The goal of this paper is to present the evolution of populism in Poland
using the examples of two political parties: the “Samoobrona” (“Self-Defense”)
political party of Andrzej Lepper (a populist party which garnered most support in
the first decade of the 21st century) and the “Kukiz ‘15” movement – the dark horse
of the last Polish parliamentary elections. Both of these groups superbly illustrate
the demagogy characteristic of populism, linked with an affirmation of the people
(nation) which in turn would not be possible without the anti-establishment stance
of the political leaders and the electorate. A comparison of these two examples allows us to monitor the transformations occurring in populist groups over the last
few years, especially in the age where the Internet is employed as a vital means of
communication. The paper presents the alternative conceptualizations of the idea
of populism, and moves on to employ the N. Baar scheme (2009) and secondary
and primary data (data obtained from the “Barometr Wyborczy” voting advisory
application), and press releases to draft various types of correspondence between
these two cases, which makes it possible to identify new, interesting characteristics
of populism.
The paper attempts to analyze the results of the European Social Survey
Round 6 (2012, 2013), focusing on the section related to how democracy is understood in Poland and in the Czech Republic. The most interesting issue encompassed
the differences in how democracy is defined in the two countries and the outcomes
these differences produce in terms of the perceived legitimacy of the system, as well
as demographic factors that correlate with differences in the understanding of democracy in both surveyed groups. Statistical analyses carried out in the paper indicated
the presence of different definitions of democracy formulated in Poland and in the
Czech Republic (the Czechs gave stronger emphasis to the liberal aspect of democracy, whereas Poles stressed its social aspects more). Nevertheless, the relationship
between the definition of democracy and the perceived level of legitimacy of the democratic system (for dispersed and specific legitimacy alike) were found to be relatively
weak, as was the case of the relationship between the understanding of democracy,
system legitimacy and socio-demographic factors. The only factor found to be significant for the perceived level of legitimacy of the democratic system concerned the
level of satisfaction with one’s own material situation.
This article discusses an instance of case-specific self-inflicted partial media capture, acknowledging the chilling effect of legislation consistent with partial
state capture. In general, this case illustrates the ethical and legal dilemmas in the
reporting of a specific type of large-scale corruption in the media, which involves
the denial of all accusations by most sources and a controversial stand by state authorities and politicians on the issue, forcing the media to primarily report rumors or
contradictory claims and denials (after controversial files regarding the corruption
were made public anonymously on the internet) or desist from reporting altogether
(before the files were made public on the internet, due to possible libel threats). The
findings question the normative expectations expressed in democratic theory related
to the role of the media as a watchdog, in the specific context of large-scale corruption
in post-communist states. Moreover, this paper suggests the need to re-examine the
methodological aspects of quantitative content analysis of media coverage of corruption. This paper has also attempted to update the emerging theory on media capture
with the term partial case-specific media capture.
Words on International Organization: A Rhetorical Analysis of Nationalist Lea...Kirstin Anderson
This document provides context for analyzing the rhetoric of nationalist leaders in the US, UK, and France regarding international organizations. It discusses the rise of nationalist sentiment in these countries through figures like Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, and Brexit. The research question examines how these leaders rhetorically address international organizations in speeches. It hypothesizes some cultural differences but similar views in support of nationalism. The document reviews literature on nationalist movements and political communication to provide background and establish the analytical framework.
This document discusses political ethnography as a method of inquiry in the social sciences. Political ethnography involves close observation of political actors and processes in real time. It can provide insights into how politics work in everyday life in three ways: 1) Studying recognized political institutions and actors at a smaller scale. 2) Examining interactions between people and political institutions. 3) Analyzing aspects of everyday life that relate to politics, even if political actors are not present. Political ethnography offers advantages over traditional methods by showing how macro political actions play out locally, examining political practices, and providing thick descriptions of lived political experiences.
This document summarizes a research paper that examines the complex relationship between access to direct democracy initiatives and public protest in U.S. states. The paper analyzes whether direct democracy provides an incentive to reduce protests by giving citizens an alternative avenue for political participation, or whether it acts as a deterrent by educating citizens and making protests more effective. The document reviews literature on this topic, including studies of Switzerland that found protests were less common among those who participated in direct democracy initiatives. It aims to explore this relationship and its nuances using U.S. data to better understand how to encourage voter participation and efficacy.
Thesis - Modes of Engagement- Secession and Political LegitimacyKarina Taylor
This document provides an abstract and introduction for a study examining the relationship between modes of engagement and political outcomes for secessionist movements. Specifically, it analyzes how the type of interaction between central governments and groups seeking independence (e.g. diplomatic vs. violent) affects whether the groups achieve sovereignty. The introduction discusses the problem of determining when secession is legitimate and provides context on current secessionist movements in Spain/Catalonia and the UK/Scotland. It then presents three hypotheses linking engagement modes (diplomatic, imposed diplomacy, violence) to political outcomes (failure/success in achieving sovereignty). The literature review discusses prior works analyzing factors like ethnic divisions and debates around self-determination and sovereignty.
The document summarizes and reviews several articles about the history and nature of political theory. It discusses how political theory emerged as an academic discipline in the 19th century. It also examines different perspectives on the value and purposes of political theory, how it has been influenced by philosophers and political realities. Additionally, it outlines characteristics of traditional and contemporary approaches to political theory, including differences between micro and macro levels theories as well as links to political economy theories. Finally, it identifies central problems in political theory resulting from disjunctions between classical and modern traditions.
The article has three dimensions: methodological, theoretical, and empirical. A point of departure for the methodological remarks is a characterization of the
three main approaches in the vibrant interdisciplinary research field dealing with the
phenomenon of conspiracy theories. In this context, the content analysis method is
discussed as a promising approach to gain new data on conspiracy narratives. On the
theoretical level, the concept of conspiracy narratives is discussed in reference to the
popular understanding of the conspiracy theory. The main aim of the empirical part is
determining to what extent the media are saturated with different kinds of conspiracy
narratives. The analysis covers over 200 articles from two popular Polish news magazines (Sieci and the Polish edition of Newsweek) which occupy positions on opposite sides of the political divide in a society polarized, inter alia, by a conspiratorial
suspicion that in 2010 an airplane carrying President Lech Kaczyński on board was
deliberately crashed in Russia.
The paper attempts to analyze the results of the European Social Survey
Round 6 (2012, 2013), focusing on the section related to how democracy is understood in Poland and in the Czech Republic. The most interesting issue encompassed
the differences in how democracy is defined in the two countries and the outcomes
these differences produce in terms of the perceived legitimacy of the system, as well
as demographic factors that correlate with differences in the understanding of democracy in both surveyed groups. Statistical analyses carried out in the paper indicated
the presence of different definitions of democracy formulated in Poland and in the
Czech Republic (the Czechs gave stronger emphasis to the liberal aspect of democracy, whereas Poles stressed its social aspects more). Nevertheless, the relationship
between the definition of democracy and the perceived level of legitimacy of the democratic system (for dispersed and specific legitimacy alike) were found to be relatively
weak, as was the case of the relationship between the understanding of democracy,
system legitimacy and socio-demographic factors. The only factor found to be significant for the perceived level of legitimacy of the democratic system concerned the
level of satisfaction with one’s own material situation.
This article discusses an instance of case-specific self-inflicted partial media capture, acknowledging the chilling effect of legislation consistent with partial
state capture. In general, this case illustrates the ethical and legal dilemmas in the
reporting of a specific type of large-scale corruption in the media, which involves
the denial of all accusations by most sources and a controversial stand by state authorities and politicians on the issue, forcing the media to primarily report rumors or
contradictory claims and denials (after controversial files regarding the corruption
were made public anonymously on the internet) or desist from reporting altogether
(before the files were made public on the internet, due to possible libel threats). The
findings question the normative expectations expressed in democratic theory related
to the role of the media as a watchdog, in the specific context of large-scale corruption
in post-communist states. Moreover, this paper suggests the need to re-examine the
methodological aspects of quantitative content analysis of media coverage of corruption. This paper has also attempted to update the emerging theory on media capture
with the term partial case-specific media capture.
Words on International Organization: A Rhetorical Analysis of Nationalist Lea...Kirstin Anderson
This document provides context for analyzing the rhetoric of nationalist leaders in the US, UK, and France regarding international organizations. It discusses the rise of nationalist sentiment in these countries through figures like Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, and Brexit. The research question examines how these leaders rhetorically address international organizations in speeches. It hypothesizes some cultural differences but similar views in support of nationalism. The document reviews literature on nationalist movements and political communication to provide background and establish the analytical framework.
This document discusses political ethnography as a method of inquiry in the social sciences. Political ethnography involves close observation of political actors and processes in real time. It can provide insights into how politics work in everyday life in three ways: 1) Studying recognized political institutions and actors at a smaller scale. 2) Examining interactions between people and political institutions. 3) Analyzing aspects of everyday life that relate to politics, even if political actors are not present. Political ethnography offers advantages over traditional methods by showing how macro political actions play out locally, examining political practices, and providing thick descriptions of lived political experiences.
This document summarizes a research paper that examines the complex relationship between access to direct democracy initiatives and public protest in U.S. states. The paper analyzes whether direct democracy provides an incentive to reduce protests by giving citizens an alternative avenue for political participation, or whether it acts as a deterrent by educating citizens and making protests more effective. The document reviews literature on this topic, including studies of Switzerland that found protests were less common among those who participated in direct democracy initiatives. It aims to explore this relationship and its nuances using U.S. data to better understand how to encourage voter participation and efficacy.
Thesis - Modes of Engagement- Secession and Political LegitimacyKarina Taylor
This document provides an abstract and introduction for a study examining the relationship between modes of engagement and political outcomes for secessionist movements. Specifically, it analyzes how the type of interaction between central governments and groups seeking independence (e.g. diplomatic vs. violent) affects whether the groups achieve sovereignty. The introduction discusses the problem of determining when secession is legitimate and provides context on current secessionist movements in Spain/Catalonia and the UK/Scotland. It then presents three hypotheses linking engagement modes (diplomatic, imposed diplomacy, violence) to political outcomes (failure/success in achieving sovereignty). The literature review discusses prior works analyzing factors like ethnic divisions and debates around self-determination and sovereignty.
The document summarizes and reviews several articles about the history and nature of political theory. It discusses how political theory emerged as an academic discipline in the 19th century. It also examines different perspectives on the value and purposes of political theory, how it has been influenced by philosophers and political realities. Additionally, it outlines characteristics of traditional and contemporary approaches to political theory, including differences between micro and macro levels theories as well as links to political economy theories. Finally, it identifies central problems in political theory resulting from disjunctions between classical and modern traditions.
The article has three dimensions: methodological, theoretical, and empirical. A point of departure for the methodological remarks is a characterization of the
three main approaches in the vibrant interdisciplinary research field dealing with the
phenomenon of conspiracy theories. In this context, the content analysis method is
discussed as a promising approach to gain new data on conspiracy narratives. On the
theoretical level, the concept of conspiracy narratives is discussed in reference to the
popular understanding of the conspiracy theory. The main aim of the empirical part is
determining to what extent the media are saturated with different kinds of conspiracy
narratives. The analysis covers over 200 articles from two popular Polish news magazines (Sieci and the Polish edition of Newsweek) which occupy positions on opposite sides of the political divide in a society polarized, inter alia, by a conspiratorial
suspicion that in 2010 an airplane carrying President Lech Kaczyński on board was
deliberately crashed in Russia.
: Right populism in the United States and in the European Union is one of
the leading trends in their political reality. That is why we need to structurize our
understanding of this phenomenon by listing its main indicators and by explaining
its causal background. What seems to belong to the leading determinants of the phenomenon is: the hostility toward immigration, the perception of multinational companies as a threat to local labor markets, a postulate to reduce bureaucracy, anti-elitism,
another understanding of international politics combined with a new opening in the
relations with Russia.
