Political Culture

Ukraine is currently experiencing its worst crisis since obtaining independence in 1991. Violent escalation in Kyiv costing dozens of lives, separatist endeavours in Crimea and instability in the eastern provinces result not only from Russia’s irresponsible great-power politics, but also from an elite prioritising its own self-interest. Viktor Yanukovych’s corrupt and increasingly authoritarian regime was merely the most extreme expression yet of a political culture dedicated to serving special interests with no heed to good governance. With popular hopes of meaningful political change already dashed once after the Orange Revolution, how Ukrainian politicians handle their power now and in the future will be absolutely crucial.

"Historians have long understood that the notion of "the cold war" is richly metaphorical, if not paradoxical. The conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union was a war that fell ambiguously short of war, an armed truce that produced considerable bloodshed. Yet scholars in the rapidly expanding field of Cold War studies have seldom paused to consider the conceptual and chronological foundations of the idea of the Cold War itself. This stands in contrast to the study of other historical epochs that are governed by grand but ambivalent rubrics: the Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution, or the Industrial Revolution. In Uncertain Empire, a group of leading scholars takes up the challenge of making sense of the idea of the Cold War and its application to the writing of American history. They interrogate the concept from a wide range of disciplinary vantage points; the scope of these different positions illustrates the diversity of methods and approaches in contemporary Cold War studies. Among the disciplines on which the book draws are diplomatic history, the history of science, literary criticism, cultural history, and the history of religion.

Animating the volume as a whole is a question about the extent to which the Cold War was an American invention. Essays look at the Cold War as in need of a rigorous re-centering, after a decade in which historians have introduced expansive global and transnational perspectives on the conflict; as a uniquely American ideological project designed to legitimize the pursuit of an ambitious geopolitical agenda; as a geopolitical and transnational phenomenon; and other approaches. Uncertain Empire brings these debates into focus, and offers students of the Cold War a new framework for considering recent developments in the scholarship.

"Thought-provoking . An impressively wide-ranging and exceptionally coherent collection that simultaneously clarifies, problematizes, and advances our understanding of the United States and the Cold War." --Hugh Wilford, Journal of American History""

From medieval times until today ideas of heredity through lineage and of merit through slave-status have jostled for pre-eminence as explanations for transitions of Mamluk royal authority. This article contributes to this debate via an analysis of events in late 1341 marking the transition from the reign of one of the sultanate’s most successful rulers, al-Nāṣir Muḥammad b. Qalāwūn, to that of his sons. This is achieved by zooming in on the whereabouts of one of al-Nāṣir Muḥammad’s most powerful agents, Qūṣūn al-Sāqī al-Nāṣirī, and on how this amir monopolised power in Egypt and Syria in such a way that his accession to the sultanate seemed inevitable. It is then demonstrated how things yet went wrong for Qūṣūn and how his failed attempt to obtain the sultanate triggered a Qalāwūnid dynastic succession practice that was to remain dominant for many decades.

Der politische Extremismus stößt in Ungarn kaum auf staatliche Einschränkungen. Parteien können sich nach der ungarischen Verfassung frei gründen und betätigen (Art. 3). In der Verfassung und den konstitutionellen Regeln fi ndet sich keine Vorschrift über ein Parteiverbot. Lediglich Art. 63 Abs. 2 der Verfassung verbietet die Gründung von politischen Zwecken dienenden bewaffneten Organisationen. Ein ordentliches Gericht kann nach Klageerhebung durch einen Staatsanwalt als Ultima Ratio eine gesellschaftliche Organisation aufl ösen, falls deren Tätigkeit eine Straftat mit Rechtsverletzung gegenüber anderen darstellt. Der Verstoß selbst muss schwerwiegend sein. Nach den Regularien des Vereinigungsrechts könnte dann die Staatsanwaltschaft Anklage erheben. Bislang kam das Verbot nicht zur Anwendung. Abwehrmechanismen wie eine beispielsweise in Deutschland bekannte „wehrhafte Demokratie“ sind kaum vorhanden, da Ungarn ein im europäischen Vergleich sehr liberales Versammlungsrecht besitzt. Unter diesem staatsrechtlichen Blickwinkel gedeiht der subkulturelle Extremismus.

"In the early 19th century Sweden was a society of estates and ranks, and the majority of the population had probably never heard of the concept of democratic elections or of the practice of sitting at the same political table as the master of the house or the owner of the factory. A little more than 100 years later, the majority of the Swedish people can be described as liberal democrats.
The purpose of this project is to analyse and explain the emergence, production and reproduction of liberal democratic subjects, by studying one of the most important institutions of the process, the popular education. Analysing the making of democratic subjects as a political project will problematise the established paradigm that the democratisation processes in the West were natural, successive and uncontested. Our way of approaching democracy is inspired by newer research, which originates from Foucauldian and Gramscian approaches.
We investigate this process in a longer historical perspective, 1830-1940. The main research questions are the following: In what ways did the popular education nurture a democratic mind, and on the other hand, what were the limits of this project - what habits and thoughts were branded non-democratic? Who was not considered a democrat, or not trusted to be part of the group of democratic citizens? The research will be conducted by Anne Berg (1830-1880) and Samuel Edquist (1880-1940) from 2012 to 2015, resulting in a mutual book and articles."

"ABSTRACT

By applying regression analysis to data from the 2010 Latin American Public Opinion Project’s “AmericasBarometer” surveys, this paper examines the correlates of citizen support for democracy in Venezuela. Special attention is paid to evaluations of current economic conditions, satisfaction with the functioning of democracy and trust in the President as potential explanatory variables. The analysis of the models reveals at least two conceptions of democracy present among Venezuelans, which are strongly influenced by the degree of trust in the President citizens feel. The findings suggest the need of studying support for democracy through more complex scopes, in order to acquire better understandings of citizens’ attitudes towards their political systems.

Keywords: support for democracy, trust in the President, Venezuela, Hugo Chávez

RESUMEN

Mediante la aplicación de análisis de regresión a datos de las encuestas “AmericasBarometer” del 2010, este artículo examina las fuentes de apoyo ciudadano a la democracia en Venezuela. Atención especial es prestada a las evaluaciones del estado de la economía, satisfacción con el funcionamiento de la democracia y confianza en el Presidente como potenciales variables explicativas. El análisis de los modelos permite ver por lo menos dos concepciones de democracia presentes entre los venezolanos, que son fuertemente influidas por el nivel de confianza en el Presidente que los ciudadanos sienten. Los resultados sugieren la necesidad de estudiar el apoyo a la democracia a través de enfoques más complejos, con el objetivo de obtener mejores comprensiones de las actitudes ciudadanas hacia sus sistemas políticos.

Palabras clave: apoyo a la democracia, confianza en el Presidente, Venezuela, Hugo Chávez"""""

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Esta sessão tem como objectivo reflectir sobre os processos de constituição das relações internacionais durante a Idade Média tardia, considerando o conjunto de ambições, práticas, e discursos políticos de que se revestem. Na base desta concepção está um conjunto de metodologias complementares, que congrega à análise institucional e diplomática outras, tradicionalmente mais próximas da história da sociedade e da história da cultura. Pretende-se não só apresentar, mas também discutir e pôr à prova, as valências da abordagem em questão.
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