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MODEL ŁOTEWSKIEJ SKARGI KONSTYTUCYJNEJ NA TLE ROZWIĄZAŃ POZOSTAŁYCH PAŃSTW BAŁTYCKICH

100%

Szwed K.

Polityka i Społeczeństwo

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2018

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issue 4(16)

89-103 (15)

EN

The constitutional complaint is a means to protect constitutional rights, as well as being the core element of a state governed by the rule of law. It was introduced into the Latvian legal system only in 2001, which is five years after the establishment of the Constitutional Court. A constitutional complaint is of great importance since not only does it protect fundamental human rights, but also guarantees the public interest. Although the Baltic States share many historical, social, formal and political similarities, there are many differences in the precise legal solutions and institutions. Thus, the possibility of filing a Constitutional complaint is recognised only in the Latvian legal system. While in Estonia a person has a limited direct access to the Supreme Court and Lithuania is merely considering its introduction.

2

EXPECTING REFUGEES IN LATVIA: REALISTIC AND SYMBOLIC THREATS

100%

Murašovs V., Ruža A., Dombrovskis V., Raščevskis V.

Sociālo Zinātņu Vēstnesis

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2016

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issue 2

125-139

EN

In the light of a dramatic increase of illegal immigration in Europe, security issue has become a top priority in the politics of the European Union (EU) in 2015. The asylum crisis has shown that the future of the European project depends on the EU’s ability to cope with these new security challenges. The present study is an attempt to make an in-depth social psychological study on subjectively perceived realistic and symbolic threats posed by coming refugees on residents of Latvia. Although the asylum system in Latvia was established in 1998, the state has provided shelter to only 219 foreigners. Latvia receives the lowest number of asylum applications in the EU in both relative and absolute terms. Due to the fact that Latvia is about to receive 776 refugees in the next couple of years, the problem of refugees has become more visible and widely discussed in Latvian society. Although the factual experience of interaction with refugees reportedly does not exceed ten per cent of Latvian population, around 80% of Latvia shares negative attitudes towards refugees, which is the highest per cent in the EU. This situation requires scientifically based explanations and empirical examination. One thousand Latvian residents evenly representing Latvia’s demographic composition have participated in this study. Two modified Stephan’s realistic and symbolic threat questionnaires have been used in it. Symbolic and realistic threats both represent a cognitive component of attitudes towards refugees. The results illustrate how threatened Latvian society really is about its welfare, political and economic power, identities, beliefs, morals and values, and identify factors influencing the formation of prejudice. The study suggests that in order to find ways to reduce prejudice and increase the level of societal cohesion and integration in the long run there is a need for complex empirical research on prejudicial attitudes and the perceptions of acculturation strategies and orientations.

3

MISUSE, PUNISHMENT AND NEPOTISM. GENDER PERSPECTIVES ON CORRUPTION IN LATVIA

86%

Hilmer Pedersen K., Johannsen L.

Sociālo Zinātņu Vēstnesis

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2013

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issue 1

7-17

EN

In global context international organizations like World Bank, UNDP and UNIFEM have begun to recommend that women should increasingly constitute a growing share of the civil service. This recommendation is an expansion of the positive discrimination position to increase gender equality rooted in the belief that women are morally superior to men, that is, are less inclined to accept corruption. Thus in societies characterized by systemic corruption gender based recruitment promises perhaps not a quick fix but at least a supplement to other anticorruption efforts. Given the prevalence of corruption in Latvia this paper questions is Latvian female civil servants really are morally superior to their male colleagues, or are the differences in attitudes towards corruption, punishment and nepotism an artefact of a socio-economic gender gap? Based on a survey of 500 Latvian civil servants, it is found that Latvian women do perceive corruption to be more widespread than men but are less inclined to support increased penalties for civil servants and firms caught in the act. These results are indicators of a socioeconomic gender gap. However, corruption is particular inherently difficult to research when respondents are asked about their own activities. Knowing that these activities are immoral if not outright illegal respondents are likely to ‘colour’ their answers. Therefore the present research capitalizes on the later years methodological developments by, for the first time, introducing the list experiment to the study of nepotism in surveys. Holding one group of respondents constant and only vary the list of answers slightly for the remaining respondents it is possible – without the respondents knowing this – to trace the prevalence of nepotism among Latvian civil servant. Using this technique no differences between the genders with respect to nepotism were found. In turn, the upbeat positive story is that Latvian civil servants espouse values that underpin modern administrative thought. The paper does not discuss positive discrimination as such but given the find that women are not morally superior to men this argument should not be used in the affirmative for a change in recruitment policies to the civil service.

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2 Sociālo Zinātņu Vēstnesis

1 Polityka i Społeczeństwo

1 Dombrovskis V.

1 Hilmer Pedersen K.

1 Johannsen L.

1 Murašovs V.

1 Raščevskis V.

1 Ruža A.

1 Szwed K.

1 2018

1 2016

1 2013

MODEL ŁOTEWSKIEJ SKARGI KONSTYTUCYJNEJ NA TLE ROZWIĄZAŃ POZOSTAŁYCH PAŃSTW BAŁTYCKICH

EXPECTING REFUGEES IN LATVIA: REALISTIC AND SYMBOLIC THREATS

MISUSE, PUNISHMENT AND NEPOTISM. GENDER PERSPECTIVES ON CORRUPTION IN LATVIA