Volume 47 (2018)

Table of Contents 47(1)

  • Author: The Editors
  • Institution: Polish Political Science Yearbook (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 1-4
  • DOI Address: -
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/toc.pdf

Polish Political Science Yearbook, 47(1). Published online: March 31, 2018. The Polish Political Science Yearbook is international peer-reviewed journal indexed in: American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (ABSEES) Online, BazHum, Central and Eastern European Online Library, Central European Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (cejsh.icm.edu.pl), Columbia International Affairs Online, Cosmos Impact Factor, Directory of Open Access Journals, Electronic Journals Library, ERIH Plus, Gale PowerSearch, Google Scholar, HeinOnline, IBR – International Bibliography of Book Reviews of Scholarly Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences, IBZ – International Bibliography of Periodical Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences, ICI Journals Master List, International Political Science Abstracts, Open Academic Journals Index, POL-Index (Polska Bibliografia Naukowa) and The Lancaster Index.

2018 issue 1 volume 47 table of contents polish political science yearbook ppsy

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Petrol and Natural Gas Market of the Visegrád Group Countries 1993–2016: Current State and Prospects

  • Author: Robert Kłaczyński
  • Institution: Pedagogical University of Kraków (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 7–19
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018101
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/ppsy2018101.pdf

The paper addresses problems related to energy policies pursued by Central European countries. It identifies the amounts of energy resources in individual countries in the Visegrád Group as well as the transmission infrastructures they use for natural gas and crude oil. The author discusses projects aimed at diversifying energy supplies which are of key importance to V4 countries. The article also presents relations between those countries in both within the group and bilaterally. When outlining prospects of a V4 energy strategy, the account is taken of such vital aspects as relations with the Russian Federation and the contribution made by Visegrád countries to EU actions designed to develop a single energy market.

crude oil natural gas energy policy energy security

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Polish FDI in Central Asian Countries

  • Author: Krystyna Gomółka
  • Institution: Gdańsk University of Technology (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 20–38
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018102
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/ppsy2018102.pdf

Since gaining independence, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan gradually opened their markets to foreign investors. Before Poland’s accession to the European Union, the activities of Polish investors in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were based on bilateral treaties concluded by Poland with those countries. Later, except Turkmenistan, they were governed by the partnership and cooperation agreements between the European Communities and their Member States. Despite the ample investment opportunities and favourable conditions for access to the market, the activity of Polish companies in these markets has not produced a significant effect. Poland invested with more considerable success on the markets in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It made investment attempts in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, leaving out Turkmenistan. The reason why Poland has a weak position in these markets is the distance between the partners and inability of Polish companies to effectively compete with large multinational companies which have been operating there for years. In the Kazakh market, good investment prospects are available for waste management, petrochemical, mining and road construction companies. In Kyrgyzstan, there are cooperation possibilities in the area of modern agricultural and processing technologies and establishment of fruit and vegetable processing enterprises. In Tajikistan, enterprises can invest in petroleum and natural gas extraction and exploitation, the fuel market, processing of precious metals and construction of conventional and hydroelectric power plants. In Turkmenistan, Polish companies can compete for road, railway and housing construction contracts, whereas in Uzbekistan they can invest in businesses covered by government tax reductions.

investments direct investments Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan The Republic of Uzbekistan Poland

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Assessing State Support for the Development of International Economic Cooperation: a Case of Polish Trade Support Institutions’ Export Recommendations for Turkey

  • Author: Oskar J. Chmiel
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 39–53
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018103
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/ppsy2018103.pdf

In times of increasing significance for national policies which support international economic cooperation, a special role is played by state trade support institutions (TSIs). This paper investigates whether such TSIs can be said to operate effectively, through an analysis of one essential element of the support provided to domestic entrepreneurs, namely export recommendations. The recommendations provided by Polish TSIs in respect of Turkey is employed as a case study. The theory of comparative advantage along with a neo-institutional perspective provide the conceptual framing for this analysis, in conjunction with both desk research, document analysis, and selected economic indices. Factors such as trade potential, comparative advantages, and the competitiveness of selected product groups exported by Polish firms to Turkey were also taken into account. The findings largely indicate that TSI export recommendations are adequate, and the majority of the recommended industries demonstrated considerable sales opportunities. Nevertheless, some discrepancies were also noted, which should be an issue for further investigation by both researchers and TSI analysts. Furthermore, the case study in this paper demonstrates that the choices within economic promotion policy – despite its partition between variously-oriented TSIs - were made on the basis of economic rationality.

 

institutional coherence international competitiveness international entrepreneurship foreign market information trade support institutions Turkey Poland

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Transitional Justice in Relationship to Public Sphere and Civil Society: Theoretical Approaches

  • Author: Edyta Pietrzak
  • Institution: Łódź University of Technology (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 54–66
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018104
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/ppsy2018104.pdf

The article presents the entitled fields in the framework of their mutual influence. The notion of the public sphere is valuable for understanding the role that civil society plays in transitional justice processes. However transitional justice often reduces the idea of civil society to NGOs and ignores the social movements and civic engagement in the public realm that can be perceived as integral to the creation of new cases for understanding justice in transition. This fact results in the lack of perception of the civil society place in transitional justice processes. Thus the presented paper is based on hermeneutics, critical discourse analysis and dialogue between various theoretical approaches.

 

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The Role of Trauma in Romania’s Ontological Security

  • Author: Loretta C. Salajan
  • Institution: Vasile Goldis Western University in Arad (Romania)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 67–76
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018105
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/ppsy2018105.pdf

This paper analyses Romania’s foreign policy during the first post-communist years, by employing a theoretical viewpoint based on ontological security and trauma. It uncovers the elite efforts to secure the post-totalitarian state’s identity and international course. Romania’s search for ontological security featured the articulation of narratives of victimhood, which were linked with its proclaimed western European identity. The Romanian identity narrative has long struggled between “the West” and “the East”, trying to cope with traumatic historical events. These discursive themes and ontological insecurities were crystallized in the controversy surrounding the Romanian-Soviet “Friendship Treaty” (1991). Key Romanian officials displayed different typical responses to cultural trauma and debated the state’s path to ontological security, which was reflected in the foreign policy positions. 

 

identity trauma post–communism Romanian and Bulgarian Migration foreign policy ontological security

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Set the Torturers Free: Transitional Justice and Peace vs Justice Dilemma in Burma/Myanmar

  • Author: Michał Lubina
  • Institution: Jagiellonian University in Kraków (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 77–96
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018106
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/ppsy2018106.pdf

Burma/Myanmar seems to be a perfect ground for transitional justice with both long-failed transitions to democracy that seemed to succeed in 2015 finally and smouldering civil war taking place there since 1948 (since the 1990s limited to Borderlands). Unfortunately, the political realities in Burma/Myanmar make it unlikely, if not impossible, for transitional justice to be applicable in Burma/Myanmar. The victorious in 2015 elections democratic opposition party, National League for Democracy (NLD) came to power thanks to the political deal with the former military government and is consequently being forced to cohabitate politically with the army that still holds critical political checks over the government. It made NLD’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi to conduct moderate domestic policy without trying to charge the generals for their former crimes. In this circumstances, transitional justice is unwanted by mainstream political actors (NLD, the army) and seen as threatening to peace by many in the Myanmar society. This approach firmly places Burma/Myanmar on one side of the ‘peace vs justice’ dilemma. It answers the “torturer problem”, one of the central problems of transitional justice – how to deal with members of the previous regime which violated human rights – in ‘old fashion’ way, by granting them full amnesty. As such Burma/Myanmar case also falsifies an optimistic claim that transitional justice is necessary for political reforms.

Burma Myanmar transitional justice transitional justice in Burma/Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi torturer’s problem

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“Right to Truth” and Memory Laws: General Rules and Practical Implications

  • Author: Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias
  • Institution: Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland)
  • Author: Grażyna Baranowska
  • Institution: Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 97–109
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018107
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/ppsy2018107.pdf

The “right to truth” relates to the obligation of the state to provide information about the circumstances surrounding serious violations of human rights. Despite its increasing recognition, the concept raises questions as to its scope and implementation as well as its existence as a free-standing right. Similarly, “memory laws” relate to the way states deal with their past. However, there are certain „memory laws” that, while officially serving as a guarantee for accessing historical truth, lead to its deformation. As a result, an “alternative” truth, based on the will of the legislators, is being imposed. In this article, the authors elaborate on the general nature of the new legal phenomenon of the „right to truth”, as a tool of transitional justice, in particular in the context of both providing and abusing historical truth by the legislators, through the instrument of “memory laws”.

