Central European Journal of International and Security Studies, Nov 14, 2021
This article argues that the rise of Mahdism within Shi'a political Islam during Ahmadinejad's pr... more This article argues that the rise of Mahdism within Shi'a political Islam during Ahmadinejad's presidency did not lead to a significant break with previous persuasions. The relevance of Mahdism within the politicised and ideologised Shi'a Islam in Iran has been on the rise since the second half of 20th century. The issue occurred in Shi'a political philosophy and theory prior to the Islamic Revolution in Iran and in the post-revolutionary period, Mahdism became an inherent part of the Islamic political system. The emphasis placed on Mahdism during Ahmadinejad's political career could be also explained by the complex relationships among key political, cultural, economic and religious actors. This article conceptualises Mahdism as a doctrinal catch within the Shi'a political Islam in Iran, focusing on the rise of Mahdism and on the roles key religious leaders played since 1978. In this regard, the role of political philosopher Ali Shariati and theoretician Ayatollah Khomeini are investigated. Revolutionary and post-revolutionary Iran is also evaluated in the text though more attention is paid to the issue of Mahdism. Specifically, the article looks at the "timing" of Mahdism during Ahmadinejad's period in office.
and an International Fellowship at the Open Society Institute, and attended courses of the ICPSR ... more and an International Fellowship at the Open Society Institute, and attended courses of the ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods at the University of Michigan. He has been the author or editor of six books and has published more than 40 articles and book chapters on democratic and economic transitions, social capital, educational policies, research methodology, income inequality and labour migration. His publications include "Social capital and the transition to democracy" (2003, Routledge, co-edited with Eric Uslaner) and articles published in journals such as Communist and Postcommunist Studies, Higher
Hugh Poulton: Who are the Macedonians? C. Hurst & Co. /Publishers/ Ltd., 38 King Street, London W... more Hugh Poulton: Who are the Macedonians? C. Hurst & Co. /Publishers/ Ltd., 38 King Street, London WC2E 8JT, 2nd edition, revised 2000, 218 stran, ISBN 1-85065-534-0
one of the primal search directions that minimizes the number of the evaluations of the determina... more one of the primal search directions that minimizes the number of the evaluations of the determinant of the positive definite completion is also proposed. We then implement the algorithm and test it on the problem of finding the maximum cut of a graph.
Unrecognized States and Secession in the 21st Century, 2017
The contribution investigates the evolution of wording of the referendum questions (RQs) for ball... more The contribution investigates the evolution of wording of the referendum questions (RQs) for ballot designed to referendum on independence (RI) in the period of 1980–2014. The set of criteria of intelligible RQ formulated by the Electoral Commission in the UK is considered as the reference point here. There are four groups of secessionist units surveyed in the text—emerging democracies seceding from post-communist federations; internationally supervised RI in the post-Cold War period; micro-states in the Pacific and in the Caribbean; and independence referendums in liberal democratic world. The thorough analysis revealed rather surprising findings. First, there is almost no or very limited impact of principles and norms of intelligible RQ evaluated in the examined period on constructing concrete RQs. Findings revealed mixed results but no epistemological improvement in timeline under scrutiny. Second, RQs proved that in groups examined were both similarities and sharp differences. Post-communists relied on notion on “sovereignty” while decolonized entities substituted voting on “independence” for notion on a “free association”. The formulas of the RQ varied most significantly in liberal democratic entities where, however, they were not reached most intelligible RQ. The clearest RQs were achieved if they were fairly negotiated and agreed by the centre.
