Thesis (PH.D.)--Michigan State University. Educational Policy, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Aug. 11, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 276-287). Also issued in print.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 172-187). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Building on interviews with young activists of the Euromaidan movement, this paper examines the possibilities for civil society engagement in today’s Ukraine. In Ukraine, the level of civil society engagement is one of the lowest in the postsoviet world, while at the same time millions of people take part in large protest movements. The material shows that, and present explanations to why, young people who are keen to engage do so in many ways, without this engagement resulting in a long-term civil society engagement.

The dissertation examines transitional justice mechanisms implemented in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe. The question of how to deal with the legacies of communist repression has been an important source of political divisions in the region. The post-communist states of Central and Eastern Europe had an array of choices to consider when addressing demands for retrospective justice: from criminal prosecution of important officials, to restitution of property, or declassifying of secret files for public inspection. The two most common paths taken in the region have consisted of lustration laws and the decisions surrounding public access to secret police files. Lustration laws involve the disqualification of certain categories of former communist officials and secret police collaborators from public positions under the new regime. The dissertation explores differences in lustration laws and access to secret files across four cases that represent variation along a spectrum of outcomes: the Czech Republic having the strongest type of lustration, Poland and Hungary having a weaker form, and Romania lacking institutionalized lustration. The extant literature has focused on instances where such laws have been instituted, but has little to say about cases where it failed. The dissertation pays special attention to the case of Romania, with the goal of explaining its failure to enact lustration in spite of repeated attempts. The analysis is organized in two main sections. The first evaluates the existing patterns of lustration in the region. The second offers an in-depth analysis of the understudied case of Romania with the intent of filling the vacant niche in the existing literature. Primary sources examined include the proposed projects of lustration laws, the final drafts of laws, parliamentary debates and media reports on the issue. The dissertation concludes that differences in lustration patterns can be fully explained only by simultaneously considering the impact of several factors: the pervasiveness of security apparatus during the last phase of communist rule, the type of regime change, and the extent to which political actors embraced the lustration agenda.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis provides a critical cultural analysis of the discursive myths of salvation and conspiracy, using as a case study the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) during the transition period in Romania, from 1989 to 2007. The study offers an answer to the questions: how do NATO myths change? Why and with what discursive implications for the Romanian audience? The thesis uses a combination of methodological tools from three different disciplines - history, mythology, and rhetoric - with the intent of showing how the Romanians' public attitudes toward NATO change in four different political contexts: during the integration period until Romania's admission into the alliance, during the Kosovo war, after 9/11 events and during the installation of NATO troops on Romanian territory. This study demonstrates that NATO myths are effective operational strategies that offer Romanians a sense of identity in the critical period of transition. The thesis also explains how NATO, as a carrier of Western values, helps the democratization of the Romanian public sphere and the reconstruction of a national identity based on democratic principles. / by Daniela Popescu. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Title from title page of PDF (University of Missouri--St. Louis, viewed February 22, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 334-344).

