Przegląd Politologiczny, 2013, nr 3
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Item Processes of change in academia – the impact of government and market(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2013) Rosicki, RemigiuszThe paper describes the problems associated with the development of universities and higher education on a global scale and based on the example of Poland. To illustrate the subject, the research focuses on: (1) the idea of university autonomy and elitism from a historical and contemporary perspective, (2) the delusion of elitism and social advancement of education which is attributed to it, (3) the myth of flexibility of education generated among others by politicians. The text indicates the main processes in academia: (1) centuries long removal of the autonomy of universities, (2) the ‘humanistic ethos’ of universities is also removed, (3) universities are transformed into ‘vocational colleges’, (4) higher education is developed as one of the service sectors, (5) universities are transformed into institutions responsible for the labour market, (6) universities are entered in the ‘logic of the free market’, (7), the number of the educated is increasing, (8) the fetishisation of education, (9) the myth of flexibility of education and the its multifunctionality in the context of limited absorption capacity of the labour.Item Selected aspects of the independence of the National Bank of Poland in the context of Polish political practice(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2013) Myślak, EwaCentral bank – the fourth estate – is the decisive entity for the issue of money and the obligation to protect its value, provided, however, that at the same time it retains independence in three main areas: personal, financial and functional. The political system and legal solutions adopted in Poland provide the National Bank of Poland with a high position in the structure of state bodies and a large degree of independence. Unsuccessful attempts to deprive the autonomy of National Bank of Poland showed that Poland is a country of law and confirmed the independence of the Polish National Bank, and its right to carry out an autonomous monetary policy free from political influence, which is a guarantee of the value of the Polish zloty.Item Patterns of Women’s Political Activity(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2013) Pająk-Patkowska, BeataThe article aims at presenting women’s and men’s political activity, both in its formal aspect (conventional political activity) – manifesting itself in participating in elections or belonging to a political party – and informal actions (unconventional political activity) – connected with direct influence on the political sphere. On the basis of research, including that of the current author, the evolution of women’s presence in politics is shown. The main manners of explaining the differences in intensity, as well as the chosen forms of political activity among women and men, are also put forward.Item Social Dangers of European Integration(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2013) Turska-Kawa, Agnieszka; Wojtasik, WaldemarEuropean integration as a social process is endangered by phenomena which can reduce, stop and downgrade this process. They occur, at least partly, out of political intentions. They become a consequence of existing processes in the political, industrial and psychosocial spheres. The evolution of social attitudes of an individual can take the wrong direction, and this can result in a negative influence on social systems. In this paper, special attention is placed on a few of them: atomisation, anomie and social alienation, linked to political and social problems. Atomisation can effect political participation and can lead to moral decay of the social rules of democracy. Anomie leads to adaptation reactions, which can cause withdrawal from existing values and social norms. Additionally, stratification of anomie and atomisation in terms of megatrends makes it harder to counteract their results, because the character of these phenomena leads to an indirect relationship with integration. Bearing in mind the importance of psychological functioning of individuals in a changing social environment, the issue of social alienation that at certain levels of intensity can pose a threat to European integration was also analysed.Item Some Aspects of Political Public relations Strategy based on the Example of Polish extra-Parliamentary Left-Wing Parties. The First Decade of the 21st Century(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2013) Walecka-Rynduch, AgnieszkaThe study of political parties’ political public relations strategies in terms of image building is an interesting and important topic. The aim of the article is a reflection on the place and role of non-parliamentary parties of the Polish left-wing scene. These groups are similar in their organizational structure, platforms (often strikingly similar to the mainstream parties or other peripheral leftist groups), financial situation (no secured budget, which is a significant obstacle in financing of election campaigns and maintaining proper structures).Item Ethical Dilemmas of Political Marketing. Polish Members of Parliament on Political Communication (analysis of survey results)(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2013) Ossowski, SzymonPolitical marketing has changed not only the way election campaigns are conducted, but also the standards and principles that have lain at the foundations of the liberal-democratic political system for years. First and foremost, the ideal of the rational voter has lost significance as the citizen has been transformed into a consumer. At the same time, the mechanisms of economic marketing have been transferred to the realm of politics, which seems to be one of the indicators of the ongoing destruction of the ideals and principles of liberal democracy. It is not an easy task to measure the scale of these changes, though. This paper is an attempt to outline the degree to which the deputies to the Polish Parliament have internalized market axiology in the realm of politics assessed on the basis of the results of surveys conducted during three consecutive terms of the Polish parliament (in 2004, 2006 and 2008).Item Young Poles: Undeveloped Political ‘Niche’(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2013) Marzęcki, RadosławObservation of the political life in contemporary Poland leads to the conclusion that young people and their problems remain on the sidelines of communication and the decision-making processes that are initiated by the leading political parties. Young citizens are rarely the addressees of political offers, and their problems, interests, and