Suchergebnisse

Abstract. Among twentieth-century political philosophers, Americans
John Rawls and Robert Nozick are generally recognized as giants – both
for the boldness of their arguments and for the influence they have exerted. They sketched rival visions. Rawls, inspired by Immanuel Kant, argued for a world characterized by tolerance, equality, and justice as fairness. Nozick, claiming a Lockean heritage but actually inspired by Adam Smith (the "invisible hand") and Herbert Spencer ("survival of the fittest"), outlined a program for a minimal state, with very little taxation, offering no cushion at all against poverty, and providing no state assistance for the poor, the sick, the disabled, or the widowed. Rawls' vision is clearly part of the liberal tradition, while Nozick's championing of a minimal state contains illiberal elements.
Keywords: John Rawls, Robert Nozick, political liberalism, libertarianism, taxation, equality, justice.

Abstract. The aim of the article is to examine the relationship between the state, democracy and the Carl
Schimitt's concept of the political. That is going to be
done by reconstructing the concepts of Schmitt's political theory and finding out whether they can be used
to explain the ideology of the new right-wing populism
and illiberal democracy. As it turns out, the Schmitt's
reduction of the political to the friend/enemy antagonism makes the core of the illiberal democracies' ruling
narrative. The Schimtt's understanding of the political doesn't defend the state as a political space but by
cancelling of the liberal elements of democracy ruins
the state institutions. The analysis shows that Schmitt's
notion of the political cannot be used to build effective
democratic state institutions. Namely, in his definition
of the political, politics actually exists only on the outwards, towards some other nation, some other political
unity, but not within the state itself.
Keywords: state, the political, Carl Schmitt, illiberal
democracy

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

Abstract. The article addresses the question of the role of the state in the protection of human rights and freedoms. Like states, rights and freedoms are also created on the basis of social conventions, and any reference to the universal nature or natural character of rights and freedoms is only an ideological moment in the pursuit of political goals. The basic prerequisite for the protection of rights and freedoms is the establishment of organised coercion in the form of state power which brings under its authority the multitude of different interests and diverse ways of implementing justice. The conclusive findings show that for its successful introduction into the lives of individuals, the moral discourse of universal human rights and freedoms needs effective state authority that embeds these rights and freedoms into the foundations of the legitimacy of its own existence. Keywords: Constitutionalism, the state, human rights and freedoms, Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes

The author poses the question of whether it is possible to say, contrary to common agreement, that Hegel's political thought contains the elements of liberal political thought. She shows, through examination of The Elements of the Philosophy of Right, that Hegel's definition of an individual as a being of reason & as a free being at the same time points in the direction of liberalism & its preoccupation with the freedom & autonomy of the individual. Hegel's key emphasis, however, is that freedom of free choice already presupposes a choice already made, a forced choice of the frame of the free choice itself, which an individual has to take upon himself/herself. Adapted from the source document.

Slovenian folk pop is one of the most under-researched music genres in Slovenia.
To learn more about it, we conducted research about the demographics of those
who listen to it. The results show that this genre is popular principally among older, less-educated, religious, politically right-leaning people in the countryside,
while it is also listened to by other segments of society, albeit to a smaller degree.
We also found that there is no significant correlation between listening to folk pop
and economic class and gender. This suggests that Slovenian society is stratified
into various cultural formations, primarily with respect to education, religiosity,
age, political affiliations and place of residence rather than economic class.

The focus of this article is on the rise of populism and Euroscepticism in the context of the crisis of
liberal internationalism and of the EU in particular.
The article considers the view that the weak integration
of Slovenian–EU politics makes the country vulnerable
to this trend. Modern-nationalist, postmodern-cosmopolitan and faux-modern-partially modernised variations of populism are explored. The research draws on
public opinion surveys, party manifestos, focus groups
with party supporters, and interviews with mediators
in elite and popular debates. The dominant modern
economist/functionalist view of the EU is shown to have
fed into different framings in line with the underlying
thick ideologies. On the right, this has been a retro-modern nationalist reaction to the EU's overly progressive
policy and polity, with certain illiberal faux-modern elements like authoritarianism and ethno cultural exclusivism. On the left, it has reinforced the already existing contradictions with (neo)liberalism on the level of
politics, leaving the post-modern post-nationalist framing detached from the EU's polity and policy. The article
offers some proposals for better integrating the EU politics in Slovenia.
Keywords: EU, Euroscepticism, populism, illiberalism,
Slovenia, public opinion, political parties