Various right populist movements result from several determinants such as a significant increase of immigration in Europe, the growth of national debt, expanding
bureaucracy, growing importance of international corporations, a flood of terrorist
attacks or negative demographic tendencies.
The ideology of right populism can be referred to two different traditions: to individualist libertarianism (which partially determines the ideology of the Tea Party and some
other American movements) and to alt-right, collectivist, tribal traditionalism, which
is more common in the Old Continent.
This document summarizes an article about patron-client politics and political change in Southeast Asia. It begins by explaining how patron-client relationships differ from class-based or primordial models of political association. Patron-client ties involve informal, reciprocal relationships between individuals of unequal status, where patrons provide protection/benefits to clients in exchange for loyalty/support. The document then discusses how patron-client networks penetrate and influence nominally modern political institutions in Southeast Asia. It argues that understanding these networks is crucial for comprehending non-primordial cleavages and dynamics of personal alliance that shape politics in the region. The article aims to clarify the nature of patron-client ties, how they vary, and how they have been impacted by
Multidimensionality and dynamics of the European integration process
generate almost continuous requirement for adaptation and improvement of its understanding. The situation remains similar in reference to the specific inspection(s)
of this process known as a democratic deficit in the European Union. This concept at
its general level consists of two highly ambiguous labels: democracy and European
Union. On the one hand, the concept of democracy with its almost two and half thousand years of history may be easily presented as a typical “umbrella term” with plenty
of strong connotations and lack of one clear unequivocal denotation. On the other
hand, the notion of European Union perhaps only seems to be less controversial. The
foremost source of ambiguities in this respect comes from the fact, that the concept of
the EU is directly connected with the notion of supranationality – fundamental idea
functioning as a basis for specificity of European integration process, which may be
interpreted as a source of constant challenges of a definitional character both for theoreticians and practitioners of the process. Problems with defining crucial aspects of
the European integration process lead to problems of an identity kind. In other words,
definitional and identificational challenges maintain in a strong mutual interdependence. In this case hermeneutical point of view helps to set in order this complex matter
by proposing the list of issues directly connected with the challenge of adequate interpretation of it. Additionally, the rhetorical aspect of such a challenge is incorporated
into the proposed perspective.
This document discusses the impact of mass media on executive leadership in contemporary democracies. While political research on media issues remains limited compared to other areas, it is widely acknowledged that understanding modern politics requires considering the influence of mass media. The document notes that most research has focused on how media have increased the power of governments and chief executives, but effects on leadership have received little attention. It argues for a comparative perspective to better understand the fundamental relationship between governments, leaders, and media in established democracies.
This document provides a research proposal that aims to analyze the differences in electoral success between Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) and Rita Verdonk's Proud of the Netherlands (TON) movement in the Netherlands between 2006-2010. While both parties emerged as new right-wing populist forces, only Wilders' PVV was able to secure seats in the 2010 election, winning 24 seats, while Verdonk's TON failed to win any. The proposal seeks to understand why one populist party succeeded while the other failed by examining their campaigns, leadership styles, issue positioning, and popularity over time. The theory section provides background on definitions of populism and how Wilders and Verdonk fit
This document provides a research proposal that aims to analyze the differences in electoral success between Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) and Rita Verdonk's Proud of the Netherlands (TON) movement in the Netherlands between 2006-2010. While both parties emerged as new right-wing populist forces, only Wilders' PVV was able to secure seats in the 2010 election, winning 24 seats, while Verdonk's TON failed to win any. The proposal seeks to understand why one populist party succeeded while the other failed by examining their campaigns, leadership styles, issue positioning, and popularity over time using theories of populist party success and failure.
An Analysis Of The Representation Of Democratic Citizenship Inlegal2
This document analyzes how three widely used American civics textbooks depict democratic participation. The analysis finds that while the textbooks emphasize the importance of active citizenship, they provide only shallow and unsubstantiated discussions of participation that are undermined by their characterization of democratic institutions. The textbooks define key terms like democracy and citizenship but fail to meaningfully connect participation to institutions. They primarily portray participation as voting and communicating with representatives, without exploring the full range of participatory methods or explaining why participation is necessary for democratic governance. This implicit ambivalence towards participation reflects limited theories of representative democracy.
This document discusses the need for an anthropology of social movements. It outlines some key questions the field would seek to address, such as why sociology has established this area of study but anthropology has not. It analyzes some factors that have prevented anthropologists from engaging with social movements, such as an emphasis on textuality over material politics. The conclusion is that developing an anthropology of social movements requires reorienting how the discipline conceptualizes and studies politics.
This document provides background information and proposes to study why Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) was successful in the 2010 Dutch general election while Rita Verdonk's Proud of the Netherlands (TON) party failed to win any seats. It discusses populism as a political approach and analyzes whether Wilders and Verdonk can be considered populist leaders based on key characteristics identified in previous research. The research aims to explain the differences in electoral outcomes for these two new right-wing populist parties that emerged in the Netherlands between 2006-2010 and were initially both polling well.
This summary analyzes a 2004 episode of South Park called "Douche and Turd" and draws parallels to the current American political system. The episode satirizes a school election where the only two choices for mascot are a giant douche and a turd sandwich, mirroring the 2004 US presidential election between Bush and Kerry. Using political theory and analysis, the document argues that the two-party system and expansion of the electorate has led to uninformed voters who feel insignificant and face a choice between undesirable options. It suggests a multi-party system could increase representation but may degrade into a two-party system over time.
A Marxist Analysis of Mass Media in the United States Print EditionDerek M. Lough
This document provides a Marxist analysis of mass media in the United States using concepts from Arthur Asa Berger's work. It summarizes Berger's explanation of key Marxist concepts like materialism, alienation, and class conflict. It then analyzes how the mainstream media and political systems have consolidated power and manipulated the public through propaganda and unlimited political donations following the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. Alternative media voices that critique this ruling from a Marxist perspective are also discussed.
The document discusses three major theoretical models of voting behavior:
1) The sociological model emphasizes the influence of social factors and that voters align with candidates/parties that their social groups support.
2) The psychosocial model views party identification as the main determinant of voting decisions.
3) Rational choice theory focuses on variables like rational decision making, choice, and how information influences voting choices. The document reviews the key assumptions of each model and argues they are complementary in explaining electoral behavior.
Policy article review please answer the following questions regaramit657720
This document discusses the concept of "the social" in social media. It explores how the meaning of "social" has evolved from early notions of computer networking facilitating collaboration, to today's emphasis on loosely connected individuals in networks. Some key points discussed include:
- Jean Baudrillard's theory that the social has disappeared and imploded into the media.
- Whether social media interactions could spill over into real-world organizing or if they primarily serve individual entertainment and marketing.
- Theorists like Hardt and Negri who see social media as reinforcing repression rather than contestation of forces, though its productive social aspects are equally important.
- How the social now manifests itself through networked practices and
This document provides summaries of several articles in the April 2011 volume of the Journal of Democracy. The articles discuss topics such as:
1) Ivan Krastev's article "Paradoxes of the New Authoritarianism" which examines why authoritarian regimes are surviving in an age of democratization and discusses Russia as a case study.
2) Amaury de Souza's article "Brazil After Lula" which analyzes Brazil after the presidency of Lula.
3) Arch Puddington's article "The Freedom House Survey for 2010" which reports on Freedom House's annual survey of global political rights and civil liberties.
The document analyzes political polarization on Twitter during Brazil's 2018 presidential election. It finds evidence of "asymmetric polarization", where the right-wing network was more centralized around partisan media compared to the more diverse left-wing network. The study used social network analysis of Twitter data to map the information flows and identify influential accounts and media outlets during key moments of the election campaign.
Exposure to opposing views on social media can increase political polarizatio...eraser Juan José Calderón
Exposure to opposing views on social media can
increase political polarization. Christopher A. Baila & others.
Christopher A. Baila,1, Lisa P. Argyleb, Taylor W. Browna, John P. Bumpusa, Haohan Chenc, M. B. Fallin Hunzakerd, Jaemin Leea, Marcus Manna, Friedolin Merhouta, and Alexander Volfovskye
Page 284 the journal of social media in samit657720
This document summarizes a research study that analyzed social media comments related to a 2015 incident of alleged police brutality against African American teenagers in McKinney, Texas. The study used critical race theory to examine how YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook users interpreted and discussed video evidence of the incident. It found that social media allows for alternative narratives and interpretations of news events, and serves as a platform for marginalized groups to frame issues in a way that challenges mainstream media. The discussion of police brutality on social media is part of the larger #BlackLivesMatter movement that seeks to draw attention to mistreatment of African Americans by law enforcement.
This document summarizes and compares three frameworks for understanding contemporary problems of authority - illiberalism, populism, and authoritarianism. It discusses how each claims authority to interpret phenomena like democratic backsliding, but that their conceptual boundaries are contested. The document focuses on defining and analyzing populism, noting the large amount of research and debate around its definition while still lacking consensus. Populism is described as invoking opposition to ruling elites and claiming to represent the authentic will of the people, echoing Robespierre's view of the people versus the corrupt elite.
This document discusses democratic theory and citizens' support for democracy despite losing confidence in democratic institutions. It begins by defining democracy and institutions, then discusses how citizens have become more critical of political elites as values have shifted to post-material issues. While citizens are less trusting of institutions like political parties, this critical view reflects greater political sophistication rather than discontent with democracy itself. The essay will examine whether citizens' paradoxical views reveal something fundamental about the nature of democracy.
Poverty and Democracy: Chances and Conflicts - Dirk Berg-Schlosser [extract]social_cohesion_CoE
This paper discusses the relationship between poverty and democracy in Europe. There are three main tensions in this relationship. First, higher levels of socioeconomic development are often seen as necessary for stable democracies, but globalization has increased tensions as jobs relocate and migration rises. Second, systems of democratic representation like pluralism tend to underrepresent socially weaker groups. Third, perceived interests of a majority are sometimes mobilized against minority groups on ethnic or immigrant grounds, violating basic rights. The paper will examine how the poor can make their voices heard through conventional and unconventional political participation and rights-based approaches, and how populist reactions may challenge these approaches.
This document provides an overview of key concepts in Marxist media theory, including opposition to functionalism and liberal pluralism, the base/superstructure model, ideology, and the constitution of subjects. It discusses different schools of Marxist thought, including the Frankfurt School, Althusser, Gramsci, Stuart Hall, and the limitations and strengths of Marxist analysis. Overall, the document outlines some of the major theoretical frameworks and debates within Marxist approaches to understanding the role and power of mass media.
Gut Feeling or Facts? Revisiting the Relationship between Science and Politics.Yannek Karim Adams
This document summarizes Oswald Spengler's cyclical theory of history as presented in his 1918 work The Decline of the West. Spengler argued that mainstream historians imposed arbitrary schemes on history and favored a Western-centric view. He proposed a "Copernican" model wherein separate cultures, like Chinese, Classical, and Western, each have an organic lifespan of about 1000 years from birth to inevitable decline. Steve Bannon, Donald Trump's chief strategist, drew on theories like Spengler's to predict and prepare for major future conflicts, believing decline and war are inevitable. However, using history to legitimize political actions can undermine democratic debate and risk self-fulfilling prophecies of conflict
: Right populism in the United States and in the European Union is one of
the leading trends in their political reality. That is why we need to structurize our
understanding of this phenomenon by listing its main indicators and by explaining
its causal background. What seems to belong to the leading determinants of the phenomenon is: the hostility toward immigration, the perception of multinational companies as a threat to local labor markets, a postulate to reduce bureaucracy, anti-elitism,
another understanding of international politics combined with a new opening in the
relations with Russia.
Various right populist movements result from several determinants such as a significant increase of immigration in Europe, the growth of national debt, expanding
bureaucracy, growing importance of international corporations, a flood of terrorist
attacks or negative demographic tendencies.
