Darbe analizuojamas buvusios LTSR ir dabartinės Lietuvos politinis elitas, jo kaita ir transformacija atkūrus šalies nepriklausomybę. Pagrindinis darbo tikslas – išsiaiškinti Lietuvos politinio elito kaitą keliais aspektais: kaip kito „senasis“ politinis elitas – kokią dalį dabartinio politinio elito sudaro buvę TSKP, LKP, LTSR AT ir kiti aukštus partinius ir valstybinius postus užėmę asmenys. Antra, kaip keičiasi „naujasis“ politinis elitas – kokią dalį parlamento ir Vyriausybės narių sudaro pirmą kartą išrinkti parlamentarai ir ministrai, kiek jų Seimo ar Vyriausybės darbe dalyvauja nebe pirmą kartą. Tikslui pasiekti iškeliami septyni uždaviniai. Pirmiausiai kokios priežastys įtakojo pokomunistinės transformacijos procesus Vidurio ir Rytų Europoje, kaip prie to prisidėjo tuometinės M. Gorbačiovo ekonominės ir politinės reformos, kokį vaidmenį šiame procese suvaidino Lietuvos Persitvarkymo Sąjūdis, kaip transformacijos procesus ir politinio elito kaitą įtakoja politinės partijos, Lietuvos politinio elito bruožai ir kaita. Pastarajam uždaviniui įgyvendinti buvo atlikta Seimo ir Vyriausybių sudėties analizė. Tyrimui atlikti naudojami aprašomasis, analitinis, lyginamasis ir statistinis metodai. Gauti rezultatai parodė, jog pagrindinė ir svarbiausia Vidurio ir Rytų Europos valstybių išsivadavimo iš SSRS priežastis buvo M. Gorbačiovo pradėtos ekonominės ir politinės reformos, kurios paskatino Sovietų Sąjungos dezintegraciją. M. Gorbačiovo „Pertvarka“ leido Lietuvoje nuo 1988... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This work is about Lithuania’s political elite, its change and transformation after the restoration of independence. The main purpose of this work is to describe the change of Lithuania’s political elite, answering two questions. First of all, finding out the alternation of the “old” elites – how many of today’s political elite were members of Communist party of the USSR and LSSR, how many of them were members of The Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR. Second, finding out the alternation of the “new” elites – recirculation and change of parliament and government members of Lithuania. To achieve these purposes there were formulated some goals. First of all, what were the reasons that influenced Post-Communist Transformation processes in Middle and Eastern Europe, what was the role of M. Gorbachev’s political and economical reforms in Post-Communist Transformation process and what was the impact of Sąjūdis the Reform Movement of Lithuania in the transformation processes. Secondly, how Lithuanian political parties influence democratization processes and elite change, what is the level of education of Lithuania’s political elite and finally, what is recirculation and change of parliament and government members’ of Lithuania. To achieve these goals there were made a research analyzing the configuration and composition of parliament and government of Lithuania. Research was made using descriptive, analytical, comparative and mathematical methods. The conclusion is that one of... [to full text]

The aim of the study is to map out and analyse the integration of political parties from Central and Eastern Europe into the main European party families. The prospect of eastern enlargement of the EU implicated opportunities and above all challenges for the West European party families. The challenges consisted of integrating new parties with a different historical legacy. The study focuses on mainly how the European party families handled these challenges and what motives that have driven them in this engagement. At a more general level the thesis sketches two alternatives interpretations of the process: Western neo-colonialism and contribution to democratisation. The method used for the study is comparative case-study method and the main sources that have been utilised are party documents and in-depth interviews. The study is delimited to the three main European party families: the Christian democrats, the social democrats and the liberals. The countries of interest in Central and Eastern Europe are those postcommunist countries that became EU-members in 2004 and 2007: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. The time-frame is limited to the first party contacts in 1989 to the final inclusion of the new parties in 2000-2006. The results suggest that the European parties have responded with ambitious means to the challenge of integrating new parties from a postcommunist context. They have set up new coordinating bodies and organised educational programmes for the applicant parties, mainly directed to young politicians. The Christian democrats and the social democrats have also used parallel organisations as buffer-zones, which provided certain flexibility. As for motives, the Christian democrats stand out as the party family with the clearest power-oriented motives. At the other end, the liberals stand out as the party family that is most steered by ideology and identity. The social democrats went through a change with ideological considerations dominating the early phase and became increasingly poweroriented as the EU enlargement drew closer. When it comes to the two alternative interpretations of this process, the main conclusion is that they are intertwined and more or less impossible to separate from each other.

