ELECTION OF THE NEW PRIME MINISTER OF SWEDEN

The article examines the situation in Sweden around the election of a new Prime minister of the country. Describing it as a political crisis, the author points to the causes that gave rise to it, the course of the crisis itself and the interim results. The reasons are seen in the self-destruction of the former two-block party-political mechanism, which turned out to be unable to find adequate answers to new challenges, the appearance of which is predetermined by both internal political processes and global events and phenomena. The restructuring of this mechanism proceeds in complex contradictory forms, which was shown by the election of the chief executive. The weakening of the old traditional rivals in the struggle for power, which also affects their internal unity, is accompanied by the activation of forces on the extreme flanks, especially the right part of it, where nationalists are strengthening from year to year. The election of a new leader of the SAP as the new prime minister with the changed, and probably not for the last time, configuration of political forces has become a fragile compromise, for which the Social Democrats will have to pay dearly – they will have to fulfill the budget of the right-wing parties. There was a temporary reconnaissance before the new battles, the main of which will be the election of a new composition of the Riksdag in 2022.

15. European parties:

The party system of the European Parliament (EP) has been dominated by the two main European party families: centre-right conservatives and Christian democrats, on the one hand, and centre-left social democrats on the other, which controlled the majority of the seats until the 2019 elections. In the early 1950s, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) decided to form party-political groups, instead of national blocs, to counterbalance the dominance of national interests in the Council. Over the decades, the shape of the EP party system has become more stable, and traditional levels of group cohesion and coalition formation have not really been affected by the rise of populism and the increasing politicization of European integration. National parties remain influential within party groups, not least through their control of candidate selection. Outside of the Parliament, Europarties—parties operating at the European level—influence both the broader development of integration and the choice of the Commission president.

Revolutionary Migrants of the Early Labor Movement in Croatia-Slavonia, Dalmatia, and Istria in the Late Nineteenth and the Early Twentieth Century

In the late nineteenth century, prompted by uneven industrial development, the predominantly agrarian regions of Croatia-Slavonia, Dalmatia, and Istria were slowly undergoing processes of urbanization and economic transformation. As part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, these regions were subject to dynamic migrations of the labor force from several regions and neighboring countries. Industrialization was the crucial impetus behind the formation of the first working-class organizations and syndicates, but their development, their socio-political goals, and the strategies they employed were heavily influenced by socialist theoreticians and agitators from Austria-Hungary, Serbia, and Italy. This ideologically heterogeneous labor movement depended on cross-border cooperation with different individuals and collectives, ranging from Hungarian Marxists and Austrian social democrats to Italian anarchists. Even though unions and subversive pamphlets were illegal and closely monitored, migratory activists continued to agitate and collaborate with local workers through various underground channels. This paper will analyze various ideological inputs of migratory workers within the area that is now present-day Croatia during the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century. It will also examine the perception of their presence and activism articulated by political authorities and mainstream newspapers. Due to a lack of similar research, emphasis will be placed, to some extent, on anarchist activities in this area.

New Romanian coalition will retreat from reform

Significance This autumn, bitter conflict between the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Save Romania Union (USR) ended a brief period of centre-right rule, after years of domination by the Social Democrats (PSD). Former army chief Nicolae Ciuca heads the government, which the PSD dominates alongside a much-weakened PNL. Impacts The government may struggle to persuade a suspicious populace to back vaccination, given previous PSD reluctance for anti-COVID-19 measures. The pandemic may deter civil society from mobilising against abuses of power to the extent it did during the last PSD government. The government's dilemma will be curbing the justice system's independence without provoking a strong EU reaction.