The ideology of right populism can be referred to two different traditions: to individualist libertarianism (which partially determines the ideology of the Tea Party and some
other American movements) and to alt-right, collectivist, tribal traditionalism, which
is more common in the Old Continent.
This document summarizes an article about patron-client politics and political change in Southeast Asia. It begins by explaining how patron-client relationships differ from class-based or primordial models of political association. Patron-client ties involve informal, reciprocal relationships between individuals of unequal status, where patrons provide protection/benefits to clients in exchange for loyalty/support. The document then discusses how patron-client networks penetrate and influence nominally modern political institutions in Southeast Asia. It argues that understanding these networks is crucial for comprehending non-primordial cleavages and dynamics of personal alliance that shape politics in the region. The article aims to clarify the nature of patron-client ties, how they vary, and how they have been impacted by
Multidimensionality and dynamics of the European integration process
generate almost continuous requirement for adaptation and improvement of its understanding. The situation remains similar in reference to the specific inspection(s)
of this process known as a democratic deficit in the European Union. This concept at
its general level consists of two highly ambiguous labels: democracy and European
Union. On the one hand, the concept of democracy with its almost two and half thousand years of history may be easily presented as a typical “umbrella term” with plenty
of strong connotations and lack of one clear unequivocal denotation. On the other
hand, the notion of European Union perhaps only seems to be less controversial. The
foremost source of ambiguities in this respect comes from the fact, that the concept of
the EU is directly connected with the notion of supranationality – fundamental idea
functioning as a basis for specificity of European integration process, which may be
interpreted as a source of constant challenges of a definitional character both for theoreticians and practitioners of the process. Problems with defining crucial aspects of
the European integration process lead to problems of an identity kind. In other words,
definitional and identificational challenges maintain in a strong mutual interdependence. In this case hermeneutical point of view helps to set in order this complex matter
by proposing the list of issues directly connected with the challenge of adequate interpretation of it. Additionally, the rhetorical aspect of such a challenge is incorporated
into the proposed perspective.
This document discusses the impact of mass media on executive leadership in contemporary democracies. While political research on media issues remains limited compared to other areas, it is widely acknowledged that understanding modern politics requires considering the influence of mass media. The document notes that most research has focused on how media have increased the power of governments and chief executives, but effects on leadership have received little attention. It argues for a comparative perspective to better understand the fundamental relationship between governments, leaders, and media in established democracies.
This document provides a research proposal that aims to analyze the differences in electoral success between Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) and Rita Verdonk's Proud of the Netherlands (TON) movement in the Netherlands between 2006-2010. While both parties emerged as new right-wing populist forces, only Wilders' PVV was able to secure seats in the 2010 election, winning 24 seats, while Verdonk's TON failed to win any. The proposal seeks to understand why one populist party succeeded while the other failed by examining their campaigns, leadership styles, issue positioning, and popularity over time. The theory section provides background on definitions of populism and how Wilders and Verdonk fit
This document provides a research proposal that aims to analyze the differences in electoral success between Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) and Rita Verdonk's Proud of the Netherlands (TON) movement in the Netherlands between 2006-2010. While both parties emerged as new right-wing populist forces, only Wilders' PVV was able to secure seats in the 2010 election, winning 24 seats, while Verdonk's TON failed to win any. The proposal seeks to understand why one populist party succeeded while the other failed by examining their campaigns, leadership styles, issue positioning, and popularity over time using theories of populist party success and failure.
An Analysis Of The Representation Of Democratic Citizenship Inlegal2
This document analyzes how three widely used American civics textbooks depict democratic participation. The analysis finds that while the textbooks emphasize the importance of active citizenship, they provide only shallow and unsubstantiated discussions of participation that are undermined by their characterization of democratic institutions. The textbooks define key terms like democracy and citizenship but fail to meaningfully connect participation to institutions. They primarily portray participation as voting and communicating with representatives, without exploring the full range of participatory methods or explaining why participation is necessary for democratic governance. This implicit ambivalence towards participation reflects limited theories of representative democracy.
This document discusses the need for an anthropology of social movements. It outlines some key questions the field would seek to address, such as why sociology has established this area of study but anthropology has not. It analyzes some factors that have prevented anthropologists from engaging with social movements, such as an emphasis on textuality over material politics. The conclusion is that developing an anthropology of social movements requires reorienting how the discipline conceptualizes and studies politics.
This document provides background information and proposes to study why Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) was successful in the 2010 Dutch general election while Rita Verdonk's Proud of the Netherlands (TON) party failed to win any seats. It discusses populism as a political approach and analyzes whether Wilders and Verdonk can be considered populist leaders based on key characteristics identified in previous research. The research aims to explain the differences in electoral outcomes for these two new right-wing populist parties that emerged in the Netherlands between 2006-2010 and were initially both polling well.
This summary analyzes a 2004 episode of South Park called "Douche and Turd" and draws parallels to the current American political system. The episode satirizes a school election where the only two choices for mascot are a giant douche and a turd sandwich, mirroring the 2004 US presidential election between Bush and Kerry. Using political theory and analysis, the document argues that the two-party system and expansion of the electorate has led to uninformed voters who feel insignificant and face a choice between undesirable options. It suggests a multi-party system could increase representation but may degrade into a two-party system over time.
A Marxist Analysis of Mass Media in the United States Print EditionDerek M. Lough
This document provides a Marxist analysis of mass media in the United States using concepts from Arthur Asa Berger's work. It summarizes Berger's explanation of key Marxist concepts like materialism, alienation, and class conflict. It then analyzes how the mainstream media and political systems have consolidated power and manipulated the public through propaganda and unlimited political donations following the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. Alternative media voices that critique this ruling from a Marxist perspective are also discussed.
The document discusses three major theoretical models of voting behavior:
1) The sociological model emphasizes the influence of social factors and that voters align with candidates/parties that their social groups support.
2) The psychosocial model views party identification as the main determinant of voting decisions.
3) Rational choice theory focuses on variables like rational decision making, choice, and how information influences voting choices. The document reviews the key assumptions of each model and argues they are complementary in explaining electoral behavior.
Policy article review please answer the following questions regaramit657720
This document discusses the concept of "the social" in social media. It explores how the meaning of "social" has evolved from early notions of computer networking facilitating collaboration, to today's emphasis on loosely connected individuals in networks. Some key points discussed include:
- Jean Baudrillard's theory that the social has disappeared and imploded into the media.
- Whether social media interactions could spill over into real-world organizing or if they primarily serve individual entertainment and marketing.
- Theorists like Hardt and Negri who see social media as reinforcing repression rather than contestation of forces, though its productive social aspects are equally important.
- How the social now manifests itself through networked practices and
This document provides summaries of several articles in the April 2011 volume of the Journal of Democracy. The articles discuss topics such as:
1) Ivan Krastev's article "Paradoxes of the New Authoritarianism" which examines why authoritarian regimes are surviving in an age of democratization and discusses Russia as a case study.
2) Amaury de Souza's article "Brazil After Lula" which analyzes Brazil after the presidency of Lula.
3) Arch Puddington's article "The Freedom House Survey for 2010" which reports on Freedom House's annual survey of global political rights and civil liberties.
The document analyzes political polarization on Twitter during Brazil's 2018 presidential election. It finds evidence of "asymmetric polarization", where the right-wing network was more centralized around partisan media compared to the more diverse left-wing network. The study used social network analysis of Twitter data to map the information flows and identify influential accounts and media outlets during key moments of the election campaign.
Exposure to opposing views on social media can increase political polarizatio...eraser Juan José Calderón
Exposure to opposing views on social media can
increase political polarization. Christopher A. Baila & others.
Christopher A. Baila,1, Lisa P. Argyleb, Taylor W. Browna, John P. Bumpusa, Haohan Chenc, M. B. Fallin Hunzakerd, Jaemin Leea, Marcus Manna, Friedolin Merhouta, and Alexander Volfovskye
Page 284 the journal of social media in samit657720
This document summarizes a research study that analyzed social media comments related to a 2015 incident of alleged police brutality against African American teenagers in McKinney, Texas. The study used critical race theory to examine how YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook users interpreted and discussed video evidence of the incident. It found that social media allows for alternative narratives and interpretations of news events, and serves as a platform for marginalized groups to frame issues in a way that challenges mainstream media. The discussion of police brutality on social media is part of the larger #BlackLivesMatter movement that seeks to draw attention to mistreatment of African Americans by law enforcement.
This document summarizes and compares three frameworks for understanding contemporary problems of authority - illiberalism, populism, and authoritarianism. It discusses how each claims authority to interpret phenomena like democratic backsliding, but that their conceptual boundaries are contested. The document focuses on defining and analyzing populism, noting the large amount of research and debate around its definition while still lacking consensus. Populism is described as invoking opposition to ruling elites and claiming to represent the authentic will of the people, echoing Robespierre's view of the people versus the corrupt elite.
This document discusses democratic theory and citizens' support for democracy despite losing confidence in democratic institutions. It begins by defining democracy and institutions, then discusses how citizens have become more critical of political elites as values have shifted to post-material issues. While citizens are less trusting of institutions like political parties, this critical view reflects greater political sophistication rather than discontent with democracy itself. The essay will examine whether citizens' paradoxical views reveal something fundamental about the nature of democracy.
Poverty and Democracy: Chances and Conflicts - Dirk Berg-Schlosser [extract]social_cohesion_CoE
This paper discusses the relationship between poverty and democracy in Europe. There are three main tensions in this relationship. First, higher levels of socioeconomic development are often seen as necessary for stable democracies, but globalization has increased tensions as jobs relocate and migration rises. Second, systems of democratic representation like pluralism tend to underrepresent socially weaker groups. Third, perceived interests of a majority are sometimes mobilized against minority groups on ethnic or immigrant grounds, violating basic rights. The paper will examine how the poor can make their voices heard through conventional and unconventional political participation and rights-based approaches, and how populist reactions may challenge these approaches.
This document provides an overview of key concepts in Marxist media theory, including opposition to functionalism and liberal pluralism, the base/superstructure model, ideology, and the constitution of subjects. It discusses different schools of Marxist thought, including the Frankfurt School, Althusser, Gramsci, Stuart Hall, and the limitations and strengths of Marxist analysis. Overall, the document outlines some of the major theoretical frameworks and debates within Marxist approaches to understanding the role and power of mass media.
Gut Feeling or Facts? Revisiting the Relationship between Science and Politics.Yannek Karim Adams
This document summarizes Oswald Spengler's cyclical theory of history as presented in his 1918 work The Decline of the West. Spengler argued that mainstream historians imposed arbitrary schemes on history and favored a Western-centric view. He proposed a "Copernican" model wherein separate cultures, like Chinese, Classical, and Western, each have an organic lifespan of about 1000 years from birth to inevitable decline. Steve Bannon, Donald Trump's chief strategist, drew on theories like Spengler's to predict and prepare for major future conflicts, believing decline and war are inevitable. However, using history to legitimize political actions can undermine democratic debate and risk self-fulfilling prophecies of conflict
In recent years populism has not only become some kind of Zeitgeist, but it has redesigned our beliefs and assumptions concerning liberal democracy. Is seems to be that radical right populism is more successful than leftist populism. According to my hypothesis we have entered the era of populist democracy and there is a fierce competition between the left and right to define and maintain the core nature of this populist democracy. I will apply the well know theory of Empire and Multitude by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri (2000) to understand our current populist tendencies. It will be argued in my paper that right-wing nationalist populism can be seen as a manifestation of the Empire. According to my understanding the populist parties and movements on the political right belong to the realist conception of the Empire: these actors are seeking the political power and would like to conquer the institutions of global capitalism. Right-wing nationalist populism is neither anti-capitalist, nor anti-elitist. It means that a new political elite has been created (for instance this is Donald Trump and alt-right in the USA, Viktor Orbán and his regime in Hungary) and seeks to gain political power with populist political communication and style. That’s why I call this new phenomenon elitist populism or Empire Populism. These actors are acting like populist in that sense they understand and solve the people’s problems, in fact they serve elitist purposes. On the other hand, the (radical) left populism has been called here a utopian or Multitude Populism. This form of populism tries to concern the multitudes of the people. Occupy movement, Indignados) and DiEM25 have emerged as left populist promises. I will analyse in my paper the political theoretical backgrounds of Empire and Multitude Populism. It has been stated here that the populist right has been inspired by the concepts of Carl Schmitt (the concept of the Political; the nature of neoliberalism; state of exception), Max Weber (leader democracy), and populist constitutionalism. On the left side, the Multitude Populism seems to be frozen from ideological point of view and suffering from ideological emptiness, but transnational populism could fill this theoretical gap. That is why I will put forward my thought on this crisis and argue that populist left needs to reformulate its bases as transnational political communities based on multitude.
