The Institutionalisation of Political Science in Post-Yugoslav States: Continuities and New Beginnings

The institutionalisation of political science in the four countries emerged after the break-up of Yugoslavia—Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia—has not been a uniform process. Despite the discipline’s foundation at almost the same time and in the same state, there are considerable differences among them in terms of stability and autonomy. Some of the most salient, albeit certainly not all are numbers of institutions, professors, students and study programs, development of political science fields, state funding, and hiring procedure. Our investigation on the roots of differences between them covers two periods. The first one deals with the Communist Yugoslav period, when the first institutions of political science were founded, and the discipline went through three decades of development under autocratic regime. Second period deals with the following three decades of institutionalisation, from first multi-party elections in 1990 until 2020. We finish the chapter with concluding remarks which could also be perceived as a guideline for further research in the field.

Kształtowanie polityki integracyjnej wobec imigrantów z Białorusi oraz potencjał ich zaangażowania społeczno-politycznego na przykładzie Wrocławia

Recent political events in Belarus have caused a large wave of migration from this country. Immigrants come to Poland seeking help and escaping from the cruel repression of the autocratic regime of Alyaxandr Lukashenka. This article aims to answer what role non-governmental organisations play in the policy of integrating immigrants from Belarus in Poland. Do immigrants from Belarus contribute to the activities of non-governmental organisations in Poland? This article highlights the problem of an active response of Polish society to the Belarusian socio-political crisis. It also analyses the activity of non-governmental organisations aimed at supporting immigrants from Belarus. It is based on source research, in-depth interviews with non-governmental organisations’ activists and surveys of immigrants from Belarus. The author uses the integration policy approach to examine the activities of non-governmental organisations aimed at promoting the interests of the immigration community from Belarus and analyses its expectations. The main goals of this article are to demonstrate the phenomenon of social movement among foreigners from Belarus and to show a number of integration problems of Belarusian immigrants in Poland.

Russia’s Honeymoon with the European Far Right

This chapter examines how the Kremlin developed a policy of reaching out globally to Western far-right and populist parties. It asserts that today's Russia plays a multifaceted game of consolidating its soft power on the European stage. The chapter also reviews Russia's alliance with the European far right and its strengthening economic ties, especially energy partnerships; networking with big European businesses that are able to lobby their respective governments; and relaunching an offensive public diplomacy. It discusses the European far right's Russophile tendencies, admiring prerevolutionary Russia, whether for its autocratic regime or for the prominent role given to Orthodoxy. Ultimately, the chapter looks at the direct connections between Russians and European far-right groups after the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the opening of borders. It illustrates the mutual encounters of Russian far-right activists and Western European counterparts in three main phases: they were first pioneered by precursor figures in the 1990s, followed by the Russian Orthodox Church and the Rodina party in the early 2000s, before the relationship reached a peak when Moscow decided to position itself as the herald of a new moralist International during Vladimir Putin's third presidential mandate.

Where Does Russia Matter?

This chapter surveys how and in what policy areas Russia under Vladimir Putin exercises influence over the politics, economies, and societies of other post-Soviet states. It explicitly compares Russian power resources in each of the fourteen other former Soviet republics, and surveys the ways in which his autocratic regime has employed its varied power resources to change policies in the near abroad. It concludes that Russian influence has been used differently in the more Western-leaning, liberalized former republics, like Ukraine, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Moldova, as opposed to the autocracies of Central Asia, and Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus.

Repression Reconsidered: Bystander Effects and Legitimation in Authoritarian Regimes

Research on repression has primarily focused on its destructive potential, namely how violence serves to eliminate threats. This article proposes an alternative role for repression: to build popular support. I argue that repression builds support for an autocratic regime when it targets groups perceived as dangerous. I refer to this phenomenon as a legitimation strategy of repression, which aims to gain the support of civilian bystanders beyond eliminating threats. To test the argument, I present a case study of state repression in Egypt after the 2013 coup. I explain how repression against the Muslim Brotherhood helped build popular support for the new regime. My findings contribute to scholarship on authoritarianism and repression by demonstrating the oft-overlooked role of civilian bystanders in shaping state violence.

Performance and Promotions in an Autocracy: Evidence from Nazi Germany

Scholars of autocracies increasingly debate whether autocratic regimes promote their subordinates based on achievements, such as economic performance, and further a meritocratic system. This article argues that the extent to which autocratic regimes reward economic performance is not constant over the course of an autocratic regime’s lifespan but varies depending on the strategic goals of the regime and the regime's ability to monitor its subordinates' performance. We collect a new dataset on the careers of the regional leaders of the German Nazi Party, the Gauleiters, from 1936 to 1944, and a wealth of historical data sources from the regime. Using this, we show that better regional economic performance increased the chance of receiving a promotion before the outbreak of World War II but not after.

Determining the Level of Economic Development as the Most Important Variable of Society’s Democratization in System Theories

Introduction. The question of the relationship between economic development and democracy is one of the key and most studied, directly affecting the reform of economic and political institutions. Early modernization theory offered a universal recipe for transforming social institutions in order to accelerate socio-economic and political development. Economic development leads to the emergence of a qualitatively new social structure, the formation of a broad layer of a prosperous middle class, which becomes difficult to manage under an autocratic regime, and thus at a certain point the dictatorship is replaced by democracy. Therefore, we are talking about a causal relationship between economic growth and the democratization of society. However, different researchers have different attitudes to this connection and its nature. Currently, we can distinguish such a theoretical direction in the theory and empirical research of transformation as system theories, in which the search for the causes, successes and failures of democratization depends on specific social subsystems: the economy and society, the state and social groups, and politics. The purpose of the article is to analyze the theoretical provisions of the system theory that can determine the relationship between the economic and democratic development of society. Materials and Methods. The solution of research tasks was carried out on the basis of general scientific research approaches and methods. The authors used a systematic approach, a structural and functional approaches, a comparative method, as well as the principles of scientific objectivity, historicism and systematicity. Results. Based on the analysis of the early sociological system theory in the tradition of T. Parsons, modern sociological system theory, as well as the theory of modernization, reflected in research on democracy, the relationship between the degree of socio-economic development of a society and its ability to democracy was revealed. Discussion and Conclusions. Modernization theories demonstrate a causal relationship between market modernization of the economy and the process of democratization. The transition state of an economy showing dynamic growth not only destabilizes the autocratic regime, but also contributes to the consolidation of democracy and the growth of a politically mature middle class. However, the classical theory of modernization is not able to determine the level of development of society to determine the probability of transition to democracy, as well as the reasons for the democratization of undeveloped societies and the crisis of democracy in developed societies in certain periods. Identifying the shortcomings of the modernization theory encourages the testing of theories that can fill these gaps.

Redistributive Politics in Russia: The Political Economy of Agricultural Subsidies

This paper explores whether redistributive politics can explain differences in agricultural subsidies in Russia, a country whose autocratic regime represents a fertile ground for strategic redistribution. Relying on political economy literature, we examine the strategies regional and federal Russian politicians utilize to allocate and distribute agricultural subsidies. Using unique 2008–2015 panel data, we test whether politicians target loyal or easily swayed voters and whether they use large farms as vote brokers. We find federal and regional politicians to allocate more agricultural subsidies when political competition against the dominant party is higher. Moreover, they appear to also target large farms for voter mobilization.