ALPPI Annual of Language & Politics and Politics of Identity, 2016
This article explores the evaluation of norms and principles of an intelligible referendum questi... more This article explores the evaluation of norms and principles of an intelligible referendum question (RQ) from Québec's biased formula in 1980 until the clearly constructed wording of the question for independence referendum held in Scotland in 2014. In this text, for the purpose of evaluation of whether a formula was biased or intelligible, the criteria introduced recently by the Electoral Commission in the UK were employed. Specifically, it means that the RQ shall be clear and simple, to the point, unambiguous, neutral and avoid misleading voters. Apart from biased RQs in 1980 and 1995 in Québec referendums, the following six referendums on independence were carefully selected for the investigation. Secessions and attempted secessions in the European context are represented by the cases of Montenegro, Catalonia, and Scotland, while the post-colonial secessionist units from larger states apply for Eritrea, East Timor and South Sudan. The findings were surprising in several aspects. First, liberal-democracies in the West totally failed to formulate intelligible RQs when they were constructed unilaterally by secessionists. On the contrary, if the RQ was formulated under international supervision, the formula submitted to voters was far more intelligible, also in most post-colonial cases. There is no evidence of a strong impact of principles linked to a clear and intelligible RQ evaluated in Canada and in the UK on the formulation of a concrete RQ on independence.
The following article explores an until-recently forgotten topic in political philosophy: the mor... more The following article explores an until-recently forgotten topic in political philosophy: the morality of secession. The normative theories of just secession will be explored in the text. The political conception of Allen Buchanan is explored in the case of just-cause theories, David Miller's approach for the case of national self-determination theories, and, finally, Harry Beran's suggestions for plebiscitary theories. Then, I analyze the advantages and disadvantages of all mainstream theories of secession. My conclusion is that for the contemporary liberal democratic states, the most justified approach is the one which combines the good sides of plebiscitary and national self-determination theories. I favor primary right secession because most of the contemporary state borders were drawn during undemocratic conditions and should be open to changes under democratic conditions if the majority desires them. However, I discovered that the theories of secession avoided paying a...
This paper provides evidence that the Romanian voters have become familiar with the electoral sys... more This paper provides evidence that the Romanian voters have become familiar with the electoral system and they behave in such a manner as to maximize their utilities. For this purpose, it investigates whether strategic voting occurs and whether some electoral formulae provide more incentives for tactical voting than others. Namely, the presidential and parliamentary elections were compared, with encouraging results. The data used to measure voters' predispositions for sophisticated voting was gathered from the Soros Foundation's Public Opinion Barometer and was aggregated according to the requirements of the study. Individuals appear to be more conscious about wasting their votes in the more restrictive majoritarian election for president. The second part of the study focuses on identifying patterns of strategic voting by analyzing the effects of individual traits on one's chances of voting tactically. The method used was binary logistic regression. With some exceptions, Romanian voters conform to expectations drawn from relevant literature.
The meaning of science communication became attractive in last decades of the 20th century. The s... more The meaning of science communication became attractive in last decades of the 20th century. The scienctific journalism has followed this tendency. Various topic from the science appeared in the media. However, the agenda-setting pursuited by the media has not been always corresponding to the priorities of scientific community. Therefore the media relations became important in the field of science and scientists themselves are aware of media more than in the past. The main goal of the text is, firstly, to reveal uneasy relationships between science journalism, science and scientists. Secondly, in the practical part of the text, the real examples of how to use media properly would be presented and several others „unmanaged“ topics from the field of politics would be also revealed.
The article analyses through qualitative textual analysis and manual coding Czech singers known f... more The article analyses through qualitative textual analysis and manual coding Czech singers known for their critical attitudes to the “migration crisis”as presented on their Facebook walls (2015–2017). This major focus on the singer’s Facebook posts was reinforced by the analysis based on the two theoretical concepts – celebritisation of politics and post-truth politics. In sum, analyses across theoretical approaches found that a majority of singers – although not all of them – have been judging the problem through the lenses of a black -and -white “Clash of Civilizational” approach. Only a few singers run for political office and political agenda-setting linked to the “migration crisis” was not frequented as expected. Many of the investigated singers expressed support or political endorsement to xenophobic and anti-islamic political parties. Although the “Russian footage” could be denied, the style and characters of communication via Facebook revealed that in many aspects the singers...
