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This article deals with the present mechanism of political parties funding in Lithuania. Although the legislator of Lithuania has passed laws that should have influence on prevention of corruption in politics, but the results of quantitative & qualitative researches show that the rules concerned with funding of parties are not enough effective de facto. In this article author analyzes in detail the particularities of private & public funding models of political parties & expand the concept that in a modern democracy it is necessary not to choose one of those patterns, but try to combine them effectively. The author concludes that the main obstacle for the transparent funding of political parties in Lithuania is "the corrupted mentality" which regulations are not able to surmount yet. Adapted from the source document.

The article deals with the analysis of the role of ideology in party activities. The empirical data show that ideology is not important part of party activities. In Lithuanian political map we can notice just one type of cleavage, ie., Communist -- anti-Communist cleavage. According to the data of empirical research, elite of party deputy dominates in institutionalized ways & sets the direction towards ideological position of the party. Interviews with the authorities of main political parties in Lithuania were conducted in 2007. The results of the interviews don't promise the long term political cleavages that could make the political life in Lithuania normal in nearest future. Though the authorities of Lithuanian parties have institutional possibilities to control party organization, however, they are not a power that may put Lithuanian parties in a clear ideological framework & foster coherence between parties & society. Adapted from the source document.

Concerns have been raised over the possible link between the growing political polarisation and fears of autocratisation in Slovenia. Faced with a lack of empirical data, we seek to answer two questions. First, how has political polarisation developed in Slovenia? We show that Slovenia has experienced massive increases in both ideological and affective polarisation on the levels of the citizenry and political parties. Second, what has been the effect of political polarisation on liberal democracy in Slovenia? A GLS (generalised least squares) model for the period 1992 to 2022 confirms negative effects only for affective, but not ideological polarisation regarding V-Dem's liberal democracy and judicial constraints on the executive indices. Keywords: Slovenia, affective polarisation, ideological polarisation, autocratisation, SJM

Straipsnyje siekiama isanalizuoti Lenkijos parlamentiniu politiniu partiju programas, kuriose isskiriamas uzsienio politikos vektorius regioninio bendradarbiavimo kontekste. Pagrindinis demesys analizeje skiriamas politinems partijoms ir jas vienijanciai ideologijai analizuoti, apibreziant siu subjektu vaidmeni bendrame Lenkijos uzsienio politikos formavimo procese. Tekste pateikiamos prioritetines uzsienio politikos sritys, kurias isskiria parlamentines Lenkijos partijos. Analize atliekama nagrinejant 2011 metais suformuluotas parlamentiniu politiniu partiju - Pilieciu platformos, Teises ir teisingumo, Demokratines kaires aljanso, Lenkijos valstieciu sajungos - programas. Straipsnyje nera analizuojamas Palikotos judejimo (lenk. Ruch Palikota, RP) atvejis, nes sios partijos programoje nera isskiriamas uzsienio politikos vektorius. Tekste siekiama isanalizuoti pagrindinius Lenkijos uzsienio politikos prioritetus, ju vieta formuojant ir vykdant politika, ir daugiausia demesio skiriama siu prioritetu apraiskoms parlamentiniu politiniu partiju programose. Analizuojant Lenkijos regioninio ir strateginio bendradarbiavimo sritis, pateikiamas partiju programose isskiriamas bendradarbiavimas Europos Sajungos regione, transatlantiniai rysiai su JAV ir NATO bei santykiai su gretimomis valstybemis. Straipsnyje siekiama ivertinti, ar politiniu partiju programose iskelti uzsienio politikos vektoriai atspindi oficialia valstybes uzsienio politikos koncepcija This article analyses programs of Poland Parliamentary political parties, which exclude vectors of foreign politics in the context of regional collaboration. The most important concept in this article is the analysis of political parties and their ideologies which show their importance in forming foreign politics in Poland. Priority areas of foreign politics in Poland are presented in the text. Analysis was conducted using analysing programs (2011) of Parliamentary parties such as Civic Platform, Law and Justice, Democratic Left Alliance and Polish People Party. The case of Palikot's movement is absent in the article due to the fact that the vector of foreign politics is not excluded in its program. The main priorities of Poland's foreign politics, its position in forming and performing the politics are analysed in the text. The focus of it is on how these priorities are presented in the programs of Parliamentary parties. Adapted from the source document.