Dr. Giuseppe Mario Saccone will give a talk titled "Democracy and Obstacles to Democracy". The talk will discuss how democracy requires more than just structural components and must consider intrinsic qualities like liberal values and human rights. While the doctrine of democracy and human rights is gaining recognition, its real-world application remains unsatisfactory. The talk will be held on July 31st from 3-4:30pm at the North Star Library. All are welcome and coffee will be provided.
Using individual data on voting and political parties manifestos in European coun- tries, we empirically characterize the drivers of voting for populist parties (the demand side) as well as the presence of populist parties (the supply side). We show that the economic insecurity drivers of the demand of populism are significant, especially when considering the key interactions with turnout incentives, neglected in previous studies. Once turnout effects are taken into account, economic insecurity drives consensus to populist policies directly and through indirect negative effects on trust and attitudes towards immigrants. On the supply side, populist parties are more likely to emerge when countries are faced with a systemic crisis of economic security. The orientation choice of populist parties, i.e., whether they arise on left or right of the political spec- trum, is determined by the availability of political space. The typical mainstream parties response is to reduce the distance of their platform from that of successful populist entrants, amplifying the aggregate supply of populist policies.
What Kind of Cultural Citizenship? Dissent and Antagonism when Discussing Pol...Jakob Svensson
Framed in ideas of cultural citizenship and acknowledging the importance of popular cultural sites for political participation, this short paper attends to a study of political discussions in the Swedish LGTB community Qruiser. The research is netnographic through online interviews, participant observations and content analyses. Preliminary results suggest an atmosphere that is geared rather towards conflict and dissent between participants than towards deliberation, opinion formation and consensus. This paper will therefore shortly discuss the results in light of Mouffe's (2005) normative lens of agonism and radical democracy.
This document outlines the syllabus for a course on political theory. It covers 5 units: the nature and current state of political theory; traditional and contemporary approaches to studying politics; political elites; political alienation; and postmodernism, feminism, multiculturalism and globalization. It also provides definitions and discussions of political theory, its significance and decline, and factors contributing to its recent resurgence, including the influence of behaviorism. Traditional approaches to studying politics are described as emphasizing values over facts.
This document discusses different approaches to the study of political theory, including traditional and modern approaches. It focuses on behavioralism as an important aspect of the modern resurgence of political theory. Behavioralism believes that social theories can be constructed based on observable facts, quantifiable data, and political behavior. The document also discusses traditional approaches, which are value-based and normative, emphasizing moral qualities rather than facts. These include the philosophical approach, which aims to evolve standards to critically evaluate political institutions.
This document discusses different approaches to the study of political theory, including traditional and modern approaches. It focuses on behavioralism as an important aspect of the modern resurgence of political theory. Behavioralism believes that social theories can be constructed based on observable facts, quantifiable data, and political behavior. The document also discusses traditional approaches, noting they are value-based and normative, emphasizing moral qualities rather than facts. Specific traditional approaches mentioned are the philosophical approach, which traces back to Greek philosophers, and aims to establish standards to evaluate political institutions.
Modern approaches in political science aim to minimize the deficiencies of traditional approaches. These modern approaches take an interdisciplinary perspective and use empirical data and scientific methods like statistical analysis. Some key modern approaches examined are behavioralism, post-behavioralism, and Marxism. Behavioralism focuses on political behavior and uses tools like surveys. Post-behavioralism emerged due to dissatisfaction with behavioralism and aims to study all political realities. Marxism views society as divided into classes and argues capitalism will lead to revolution and establishment of socialism.
277 CHAPTER 6 THE (ANTI-)POLITICS OF AUTONOMY Almo.docxtamicawaysmith
277
CHAPTER 6: THE (ANTI-)POLITICS OF AUTONOMY
Almost without exception, revolutionary social movements in the twentieth century have
sought to conquer national political power -- either to take over nation-states through elections or
overthrow them through violence. The goal of autonomous movements is to transcend nation-
states, not capture them. Since autonomists are singularly uninterested in what is normally regarded
as politics (campaigns, votes, fundraising, party formation, etc.), is it possible to speak of the
politics of autonomy? An affirmative answer rests upon a redefinition of politics, one that considers
civil Ludditism and confrontational demonstrations to be forms of political action. In this chapter, I
compare autonomous (anti-) politics with these those of the Greens and of the Left. In so doing, I
hope to demarcate the boundaries of autonomous movements and speculate on their possible
applicability to other contexts. As will become clear in the course of my discussion, one of the
principal weaknesses of contemporary political movements has been their tendency to adopt ready-
made theories from previous waves of activism. In order to mitigate such dogmatic behavior in
future autonomous movements, I develop a detailed critique of the theories of Antonio Negri, the
Italian autonomist whose notions of revolutionary strategy vary widely from those I understand as
most effective and relevant. In contrast to Negri's call to adopt the cyborg as a model of action, I
propose a rationality of the heart and a reconsideration of the role of spontaneity and militance.
Unlike Social Democracy and Leninism, the two main currents of the twentieth century
Left, the Autonomen are relatively unencumbered with rigid ideologies. The absence of any central
organization (or even primary organizations) helps keep theory and practice in continual interplay.
Indeed, actions speak for most Autonomen, not words, and the sheer volume of decentralized
happenings generated by small groups acting on their own initiative prohibits systematic
understanding of the totality of the movement, a first step in the dismantling of any system. No
single organization can control the directions of actions undertaken from the grassroots. Although
the Autonomen have no unified ideology and there has never been an Autonomen manifesto, their
statements make it clear they fight "not for ideologies, not for the proletariat, not for the people" but
(in much the same sense as feminists first put it) for a "politics of the first person." They want
self-determination and "the abolition of politics," not leadership by a party. They want to destroy
the existing social system because they see it as the cause of "inhumanity, exploitation and daily
monotony."1
No doubt the Autonomen are difficult to define. Neither a party nor a movement, their
diffuse status frustrates those who seek a quick and easy definition for them. They appear as the
"bla ...
This document discusses the challenges of writing an essay on the topic of "Essays About Democracy". It notes that democracy is a complex concept with many dimensions, including historical, political, philosophical, and socio-cultural facets. To adequately address these different aspects would require comprehensive research and a nuanced understanding of history, political science, philosophy, sociology and more. The essay would need to examine topics like the origins and evolution of democracy, contemporary democratic systems, influential democratic philosophers, and the impact of democracy on societies. It concludes that crafting a coherent essay on this intricate subject demands both an interdisciplinary approach and the ability to thoughtfully synthesize information from various fields of analysis.
Democracy Essay.doc | Democracy | Forms Of Government | Free 30-day .... ESSAY ON DEMOCRACY | Muhammad Zia Ul Haq | Pakistan. In The Name of Democracy - Free Essay Example | PapersOwl.com.
The document summarizes and reviews several articles about the history and nature of political theory. It discusses how political theory emerged as an academic discipline in the 19th century. It also examines different perspectives on how political philosophers should be viewed historically and discusses challenges in analyzing them. Additionally, it outlines characteristics of traditional and contemporary approaches to political theory, such as behavioralism, and analyzes strengths and limitations of various political frameworks.
The document summarizes and reviews several articles about the history and nature of political theory. It discusses how political theory emerged as an academic discipline in the 19th century. It also examines different perspectives on how political philosophers should be viewed historically and discusses challenges in analyzing them. Additionally, it outlines characteristics of traditional and contemporary approaches to political theory, such as behavioralism, and analyzes strengths and limitations of various political frameworks.
The document summarizes and reviews several articles about the history and nature of political theory. It discusses how political theory emerged as an academic discipline in the 19th century. It also examines different perspectives on how political philosophers should be viewed historically and discusses challenges in analyzing them. Additionally, it outlines characteristics of traditional and contemporary approaches to political theory, such as behavioralism, and analyzes strengths and limitations of various political frameworks.
Similar to Populism in Poland – between demagoguery and demophilia (20)
This paper aims to examine the activity of the Mamy Głos Foundation [We
have a voice], an organization founded in 2015 by junior high school students from
a handful of towns in Poland. For this purpose, a review of available materials about
this organization will be carried out and information will be collected using in-depth
interviews with the founders of the organization. The main research question concerns
the motivation behind young people’s activity in the foundation, the methods used to
achieve the goals of the organization and its founders’ profiles. Their activity will be
presented in the context of political activism among young people, including gender
differentiation.
The United Kingdom joined the EEC/EU in 1973. Its membership has been
one of the thorniest issues in British politics over the last forty-five years. The United
Kingdom was one of the most Euroskeptic member states in the EU. The ‘added
value’ brought by London to the EU was the English language, which successively
supplanted French from the function of working language of the EU. English is not
only the official language of the EU (it is one of 24 official languages), but primarily
has a dominant position in the EU. It is used for communication between the EU and
the world, between European institutions and during informal meetings. The purpose
of this article is to analyze the position of English in the EU, to show its strengths, and
finally to answer the question of whether the present status of English in the EU will
remain after the UK leaves.
This article aims to identify the major cores of the 15-M Movement mindset
and explain how particular historical factors shaped it. The research problems are to identify the types of relations the movement established between the people and the ruling
elites in its political manifestos, and the sources of these discursively created relations.
The research field encompasses the content of political manifestos published between
the Spanish general election on March 9, 2008 and immediately after the demonstrations
held on May 15, 2011. To solve these problems, the research applies source analysis of
the political manifestos. These are: (1) The Manifesto of ¡Democracia Real YA!; (2) The
Manifesto of the Puerta del Sol Camp, and (3) The Manifesto “May 68 in Spain.” The
research uses the technique of relational qualitative content analysis to determine the
relations between the semantic fields of the major categories of populism, ‘the people’
and ‘the elites,’ as well as to identify the meanings formed by their co-occurrence. The
tool used is a content analysis instruction whose major assumption is to identify all the
attempts to create images of ‘the people,’ ‘the elites,’ and relations between them.
The article analyzes the structure, content, properties and effects of the
Russian-Ukrainian ‘hybrid war’ in its non-military dimension. Particular emphasis is
placed on the aspect of the information and propaganda war, as well as activities in
cyberspace. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is described in the context of the new war
strategy of General Valery Gerasimov. Contemporary practice of hybrid actions in the
conflict in Ukraine has revealed that, for the first time, a stronger opponent, Russia,
uses the full spectrum of hybrid interaction on an opponent who is weak and unable
to defend the integrity of its territory. The military conflict of 2014 showed not only
the weakness of the Ukrainian state, but also, more importantly, the inefficiency of the
organizations responsible for ensuring international security: NATO, OSCE and the
UN. In the longer term, it should be noted that the escalation of hybrid activities in
Ukraine clearly threatens the states on the Eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance.
The analysis conducted refers to the problem defined in the form of questions: what
is the essence of hybrid operations? What is the nature of non-military hybrid operations? What was the course of these activities in Ukraine? How was international law
interpreted in relation to this conflict?
: The main goal of the studies described in this article may be defined as an
analysis of the promotional processes of regional and traditional products executed with
the use of symbols regulated by European law: Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG),
Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI).