Tyrime nagrinėjamas postkomunistinis palikimas šalyje ir jo įtaka Skandinaviško socialdemokratinio modelio gerovės valstybės kūrimo politikai. Prieš du dešimtmečius iš Sovietų Sąjungos išsivadavusios valstybės, taip pat ir Lietuva, dabar susiduria su naujais iššūkiais - gebėjimu kurti gerovę savo valstybės piliečiams. Taigi, pagrindinė šiame tyrime iškelta problema - postkomunistinėse valstybėse atsisakius sovietinio socialinio politikos modelio iki šiol nebuvo sukurta ir įdiegta optimali socialinės apsaugos alternatyva, kuri pilnai atitiktų transformacijos metų realijas. Kadangi komunistinės sistemos prisiminimai įtakoja visuomenės tolesnius lūkesčius, tyrimo objektas darbe išskirtas kaip Lietuvos gerovės valstybės politika. Šio magistro darbo tyrimo tikslas – ištirti, kaip postkomunistinės transformacijos ir likęs sovietinis palikimas įtakojo Lietuvos politiką kuriant socialinės gerovės valstybę pateikiant Skandinavijos šalių pavyzdį. Šiam tikslui įgyvendinti buvo iškelti tokie uždaviniai: Aptarti postkomunistinės erdvės bruožus ir transformacijų pradžią valstybės valdžioje; Aprašyti svarbiausius postkomunistinių transformacijų visuomenėje procesus; Pateikti socialinės gerovės valstybės Skandinavijos modelio pagrindinius ypatumus; Ištirti, kaip Lietuvoje po Nepriklausomybės atgavimo buvo kuriama socialinės gerovės sistema; Išanalizuoti, kaip sovietinis palikimas Lietuvoje trukdo kurti socialinės gerovės valstybę taikant Skandinavijos socialdemokratinį modelį. Siekiant... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This search contains post-communism countries transitions to democracy and heritage that was left after that in society. Now in Lithuania some problems are seen that makes influence to Scandinavian model welfare state building processes. First of all, the main aim of this paper: post-communist countries didn’t found till now the most optimal and advantageous welfare state model. The main reason is that communism system recollection has influence on society expectations in Lithuania welfare state policy. So, the key object of this paper is Lithuania welfare state policy after rapid reforms. Secondly, the main problems are: to reveal post-communism transformations heritage; to give Scandinavia welfare state model as an example; to discuss Lithuania legitimate basis on welfare state policy; to analyze if this model could be applied in post-communist Lithuania. Welfare state model in Scandinavia contains strong labor market, solid economy and generous welfare spending. The results of analyze shows, that welfare state won’t be built in Lithuania unless people will start to care about all society well-being, not only individual and most of the time – material. Statistic data of searches or interviews how people grades well-being shows, that Lithuania is far more lagging behind Scandinavia and Europe average level. So, in order to make welfare state policy successful society needs to get more solidarity, which was impossible in communism. Moreover, Lithuania economy needs to get... [to full text]

The objective of the dissertation is to identify the main features of Western personal social services in institutional and organizational structure of post-communist Lithuania. The first part of the dissertation is devoted to get analytical frame of personal social services. Part two presents the research strategy used to analyze the institutional and organizations structure of personal social services in post-communist Lithuania: object of research, data sources and data gathering techniques, data analysis process and techniques. The analysis of institutional and organizational structure of personal social services in post-communist Lithuania is conducted in the third part of dissertation. Findings: the institutional and organizational structure of personal social services in post-communist Lithuania corresponds to Western structures, but the development was influenced by the legacy of communist period. / Disertacijoje tyrinėjama asmeninių socialinių paslaugų institucinė ir organizacinė struktūra Lietuvoje. Pagrindinis darbo tikslas – ištirti Vakarų šalių asmeninių socialinių paslaugų institucinės ir organizacinės struktūros pagrindinių bruožų raišką Lietuvoje. Disertacijos struktūrą lėmė išsikeltas tyrimo tikslas. Pirmoje darbo dalyje siekiama pateikti asmeninių socialinių paslaugų sampratą, išskiriant ją sudarančius elementus, kurių transformacijos analizuojamos kitose darbo dalyse. Antroje darbo dalyje pristatomi tyrimo objektai, duomenų šaltiniai ir duomenų rinkimo metodai, duomenų analizės metodai ir procesas. Trečiojoje darbo dalyje analizuojama Lietuvos asmeninių socialinių paslaugų institucinė ir organizacinė struktūra, siekiant identifikuoti Vakarų šalių asmeninių socialinių paslaugų institucinės ir organizacinės struktūros bruožus, bei atskleisti atitinkamo bruožo raišką sąlygojančius mechanizmus. Disertacijoje konstatuojama, kad Lietuvos asmeninių socialinių paslaugų institucinėje ir organizacinėje struktūroje galima identifikuoti tam tikrus Vakarų šalių bruožus, tačiau jų raiška yra veikiama iki nepriklausomybės atkūrimo buvusios institucinės ir organizacinės struktūros.