Siame straipsnyje nagrinejama Lietuvos Vyriausybes istaigu ir istaigu prie ministeriju vadovu kaita ir politizacija 1990-2012 m. Nors de jure ir de facto vadovu politizacija sioje istaigu grupeje nera didele, ji skiriasi - priklauso nuo atitinkamu laikotarpiu ir istaigu tipu. Mazejant strukturinei agenturu vadovu pareigybiu politizacijai, Lietuvoje didejo faktine vadovu politizacija ir atvirksciai. Del ju pareigybiu specifikos Vyriausybes istaigu, kurios institucineje sandaroje veikia arciau Vyriausybes centro, vadovai labiau politizuoti nei istaigu prie ministeriju vadovai. Straipsnyje teigiama, kad siu agenturu vadovu kaita geriausiai paaiskina esminiai valdanciosios daugumos ir Lietuvos Vyriausybiu pokyciai, o politizacija - politiniu partiju valdymo trukme ir ju tinklai, taip pat politinis valdymo sriciu jautrumas This article analyses the change and politicisation of the senior levels of management in the Lithuanian government agencies and agencies under the ministries in the period 1990-2012. This research indicated that de facto politicisation of the Lithuanian agencies is relatively small with only 19.1% of all agency heads engaged in party networks. The turnover of agency managers is best explained by alterations of ruling majorities and governments, taking into account more the intensive turnover of agency managers during the Lithuanian governments controlled by the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party. Politicisation of the agency managers could be explained in terms of 'push' factors (politicisation is associated with party entrenchment in power and density of the party networks) and 'pull' factors (party patronage is exercised more frequently over more politically salient areas of public services). Changes in de jure politicisation of the higher civil service depended on structural and civil service reforms. Our analysis also revealed some differences in the pattern of politicisation according to the Lithuanian political parties: if the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party de facto appoints politically affiliated managers to career positions in the Lithuanian higher civil service, the Homeland Union (Lithuanian Christian Democrats) frequently adopts the structural form of politicisation through government-wide organisational or civil service reforms. Adapted from the source document.

Partisan activity has been the main and the most important mode of institutionalized political participation (in addition to electoral participation) in the modern democracy. Even though mass party membership is a distinct feature of modern political system (although not necessarily democratic), since 1960-ies the decline of party membership is observed in many democratic countries. Lithuania is a typical example of post-communist region, where party membership is regarded as a specific elitist activity rather than an ordinary practice of political involvement. In the article, the attitudes of Lithuanians towards party membership are analyzed to answer the question if and why people are not keen to join political parties. Public attitudes are explored using the data of a representative public opinion survey carried out in 2005 and qualitative data of in-depth interviews with ordinary people collected in 2008. Using a mixed method research strategy, the article analyses the image of political parties in Lithuania, determines the potential of party membership and investigates the dominant reasons of avoiding partisan activity. In the first part of the article, the theories explaining partisan activity are presented. In addition to Civic voluntarism model and General incentives theory used by Paul Whiteley and Patrick Seyd to explain partisan activity, the broader theories explaining changes of political culture and transformation of party models are discussed. Moreover, the theoretical arguments for the exceptionalism of post-communist societies are presented. In the second part of the article, the analysis of the qualitative data is presented. The exploration of public attitudes reveals that partisan activity can be perceived in several different ways: as a specific occupation, as a civic self-expression, as belonging to power elite, as a privilege, as dependence, and as partiality. These images of parties held by people are related to their attitudes towards party membership. The reasons provided by the people of not joining political parties can be grouped into three groups: 1) the lack of necessary resources or personal characteristics (e.g. old age, low education, etc.); 2) critical attitudes towards political parties; 3) dislike of partisan activity because of indifference towards politics or individualism and appreciation of personal independence. In the third part, the quantitative data drawn from the public opinion survey is analysed. The data shows a surprisingly high potential of party membership in Lithuania: about 11 percent of all respondents and about 20 percent of respondents in the age group of 18-39 have an inclination to join a political party. However, 87 percent of individuals admit that they were not invited to join a political party during the last 5 years. This proves that Lithuanian political parties are not active in expanding their membership. The quantitative data approve the trends observed from the qualitative research. The two most popular reasons of not joining a party are the lack of resources or necessary characteristics (surprisingly, young age seems to be one of the most important of them) and an indifference towards politics. These two motives fit well into the Civic voluntarism model. Disappointment with politics or a negative attitude towards political parties in general, contrary to expectations, proved to be of secondary importance. The importance of individualist attitudes, i.e. the avoidance of commitment and appreciation of independence, unfortunately, could not be evaluated due to the lack of data. Summing up, the analysis of Lithuanian case suggests that low party membership in post-communist countries might be explained by low demand rather than low supply. In other words, we should look for the explanation of low enrolment in the process of recruitment of party members rather than in the attitudes of people. The research do not provide any evidence for a popular theory of "communist legacy" claiming that a "bad" image of parties inherited from communist regime accounts for the low party membership in post-communist societies. On the contrary, the data demonstrate rather positive attitudes towards partisan activity among Lithuanian population. Adapted from the source document.