 

memory laws right to truth Ukraine Poland Russia

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Co-Production of Public Services in Terms of the Polish Experience

  • Author: Robert Gawłowski
  • Institution: WSB University in Toruń (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 110–120
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018108
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/ppsy2018108.pdf

Co-production of public services is an increasingly popular tool in public management, although it is still a new phenomenon in Poland. Despite the attention researchers give to co-production, some significant gaps remain. In this article, the author attempts to examine the legal possibility of implementing co-production by the Polish local government by local initiative and Solecki Fund. The article aims to examine how major Polish cities gathered in Union in Polish Metropolises used local initiatives. The next step in research is to find out how Solecki Fund is spread among rural areas according to statistical data. It is proved that only a handful of local governments in Poland are truly engaged in co-production. However, Solecki Fund can be shown as an excellent example of citizens’ engagement. It is presented a possible agenda on what can be done to make co-production more popular and used on a regular basis not only in metropolitan but also rural areas.

 

co-production public services public management public policy public administration

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Provoking Debate on Central European Security

  • Author: Wojciech Michnik
  • Institution: American University in the Emirates (UAE)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 123–125
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018109
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/ppsy2018109.pdf

The seminar focused on the Security Challenges in Central Europe organised by PPSY was held in Toruń on February 21, 2017. The leading topic of this event could not have been apter as the last years in the region brought back serious questions about stability and security of the region. From the domestic challenges – like the rise of populist movements; to more resurgent foreign policy of Russian Federation; instability of so-called Eastern flank; through the questions about coherence of both NATO and the European Union – Central European states found themselves in a situation unprecedented since the end of the Cold War. It can be even argued that Central Europe come to strategic crossroads that would determine future of the regions and its countries in particular.

national security Central Europe cybersecurity energy security security studies conference report

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Discussing Changes in Contemporary International Relations

  • Author: Michał Dahl
  • Institution: Nicolaus Copernicus University (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 126–129
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018110
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/ppsy2018110.pdf

The paper reports the 9th Polish Conference on International Relations: 2017 – a Year of a Change organized by the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń on June 2, 2017. It presents not only the scope and process of this years’ conference but also briefly describes the idea of annual meetings of young Polish scholars interested in widely understood international relations. The conference report presents accompanying events of the conference, which gave its ninth edition unique atmosphere. It also points out the way this years’ conference contributed to the unification of the community of students and PhD students in Poland who are researching a variety of subjects related to international relations.

conference report international relations international studies OZIS

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Ukraine after the Revolution of Dignity and Imperial Aggression

  • Author: Tomasz Lachowski
  • Institution: University of Łódź (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 130–133
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018111
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/ppsy2018111.pdf

The paper reports The 3R (Three Ukrainian Revolutions) Symposium: Revolution, War and Their Consequences, which took place in Warsaw (Poland) on March 16-17, 2018. This multilayer event was organised as a part of the project named The 3R (Three Ukrainian Revolutions), initiated in the College of Europe in Natolin (Warsaw) in 2015, to provide the comparative studies over three revolutions witnessed in Ukraine in the last three decades. The 2018 conference gathered current and former politicians, diplomats, practitioners, scientists, journalists and social activists coming from mostly Ukraine and Poland, as well as the other states around the globe.

annexation of Crimea international armed conflict in Donbas Revolution of Dignity the Russian Federation Ukraine

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The New Vision of Public Education in China

  • Author: Moon Yonglin
  • Institution: Seoul National University (South Korea)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 137–138
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018112
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/ppsy2018112.pdf

Book Review: Zhu Yongxin, New Education Experiment in China. New York: McGraw-Hill Education 2014 (pp. 324). ISBN 978-0-07-183817-7. Price: 106.00 USD.

book review Zhu Yongxxin

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Diplomacy in the ‘Age of Trauma’

  • Author: Patryk Wawrzyński
  • Institution: Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 139–144
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018113
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/ppsy2018113.pdf

Book Review: Erica Resende & Dovile Budryte (Eds.), Memory and Trauma in International Relations. Theories, cases and debates. Abingdon-New York: Routledge 2016 (pp. 280). ISBN 978-1-138-28949-9. Price: £28.99.

book review Erica Resende Dovile Budryte memory studies

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Social Media: the New Forms of Political Expression

  • Author: Beata Zielonka
  • Institution: University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska in Lublin (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 145–146
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018114
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/ppsy2018114.pdf

Book Review: Wojciech Opioła & Malwina Popiołek, Media społecznościowe. Nowe formy ekspresji politycznej. Toruń: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek 2014, (pp. 196). ISBN 978-83-8019-097-9.

book review Wojciech Opioła Malwina Popiołek social media

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The Remembrance Policy and Political Identities during Post-Authoritarian Transformations

  • Author: Anna Wójcik
  • Institution: Jan Długosz University in Częstochowa (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 147–150
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018115
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/ppsy2018115.pdf

Book Review: Joanna Marszałek-Kawa, Anna Ratke-Majewska & Patryk Wawrzyński, Polityka pamięci i kształtowanie tożsamości politycznej w czasie tranzycji postautorytarnej. Analiza porównawcza (Tom 2). Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Difin 2016 (pp. 167). ISBN 978-83-8085-209-9. Price: 50.00 PLN.

book review Joanna Marszałek-Kawa Anna Ratke-Majewska Patryk Wawrzyński politics of memory democratisation

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Ukraine and the End of Post-Cold War Europe

  • Author: Alicja Stańco-Wawrzyńska
  • Institution: War Studies University in Warsaw & Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 151–155
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018116
  • PDF: ppsy/47-1/ppsy2018116.pdf

Book Review: Derek Averre & Kataryna Wolczuk (Eds.), The Ukraine Conflict. Security, Identity and Politics in the Wider Europe. Abingdon-New York: Routledge 2018 (pp. 251). ISBN 978-1-138-04743-3. Price: £115.00.

book review Derek Averre Kataryna Wolczuk Ukraine war in Ukraine

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Table of Contents 47(2): Special Issue on Israeli Studies

  • Author: The Editors
  • Institution: Polish Political Science Yearbook (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 157–160
  • DOI Address: -
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/contents_ppsy2018_2.pdf

Polish Political Science Yearbook, 47(2): Special Issue on Israeli Studies. Published online: August 20, 2018. The Polish Political Science Yearbook is international peer-reviewed journal indexed in: American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (ABSEES) Online, BazHum, Central and Eastern European Online Library, Central European Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (cejsh.icm.edu.pl), Columbia International Affairs Online, Cosmos Impact Factor, Directory of Open Access Journals, Electronic Journals Library, ERIH Plus, Gale PowerSearch, Google Scholar, HeinOnline, IBR – International Bibliography of Book Reviews of Scholarly Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences, IBZ – International Bibliography of Periodical Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences, ICI Journals Master List, International Political Science Abstracts, Open Academic Journals Index, POL-Index (Polska Bibliografia Naukowa) and The Lancaster Index.

 

European Association of Israel Studies Przemysław Turek Artur Skorek Przemysław Zawada Jackob Ericsson Joanna Dyduch table of contents

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Editorial

  • Author: Przemysław Zawada
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Author: Jacob Ericsson
  • Institution: University of York (United Kingdom)
  • Author: Joanna Dyduch
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 161–164
  • DOI Address: -
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018200_editorial.pdf

Dear Readers, this Special Issue of the Polish Political Science Journal on Israel Studies, which we are happy to present, is a result of the cooperation between the European Association of Israel Studies (EAIS), the University of Wrocław, and the Jagiellonian University. The cooperation began at the EAIS 6th Annual Conference on Israel Studies held in September 2017 in Wrocław, Poland. The aim of the conference was to bring together international scholars from a variety of disciplines, who are engaged in research in any aspect of Israel studies – including Politics, Literature, Security, Minorities, Social Studies, History, Economics, Law, Culture, Film, Music, and Art. 

EAIS israeli studies special issue European Association of Israel Studies ediorial Israel

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What is Left from the Identity of the State of Israel Proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence?

  • Author: Mordechai Schenhav
  • Institution: Strasbourg University (France)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 167–187
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018201
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018201.pdf

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, to look at the Identity of Israel as both Jewish and democratic State in its Declaration of Independence and the status it acquired over the years within the Constitutional and law system. The second, to examine, through the evolution of the enounced principle of equality in the situation of economic, gender, religious and national minorities, how it was implemented and what has changed after 70 years. From the outset, the Declaration was not given a constitutional status but later the Supreme Court gave it an interpretive quality. With the two Basic Laws on Human Rights, limited as they were, it gave the Supreme Court much more advantage to intervene and impose the Identity of the State as Jewish and democratic in its interpretations of laws in spite of strong criticism and even to influence and criticize the Knesset legislation. However, Israel is still not a true liberal Democracy since the rights within it are determined more according to the ethnic-national religious belonging of the person that according to its citizenship and the principle of equality is only partially adopted in practice with different degrees as regards the various minorities. In some aspects, it even moves away from the original intended Identity of an exemplary liberal Democratic Nation State.

