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Does the state of emergency create an opportunity for democratic erosion? Lessons from post-communist Central and Southeast Europe
Get PDFThe paper’s key puzzle is the variation in lockdown‑related democratic de‑cline in the region of Central and Southeast Europe given the incumbents’ ideologicaland regime (dis)similarity. Why did similar regimes not respond to the pandemic in thesame manner by using the opportunity to grab more executive power and diminish theauthority of other institutions? While some argue that a state of emergency providesan ideal opportunity for democratic decline due to reduced costs, others believe thatautocratic regimes with a ‘pre‑existing condition for autocracy’ are more vulnerable. Tocontribute to this discussion, I examine three examples from post‑communist Central andSoutheast Europe (Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia) during the pandemic‑related state ofemergency and lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. I consider several relevant factors, the mostimportant of which is the prospect of winning the next election. To erode democracy,autocratic incumbents must feel insecure about the outcome of the next election touse the opportunity created by the state of emergency. If they are uncertain of victory,they may prefer to expand their executive powers during the state of emergency, thusundermining democracy
Disgust sensitivity relates to attitudes toward gay men and lesbian women across 31 nations
No full textPrevious work has reported a relation between pathogen-avoidance motivations and prejudice toward various social groups, including gay men and lesbian women. It is currently unknown whether this association is present across cultures, or specific to North America. Analyses of survey data from adult heterosexuals (N = 11,200) from 31 countries showed a small relation between pathogen disgust sensitivity (an individual-difference measure of pathogen-avoidance motivations) and measures of antigay attitudes. Analyses also showed that pathogen disgust sensitivity relates not only to antipathy toward gay men and lesbians, but also to negativity toward other groups, in particular those associated with violations of traditional sexual norms (e.g., prostitutes). These results suggest that the association between pathogen-avoidance motivations and antigay attitudes is relatively stable across cultures and is a manifestation of a more general relation between pathogen-avoidance motivations and prejudice towards groups associated with sexual norm violations
Facing protests in Serbia: patterns of new competitive authoritarianism
No full textRecent literature suggests that the competitive authoritarian regimes emerging in the twenty-first century are more subtle and nuanced in comparison to the old regimes of the 1990s. Aiming to understand these differences in greater depth, this article explores how new competitive authoritarian regimes react to mass protests. The article focuses on the case of Serbia, a country where protests have been widespread both during the old regime of the 1990s and the current regime. Analysing five protests waves in the past decade, we were able to identify three dominant strategic interactions of the regime with the protests, all of which contrast significantly with those employed by the old regime. First, in contrast to protest bans and oppression mechanisms used by the old regime, the new regime tends to allow, and strategically ignore protests. Second, while in the past police violence was widespread, there is an apparent police absence from the protests nowadays. Finally, there is a clear difference in the ways the two regimes portray the “Others”. While in the 1990s the international enemies were clearly identified and explicitly evoked, the new regime tends to make vague and contradictory claims about diverse but unspecific international and regional enemies behind protests
Delimitation of Energy and Financial Regulation on the EU Wholesale Energy Market
Get PDFWholesale energy markets in the European Union (EU) are
regulated both by financial and energy legal frameworks. The introduction
of the energy regulatory framework supplemented the existing regulation
for the financial markets in the EU. However, subsequent changes in the
financial legal regime opened some questions regarding the interplay
between financial and energy regulation in the EU wholesale energy
markets. The aim of this paper is to explain the growing complexity of the
existing regulatory framework on the wholesale energy market in the EU.
This complexity is raising concerns about possible overlaps of different
legal regimes and division of competence between financial and energy
regulatory authorities both at the EU and Member States levels.
Nevertheless, closer cooperation and information exchange between
different regulators can reduce some uncertainties and make the market
functioning even more effective
Family support and positive parenting: Training programs for professionals In social welfare system
Get PDFFamily support and positive parenting is significant for improvement
of parental resources and competencies necessary for raising children,
education, health protection, welfare protection and rights protection.
