- Author:
Marek Rewizorski
- Institution:
University of Gdańsk
- Year of publication:
2017
- Source:
Show
- Pages:
136-154
- DOI Address:
https://doi.org/10.15804/athena.2017.56.08
- PDF:
apsp/56/apsp5608.pdf
Being perceived by the West as a powerful yet heterogeneous “deconstructing power” and an external threat to western supremacy in global governance, the BRICS members are facing a serious “dormant threat” coming from within – economic inequalities. By asking whether inequality, like “bad cholesterol”, may silently kill the sustainability of growth by restraining access to education, health or knowledge, this article provides an assessment of the relation between the increasing inequality and rising political instability in BRICS countries. The first section of this article investigates various approaches to income and wealth inequalities, and provides a literature overview. The second section accentuates the deconstructing features of inequality in BRICS countries, which are encapsulated as the “3Ws”: weak markets, weak governments, and weak institutions. The third section looks into the inequality dynamics in BRICS members showcasing that the huge income disparities in BRICS (GINI > 0.40), combined with high food and house prices, not only fuel opportunity inequalities and growing social anger, but also lead to political instability and setbacks on the path to balanced growth. The final part presents the main conclusions.
- Author:
Monika Wilińska
- E-mail:
monika.wilinska@ju.se
- Institution:
Jönköping University
- ORCID:
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3916-2977
- Year of publication:
2020
- Source:
Show
- Pages:
38-55
- DOI Address:
https://doi.org/10.15804/kie.2020.02.03
- PDF:
kie/128/kie12803.pdf
Qualitative research is always about some form of intervention into the real world, however that intervention is always mediated by various material practices employed in the research process. This article engages with material practices accompanying research to discuss the ways in which they influence the research process, the observed and the observer. More specifically, this article attends to the use of video technology in qualitative research to reflect upon the material practices that not only make the world visible but also shed light on the research process through which such worlds become known. Reflections from research on institutions and institutional life are used to demonstrate points of interaction that transform the worlds of research and the worlds of everyday life.
- Author:
Joanna Marszałek-Kawa
- Institution:
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
- Year of publication:
2022
- Source:
Show
- Pages:
259-269
- DOI Address:
https://doi.org/10.15804/athena.2022.75.15
- PDF:
apsp/75/apsp7515.pdf
On November 4, 2021, the draft act on the establishment of the Polish Institute of Family and Demography [Pol. Polski Instytut Rodziny i Demografii – PIRiD] was submitted to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland. The PIRiD is a new institution, the task of which would be to deal with problems connected with the demographic security of Poland and the protection of family. In recent years, during the rule of the Law and Justice party, almost 40 new institutions financed directly or indirectly from the state budget have been established. Not all of them execute all the tasks entrusted to them by the legislator. The case of the PIRiD will help us consider the motives behind the new solutions. In this paper, on the basis of the analysis of texts, I present the course of the debate on the establishment of the Institute and discuss the arguments raised by its participants.
- Author:
Mukesh Shankar Bharti
- E-mail:
msbharti.jnu@gmail.com
- Institution:
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- ORCID:
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3693-7247
- Year of publication:
2023
- Source:
Show
- Pages:
7-33
- DOI Address:
https://doi.org/10.15804/rop2023101
- PDF:
rop/23/rop2301.pdf
The fall of Communism in the Central and Eastern European countries in the year 1989, was a historical change had occurred after the demise of communism. The decline of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 was one of the most important proceedings of the period: the conclusive end of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain. After the disintegration of the former USSR, the Eastern bloc had started the modernisation of institutions and adopted the norms of democracy. The third wave of democratisation of Samuel P. Huntington’s theory would apply the democratic changes in Central and Eastern Europe and Romania as well. It traces the discussions and opinions of institutional and political development in Romania with special attention to the events around 1989 Post-communism and Eastern enlargement of the European Union. The paper assesses the role of the European Union to promote democratization through Eastern neighbour policy. The paper broadly discusses the institutional and political development in Romania and the role of Copenhagen criteria and the country’s accession to the EU in early 2007. The result of this article is that Romania has successfully integrated into the European Union but that democratization is declining in the country.
- Author:
Oleksandra Struk
- E-mail:
oleksandra.struk@uwm.edu.pl
- Institution:
University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn
- ORCID:
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5316-9630
- Year of publication:
2023
- Source:
Show
- Pages:
145-162
- DOI Address:
https://doi.org/10.15804/rop2023308
- PDF:
rop/25/rop2508.pdf
The article aims to define the role of institutions in shaping competitiveness in certain European states. The research problem to be addressed through this study is to what extent does the level of competitiveness in world economy depends on Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) in particular countries. The study was conducted using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods of data analysis. A cross-country comparative analysis, based on data from 32 European states in 2021, revealed that the level of competitiveness is determined by institutional environment. The higher the WGI percentile ranks, the better place in the World Competitiveness Ranking. The results of the study enabled to fully confirm the 1st hypothesis, i.e. the institutional governance quality and control of corruption have a noticeably positive impact on competitiveness. It was revealed that the 2nd hypothesis could not be confirmed because of statistical insignificance, i.e. countries with political stability, absence of violence/terrorism and quality of law are typically more competitive among world economies. Meanwhile, the 3rd one was partially confirmed, i.e. the quality of regulations leads to higher competitiveness of economies, while freedom of expression, free media and ability to participate in national elections have not a significant impact on competitiveness.