Suchergebnisse

The main objectives of the paper are to review the development of productivity indicators of the agricultural sectors in Lithuania and Germany and to discuss the role and potential contributions of the support measures in the Rural Development Programs. The paper will focus on sectorial productivity and profitability indicators included in the Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (CMEF) of rural development policy in the EU and carry out a comparative statistical analysis with policy support indicators over the period 2000 to 2011. The results of the analysis indicate that the impact of RDP funding on sectorial economic development is rather limited and other intervening factors play a much bigger role. Further case study analysis is required to examine the specific causal relationships between the main determinants of competitiveness and RDPs at regional level. This would create a better understanding of how specific regional factors can hinder or foster positive economic impacts of rural development measures on agricultural sectors in the EU.

The main objectives of the paper are to review the development of productivity indicators of the agricultural sectors in Lithuania and Germany and to discuss the role and potential contributions of the support measures in the Rural Development Programs. The paper will focus on sectorial productivity and profitability indicators included in the Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (CMEF) of rural development policy in the EU and carry out a comparative statistical analysis with policy support indicators over the period 2000 to 2011. The results of the analysis indicate that the impact of RDP funding on sectorial economic development is rather limited and other intervening factors play a much bigger role. Further case study analysis is required to examine the specific causal relationships between the main determinants of competitiveness and RDPs at regional level. This would create a better understanding of how specific regional factors can hinder or foster positive economic impacts of rural development measures on agricultural sectors in the EU.

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.

The interconnection between the environmental issues and national security is one of the pressing matters due to the rapid changes that are taking place in both areas. Resource scarcity
and environmental degradation are increasingly understood to play an important role in generating or exacerbating conflicts. One of the most important causes that contribute to this degradation is related to the mismanagement of water resources.This situation has an important
impact on all the activities related to the proper functioning of a community. This research aims taking into account the scarcity of the water resources and degradation of its quality as a challenge on the national security. The deplation and degradation of the water resources are a function of the physical vulnerability of the resource, the size of the resource consuming
population and the technologies and practices this population uses in this consumption behavior.

The article investigates the political mechanisms specific to contemporary Romanian politics and political parties, as well as those social representations related to gender roles and the
definition of family that have contributed to maintaining a low level of women participation in
Romanian politics after 1989. In a first part, it sets the conceptual context through a review of the
main theoretical approaches for the political representation of women, with an emphasis on
gender studies' cognitive dimension. Second, it connects a quantitative evaluation of women's
presence in the Romanian post communist parliament with a qualitative analysis of public (i.e.
mass media) discourse of the rejected legislative proposal to introduce gender quotas in various
political and social processes. The author finds that, beyond the dynamics of political elites'
recruitment and the functioning of the political "game", the ideological options and social
representations that emphasize the differences between men and women, as well the central role
of family in building gender roles play an essential part in maintaining a low number of women
within the Parliament.

The European Union is a rather new player in international relations. The European Union is neither a state nor international organization. With the accession to the European Union, the states transfer some attributes of sovereignty and, thus, the governing is done by the European Union mostly, taking part in its relations with third countries. At the same time, it contains some elements of the union (confederation, federation). Therefore, the European Union is more than an international organization. We find elements of the federation, confederation without being identified as such, being established on a system of organization. The European Union aims for integration of societies within a single economic, social, political, legal area. The European Union acts as a proper system based on an idea of creating strong Union bonds between the people of Europe, by establishing an internal market, an economical Union. The European Union, in its relations with the member states, keeps the ultimate goal that it has, being an international legal person, special competences, realizing common goals established with the member states. The legal basis of the European Union is represented by two treaties: the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The well-known Lisbon Treaty represents legally an amending treaty of the previous legal instruments - a compromise between the need for reform, on the one hand, and the need to live in a united Europe, on the other hand. The member states of the EU relate to two legal systems. As a result of their participation in an international organization with supranational character, Member States of the European Union assume a number of commitments with repercussions to their state sovereignty. The Member States coexist with the European Union. The European Union has become, along with its Member States, a matter of international law; even if it shows itself as a conglomerate of states - international organization; it is a union of states established by state attributes, an entity more complex and powerful, with a higher importance with its relations with the Member States, but also with an increased influence on international arena.