The European Union has introduced a most impressive integration project, which has the potential to establish a political unity not only in Europe, but also in the whole world. Since a sudden transition from one status (national state system) to another (supranational global governance) is hardly possible and the consequences are unpredictable, a gradual transition is recommended and it is more in favour by the EU. In other words, the EU integration process is a strategy aimed at "destruction" of the national state, which seeks full compliance with the terms of the social contract and the complete elimination of the anarchy. This strategy might be a new task or function of Europe.
The European Union has introduced a most impressive integration project, which has the potential to establish a political unity not only in Europe, but also in the whole world. Since a sudden transition from one status (national state system) to another (supranational global governance) is hardly possible and the consequences are unpredictable, a gradual transition is recommended and it is more in favour by the EU. In other words, the EU integration process is a strategy aimed at "destruction" of the national state, which seeks full compliance with the terms of the social contract and the complete elimination of the anarchy. This strategy might be a new task or function of Europe.
In national elections the results tend to become more 'nationalized': a homogeneous party offer all over the territory, less variation in the results per constituency & more homogeneous electoral swings. This article investigates whether this nationalization can also be witnessed at local elections. It focuses on two indicators: the party offer & the voting behavior. The party offer is the presence of the national parties on the local ballot paper, while the voting behavior looks at patterns of homogeneity across the municipalities. The answer to the question of nationalization is mixed. The Flemish & Walloon local elections display the same long-term trend as the national elections, but they keep their own local character. The heterogeneity of the local party offer clearly demonstrates the local specificity of the local elections, & consequently the voting behavior also differs from the voting behavior at national elections. We also find that the local elections in Wallonia are less nationalized than in Flanders. Although the local character of the local elections remains important, the newer parties -- Ecolo & Groen! -- show until 2000 a clear trend towards nationalization. Especially the extreme right Vlaams Belang shows positive scores on all indicators of nationalization since its first local appearance in 1982. Tables, Figures. Adapted from the source document.
The paper develops the insights laid out in the chapter The Trauma of Nation's De-localisation in the book Dramaturgy of National Identity (2005). In the contemporary world, delocalisation of nations is unavoidable and, in that sense, it represents a natural process of civilisation which reproduces national identity in a transnational form both in the country of emigration and of origin. However, for the nations with an incomplete story of territorial consolidation, the opening up to supra-nationalisation, emigration, and globalisation in general was unexpected and seemed infinite and destructive for the nation. The Lithuanian nation was affected by delocalisation, among other things, primarily by especially large-scale emigration. The nation is losing the feeling of integrity. Just 25 years ago, the ideal of the localisation of the nation – its concentration on a sovereign territory – prevailed. Global life economization, European supra-nationalization, and the failure to successfully complete the postcommunist transformation dealt a blow to the national ideal that actualised "one's own state". The "breaking up" of the nation was so unexpected that even nationalism did not actualise ethnocentrism. It was expected to be just temporary costs of post-communist transformation. However, presently, we have increasingly more arguments to prove that the post-communist transitional period has expired, therefore, the current trends have long-term prospects. The de-localization of the Lithuanian nation takes place not really as a natural process of civilisation, but rather as a response to the mainly unsuccessful end of post-communism in Lithuania. The situation is to be characterised by the metaphor of trauma. [.]
The paper develops the insights laid out in the chapter The Trauma of Nation's De-localisation in the book Dramaturgy of National Identity (2005). In the contemporary world, delocalisation of nations is unavoidable and, in that sense, it represents a natural process of civilisation which reproduces national identity in a transnational form both in the country of emigration and of origin. However, for the nations with an incomplete story of territorial consolidation, the opening up to supra-nationalisation, emigration, and globalisation in general was unexpected and seemed infinite and destructive for the nation. The Lithuanian nation was affected by delocalisation, among other things, primarily by especially large-scale emigration. The nation is losing the feeling of integrity. Just 25 years ago, the ideal of the localisation of the nation – its concentration on a sovereign territory – prevailed. Global life economization, European supra-nationalization, and the failure to successfully complete the postcommunist transformation dealt a blow to the national ideal that actualised "one's own state". The "breaking up" of the nation was so unexpected that even nationalism did not actualise ethnocentrism. It was expected to be just temporary costs of post-communist transformation. However, presently, we have increasingly more arguments to prove that the post-communist transitional period has expired, therefore, the current trends have long-term prospects. The de-localization of the Lithuanian nation takes place not really as a natural process of civilisation, but rather as a response to the mainly unsuccessful end of post-communism in Lithuania. The situation is to be characterised by the metaphor of trauma. [.]
