Baltic Journal of Political Science
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WHEN STATES LOSE TERRITORY: GEORGIA‘S POST-2008 ADJUSTMENT
Get PDFIn this article I analyse how Georgia, as a political entity, coped with the de facto loss of two of its territories: Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The process by which Georgia lost these territories started in early 1990 and reached its final phase in 2008 after the Georgian-Russian war. This article explores how Georgia adjusted to these losses without ever acknowledging its loss of the two territories, demonstrating a perfect example on how the normative territorial structure of an international system works. The analysis focuses on the crucial role of time in the process of the de facto territorial changes and examines how Georgia, in adapting to territorial losses and through its own actions, actually strengthened its separation from Abkhazia and South Ossetia
Time and History in the Memories of Soviet Generations
Get PDFThis article aims to reconsider how and where the boundaries within Soviet generations as differentiable memory communities could be established. On the basis of Mannheimian theory of generational units and the theory of narration, as based on the conceptual metaphors of container, a method to identify the boundaries between generations was devised. The method was applied to biographical narratives, collected during the summer of 2017, and revealed the existence of different history-related calendars to structure time in the biographical past
Being a Small State: Discussion on the Role of Size
Get PDFThis paper discusses theoretical debates regarding small states and their foreign policy and also argues that research should include more analysis of small states’ identities and the dominant meanings related to being a small state. Using poststructuralistic theoretical perspective and discourse analysis, two empirical cases – Lithuania and New Zealand – are analysed with attention paid to the meanings of smallness and the ways these meanings are constructed. Empirical analysis follows with suggestions for how future research of small states could be improved
THE QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORMS IN POST-COMMUNIST COUNTRIES
Get PDFIn this article we describe the adoption and execution of public administration reforms in Central and Eastern Europe between 2008 and 2013, as well as examine whether post-communist countries differ from other groups of European countries in terms of the substance of reforms and their implementation process. Instead of following popular Western administrative theoretical frames, we adopt the policy process approach. We focus on the role of policy actors during reform policymaking and implementation at the level of policy subsystems. More specifically, we employ the rational-comprehensive and garbage can perspectives to understand the reform processes in the post-communist region. Our research is based on the statistical analysis of survey data and two case studies of reforms initiated by the 2008-2012 Lithuanian government. The article concludes that countries in Central and Eastern Europe share some common characteristics: they focused on the issues of civil service and public or administrative services, their reform policy was often formulated on a top-down basis, and its execution often lacked adequate capacities. Despite a rational reform façade in these countries, the implementation of governance change appears to be quite erratic, as anticipated in the garbage can perspective. This can have negative consequences on the effectiveness of public policy, continuing to generate public distrust in post-communist state institutions
The Long Road from Neoliberalism to Neopopulism in ECE: The social paradox of neopopulism and decline of the Left
Get PDF[full article and abstract in English]
We live in a “post-neoliberal world”, as it has been discussed in the mainstream literature, but the vital link between neoliberalism and neopopulism has been rarely discussed. Nowadays in international political science it is very fashionable to criticise the long neoliberal period of the last decades, still its effect on the rise of neopopulism has not yet been properly elaborated. To dig deeper into social background of neopopulism, this paper describes the system of neoliberalism in its three major social subsystems, in the socio-economic, legal-political and cultural-civilizational fields. The historical context situates the dominant period of neoliberalism between the 1970s in the Old World Order (OWO) and in the 2010s in the New World Order (NWO). In general, neoliberalism’s cumulative effects of increasing inequality has produced the current global wave of neopopulism that will be analysed in this paper in its ECE regional version. The neopopulist social paradox is that not only the privileged strata, but also the poorest part of ECE’s societies supports the hard populist elites. Due to the general desecuritization in ECE, the poor have become state dependent for social security, yet paradoxically they vote for their oppressors, widening the social base of this competitive authoritarianism. Thus, the twins of neoliberalism and neopopulism, in their close connections—the main topic of this paper—have produced a “cultural backlash” in ECE along with identity politics, which is high on the political agenda.[straipsnis ir santrauka anglų kalba
OLOF PETERSSON. THE ORDINARIUS: HERBERT TINGSTEN AND JÖRGEN WESTERSTÅHL
Get PDFSwedish political scientist Olof Petersson has recently published two remarkable biographies, of Herbert Tingsten and Jörgen Westerståhl, two professors who dominated political science in Sweden during the twentieth century.[...
CYBERSECURITY IN CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE: FROM IDENTIFYING RISKS TO COUNTERING THREATS
Get PDFToday, ensuring security in cyberspace is a top priority of national security policy for most states. States’ approaches to cybersecurity can be divided into two categories: those that regard cybersecurity as a civilian task; and those that involve their militaries in creating or implementing cybersecurity policies. Those states that have incorporated cyberwarfare into their military planning and organization perceive cyberattacks as a threat to their national security, while states that charge their civilian agencies with domestic cybersecurity missions classify cyber intrusions as security risks for only particular sectors. Adopting the framework of securitization theory, this article theorizes both civil and military approaches to cybersecurity and threat perceptions and their sources. The theoretical framework is then applied to a study of the cybersecurity policies of Central European countries and the Baltic States
POPULIST DISCOURSE ON POLITICAL REPRESENTATION: A CASE STUDY OF ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT ORGANIZATIONS IN LITHUANIA
Get PDFToday’s party democracy crisis coincides with an increasing influence of populist political actors. This article— prompted by notions of populist understandings of politics as expressions of the people’s will and of the populist idea of an antagonism between the people and the elite—explores whether populism and party democracies are compatible. Assertions, that populism contradicts party democracies, should rest on research of populist understandings of political representation. This case study, of the populist discourse of Lithuania’s anti-establishment organizations, fills this research gap in the literature on populism’s compatibility with party democracies. The qualitative analysis of this case study focuses on how political representation is perceived and presented. The study provides new insights for theoretical debate on the compatibility of populism and party democracy and also presents a nuanced picture of populist perceptions of political representation
KLAUDIJUS MANIOKAS, ED., LITHUANIA\u27S FIRST DECADE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: TRANSFORMATION OR IMITATION?
No full textFor those who want to better grasp the political and socio-economic trajectory of Lithuania since its accession to the EU, this edited volume provides a wealth of information and insights. It touches upon a variety of themes ranging from the politicization of LGBT rights to Lithuania’s bumpy road to the eurozone. While this constitutes an interesting and informative read, the book sometimes struggles to maintain theoretical and conceptual cohesion throughout all chapters.[...