scholarly journals General Patterns and National Features of the Identity Formation in the Post-Soviet Space: the Experience of Moldova

2020 ◽  
pp. 148-173
Author(s):  
A. Dobrovolskaya
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Linear Wave ◽  
Republic Of Moldova ◽  
Political Crises ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Masses

The article discusses the processes of searching for the national identity of the Republic of Moldova during the post-communist transit. The conditions in which the reforms took place in the country and the factors that influenced the directions and priorities of the development of Moldavian society are analyzed. It is shown that the processes of the formation of a political nation in the Republic proceeded in an environment of socio-political crises and conflicts, fluctuations in domestic and foreign policy and had a non-linear wave-like character. The search for national identity in Moldova was accompanied by the emergence of ideological, political and value splits in the political elite and among the masses of Moldavian society, which intensified and softened with a certain frequency. It is stated that the Republic of Moldova is practically the only country in Europe where identification differences were a determining factor in the polarization of political forces, and identity conflicts became a significant factor in political mobilization. It is noted that the incompleteness of the process of national self-identification in Moldova is largely determined by external factors, as a result of which the state acts as an object of influence of more significant subjects of international politics. It is concluded that although the political system of the Republic of Moldova supports the existence of democratic trends, the achievement of value consensus through the creation of a broad dialogue in the public space and general civil discourse remains an urgent task for the national elites. The experience of the political transit of the Republic of Moldova has confirmed the fact that during the formation of political nations there are frequent cases when the confrontation of symbols, meanings and historical dates does not occur between different states, but takes place within society itself. Moldova has become a classic example of an identification split that divides the country into East and West, North and South, whose residents appeal to different versions of national history.

scholarly journals Moldova: the Search for National Identity – from the Imperial Past to the Present

2019 ◽  
pp. 212-229
Author(s):  
A. Dobrovolskaya
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Linear Wave ◽  
Republic Of Moldova ◽  
Political Crises ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Masses

The article discusses the processes of searching for the national identity in the Republic of Moldova in the post-Soviet period. The conditions in which the reforms took place in the country are analyzed. The factors influencing the directions and prospects of further development of the Moldovan society are investigated. It is shown that the transformation process, which was initially assumed to be democratic, took place in an atmosphere of socio-political crises and conflicts, fluctuations in domestic and foreign policy. This process had a non-linear wave-like character. The construction of statehood in the country was accompanied by the emergence of ideological, political and cultural divisions in the political elite and in the masses of Moldovan society, which were then intensified, then softened with a certain periodicity. It is noted that the Republic of Moldova is practically the only state in Europe where the crisis of national identity is the determining factor in the polarization of the views of political forces. It was concluded that the incompleteness of the process of national identity in Moldova is intensified by the action of external factors, as a result of which the state is subject to the influence of more significant subjects of international politics.

Reading Politics with Machiavelli

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald J. Schmidt, Jr
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Family Farm ◽  
Louis Althusser ◽  
Political Crises ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
White Nationalism ◽  
The Republic

Reading Politics with Machiavelli is an anachronistic reading of certain key concepts in Machiavelli’s The Prince and The Discourses (as well as some of his correspondence). In 1513, soon after the Medici returned to power in Florence, Machiavelli lost his position as First Secretary to the Republic, and he was exiled. On his family farm, he began a self-consciously anachronistic reading of great political figures of antiquity, and, in combination with his own experience as a diplomat, crafted a unique perspective on the political crises of his time. At our own moment of democratic crisis, as the democratic imagination, as well as democratic habits and institutions face multiple attacks from neoliberalism, white nationalism, and authoritarianism, I argue that a similar method, in which we read Machiavelli’s work as he read Livy’s and Plutarch’s, can help us see the contingency, and the increasingly forgotten radical potential, of our politics. Louis Althusser argued that Machiavelli functions for us as an uncanny authority, one whose apparent familiarity is dispelled as we examine his epistolary yet opaque account of history, politics, and authority. This makes his readings a potentially rich resource for a time of democratic crisis. With that challenge in mind, we will examine the problems of conspiracy, prophecy, torture, and exile and use a close reading of Machiavelli’s work to make out new perspectives on the politics of our time.