The analysis presented here and the trends in promotional activities deducted from
it, primarily result from the specifics of the goods. The shape of the information system is also influenced by social and cultural factors decisive for the recognizability
and renown of the products, which have been confirmed by the results of the questionnaire conducted for the study. What is worth noting is the correlation between quality
and tradition, reflected, among other things, in declarations regarding the reasons for
the choice of these products: the sense of pride and the willingness to continue the
traditions were chosen by 45% of the survey participants. The Traditional Speciality
Guaranteed (TSG) has proven to be the most recognizable European symbol (38%).
This paper looks at the proposals of the European Commission for the
Multiannual Financial Framework 2021–2027, and explores how to achieve a better
future for Europe by ensuring compliance with the legally binding values and objectives of the EU: democracy, equality, the rule of law, economic, social and territorial
cohesion and solidarity between the member states.
It is argued that introducing progressivity, a reform of the EU’s finances involving
a paradigm shift in the financing of policies with redistributive effects and a reform of
the system of the EU’s ‘own resources,’ would ensure that solidarity becomes a matter
of the rule of law and not of governance through conditionalities and fines.
It is pointed out that, unless the EU undertakes an effective reform of its redistributive policies to ensure that progressivity and solidarity in the EU become a matter
of the rule of law, the Union will bear less and less resemblance to a democracy and
will increasingly look like an empire with an economically stronger and more rapidly
developing ‘core,’ and an economically weaker ‘periphery’ in the East and the South
lagging behind the ‘core.’
What is needed is collective action by the member states most immediately interested in a reform to make the system of EU’s ‘own resources’ less regressive and to
introduce progressivity in the financing of the policies of the EU. It would take significant skill for those countries to organize themselves as a group and to act together
in the course of the adoption of the legislative proposals for the next MFF in order to
make the EU more equitable.
Contemporary diplomacy has evolved into a network involving various
new actors, including international sports organizations. The article is dedicated to the
issue of the sports diplomacy of international bodies which are in charge of international sporting competitions, particularly the International Federation of Association
Football (FIFA), an organization that manages football on a global level.
The research presented in this article is a case study dedicated to the issue of the
influence of international sports organizations on the governments of sovereign states,
specifically FIFA. The objective of the research is to investigate whether international
sports organizations are able to make governments change their political decisions.
The hypothesis that has been investigated states that international sports governing
bodies are diplomatic actors capable of influencing states.
One of the first laws adopted by the new political leadership in Ukraine
in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity in 2014 was the new concept of local
governance reform and the organization of territorial authority in Ukraine. The aforementioned law, as well as official declarations by top politicians on the necessity of
empowering Ukrainian citizens to take part in the decision-making process and shape
their local communities, led to positive expectations regarding the transformation of
local governance in Ukraine. Therefore, this article addresses the issue of the legal
basis framing the functioning of civil society in Ukraine, focusing on major attempts
to conduct reform and on the main outcomes of implemented actions. Additionally,
emphasis is placed on the current state of cooperation between social and political
actors, and the trends in civil participation in the decision-making process regarding
decentralization and local governance reform in Ukraine.
This document discusses how illiberal democracy in Hungary from 2010-2014 negatively influenced the effectiveness of lobbying control in the country. It defines key terms like lobbying, interest groups, and liberal vs illiberal democracy. Illiberal democracies differ from liberal democracies in that they do not strictly follow the rule of law, lack independent oversight of the government, have more corrupt political elites, less free media, and do not fully protect civil rights and minorities. The document analyzes how Hungary met the criteria of an illiberal democracy during this period and repealed its lobbying law, diminishing transparency and accountability in the lobbying process.
The article is based on an analysis of national and European legal acts,
documents and source literature and its aim is to describe education and information
in consumer policy in Poland. The protection of consumer rights within the scope
of information and education is presented as a prime objective of the consumer policy strategy of the European Union and government programs of consumer policy
in Poland. Certain aspects of information and education policy of the government
are investigated, which are included in the Consumer Policy Strategy 2014–2018.
The competencies of consumer authorities in the institutional context are thoroughly
discussed in terms of education and information in Poland. Moreover, the consumer
identity of information and education policy between Poland and the European Union
is indicated.
Agrarianism was founded in Germany in the second half of the nineteenth
century, but it exercised the greatest influence in the predominantly agricultural countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Central European agrarianism was the ideology
of peasants and it proclaimed that land was the greatest wealth of the nation, agriculture was the most important branch of economy, and peasants were the morally
healthiest and thus the most valuable part of the society. Agrarianism was a personalist
ideology, which proclaimed a conception of man as a subject of social and economic
life. It criticized both extreme liberalism and totalitarian political ideology and advocated the concept of a ‘third way of development’ – between capitalism and communism. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the formation and development
of Polish agrarianism, and the related process of transfer and reception of knowledge.
The analysis focuses on the concept of land, man and labor, formulated by the representatives of the mainstream of agrarianism. In the 1930s, the Polish agrarians voiced
demands for land reform and the development of smallholder agriculture which, in
their opinion, made an optimal use of the land, capital and labor, that is, the most
important resources available to interwar Poland.
Using a proprietary computer program, simulations of voting in the Council
after Great Britain’s withdrawal from the EU were carried out. In the case of some of
them, a methodological innovation consisting in departing from the assumption that
the emergence of each possible coalition is equally probable was used. The analysis
conducted indicates that after Brexit the ability of the Council members to form small
minimally blocking coalitions will change significantly. At the same time, the assessment of the ability of states to block decisions in the Council and made on the basis
of the Preventive Power Index, differs fundamentally from the results of the analysis
focusing on building small minimally blocking coalitions.
This research is funded by the National Science Centre, Poland, under project no.
UMO-2016/23/D/HS5/00408 (SONATA 12 grant) entitled “The Impact of Brexit and
Unconditional Introduction of the ‘Double Majority’ Voting System on DecisionMaking in the Council of the European Union.”
Teoretycy i praktycy storytellingu koncentrują się zazwyczaj na formalnych właściwościach przekazu, upatrując klucza do jego perswazyjnej skuteczności w realizacji strukturalnych cech opowiadania. Niniejszy artykuł kładzie natomiast
nacisk na poznawczy aspekt relacji komunikat-odbiorca, upatrując w nim ważnego
czynnika determinującego siłę perswazyjnego oddziaływania storytellingu. W pierwszej części tekst analizuje psychologiczne przesłanki skuteczności perswazyjnej narracyjnego komunikatu. Część kolejna stanowi teoretyczną propozycję w jaki sposób
zwiększyć skuteczność jego oddziaływania, uwzględniając budowę, właściwości
i funkcje schematów poznawczych oraz w oparciu o model poznawczych reakcji na
perswazję.
The author examines the nexus between international law and the concept
of human security that emerged in the 1990s. The article proceeds in three parts. Part
one outlines the concept of human security, its genesis and contents. Part two examines the nexus between human security and international law and briefly considers the
most representative aspects of international law, including international jurisprudence,
that, in the author’s opinion, reflect human security imperatives. Finally, conclusions
provide answers to the questions posed and indicate the increased value of the human
security concept. The questions read as follows: How can human security strengthen
international actions (actions based on international law)? Where in international law
is human security reflected? In other words, what aspects of international law reflect
a human security-centered approach? What is the role of international law in human
security? Taking all this into account, what is the added value of adopting the concept
of human security? This article is inevitably interdisciplinary, as it combines the perspectives of international law and international relations.
Najważniejszą barierą rozwoju małych i średnich przedsiębiorstw
(MŚP) jest ograniczony dostęp do źródeł finansowania. W fazie startu wykorzystują
one zwykle środki własne, rodziny i przyjaciół. Następnie zaś sięgają one po kredyt bankowy, którego otrzymanie jest trudne ze względu na brak historii finansowej,
gwarancji i ekonomiczną ich słabość. Nieliczne mogą korzystać z grantów rządowych i wsparcia międzynarodowych organizacji (np. Unii Europejskiej). Pomocnymi mogą być alternatywne źródła finansowania takie jak venture capital, mezzanine,
crowdfunding, emisja obligacji oraz publiczna emisja akcji (Initial Public Offering:
IPO). Ten ostatnio wymieniony sposób finansowania może przynieść znaczne korzyści dla MŚP; umocnić ich pozycję rynkową i umożliwić ekonomiczną ekspansję, ale
związany jest z wieloma barierami. Do najważniejszych należą trudność spełnienia
kryteriów notowania na giełdzie lub specjalnych platformach, nawet jeśli są one łagodniejsze niż dla dużych firm, wysokie koszty, brak wiedzy o rynku kapitałowym
i niska płynność akcji MŚP. Dlatego niezbędne jest podjęcie przez rządy, organizacje
międzynarodowe i krajowe oraz interesariuszy działań zmierzających do likwidacji
lub ograniczenia tych barier.
Dyskusje i badania polskiego członkostwa w strefie euro są w obecnych, dynamicznie zmieniających się warunkach obarczone dużą dozą niepewności,
stąd ograniczać się mogą jedynie do kreślenia scenariuszy. Niniejsze opracowanie
skupia się na aspektach gospodarczych decyzji o: 1) definitywnej rezygnacji z wprowadzenia wspólnej waluty w Polsce, 2) szybkiej akcesji do strefy euro oraz 3) odsunięciu w czasie udziału Polski w tej strefie. Każdy z wariantów rodzi inne skutki polityczno-ekonomiczne i tym samym wyznacza inne ścieżki długookresowego rozwoju
polskiej gospodarki.
Artykuł prezentuje wyniki badań nad traumą społeczno-kulturową
w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej. Do weryfikacji teorii traumy zostały wykorzystane reprezentatywne dane sondażowe z Białorusi, Bułgarii, Węgier, Rumunii, Polski,
Rosji i Ukrainy. Prowadzone analizy pokazały, że społeczeństwo postkomunistyczne
negatywnie oceniło zmiany systemu gospodarczego i politycznego. Źródłem traumy był spadek poziomu życia oraz wzrost przestępczości. Respondenci uważali, że
w wyniku transformacji stracili na zmianach i pod wpływem powstałej traumy pesymistycznie oceniali przyszłość. Rekcją na pojawiającą się traumę była nostalgia za
socjalizmem i bezpieczeństwem społecznym przezeń oferowanym. Czynnikami łagodzącymi szok w społeczeństwie postkomunistycznym było wykształcenie, młodszy
wiek i orientacja proeuropejska.
Zasadniczym celem artykułu jest przybliżenie prób reformy systemu
wyborczego do Rady Najwyższej Ukrainy podejmowanych w okresie przypadającym
po Euromajdanie. Analizie zostały poddane rozwiązania prawne zawarte w zarejestrowanych i poddanych pod głosowanie w parlamencie projektach ordynacji wyborczych. Przybliżono także stanowisko poszczególnych sił politycznych wobec potrzeby reformy systemu wyborczego, na co pozwoliła analiza programów wyborczych,
zapisów umowy koalicyjnej zawartej w RN VIII kadencji, jak również wyników
głosowania nad poszczególnymi projektami ustaw w parlamencie. Ponadto uwaga
została skupiona na wynikach badań opinii publicznej, pozwalających ukazać, który
z wariantów systemu wyborczego jest najbardziej pożądany przez ukraińskie społeczeństwo.
Mołdawia jest państwem, które z jednej strony podejmuje wysiłki
zmierzające ku demokratyzacji i europeizacji jej systemu politycznego i prawnego,
z drugiej – działania te są chaotyczne, brak im konsekwencji i są uwarunkowane
bieżącą sytuacją polityczną. Jednym z obszarów podlegających takim politycznym
przesileniom jest samorząd terytorialny. Cele artykułu są dwojakie: po pierwsze, periodyzacja i charakterystyka kolejnych etapów kształtowania się modelu samorządu
lokalnego w Mołdawii, po drugie – charakterystyka aktualnie obowiązujących rozwiązań i wskazanie podstawowych problemów istotnie wpływających na jego funkcjonowanie.