Basic Laws of 1992/94 principle of equality Declaration of Independence Israel’s identity

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Keeping Parties Together? The Evolution of Israel’s Anti-Defection Law

  • Author: Csaba Nikolenyi
  • Institution: Concordia University in Montreal (Canada)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 188–200
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018202
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018202.pdf

In 1991, the Knesset passed a package of legislation with the aim of preventing the rampant party switching and defections by elected representatives. At the time of its adoption, the so-called anti-defection law was supported by an all-party consensus. Although the legislation has remained in effect, its apparent continuity conceals the way in which it has become transformed from what was at first an “efficient” institution to a “redistributive” one (Tsebelis 1990). In this paper, I review the development of the Israeli anti-defection law and argue that whereas at the initial moment of its adoption the anti-defection law was considered to benefit all parties in the system, over time it has become an instrument in the hands of the governing coalition to manipulate divisions and engineer further defections among the opposition in order to shore up its often fragile legislative base.

party unity party switching anti-defection law Knesset

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Benjamin Netanyahu’s Long Premiership and the Rise of the New Political Center: Is there a Qualitative Change in the Israeli Party System?

  • Author: Artur Skorek
  • Institution: Jagiellonian University in Kraków (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 201–214
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018203
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018203.pdf

Israel’s party system has been characterized by the bipolar rivalry between the left-wing and right-wing blocks since the late 1970s. In recent years we could have seen at least two trends that seem to diverge from this model. For the last 9 years, the Likud party has formed three successive governments which have made Benjamin Netanyahu the longest continuously serving prime minister in the history of Israel. Another new occurrence is the preservation of a significant representation of the centre parties for four Knesset terms in the row. The aim of the paper is to verify whether Israel’s party system has departed from the two-blocs bipolar model. Based on the empirical data (election results, government formation, party’s political platforms) it examines whether the parties’ rivalry in the years 2009–2018 differed qualitatively from the previous period. To answer this question the paper investigates three hypotheses. First – Likud has become a dominant party in Israel. Second – a dominant and stable Israeli right-wing parties’ bloc has formed. Third – an enduring and relevant centre sector has emerged in Israel’s party system.

left-wing right-wing center Likud Italian party system Israel

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From Religion to Pragmatism: Habayit Hayehudi’s Attitude toward Judea and Samaria

  • Author: Paweł Pokrzywiński
  • Institution: University of Wroclaw (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 215–226
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018204
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018204.pdf

Judea and Samaria became a really important element in Israeli right-wing and religious debate following the Six Day War because the State of Israel began to control it militarily and politically and started settling in this area. Nonetheless, Judea and Samaria had a deeper meaning within Religious Zionist ideology and its main representative Mafdal (NRP). After 1967 Religious Zionists were also influenced by the Messianic ideology, thus biblical territories accelerate Redemption. Hence, the NRP insisted on creating and developing Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, both in leftist and rightist governments. The situation has changed since the Oslo Accords and Sharon’s disengagement from Gaza. Both were shocking for the Religious Zionism camp, the state was no longer a steady defender of Jewish settlements. In 2008 the Mafdal was absorbed by the newly created Habayit Hayehudi (the Jewish Home) which was treated as a hope for Religious Zionism to restore its former glory. The head of the Jewish Home – Naftali Bennett – called his party a real right-wing camp. He is thought to be a representative of settlers but he also tries to widen his electorate with secular citizens. Habayit Hayehudi is the best example of a party which wants to achieve ideas of Religious Zionism in the new political reality after Oslo. The article will analyze the attitude of the Jewish Home party towards Judea and Samaria and the party’s ideological course.

Jewish Home Mafdal Israeli right Naftali Bennett political right Religious Zionism Judea and Samaria

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Israel’s Neoliberal Turn and its National Security Paradigm

  • Author: Arie Krampf
  • Institution: Ben Gurion University of the Negew (Israel)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 227–241
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018205
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018205.pdf

Since the early 2000s, Israel has adhered to a particularly virulent strain of economic neoliberalism which has led to an unprecedented rise in nationwide levels of poverty and inequality. Attempts to explain this phenomenon have ignored a key aspect: The need of Israel – and especially its right-wing governments – to create an economic reality that reduces the pressure Israel faces from the international community in the wake of its continued occupation of the territories.

Israel hawkish neoliberalism market nationalism cosmopolitan neoliberalism

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The Domestic Dimension of Israeli Public Diplomacy

  • Author: Jitka Pánek Jurková
  • Institution: Charles University in Prague (the Czech Republic)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 242–253
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018206
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018206.pdf

The paper adds to the body of recent scholarly literature that emphasizes the role of domestic publics in public diplomacy – a field until recently examined with only minor attention to the domestic realm. It suggests conducting an analysis of the domestic dimension of public diplomacy on three levels: individual, organizational, and national. By doing so, we are able to understand in a complex manner the environment from which public diplomacy practice grows, and thus also its specific dynamics. Applying this model of analysis to the case of Israel, the paper describes major domestic factors shaping Israeli public diplomacy: the culture of individual engagement (individual level), the clash of organizational ethea of institutions responsible for public diplomacy (organizational level), and the intertwining of public diplomacy and nation-building (national level). The analysis also allows us to better grasp the dilemma faced by Israeli public diplomacy between efficiency and democratic character

Israel public diplomacy Hasbara divided society the domestic dimension of public diplomacy

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Understanding the Dispute over the Treatment of Products Exported to the European Union from the Occupied Territories in the Context of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

  • Author: Oskar J. Chmie
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 254–264
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018207
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018207.pdf

While the European Union (EU) does not recognize any legal Israeli sovereignty over the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, it does not grant preferential access to the EU market for goods produced in the Israeli settlements in this area, contrary to the preferential treatment for goods produced in Israel. This situation is different, however, as regards the United States (U.S.) trade policy, which does not make any distinction between goods produced in Israel and in the Occupied Territories, since it grants the preferential access to both. Furthermore, the currently suspended negotiations of the super-regional trade agreement called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), spurred the enacting of a law that set the principal negotiating objectives of the U.S. regarding commercial partnerships, which included some provisions to discourage politically motivated economic actions against the State of Israel. As TTIP embraced the free trade agreement between the EU and the U.S., the EU differentiation policy could become problematic for the two partners, which despite the failure of the negotiations, revealed much about economic diplomacy. Consequently, this article attempts to show the different approaches adopted by the two trading powers, in order to deal with the dispute over the treatment of products exported to the EU from the Occupied Territories.

European Union Israel Occupied Palestinian Territories the United States trade negotiations TTIP

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Israeli Innovation Policy: an Important Instrument of Perusing Political Interest at the Global Stage

  • Author: Karolina Olszewska
  • Institution: University of Wroclaw (Poland)
  • Author: Joanna Dyduch
  • Institution: University of Wroclaw (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 265–283
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018208
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018208.pdf

Israel is perceived in the international environment as one of the top leaders in innovation. This is proven by the progressively high position of this country in international rankings and the participation of Israeli scientists and technologists in prestigious international programs. In this article, we claim that the aims of Israeli innovation policy, which has the biggest impact on the shape and content of the innovation ecosystem, are highly politicized. The status quo driven by the key assumption of the state strategy, according to which obtaining a competitive predominance in the political international environment will be achieved through economic instruments, primarily technological innovation. Therefore the aim of this article is to critically analyze Israeli innovation policy and the innovation ecosystem, paying special attention to the state interest and the government activities in this realm. For the purpose of this analysis, some basic assumptions of the neoliberal economy redefined by Arie Krampf will be utilized. Furthermore, to better describe and explain the link between politics and economy in the Israeli innovation ecosystem we will refer to the K.N. Waltz considerations on mechanisms of the political and economic system in a globalizing world.

international-political competitiveness R&D research and development hi-tech technology and science innovation ecosystem Israeli innovation policy Israel

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The Diversity of Citizenship of Palestinians and its Impact on their Mobility: Passport and Visa Issues

  • Author: Maciej Cesarz
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 284–301
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018209
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018209.pdf

This article explores the formal impact of various citizenships and travel documents held by Palestinians on their freedom to engage in international travel. Based on a theoretical analysis of passports and the global visa regime, it claims that international recognition is not only pre-requisite of statehood but also affects the scope of mobility in cases of citizens of de facto states, including the Palestinian Authority. The research is focused on the following themes: the status of the population holding a Palestinian Authority Passport in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in comparison to Palestinians who are citizens of Israel and carry passports of this state, the exceptional situation of East Jerusalemites as well as the case of Palestinians with Jordanian passports. Visa availability and other formal barriers for international travel are also examined. The argumentation is supported by the analysis of visa restriction indexes referring to the Palestinian Authority and to Israel. The article concludes that the mobility of Palestinians varies to a large extent depending on travel documents held and the recognition of a citizenship and the passport that comes with it is strictly dependent of the recognition of state sovereignty. Although in some cases citizenship can be divorced from the international recognition, the scope of visa-free mobility related to passports is always impaired.