PaReSoGo: Dataset on party representation of social groups for 25 countries, 2002–2016

2021 ◽  
pp. 135406882110238
Author(s):  
Olga Zelinska ◽  
Joshua K Dubrow
Keyword(s):  
Social Groups ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Dissimilarity Index ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Measure Representation ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
The Masses

Whereas social scientists have devised various ways to measure representation gaps between the political elite and the masses across nations and time, few datasets can be used to measure this gap for particular social groups. Minding the gap between what parties social groups vote for and what parties actually attain seats in parliament can reveal the position of social groups in the political power structure. We help to fill this gap with a new publicly available dataset, Party Representation of Social Groups (PaReSoGo), consisting of 25 countries and 150 country-years, and a method for its construction. We used the European Social Survey 2002–2016 and ParlGov data for this time span to create a Dissimilarity Index. To demonstrate the utility and flexibility in the combination of cross-national surveys and administrative data, we chose social groups of gender, age, and education, as well as intersectional groups based on gender and age, and attitudinal groups. We conclude this research note with empirical illustrations of PaReSoGo’s use.

Electoral system as a motivation to reforming political system- The Iraqi model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamall Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Political Reform ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
The Masses

The flaws and major flaws in the political systems represent one of the main motives that push the political elite towards making fundamental reforms, especially if those reforms have become necessary matters so that: Postponing them or achieving them affects the survival of the system and the political entity. Thus, repair is an internal cumulative process. It is cumulative based on the accumulated experience of the historical experience of the same political elite that decided to carry out reforms, and it is also an internal process because the decision to reform comes from the political elite that run the political process. There is no doubt that one means of political reform is to push the masses towards participation in political life. Changing the electoral system, through electoral laws issued by the legislative establishment, may be the beginning of political reform (or vice versa), taking into account the uncertainty of the political process, especially in societies that suffer from the decline of democratic values, represented by the processes of election from one cycle to another. Based on the foregoing, this paper seeks to analyze the relationship between the Electoral and political system, in particular, tracking and studying the Iraqi experience from the first parliamentary session until the issuance of the Election Law No. (9) for the year (2020).

History of the Word "Democracy" in Canada and Québec: A Political Analysis of Rhetorical Strategies

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Dupuis-Déri
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Rhetorical Strategies ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Political Analysis ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Masses

An examination of the speeches of modern Canada’s “founding fathers” reveals that they were openly antidemocratic. How did a regime founded on anti-democratic ideas come to be positively identified with democracy? Drawing on similar studies of the United States and France, this analysis of the history of the term democracy in Canada shows that the country’s association with democracy was not due to constitutional or institutional changes that might have justified re-labelling the country’s political regime. Rather, it was the result of discursive strategies employed by the political elite to strengthen its ability to mobilize the masses during the World Wars.

scholarly journals O granicach i przepaściach: dyskurs o górach i separacji na terenach objętych konfliktem etnicznym

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 248-265
Author(s):  
Michael Wedekind
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Social Integration ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Alpine Region ◽  
The Political ◽  
Mental Maps ◽  
Habsburg Monarchy ◽  
State Apparatus ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Masses

ON BOUNDARIES AND GAPS: DISCOURSES ON MOUNTAINS AND SEPARATION IN AREAS AFFECTED BY ETHNIC CONFLICTThe author examines the reasons behind the political instrumentalisation and ethnicisation of tourism as a private social practice, allegedly far removed from politics. Using the example of the Austrian Alpine Region specifically, the Duchy of Tyrol during the late Habsburg Monarchy, he demonstrates that this political sphere of action was a promising starting point for the nationalisation of the masses of the masses, especially wherever national circles of various communities had no access to the state apparatus and to classic socialisation organs and, therefore, had to resort to auxiliary measures to socialise nationality. In addition to issuing calls to visit areas close to linguistic and national borders and projecting ethnic partly racial models of segmentation and exclusion, tourism was used as ground for the building of national identity, for strategies of social integration and mobilisation, for establishing new mental maps and links of loyalty.

