Contemporary democratization process challenges the trends of regress or stagnation in the world. The Central European Countries face this problem as well, yet they differ in the depth of changes. The article addresses the problems of quality of democracy regarded as a political regime and the values of constitutional order of the Czech Republic and Hungary. As post-communist, the two countries have been regarded as democratic leaders for a long time. But the Czech Republic has the same Constitution from the beginning of democratization process, while Hungary passed the new Constitution in 2011. The Czech constitutional order reflects liberal democratic rules and values both in axiological and institutional dimension. The Hungarian one mirrors conservative and illiberal axiological values. In the institutional dimension both constitutions seem to maintain specific democratic regime, but in Hungary the executive power is dominant. The methods used in the research were: analysis, synthesis, institutional approach and comparative method.

Commemoration of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky in 2015 and the Process of Democratization in Ukraine after the Revolution of Dignity

As a consequence of the crisis related to the overthrowof the president Yanukovych in Ukraine, anew social reality evolved. The changes are reflected, inter alia, in the reinterpretation of the identity and borders of the political community in Ukraine. The representatives of the Ukrainian elites who took over the power in 2014 actively joined this process. The proof of this fact is, inter alia, an initiative of the nationwidecelebrationof the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky. The reinterpretation of the own cultural heritage and the process of formation of the symbolic capital (as understood by P. Bourdieu) related with this heritage became more dinamic after the so-called Revolution of Dignity and in view of the armed conflict in Donbass. It seems that a modernised universal formula of the Ukrainian identity could be based largly on the cultural capital of one of the regions of Ukraine: Galicia. The currect Ukrainian authorities’ initiatives targeted at the promotion of the figure of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptysky seem to indicate it. The analysis of theirprogressand shall enable a better understanding of the meaning and direction of social changes in today’s Ukraine.

The beginning of the 1990s was a time of geopolitical transformations. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to formation of new states that entered the path of democratization, and Ukraine was not an exception. Despite almost 30 years of independence, Ukraine remains a weak democracy. The reason of that, along with other problems, are peculiarities of political culture of citizens. Notwithstanding, weakness of political culture could be changed into the greatest advantage in the process of maturing of democracy in Ukraine.

Status and Role of the Young Generation in the Social and Political Space of Georgia

The aim of the paper is to examine the status and role of the young generation in the social and political space of Georgia. The paper states that the young generation of Georgians does not enjoy high social status, even though the young can and probably will constitute the future elite of Georgian society. To analyze this research problem, I have used a number of research methods based partly on secondary sources. Three main research methods have been used in the study-desk research method, comparison, and the statistical method based on secondary data that have been extracted from the Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC) database. The paper is a snapshot of studies on the theory of notions of “status” and “role”, and it presents the work of Polish scholars. Moreover, the paper opens the door to further research on the young and democracy in Georgia. The studied issue is essential for analyzing the perception of democracy and democratization among the generations in Georgia. The paper is part of a series of articles on the opinion of the young generation of Georgians about democracy and democratization.

Many factors have been adduced to explain why some states become democracies and others not. Accepted variables predicting democracy include education level, economic development, urbanization, communication networks and so on. This paper will explore two biological variables’ role—nutrition level and health status. Comparative data are used to explore the effects of these variables on level of democracy. Implications are discussed.

The subject of this article is political culture and its relationship with democracy. The article is focused mainly on Turkish political culture and democratic practices. It is clear that the political system is directly connected with the political culture of society. But how could we distinguish political culture from other things or do we even have to? The purpose of this article is to present and evaluate the main role of political culture, which affects levels of tolerance, interpersonal trust, etc., as well as the adaption of democratic institutions to the current system. The main problems of Turkish political life are discussed in the article with the perspective of the relationship between political culture and democracy. The aim of this article is to present concepts of cultural orientations, the reflection of economic and political factors, social structures, as well as complex and unclear relations between them, which are simultaneously linked to a stable democracy. Therefore, it can be observed that stable democracy is not a coincidence but a result of all mentioned factors.

Importance of the 2005 Constitution of the Republic of Iraq as a Result of the Operation “Iraqi Freedom”

The adoption of a constitution is usually a breakthrough event, initiating a new reality for a given community, although it often becomes only a meaningless document, the provisions of which are ignored by the rulers, irrelevant or even unknown to the society. The armed operation of the Coalition Forces under the political and military leadership of the US, which lasted from 2003 to 2010, creates an important context for the constitution of the Republic of Iraq, which was implemented in December 2005. Therefore, it is important to place this constitution against the background of events and other documents of this rank in Iraq. Only in such a context can the significance of this fundamental law be properly assessed. For this purpose, a source analysis of both the text of the Constitution of 2005 and previous documents of a similar rank in Iraq was carried out, as well as an analysis of the political and military situation and the changing internal socio-political conditions in order to place this legal act in the right context.

In recent years, Armenia and Georgia have carried out constitutional reforms bringing about a radical change in their respective political systems with a shift to a parliamentary model of government. To permanently democratize both countries, the role of presidents in political systems was weakened and their election was introduced indirectly. The paper discusses the main elements of presidential electoral law in both countries with their main similarities and differences. In Armenia, the president is elected by the parliament, while in Georgia by a special electoral body. The following paper argues that the constitutional reforms in both countries are intended to prevent crises of power caused by an excessive concentration of power in the hands of presidents, although the reforms do not provide a guarantee of genuine democratisation and authoritarstability of governments. The possible outcomes of the reforms can be different: in Armenia – the increase of the dependence of the president on the main political parties, in Georgia – strengthening his independence.