Palestinian Authority Passport Israeli passport Palestinian mobility Palestinian citizenship visa restrictions State of Palestine recognition

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Dual Citizenship in Poland and in Israel: Selected Legal Aspects in a Comparative Perspective

  • Author: Przemysław Zawada
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 302–318
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018210
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018210.pdf

The tragic years of World War II, followed by the unfriendly communist policy in Poland towards the Jewish community, changed the country from a multicultural into the most homogeneous state in the European Union nowadays. At the same time, Israel, as a meeting place for various cultures, enjoys the influence of inhabitants from nearly all over the world. The dissimilar experiences and problems faced by the governing bodies should influence different approaches to dual citizenship in Poland and Israel. In view of the above, in the presented work the author would like to analyze the issue of the legal approach to dual citizenship both in Poland and in Israel. The main goal of the paper, beyond comparison of the effectiveness of the legislation, is finding the answer to the question: what is the state’s attitude towards the issue of the dual citizenship of their citizens? The hypothesis that the article will verify states, that due to the small number of people with dual citizenship in Poland, Polish legislation devoted to this topic is not extensive and has dissimilarities to the law in Israel, which, in contrast, is more complex and better response to the needs of society. The reason for comparing Poland and Israel is the fact that Polish citizenship has been very popular among the citizens of the Jewish state, especially since 2004 when Poland became a member of the European Union. This issue, in the long run, may be one of the key determinants of Polish-Israeli and Polish-Jewish relations.

international relations legal analysis dual citizenship passport Poland Israel

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Beyond “Recognition”. The Polish Perspectives on Israeli and Palestinian National Identities: Preliminary Assumptions of Research

  • Author: Marcin Szydzisz
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Author: Jarosław Jarząbek
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 319–330
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018211
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018211.pdf

The paper aims to provide an overview of the main streams of perception of Israeli and Palestinian national identities by Polish authorities and society, as well as analyze their sources. The study covers the period of time when both of the national identities took shape, that is since the beginning of the mass Jewish migration to Palestine at the beginning of the XXth century until the present time. As the Jews have for a long time been an important part of Polish history and society, Poles have a strong perception of Jewish, and consequently also Israeli, identity. Polish Jews, who played a crucial role in establishing the Israeli state and shaping Israeli national identity, were treated by many Poles as “our Jews”. This perception was conditioned by internal factors, such as social relations, cultural proximity, historical memory or political views. In contrast, a  perception of the Palestinian identity from the very beginning was conditioned externally, because it resulted from international political developments and a narrative imposed by foreign powers. Another special feature of the Polish perception of Israeli and Palestinian identity is the fact that public opinion very often differs significantly from the political position of state authorities.

national identity Israelis Palestinians perception Polish perspective

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Israeli-Ukrainian Relations after ‘the Euromaidan Revolution’ – the Holocaust and the New Ukrainian Identity in the Context of the European Aspirations of Ukraine

  • Author: Jakub Bornio
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 331–345
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018212
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018212.pdf

The Euromaidan revolution totally reoriented Ukraine’s policy in both internal and external dimensions. The new Ukrainian authorities facing Russian aggression and domestic instability started to build a new national identity in order to consolidate social cohesion. Due to the fact that Kiev’s new historical narrative glorifies the Ukrainian nationalists from the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) who contributed to the Holocaust of Jews and committed mass murders on the representatives of other nationalities, such a  policy may be a  serious obstacle in the context of Ukraine’s external relations. The present article investigates particularly Israeli-Ukrainian relations after the Euromaidan revolution. The article analyses the impact of the new Ukrainian identity on bilateral relations as well as attempting to answer whether or not it may influence Kiev’s cooperation with the European Union. The article contains a brief description of the new identity building process in the post-Euromaidan Ukraine with special consideration of those elements of it, which are related to “Ukrainian Nationalism”.

European Union Ukraine Israel Euromaidan national identity Ukrainian Nationalism historical narrative Holocaust OUN UPA

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Creating a National Identity through Agricultural Education in Mandatory Palestine

  • Author: Esther Yankelevitch
  • Institution: University of Haifa (Israel)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 346–354
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018213
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018213.pdf

Formation of agricultural education in high schools was a milestone in the early 20th-century history of Zionist education, and in the Jewish society in Mandatory Palestine in general. Agricultural education was a means of changing the character of the Jewish people by imparting agricultural knowledge and training. Candidates came from agricultural settlements, but mainly – and this was its uniqueness – they also came from the towns. In addition, agricultural education provided a framework for absorbing immigrant youth. This educational framework was, among other things, ideological because those who joined it were usually motivated by a desire to change the character of the Jewish society, return to the land and work it. The cost of funding agricultural schools was high for the local Jewish community, and therefore these schools remained dependent on private initiative and philanthropy. In spite of the widespread ideological support, not many students actually took part in agricultural education due to the high cost of tuition on the one hand, and the need to help support their own families on the other. It can also be said that during this period, parents who had the means to provide their children with higher education, favoured the “Gymnasium” high school model, which could lead to them engaging in other professions.

Agricultural education Mandatory Palestine Zionist ideology Jewish society high school identity

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The Response of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee to the Crisis of Soviet Jewish Émigré Dropouts (Noshrim) in the 1970s

  • Author: Fred Lazin
  • Institution: Ben Gurion University of the Negev (Israel)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 355–367
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018214
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018214.pdf

The JDC is an American Jewish organization that assists overseas Jewish communities in distress. It is responsible to “American Jewry” and those organizations that fund it. Bauer (1974, 19) argued that the JDC has been guided by its founding “pledge of impartiality – it steers clear of political involvements” and takes pride in being “probably the only really non-partisan organization in Jewish life.” This paper examines the role of the JDC in caring for Soviet émigrés who left on visas for Israel but chose to resettle elsewhere. They were known as “dropouts” (Noshrim in Hebrew). It also deals with the JDC policy toward recently settled Russian Jews who left Israel to resettle elsewhere. In its work with Soviet Jewish emigres did the JDC serve the interests of the Israeli government, its donors and or the emigres? Did the JDC abide by its pledge of impartiality? Did the JDC try to force them to resettle in Israel against their wishes? The paper focuses on the spring of 1976 when the number of dropouts outnumbered those resettling in Israel. This led to a joint committee of Israelis and American Jews to coordinate a response. The ‘freedom of choice’ debate ensued; should Soviet Jews resettle in Israel or have the freedom to choose where to resettle? The findings here are based on archival records in the JDC, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), the CJF (Jewish federations) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC). The author also conducted interviews and reviewed secondary sources. The paper should contribute to a better understanding of the JDC and its past ties to Israel and the American Jewish community.

JDC dropouts refugees transmigrants resettlement organizations Jewish organizations Soviet Jews

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Matrilineality as a Historical and Cultural Context of Ethical Reflection on the Use of In Vitro Fertilization in Israel

  • Author: Teresa Marcinów
  • Institution: Wrocław University of Science and Technology (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 368–378
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018215
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018215.pdf

On one hand, Israel is a leader in the field of high-tech industry, but on the other, it remains a country focused on traditions. In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is one of the most common treatments among many possibilities which were created in the field of assisted reproductive technology (ART). Indeed, the number of Jewish women as intensive consumers of IVF has increased in the past few years. Due to the great importance of motherhood and raising families in Jewish tradition, Israel strongly supports health care procedures assisting Jewish adults in becoming parents. There is no doubt that for Jews life is the most precious value in its religious and political meaning, however, they are quite flexible in accommodating modern technologies in order to serve life. The State has historically focused on increasing birthrates and nowadays a woman’s biological clock is an important element not only in the context of matrilineal descent and for the answer to the question of Jews identity but it is also intervening as a part of the reproductive industry.

matrilineality Israel IVF new technologies reproductive technology

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Deconstructing the Topos of Poland as a Jewish Necropolis in Texts by Israeli Authors of the Third PostHolocaust Generation

  • Author: Jagoda Budzik
  • Institution: University of Wrocław (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 379–389
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018216
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018216.pdf

The paper aims at recognizing and describing the ways of deconstructing the topos of Poland as a Jewish necropolis, a process that in the last decade appears more and more often in the works of Israeli authors of the third generation after the Shoah. The generation concept – as I argue – can serve here as a useful tool for understanding the shift which occurred in the specific national context of Israeli Holocaust discourse and strongly influenced the image of Poland in Israeli literature and culture. Poland depicted as a Jewish necropolis has become one of the central motifs present in Israeli literary as well as the artistic canon of Shoah representations. As the central space where the Shoah occurred, Poland was obviously perceived as a land marked by death and formed exclusively by the experience of the Holocaust. However, in the aftermath of two major shifts that have occurred in the last decades: a meaningful change in the Israeli Holocaust discourse and the new reality of Poland after 1989, and also as a consequence of the growing time distance separating yet another generation from the events themselves, numerous authors born in Israel mostly in the 1970s and in the 1980s began approaching the above-mentioned motif critically. This tendency, one of the few typical for the third generation, is demonstrated either through the motif ’s deconstruction and subversive usage or, more radically, by employing the genre of alternate history and changing the place’s identity (e.g. Tel Aviv by Yair Chasdiel). The topos of Poland as a necropolis has therefore been turned into a part – or even a starting point – of the reflection on collective memory patterns (e.g. Kompot. The Polish-Israeli Comic Book), stereotypes (e.g. Bat Yam by Yael Ronen), and on the authors’ own roots and identity (e.g. The Property by Rutu Modan). By analyzing the abovementioned texts, I will explore the process of constant interaction occurring between collective and the individual memory, between the Israeli national perspective and Polish landscapes, between an author and space and, finally – between the category of the third generation and its representatives themselves.