scholarly journals The Difficult Path to a Civil Nation: the Experience of Nation-Building in Modern Kazakhstan

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-151
Author(s):  
N. A. Baranov ◽  
Sevgi Kok
Keyword(s):  
Collective Identity ◽  
Civic Identity ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
National Unity ◽  
Interethnic Relations ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
The Republic

Kazakhstan, like most of the multi-ethnic post-Soviet states, in the course of state building, faced the problem of rallying the peoples living in the Republic. Two interrelated projects were being implemented on the political agenda of Kazakhstan: the construction of state institutions and the formation of a civil nation. In a multi-ethnic state, the project of a civil nation is difficult due to the attempts of the titular ethnic group to obtain additional advantages, which causes tension in interethnic relations. The identification of the population, often, occurs by ethnicity, therefore, the policy of civic identity in Kazakhstan is opposed to the “Kazakhization” of language, culture, and social practices. Nevertheless, the process of unification of the nation is successfully developing in the Republic, initiated by the political elite of Kazakhstan. Achievement of national unity was declared a strategic priority in the development of the country. The article analyzes the factors affecting collective identity in the Republic of Kazakhstan: demographic diversity, language policy, state symbols. The article concludes that Kazakhstan is building its statehood based on the domination of the Kazakh ethnic elite, while pursuing a policy of uniting different ethnic groups into a single Kazakh nation.

scholarly journals The Choice of Constitutional Amendments in a Young Democracy – from Indirect to Direct Election of the President in Taiwan

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-131
Author(s):  
Da-chi Liao ◽  
Hui-chih Chang
Keyword(s):  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Loss Minimization ◽  
Constitutional Amendments ◽  
Direct Form ◽  
Power Maximization ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
The Masses

This paper attempts to determine the kind of constitutional rule preferred in a young democracy when an institutional opportunity for constitutional change occurs. It adopts the standpoint of collective decision-making. This approach involves two crucial theoretical elements: the calculation of the interests of the political elite and the masses' comprehension of what democracy is. The case studied here is Taiwan's constitutional choice between the direct and indirect election of the president during the period from 1990 to 1994. The paper first examines how the political leaders might have used both the logic of power maximization and of power-loss minimization to choose their position on the issue. It then demonstrates that survey results indeed showed that respondents better understood the direct form of electing the president and therefore supported it over the indirect one. This support helped the direct form to eventually win out.

Why Ukraine Is Not Russia

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 813-833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yitzhak M. Brudny ◽  
Evgeny Finkel
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Significant Extent ◽  
Considerable Part ◽  
The Public ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
The Impact

The article discusses the impact of national identity on democratization and market reforms in Russia and Ukraine. We develop a concept of hegemonic national identity and demonstrate its role in Russian and Ukrainian post-communist political development. The article argues that Russia’s slide toward authoritarianism was to an important degree an outcome of the notions of national identity adopted by the main political players and society at large. In Ukraine, on the other hand, a hegemonic identity failed to emerge and the public discussion of issues of national identity led to the adoption of much more liberal and democratic notions of identity by a considerable part of the political elite. Adoption of this more liberal identity, in turn, was one of the main reasons for the Orange Revolution. The main theoretical implications of this argument are as follows: (a) choices of national identity profoundly affect the prospects for democracy in the newly democratizing states; (b) institutions do shape identities; (c) elites’ preference for (or opposition to) liberal democracy is not simply a consequence of their understanding of their self-interest in gaining and preserving power but also is dependent to a significant extent on their choices of political identity.

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