Lietuvos viesojoje erdveje gajus isitikinimas, kad Lietuvos rinkejo santykis su politiniais atstovais yra suasmenintas, neretai besiremiantis subjektyviomis ir iracionaliomis simpatijomis ar antipatijomis konkretiems politiniams lyderiams. Kiek pagristas toks pesimizmas? Straipsnio tikslas - issiaiskinti, kokio rysio esama tarp politiniu lyderiu asmenybes portretu suvokimo salies visuomeneje ir rinkeju vertybiniu orientaciju, kurios traktuojamos kaip vienas personalizacijos sklaida Lietuvos politikoje ribojanciu veiksniu. Pasitelkus 2012 m. rudens Lietuvos gyventoju viesosios nuomones apklausu duomenis, nagrinejama, kaip politiniu lyderiu paveikslai varijuoja priklausomai nuo rinkejo ideologinio identifikavimosi, (anti)sovietiskumo, tautinio konservatizmo ir postmaterializmo nuostatu. Nors daugelis asmenybes bruozu yra objektyvus ir ilgalaikiai asmens psichologines sandaros elementai, Lietuvos visuomeneje rimtai nesutariama, koks 'is tiesu' yra gerai zinomas salies politikas, ir nuomoniu issiskyrimui reiksminga itaka daro politiniu paziuru bei vertybiniu nuostatu skirtumai. Rinkejo identifikavimasis kaires-desines skaleje ir (anti)sovietiskumo nuostatos svarbios vertinant tris is penkiu tirtu Lietuvos politiniu lyderiu asmenybes dimensiju - sutaikomuma, samoninguma ir atviruma patirciai. Tautinio konservatizmo nuostatos padeda paaiskinti pirmu dvieju dimensiju suvokima visuomeneje. Gauti rezultatai taip pat skatina tolesniuose tyrimuose aiskintis rinkejo vertybiniu nuostatu poveikio politiniu lyderiu 'moraliniu bruozu' ir temperamento suvokimui skirtumus Lithuanian public debates share a strong conviction that the relationship between a Lithuanian voter and his/her political representatives rests on personalisation, often nurtured by voter's subjective and irrational feelings of love or hate in regard to particular political leaders. Is such kind of pessimism well-grounded? The article aims to explore the relationship between perceptions of well-known political leaders' personality portraits among Lithuanian population and voter's normative orientations on the individual level, holding voter's normative orientations an important factor, limiting the proliferation of personalisation of politics. Based on the empirical data of public surveys, conducted in autumn 2012, the study explores how perceptions of political leaders' personalities vary according to voter's ideological self-identification, the level of adherence to soviet values, national conservatism and post-materialism. Even though personality traits are objective and stable elements of individual's psychological constitution, a serious disagreement regarding the personality portraits of analysed political leaders is revealed in the Lithuanian society, and the perceptions diverge according to individual's political views and normative attitudes. Voter's left-right self-identification and (anti)soviet attitudes predict the perception of three personality dimensions of Big Five - Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Openness to experience - for analysed leaders, and national conservatism - perceptions of the abovementioned first two dimensions. The results of the study ask for further analysis of a different level of impact that voter's normative attitudes may bear on popular perception of political leaders' 'moral traits' and temperamental features. Adapted from the source document.