Main purpose of this work is identification and the analysis of accredited
training programs that are related to family support and positive parenting,
and are availble to professionals in social protection system of Republic
of Serbia in order to assess availability of expert’s modern knowledge on
positive parentingin social welfare system in Republic of Serbia. Programs
are mapped from catalogue of accredited training programs on family
support, that can be found on platform of Republic Institute for Social
protection. Programs are chosen by random sampling method. It has
been analyzed 15 of 37 program summaries by using desk analysis. This
work gives a display of family support and positive parenting concept,
and indicate on significance of professionals training for application of
these concepts in practice. This work also analyzes legal normative frame
that defines training programs as one of possible forms for professional
development. It has shown that training programs are mostly focused on
family as a whole, while it’s’ focus to parenting is less – well represented.
Realization of training programs is conducted in groups, while their
duration is different as well, between 6 to 40 hours. For majority of
analyzed programs, we lack transparent data on methods that are used
for knowledge and skills transferring to professionals, used training
techniques, and monitoring. Data on number of trained professionals and
used evaluation studies on programs effects, are not actually available.
Given data are discussed in the light of modern theoretical approaches and research, and they give us guidelines for improvement in this scope
of work. Conclusion is that training programs offer wide range of general
knowledge and skills for work with families, while specific knowledge and
skills for provision of support and strengthening parental competencies
for positive parenting are modest. In order to organize and provide
quality support to family and parental competencies, it is necessary to
develop new training programs that will offer to professionals’ modern
knowledge and repertoire of specific skills.Podrška porodici i pozitivnom roditeljstvu značajna je za unapređenje resursa i kompetencija roditelja za odgajanje, vaspitanje, zaštitu zdravlja, dobrobiti i prava dece. Cilj rada je identifikovanje i analiza akreditovanih programa obuke koji se odnose na podršku porodici i pozitivnom roditeljstvu, a dostupni su profesionalcima u socijalnoj zaštiti u Republici Srbiji kako bi se procenila dostupnost savremenih znanja o pozitivnom roditeljstvu kod stručnih radnika u socijalnoj zaštiti. Programi su mapirani iz kataloga akreditovanih programa obuke o podršci porodici na platformi Republičkog zavoda za socijalnu zaštitu random. Analizirano je 15 od 37 programa obuke korišćenjem desk analize. Pokazalo se da su programi obuke uglavnom usmereni na porodicu kao celinu, dok su pitanja roditeljstva slabo zastupljena. Za većinu analiziranih programa nedostaju transparentni podaci o načinu prenošenja znanja i veština profesionalcima, korišćenim tehnikama obučavanja i monitoringu. Podaci o broju obučenih profesionalaca i rađenim evaluacionim studijama o efektima programa aktuelno nisu dostupni. Zaključak je da programi nude širok spektar opštih znanja i veština za rad sa porodicama, dok su specifična znanja i veštine za pružanje podrške i jačanje kompetencija roditelja za pozitivno roditeljstvo skromna. Nalazi se diskutuju u svetlu savremenih teorijskih pristupa i istraživanja i daju se smernice za unapređenja u ovoj oblasti
Promišljanja studenata socijalne politike i socijalnog rada o uvedenim mjerama i medijskom izvještavanju tijekom pandemije covid-19
Get PDFIntroduced measures to deal with COVID-19 pandemic in
Serbia affected everyday life of people. Media coverage during
the pandemic played a significant role in providing verified
information, protecting human health and well-being.