Central European Journal of International and Security Studies, Nov 14, 2021
This article argues that the rise of Mahdism within Shi'a political Islam during Ahmadinejad's pr... more This article argues that the rise of Mahdism within Shi'a political Islam during Ahmadinejad's presidency did not lead to a significant break with previous persuasions. The relevance of Mahdism within the politicised and ideologised Shi'a Islam in Iran has been on the rise since the second half of 20th century. The issue occurred in Shi'a political philosophy and theory prior to the Islamic Revolution in Iran and in the post-revolutionary period, Mahdism became an inherent part of the Islamic political system. The emphasis placed on Mahdism during Ahmadinejad's political career could be also explained by the complex relationships among key political, cultural, economic and religious actors. This article conceptualises Mahdism as a doctrinal catch within the Shi'a political Islam in Iran, focusing on the rise of Mahdism and on the roles key religious leaders played since 1978. In this regard, the role of political philosopher Ali Shariati and theoretician Ayatollah Khomeini are investigated. Revolutionary and post-revolutionary Iran is also evaluated in the text though more attention is paid to the issue of Mahdism. Specifically, the article looks at the "timing" of Mahdism during Ahmadinejad's period in office.
and an International Fellowship at the Open Society Institute, and attended courses of the ICPSR ... more and an International Fellowship at the Open Society Institute, and attended courses of the ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods at the University of Michigan. He has been the author or editor of six books and has published more than 40 articles and book chapters on democratic and economic transitions, social capital, educational policies, research methodology, income inequality and labour migration. His publications include "Social capital and the transition to democracy" (2003, Routledge, co-edited with Eric Uslaner) and articles published in journals such as Communist and Postcommunist Studies, Higher
Hugh Poulton: Who are the Macedonians? C. Hurst & Co. /Publishers/ Ltd., 38 King Street, London W... more Hugh Poulton: Who are the Macedonians? C. Hurst & Co. /Publishers/ Ltd., 38 King Street, London WC2E 8JT, 2nd edition, revised 2000, 218 stran, ISBN 1-85065-534-0
one of the primal search directions that minimizes the number of the evaluations of the determina... more one of the primal search directions that minimizes the number of the evaluations of the determinant of the positive definite completion is also proposed. We then implement the algorithm and test it on the problem of finding the maximum cut of a graph.
Unrecognized States and Secession in the 21st Century, 2017
The contribution investigates the evolution of wording of the referendum questions (RQs) for ball... more The contribution investigates the evolution of wording of the referendum questions (RQs) for ballot designed to referendum on independence (RI) in the period of 1980–2014. The set of criteria of intelligible RQ formulated by the Electoral Commission in the UK is considered as the reference point here. There are four groups of secessionist units surveyed in the text—emerging democracies seceding from post-communist federations; internationally supervised RI in the post-Cold War period; micro-states in the Pacific and in the Caribbean; and independence referendums in liberal democratic world. The thorough analysis revealed rather surprising findings. First, there is almost no or very limited impact of principles and norms of intelligible RQ evaluated in the examined period on constructing concrete RQs. Findings revealed mixed results but no epistemological improvement in timeline under scrutiny. Second, RQs proved that in groups examined were both similarities and sharp differences. Post-communists relied on notion on “sovereignty” while decolonized entities substituted voting on “independence” for notion on a “free association”. The formulas of the RQ varied most significantly in liberal democratic entities where, however, they were not reached most intelligible RQ. The clearest RQs were achieved if they were fairly negotiated and agreed by the centre.