Parliamentarism in the Context of Political Transit: The Czech Republic’s Experience

For the first time in the Ukrainian political science, considers the development of parliamentarism in the Czech Republic in a context of political transit in a comprehensive manner. It indicates the ambiguity and complexity of the process of parliamentary democracy’s functioning in the country. The main stages of the Czech parliamentary institutions’ establishment have been identified. The key tendencies and the peculiarities of the current Czech parliamentarism modernisation have been defined. The constitutional and legal status of the Parliament of the Czech Republic has been outlined and its place in the existing checks and balances system determined; the Czech Parliament party structuring characteristics have been determined and the most important factors of the coalition formation potential of parliamentary fractions have been revealed; based on the empirical indicators, the party system’s stability and efficiency in the Czech Republic have been investigated. The fundamental principles of the liberal parliamentarism concept (Ch.L.Montesquieu, John Locke, John Mill) have served as the theoretical and methodological basis for these article, which considers the power division to be the main principle of the state system, in which the executive power is accountable and subject to the legislative power. In order to achieve the tasks, the author used general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction) as well as special politilogical methods. The methods of induction and deduction have been used in formulating the concept of “political transit” and its constituent elements. The comparativehistorical method gave the defender of the thesis the opportunity to understand the main directions of parliamentary institutions’ development at different historical stages of the Czech statehood and identify the factors that influenced the change in their status. The system method allowed to assess the constitutional and legal status of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, primarily its place and role in the political system of society and the relationship with other bodies of state power. On the whole, we can assume that the experience of the parliamentarism functioning in the Czech Republic is of great practical significance for Ukraine and other post-communist states, since it gives a stimulus to the society and ruling elites of these countries to further improve and develop their political institutions.

Consolidation of the political system as a source of Russian political behavior in the international environment

The contemporary Russian Federation is undergoing a process of democratic regression and a return to the socio-political authoritarianism, traditional to the Russian political system. The detachment of decision-making processes from the will of the citizens means that elites follow their own logic of action while remaining outside democratic control. Thus, all decisions are taken in the interests of the elites, most of whom come from the secret services and the military. The consolidation of the political regime, the regression of democracy in Russian conditions, promotes a return to great power thinking and thus encourages aggressive behaviour. In the article, the author points out that the aggression against Ukraine, undertaken in January 2022, was preceded by a long-term process of consolidation of the political system and elimination from its structure of any check and balance mechanisms allowing democratic control over political decision-making processes.

“Self-governing Republic” – the ideological signpost of “Solidarity”

In the autumn of 1981, the 1st National Congress of Delegates of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity” took place, which democratically elected its authorities and adopted a modern program. The program covered all areas of life. Its basis was supposed to be workers’ self-government. The gradual implementation of the program was to lead to the democratization of the system through free elections at the regional and then national level. The introduction of martial law made it impossible to start reforms and delayed the political transformation. During the system change in 1989, during the Round Table talks, some of the provisions contained in the “Solidarity” program were used. We can acknowledge that the 1st National Congress of Solidarity Delegates played a role in the process of political and social transformation in Poland. Further implementation of the postulates was possible in a democratic system.

Democratization of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the context of the collapse of the Soviet Union, in the context of the underground magazine “Obóz”

The democratization of the former Soviet Union countries was a long and arduous process of regaining the sovereignty lost after World War II. The political, social, economic, cultural and institutional transformations taking place at that time, both in the territory of the former Soviet republics and those formally independent of the USSR, but in fact completely dominated by it, constituted a conglomerate of various factors, conditioning in most cases a bloodless revolution. The systemic transformation, however, did not go everywhere in the direction expected by society and the new political class. In many countries, the quality of overall structural transformations left much to be desired. Not everywhere was it possible to fill the institutional void left by the liquidated organs of government and the security apparatus. The lively assessment of the new, democratic political system, formulated in statu nascendi, was shared by the opinion-forming circles that had so far operated in the underground and had a strong influence on the social mood of individual countries. One of the independent magazines devoted to the problems of neighboring countries was the underground periodical “Obóz”.

The purpose of this study is to discuss the struggle between the prime minister and the president to exercise legislative and executive power. According to the constitution of Romania, there is a clear division of power between the President and the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is the head of government but the President also plays a key role in the country. There are many examples of interference in legislative work by the President of Romania. The paper discusses power sharing between the legislative and executive power of the Prime minister and the President of Romania. Because of the semi-presidential system in the country, the President of Romania has equal legislative power as the Prime minister. This has in practice led to major contradictions in the functioning of the Romanian political system. The paper analyses the substantial power that the Constitution vests the President with affects the Prime Minister’s role in the country. That is why Romania’s democratic journey has been one of power struggle between the President and the Prime Minister. Apart from the many conflicts between the President and Prime Minister, there is a massive debate on corruption which has also critically affected institution-building in this new democracy. There are discussions about the pillar of democratic bodies which is fragile and lacks trust in political institutions.