tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2009-11-08:/MokoFeed2009-11-08T01:45:29+01:00tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-04-06:/2007/04/06/human_rights_in_turkey_imperfect_or_non_~2042250/fresa92007-04-06T08:32:04+02:002007-04-06T08:33:05+02:00 <p>I presented the case of Turkey and the striking abuse of human rights in the country on 3d of April, 2007 in the PTPI Conference "Human rights in Eastern Europe, Asia and the Caucasus". The presentation sparked vivid interest and discussion. In addition to the Power point presentation I was providing additional information which unfortunately I do not have typed right now :-)</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1305558" title="Human Rights in Turkey"><img src="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/img/ppt.gif" alt="Human Rights in Turkey" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/04/06/human_rights_in_turkey_imperfect_or_non_~2042250/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-03-24:/2007/03/24/dictionary_of_the_khazars_analyses~1967910/fresa92007-03-24T19:25:33+01:002007-04-01T18:27:50+02:00 <p>by Yana Popkostova</p> <p>Dictionary of the Khazars is amongst the best and most invigorating books I have ever read. This is why I allowed myself to make a brief analyses of one of the entries in the book. I am not going to explain the basic characteristics of the book here since there is plenty of information on it in the net. I am strongly recomending this piece of fiction to everybody smart enough and able to analyze difficult balkan literature! :-))</p> <p><strong>The Kahazar Princess “ATEH” and her story according to Christianity, Islam and Hebrew sources in the book Dictionary of the Khazars by Pavic. </strong></p> <p>The dictionary of the Khazars is amongst the most invigorating novels one can read today. It represents the concept of active participation in reading which contrasts the old way of passive acceptance of information. Pavic gives to the reader the choice how to read the novel, how to accept the novel, and how to arrange by importance the different entries according to the importance placed on each source. Moreover, it depends entirely on the reader him/herself to “create” the novel, since s/he has to infer the story from information received by different, often conflicting sources. The novel takes the form of three cross-referenced mini-dictionaries, each compiled from the sources of one of the great religions known to the mankind - Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. As Pavic writes in his introduction to the work: "No chronology will be observed here, nor is one necessary. Hence each reader will put together the book for himself, as in a game of dominoes or cards, and, as with a mirror, he will get out of this dictionary as much as he puts into it, for you...cannot get more out of the truth than what you put into it."<br> The reading method chosen by the author was simultaneous reading of all the entries which repeat in all three books. The basic effect of this method was clear understanding of the contradictory character of the book and the absence of right or wrong, the absence of absolute truth presented and the utterly fairy-tale character of the book. What becomes clear from the novel as far as the author has read it and interpreted the information presented, is that the Khazars were an existent warlike tribe which was extremely powerful up till the moment they have decided to convert to one of the big religions. This decision followed a dream by the Khazar leader which he wished to be interpreted. According to the text the whole tribe converted to the religion which presented the best interpretation of this dream. While it is not known to which religion they converted, it is known that shortly after the conversion the Khazars disappeared. In all three dictionaries there is one entry which carries immense significance for the Khazar conversion. This is the personality of the Khazar princess Ateh whose role in the polemic concerning the Khazars conversion was decisive. Her story is repeated in all three dictionaries and of course the content of the story varies according to the religious context. In all three books though an agreement is reached regarding her active participation in the polemic and her significant role in the followed conversion of the whole Khazar tribe.<br> Comparing the meaning ascribed to her name in all three sources one can see that according to the Christians her name is taken to be the term for the Khazars' four states of consciousness. In the Hebrew book the name of princess Ateh is explained as detailed elucidation of each separate latter comprising it (At’h in Hebrew). "Aleph"-the first letter of her name, denotes the Supreme Crown, wisdom. "Aleph" is the beginning; it embraces all other letters, and is the beginning manifestation of the seven days of the week. "Teth" is the ninth letter of the Jewish alphabet, it is under a sign of the planet Saturn and divine rest; it is connected with broom sweeping, which stands for destruction and the loss of godlessness, and it denotes strength as well. "He" is the fourth letter of God’s name. It symbolizes the hand, power, a strong swing, cruelty (the left hand), and mercy (the right). Understanding the meaning of each separate latter in her name according to the Hebrew sources helps us understand more about the personality of the Khazar’s princess.<br> After clarifying the meaning of Ateh’s name the Christian section relates that Ateh would retire for sleep each night with letters of the Khazar alphabet inscribed on her eyelids. As the Khazar alphabet was poisonous to read, this practice served as her protection from molestation while she slept. Princess Ateh had in her possession two mirrors, one was a slow mirror, which reflected things slowly, the other was a fast mirror, which reflected things before they happened. One morning Ateh had her servants bring the two mirrors to her in bed, and while looking into them she happened to blink. As the poison letters were not yet washed from her eyelids, she was able to see them reflected, and so died "between two blinks of an eye". Further down the source though the reader will see that actually Ateh never died, but this kind of contradiction is typical for the whole book not only between different sources but inside the same source as well. Another peculiar thing one can find in the christian source is the importance of seven (holy number in the Christianity) and the mentioning Ateh was eating fish (symbol of the Christianity) “Seven kinds of salt stood on her table at all times, and she would always dip her fingers in a different salt before taking a piece of fish.”, “she had seven faces, like her seven salts”. The Christian source also mentions that “Ateh was a beautiful and pious woman”, and