Celem artykułu jest dokonanie analizy relacji państwo–diaspora na
przykładzie Czarnogóry. W literaturze przedmiotu zauważalny jest brak dogłębnych
badań tego zjawiska. Czarnogóra stanowi interesujący przypadek ze względu fakt, że
liczba osób żyjących w diasporach jest porównywalna do liczby mieszkańców tego
państwa. Artykuł składa się z czterech części. Pierwsza z nich stanowi przedstawienie
rozważań teoretycznych na temat diaspor, ale także relacji państwo–diaspora. W kolejnej została pokrótce scharakteryzowana czarnogórska diaspora – jej historia, liczebność oraz kierunki emigracji. Trzecia część stanowi analizę kształtowanych przez
Czarnogórę relacji z diasporą. Szczególną uwagę zwrócono na proces instytucjonalizacji owych stosunków. Artykuł kończy podsumowanie.
More from Środkowoeuropejskie Studia Polityczne (20)
“What Else Are They Talking About?”: A Large-Scale Longitudinal Analysis of M...Axel Bruns
Paper by Daniel Angus, Stephen Harrington, Axel Bruns, Phoebe Matich, Nadia Jude, Edward Hurcombe, and Ashwin Nagappa, presented at the ICA 2024 conference, Gold Coast, 22 June 2024.
19 जून को बॉम्बे हाई कोर्ट ने विवादित फिल्म ‘हमारे बारह’ को 21 जून को थिएटर में रिलीज करने का रास्ता साफ कर दिया, हालांकि यह सुनिश्चित करने के बाद कि फिल्म निर्माता कुछ आपत्तिजनक अंशों को हटा दें।
Apna Punjab Media is a Punjabi newspaper that covers local and global news, cultural updates, and community events. It's a trusted source for Punjabi-speaking communities, offering a mix of traditional values and modern insights into Punjab's vibrant life and heritage.
21062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
Christian persecution in Islamic countries has intensified, with alarming incidents of violence, discrimination, and intolerance. This article highlights recent attacks in Nigeria, Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq, exposing the multifaceted challenges faced by Christian communities. Despite the severity of these atrocities, the Western world's response remains muted due to political, economic, and social considerations. The urgent need for international intervention is underscored, emphasizing that without substantial support, the future of Christianity in these regions is at grave risk.
https://ecspe.org/the-rise-of-christian-persecution-in-islamic-countries/
#WenguiGuo#WashingtonFarm Guo Wengui Wolf son ambition exposed to open a far...rittaajmal71
Since fleeing to the United States in 2014, Guo Wengui has founded a number of projects in the United States, such as GTV Media Group, GTV private equity, farm loan project, G Club Operations Co., LTD., and Himalaya Exchange.
Federal Authorities Urge Vigilance Amid Bird Flu Outbreak | The Lifesciences ...The Lifesciences Magazine
Federal authorities have advised the public to remain vigilant but calm in response to the ongoing bird flu outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu.
मद्रास उच्च न्यायालय के सेवानिवृत्त न्यायाधीश और केंद्र और राज्य सरकार के नौकरशाहों सहित आठ अन्य लोगों की अध्यक्षता वाली एक उच्च स्तरीय समिति ने 2021 में NEET परीक्षा को खत्म करने की सिफारिश की थी। महत्वपूर्ण बात यह है कि रिपोर्ट में 2010-11 में ग्रामीण पृष्ठभूमि से तमिल छात्रों की संख्या में 61.5% की भारी गिरावट को दर्शाया गया है। इसके बजाय मेट्रो छात्रों में वृद्धि दर्ज की गई है।
22062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
La defensa del expresidente Juan Orlando Hernández, declarado culpable por narcotráfico en EE. UU., solicitó este viernes al juez Kevin Castel que imponga una condena mínima de 40 años de prisión.
19 जून को बॉम्बे हाई कोर्ट ने विवादित फिल्म ‘हमारे बारह’ को 21 जून को थिएटर में रिलीज करने का रास्ता साफ कर दिया, हालांकि यह सुनिश्चित करने के बाद कि फिल्म निर्माता कुछ आपत्तिजनक अंशों को हटा दें।
15062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
La defensa del expresidente Juan Orlando Hernández, declarado culpable por narcotráfico en EE. UU., solicitó este viernes al juez Kevin Castel que imponga una condena mínima de 40 años de prisión.
17062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
यूजीसी-नेट और NEET परीक्षा (कई अन्य के अलावा, 2018 तक सीबीएसई द्वारा आयोजित की जाती थी, जो भारत में सार्वजनिक और निजी स्कूलों के लिए एक राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा बोर्ड था (और है), जिसे भारत सरकार द्वारा नियंत्रित और प्रबंधित किया जाता था।
Populism in Poland – between demagoguery and demophilia
1. DOI 10.14746/ssp.2017.2.10
Dominika Kasprowicz, Agnieszka Hess
Uniwersytet Jagielloński
Populism in Poland
– between demagoguery and demophilia1
Abstract: The goal of this paper is to present the evolution of populism in Poland
using the examples of two political parties: the “Samoobrona” (“Self-Defense”)
political party of Andrzej Lepper (a populist party which garnered most support in
the first decade of the 21st century) and the “Kukiz ‘15” movement – the dark horse
of the last Polish parliamentary elections. Both of these groups superbly illustrate
the demagogy characteristic of populism, linked with an affirmation of the people
(nation) which in turn would not be possible without the anti-establishment stance
of the political leaders and the electorate. A comparison of these two examples al-
lows us to monitor the transformations occurring in populist groups over the last
few years, especially in the age where the Internet is employed as a vital means of
communication. The paper presents the alternative conceptualizations of the idea
of populism, and moves on to employ the N. Baar scheme (2009) and secondary
and primary data (data obtained from the “Barometr Wyborczy” voting advisory
application), and press releases to draft various types of correspondence between
these two cases, which makes it possible to identify new, interesting characteristics
of populism.
Key words: populism, party politics in Poland, Poland
Introduction
The last decade, which was initiated with the economic crisis of 2008,
was a successive period in the history of post-war Europe, when
populists were riding a wave of popular support and interest from the
media. This question was full of expectations from numerous researchers
for many years, including those who concentrate on the democratic politi-
cal systems of Western Europe, as well as those of formerly authoritarian
states. At the same time, in relation to these two groups, there remains the
1
The article is sponsored by the National Science Centre, Poland, grant ID:
2015/18/M/HS5/00080.
2. 202 Dominika Kasprowicz, Agnieszka Hess ŚSP 2 ’17
constatation of the American researcher Casa Mudde, who affirmed that
an attempt to delineate populism is nothing more than trying to shoot and
hit a moving target in a thick fog (Mudde, 2006). This is an apt observa-
tion, in as much as populism is still waiting for a universally accepted and
employed real definition, which manifests its essential (that is, without
which populism could not be what it is) and unambiguous characteristic.
In academic and media milieus, the term “populism” is often em-
ployed to describe an organization and political leaders whose words are
too eclectic to be subordinate to a political doctrine, or whose statements
concentrate on the citizen/voting masses, and which possess a simplified
and demagogic character, where such a specific target group is nothing
more than an essential condition for a “catch-all” party strategy. To para-
phrase Jerzy Szacki – if we were to draw up a list of thinkers who could
be awarded the moniker of populist, the list itself would be rather odd.
Herder and Owen, Rousseau and Proudhon, Lev Tolstoy and Juan Per-
on, Gandhi and Senator Joseph McCarthy, Hannah Arendt and General
DeGaulle, Sun Yat Sen and Pooujade, chairman Mao and the Tanzanian
leader Nyerere, as well as scores of other names of people who had little
in common, would all be found on this list (Szacki, 2003).
Of course this doesn’t mean that “populism” has yet to receive an
operative definition. Quite the contrary, the academic debate centered on
this phenomenon is exceptionally rich in content and conceptual proposi-
tions. Many authors have made an attempt to sum it all up by saying that
populism is “operationalized” as a more narrow phenomenon – a political
style of acting or in a wider sense, as an elaborate vision of a new political
order. (Canovan 1981, 1999; Mudde, 2000, 2004; Taggart, 2000; Meny,
Surrel 2002).
In the first view, populism (seen as a political style or strategy) means
demagoguery employed with the goal of acquiring and maintaining po-
litical power. This is manifested in the use of socio-techniques, direct
communication with the electorate, which often leads to “clientelistic”
links (in extreme instances, the buying of votes or the selling of politi-
cal appointments). In this perspective, populism is an essential element
of electoral democracy, and is an imminent characteristic of the political
class.
According to another viewpoint, shared by Margaret Canovan or Don-
ald MacRae – populism is understood to be a political doctrine, that is
a compilation of assessments of a more universal character, which mani-
fest the foibles of democratic procedures, and the weak quality of those
3. ŚSP 2 ’17 Populism in Poland – between demagoguery... 203
elites attempting to gain political capital (Canovan, 1981, 1999; Mac-
Rae 1969). According to this concept, populism and populists, in a wider
meaning of the term, utilize demagogic tools of communication, while at
the same time propose more or less coherent solutions for remodeling the
democratic order, all of this with the goal of exchanging the elites and/or
augmenting the level of representation of the sovereign, or mythical “peo-
ple”. The role models here are examples from history, such as the Russian
nationalists (narodniks) or American populists from the end of the XIX
century. Such an understanding of populism, though also controversial,
is so intriguing, that it takes into consideration populist actors of various
types of character – and political parties, but also other political actors
such as protest or social movements, operating in the name of the masses,
and which have their own political goals.
Both of these formulations, although employed in the political analy-
ses of these phenomena, have aroused a doubt, as to their methodological
nature (Szacki, 2003). At the same time however, they have several ele-
ments in common. It’s exactly this demophilia – the so-called love of the
people, and faith in their inerrancy – which is a characteristic which binds
doctrinal populists and political opportunists (demagogues) together. This
is due to the fact that both of these groups desire to be perceived as “the
voice of society” (of the nation, people, or the electorate), which is effec-
tive in the struggle against the corrupt and ineffective elites. Opposition to
the establishment, constitutes the second essential element of populism.
A consequence, populism fits the role of a current of the opposition ex-
ceptionally well, as it is directed at being a negation and criticism of the
present social reality, as a protest group, an emanation of anti-system ori-
ented social groups, dissatisfied with the direction of social change. That
is exactly why populists have awarded themselves the role of “authentic
representatives of the will of the people” (Derlich, 2010). The result of
this leadership strategy – based on a direct link between the leader or
leaders with the masses, is also founded on the logic of the plebiscite and/
or clientelism. The third important aspect is the self-limiting character of
populism.As a phenomenon which is the portable power of the opposition
in a system of representative democracy, after crossing a certain barrier to
obtain parliamentary representation (MPs), and all the more so if some of
its adherents make it into the cabinet (of a government), populism losses
credibility, and therefore, support. As researchers of the political system
have noted, that characteristic of populist parties is gradually loosing sig-
nificance, and in respect to specific political systems, it has even become
4. 204 Dominika Kasprowicz, Agnieszka Hess ŚSP 2 ’17
an imminent part of that system, as for instance in Bulgaria (Cholova,
Kasprowicz, 2010).
These characteristics were detected and employed to carry out a sys-
tematic analysis of various political parties by Nicholas Baar (Baar, 2009).
His work was a starting point for the authors of this paper, to distinguish
and to later analyze Polish (political) populism. His proposed scheme not
only allows us to distinguish populist political parties from protest par-
ties, it also, in a precise manner, “operationalizes” this phenomenon, al-
lowing a more precise selection of samples. The definition selected by the
author defines populism as: a mass movement directed from outside the
party system by a new entity, or one that has arisen as a result of a separa-
tion from a previously existing political entity, which attempts to acquire
and maintain power via the use of anti-establishment rhetoric, as well as
having direct (through plebiscites) links with its adherents (Baar, 2009,
p. 44). On the basis of this statement, the author delineates three levels of
analysis, namely, the localization of the party in the party system (locus),
the type of bonds which unite the politician with his adherents (linkage),
as well as the type of transmission of information (message).