In order to gain insight into the reactions of social work students
on introduced measures and media coverage about
these measures during the state of emergency in Republic of
Serbia, an analysis of reflective journals is presented. Eighty
reflective journals were analyzed, where students’ reactions
on introduced measures and media coverage related to
these measures are monitored and linked to the electronic
archive of the public media service Radio Television of Serbia
news. Students’ thoughts on several identified measures
are presented and analyzed together with their reactions
on media coverage about these measures. Findings indicate
the important role of the content and ways of media reporting in creation of reflections, as well as the importance of using reflective journals in both education and preservation of mental health. Possible directions of mental health improvement through media coverage in crisis situations and recommendations
for education of social workers are presented.Mjere koje su uvedene zbog pandemije COVID-19 u Srbiji utjecali su na sva-
kodnevni život ljudi. Medijsko izvješ tavanju tijekom pandemije odigralo je značajnu
ulogu u pružanju provjerenih informacija i zaš titi ljudskih prava i dobrobiti. Kako bi
se stekao uvid u reakcije studenata socijalnog rada na uvedene mjere i medijsko
izvješćivanje o tim mjerama tijekom izvanrednog stanja u Republici Srbiji, u radu
se predstavlja analiza refleksivnih dnevnika. Analizirano je osamdeset refleksivnih
dnevnika putem kojih su se reakcije studenata na uvedene mjere i na medijsko izvješćivanje povezano s tim mjerama pratile i povezivale s elektronskom arhivom
javne medijske usluge novosti Radio Televizije Srbije. Studentska mišljenja o nekoliko
uvedenih mjera se prikazuju i analiziraju zajedno s njihovim reakcijama na medijsko
izvješ tavanje o tim mjerama. Rezultati ukazuju na važnu ulogu sadržaja i načina medijskog izvješ tavanja u stvaranju mišljenja, kao i na važnost koriš tenja refleksivnih
dnevnika u obrazovanju i u očuvanju duševnog zdravlja. Predstavljaju se moguće
smjernice za poboljšanje duševnog zdravlja putem medijskog izvješ tavanja tijeom
izvanrednog stanja kao i preporuke za obrazovanje socijalnih radnika
The role of bike sharing in transport reform: learning from comparative experiences to develop a case study for Belgrade
Get PDFMany issues confront modern cities that can only be addressed locally. Cities are developing strategies that combine new solutions and mobility to properly execute the concept of Smart Cities. One conceivable answer is a bike-sharing system. This study incorporates the comparative experiences of Copenhagen, Vienna, and Ljubljana to provide a case study on the implementation of a system in the city of Belgrade. As a result, the research question is: would the deployment of a bike-sharing system in Belgrade solve the city's various transportation problems? This article opens with an overview of Smart Cities and Smart Mobility, as well as a look at the history of bike-sharing systems. The paper then goes on to analyze the strategies and solutions utilized in other cities before finally outlining Belgrade's reactions and reactions in this process
Understanding Resistance Against Gender Fair Language: A System Justification Perspective
Get PDFRecent legislative efforts to introduce obligatory use of the gender fair language (GFL) in
research, education and media in Serbia received considerable resistance from the public. In
line with System justification theory (SJT), we hypothesize that GFL is perceived as an
intergroup status threat, which activates motivated defensive mechanism that rationalizes the
legitimacy of gender relations status quo and justifies linguistic gender discrimination. Because
the recognition of an unprivileged status within the system can be threatening to self-esteem,
within the SJT framework members of underprivileged groups can also be motivated to engage
in system justification. In an online sample of 449 participants (55% female) we applied a 29
item scale measuring the acceptance of various critical arguments against the GFL and a scale
measuring the frequency of GFL use (ranging from Never to Always). The arguments against
GFL were identified within the previous studies, public narrative around the GFL in Serbia and
within the qualitative pilot study in a student sample (N = 80). EFA revealed that critical
arguments against GFL can be described by three latent variables: 1) perceiving GFL as a threat
to national identity, Serbian language and men, 2) defending linguistic status quo and rejecting
the effectiveness of GFL, 3) rejection of the GFL due to linguistic barriers and habits. All three
factors independently negatively predict the use of GFL: threat perceptions account for 48% of
the variance in use, defending linguistic status quo accounts for 7% variance, while language