Czechoslovak–Latvian Relations during the Interwar Period: The Role of Political Partie

The aim of the article is to analyse how the interests of political parties were reflected in interwar Czechoslovak–Latvian relations. The article focuses on the analysis of both objective and subjective reasons why the cleavage between the relevant Latvian political parties – the Farmers’ Union and Social Democrats – was reflected in Czechoslovak policy. Both political parties maintained transnational contacts with ideologically related political parties in Czechoslovakia. The article examines if there were systemic or rather specific subjective reasons for the influence of the political parties on bilateral relations, resulting from the specifics of the interwar Czechoslovak–Latvian relations.

Natural law, human dignity and tradition of Böckenförde’s catholic political theology, from a conservative viewpoint

This paper aims to show the connection between ideas on natural law, human dignity and tradition in the legal-political thought of Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde, an influential earlier judge of Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court. It starts out from the Catholic background of the legal theorist, and his close connection to Carl Schmitt, probably the most charismatic legal thinker of the age, who, however, burnt himself by his support of the Nazi regime. Böckenförde was politically closest to the Social Democrats, yet political theology remained crucial for his legal thought. His interpretation of the German Grundgesetz was founded on a very strong, universalist interpretation of the concept of human dignity, which he took as the most important, founding value in the value catalogue of the Basic Law. Although not a conservative, Böckenförde also claimed that in a specific legal sense, tradition also plays a major role in legal interpretation. He took over from the writings of his brother, the theologian Werner, the idea that tradition and reception can serve as checks on the way natural law is interpreted. All in all, as Böckenförde points out, the three concepts (natural law, human dignity and tradition) provide a strong foundation for legal and constitutional interpretation.

Social Democrats will shift Romania’s fiscal policies

Headline ROMANIA: Social Democrats will shift fiscal policies

Intellectual Roots of the Welfare State

This chapter considers the intellectual roots of the welfare state in changing views about states and their competences from the middle of the nineteenth to the middle of the twentieth centuries. This happens in particular national contexts, with differing patterns of both democratization and bureaucratization. From the beginning, we can observe patterns of international learning and policy transfer. This process is traced through a number of national cases: Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the English-speaking nations, Sweden and the United States. Although the welfare state has come to be identified with social citizenship and ‘social justice’, its ideational and normative roots are much more diverse and contested than this. And although the welfare state came to be identified with social democrats, especially after 1945, its origins more usually lie with liberal, or even conservative, forces and ideas.

Lost in Transition - Where Are All the Social Democrats Today?

This chapter follows individual voter flows using panel data for Social Democrats in Germany (1984-2018), the United Kingdom (1991-2018) and Switzerland (1999-2018). To our knowledge this chapter, thus, provides the first long running study of individual voting transitions amongst Social Democratic voters, following their transitions for almost 40 years. The key goal of this chapter is to understand where initial voters of the Social Democrats are today and which individual level characteristics correlate with leaving SDs. We find: 1) Social Democrats manage to keep some of their core 2) but a lot of their core gets de-mobilized or moves on to more progressive options (Greens, LibDem, Green Liberal Party). 3) SDs struggle in all countries to attract new voters, less so in Switzerland which we think is at least partly due to the progressive offer provided by the SP. In contrast, the German SPD loses to everyone and gains almost nothing. We also find evidence that SDs die out: the key factor correlated with `leaving' is the generational cohort Social Democrats belong to. In contrast, often theorized and emphasized factors such as occupation, income or unemployment show much smaller correlations with former Social Democrats' decision to leave the party behind.

First Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-1921), a Result of the Changes in the International System

The independence of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia was announced on May 26, 1918 by the Georgian Social-Democrats, who were preaching against nationalism and the creation of a Georgian state years prior, therefore, it is evident at first sight, that major international events of the 1910s played a crucial role in the establishing of an independent Georgia. This research paper aims to examine the foreign factors that made the Georgian political elite change their minds and resulted in the creation of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia. First, the paper will analyze the internal political situation in Georgia and the attitudes of the Georgian political elite, then the policies and attitudes of three major powers – Russia, Turkey and Germany, towards Georgia will be examined. The author has presented the reflections of famous Georgian researches on the topic and some archive sources as well.