Many instances of populism have been described in Poland after 1989.
When employing various examples of typology, reference was made to
the manner in which politics were conducted, or it was included as a doc-
trinal element of specific political propositions. One kind of populism,
was called entrepreneurial populism, as represented by Stan Tymiński,
whereas the “Samoobrona” (“Self-Defense”) party was called agrarian
populism, the far right, as represented by the “Liga Polskich Rodzin”
(“League of Polish Families”) and “Prawo i Sprawiedliwość” (“Law and
Justice”) were called political populism (political parties), and in addi-
tion there were grass roots movements, represented by non-party politi-
cal organizations, such as trade unions (Wysocka, 2008; Derlich, 2010;
Kasprowicz, 2013; Kasprowicz, 2015; Stępińska et al., 2016; Markowski,
2016). The messages of all relevant political parties contained some pop-
ulist elements of the political discourse (Przyłęcki, 2012). As mentioned
above however, this research was based on several operational definitions
of populism, hence the difficulty in generalizing the results of this re-
search. In addition, none of the aforementioned works, deals with a rela-
tively new political entity, “Kukiz ‘15”, a party which arose thanks to
a relatively successful presidential campaign, and later an election com-
mittee. It is the opinion of the authors of this paper, that the “Kukiz ‘15”
party is not just another example of populism in Polish politics; this party
5. ŚSP 2 ’17 Populism in Poland – between demagoguery... 205
is undertaking a series of intriguing political maneuvers, which may have
a permanent effect on the specifics and degree of institutionalization of
populism in the Polish political system.
In order to obtain the research results indicated at the start of this pa-
per, which is to establish those transformations which are taking place
in populist groups, the authors have decided to employ a comparative
method, where two cases are compared – the past “Samoobrona” union
and party organization of Andrzej Lepper, and the “Kukiz ’15” (which to
the date refuse to turn into the political party, making use of a possibil-
ity given the Polish electoral code, that enables non-party actors to run
in local and general elections). The sampling was made according to the
strategy of the highest probability, that is an analysis subject to the three
levels indicated by Baar, as constituting political populism. Each of these
categories will be complemented by specific information for the Polish
context, and in the authors’ opinion, having a universal character.
Position in the Party System (Locus)
The first characteristic enabling a distinguishing of a populist organi-
zation, is its position (localization) in the party system. In accordance
with Baar’s supposition, we can divide parties between those which op-
erate inside and outside of the party system, as well as those which take
a position in the middle – political outlaws, who became outlaws on their
own accord (mavericks). Only outsiders may be recognized as being
populists, that is those who are politically independent regarding main-
stream political parties (which in turn creates and maintains the specifics
of a given party system), and those who create new parties, and produce
so-called “political independents”, that is those who are unaffiliated with
any particular political party. The second group of political populists are
those who are political outlaws of their own accord. That is those politi-
cians who decided to break away from a mainstream party, and based on
their political capital, initiate a new organization. Both of these groups at-
tain political significance not through or in union with, deep-rooted party
structures, but rather by operating on the margins of party politics.
When analyzing these two political groups – both “Samoobrona” and
“Kukiz ’15” are perceived as being an example of outsiders based on
those protest movements, which arose in Poland in the early 1990s and at
the beginning of the 2000s. In other words, both these groups, as a result
6. 206 Dominika Kasprowicz, Agnieszka Hess ŚSP 2 ’17
of grass roots movements are not affiliated with a political party, yet they
garnered significant support among voters. The roots of “Samoobrona”
are found in the protest actions undertaken by farmers, and trade union
activity under the same name, which led to the party’s being registered
as “Samoobrona” (“Self-Defense”) in 1993. With regards to “Kukiz ’15”,
it was the “Platforma Oburzonych” (“Platform of the Outraged”) – an
agreement which brought together more than one hundred organizations
in 2011 – formal and informal interest groups, associations, trade unions,
including an initiative known as “zmieleni.pl” (zmieleni – those who are
ground down) whose leader was Paweł Kukiz. Although the “Platforma”
did not achieve political relevance in 2011, it was able to accumulate
some political capital. It was directed against the political establishment,
and represented voters who were disappointed with the ruling class, and
obtained a significant amount of attention in the mass media (Kaspro
wicz, 2013).
It is noteworthy that both these instances, the entrance of populist out-
siders into the political mainstream, were the result of the political crises
of 2000 and 2015, and more exactly, were a side effect of them. It was
precisely this reconstruction of the party system, which occurred in these
years, which paved the way for a political relevance of a new object – out-
siders in the form of Andrzej Lepper and Paweł Kukiz.
The political crisis of 2000, which enabled the institutionalization of
„Samoobrona” in the party system, could be summed up in the following
points:
A change in the model of electoral behavior (the end of the post-com-––
munist division);
A final defeat of the model of a broad cooperation between right-wing––
and liberal milieus and the beginning of a new socio-political division
on the right;
Key changes in the electoral system (with a preference for smaller––
entities);
Changes in the system of financing political parties (in the direction of––
parties-cartels, that is more independence for political parties from the
electorate and party members);
A high level of disappointment among voters in politics and the elites––
(CBOS – Center for Public Opinion Research).
When placed against this background, the circumstances of the politi-
cal crisis of 2015, which led to a new opening of the political party system
to outsiders, including “Kukiz ’15”, are not so dramatic. One may how-
7. ŚSP 2 ’17 Populism in Poland – between demagoguery... 207
ever, delineate several common elements of the crisis of the party system
in 2000 and 2015. Above all there was a change in the electoral behavio-
ral model – the heretofore relatively stable electorate decomposed, which
was manifested in the evident victory of the “Prawo i Sprawiedliwość”
party, as well as the high support for outsiders by all groups of society
(divided by age, geography, profession, etc. IPSOS 2015). This was ac-
companied by a mobilization of younger voters, who until this time had
remained relatively passive. A decisive victory won by one party, termi-
nated a stable coalition which had lasted two electoral terms, that is of the
agrarian party (“PSL”) and the centrist “Platforma Obywatelska”, which
after ruling for 8 years also noted a significant increase in disappointment
amongst voters. A new opening in the party scene was also accompanied
by a change in the electoral system, in which it was gradually (as opposed
to the radical changes in how votes were counted, which took place be-
fore the 2001 elections) modified from a proportional system, to a mixed
universal system. The linking of the uninominal component of voting pre-
cincts (first in the Senate election of 2011, later, partially, in local govern-
ment elections in 2014), on the one hand provided an opportunity for new,
local, popular politicians and groups, and on the other hand was along the
lines of their political program, in which the introduction of direct demo-
cratic tools and an increase in voter supervision of the electoral process
were postulated.
The Message Generated in the Public Sphere (Message)
As Baar writes, some political actors take advantage of the those trends
which use an anti-establishment rhetoric in the context of the general
decline in interest concerning, and confidence in, political institutions.
Baar, based on existing definitions of this concept, amongst others, those
provided by Margaret Canova, Ernesto Laclau, Cassa Mudde or Andreas
Scheller, recognizes them as being a set of rhetorical measures, whose
goal is the acquiring of support, and that this is in essence, a conviction
of a Manichean vision of the world, divided amongst the “ruled” and the
“rulers”, which assumes that the rulers don’t represent (that is they either
can’t or won’t) the interest of the voters. At the same time a criticism of
the political system and its political and/or economic demiurges, goes
hand in hand with an indication of the criteria of their evaluation, and
what ensues, it directly offers its adherents a kind of anti-establishment
8. 208 Dominika Kasprowicz, Agnieszka Hess ŚSP 2 ’17
rhetoric, which promises to fix the status quo (Baar, 2009, pp. 30–31 and
following). The author also points out several conditions essential for the
success of such a rhetoric, the most important of which is to cover the
content of the message on the subject of the political elites-traitors, or
incompetents, with a conviction that already is present in society, that
such people really exist amongst the elites. An anti-establishment rhetoric
is not reserved solely for populists of course, but in the author’s opinion
they constitute yet another condition, which is essential and necessary, for
a given entity to be recognized as being populist.
Four immanent characteristics of the populist message generated in
the public sphere, which are employed by political actors, could be enu-
merated here. They are: 1) a simplification, which becomes an affirma-
tion, that the world isn’t complicated, and social relations are a dichoto-
mous agreement based on the premise, that an opinion may be right or
wrong, but society is divided according to an “us” against “them” scheme,
and the basis for any activity is the principle “whoever is not with us, is
against us”, 2) utopianism, that is the supposition that it is possible to
bring about an ideal world (society), and that this utopia may be realized,
3) the acquiring of support through a specific manner of communicating
with society, which is characterized by “shortening the distance” with the
receivers (public) and employing a “we” narration as well as 4) creating
a climate of social mobilization, through, for example, the idealization
of the community or denigrating the ruling class, or creating a climate of
fear in the face of a given threat (Dutkiewicz, 2013).
As has already been mentioned, existing analyses confirm the exist-
ence of the populist discourse amongst Poland’s leading political parties.
Where “Samoobrona” is concerned, a confirmation may be found in of-
ficial party documents and campaign manifestos, where it is affirmed that
the party is “the only party in Poland which is the voice speaking in the
name of all citizens” (referred to in: Wysocka, 2008). The party’s leader
in his appearances, skillfully based his arguments on historic resentments
from pre-World War II times, when there was an evident social division
along the lines of the poor and manipulated masses, and the capitalists
(elites). “Samoobrona”, which critically evaluated the effects of the po-
litical-social transformation already at the beginning of the 1990s, called
particular attention to the widening range of social exclusion, including
the ever increasing number of societal groups which were composed of
the so-called “losers in the transformation”. The party announced that
only a change of the elites and the realization of a complex program of
9. ŚSP 2 ’17 Populism in Poland – between demagoguery... 209
socio-economic transformations could solve this problem. Andrzej Lep-
per (the chairman of “Samoobrona”) appealed to the poorest people and
the uneducated, those who were residents of state-owned housing, and
small farmers. In addition, one may read in party documents about the
“necessity of defending the poor and unemployed, the honest and the
hardworking, who have been harmed by the economic system” (“Samoo-
brona” Election Program). The party’s anti-establishment rhetoric was
also employed after the party entered parliament in 2001. It’s worthwhile
here to cite the results of an analysis by Paweł Przyłęcki.
This author, like Baar, leaves the boundaries of the phenomenologi-
cal framework, and concentrates on an analysis of the populist system of
political communication. The results of his research regarding “Samoob-
rona” show that it fits in the framework described by Baar. In Przyłęcki’s
opinion, “Samoobrona” represents populism of a plebian character, al-
though it has taken on: “[...] a rather primitive form and doesn’t have
a chance of lasting” (Baar, 2009, p. 135). Members of parliament of the
“Samoobrona” party, often quoted conspiracy theories and provided ex-
amples of anti-Polish activity. Their speeches were often directed to that
which a Polish society, which had grown weary of politics, wanted to
hear. The linguistic tools used by the party leaders served, amongst oth-
ers, to make of the elite an enemy of the nation, dependent upon the em-
ploying of a strategy of fear against the rulers of society, and a direct
discreditation of political opponents.
In the instance of “Kukiz ’15”, with regards to the statements of the
party’s leader, as well as the official material of the election committee
(2015), what is immediately evident is the anti-political party theme. In
addition, this political entity (“Kukiz ’15”) wishes to be perceived as
a “non-ideological representative of the nation” (“Kukiz ‘15” webpage).