The paper develops the insights laid out in the chapter The Trauma of Nation's De-localisation in the book Dramaturgy of National Identity (2005). In the contemporary world, delocalisation of nations is unavoidable and, in that sense, it represents a natural process of civilisation which reproduces national identity in a transnational form both in the country of emigration and of origin. However, for the nations with an incomplete story of territorial consolidation, the opening up to supra-nationalisation, emigration, and globalisation in general was unexpected and seemed infinite and destructive for the nation. The Lithuanian nation was affected by delocalisation, among other things, primarily by especially large-scale emigration. The nation is losing the feeling of integrity. Just 25 years ago, the ideal of the localisation of the nation – its concentration on a sovereign territory – prevailed. Global life economization, European supra-nationalization, and the failure to successfully complete the postcommunist transformation dealt a blow to the national ideal that actualised "one's own state". The "breaking up" of the nation was so unexpected that even nationalism did not actualise ethnocentrism. It was expected to be just temporary costs of post-communist transformation. However, presently, we have increasingly more arguments to prove that the post-communist transitional period has expired, therefore, the current trends have long-term prospects. The de-localization of the Lithuanian nation takes place not really as a natural process of civilisation, but rather as a response to the mainly unsuccessful end of post-communism in Lithuania. The situation is to be characterised by the metaphor of trauma. [.]
It is often suggested that the nationalization of local elections has increased. As a result, a hypothesis could be that the mutual differences between policy programs of local divisions of the same national party decrease. In this contribution, we focus on the local election of October 8th 2006 in order to analyze these mutual differences. The aim of this contribution is to measure the homogeneity or heterogeneity of the policy positions of the local divisions of national political parties, on a range of substantive issues on which they have the freedom to differ. Therefore, we compare the opinions of local party agents within the different party families. We use the results of a survey among the representatives of the local departments of the different political parties in the run-up to the local elections. Our research shows that, regarding to the selected questions, in general the local divisions speak with one voice. Our analysis does not indicate that there is a large mixture of visions between divisions of the same national party. Besides, this analysis shows that in general, the size of the municipality can seldom be used in indicating the relative disagreement within political families. This level of agreement is the largest within the green party & the smallest within the liberal family. Those are also the two parties of which the local agents say that the influence of supra-local party levels is small, compared to representatives of other political families. Tables. Adapted from the source document.
The institute of legal relations considering restoration of ownership rights is a specific constituent part of Lithuanian legal system, formation of which in Lithuanian law was determined by historical circumstances: the aggression that was inflicted on the independent Lithuanian Republic by occupant authorities in 1940, whereas the outcome of these actions was nationalization of all privately owned real estate. In 1990 when the independence of Lithuania was restored and the fact that property ownership rights of citizens, which were gained before occupation, are indefeasible and continuous was officially acknowledged, appropriate standard legal regulations were passed which would regulate these legal relations. Upon the order and conditions of these new regulations the restoration of ownership rights commenced. In Lithuania this process already continues since 1991 and, unfortunately, by the end of 2007 it is not yet fully completed. In this master's thesis the institute of restoration of ownership rights is analyzed through one of its constituent parts, i.e. by analyzing restoration of land ownership rights in the cities. This specific field has been chosen as an object of analysis because current situation in Lithuania allows coming to a valid conclusion that in the cities restoration of ownership rights is pursued at the slowest rates (e.g., in the city of Vilnius ownership rights were restored to only 11.37% of overall land, which is claimed in citizens' applications). When investigating this specific legal relations group of restitution, firstly the order of realization of the right to restore ownership rights to the land in the cities was thoroughly analyzed. In this particular part of the thesis the following issues were described and analyzed: which citizens are granted the right by the law to restore ownership rights; under what terms, what order and what documents the citizens are required to submit seeking to materialize this right; which government institutions and under what terms must they consider applications and make decisions about restoration of ownership rights to city land; what are the measures to restore ownership rights to previously owned land in the city; what kind of city land is classified as redeemable by the state and what are the ways for the state to compensate for this land. Having analyzed the order of implementation of the right to restore ownership rights to previously owned land in the city and its legal regulations, it was further gone into the causes which raise difficulties for this process to be carried out properly and timely, so that citizens can realize their right granted to them by the law to retrieve the land which is in the city territory or receive a proper compensation for it. The order and peculiarities of compensation for the land with securities, as one of the ways to pursue restoration of ownership to city land, is provided in the last part of the thesis.