Israel Holocaust memory Israeli literature topos of Poland topos of cemetery third generation

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Israeli Identity on the Run: the Quest for a NonNational Position in Contemporary Israeli Literature

  • Author: Shira Stav
  • Institution: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Israel)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 390–405
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018217
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018217.pdf

My essay discusses a new attempt in young Israeli novels to break out of the suffocation and stagnation of the dominant literary protagonist. The discussion revolves around Ilai Rowner’s recent novel, Deserter (2015), which suggests ‘desertion’ as an option of to overcome nationalized structures of the self and of break new ground for its existence. The protagonist’s escape and a quest for a non-national position are destined to failure, however, reflecting the current state of political consciousness among young Israeli authors, and, I argue, the unthinkability of political exile in contemporary Israeli novels. The discussion presented here follows the renewed interest in Hanna Arendt’s exemplary essay “We Refugees” (1943) in light of the current refugees’ crisis in Europe among scholars such as Giorgio Agamben, Amal Jamal and Itamar Mann. While Agamben develops a phenomenology of being-a-refugee, severing the bond between nation and territory, his work lacks an experiential account of being a refugee. In light of this absence, I argue that Rowner’s protagonist remains blind to the particular identities he encounters, actively erasing the profound differences between deserters and refugees, persecutors and persecuted. While he recognizes the haunted element in him, Rowners’ protagonist’s obliviousness to the specific experiential trappings of his own story effectively sterilizes the novel’s political acuity through the effort to adopt an all-human perspective.

refugees Contemporary Israeli Literature Israeli Nationality Desertion Hanna Arendt Giorgio Agamben

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The Hero’s Wife: The Depiction of Female Holocaust Survivors in Israeli Cinema Prior to the Eichmann Trial and in its Aftermath

  • Author: Liat Steir-Livny
  • Institution: The Open University of Israel (Israel)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 406–413
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018218
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018218.pdf

Israeli culture in the 1940s and 1950s was dominated by ideological considerations. Zionist films, as other aspects of Eretz-Israel and Israeli culture, distinctively propagated Zionist ideas. As a consequence of their sociopolitical focus, these films neglected the complexities of the relationship between Holocaust survivors and the native Jews in Eretz Israel. Instead, Holocaust survivors were reduced to a homogeneous entity that bore distinct negative connotations. Films depicted female Holocaust survivors as mentally unstable, unfit mothers, and often played up negative sexual stereotypes. In these films, the women were “cured” or went through a process of “purification” thanks to the Zionist establishment. Historical research often cites the trial of Adolf Eichmann (1961) as being a turning point in the Israeli public’s perception of the Holocaust, and its representation in Israeli culture. This article will focus on an analysis of the film The Hero’s Wife (Peter Frye, 1963) that was produced in the aftermath of the trial. It will discuss the innovative representations of this unresearched film and will seek to answer the questions of why, and in what way, its narrative comprises a subversive antithesis to the narrative shaped by Zionist fiction films made prior to the Eichmann trial.

Holocaust cinema Holocaust survivors The Eichmann trial Holocaust commemoration

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Choice of Language and the Quest for Israeli Identity in the Works of Tuvia Ruebner and Aharon Appelfeld

  • Author: Michal Ben-Horin
  • Institution: Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan (Israel)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 414–423
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018219
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018219.pdf

Immigration highlights the question of language and raises the dilemma of the relationship between the mother tongue and the language of the new land. For writers this question is even more crucial: should they write in the language of the place and its readers? Immigration to Israel is not exceptional, of course. What choices are open to those writers, and how are they to convey the complexities inherent in the formation of an Israeli identity? This paper focuses on two writers who demonstrate the role played by the “chosen language” in the cultural construction and deconstruction of Israeli identity. Tuvia Ruebner emigrated from Bratislava, Aharon Appelfeld from Bukovina. Ruebner shifted from German to Hebrew and back to German; Appelfeld wrote only in Hebrew. In both cases, their arrival in Israel enabled them to survive. However, the loss of their families in Europe continued to haunt them. Inspired by Walter Benjamin’s concept of ‘translation’ and responding to Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s concept of ‘minor literature’, the paper shows how their work conveys a multilayered interrelation between national and foreign languages, and between images of exile and homeland, past, present and future – all of which shed light on contemporary issues of Israeli identity.

immigration Franz Kafka Tuvia Ruebner Aharon Appelfeld Bilingualism modern Hebrew Literature

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Hebrew and Polish: Mutual Influences and Their Contribution in Creating a Polish Criminals’ Jargon

  • Author: Angelika Adamczyk
  • Institution: University of Warsaw (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 424–435
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018220
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018220.pdf

In this paper, I wish to present the complexity of Jewish-Polish relations from the 19th century until the interwar period, with emphasis on sociolinguistic issues. I will illustrate the circumstances of the contact between the Polish and Hebrew languages. Poles and Jews, who lived side by side, developed successful relationships, but mainly in the criminal underworld. That was reflected in a sociolect – a dialect of criminals that constituted a mixture of Polish, Yiddish, Russian, and several other languages, including quite a few Hebrew words, which with time adopted new meanings. Moreover, I  will provide some examples of Hebrew words used in Polish criminal jargon, as well as those which have been coined in every-day Polish. Then I will refer to some Hebrew words that are not connected with a world of crime and are still in use in spoken Polish.

sociolect criminal jargon Hebrew Polish-Jewish relations Polish language interlingual contacts spoken language

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Some New Suggestions for Solving the Israeli–Palestinians Disputes

  • Author: Gideon Biger
  • Institution: Tel Aviv University (Israel)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 439–447
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018221
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018221.pdf

Many suggestions have been presented for solving the Israeli – Palestinian dispute. As for now, none of those suggestions, presented during more than thirty years of negotiations, have been accepted by both sides. As for this, some new ideas have to be entered into the arena. Here some new, “out of the box”, geographical proposals are presented, based on actual events and geographical realities which exist in other areas. These proposals could be seen as un-human or politically wrong suggestions but as all other proposals were rejected, the decision makers of both sides, as well as the leaders of the world, can use the presented suggestion as a base for future negotiations.

Israel Palestine enclave national state Citizenship peace agreement

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Discussing Israeli Identities

  • Author: Karolina Zielińska
  • Institution: University of Warsaw (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 448–449
  • DOI Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018222
  • PDF: ppsy/47-2/ppsy2018220.pdf

The paper reports from the proceedings of the 6th Annual Conference on Israeli Studies Israeli Identities: Past, Present and Future which took place at the University of Wrocław on September 10–12, 2017. The report reflects on the discussions which took place during plenary sessions of the conference and on the contents of the conference panels. Furthermore, it assesses the importance of this international event for the field of Israeli studies.

conference report European Israeli Studies Association israeli studies modern Israel international relations EAIS

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Table of Contents 47(3)

  • Author: The Editors
  • Institution: Polish Political Science Yearbook (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 451-454
  • DOI Address: -
  • PDF: ppsy/47-3/ppsy20183toc.pdf

Polish Political Science Yearbook, 47(3). Published online: August 30, 2018. The Polish Political Science Yearbook is international peer-reviewed journal indexed in: American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (ABSEES) Online, BazHum, Central and Eastern European Online Library, Central European Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (cejsh.icm.edu.pl), Columbia International Affairs Online, Cosmos Impact Factor, Directory of Open Access Journals, Electronic Journals Library, ERIH Plus, Gale PowerSearch, Google Scholar, HeinOnline, IBR – International Bibliography of Book Reviews of Scholarly Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences, IBZ – International Bibliography of Periodical Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences, ICI Journals Master List, International Political Science Abstracts, Open Academic Journals Index, POL-Index (Polska Bibliografia Naukowa) and The Lancaster Index.