The political goals of “Kukiz ‘15” were presented in the “Strategy for
Change” – a campaign manifesto published prior to the parliamentary
elections of 2015 where, in exact accordance with Baar’s formula, there
was a combination of opposition to the ruling parties, with an offer of
how to fix the political status quo. The leitmotiv of the whole campaign
and the manifesto was a “change of the system” as well as “transfer-
ring the state to the citizens, and away from the hands of the (political)
party clans” (Kukiz, 2015). This group often used the postulate during the
campaign, of introducing a single-member constituency system, which
was presented as a means of healing the politician-voter relationship in
Poland. This solution, would supposedly guarantee the personal respon-
10. 210 Dominika Kasprowicz, Agnieszka Hess ŚSP 2 ’17
sibility of a member of parliament regarding his electorate, and thereby
enable a change of the elite, and end a system where the same people
always maintained political power. Thanks to a single-member constitu-
ency, the “party-ocracy” was also to have ended – that is the loyalty of
the “mediocre, passive, but faithful” members of parliament, first of all
to their own party bosses (and not their electorate). The leader of “Kukiz
’15” also attacked the mainstream media, which he accused of bias and
politicizing. He treated the media as an essential component of the sys-
tem, which needed to be changed. He declared war against the “foreign
mass media” declaring that it was necessary to fight against monopolies
and foreign capital on the media market. The critical coverage given by
the mass media to him and his party were later deemed by Kukiz to be
“good indications”. Public appearances by members of the “Kukiz ’15”
party, were dominated by a rhetoric of outrage against the system, the
party elites, and the mass media. The narrative of “we the citizens” was
also employed. After the elections the leader of “Kukiz ’15” declared that
his party had achieved success despite the opposition of the political elites
and the mainstream media – the citizens won, not the state/institutions.
Types of Links Between Parties and Voters (Linkage)
The third condition necessary and essential when speaking about
political populism, is according to Baar, a specific manner of relation-
ship between political parties and the voters/citizens. Baar stresses this
fact, with regards to the means though which this (bilateral) contact is
established and maintained between these two entities. This relation-
ship is characterized by an extensive authority which the voters have in
giving instructions and seeing that they are carried out. Hence, the de-
scription of these links as being plebiscitary. On the other hand, it is the
individual person who has been elected (not the party) and it is he who
bears the responsibility of realizing the sovereign will (of the people).
In this system, where these electoral links dominate, one may detect
a return to Rousseau’s view, where any kind of blurring of responsibility
or institutionalized mediation leads to inefficiency in politics. The tools
of direct democracy as a means, thanks to which, this relationship is to
be established, are to be a panacea for the lack of efficacy of the policies
conducted by political parties, and other powerful interest groups (Baar,
2009, pp. 35–36).
11. ŚSP 2 ’17 Populism in Poland – between demagoguery... 211
In this light, the example of “Samoobrona” could be treated as border-
line. This is because in relations with its electorate, this party maintained
an equilibrium between establishing direct contact and responsibility of
its political leaders with its electorate, and clientelism (also described
by Baar as being an alternative form of linkage). Not having any repre-
sentation in parliament (before 2001 and after 2007), Lepper intensified
his direct links with the electorate. He organized and took active part in
agrarian protests, including instances of mob rule and confrontations with
the police. He realized a strategy of “being close to the people” especially
during election campaigns, which were marked with frequent meetings
with farmers during local holidays in public places. On the other hand,
at the height of its popularity, “Samoobrona” rarely organized electoral
meetings (Kasprowicz, Cholova, 2008). Although Lepper criticized the
political class, he never proposed a distinct strengthening of voters in
relation to political institutions. “Samoobrona” supported state interven-
tionism and opted for a reinforcement of public institutions with the goal
of protecting civil rights and guaranteeing a subsistence level income.
The means to establish this party-voter relationship took on a dysfunc-
tional form, had a clientelistic attribute (patron-client), and eventually
transgressed the law. The party leaders were accused and convicted of
such practices as literally buying votes, or selling sinecures (the affair of
being on the candidate list to the European Parliament, or the real estate
affair which led to the “PiS”, “LPR”, “Samoobrona” coalition’s fall in
2006).
The “Kukiz ‘15” movement in turn, takes advantage of, or postu-
lates the use of, the plebiscite model of solutions. A superb example
of this, was the drawing up of the electoral register (list of candidates)
for the 2015 parliamentary elections, where anyone interested could
apply, or register as a committee of voters (not as a party or party coa-
lition). This strategy was continued after an electoral success (in the
2015 parliamentary election, “Kukiz ’15” won third place with 8.81%
of the votes, which resulted in its being awarded 42 members of par-
liament). The leader (Kukiz) consistently refused to register the group
as a political party – rather it is organized as a parliamentary club or
a network of associations (“The Association for a New Constitution
„Kukiz ‘15”, the “Endecja” (“National Democracy”) Association”). As
far as solutions for the political system, the standard slogans of “Kukiz
‘15” were the introduction of a single-member constituency for parlia-
mentary elections, increasing the powers of the presidency, as well as
12. 212 Dominika Kasprowicz, Agnieszka Hess ŚSP 2 ’17
doing away with any minimal voter turnout, to ensure the validity of
referendums.
An important tool in the politician-voter relationship is taking advan-
tage of the means of communication. As was mentioned, “Samoobrona”
a decade ago, was based on the mobilization of an electorate with the
help of direct communication, organizing protest actions and marches,
which illustrated and lent credibility to a war being waged by an outsider,
against the political system. In the instance of “Kukiz ’15”, this mobiliza-
tion of the electorate took place above all with the assistance of quasi-
direct communication. In 2014 and 2015 a turning point was reached in
Poland, regarding the direction in which political campaigns were to be
conducted, thanks to such tools as the Internet and social media. Face-
book, Youtube, and Twitter were employed for the first time on a massive
scale, in electoral communications.
Facebook was Paweł Kukiz’s trump card in the presidential cam-
paign, and the principal means by which this musician communicated
with his electorate. This was initially imposed by a small campaign
budget, but it passed the test and helped increase his popularity. His
official account on Twitter during the presidential campaign, which was
quite successful, was “@prezydentKukiz”. For the parliamentary cam-
paign, the Twitter account was coordinated with two official pages of
the movement on Facebook: “Kukiz ‘15” and “Posłowie Kukiz ‘15”
(“Members of Parliament Kukiz ‘15”). These profiles became exceed-
ingly popular due to the language of communication used on them, em-
ployed by representatives of the organization (entries and comments
– which often didn’t fit the standard political rhetoric, due to their inci-
sive style and manner of expression) as well as the “interaction” with
the electorate – an “open” profile for internauts, which became popular
above all, thanks to changes in the commentary among Internet users
themselves. Internauts became radicalized by the anti-system postu-
lates of the movement, and by the style and language employed by the
“Kukiz ‘15” campaign. This course of events only fortified the slogan,
“put matters back in the citizens’ hands” and evoked a type of plebiscite
in Internet communication. There was content on the “Kukiz ‘15” pro-
file, for which the group did not take any responsibility (the concept of
opportunistic witnesses – L. Hagen) but at the same time this content
could be used in the campaign. Such a solution provides enormous pos-
sibilities for manipulating content, radicalizing opinion, and character-
izing the message.
13. ŚSP 2 ’17 Populism in Poland – between demagoguery... 213
Conclusions
Baar’s analytic framework (the linking of three elements), permits the
distinguishing of populist groups against the background of other groups
(demagogic, protest) and their analysis. At the same time, the Polish ex-
ample indicates an evolution of populism, especially in the direction of
plebiscite-postulates, and proving that several changes should be intro-
duced. Above all, populism should not be viewed as a political party, but
rather as a hybrid, linking various organizational forms for obtaining po-
litical goals. It is also relevant, to distinguish a fourth analytical element,
the means of communication, which literally changed from being direct
to becoming quasi-direct (Internet) which expands plebiscite possibili-
ties, and at the same time enables a greater manipulation of the message.
Bibliography
Barr R. (2009), Populists, Outsiders and Anti-Establishment Politics, “Party Politics”,
vol. 15 (1), pp. 29–48.
Canovan M. (1981), Populism, Harcourt Brace Javonovich, New York.
Canovan M. (1999), Trust the People! Populism and the Two Faces of Democracy,
“Political Studies”, vol. 47, pp. 2–16, doi: 10.1111/1467-9248.00184.
Cholova B., Kasprowicz D. (2010), Fertile Ground for Populism? Populist Parties
in Poland and Bulgaria: Tentative Framework, Paper for the ECPR Graduate
Conference, 31 August, Dublin.
Derlich S. (2010), Populistów ethos zmanipulowany, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uni-
wersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika, Toruń.
Dutkiewicz M. (2013), Populiści dobroczynności. Medialne informowanie o pomaga-
niu, Instytut Spraw Publicznych, Warszawa.
Kasprowicz D. (2013), Dwa oblicza populizmu, Instytut Obywatelski, www.instytut
obywatelski.pl/14366.
MacRae D. (1969), Populism as an ideology, in: Populism – its meaning and national
characteristics, eds. G. Lonescu, E. Gellner, Macmillan, London.
Markowski R. (ed.) (2004), Populizm a demokracja, Instytut Studiów Politycznych
PAN, Warszawa.
Mény Y., Surel Y. (eds.) (2002), Democracies and the Populist Challenge, Palgrave,
New York.
Mudde C. (2004), The Populist Zeitgeist, “Government and Opposition”, vol. 39 (4),
pp. 541–563, doi: 10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004.00135.
Przyłęcki P. (2012), Populizm w polskiej polityce. Analiza dyskursu polityki, Wydaw-
nictwo Sejmowe, Warszawa.
14. 214 Dominika Kasprowicz, Agnieszka Hess ŚSP 2 ’17
Stępińska A., Lipiński A., Hess A., Piontek D. (2017), Poland. A Fourth Wave of
Populism?, in: Populist Political Communication in Europe, eds. T. Aalberg
et al., Routledge, New York.
Szacki J. (2003), Pytania o populizm, “Krytyka polityczna”, vol. 4, pp. 28–34.
Taggart P. (2000), Populism, Open University Press, Buckingham PA.
Wysocka O. (2009), Populism in Poland: In/visible exclusion, in: In/visibility: Per-
spectives on Inclusion and Exclusion, ed. L. Freeman, Vienna: IWM Junior
Visiting Fellows’ Conferences, vol. 26, Institut für die Wissenschaften vom
Menschen,Austria,http://www.iwm.at/publications/5-junior-visiting-fellows-
conferences/vol-xxvi/populism-in-poland.
Wysocka O. (2008), Populizm i Radio Maryja, “Znak”, vol. 640 (9), pp. 61–69.
Populizm w Polsce – między demagogią i demofilią
Streszczenie
Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie ewolucji populizmu w Polsce przy użyciu
dwóch przykładów partii politycznych: „Samoobrony” Andrzeja Leppera (była to
partia populistyczna, która uzyskała największe poparcie w pierwszej dekadzie XXI
wieku) oraz ruchu „Kukiz’15” – czarnego konia ostatnich wyborów parlamentarnych.
Oba te ugrupowania znakomicie ilustrują demagogię charakterystyczną dla populi-
zmu, związaną z afirmacją narodu, która z kolei nie byłaby możliwa bez anty-establi-
shmentowej postawy przywódców politycznych i elektoratu. Porównanie tych dwóch
przykładów umożliwiło nam monitorowanie przemian zachodzących w ugrupowa-
niach populistycznych w ciągu ostatnich kilku lat, zwłaszcza w czasach gdy Inter-
net służy jako podstawowy środek komunikacji. W artykule zaprezentowano kolejno
alternatywne konceptualizacje idei populizmu, a później – korzystając ze schematu
N. Baara (2009) i danych drugorzędnych i podstawowych (dane uzyskane w inter-
netowym poradniku wyborczym „Barometr Wyborczy”), oraz publikacji prasowych
– zarysowano różnorodne powiązania występujące między obydwoma ugrupowania-
mi, co pozwoliło w rezultacie określić nowe, ciekawe cechy populizmu.
Słowa kluczowe: populizm, partie polityczne w Polsce, Polska