Why Was the Monarchy Not Restored in Post-Communist Bulgaria?

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 503-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rossen Vassilev
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
Large Measure ◽  
The Public ◽  
Moral Crisis

The controversy over bringing back Bulgaria’s abolished monarchy reflects in a large measure the prolonged agony the country has been undergoing ever since it launched on a course of painful post-communist reforms. Against the background of a deep economic crisis, mass poverty, the breakdown of law and order, and political chaos that have traumatized the population, the attempts to reinstate the monarchy have failed only because of its low historical legitimacy. While the ex-king’s triumph in the June 2001 election initially seemed to improve the chances for bringing back the monarchy, such a restoration has been rendered less likely now by the numerous failures and blunders of his time in office, particularly his inability to rebuild the ailing national state and economy. In spite of some notable foreign policy successes such as Bulgaria’s entry into NATO and the European Union, ex—Prime Minister Simeon did not live up to the naïvely overoptimistic expectations of Bulgarians who had hoped that he would save their country from the profound economic, social, political, institutional, and even moral crisis into which it has descended. The precipitous fall of the political fortunes of Simeon, especially as a result of the public relations disaster involving the scandalous “restitution” of his family’s properties that turned the ex-monarch into a multimillionaire, does not bode well for the prospect of reintroducing the monarchy. In the eyes of many ordinary Bulgarians, the former king has now turned into a liability and an embarrassing disappointment.

scholarly journals Invitación, desde el realismo, al estudio de la construcción política de Europa = Invitation from the realism, to the study of the political construction of Europe

2013 ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Óscar Alzaga Villaamil
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Financial Policy ◽  
Housing Bubble ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
Southern States ◽  
The Eu

La crisis económica española, evidenciada tras el estallido de la gran burbuja inmobiliaria ha dejado sobre la mesa toda una serie de preguntas, que el autor enuncia a los efectos de entender la hondura del problema que llevó a que Europa empujase a España a la reforma en 2011 de su constitucionalismo económico. Esta reforma siguió el camino trazado por las previas revisiones de los textos constitucionales afrontadas en Polonia, Suiza y Alemania. Pero las cuentas públicas de ciertos estados del sur de la Unión Europea han pasado a constituir un problema para la política económica y financiera de toda la UE, cuya solución se ha convertido en una oportunidad para avanzar en su construcción política, trance en que los constitucionalistas deben aportar sus mejores esfuerzos.The Spanish economic crisis, evidenced after the outbreak of the great housing bubble has left on the table a series of questions, which the author states the purpose of understanding the depth of the problem that led Europe push Spain to the reform in 2011 of its economic constitutionalism. This reform followed the path set by the previous reviews the constitutions faced in Poland, Switzerland and Germany. But the public accounts of certain southern states of the European Union have come to constitute a problem for the economic and financial policy across the EU, whose solution has become an opportunity to advance their political construction, situation in which the Constitutionalists should make their best efforts.

scholarly journals Crisis?: What (Type) of Crisis? The overlapping problems of the European Union

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (50) ◽  
pp. 33-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Lehmann
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Political Process ◽  
European Population ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Eu

It is common today, even in the European media, to treat the current crisis of the European Union almost exclusively as an economic crisis. The present article pretends to show that such a focus is not only wrong but is indeed dangerous for the future development of the European Union as a whole. The article will argue that the present economic crisis simply aggravated – and a lot – a crisis of legitimacy through which the European Union has been passing for some time. Showing that the anti-European tendencies which are spreading throughout the countries of the continent threaten the very future of the European project, the article will make suggestion on reforms for the future development of the EU, alerting to the necessity to finally elaborate once again a coherent argument for the continuation of the European integration process which puts the European population at the heart of the political process instead of just austerity.

scholarly journals Review of "Uniunea Europeană – un trend în derivă? O analiză a discursului mediatic și a perspectivei tinerilor" (The European Union – a Drifting Trend? An Analysis of Media Discourse and Youth Perspectives) by Oana Ștefăniță, Comunicare.ro, 2017

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Georgiana Udrea
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Media Discourse ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
Southern States ◽  
The Future ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
The Eu

