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11. Alternative diplomacy and the political role of clerical elites: The Roman Catholic Church as an ideological counterforce in interwar Banat

Author:
Mihai A. Panu
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
: In interwar Romania, non-political institutions played a decisive role in the process of containing the expansion of totalitarian ideologies. The two major colliding ideological forces, National Socialism and Communism, rapidly reshaped the European sociopolitical profile after World War I and caused an unprecedented long-term deterioration of various intergovernmental relations. The Banat region was systematically exposed to external ideological factors due to the fact that its heterogeneous ethno-cultural profile allowed a rapid proliferation of political ideas and programs. This paper attempts to analyze the public role played by the Roman-Catholic clergy of the diocese Timişoara, in the context of rising National Socialist propaganda pressure, between 1930 and 1944. The most important clerical personality, who acted as a veritable counter-ideological element and therefore as a symbolic social protecting power, was the former bishop of the diocese Timişoara, Dr. Augustin Pacha.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

12. Activities of the Catholic Church in Poland Against Pedophilia in 2018

Author:
Kamila Rezmer-Płotka
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
The aim of the article is to determine the type of activities undertaken by the Catholic Church towards clergymen committing sexual offenses, and more specifically: pedophilia. The research problem is a question: what actions does the Catholic Church take against pedophilia? In order to realize a research project, it was first determined how the offense is defined in the doctrine of church criminal law. Then, there was made an analysis of the activities undertaken by the hierarchs of the Catholic Church. On its basis, a typology of the forms of the Church’s influence at various levels was reconstructed in the field of both preventive and sanctioning actions against the clergy. In the article there was adopted a time restriction covering only 2018. It can be described as a breakthrough, first of all due to the verdict that was made in Poznań (MS, 2018), the accusations that appeared at the end of the year against the deceased chaplain of Solidarity, Fr. Henryk Jankowski and initiatives taken by both citizens and politicians, such as the first anti-clerical happening of Baby Shoes Remember in Poland or the creation of a pedophile map. In the cinemas, a movie entitled “Kler” showed up. It moved the topic of pedophilia in the Church. Results: the Catholic Church in Poland, apart from symbolic activities, i.e. oral and written declarations, assurances, and prayers, undertakes also substantial actions, such as personal changes, cooperation with the state or the meetings of hierarchs centered around pedophilia
Topic:
International Political Economy and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

13. A New Method to Calculate Power of International Actors

Author:
Abdullah Metin Durmuş
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
This article is based on the idea that it is necessary to develop a quantitative method to calculate power of international actors, which will enable scholars to analyse international conflicts. The Global Potential Power Distribution Chart, which is calculated based on three main characteristics of international actors, namely population, territory and economic power, shows “potential power of states and international organisations”. It may be called “Durmuş Scale of Power (DSoP)”. The chart is a comprehensive indicator with considerable accuracy and 100 % objectivity. In this article, potential powers of international actors have been calculated for years 1987, 2004 and 2015, which gives a clear overview of the potential power distribution (balance of power) of the World regarding states and as well as international organisations. Potential military powers of some states and international organisation in year 2015 have also been calculated. This research proves by means of a contemporary approach applied and a quantitative method developed that, the World is multipolar since 2004, and China is, potentially, the most powerful state of the World since 2015. The method introduced in this article were sufficient enough to explain the effects of the enlargement of NATO and EU, EU after BREXIT, reform of the Security Council of the United Nations and instrumental enough to provide a peaceful understanding for the self-determination issue of Kosova. There are three conclusions to this research: 1) The method “Durmuş Scale of Power” is calculated is reliable because everybody with a scientific calculator or a computer can easily calculate potential power of a state provided that he or she has reliable data for territory, population and GDP. 2) “Global Potential Power Distribution Chart” is a comprehensive Chart which shows “balance of power” at a specific year. It enables us to compare power of states and international organisations in different years. 3) It is convenient to use “Durmuş Scale of Power” while analysing issues of international relations
Topic:
International Political Economy and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

14. Is the Modernization Process Becoming a Challenge or a Threat to the Security Policy and the Armed Forces?

Author:
Jarosław Piątek
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
In spite of defining the role of various measures of security policy implementation the weight of one has been quite unequivocally assessed for the current policy. The main position for contemporary Poland is to be taken by the armed forces. Under these conditions, the Polish Army has become a basic element of the defense system of Poland not only in terms of image. It is not surprising then that currently the armed forces have received a wide range of tasks regarding security – both internal and external. President Duda and the government of Law and Justice proudly show the 2 percent of GDP spent on defense and an even higher target, at the latest in 2030. However, this does not create a perspective that would allow “hurray” optimism. The key to describing the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland seems to be their ability to respond to the revolution in the field of military and the ability to modernize. Despite the plans of the Ministry of National Defense and declarations given in media, this process faces a number of difficulties. Not only do we create “abstract” visions of needs for the current policy, but we also offend our partners and those that are still our allies. The arms policy, so important from the point of view of this “self-sufficiency”, was brought to the accusations of lobbying, corruption, and fraud; not only do we not pay attention to our own needs, but we also create innovative concepts for the current policy that cause us to wander in dilettantism. It seems that the shape of the implementation of the modernization of the Armed Forces is affected not only by the current policy. To a large extent, the condition of the Polish arms industry is also a decisive factor in the absorption of modernization
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