Abstract. In the article, we discuss how the political communication and interpersonal influence found in discussion networks add to fragmentation of the political space and the strengthening of political parties at the extremes of the political continuum. To this end, we analyse the mobilisation potential held by discussion networks of people who position themselves on the margins of the left–right political spectrum and compare them with the networks of those positioned in the centre and those who do not align themselves politically. The analysis focuses on four features of discussion networks: size, homogeneity, frequency of political discussion, and frequency of trying to persuade others. The results of the analysis show the most extensive mobilisation potential is found among people in the centre of the political continuum, while people on the far right and far left have networks that are the basis of intense political communication with people holding different political views but lack opportunities for the broad network dissemination of their political views and attitudes. Keywords: discussion networks, political communication, left-right political orientation

Straipsnyje nagrinejamas partines tapatybes reiskinys Lietuvoje, remiantis 2012 m. porinkimines gyventoju apklausos duomenimis. Pirmoje straipsnio dalyje aptariamos skirtingos partines tapatybes teorijos ir sufor-muluojamos hipotezes apie partine tapatybe Lietuvoje galincius lemti veiksnius. Antroje dalyje aptariamos metodologines partines tapatybes matavimo problemos ir analizuojamas partines tapatybes Lietuvoje lygis. Trecioji dalis skirta partines tapatybes formavimosi aiskinimui. Tikrinamos trys pagrin-dines hipotezes - 1) partine tapatybe lemia politine socializacija seimoje; 2) partine tapatybe susiformuoja politiniu skirciu pagrindu; 3) politine tapa-tybe priklauso nuo dalyvavimo demokratiniame procese patirties kaupimo laiko. Straipsnyje pristatomi logistines regresijos rezultatai vercia koreguoti partines tapatybes teorija The article analyses the formation of party identification in Lithuania, using the data of post-election survey of 2012. In the first part, the two rival theories of party identification are introduced and hypotheses about the factors of party identification formation are presented. In the second part, the methodological issues of the measurement of party identification are discussed and the level of party identification in Lithuania is examined. The third part of the article focuses on the determinants of party identification. Three main hypotheses are tested: 1) party identification derives from the political socialisation in a family; 2) party identification is formed on the basis of social cleavages; 3) party identification depends on the length of democratic experience of electorate. The results of the logistic regression presented in the article impel to revise the theory of party identification. Adapted from the source document.

Political corruption in Japan is a very important issue. According to the Global Corruption Barometer 2009 survey Japanese perceived political parties, public officials and civil servants to be the institutions which are the most affected by corruption. In addition, governmental measures against corruption are regarded to be ineffective and inadequate to the real situation. Japanese have keen concern toward Japanese political parties, intransparent activity of politicians and preventive measures taken by government. The purpose of this research is to examine political corruption phenomena in contemporary Japanese politics. Research questions are what are the structure, scale, and causes of political corruption in Japan during 2001-2009. For answering to these research questions first of all it is discussed the concept and definition of political corruption itself. Article overviews previous political corruption studies in Japan from the time of Second World War to the recent times, including the report of the Transparency International National Integrity System. In third chapter of article the scale, the varieties and the main practitioners of political corruption in Japan are to be analyzed. It reveals the biggest political corruption scandals in Japanese politics in given time-period. Last chapter focuses on the explanation of political corruption mechanism in Japan and in particular relationship with clientelism practises. Combination of primary and secondary sources led me to make the following conclusions on the main political corruption tendencies in Japan during 2001-2009. First, the Asahi Shimbun front page content analysis indicates that 2002 and 2007 are special years in the context of corruption studies because in those years published the largest number of political corruption articles and the biggest number of the new themes on the political corruption issue revealed. Second, the common point of the three most significant political corruption scandals during 2001-2009 is that all of them have the relationship with political finance issue and in particular a suspicion on the violation of the PFRL. This finding reaffirms the NIS statement that political finance is one of the top priority issues in Japanese corruption scheme. Third, illegal political donation and influence peddling are the most frequent types of corruption in Japan during the period of 2001-2009. Fourth, main practitioners of political corruption in Japan were the LDP members from the House of Representatives. In addition, in as many as nine cases the Diet member secretaries were involved in political corruption scandals. The Diet member secretaries play an important role in political corruption scheme because they are often responsible for the political fund management. Fifth, the most vulnerable institution to political corruption seems to be Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Ministry of Construction. Finally, article concludes that political corruption in Japan, to some extent, could be explained through the analysis of political clientelism. Adapted from the source document.

