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ARTICULI
ARTICULI
Abstract
This article engages with a reflexive and critical assessment of Europeanization and addresses conceptual, methodological and empirical issues related to the ways of knowledge in explaining and understanding the impact of the EU. It argues that, although it has generated an important amount of very valuable empirical research, its relevance as a specific concept is limited in two respects. The argument of this article is twofold. First, the conceptual debates in the Europeanization literature lead to the conclusion that Europeanization describes a general phenomenon of transformation and modernization, i.e a general explanandum rather than a specific explanans. Second, methodological biases have led many scholars to overestimate the impact of EU integration. Whereas short-term institutional adjustment can be easily demonstrated, the structural impact of EU integration on its Member States deserves more attention. We address the democratization of Central and Eastern Europe and the debt crisis in Southern Europe as two empirical examples for discussing the shortcomings of the central hypotheses and methodologies of the Europeanization literature.
Keywords
europeanization, methodology, mechanisms, impact, democratization, macro-economic policy.
Abstract
Education is one of the most important determinants of political preferences and voting behavior. However, the direction of this impact is not universal. In a less developed, post-Communist polity like Romania, education is negatively correlated with support for the left. In a post-industrial democracy like France, increased education translates into more support for the moderate left (i.e., the ˮpost-materialist” left, Socialists and Ecologists). We explain these differences as the joint effect of recent historical experiences and the current level of economic, social and political development of the two polities.
Keywords
voting, old politics, new politics, Romania, France.
IONUŢ APAHIDEANU, Unicameralism versus Bicameralism Revisited. The Case of Romania (pp. 47-88)
Abstract
In the midst of a public debate over the governing majority’s project of a Constitution revision, the present paper revisits the unicameralism versus bicameralism debate, a classic one within the disciplinary fields of Constitutional Law and Political Science, and explores its relevance and applicability to Romania’s current bicameral legislature. The research starts with an empirical approach, focused on the European area, of some theses more or less shared by field scholars regarding certain correlations between Parliament structure and other state-related variables, while also exploring worldwide trends, in an attempt to later on contextualize the Romanian case in both descriptive and explicative terms. Necessarily preconditioned by the employment of a conceptual framework meant to capture the considerable variety of contemporary bicameral legislatures, the subsequent debate is structured along nine major comparative analysis criteria ideally usable as legislative performance indicators. The final part addresses Romania’s Parliament accordingly, from the historical background of its bicameral structure, to a detailed evaluation of its strength and weaknesses.
Keywords
unicameralism, bicameralism, Romania, Constitutional revision.
Abstract
Within the geopolitical system of the Middle East, the non-Arab republics (Israel, Turkey and Iran) are a special category of regional actors occupying an increasingly important role in the dynamics of the area. Recent history, starting with 1991, has shown that a lot of developments in the region were either the result of disputes of these states with their Arab neighbors, or of events in the relations between Arab states in which Israel, Turkey and Iran have been drawn or played a specific role. The uprisings in the Arab world, known as the ˮArab Springˮ, that started in early 2011 have already led to an increased role of Turkey and Iran in the geopolitical equation of the region. In this context, already influenced by the growing visibility of Islamist nuclei, Israel has reasonable grounds for concern, being forced to adapt its security architecture to the possible developments in the Arab states.
Keywords
non-arab, republic, alignement, balancing, omnibalancing.
Abstract
The article examines the way Romanian political thought in the early 19th century connected with the major trends of Western political thought. Romanian political thought was often reluctant to adopt the mainstream liberal ideas, forged in reaction to the French Revolution, as well as to synchronize with the pace of political change it set. Hence, concepts like constitutional regime, rule of law, liberty and order are to be read as indicators of the Romanian definition of political modernity as shown by several texts of that time. Their authors combined several themes and concepts as sovereignty or political legitimacy in a hesitating philosophical context, drawing a thin line between Ancient and Modern.
Keywords
political regime, democracy, modernity, ancient and modern, liberty.
MAURO CALISE, Fuorigioco. La sinistra contro i suoi leader, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2013 (ALEXANDRA IONESCU) (pp. 135-140)
FABIO BORDIGNON, Il partito del capo. Da Berlusconi a Renzi, Maggioli Editore, Santarcangelo di Romagna, 2013 (SORINA SOARE) (pp. 141-147)
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