The subject of this study has been organizational change within two Scandinavian green parties – the Swedish Green Party and the Norwegian Green Party. Looking at the organizational changes within these two parties using Robert Michel’s famous concept the “iron law of oligarchy”, I have studied whether these two parties have become more oligarchic after having been elected to the national parliaments of Sweden and Norway respectively. What I have found is that although these two parties still retain much of the original organizational structure that they have had, in particular the Swedish Green Party, change has occurred and seems to be occurring, at least in the Norwegian Green Party, which would indicate that the two parties have become more oligarchic. What I have found is in other words that parties which are elected into their national parliament tend to become more oligarchic during the period following the election – the fact that a party is elected into parliament seems to play a key role in the development towards a more oligarchic party structure in the two cases which I have studied.

Secessionist movements have been found historically on both sides of the political spectrum, and sometimes have tried to remain apolitical completely, but because of the rise of partisan politics, secessionism has inevitably become politicized. Variations in Western European secessionism can be noticed, and as such, explanations put forward may be deemed insufficient, or incomplete. In my thesis I tested the hypothesis that secessionism varied on the political spectrum because it has been consolidated against ideological Others (in Scotland against Thatcher’s Conservatives between 1974 and 1990). I tested this methodologically through process tracing and theoretically by looking at the consolidation of the Scottish National Party through reactive nationalism. Specifically I analyzed the nationalist discourse used to justify ideological positioning in the 1970s and 1980s in propaganda materials and archival documents, and if and how this ideological choice was reflected or interpreted in newspapers (for opinions on how this consolidation was perceived by the electorate).

Existing theories of party organisation, and political communication and marketing, address the issue of party evolution and electoral behaviour from opposing and largely one-dimensional angles. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a more integrated perspective to party campaigning that goes beyond the traditional approaches of party behaviour and present the relationship between intra-party organisation and campaign evolution in a new light. The party evolution approach is an alternative conceptual framework of party campaigning, which integrates the classic approaches of party organisation with the modern accounts of political communication and marketing while taking into consideration the institutional and ideological constraints of political parties. The main aim is to bridge the worlds of marketing and politics by offering a distinct perspective that integrates elements of a party’s innate political identity and readdressing the notion of party communications professionalisation within the wider context of party evolution process. To this end, the employment of consumer marketing techniques and approaches in party campaigning is not considered a means to the end of electoral success but an integrated element of the party’s evolving identity. The intention is that the Party Evolution Framework be used as a tool for comparative analysis. The holistic and integrated scope of the framework is likely to qualify its application to a cross-section of democracies, regardless of their party and electoral systems, campaign regulations, and historical, socio-economic and political landscape. To this end, the present thesis illustrates the use of the party evolution framework in two largely contrasting contexts; British and Greek politics.

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Pakistan's tribal areas have become a refugee for Al-Qa'ida terrorists and other criminals. Criminal elements have been able to take advantage of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) because these lands enjoy a unique legal status dating back to the British Empire. The influx of Afghan refugees following the Soviet invasion has likewise provided fertile soil for religious extremism. Extremists continue to be educated, trained, and sheltered in madrassas operating in tribal areas. Extreme poverty in the FATA lands contributes to their 'wild west' atmosphere, including the proliferation of smuggling and other illegal trade. Fully integrating FATA lands into Pakistan is necessary for both Pakistan and the international community. Pakistan simply cannot afford to have areas operating outside the control of central government and the rule of law. Extending the rule of law to FATA is a necessary step in the prosecution of the war on terror. However, thus far Government efforts to bring the tribal areas into the fold of the normal law of the land have achieved minimal results. Resistance to full integration runs high among certain social forces in FATA. The prevailing environment is thus detrimental to national integration and the security of the country. This study provides an analysis of how tribal areas can be gradually absorbed into Pakistan while offering a strategy to solve administrative, political, and economic problems so that the areas can play a major role in the mainstream life of the nation, while helping the government to establish its writ.