barriers and habits explain 4%. Through moderated mediational analyses we tested whether the
rejection of GFL use among men and women can be predicted by perceiving GFL as a threat
and mediated through status quo arguments. Previously described factors were used as the
predictor and the mediator in the analyses. The negative effect of threat perception on GFL use
was mediated through status quo arguments, and the mediation effect was stronger among
women (Direct effect: B = -.47, p < .01, CI: -.62 to -.33; Indirect effect in men: B = -.31, p <
.01, CI: -.41 to -.22; Indirect effect in women: B = -.43, p < .01, CI: -.56 to -.30). While threat
perceptions are higher in men, women rationalize their rejection of GFL significantly more by
defending the linguistic status quo. Different forms of resistance to GFL can be traced back to
intergroup threat perception and mapped onto system justification beliefs
Spectres of The Harlan’s World: Structural and Interpersonal Violence in Novels and Netflix Show Altered Carbon
Get PDFНамера овог рада је да кроз политиколошку призму, пре свега применом теорија о политичком насиљу, анализира три романа из серијала Дигитални угљеник Ричарда Моргана и на основу њих насталу Нетфликсову серију. Полазећи од Галтунговог разликовања структурног и интерперсоналног насиља и Камариног концепта спирале насиља, анализиране су доминантне форме насиља у романима и серији. Закључак ове анализе јесте да у романима доминира структурно, као изразито политичко насиље, док је у серији насиље пре свега интерперсонално, и произлази из личних, а не друштвених односа. Кључна хипотеза рада јесте да је ова промена тежишта – од структурног ка интерперсоналном насиљу у адаптацији романа јесте делимично последица захтева различитих медија и различитих карактеристика ових врста насиља, али да је превасходно узрокована темељном деполитизацијом литерарног предлошка.Both Richard Morgan’s Altered Carbon (alternatively Takeshi Kovacs) series
and its Netflix adaptation have already attracted some academic attention, but although their political aspects are acknowledged by some scholars, this is usually
not what the main focus is on. The present paper is an attempt to fill this gap in
literature and analyze the novels as well as the Netflix show from the perspective
of political science, specifically using theories of political violence. After a short
review of literature on adaptations, especially regarding the emerging role of the
showrunners as creative authors in their own right, the theoretical framework for
the discussion of violence in both novels and the show is presented. It relies primarily on the notion of structural violence as social injustice, first developed by Johan
Galtung, and combines it with the idea of the spiral of violence as conceptualized
by Helder Camara. A key feature of structural violence is that, as the terms suggests,
it stems from the social structure, and manifests as social injustice, with no identifiable perpetrator of violence. This social injustice, Camara claims in his work, is
the first step of the spiral of violence, since it begets rage, either of those suffering,
or of the youth that sympathizes with them, erupting in violent protest against the
authorities. Authorities then respond with the use of force, thus inflicting new in-
justices, and the spiral continues. This is exactly what is found in the Altered Carbon novels – the omnipresent poverty and lack of opportunities draws the father
of the protagonist, the typical antihero Takeshi Kovacs, to abusive behavior. The
young Takeshi then responds in kind, first by joining a street gang, and later em-
barking on a military career. It is also why the Harlans World is the birthplace of a
resistance philosophy and movement, led by Quellkrist Falconer. The Netflix show,
however, replaces all external motivations for violent behavior of Takeshi Kovacs
(and other characters) with those that are strictly personal: love, betrayal, revenge.
This effectively erases structural violence present in the novel substituting it with
interpersonal, non-political violence. There are three possible reasons for this: the
very features of structural violence that make it harder to show through the visual
medium (as opposed to the intrinsic action and drama of interpersonal violence);
the process of adaptation which favors psychological over sociological narratives,
focusing on internal instead on external incentives and motivations of the characters; and, finally, a creative decision made by the showrunner and the production
company. Since the first two reasons can be mitigated, evaded, or overcome by the
creative vision, the final conclusion is that this shift from structural to interpersonal
violence is the consequence of the de-politization of the narrative, consciously made
by the creators of the Netflix show