The role of political parties in multi-level environmental governance in the European Union and Germany

The subject of the study is the involvement of political parties in multi-level environmental governance in the European Union, using Germany and its federal states as an example. This article describes the theoretical and practical foundations of multi-level governance. The place of European parties and their national member parties from Germany in the institutional system and decision-making process of environmental policy has been defined. For practical illustration, the climate policy guidelines of Germany’s main national parties (the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, the Social Democratic Party of Germany, the Alternative for Germany, the Free Democratic Party of Germany, the Left and the Alliance 90 / The Greens) and their European affiliations (the European People’s Party, the Party of the European Socialists, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, the European Green Party and the Party of European Left) were compared with an emphasis on the new targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The unique opportunity for parties to participate in environmental policymaking at all key levels, which is not limited to parliamentary institutions has been highlighted. Appointments to environmental positions at different levels often correlate with membership of the most environmentally oriented parties, although the level of environmental involvement may differ between national parties and their European affiliations. Among other things, this has to do with participation in governing coalitions and dependence on a senior partner in them, as shown by the examples of the Bundestag and the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg. The final decision depends heavily on the unity of the coalition at federal and state level, whereas in the European Parliament there is a great differentiation of opinions, which allows even the most influential European People’s Party to be blocked from voting.

AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES TOWARDS GERMANY

The article addresses the priorities of US relations with Germany. The victory of Joseph Biden and Democratic Party on the elections of 2020 signified quite radical twist in US foreign policy. The election slogan «America is back» which won the White House for the Democratic Party and Congress, means restoration of transatlantic relationship, damaged by the previous administration. Germany has a special place in this process. Elections in Germany in 2021 resulted in a victory of a Social Democratic Party. Decision making in Washington on Relations with Germany are influenced by many factors, including those related to domestic policies and international relations. Domestically there have appeared contradictions between Democratic and Republican parties on a number of priority issues on the bilateral agenda. In particular, the main differences were related to the Nord Stream 2 project. The situation in Afghanistan remains an urgent problem for both sides. It is noteworthy that following the results of the last elections in the United States, the German Caucus again became active in Congress, including both democratic and republican politicians. It is clear that Biden’s administration pursues the developing of economic ties with Germany.

Increasing the Popularity of Antisystem (Non-Traditional) Parties in the Czech Republic

The article examines the course of the elections to the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, their role and place in the political process of the country. The author argues that pluralism of opinion and multiparty system in the Czech Republic practically confirm their real strength, as evidenced by the participation of many parties in parliamentary elections and the fact, that that nine of them managed to overcome the 5% barrier and to obtain a certain number of deputy mandates. The programs of parliamentary parties are analyzed, their main election slogans and the results they achieved in the elections. Much attention in the article is paid to the winner of this election – the centrist political force – movement "Action of dissatisfied citizens", whose leader was appointed Prime Minister of the Czech Republic. Emphasis is placed on new trends in the political process, which were confirmed during the will of the people. Among them, the author highlights the growing popularity of anti-system (non-traditional) parties. In their election statements, these parties set out to protest the change in the political system of society. Along with this process, the crisis of traditional parties deepened, who were previously members of the governing bodies of the state, but they failed to demonstrate their compliance with voter inquiries, who sought solutions to pressing issues. This is confirmed by the results of traditional Czech parties – Communist Party of the Czech Republic and Moravia, which managed to get only 7.76% of the vote of the voters and the leader of the previous elections – the Czech Social Democratic Party, which won the support of only 7.27% of voters, having lost almost 13% of the vote in four years.

A ‘Melting Pot’ City: Migration and Municipality in the Reconstruction of Dortmund

This article explores how Dortmund’s municipal government propagated a concept of city-citizenship and belonging for new arrivals by mediating between expellee, refugee and migrant communities and ‘native’ civil society in the 1940s-1950s. The devastation of Dortmund during the Second World War, and the housing and energy shortages that followed, meant that the arrival of over a hundred thousand expellees and refugees in 1945–1960 placed severe strains on municipal resources while exacerbating conflicts between ‘native’ Dortmunders and new arrivals. The success of the Social Democratic Party (spd) in building a hegemonic position in postwar politics and administration by the late 1940s facilitated the coordination of municipal efforts to foster inter-community relations and introduce new populations to city life. Within the city council and government, in expellee meetings, and in municipal events we observe sustained municipal efforts to 1) exert social control over expellee/refugee arrivals to deflect anger at the poor conditions of the reconstruction period away from municipal officials and 2) inculcate taboos based on peace and democratic norms to delegitimise the politics of inter-community resentment. It concludes by tracing how official narratives and municipal practices constructed in the 1940s-50s were redeployed during the arrival of guest workers in the 1960s.