The institute of legal relations considering restoration of ownership rights is a specific constituent part of Lithuanian legal system, formation of which in Lithuanian law was determined by historical circumstances: the aggression that was inflicted on the independent Lithuanian Republic by occupant authorities in 1940, whereas the outcome of these actions was nationalization of all privately owned real estate. In 1990 when the independence of Lithuania was restored and the fact that property ownership rights of citizens, which were gained before occupation, are indefeasible and continuous was officially acknowledged, appropriate standard legal regulations were passed which would regulate these legal relations. Upon the order and conditions of these new regulations the restoration of ownership rights commenced. In Lithuania this process already continues since 1991 and, unfortunately, by the end of 2007 it is not yet fully completed. In this master's thesis the institute of restoration of ownership rights is analyzed through one of its constituent parts, i.e. by analyzing restoration of land ownership rights in the cities. This specific field has been chosen as an object of analysis because current situation in Lithuania allows coming to a valid conclusion that in the cities restoration of ownership rights is pursued at the slowest rates (e.g., in the city of Vilnius ownership rights were restored to only 11.37% of overall land, which is claimed in citizens' applications). When investigating this specific legal relations group of restitution, firstly the order of realization of the right to restore ownership rights to the land in the cities was thoroughly analyzed. In this particular part of the thesis the following issues were described and analyzed: which citizens are granted the right by the law to restore ownership rights; under what terms, what order and what documents the citizens are required to submit seeking to materialize this right; which government institutions and under what terms must they consider applications and make decisions about restoration of ownership rights to city land; what are the measures to restore ownership rights to previously owned land in the city; what kind of city land is classified as redeemable by the state and what are the ways for the state to compensate for this land. Having analyzed the order of implementation of the right to restore ownership rights to previously owned land in the city and its legal regulations, it was further gone into the causes which raise difficulties for this process to be carried out properly and timely, so that citizens can realize their right granted to them by the law to retrieve the land which is in the city territory or receive a proper compensation for it. The order and peculiarities of compensation for the land with securities, as one of the ways to pursue restoration of ownership to city land, is provided in the last part of the thesis.
The institute of legal relations considering restoration of ownership rights is a specific constituent part of Lithuanian legal system, formation of which in Lithuanian law was determined by historical circumstances: the aggression that was inflicted on the independent Lithuanian Republic by occupant authorities in 1940, whereas the outcome of these actions was nationalization of all privately owned real estate. In 1990 when the independence of Lithuania was restored and the fact that property ownership rights of citizens, which were gained before occupation, are indefeasible and continuous was officially acknowledged, appropriate standard legal regulations were passed which would regulate these legal relations. Upon the order and conditions of these new regulations the restoration of ownership rights commenced. In Lithuania this process already continues since 1991 and, unfortunately, by the end of 2007 it is not yet fully completed. In this master's thesis the institute of restoration of ownership rights is analyzed through one of its constituent parts, i.e. by analyzing restoration of land ownership rights in the cities. This specific field has been chosen as an object of analysis because current situation in Lithuania allows coming to a valid conclusion that in the cities restoration of ownership rights is pursued at the slowest rates (e.g., in the city of Vilnius ownership rights were restored to only 11.37% of overall land, which is claimed in citizens' applications). When investigating this specific legal relations group of restitution, firstly the order of realization of the right to restore ownership rights to the land in the cities was thoroughly analyzed. In this particular part of the thesis the following issues were described and analyzed: which citizens are granted the right by the law to restore ownership rights; under what terms, what order and what documents the citizens are required to submit seeking to materialize this right; which government institutions and under what terms must they consider applications and make decisions about restoration of ownership rights to city land; what are the measures to restore ownership rights to previously owned land in the city; what kind of city land is classified as redeemable by the state and what are the ways for the state to compensate for this land. Having analyzed the order of implementation of the right to restore ownership rights to previously owned land in the city and its legal regulations, it was further gone into the causes which raise difficulties for this process to be carried out properly and timely, so that citizens can realize their right granted to them by the law to retrieve the land which is in the city territory or receive a proper compensation for it. The order and peculiarities of compensation for the land with securities, as one of the ways to pursue restoration of ownership to city land, is provided in the last part of the thesis.