polish political science yearbook ppsy

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Current Amendments to Polish Electoral Law in the Light of European Standards

  • Author: Anna Rakowska-Trela
  • Institution: University of Łódź (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 457-466
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018301
  • PDF: ppsy/47-3/ppsy2018301.pdf

In December 2017 and January 2018, the Sejm and Senate, thanks to the votes of the deputies of ruling party Law and Justice, passed hugely controversial law amending inter alia Polish Electoral Code. Its adoption was opposed by the parliamentary opposition, by the electoral administration bodies and by many experts, however unsuccessfully. The enactment of this law destabilises the electoral system without a clear or evident need and treats the electoral code as a political instrument. Secondly, it does not provide the sufficient time for adaptation (vacatio legis), which may jeopardise free and fair local elections and the stability of the political system. Thirdly, the bill contains numerous unclear provisions and is in many parts written in a careless and contradictory way. Such amendments do not correspond with the European standards, described in the Venice Commission’s Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters.

amendments election electoral code electoral law Poland

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Electoral Issues as the Subject of Petitions Submitted to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland of the Eight Term

  • Author: Anna Rytel-Warzocha
  • Institution: University of Gdańsk
  • Author: Andrzej Szmyt
  • Institution: University of Gdańsk
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 467-475
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018302
  • PDF: ppsy/47-3/ppsy2018302.pdf

Art. 63 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997 provides everyone with the right to submit petitions to state authorities. The procedure for considering petitions is specified by the Act on Petitions of 11 July 2014. According to the law, petitions can, in particular, take the form of a request to amend the law. The aim of the article is to focus on petitions concerning the amendment of electoral law against the background general information on the legal regulations in this regard. In the 8th term of office of the Sejm, which began on 12 November 2015, there were five petitions submitted to the parliament which concerned electoral issues. The petitioners proposed amendments in regard to the manner of electing senators to the Senate of the Republic of Poland and councilors in the communities of up to 100,000 residents, strengthening mechanisms that would counteract “electoral frauds”, electoral thresholds in the elections to the Sejm and mandatory voting.

Committee on Petitions mandatory voting petition electoral law

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Consequences of the Electoral System in Polish Municipalities – Pathologies and Abuses

  • Author: Justyna Wasil
  • Institution: University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska
  • Author: Monika Sidor
  • Institution: University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska
  • Author: Katarzyna A. Kuć-Czajkowska
  • Institution: University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 477-490
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018303
  • PDF: ppsy/47-3/ppsy2018303.pdf

Pathologies and abuses accompany elections and are connected with the electoral system both in its narrow and broad sense. Moreover, they stem from a human nature and a degree of democratic principles consolidation. Cohabitation is conditioned by the electoral system and, in the case of the proportional allocation of seats, it arises more often than in the majority system with single member constituencies. The phenomenon itself is not always pathological. However, such an adverse situation develops when it comes to clashes, neither substantive nor creative, between the municipal bodies and, in consequence, the interests of the local community are jeopardised. Elections at the municipal level are also accompanied by other pathologies and abuses including: coercing votes when voting by proxy, adding voters to an electoral roll, bringing residents to a polling place, paying for one’s votes, preying on the naïvety of voters which can take grotesque forms or brutalising an election campaign caused by the mediatisation of local policy. The above-mentioned phenomena were examined and presented in the paper based on the analysis of statistical data, articles from the local press and, most essentially for the discussed subject, a rich material collected thanks to the in-depth interviews conducted by the authors.

cohabitation municipality local elections electoral system

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Election Petitions in Poland: The Efficiency Analysis of the Institution

  • Author: Jagoda Wojciechowska
  • Institution: Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 491-502
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018304
  • PDF: ppsy/47-3/ppsy2018304.pdf

The article concerns the analysis of procedures connected with election petitions in Poland on the basis of the constituencies under the jurisdiction of the District Court in Toruń. It should be mentioned, however, that research is currently being conducted in other courts, which even at the preliminary stage appears to corroborate the results of the analysis presented in the article. The research focuses on the guarantees of the efficiency of the electoral petition in Poland. The election petition is the most important instrument which is available to verify the validity of elections. The Constitution does not regulate this matter, entrusting the legislator with this task. The possibility of submitting an election petition implements the principle of the external judicial review of the progress of an election or referendum, which can be initiated upon the request of a legal entity entitled to submit the petition. Considering the role of the petition proceedings as well as the values which remain protected within the procedure of settlement, the legislator should demonstrate the utmost care to increase their efficiency. However, the regulations concerning election petitions are scattered around the whole Electoral Code. Furthermore, for an election petition to be justified, there must be a cause-effect link between the law violation and the results of an election, with the burden of proof placed on the petitioner. The overall result is that in judicial practice only in few cases have grievances in election petitions been considered justified.

election verification election petition voting civil rights democracy elections electoral system

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The Military Doctrine of the Russian Federation

  • Author: Michał Pietkiewicz
  • Institution: University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 505-520
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018305
  • PDF: ppsy/47-3/ppsy2018305.pdf

In December 2017 and January 2018, the Sejm and Senate, thanks to the votes of the deputies of ruling party Law and Justice, passed hugely controversial law amending inter alia Polish Electoral Code. Its adoption was opposed by the parliamentary opposition, by the electoral administration bodies and by many experts, however unsuccessfully. The enactment of this law destabilises the electoral system without a clear or evident need and treats the electoral code as a political instrument. Secondly, it does not provide the sufficient time for adaptation (vacatio legis), which may jeopardise free and fair local elections and the stability of the political system. Thirdly, the bill contains numerous unclear provisions and is in many parts written in a careless and contradictory way. Such amendments do not correspond with the European standards, described in the Venice Commission’s Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters.

Russian defense Russian doctrine territorial defense state security military doctrine

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Russian Active Measures in Psychological Warfare

  • Author: Justyna Doroszczyk
  • Institution: Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 521-534
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018306
  • PDF: ppsy/47-3/ppsy2018306.pdf

The aim of the article is to analyse Russian active measures in the context of psychological warfare. Active measures are defined as the actions of political warfare conducted by Russian secret service. In case of Russian Federation they are the core of psychological operations that are tools of realising international and domestic policy priorities. Active measures include disinformation campaigns and supporting insurgency in opponent states. Regarding the context of psychological operations active measures are designed to model the mental sphere of opponent society. Active measures are aimed at weakening the unity of the European Union as well as common trust in NATO. Creating favourable atmosphere for Russian activity is the main goal of implementing active measures. Therefore active measures are considered as a great part of Russian interpretation of psychological warfare. Although active measures can support the military activity they are designed to influence the mental sphere of opponent society and are used to create opinions and interpretations that match Russian interests. Those measures are difficult to identify and therefore are threats that are not easy to counteract.

secret service active measures Russian Federation security

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Amnesties: conditio sine qua non for a Lasting Peace Solution or Ticking Time Bomb for Peacebuilding?

  • Author: Agnieszka Szpak
  • Institution: Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 537-552
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018307
  • PDF: ppsy/47-3/ppsy2018307.pdf

The author attempts to define amnesty and describe conditions that must be met for amnesties to be in accordance with international law. This in turn involves an analysis of legality of amnesties. The paper also examines motivation for granting amnesty and desirability as well as the future of granting amnesties. In the end a nuanced approach is adopted highlighting the fact that amnesties are neither conditio sine qua non for a lasting peace solution nor ticking time-bombs for peacebuilding. This reflects the idea of this paper that justice is not an absolute and sometimes it might be necessary to let go and combine judicial and non-judicial mechanisms (including the disclosure of truth and reparations for the victims) in order to achieve sustainable peace.

impunity international crimes peacebuilding amnesty peace

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The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and the Problem of Political Will

  • Author: Jed Lea-Henry
  • Institution: Vignan University (India)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 553-570
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018308
  • PDF: ppsy/47-3/ppsy2018308.pdf

The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) was created in the hope of overcoming the barrier that state sovereignty, as a principle, had become to actions of humanitarian intervention. It was imagined that as mass atrocity crimes were coming to the attention of the international community, that, on the whole, they were willing, able and eager to intervene in order to stop the violence in question. Holding them back was sovereignty as both a legal and normative barrier. This was always a bad explanation for the pervasive lack of humanitarian intervention; accordingly R2P, as a bad solution, has failed almost entirely. The problem is, and always has been, that when faced with mass atrocity crimes, the international community is plagued by a near-permanent lack of political will to action.

humanitarian intervention R2P responsibility to protect international crimes international law

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Challenging Life Nearby Russia

  • Author: Ewelina Wojciechowska
  • Institution: Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 573-575
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018309
  • PDF: ppsy/47-3/ppsy2018309.pdf

Book Review: Sylwester Gardocki (Ed.), Rosja i jej sąsiedzi. Studia i szkice. Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek: Toruń 2015. ISBN: 978 -83 - 8019 - 208 - 9.

