Baltic Journal of Political Science
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FRIEDRICH LENGER, WERNER SOMBART 1863-1941
Get PDFThe rise and roots of Nazi Germany is one of the most debated issues in social science today. It is a recurrent topic in the media and new books continue to provide further analyses and perspectives. The key question, of course, is how much did the Germans themselves know and approve of? Friedrich Lenger, a historian at the University of Giessen, gives a fascinating perspective on what has been called “the German catastrophe” with his penetrating study ofthe life and writings of Werner Sombart, the most quoted political and social scientist of the interwar years. [...
EUROPEANIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT: USING OPEN REGIME THEORY TO ASSESS LITHUANIA’S POST-EU ACCESSION
Get PDFThis article re-conceptualizes Europeanization with a development theory based approach to assess changes in Lithuania after the country’s 2004 European Union (EU) accession. The authors use the development theory of Douglass North, John Wallis, and Barry Weingast as a conceptual framework to highlight the role of Lithuania’s elite and to examine broader social transformations. This developmental framework focuses and complements the current theory of Europeanization and emphasizes the positive role of the EU in promoting Lithuania’s long-term structural changes. A developmental approach also allows for an analysis of corruption and state capture, which are becoming important yardsticks for assessing change in Central and Eastern Europe. The results of this application (including a survey of the elite) demonstrate that, in Lithuania, change was more limited after joining the EU than during the pre-accession years and that the country’s domestic actors have been slow to replace the EU’s policy agenda with their own initiatives
POLAND’S INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS SCHOLARLY COMMUNITY AND ITS DISTINGUISHING FEATURES ACCORDING TO THE 2014 TRIP SURVEY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS SCHOLARS
Get PDFIn 2014, Poland was the first Central and Eastern European (CEE) country to be included in the Teaching, Research, and International Policy (TRIP) project. This article characterizes the Polish International Relations (IR) scholarly community and compares it with other IR scholarly communities throughout the world that also participated in the 2014 TRIP project. The 2014 TRIP survey, the Survey of International Relations Scholars (SIRS) asked Polish participants to identify: the strengths and weaknesses of the Polish IR discipline, influential Polish scholars and books published in Poland, and useful divergent study areas for practical policy purposes. Polish SIRS participants were also asked to share their research interests in both substantive areas and geographical regions, their opinions on economic and social issues, and their predictions concerning important developments in international policy. We concluded that while Polish scholars have much in common with their counterparts around the world, there are also significant differences. For example, Polish scholars identify themselves as more conservative than their international peers in social and ideological matters, more liberal in the economic sphere, and were more pessimistic about relations between the US and Russia in the near future
PARLIAMENTARISM VERSUS SEMI-PRESIDENTIALISM IN THE BALTIC STATES: THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF DIFFERENCES IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS
Get PDFRestoring their statehood in the early 1990s, Estonia and Latvia established parliamentary republics, while Lithuania opted for semi-presidentialism. The paper is a case-oriented comparative study explaining this difference with the Lithuanian “exceptionality” in focus. Part of the answer is differences of interwar constitutional history: while Lithuania and Estonia had to cope with the legacy of three constitutions each, Latvia inherited only the parliamentary Constitution of 1922, because its dictator Karlis Ulmanis did not bother to constitutionalize his rule. Another part is differences in the balance of power during the time of extraordinary politics when constitutions were made. The alternation between the presidential and parliamentary phases of semi-presidentialism and the “perils of presidentialism” did manifest repeatedly in the Lithuanian post-communist politics, while Estonia and Latvia did know next to nothing about them, except for the “Zatlers episode” in Latvia in 2009–2011.The infamous Rolandas Paksas’ impeachment in 2003–2004 and controversial features in the performance style of the Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė are important illustrations of the shortcomings of semi-presidentialism, which could be cured by Lithuania’s switch to the Baltic pattern of parliamentary presidency. However, as time goes on, the probability of a constitutional reform decreases in all Baltic States, mainly due to increasing acquis constitutionnel and habituation
SMALL NEW MEMBER STATES IN THE EU FOREIGN POLICY: TOWARD ‘SMALL STATE SMART STRATEGY’?
Get PDFThis article explores the small new member states at the EU ‘frontline’ in their efforts to upload their geographic preferences in the EU foreign policy. It starts by reviewing the preferences of Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, and Slovenia. Next, it compares how they pursued these preferences in the EU. Third, it indicates their uploading success. Finally, it notes that these countries, despite their ‘double disadvantages’1, moved closer toward ‘small state smart strategy’2, including compromise-seeking behaviour, persuasive deliberation, lobbying, and using coalitions. While their uploading success has been mixed, their preference projection in the EU foreign policy has been visible
LEGISLATIVE TURNOVER IN THE BALTICS AFTER 1990: WHY IS IT SO HIGH AND WHAT ARE ITS IMPLICATIONS?
Get PDFThis article discusses the causes and potential consequences of the high legislative turnover in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in the period from 1990 onwards. The main findings from the subject-related literature are being confronted with the data on the Baltic parliamentary recruitment. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the path dependence (length of the previous non-democratic regime) and the supply-side volatility are the most convincing explanations for the high turnover among Baltic legislators
REVIEW: AGNIA GRIGAS, THE POLITICS OF ENERGY AND MEMORY BETWEEN THE BALTIC STATES AND RUSSIA
Get PDFSince the declarations of independence more than 20 years ago, besides others, the Baltic states are being pursued by energy dependency issues. Differently than was wishfully expected, accession to the EU and NATO for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania did not mean suddenly improved relations with Russia, overcome domestic political weaknesses as well as fast solutions in the energy security sector. They still cause a notable predicament after accession to the EU and NATO. In the recent years, an especial focus on the energy sector could be observed in the Baltic states – energy security has become one of the main concerns for politicians and attracts a lot of attention in the Baltic media and public debates. However, when looking from the academic perspective and analysis, these issues seem not to have found their place among more serious and consistent scholarly interests, creating a strange paradoxical situation when constant daily topicalities in the media and political life were left behind a deeper academic analysis. [...
RAINIS’ APOLOGY OF THE ‘BASIC CLASS’: THE WORLD REVOLUTION OR THE NATIONAL EMANCIPATION?
Get PDFThe aim of this article is to analyze the reasons for Rainis’ appreciation of the phenomenon he labels as the ‘basic class’. The Latvian writer attributes this concept to the members of society who provide the livelihood for themselves by doing mainly the manual labour. Although thus a praise for the proletariat is voiced, the reasons are more nuanced than the common Soviet interpretation allowed to see. Rainis sees the ‘Basic class’ as a crucial agent in the struggle for Latvian national emancipation. At the same time, the article seeks an answer to the question why, according to Rainis, bourgeoisie is reluctant to fight this struggle
PERCEPTIONS OF POPULISM: ANALYSIS OF MEDIA DISCOURSE IN LATVIA
Get PDFThis article intends to analyze how the term ‘populism’ is used in the Latvian public discourse, by examining the content of the largest daily newspaper “Diena” in three different time periods. As it emerges from the analysis, populism has gained a different meaning in the daily usage in contrast with the more established understanding conveyed by the academic literature. In the media, populism is used to a refer to wide range of politicians, different parties and policy initiatives from diverse ideological spectra. Most often, however, populism is employed to describe rhetorics or communication style whose primary goal is to attract public attention