aspirations rarely become the pivot of political disputes or the content of political discourse. Young citizens perceive the general lack of interest in their matters and point to it as one of the most important criticisms of the political class in Poland. In the article, the author presents the results of a national survey conducted among Polish students in the first half of 2012. They clearly demonstrate that the younger generation still constitutes a vast and underdeveloped political ‘niche’.Item The Election Silence in contemporary democracies. Questions about the sense of election silence in the Age of Internet(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2013) Musiał-Karg, MagdalenaInformation and Communication Technologies impact the democratic institutions and procedures to a great extent. One of examples of mechanisms affected by the use of ICT is so called election silence. The idea of election silence to provide voters with a peaceful, free from political agitation, conditions to consider and make final decision on elections. Despite the ban on campaigning during the election silence, many Internet users campaign for politicians or political parties, violating the existing law. The main aim of this article is to answer the questions about the ways of breaking the pre-election silence and about sense of this mechanism in the Internet age. The motivation to focus on this topic was the appearance of both: a large number of media reports on political agitation in the Internet and doubts about the continuing sense of functioning of the election silence.Item Do the Swiss not want to join the EU? Swiss Referenda on European integration(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2013) Kużelewska, ElżbietaSwitzerland is unique in Western Europe, not having joined the European Union (EU). Switzerland is still neither a member of the EU nor of the European Economic Area. However, the Swiss were asked to vote on issues concerning the EU several times. Three times the results of those referenda were negative. The Swiss seem to be satisfied with a relationship with the EU based on bilateral agreements. They do not see the need for closer cooperation, within the structure of the EU. The aim of this paper is to explore whether the citizens of Switzerland want to join the EU or not. Analyzing the negative results of Swiss referenda on issues concerning the EU might be helpful in understanding the Swiss point of view.Item The implementation of democratic values in the first post-war decade in Japan(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2013) Kubas, SebastianThe article describes the problem of democracy in Japan as an external political system introduced after the end of World War II. The author tries to explore how deeply democratic values were rooted in Japanese society in the first decade after the war. The key objective of this article is to analyse how Japanese democratic values functioned at that time, how they influenced political attitudes and if they were coherent. There are three basic dimensions of the author’s considerations: axiological, normative and institutional. To achieve this, the author describes democratic values, internal elements of Japanese political culture and the democratisation process as a single complex process.Item System innovations for Modern Russia. The Search, the Problem, the Solutions(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2013) Anokhin, Michael; Grishin, OlegFor Russia to exist effectively a strategy of innovative changes is needed. Innovative development takes two forms: technological and social. The current political system needs to be transformed in order to implement innovations. Currently, radical appeals and calls for modernisation do not receive mass support and are rejected by society.Item The Middle East Peace Process: Towards Another Stalemate?(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2013) Osiewicz, PrzemysławThe Middle East conflict has remained one of the core issues of contemporary international relations since World War II. One of the most important matters is to define whether the Middle East peace process is related to the Middle East conflict or, more precisely, to the Arab-Israeli conflict. With respect to land, there are two possible scenarios. Firstly, Palestinians living under Israeli administration. Secondly, a two-state solution, namely an official recognition of the state of Israel by all Arab states and the foundation of a Palestinian state. So far, there have been dozens of peace plans, for example, the Oslo Peace Process, the Taba talks of 2001, the Road Map of 2003, and the Annapolis Conference of 2007. None of them resulted in a comprehensive solution. The question is, if the international community will face another stalemate in case of the Middle East peace process. Might the so-called Arab awakening, namely all the ongoing political and social processes in the Arab states, change the situation in the region?Item Foreign Policy of the USA in the context of the Development of Ukrainian-American Collaboration(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2013) Shamraeva, ValentinaThe article analyzes the main theoretical approaches to the definition of foreign policy concept of the USA at the modern stage. It considers the main tendencies of the development of the USA and Ukraine’s positions on international issues and the ways to solve problems in inter-state collaboration.Item Hard power dismisses soft power – the United States’ relations with the Iranian Islamic Republic in the shadow of the nuclear program(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2013) Fiedler, RadosławIn the paper a correlation between hard and soft policy in relations between Iran and US is shown. These two states share a negative heritage (hostage crisis, US interference in Iranian politics, terrorism and nuclear program). Washington has decided to use hard policy methods against Iran, through numerous sanctions, without any effect in changing Iranian behaviour. The ignored sphere of soft policy is presented in the article, upon which America and Iran could achieve much more.Item Futurology and Heuristics (with Posthumanities in the Background). Selected Aspects(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2013) Donaj, ŁukaszForecasting social phenomena can, in many ways, be difficult. The reason is that it is the nature of these phenomena to be closely and multilaterally linked with physical, biological, and other social phenomena. The main aim of this article is to present selected problems related to futurology. Although various research methods are presented in this text, the main focus was put to heuristic methods (their development, rules, ways of application ect.).