ALPPI Annual of Language & Politics and Politics of Identity, 2016
This article explores the evaluation of norms and principles of an intelligible referendum questi... more This article explores the evaluation of norms and principles of an intelligible referendum question (RQ) from Québec's biased formula in 1980 until the clearly constructed wording of the question for independence referendum held in Scotland in 2014. In this text, for the purpose of evaluation of whether a formula was biased or intelligible, the criteria introduced recently by the Electoral Commission in the UK were employed. Specifically, it means that the RQ shall be clear and simple, to the point, unambiguous, neutral and avoid misleading voters. Apart from biased RQs in 1980 and 1995 in Québec referendums, the following six referendums on independence were carefully selected for the investigation. Secessions and attempted secessions in the European context are represented by the cases of Montenegro, Catalonia, and Scotland, while the post-colonial secessionist units from larger states apply for Eritrea, East Timor and South Sudan. The findings were surprising in several aspects. First, liberal-democracies in the West totally failed to formulate intelligible RQs when they were constructed unilaterally by secessionists. On the contrary, if the RQ was formulated under international supervision, the formula submitted to voters was far more intelligible, also in most post-colonial cases. There is no evidence of a strong impact of principles linked to a clear and intelligible RQ evaluated in Canada and in the UK on the formulation of a concrete RQ on independence.
The following article explores an until-recently forgotten topic in political philosophy: the mor... more The following article explores an until-recently forgotten topic in political philosophy: the morality of secession. The normative theories of just secession will be explored in the text. The political conception of Allen Buchanan is explored in the case of just-cause theories, David Miller's approach for the case of national self-determination theories, and, finally, Harry Beran's suggestions for plebiscitary theories. Then, I analyze the advantages and disadvantages of all mainstream theories of secession. My conclusion is that for the contemporary liberal democratic states, the most justified approach is the one which combines the good sides of plebiscitary and national self-determination theories. I favor primary right secession because most of the contemporary state borders were drawn during undemocratic conditions and should be open to changes under democratic conditions if the majority desires them. However, I discovered that the theories of secession avoided paying a...
This paper provides evidence that the Romanian voters have become familiar with the electoral sys... more This paper provides evidence that the Romanian voters have become familiar with the electoral system and they behave in such a manner as to maximize their utilities. For this purpose, it investigates whether strategic voting occurs and whether some electoral formulae provide more incentives for tactical voting than others. Namely, the presidential and parliamentary elections were compared, with encouraging results. The data used to measure voters' predispositions for sophisticated voting was gathered from the Soros Foundation's Public Opinion Barometer and was aggregated according to the requirements of the study. Individuals appear to be more conscious about wasting their votes in the more restrictive majoritarian election for president. The second part of the study focuses on identifying patterns of strategic voting by analyzing the effects of individual traits on one's chances of voting tactically. The method used was binary logistic regression. With some exceptions, Romanian voters conform to expectations drawn from relevant literature.
The meaning of science communication became attractive in last decades of the 20th century. The s... more The meaning of science communication became attractive in last decades of the 20th century. The scienctific journalism has followed this tendency. Various topic from the science appeared in the media. However, the agenda-setting pursuited by the media has not been always corresponding to the priorities of scientific community. Therefore the media relations became important in the field of science and scientists themselves are aware of media more than in the past. The main goal of the text is, firstly, to reveal uneasy relationships between science journalism, science and scientists. Secondly, in the practical part of the text, the real examples of how to use media properly would be presented and several others „unmanaged“ topics from the field of politics would be also revealed.
The article analyses through qualitative textual analysis and manual coding Czech singers known f... more The article analyses through qualitative textual analysis and manual coding Czech singers known for their critical attitudes to the “migration crisis”as presented on their Facebook walls (2015–2017). This major focus on the singer’s Facebook posts was reinforced by the analysis based on the two theoretical concepts – celebritisation of politics and post-truth politics. In sum, analyses across theoretical approaches found that a majority of singers – although not all of them – have been judging the problem through the lenses of a black -and -white “Clash of Civilizational” approach. Only a few singers run for political office and political agenda-setting linked to the “migration crisis” was not frequented as expected. Many of the investigated singers expressed support or political endorsement to xenophobic and anti-islamic political parties. Although the “Russian footage” could be denied, the style and characters of communication via Facebook revealed that in many aspects the singers...
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