Search results

1

Captured states, social networks and sociological imagination: critical analysis of conception of state capture

100%

Afeltowicz Ł.

Studia Socjologiczne

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2010

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issue 1

2

Rule of Law Reforms in the Shadow of Clientelism: The Limits of the EU’s Transformative Power in Romania

88%

Mendelski M.

Polish Sociological Review

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2011

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vol. 174

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issue 2

235-254

EN

This study examines the role of theEuropean Union (EU) and domestic actors in the development of the rule of law (judicial quality) in Romania between 2000 and 2009. This study offers an empirical analysis of rule of law development across two key dimensions (1. judicial capacity, 2. judicial impartiality). The findings of the study show that, while the reform actions of domestic change agents and the EU led to improvement on the judicial capacity dimension of the rule of law (efficiency-related aspects), there was considerable persistence on the judicial impartiality dimension (power-related aspects). The limited transformative power of the EU is explained by the strong resistance of clientelistic veto players, who captured the reform process and undermined the creation of de facto rule of law.

3

What Determines State Capture in Poland?

75%

Alwasiak S., Lewandowska-Kalina M., Lech K., Możdżeń M., Kowalewski O., Rybiński K.

Management and Business Administration. Central Europe

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2013

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vol. 21

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issue 4(123)

86-109

EN

Purpose: This study examines the determinants of ex-ante state capture in Poland. Methodology: In order to establish the determinants of ex-ante state capture a logistic regression is estimated. Findings: The study shows that in Poland the majority of legal acts were passed with the aim to satisfy the interest of particular groups. Furthermore, the regression analysis shows that the likelihood of state capture increases during the period of higher economic growth and local elections. The likelihood of state capture, however, declines during presidential elections. The results we attribute to different interests of political parties in the period of local and presidential elections. Finally, we fi nd that the state capture increased over the years in Poland. Additionally, we show that the EU accession did not prevent state capture in Poland. In contrast, the fi nancial crisis of 2007 resulted in a wake-up effect and the likelihood of state capture declined in Poland. Research limitations: In the study we employ proxies for state capture, yet we assume that corruption is a widespread phenomenon in Poland. However, due to its nature corruption is very diffi cult to assess and measure. Originality: The study uses a unique dataset on ex-ante state capture that was identifi ed in the legal acts that have been passed in the period 1990–2011 in Poland.

4

Variations in media freedom: Why do some governments in Central and Eastern Europe respect media freedom more than others

75%

Bajomi-Lázár P.

Central European Journal of Communication

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2015

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vol. 8

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issue 1(14)

4-20

EN

It is argued in this paper that the relative defi cit of media freedom in most of Central and Eastern Europe as opposed to the relative freedom of the media in most of Western Europe is ultimately rooted in the specifi cities of the former communist countries’ party systems. Young parties in young democracies lack the resources needed for party building and organization, which they compensate for by colonizing the state and the media and by exploiting state and media resources; party colonization of the media necessarily inhibits media freedom. It is further argued that temporal and spatial variations in media freedom in and across Central and Eastern Europe are explained by diff erent patterns of media colonization. Th e more centralized the governing party’s or parties’ decisionmaking structures, the greater the likelihood of one-party colonization, and the more fragmented the governing party’s or parties’ decision-making structures, the lesser the likelihood of such colonization; one-party colonization of the media leads to lower levels of media freedom than multi-party colonization. In other words, the weaker the government, the more freedom the media have.

5

Manoeuvring towards success: reconstruction of the state and its effective campaign countering corruption and state capture

75%

Mazák J., Němcová L.