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Not Only the War. The Ideology of Polish Underground State

  • Author: Łukasz Kołtuniak
  • Institution: Jagiellonian University in Kraków (Poland)
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 576-578
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018310
  • PDF: ppsy/47-3/ppsy2018310.pdf

Book review: Jerzy Juchnowski & Jan Ryszard Sielezin, The concept of state and nation in Polish political thought in the period of war and occupation (1939 – 1945). Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek Toruń 2016 (pp. 295). ISBN: 978-83- 8019- 487- 8.

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European Opportunities in the Field of Lawyer-Linguists – Irish Perspective

  • Author: Joanna Siekiera
  • Institution: Collegium of Socio-Economics, Warsaw School of Economics
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 581-586
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018311
  • PDF: ppsy/47-3/ppsy2018311.pdf

Conference on Opportunities for Law Graduates as Lawyerlinguists with the EU. Dublin, (7 March 2018), The Honorable Society of King’s Inns

Multilingualism is now considered as the mean of achieving common goals on the European ground. This term can be referred to speaking several languages at the same time, and as to an official requirement for the employees of an organisation or a company who should communicate internally and externally by using more than one language and finally, as to multiculturalism which can apply to an individual’s capability to master several languages. But since the EU has extended equal treatment to 24 languages spoken in all of its member countries, there is a huge demand for translators, interpreters, linguists and lawyer-linguists. The Irish language, being a working one, while not yet a XX language is an interesting example of achieving the largest scope of multilingualism in the EU.

Irish language Irish multilingualism linguist lawyer-linguist European Union

Contents

  • Author: The Editors
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 587-590
  • DOI Address: -
  • PDF: ppsy/47-4/ppsy20184toc.pdf

Polish Political Science Yearbook, 47(4). Published online: December 31, 2018. The Polish Political Science Yearbook is international peer-reviewed journal indexed in: American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (ABSEES) Online, BazHum, Central and Eastern European Online Library, Central European Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (cejsh.icm.edu.pl), Columbia International Affairs Online, Cosmos Impact Factor, Directory of Open Access Journals, Electronic Journals Library, ERIH Plus, Gale PowerSearch, Google Scholar, HeinOnline, IBR – International Bibliography of Book Reviews of Scholarly Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences, IBZ – International Bibliography of Periodical Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences, ICI Journals Master List, International Political Science Abstracts, Open Academic Journals Index, POL-Index (Polska Bibliografia Naukowa) and The Lancaster Index.

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Beyond Vote Rigging: Common Patterns in Electoral Malpractices in De-Democratizing Regimes

  • Author: Adam Szymański
  • Institution: University of Warsaw
  • Author: Wojciech Ufel
  • Institution: University of Wrocław
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 593-617
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018401
  • PDF: ppsy/47-4/ppsy2018401.pdf

For the past decade in many countries in Europe and its close neighborhood we have observed different types of processes which can be named as “de-democratization”. The aim of the article is to analyze the state of elections as the crucial democratic institution which fairness and competitiveness have a substantial impact on the political regime. While Turkey as a “role model” for our analysis remains a main focus of the article, three European countries were selected for a comparison based on their relative similarity to Turkey – Hungary, Macedonia (FYROM) and Serbia. The following questions are posed: Are elections in these countries free, fair and competitive? Can some types of electoral malpractice and irregularities be identified? How does the state of elections in terms of their fairness and competitiveness influence the political regime? The main hypothesis is that in the analyzed countries elections competitiveness limited by incumbents can become a factor deciding about the change within the political regime in the long run (loss of democratic quality) and also change the regime (to a less democratic one).

Macedonia (FYROM) Serbia electoral malpractice electoral integrity de-democratization political regime Turkey Hungary

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Electoral System of the Republic of Belarus after 25 Years of Independence

  • Author: Anna Kuleszewicz
  • Institution: Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 618-627
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018402
  • PDF: ppsy/47-4/ppsy2018402.pdf

This paper aims to present a case study analysis of the condition of the electoral system in the Republic of Belarus after more than a quarter of a century of independence. The main purpose of the paper is to explain the discrepancies between legislation and practice. The author intended to note a real situation that dominates the country’s political scene in comparison to theoretical establishments. A Constitution of the Republic (created in 1994, with minor changes in 1996 and 2004) is the legal ground of the electoral system, however, procedural details were drawn up in the Electoral Code. The principles of Belarusian electoral code consist of some statements known from democratic models, such as universal suffrage, direct suffrage, secret ballot and equality. There are different types of elections in Belarus but the most important ones are presidential and parliamentary elections. Despite the detailed legal rules for conducting these elections, in fact, the principles of democracy, as well as the internal rules in Belarus, are not respected. Both presidential and parliamentary elections have shown this in recent years. Independent observers for a long time have been alarming about worrying electoral practices in Belarus. It is also worth emphasizing that since 1994, one man has been in power uninterruptedly, and Parliament has in fact a symbolic function. In the source materials, the author used Belarusian legal acts, analyses and reports, press notes as well as scientific papers.

Belarus elections Lukashenka Constitution president parliament democracy

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Cybertools of Political Competition and the 2016 American Presidential Campaign

  • Author: Marek Górka
  • Institution: Koszalin University of Technology
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 628-641
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018403
  • PDF: ppsy/47-4/ppsy2018403.pdf

In the last decade, one can notice the huge interest of researchers in the field of cyberpolicy, which is primarily due to the widespread use of the Internet in the public space. This fact is also an impulse for conducting interdisciplinary research that combines knowledge from social sciences on the one hand, and uses content from technical sciences on the other. Compared to the form of conducting election campaigns in the 20th century in the U.S., during the 2016 election campaign there were significant changes in the conduct of political struggle. These changes consist above all in the use of cybernetic tools, which to a large extent, however difficult to determine, shaped electoral behavior. The contemporary political competition is more and more dependent on technology, which becomes the main element of the professionalization of election campaigns. Investigating the impact of cyberspace on electoral results is a big challenge, considering the fact that the area of cybertechnology is extremely complex. Cyberspace has now become a field for many political phenomena that are constantly evolving and in most cases their importance is immense for the functioning of the political system. The article is intended to deal with selected phenomena related to cybertechnology that were compared with other events from the U.S. election campaign in 2016. The article aims to investigate selected events resulting from the use of cybertechnology, which had an impact on electoral behavior.

elections social media digital politics hybrid media manipulation disinformation

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Electoral Rights and Intellectual Disability: Considerations de lege lata

  • Author: Małgorzata Babula
  • Institution: WSPiA University in Rzeszów
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 642-651
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018404
  • PDF: ppsy/47-4/ppsy2018404.pdf

The Constitution of the Republic of Poland mentions as one of the principles of electoral law its universality. This means that anyone who meets the requirements of law is entitled to vote. The admissibility of exclusions from this principle is also expressly defined by the law. One of the limitations in the exercise of electoral rights is an intellectual disability resulting in the incapacity of the individual. Meanwhile, Poland’s international obligations resulting e.g. from the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides with a necessity of a deeper reflection on the present solutions. The ratification by Poland of the UN Convention has stimulated discussion on the political rights of people with intellectual disabilities, extending the field of debate on the legitimacy of the current form of institution of incapacitation. The aim of this article is to reflect on the current solutions in the exercise of electoral rights by people affected by intellectual disability but not being incapacitated.