In recent times, the European Union has been confronted with huge challenges and crises, which, in the absence of prompt and effective measures, call into question the future of the European project itself. The political incongruities, the disintegrating tendencies culminating with Brexit, the divisions between northern and southern states over economic crisis and austerity measures, the refugee waves and their poor integration into society, the rise of populist and extremist currents, etc. have caused anger, confusion and fear among Europeans, influencing the relations between member states and public perceptions. In this unstable context, studying people’s opinion on the EU and its subtle mechanisms becomes an important and pragmatic effort, as the public has the means to pursue action based on its feelings of support or opposition towards the community block. Oana Ștefăniță’s book, Uniunea Europeană – un trend în derivă? proposes such an insight into the world of young European citizens, investigating their interest in European issues, the EU’s place on the agenda of interpersonal conversations, the way they understand and experience the feeling of European belonging, and their perspectives on the future of the Union.

scholarly journals Europe, Blurred: Migration, Margins and the Museum

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Poehls
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
City Region ◽  
The Public ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Consequent Effect ◽  
Public Museum

More and more museums all over Europe are discovering migration as a topic for exhibitions. These exhibitions on migration question notions of objectivity or of European universalism. This article looks at a broad range of recent exhibitions and museums that address the topic of migration. Taking into consideration their varying scope and institutional context, this text argues that exhibitions on migration tell several stories at once: Firstly, they present stories of migration in a certain city, region or nation, and within a particular period of time. For this purpose, curators make extensive use of maps – with the peculiar effect that these maps blur what seems to be the clear-cut entity of reference of the museum itself or the exhibition. To a stronger degree than other phenomena that turn into museal topics, ’migration’ unveils the constructed character of geographic or political entities such as the nation or the European Union. It shows how, hidden below the norm of settledness, mobilities are and have always been omnipresent in and fundamental for European societies. Secondly and related to this, exhibitions on migration add a new chapter to the meta-narrative of museums: implicitly, they challenge the relevance of the nation - specifically, of both the historical idea that initiated the invention of the public museum (cf. e.g. Bennett 1999) and the political fundament of European integration today. They provoke questions of settledness, citizenship, or contemporary globalisation phenomena that are equally implicitly put on display. The consequent effect is a blurring of the concept of the nationstate. Finally, migration as a museal topic conveys a view on how the institution of the ’museum’ relates to such a fuzzy thing as mobility, thus provoking questions for further research.

scholarly journals La reforma constitucional suiza : el origen de la "regla de oro fiscal"

2012 ◽  
pp. 455
Author(s):  
Mónica Arenas Ramiro
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Public Debt ◽  
Golden Rule ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Public ◽  
Debt Brake ◽  
The Way

Si bien la crisis económica que estamos viviendo afecta a todos los Estados miembros de la Unión Europea, la manera de afrontarla de unos y otros varía considerablemente, sin que en ninguno de los casos parezcan producirse resultados óptimos. Por este motivo, desde la propia Unión, ante el peligro de que la ruptura económica y monetaria se produzca, se ha orientado el proceso de estabilidad fiscal aconsejando a sus Estados miembros introducir un límite al gasto público en sus textos constitucionales. Esta solución, adoptada por algunos países como Alemania, Francia, o España, ha sido recibida con cierta suspicacia y con pocas esperanzas. No obstante, este freno al endeudamiento público, esta «regla de oro fiscal», fue ya constitucionalizada por Suiza en el 2001 y los resultados son verdaderamente positivos. Su experiencia, y la semejanza con nuestra forma de organización territorial, puede arrojar un poco de luz a las medidas hasta ahora adoptadas.While the economic crisis affects all Member States in the European Union, the way to resist it varies considerably from each others, and nobody have the optimal results. For this reason, from the European Union faced with the danger of economic and monetary breakdown, has guided the process of fiscal stability recomending its Member States to introduce a debt brake in their national Constitutions. The solution adopted by countries like Germany, France, or Spain, has been greeted with suspicion and without hope. However, the public debt brake —the «financial golden rule»— was already constitutionalized by Switzerland in 2001 and the results were truly positive. His experience may shed some light on our steps.

scholarly journals State Aid in The European Union in the Period of the Economic Crisis

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Działo
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Market Competition ◽  
State Aid ◽  
Real Economy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Business Entities ◽  
The Eu

The global economic crisis has brought about the need for States’ involvement to rescue many business entities from bankruptcy, initially in the financial sector, and at a later stage of the crisis in the real economy. In the countries of the European Union, these measures take the form of state aid, which is specifically regulated as it bestows benefits on its beneficiaries and therefore violates the rules of market competition. Thus, the provision of state aid is controversial, since it potentially adversely affects the competition policy pursued in the EU. This paper aims to analyse and evaluate the volume of state aid granted in the EU countries during the economic crisis and its potential impact on the health of the economy and the public finance sector.