Sociologický časopis. Czech Sociological Review

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2023

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vol. 59

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issue 6

593-616

EN

In the period from 2013 to 2017, the Czech Parliament passed five bills against corruption. A civil initiative called Reconstruction of the State was heavily involved in the process. Before the 2013 elections, the initiative prompted the candidates running for an MP mandate to publicly commit to supporting selected legislation proposals. The initiative used a variety of advocacy and campaign tactics to support passing the bills after the elections. This paper uses process tracing to answer the following research questions: (1) What path led to this success?, (2) Is there sufficient evidence about the actual role of the initiative in seeing the proposals passed by the Parliament? and (3) What has determined the initiative’s advocacy decisions? The first research question is treated descriptively, focusing on the key milestones in this historically unique advocacy campaign. To answer the second question, we conducted a non-formal counterfactual assessment of whether the absence of the initiative would have resulted in passing fewer proposals. This is important for evaluating civil society’s potential to effectively influence the political process. Finally, in answering the third question, we show that advocacy tactics have markedly changed throughout the Reconstruction of the State campaign. Building on this observation, we argue that tactics are not only policy- or campaign-specific but also change within a single case.

6

From solidarity with the people to solidarity with the ‘company’: State capture and Karen Jayes’ dystopian novel For the Mercy of Water (2012)

63%

Mengel E.

Beyond Philology: An International Journal of Linguistics, Literary Studies and English Language Teaching

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2018

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issue 15/3

105-118

EN

For the Mercy of Water sheds light on an uncanny conjunction between the rape of women, the rape of a country and the rape of the truth. It relates a story about the vulnerability and resilience of women in a phallogocentric world. It deals with the phenomenon of ‘state capture’, the exploitation and abuse of state institutions and resources for the sake of private profit. Last but not least, it examines the relation of journalism and novel writing and flies the flag of truth-telling as a form of bearing witness and ‘remembering’ in a post-factual and increasingly totalitarian environment.

PL

Powieść For the Mercy of Water rzuca światło na niesamowitą łączność pomiędzy gwałtem na kobiecie, gwałtem zadanym krajowi i gwałtem zadanym prawdzie. Opowiada historię o bezbronności i wytrzymałości kobiet w fallogoncentrycznym świecie. Zajmuje się zjawiskiem ‘przejmowania państwa’, wyzyskiem i nadużyciami w instytucjach państwowych i zasobach dla celów prywatnego zysku. Co nie mniej ważne, powieść rozpatruje relacje między dziennikarstwem a pisaniem powieści i promuje prawdomówność jako formę dawania świadectwa i ‘pamiętania’ w post-faktualnym i coraz bardziej totalitarnym środowisku.

7

A Case-Specific Instance of Media Capture: the Gorilla Case of Slovakia

63%

Školkay A.

Środkowoeuropejskie Studia Polityczne

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2018

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issue 4

65-94

EN

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.

8

What does the murder of a journalist, and follow-up events, tell us about freedom of the press and politics in a European country?

63%

Školkay A.

Central European Journal of Communication

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2019

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vol. 12

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issue 1(22)

25-43

EN

In February 2018, Slovakia’s long history of the absence of journalist murder cases ended, when a young investigative journalist, Ján Kuciak, and his fiancée were murdered in their home. While previous cases of the disappearance of journalists cannot be totally dissociated from the possibilities of murder, a lack of evidence qualified this case as the first. The cascade of events which followed further emphasise its importance. Prime Minister Robert Fico was forced to resign. Resignations of the Minister of Culture, almost immediately, and two Ministers of the Interior followed. Subsequently, the third nominee for the position of Minister of the Interior was not approved by the President. These events were largely influenced by the media and public protests on the streets - some demonstrations were larger than those conducted during anti-communist protests in late 1989. Consequently, the role of the media as the key political actor following the murder of the journalist, represents an ideal model for analysing the influence of media in political and societal change.

9

Conceptualising ‘state capture by securitisation’

63%

Hashimoto T.