The institute of legal relations considering restoration of ownership rights is a specific constituent part of Lithuanian legal system, formation of which in Lithuanian law was determined by historical circumstances: the aggression that was inflicted on the independent Lithuanian Republic by occupant authorities in 1940, whereas the outcome of these actions was nationalization of all privately owned real estate. In 1990 when the independence of Lithuania was restored and the fact that property ownership rights of citizens, which were gained before occupation, are indefeasible and continuous was officially acknowledged, appropriate standard legal regulations were passed which would regulate these legal relations. Upon the order and conditions of these new regulations the restoration of ownership rights commenced. In Lithuania this process already continues since 1991 and, unfortunately, by the end of 2007 it is not yet fully completed. In this master's thesis the institute of restoration of ownership rights is analyzed through one of its constituent parts, i.e. by analyzing restoration of land ownership rights in the cities. This specific field has been chosen as an object of analysis because current situation in Lithuania allows coming to a valid conclusion that in the cities restoration of ownership rights is pursued at the slowest rates (e.g., in the city of Vilnius ownership rights were restored to only 11.37% of overall land, which is claimed in citizens' applications). When investigating this specific legal relations group of restitution, firstly the order of realization of the right to restore ownership rights to the land in the cities was thoroughly analyzed. In this particular part of the thesis the following issues were described and analyzed: which citizens are granted the right by the law to restore ownership rights; under what terms, what order and what documents the citizens are required to submit seeking to materialize this right; which government institutions and under what terms must they consider applications and make decisions about restoration of ownership rights to city land; what are the measures to restore ownership rights to previously owned land in the city; what kind of city land is classified as redeemable by the state and what are the ways for the state to compensate for this land. Having analyzed the order of implementation of the right to restore ownership rights to previously owned land in the city and its legal regulations, it was further gone into the causes which raise difficulties for this process to be carried out properly and timely, so that citizens can realize their right granted to them by the law to retrieve the land which is in the city territory or receive a proper compensation for it. The order and peculiarities of compensation for the land with securities, as one of the ways to pursue restoration of ownership to city land, is provided in the last part of the thesis.
The analysis of political, legal, economic, social, and managerial aspects of the soviet party resolutions, legal acts, research findings and numerous media materials of the kolkhoz times was carried out to verify the main methodological approach of the monography: "the authorities of the Soviet Union created institutions that were subordinated and controlled by them and were supposed to depict their representative nature in fact ruled the occupied territory of Lithuania through them under repressive structures" (please refer to the chapter Methodological approach). The research in soviet times was difficult due to the soviet reality: one was thought (ideas of the party dictatorship), the second was declared (legal acts, censored press or radio) and the third was implemented (actual handling of the lives of village people). This apocalyptic triad strongly oppressed the villages of occupied Lithuania. In Russia, kolkhozes were established under different circumstances. It was mainly determined by the community tradition obshchina that was characteristic to Russia of the second half of the 20th century. The reform of P. Stolypin which was intended to create European style farms ruled by land owners and not by communities collapsed. After 1917 October revolution Lenin signed a decree that land belongs to the ones who work it which had provoked the civil war and destroyed farming. Nationalization of the land and compulsory expropriation of food had led to unprecedented famine in Russia. The destruction of land ownership in Russia led to forced collectivization by Stalin which ended in 1937 resulting in assignment of 93 percent of villagers and 99 percent of all cultivated land to kolkhozes. The peasants and rustics who hoped for land from bolsheviks were painfully deceived – they became kolkhozers with no land and rights. After the Declaration of Independence of Lithuania in 1918, the land reform became the most important goal of the state. During the first three years of Independence 40 thousand hectares of land were distributed to war volunteers and their families. In 1923-1926 the land reform accelerated. By the end of 1937 10.642 war volunteers were granted land. The success of the land reform was mainly due to the prelate Mykolas Krupavičius. Cooperatives were well developed in Independent Lithuania and farmers were significantly supported by such cooperatives as Lietūkis, Pienocentras, Maistas, later by Linas and Sodyba. During 20 years of Independence Lithuania became the 3rd butter exporter in Europe and 5th in the world. At that time Lithuania was also the main exporter of meat (bacon), linseed and linen. In 1919–1939, 159 118 farmsteads were set up in Lithuania. It was convenient, economical and practical to have a homestead and fields on the same land plot. About 300 000 farmsteads were established during this time. Village communities were established. During 20 years of Independent Lithuania, such institutions as Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Agricultural Academy in Dotnuva, Veterinary Academy in Kaunas, and 6 other higher education institutions of agriculture were launched. The monograph presents the overview of the challenges the occupied Lithuanian villages faced according in different times of kolkhoz development.