15. About Women in Conflicts and Wars: Theories of Violence and Collective Memory

Author:
Inga B. Kuźma and Edyta Pietrzak
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
The article deals with the subject of relations between theories of violence and the category of collective memory in relation to women’s war stories. The text introduces the issue of war and conflict, understanding the theory of violence, the category of collective memory and female war narratives, as well as the ways of their political interpretation. The interpretation is crucial because of method used in the research, meaning hermeneutics, but also because of the, presented here, perspective of polyphony
Topic:
International Political Economy and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16. The Issue of Securitization of the Refugee Problem in the Polish Political Debate

Author:
Renata Podgórzańska
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
Analyzing Poland’s current activity regarding the influx of refugees and the formulated attitude towards action in the field of restriction and control of the influx undertaken by European and international institutions, one should notice increasing reluctance to accept immigrants. What is more, there is a growing trend in the public debate in Poland to identify (to correlate) the influx of refugees with the problem of security. Although Poland is neither located on the main transit routes nor a destination for immigrants (including refugees), there is a process of systematically including this issue in the public discourse and analyzing the consequences of the potential increase in the influx of immigrants in the context of state security. Relationships that arise at the interface between migration and security point to the process of securitization of immigration, which involves integrating migration issues into a catalogue of state security threats and considering them through the lens of possible threats to the receiving societies.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

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

Author:
Małgorzata Babula
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Polish Political Science Yearbook
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
The modern world is opening up to a series of innovations, differences and broad- ly 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 con- tain 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, citizen- ship is an important element of our affiliation to the country, to culture and to the values hid- den 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.
Topic:
Law, Constitution, Citizenship, Civil Rights, and Domestic Policy
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

18. Leaders, Managers or Administrators – Mayors in Central and Eastern European Countries

Author:
Karolina Tybuchowska-Hartlinska
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Polish Political Science Yearbook
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
This paper is the first step to fill a gap in the studies on the position of mayors in European local government systems. The first part of the paper will be devoted to critical analysis of theoretical and methodological studies on the position and selection of mayors. The second part will focus on verifying the proposed hypotheses. In the conclusions, an at- tempt will be made to present a profile of local democracy in CEE countries.
Topic:
Government, Governance, and Local
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Europe

19. The Convergence of Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in France: Analysis of Systemic Tendencies from the Perspective of Sixty Years of the Fifth Republic

Author:
Łukasz Jakubiak
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Polish Political Science Yearbook
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
The paper deals with specific links between presidential and parliamentary elec- tions in contemporary France. The main goal is to demonstrate that the timing of the two types of political events is a significant factor preserving the configuration of a pro-pres- idential majority fact as one of the possible variants of French semi-presidentialism. This raises the question of the role of both elections as instruments for controlling the process of setting up a space of political rivalry that could be perceived as optimal from the viewpoint of ruling camps. The author analyses possibilities to provide the convergence of presidential and parliamentary elections under the conditions of a seven-year presidential term as well as after its shortening to five years in 2000. Hence, of particular importance is the impact of some mechanisms used in this field on the institutional logic of the French political sys- tem. Specific application of constitutional tools and some normative changes introduced in previous years cause the extent of the aforementioned control to be now much greater than in the first decades of the Fifth Republic. Looking at the convergence of both types of elec- tions from the perspective of the evolution of the existing political system, the author argues that it is legitimate to divide the whole period of the Fifth Republic into three sub-periods: 1. the absence of electoral convergence (1958–1981); 2. partial electoral convergence (1981– –2002); full electoral convergence (since 2002). Due to the acceptance of the pro-presiden- tial paradigm, the latter formula is now definitely preferred and supported by legal regula- tions, which affects the flexibility of French semi-presidentialism (significantly reduced, but not fully eliminated, probability of cohabitation).
Topic:
Elections, Democracy, Parliamentarism, and Presidential Elections
Political Geography:
Europe and France

20. The Securitisation of Kurdish Self-Determination as A Challenge for the Sectarian Balance of Power in the Middle East

Author:
Marek Musiol
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Polish Political Science Yearbook
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
The article addresses current questions concerning the Kurdish situation before and after the invasion and expansion of ISIS. It applied the theory of securitisation to study the tangled circumstances and frameworks of Kurdish claims, underlining their attempts at gaining their much-desired independence. This elaboration enables one to recognise the genesis and the local, regional and global context of international actions vis-à-vis Kurdish interests, and the possible supporters and opponents of the Kurdish project of statehood in the Middle East. It portrays also the current perception of Kurdish efforts to establish their own national and legal subjectivity that must be recognised by the majority of state actors in order to meet the indispensable criteria of international law. This article is particularly important in the context of recent developments in the Middle East. First of all, it refers to pressures, as well as openly offensive actions targeting the inter- ests and territories controlled by the Kurds in Turkey during the existence of the so-called Islamic State. Secondly, it reflects on actors’ reactions in the international arena, including the countries of the Middle East, towards the independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as on direct actions aimed at shaping a new geopolitical order after the fall of ISIS (attack by Iraqi troops in Kirkuk or the Turkish army in Afrin).
Topic:
Terrorism, Self Determination, Democracy, ISIS, and Independence
Political Geography:
Middle East