Consociationalism, Party Organization and Adaptation: the Austrian Party System and the Challenge of Post-Industrialism

<p>In October 1999, the political situation of the Second Republic of Austria changed with the centre-right Osterreichische Volkspartei (Austrian Peoples Party, OVP) coming in second place in the general elections for the Nationalrat (National Assembly) to the farright, populist Freiheitlische Partei Osterreichs (Freedom Party of Austria, FPO), resulting in an FPO-OVP coalition government. This outcome was the culmination of a gradual decline in the vote share for the centre-left Sozialdemokratische Partei Osterreichs (Social Democratic Party of Austria, SPO) and the OVP which began with the 1986 general elections. This situation was unprecedented in not only post-war Austria, but also in post-war Europe. Nowhere else had the far-right achieved such impressive electoral successes, let alone been in government. Why was it possible for a new far-right party to be so electorally successful in Austria? This thesis joins a growing body of literature that looks inside party organisations to understand parties' relative capacities to respond to changes in their environment. It demonstrates that, at least in one case, it is unwise to assume that parties behave like unitary actors that rationally seek electoral goals. This is because institutional rules inside parties privilege some interests in internal power games, shaping whether and how the party responds to changes in the composition of interests in the electorate. The response of the Austrian party system to the 'post-industrial' transformation of Austrian society provides a good opportunity to observe the impact of organisation on party adaptation to environmental change. The post-war 'consociational' organisation of the OVP and the SPO entrenched the power of economic interest groups--labour unions, business associations and farmers--within each party organisation and, through them, in policymaking. This so-called Proporz system provided a reasonable reflection of the composition of social interests in post-war society. It also responded to the challenges to Austrian democracy in the post-war environment. However, it proved extremely rigid in the face of changing Austrian society. Institutional rigidity within the post-war Austrian party system proved ill-suited to confront the challenges of post-industrial transformation. Social transformation in Austria was not unlike that which had occurred throughout all advanced industrial democracies. It undermined traditional class-mass constituencies, such as blue collar workers, farmers and small business, while creating a new and largely white collar pool of voters. Orthodox conceptions of party change would assume that parties adapt automatically to such changes in voter concerns. The SPO and OVP responded to these changes, at best, slow and half-heartedly. This provided an opportunity for the FPO to target with little competition. It was the entrenched economic interests within the SPO and OVP prevented these parties from offering a credible challenge to the FPO for these voters.</p>

Consociationalism, Party Organization and Adaptation: the Austrian Party System and the Challenge of Post-Industrialism

<p>In October 1999, the political situation of the Second Republic of Austria changed with the centre-right Osterreichische Volkspartei (Austrian Peoples Party, OVP) coming in second place in the general elections for the Nationalrat (National Assembly) to the farright, populist Freiheitlische Partei Osterreichs (Freedom Party of Austria, FPO), resulting in an FPO-OVP coalition government. This outcome was the culmination of a gradual decline in the vote share for the centre-left Sozialdemokratische Partei Osterreichs (Social Democratic Party of Austria, SPO) and the OVP which began with the 1986 general elections. This situation was unprecedented in not only post-war Austria, but also in post-war Europe. Nowhere else had the far-right achieved such impressive electoral successes, let alone been in government. Why was it possible for a new far-right party to be so electorally successful in Austria? This thesis joins a growing body of literature that looks inside party organisations to understand parties' relative capacities to respond to changes in their environment. It demonstrates that, at least in one case, it is unwise to assume that parties behave like unitary actors that rationally seek electoral goals. This is because institutional rules inside parties privilege some interests in internal power games, shaping whether and how the party responds to changes in the composition of interests in the electorate. The response of the Austrian party system to the 'post-industrial' transformation of Austrian society provides a good opportunity to observe the impact of organisation on party adaptation to environmental change. The post-war 'consociational' organisation of the OVP and the SPO entrenched the power of economic interest groups--labour unions, business associations and farmers--within each party organisation and, through them, in policymaking. This so-called Proporz system provided a reasonable reflection of the composition of social interests in post-war society. It also responded to the challenges to Austrian democracy in the post-war environment. However, it proved extremely rigid in the face of changing Austrian society. Institutional rigidity within the post-war Austrian party system proved ill-suited to confront the challenges of post-industrial transformation. Social transformation in Austria was not unlike that which had occurred throughout all advanced industrial democracies. It undermined traditional class-mass constituencies, such as blue collar workers, farmers and small business, while creating a new and largely white collar pool of voters. Orthodox conceptions of party change would assume that parties adapt automatically to such changes in voter concerns. The SPO and OVP responded to these changes, at best, slow and half-heartedly. This provided an opportunity for the FPO to target with little competition. It was the entrenched economic interests within the SPO and OVP prevented these parties from offering a credible challenge to the FPO for these voters.</p>