Crisis económica y Administración Pública

2014 ◽  
pp. 1091-1129
Author(s):  
Miriam CUETO PÉREZ
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
The State ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Impact

LABURPENA: Ekonomiaren krisiak ordenamendu juridikoan duen eragina jorratzen da lan honetan, urte hauetan zehar sortu eta ordenamendu juridikoari gehitu zaizkion ezaugarriak aztertuz. Administrazio publiko guztietan aurrekontu-egonkortasuna ezartzeko agindu du Europar Batasunak. Horrek Konstituzioa erreformarazi du eta ondorio eta erreforma ugari ekarri ditu sektore publikoan, batik bat antolamendu-ahalmenari eraginez. Erreforma horiek Estatuko lurralde bakoitzari zenbateraino eragiten dion ere baloratzen da. RESUMEN: Este trabajo tiene como objeto abordar la incidencia de la crisis económica en el ordenamiento jurídico analizando los rasgos que han ido surgiendo e incorporándose al ordenamiento jurídico a lo largo de estos años. La reforma de la Constitución como consecuencia de la exigencia de la Unión Europea de incorporar el principio de estabilidad presupuestaria vinculando a todas las Administraciones públicas ha traído importantes consecuencias y numerosas reformas en el sector público, afectando en especial a la potestad de organización. El alcance de esas reformas en los distintos niveles territoriales del Estado es igualmente objeto de valoración. ABSTRACT: This works aims at dealing with the impact of economic crisis in the legal order by analyzing the features that for the last years have arisen and been incorporated onto the legal order. The reform of the Constitution as a consequence of the European Union request of incorporating the principle of budgetary stability binding all public administrations has carried out important consequences and many reforms in the public sector, having a particular effect on the power of organization. The scope of those reforms in the several territorial levels of the State is likewise to be valued.

scholarly journals Storia in corso della democrazia autoritaria

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Battini
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Global Economic Crisis

The essay presents a diachronic approach to the political issues underway in present-time Europe, focusing on the global economic crisis that started in 2008, on emerging social problems, on the symptoms of possible disintegration of the European Union, on populist nationalisms in Central Europe and in Italy. Of these intertwined phenomena, an interpretation from a historical perspective is suggested.

scholarly journals The EU budget and UK contribution

2016 ◽  
Vol 236 ◽  
pp. 39-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain Begg
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Fiscal Federalism ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
Range Of Functions ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

The European Union budget is small and fulfils only a limited range of functions, yet it provokes regular disputes among the Member States and institutions of the Union. This paper describes the structure of the budget and shows that standard theories, such as fiscal federalism, are not well-suited to analysing how the EU budget operates or the political economy behind it. The paper then looks at how much the UK contributes towards the EU budget and explains why some of the claims made about it in the public discourse are inaccurate.

scholarly journals Europe, the Pope and the Holy Left Alliance in Poland

Focaal ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 2004 (43) ◽  
pp. 121-133
Author(s):  
Kacper Pobłocki
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Accession ◽  
Polish Society ◽  
Polish Government ◽  
The Eu

This article describes why the Polish government has pushed for an invocation to Christian traditions in the European Union Constitution. It is argued that this is a rather 'unfortunate' outcome of the political alliance between the Catholic Church and the Polish left, especially between President Aleksander Kwaśniewski and the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD). This alliance allowed the SLD to legitimize their rule in the post-socialist Poland, and it was a result of a political competition between them and the post-Solidarność elites. As a result, John Paul II became the central integrative metaphor for the Polish society at large, which brought back in the marginalized as well as allowed the transition establishment to win the EU accession referendum in 2003. The article (which was written when Leszek Miller was still Prime Minister) demonstrates how this alliance crystallized and presents various elements of the cult of the Pope in Poland that followed. Finally, it argues that the worship of the Pope is not an example of nationalism, but of populism, understood not as a peripheral but as a central political force, and advocates for more research on the 'politics of emotions' at work in the centers and not in peripheries.

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