party is most popular in the eastern lands of Germany. In addition to the extreme right movement, which gravitates towards right-wing radicalism, the party also retains a moderate conservative one. Nevertheless, the AfD remains a party that no one wants to "shake hands" with and has almost no chance of entering power.