Discrimination intellectual disability political rights electoral rights individual rights Constitution

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Members of Polish Political Parties in the Process of Inter-Electoral Campaigning

  • Author: Maria Wincławska
  • Institution: Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
  • Author: Anna Pacześniak
  • Institution: Wrocław University
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 652-662
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018405
  • PDF: ppsy/47-4/ppsy2018405.pdf

The character and role of membership in political parties have been varied in time (van Haute, 2011; Scarrow, 2015; Gauja, 2017), just as the parties themselves, their organizations and functions in political systems (e.g. Duverger, 1976; Kirkheimer, 1966; Mair, Katz, 1997; Katz, Mair, 2009). There are researchers suggesting that the importance of members for political parties and in campaigning has declined substantially. But does it mean that they have become irrelevant in this aspect?
In the paper we look at the process of inter-electoral campaigning from the perspective of the rank-and-files of Polish political parties. There are three research questions in this article: (1) Do the rank-and-file members of Polish political parties see the functions of modern political parties in the aspect of permanent communication? (2) Do they engage in the parties’ inter-electoral campaigns? (3) Do the assessments of party functions and performances, or the view about the role of the grassroots, correlate with the members’ engagement in the campaigns of the parties?
The data analyzed in the paper were taken from the research conducted in the project „Political parties and their social environment. An Analysis of the Organization and Communications Activities of Polish Political Parties”1. The analysis is based on the quantitative data (PAPI and CAWI) of the members of six Polish political parties (n=2,488).

inter-electoral campaigning functions of the party members of political parties

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Conspiracy Theories Are Not Only for Election Losers. Anti-system Parties and Conspiratorial Distrust in Poland

  • Author: Franciszek Czech
  • Institution: Jagiellonian University
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 663-675
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018406
  • PDF: ppsy/47-4/ppsy2018406.pdf

Using data from a nationally representative survey in Poland, this study looks at the links between post-election attitudes, ideology and conspiratorial distrust toward public sphere. The reference point is an argument made by Joseph Uscinski and Joseph Parent. They provide evidence that conspiracy theories are more popular among election losers in the United States. Data presented in the article shows a limitation of the argument and the special role of anti-system party in the Polish parliamentary election of 2015. Therefore, the more comprehensive understanding of conspiracy theories within the field of political science is discussed.

conspiratorial distrust conspiracy theory anti-system party election political support Poland

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The Formation of Local Self-government During the System Transformation Period in Poland and the Former GDR: A Comparative Study

  • Author: Adam Jarosz
  • Institution: University of Zielona Góra
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 679-693
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018407
  • PDF: ppsy/47-4/ppsy2018407.pdf

This paper presents changes that have occurred at the local level in Poland and new German federal states during the process of the post-communist system transformation. The stages of rebuilding the local self-government and its structures are analyzed. The experiences of Poland and Eastern Germany – two states where the system transformation took different courses – were compared. At the same time, both countries have different constitutional orders of the unitary state and federal state, and this context are interesting fields for a comparative analysis. This paper also confronts the two methods of institution building – the importing of well-established institutions and developing them in the evolutionary way, where in both cases path a dependency can be well observed. In Germany this is considered a special case (Sonderfall) of institutional transformation, in which the key role was played by the transference of institutions, personnel and financial means. This was also done much quicker and in a more structured and comprehensive way than in Poland. In the case of Poland, the creation of local self-government structures or shaping the political actors was a grassroots and evolutionary process. This article points out the most important factors that had a crucial significance in the course and results of the transformation and explains different ways of developing the system of democratic local self-government.

Poland Germany post-communist transformation

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The Ukrainian Crisis as a Case Study of Different Policymaking Styles of Russia and China

  • Author: Michał Lubina
  • Institution: Jagiellonian University in Kraków
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 694-705
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018408
  • PDF: ppsy/47-4/ppsy2018408.pdf

The Ukrainian crisis of 2014 has been a popular theme of journal and media articles for obvious reasons. Its “Chinese”, or rather Sino-Russian dimension has been less so, though the Chinese reaction to the Ukrainian crisis and the implications of this reaction represent interesting political phenomenon. This article tries to fill this gap and uses the description of Russia and China policies during the crisis as a case study of Moscow and Beijing political behavior on the international scene in general. Its thesis is that the Ukrainian crisis represents a great case study of these behaviors. Moreover, this case is also a supplement to the general discussion in the field about the state of Russia-China contemporary political relations.

China Russia the Ukrainian Crisis

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Citizenship, the Vector of Present? Considerations de lege lata Based on the Polish Domestic Law

  • Author: Małgorzata Babula
  • Institution: WSPiA University in Rzeszów
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 709-721
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018409
  • PDF: ppsy/47-4/ppsy2018409.pdf

The modern world is opening up to a series of innovations, differences and broadly understood diversity. The pace of changes becomes a peculiar substructure of creating patchwork nations. The variety of races, colors, religions and cultures. All of the above contain a point which, like an electron, resembles an omnipresent “variant”. This constant value is a human being. We are accompanied by a sense of belonging to a specific place, culture and values. On this basis, we expect something (e.g. having rights and freedoms). Citizenship seems to be a binder that puts us in a clearly narrowed community with certain values and often allows us to distinguish our own “self”. Created by history, absorbing presence, citizenship is an important element of our affiliation to the country, to culture and to the values hidden behind them. In the world of diversity, it seems to be a desirable and important element. The purpose of this article is to discuss the contemporary role assigned to citizenship, as well as to show the citizenship as a factor shaping the position of the individual and justifying the distinction made in specific areas of human functioning in the state.

Citizenship individual rights Constitution of the Republic of Poland

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The Born Frees as Assertive Citizens? Student Protests and Democratic Prospects in South Africa

  • Author: Dagmar Kusá
  • Institution: Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 722-741
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018410
  • PDF: ppsy/47-4/ppsy2018410.pdf

Massive student protests in South Africa in the past few years, largest since the times of the anti-apartheid struggles, raised several questions for political scientists. Are we witnessing a generational change? Or are they a sign of a broader global shift towards “assertive citizenship” present in advanced democracies and democratizing countries? To answer these questions, this paper examines the levels of political support and nature of political participation among the young generation.
The paper also points out that generational change is not immediately visible in public opinion polls but is a process of a gradual narrative construction. Protests brought with them a challenge to the founding narrative of a united Rainbow Nation and reconciliation with the past, leading to a fracture in democratic stability. For the democratic project to succeed, it is essential that the national project in South Africa does not fall apart.

transition generational change political participation post-apartheid political support South Africa identity

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The Protection of the Right to Education in Minority Language: the Council of Europe’s Standards

  • Author: Hanna Wiczanowska
  • Institution: Adam Mickiewicz University
  • Author: Łukasz Szoszkiewicz
  • Institution: Adam Mickiewicz University
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 742-751
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018411
  • PDF: ppsy/47-4/ppsy2018411.pdf

There is neither consensus whether the category of linguistic rights shall be distinguished, nor international agreement on the catalogue of such rights. Nevertheless, access to education in mother tongue constitutes a core element of most of the international and national frameworks of minority protection. Academic and legal disputes are particularly absorbing in Europe, where linguistic policies frequently intertwine with politics (e.g. Cyprus, Moldova, Ukraine). Thus, it is essential to pose the question, whether the right to education in mother tongue is always granted the equal scope of protection or is such protection differentiated by any additional criteria. Most of all, it shall be considered whether the analyzed right has an independent character or its protection is associated with perception of other fundamental rights and freedoms. This paper investigates the scope of the protection of this right within the framework of the Council of Europe.

linguistic rights right to education ECHR minority rights UDHR

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Reflections on the Proposal to Introduce a Term Limit for Elected Officials Effects and Implications

  • Author: Joanna Marszałek-Kawa
  • Institution: Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 752-761
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018412
  • PDF: ppsy/47-4/ppsy2018412.pdf

The problem of the lack of “generational replacement” in Poland is particularly evident on the local self-government level. For years, there has been an ongoing public debate on the adoption of legal solutions introducing term-limits for the office of commune head, mayor and president of the city. Politicians of Law and Justice returned to their idea from 2005 and, shortly before the local elections of 2018, decided to prepare new regulations in this respect. They argued that the adopted solutions create real prospects for implementing projects by young politicians and activists. However, the issue was hotly debated and the initiators’ motives were put into question. There is no doubt that a two-term limit in local selfgovernment units has always stirred up emotions. A lot of self-government officials perceive it as a regulation which violates the provisions of the Constitution of the RP. The aim of this paper is to present the public debate on the adopted solutions and discuss their assumptions.

political system Poland elections term limit local government

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International Politics and the Chinese Reforms

  • Author: Emilia Woźniczko
  • Institution: University of Silesia in Katowice
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 765-768
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018413
  • PDF: ppsy/47-4/ppsy2018413.pdf

Book Review: Peng Sen, Zhang Xiaochong & Jin Chuntian, Reformujac Chiny. Uwarunkowania międzynarodowe. Toruń: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek Publishing House 2015 (pp. 495). ISBN 978 – 83 – 8019 – 254 – 6.

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Polish Media on Religion

  • Author: Kamila Rezmer
  • Institution: Nicolaus Copernicus University
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 769-773
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018414
  • PDF: ppsy/47-4/ppsy2018414.pdf

Book Review: Jacek Lindner, 12 469 dróg do absolutu. Polskie media o religii po 1989 roku, Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, Toruń 2017, pp. 414.

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Integration Processes and Organizations in the Asia-Pacific Region

  • Author: Michał Dahl
  • Institution: Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
  • Year of publication: 2018
  • Source: Show
  • Pages: 774-777
  • DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2018415
  • PDF: ppsy/47-4/ppsy2018415.pdf

Book Review: Marcin Grabowski, Rywalizacja czy integracja? Procesy i organizacje integracyjne w regionie Azji i Pacyfiku na przełomie XX i XXI wieku. Kraków: Księgarnia Akademicka 2015 (pp. 321). ISBN: 978 – 83 – 7638 – 601 – 0.

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