Straipsnyje nagrinejamas politiniu partiju ideologijos veiksnio poveikis lankstisaugos strategijos igyvendinimui Lietuvos darbo rinkoje pirmaisiais seseriais salies narystes ES metais (2004-2010 m.). Pirmiausia, remiantis aprasomaja statistika ir antriniu saltiniu informacija, kiekybiskai ivertinama, kiek si europine iniciatyva buvo igyvendinta Lietuvos uzimtumo politikoje, t. y. koks buvo Europos Sajungos poveikio mastas Lietuvos uzimtumo politikai lankstisaugos pastangu ir proceso pakopose. Tuomet aptariamos salygos ir veiksniai, galeje nulemti pokyciu masta ir pati pobudi. Paskui, atsizvelgiant i tai, jog uzimtumo politikos koordinavimas ES yra grindziamas neprivalomojo pobudzio sprendimais, ir remiantis prielaida, kad tokiu atveju valdanciosios politines partijos tampa pagrindinemis veikejomis, galinciomis imtis tam tikru iniciatyvu ir priimti atitinkamus sprendimus, bus nagrinejamas ju ideologijos poveikis vadovaujantis lankstisauga priimamu sprendimu pobudziui. Tam atliekama kokybine ir kiekybine analizuojamu laikotarpiu Seime pateiktu iniciatyvu uzimtumo srityje (ir susijusiu su lankstisaugos aspektais) analize The object of this article is the implementation of the Flexicurity Strategy in the Lithuanian Labour market. The aim of this paper is to analyse the EU impact on Lithuania's national employment policy in the area of flexicurity and the role of political parties' ideology in this process. To achieve the goal, the concept of flexicurity and its evaluation model were introduced. Then, the Europeanization theoretical approach and the main factors influencing the EU impact on national policies were overviewed. Finally, a piece of the input-process-output model was used to quantify the implementation of Flexicurity Strategy in the Lithuanian labour market. Also, an analysis of legislative initiatives in the Parliament was conducted. It helped to evaluate whether the ideology of the ruling parties influenced the content of law initiatives (in the flexicurity area). Adapted from the source document.

Siame ivadiniame straipsnyje pristatomi specialiojo 'Politologijos' numerio tiriamieji klausimai ir turinys, taip pat pateikiamas bendras analizes pagrindas, kuri taikant nagrinejama, kokie veiksniai gali paaiskinti vadovu kaita ir politizacija skirtingose Lietuvos viesojo sektoriaus organizaciju (agenturu, valstybes valdomu imoniu, asmens sveikatos prieziuros ir svietimo istaigu) grupese. Palyginus visu straipsniu rezultatus nustatyta, kad viesojo sektoriaus organizaciju vadovu kaita geriausiai paaiskina valdanciosios daugumos ir vyriausybiu pokyciai, o politizacija - politiniu partiju dalyvavimas valdzioje, ju tinklai ir politiku isitikinimai. Taciau asmens sveikatos prieziuros ir svietimo istaigu grupese, kurioms budinga didesne politizacija, yra statistinis rysys tarp vadovu stabilumo ir politizacijos. Valstybes tarnybos reglamentavimo bei teisiniu nuostatu igyvendinimo uztikrinimo veiksnys nera labai reiksmingas - tai daro itaka tik ribotam istaigu prie ministeriju vadovu skaiciui. Pagaliau aiskinant politizacijos skirtumus gana svarbus yra tokie viesojo administravimo veiksniai kaip politinis valdymo sriciu jautrumas ir finansiniai organizaciju istekliai This introductory article presents the common research questions of this special issue and offers a joint framework for analysing the change and politicisation of the senior levels of management of different groups of Lithuanian public sector organisations (agencies, state-owned enterprises, personal health care organisations and educational organisations). A comparison of all contributions to this special issue revealed that repeating alterations of governing majorities and governments best explain the frequent turnover of heads of different Lithuanian public sector organisations (except those of personal health care and educational organisations). However, their politicisation is associated with party entrenchment in power, density of the party networks and politicians' beliefs. Furthermore, variations in the scope of politicisation are related to such administrative factors as the political salience of policy areas and organisational functions, as well as the budget size. Therefore, it is the interplay of political and administrative factors that determines the change and politicisation of management in various public sector organisations. Adapted from the source document.