Społeczeństwo i Polityka

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2022

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issue 1(70)

9-18

PL

Chociaż „przejmowanie państwa” jest wpływową ramą analityczną ilustrującą (postkomunistyczną) transformację, podkreśla się w niej kruchość państwa (np. brak odpowiednich mechanizmów zarządzania) jako warunek wstępny przechwytywania. Postuluje zdolność zdobywcy do przewidzenia roli wyznaczania agendy, która wymaga znacznej wiedzy i zasobów, gdy jest stosowana w bezpieczeństwie narodowym. W tej krótkiej dyskusji proponujemy sposób na modyfikację koncepcji, aby ułatwić taką aplikację. Na początek złagodzimy postulaty przezorności po stronie zdobywców o spontanicznych reakcjach potencjalnych zdobywców. Następnie ponownie przyjrzymy się próbom modyfikowania programu bezpieczeństwa narodowego przez aktorów politycznych jako pretekstu do przejęcia państwa, czerpiąc wnioski z sekurytyzacji. „Przejmowanie państwa przez sekurytyzację” może ilustrować złożone (i często uwłaczające demokratyczne) procesy rządzenia i praktyki w następstwie nieprzewidzianych wydarzeń i wstrząsów zewnętrznych, z budowaniem „legitymizacji” w centrum public relations.

EN

While ‘state capture’ is an influential analytical framework to illustrate (post-communist) transition, it emphasises on the fragility of the state (e.g. lack of proper governance mechanisms) as a precondition of capture. It postulates the capturer’s ability to foresee the agenda-setting role which requires considerable knowledge and resources when it is applied to national security. This brief discussion piece proposes a way to modify the concept to facilitate such an application. To begin with, we shall relax the postulation of aforethought on the capturer’s side, featuring spontaneous reactions by the would-be capturers. Then, we shall re-examine political actors’ attempts to modify the national security agenda as a pretext to state capture, drawing insights from ‘securitisation.’ ‘State capture by securitisation’ can illustrate complex (and often derogatory to democratic) governance processes and practices at the wake of unforeseen events and external shocks, with ‘legitimacy’ building at the core of public relations.

10

The pros and cons of rent-seeking: Political rent in various research paradigms

51%

Sękowski S.

Studia z Polityki Publicznej

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2021

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vol. 8

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issue 2(30)

11-27

PL

Artykuł ukazuje, że to, jak traktujemy rentę polityczną i pogoń za rentą zależy od nastawienia badacza do ingerencji państwa w gospodarkę oraz od tego, jaka teoria regulacji jest mu bliska. Choć teoria pogoni za rentą koresponduje z teorią regulacji opartą na interesie prywatnym (ekonomiczną), badacz musi uwzględnić także podejście bazujące na teorii regulacji opartej na interesie publicznym, jeśli chce właściwie ocenić wpływ pogoni za rentą i kreacji renty politycznej na dobrobyt społeczny. Artykuł zawiera także konceptualizację renty politycznej. Opisuje też różne formy pogoni za rentą i najbardziej podatne na nią systemy ekonomiczne.

EN

This article shows that how we look at political rent and rent-seeking depends on our position on state interference in the economy and which theory of regulation we are familiar with. Although the theory of rent-seeking is in accordance with the paradigm of the private interest (economic) theories of regulation, the researcher also needs an insight based on the public interest theories of regulation if he wants to judge the impact of rent-seeking and the creation of political rent on social well-being properly. The paper is also a conceptualization of political rent. It describes forms of rent-seeking and economic systems most amenable to it.

Refine search results

Captured states, social networks and sociological imagination: critical analysis of conception of state capture

Rule of Law Reforms in the Shadow of Clientelism: The Limits of the EU’s Transformative Power in Romania

What Determines State Capture in Poland?

Variations in media freedom: Why do some governments in Central and Eastern Europe respect media freedom more than others

Manoeuvring towards success: reconstruction of the state and its effective campaign countering corruption and state capture

From solidarity with the people to solidarity with the ‘company’: State capture and Karen Jayes’ dystopian novel For the Mercy of Water (2012)

A Case-Specific Instance of Media Capture: the Gorilla Case of Slovakia

What does the murder of a journalist, and follow-up events, tell us about freedom of the press and politics in a European country?

Conceptualising ‘state capture by securitisation’

The pros and cons of rent-seeking: Political rent in various research paradigms