La thèse vise à proposer un modèle intégrateur et synthétique des antécédents du niveau de proactivité environnementale des entreprises industrielles opérant dans le secteur des produits de grande consommation. La revue de littérature nous permet de développer un double cadre théorique, fondé sur la théorie des ressources et compétences élargie aux ressources et compétences naturelles, ainsi que sur l'approche des parties prenantes. La première étape de la recherche empirique consiste en une étude qualitative exploratoire menée auprès du « Club Déméter », un regroupement d'acteurs privés et publics pour réfléchir sur les problématiques de développement durable. Cette étude qualitative repose sur une analyse documentaire (étude des rapports de développement durable des entreprises membres), 16 entretiens semi-directifs (auprès des responsables des grandes fonctions d'une entreprise fabricant des boissons) et une observation longitudinale, non participante, d'un groupe restreint (plusieurs sous-groupes de travail du « Club Déméter »). L'étude qualitative a permis d'affiner le modèle de recherche élaboré lors de la revue de la littérature, mais également de préparer la phase de recherche quantitative, en contribuant à développer certaines mesures des variables. La seconde étape de la recherche empirique, qui repose sur une analyse quantitative réalisée auprès de 188 entreprises industrielles opérant dans le secteur des produits de grande consommation en France, nous a permis d'évaluer la qualité des échelles de mesure, dont certaines ont été spécifiquement créées au cours de l'étude, ainsi que de tester nos hypothèses de recherche. Les résultats obtenus montrent une influence positive sur la dimension stratégique interne de la proactivité environnementale, de l'orientation parties prenantes, des compétences de management environnemental, de gestion des ressources humaines, de conception de produits plus respectueux de l'environnement, de conception d'emballages réduits à la source, simplifiés, valorisâmes, réutilisables, produits à partir de matière recyclée. Nos résultats montrent une influence positive sur la dimension stratégique externe de la proactivité environnementale, de l'orientation parties prenantes, des compétences de gestion des ressources humaines et de conception d'emballages conçus à partir de matière recyclée. / The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to explain the sustainable development integration variability by a stakeholders approach and resource-based theory analysis in the French mass market industry. The first step of the empirical study is based on a qualitative analysis of the « Club Déméter », a group of public and private actors working together on sustainable development issues. This qualitative study is conducted by of documentary analysis, 16 interviewsand a long non participant observation of a srnall group within the « Club Déméter ». With this first empirical study, we were able to precise the research model and to prepare the second step of the empirical study. The second step of the empirical study is based on a quantitative analysis of 188 firms within the French mass rnarket industry. This empirical study gave us the opportunity to estimate the quality of the measuring device and to test the research model. The results show a positive influence of stakeholders orientation, environmental management competencies, human resources management competencies, product eco-design competencies, eco-design of packaging that can be reused, simplified, end of life value added, and made with recycled raw material competencies, on internai environmental strategy proactivity. The results also show a positive influence of stakeholders orientation, human resources management competencies, and packagingmade with recycled raw material competencies on external environmental strategy proactivity.

The politicians have entered a new platform with the potential to democratization and to exchange ideas. Therefore, we want to look into what new conditions social media creates for politicians. Through strategic political communication the goal-oriented two-way communication is depicted as it is crucial for relations to establish, build up, maintain and to be affected.   One aspect of this is about the creation of messages and the visual communication affecting the meaning of the content. In our study, these theories have become the foundation in the research, and of the tools used when developing messages for social networks. We have looked deeper into Facebook as a social media and political parties on this platform. We focused on and observed their different ways of developing messages in their Facebook feed and the reactions they generated. We found tendencies saying that pictures and videos have a great effect on a engagement generated in the posts. This proves that visual communication is a crucial tool for political strategic communications within the networks of social media.

The purpose of this monograph is to study the early Texas Republican party within the framework of well-known political party functions, i.e., to provide political leadership, recruit governmental personnel, generate public policy, and propagate ideology.