In the last fi ve years Tunisia has been presented mostly as a success story of political transition. It managed to adopt a new constitution and to conduct the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2014. Finally, civil society groups, which helped to end the political crisis in 2013, won the Nobel peace prize. If we look from the institutional perspective and the ability of political groups to compromise, indeed we can say that Tunisia is a success story. Th e picture is more bleak, however, if we try to assess the infl uence of economic factors on the development of Tunisian democracy, especially in light of recent terrorist attacks and social protests. Th e aim of the article is to answer the questions, to what extent economic crisis can inhibit democratic consolidation in Tunisia and what Tunisia can learn from the Spanish experience of political transition.

The research report presents results of the comparative study on relationships between remembrance narratives and transitional identity policy. It is based on the qualitative-toquantitative narrative analysis of six cases: Chile, Estonia, Georgia, Poland, South Africa, and Spain. It discusses internal correlations within the structure of transitional remembrance policy with reference to three levels of analysis: the general level, the areas of impact (objectives of the policy) level, and the fields of impact (aims of the policy) level. As a result, it offers two models – the General Model of Correlations, and the Model of Internal Correlations. These two drawings show main features of remembrance story-telling during democratisations, and they develop present understandings on the way in which historical arguments may influence transitional identity reconstruction.

Chairman of the Government in the Czech Republic - Evolution of Political System and Constitutional Practice

The article discusses the evolution of the political position of heads of government in the Czech Republic. Time censures are between 1992 and 2019. The institution of the Prime Minister has become a real instrument of political power for the leaders of political groups in the country discussed. The parliamentary model of government in force in the Czech Republic assumes close cooperation between the legislative and executive authorities. The analysis includes both the constitutional regulations and political practice of the last nearly 30 years.

The article discusses the issues of evolution of the political position of heads of government in Hungary. The time frame is between 1990 and 2020. A wide historical spectrum is included as well, showing the transformations of the supreme bodies of state power. After 1989, Hungary opted to establish a parliamentary cabinet system, with some strengthening of the government’s powers. The institution of the Prime Minister has become a real instrument of political power for the leaders of political factions in the countries discussed. The analysis takes into account both constitutional regulations and political practice over the past nearly 30 years. A particular strengthening of the political position of the Prime Minister can be seen after 2010.

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.

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.

“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.