The analysis of political, legal, economic, social, and managerial aspects of the soviet party resolutions, legal acts, research findings and numerous media materials of the kolkhoz times was carried out to verify the main methodological approach of the monography: "the authorities of the Soviet Union created institutions that were subordinated and controlled by them and were supposed to depict their representative nature in fact ruled the occupied territory of Lithuania through them under repressive structures" (please refer to the chapter Methodological approach). The research in soviet times was difficult due to the soviet reality: one was thought (ideas of the party dictatorship), the second was declared (legal acts, censored press or radio) and the third was implemented (actual handling of the lives of village people). This apocalyptic triad strongly oppressed the villages of occupied Lithuania. In Russia, kolkhozes were established under different circumstances. It was mainly determined by the community tradition obshchina that was characteristic to Russia of the second half of the 20th century. The reform of P. Stolypin which was intended to create European style farms ruled by land owners and not by communities collapsed. After 1917 October revolution Lenin signed a decree that land belongs to the ones who work it which had provoked the civil war and destroyed farming. Nationalization of the land and compulsory expropriation of food had led to unprecedented famine in Russia. The destruction of land ownership in Russia led to forced collectivization by Stalin which ended in 1937 resulting in assignment of 93 percent of villagers and 99 percent of all cultivated land to kolkhozes. The peasants and rustics who hoped for land from bolsheviks were painfully deceived – they became kolkhozers with no land and rights. After the Declaration of Independence of Lithuania in 1918, the land reform became the most important goal of the state. During the first three years of Independence 40 thousand hectares of land were distributed to war volunteers and their families. In 1923-1926 the land reform accelerated. By the end of 1937 10.642 war volunteers were granted land. The success of the land reform was mainly due to the prelate Mykolas Krupavičius. Cooperatives were well developed in Independent Lithuania and farmers were significantly supported by such cooperatives as Lietūkis, Pienocentras, Maistas, later by Linas and Sodyba. During 20 years of Independence Lithuania became the 3rd butter exporter in Europe and 5th in the world. At that time Lithuania was also the main exporter of meat (bacon), linseed and linen. In 1919–1939, 159 118 farmsteads were set up in Lithuania. It was convenient, economical and practical to have a homestead and fields on the same land plot. About 300 000 farmsteads were established during this time. Village communities were established. During 20 years of Independent Lithuania, such institutions as Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Agricultural Academy in Dotnuva, Veterinary Academy in Kaunas, and 6 other higher education institutions of agriculture were launched. The monograph presents the overview of the challenges the occupied Lithuanian villages faced according in different times of kolkhoz development.
The analysis of political, legal, economic, social, and managerial aspects of the soviet party resolutions, legal acts, research findings and numerous media materials of the kolkhoz times was carried out to verify the main methodological approach of the monography: "the authorities of the Soviet Union created institutions that were subordinated and controlled by them and were supposed to depict their representative nature in fact ruled the occupied territory of Lithuania through them under repressive structures" (please refer to the chapter Methodological approach). The research in soviet times was difficult due to the soviet reality: one was thought (ideas of the party dictatorship), the second was declared (legal acts, censored press or radio) and the third was implemented (actual handling of the lives of village people). This apocalyptic triad strongly oppressed the villages of occupied Lithuania. In Russia, kolkhozes were established under different circumstances. It was mainly determined by the community tradition obshchina that was characteristic to Russia of the second half of the 20th century. The reform of P. Stolypin which was intended to create European style farms ruled by land owners and not by communities collapsed. After 1917 October revolution Lenin signed a decree that land belongs to the ones who work it which had provoked the civil war and destroyed farming. Nationalization of the land and compulsory expropriation of food had led to unprecedented famine in Russia. The destruction of land ownership in Russia led to forced collectivization by Stalin which ended in 1937 resulting in assignment of 93 percent of villagers and 99 percent of all cultivated land to kolkhozes. The peasants and rustics who hoped for land from bolsheviks were painfully deceived – they became kolkhozers with no land and rights. After the Declaration of Independence of Lithuania in 1918, the land reform became the most important goal of the state. During the first three years of Independence 40 thousand hectares of land were distributed to war volunteers and their families. In 1923-1926 the land reform accelerated. By the end of 1937 10.642 war volunteers were granted land. The success of the land reform was mainly due to the prelate Mykolas Krupavičius. Cooperatives were well developed in Independent Lithuania and farmers were significantly supported by such cooperatives as Lietūkis, Pienocentras, Maistas, later by Linas and Sodyba. During 20 years of Independence Lithuania became the 3rd butter exporter in Europe and 5th in the world. At that time Lithuania was also the main exporter of meat (bacon), linseed and linen. In 1919–1939, 159 118 farmsteads were set up in Lithuania. It was convenient, economical and practical to have a homestead and fields on the same land plot. About 300 000 farmsteads were established during this time. Village communities were established. During 20 years of Independent Lithuania, such institutions as Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Agricultural Academy in Dotnuva, Veterinary Academy in Kaunas, and 6 other higher education institutions of agriculture were launched. The monograph presents the overview of the challenges the occupied Lithuanian villages faced according in different times of kolkhoz development.