Coalition woes undermine Romania reform prospects

Significance The motion will be backed by his former coalition partner, the Union to Save Romania (USR), together with the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the nationalist AUR. Citu recently won the National Liberal Party (PNL) leadership contest. If the no-confidence vote succeeds, as seems likely, President Klaus Iohannis can make two attempts to form a new government. Impacts Romania has Europe’s second-lowest COVID-19 vaccination rate; administrative upheaval may worsen performance further. The main political institutions are fast losing credibility, and this is likely to benefit increasingly influential extreme nationalists. A PNL minority government would prioritise survival over serious reform during its remaining time in power.

Being a Trainee Historian in Belgrade, 1989

The author reflects on the year 1989 when she was a newly hired trainee historian at the Institute for the History of the Serbian Labor Movement in Belgrade. The topic she was assigned in the Institute was the relationship of the Serbian Social Democratic Party to the war goals of Serbia 1912–1918. As her reading and writing progressed, by 1991 what the Serbian social democrats wrote about the Balkan Wars of 1912/13 began approaching her own political views. However, their antiwar positions at the beginning of the twentieth century sounded like a real feat compared to the virtually monolithic support for the war of 1991. This is how the author’s first research left her with the bitter impression that history, the seeming magistra vitae, had really taught nobody anything given that Serbian society was falling into the same trap as some 70 years before.

“We were aliens, but no longer outsiders”: the strategies of political adaptation of the Mensheviks in Germany in 1920s

Автор исследует стратегии политической адаптации меньшевиков в Германии и их вовлеченность во внутриполитические процессы Веймарской республики. В зависимости от участия в международном социалистическом движении, места внутри Социал-демократической партии Германии, положения в Заграничной Делегации берлинских меньшевиков можно поделить на интернационалистов, «изоляционистов» и «интеграционистов». Политику Заграничной Делегации в 1920-е гг. определяли интернационалисты Ю.О. Мартов, Ф.И. Дан и Р.А. Абрамович. Полноценная адаптация политэмигрантов в Германии была бы невозможна без содействия меньшевиков-«интеграционистов», имевших хорошие связи в немецкой социал-демократии. Один из старых лидеров меньшевиков А.Н. Потресов находился в берлинской эмиграции в изоляции. Он контактировал с «интеграционистами», но из-за политических разногласий не взаимодействовал с Заграничной Делегацией. The article is devoted to a history of Menshevism in German exile in the 1920s. The author studies three strategies of political adaptation in Weimar Republic: Internationalism, Integration, and Isolation. A chosen strategy depended on the participation in the international socialist movement, a position either within the Social Democratic Party of Germany, or the position adopted in the Foreign Delegation, a governing body of Mensheviks’ party abroad. The Foreign Delegation Policy in the 1920s was led by the internationalists Martov, Dan, and Abramovich. The adaptation of Mensheviks-internationalists in Germany would not have been possible without the assistance of “integrationists” who worked as the specialists and experts in German Social Democracy Party. One of the leaders of the Mensheviks A.N. Potresov found himself in isolation in German exile. He maintained contacts with some "integrationists", but because of acute political differences with Dan, Potresov stayed away from the Foreign Delegation. This division came to an end after the collapse of the Weimar Republic in 1933, when Mensheviks moved to the other states.

Defining Asian Socialism: The Asian Socialist Conference, Asian Socialists, and the Limits of a Global Socialist Movement in 1953

The article examines the debates at the Asian Socialist Conference's (ASC) inaugural gathering in Rangoon in January 1953, using a variety of sources, including the minutes of the conference meetings found in the Swedish Social Democratic Party archives. The focus is on the efforts of Asian socialists to define Asian socialism in terms of three broad subjects: international politics; domestic politics; and economic politics. Throughout, particular attention is accorded to the role played by understandings of European socialism. The argument is threefold: that socialism was central to the ASC project, prompting efforts to define Asian socialism; that these efforts invariably raised the fraught question of Asian socialism's relationship with European socialism; and that the stakes involved in Rangoon were not limited to Asian socialism, but also involved socialism's potential as a global movement.