later on in the entry contradicts this statement by saying that “Ateh was no beauty at all, but she would train her face in the mirror and compose her features into a lovely expression and a pretty shape.” In the same entry we see further below the reference made by Daubmannus that “all Khazars, including Princess Ateh, are starting each day as someone else”. This is again contradicted by the records made by travelers who say all “Khazar faces were identical”. Despite all contradictions an agreement is reached that “a Khazar face epitomizes as face that is hard to recall.” Continuing this complex identification of the Khazar faces the Christian entry continues with the analyses that in the crucial Khazar polemic, Princess Ateh showed a different face to each of the participants” or even “there were three Princess Atehs--one for the Moslem, another for the Christian, and a third for the Hebrew scholar and dream interpreter.” According to the Christian source princess Ateh defeated the Hebrew theologian (strangely enough the Muslim theologian is not mentioned here?!) and along with the kaghan adopted Christianity.<br> The Islamic source is referring to Ateh as a woman “renowned for her beauty”. She was wearing bells (typical for Muslim community) which were never heard since “along with brains, the princess was endowed with inordinate slowness”. Ateh was hopping from one subject to the other in conversations “like a bird from branch to branch”, but she was always returning to her subjects few days later. She didn’t make any differentiation between important and marginal subjects, and was indifferent to all topics of conversation. In the Islam source we see that Ateh out-argued both the Jewish and Christian participants in the polemic and in the end helped the Islamic representative. The eternal life given to her by Islamic Iblis to avoid the condemnation made by Greek and Hebrew representatives angry with her choosing Islam, gave her the opportunity to “return endlessly and without haste to each of her thoughts and each of her words”. Love she could only have in her dreams. That is why Princess Ateh devoted herself to her sect of dream hunters. The reference to Ateh as the leader of the dream hunters is not made in the Christian source in this particular entry and it appear here for the first time. The reader will see a new reference to the sect of dream hunters in the Hebrew source as well.<br> At the Khazar polemic according to the Hebrew source she wore, attached to her belt, the skull of her lover” and helped the Hebrew representative and out-argued the other two participants, which was followed by Khazar conversion to the Jewish faith. The yellow book makes the reference to Ateh as the person who compiled the first Khazar dictionary. According to this source the first dictionary was made in poetic form. In the Hebrew source similarly to the Islamic source there is reference made to curse. After the acceptance of the Hebrew religion “the Islamic demon punished Princess Ateh by condemning her to forget her Khazar language and all her poems.” According to this source though, “Princess Ateh, sensing the coming danger, ordered a large number of parrots that could imitate human speech” and taught them each entry from the Khazar dictionary. These parrots were let free and after the “the Khazar faith was abandoned and the Khazar language suddenly began to die out,…there came a moment when the poems and the Khazar language were known only to parrots.” This is how in 17th century the khazar poems reached the Daubmannus edition of The Khazar Dictionary. In the Hebrew source we see as well Princess Ateh as the protectoress of the most powerful sect of Khazar priests, the so-called hunters or readers of dreams. According to this source we see the Khazar dictionary as “nothing more than an attempt to compile the records kept over the centuries by dream hunters who wrote down their experiences”.<br> So far the reader was able to see different perspectives on Steh’s personality and deeds. Despite this contradiction though all sources agree on the fact that Ateh was poetess. In the Christian source we see two of her poems being preserved. In the Islamic source the only lines preserved of her poetry are: "The difference between two yes's can be greater than the difference between a yes and a no", and according to the green book everything else is merely ascribed to her, which automatically qualifies null the verses quoted as hers in the other two books. According to the Hebrew source one of Ateh’s poems which was preserved is dedicated to the sect of dreamhunters and refers to the fact that “When at night we fall asleep, we all turn into actors and step each time onto a different stage to play our part.”<br> Another issue on which all three sources agree is the death (or lack of it) of princess Ateh. In the Christian source it is written that “Princess Ateh never managed to die.” In the Islamic source we see the story with the condemnation of princess Ateh by the Greek and Jewish deputies to “the underworld of the two hells--to the Hebrew Belial and the Christian Satan.” To defeat her of such an end the Islamic Iblis divested her of her sex, condemned her to forget all her poems and language, except for one word, ku, but he gave her eternal life. In the Hebrew source as well princess Ateh never dies. There is a version that the Jewish representatives saved Princess Ateh from the fury of the Arab and Greek missionaries by arranging to have her lover, the Khazar archpriest of the dream hunters' sect, punished in her stead.<br> In all three books we see different interpretations of the personality of princes Atah and the result of the Khazar polemic. Despite the contradiction though we have agreement on two points: the eternal life of Ateh and her poetic qualities. The reader can see the importance of salt, change, blurring, and opposition characteristic for the whole novel in the different entries for Ateh. The repeating entry on princess Ateh shows how the religious context interprets the same story differently and ascribes different importance to same things, moreover this entry shows that there is no ultimate truth since no explanation is considered to be more correct than the others. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/03/24/dictionary_of_the_khazars_analyses~1967910/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-03-23:/2007/03/23/the_eu_a_model_impossible_to_export~1959324/fresa92007-03-23T12:16:13+01:002007-03-23T12:16:13+01:00 <p>The EU: a model impossible to export?<br> 22.03.2007 - 17:42 CET | By Renata Goldirova<br> EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – During its 50-year-long journey, the European Union – itself striving to become a key global player speaking with one voice – has been promoting the idea of regional integration to other parts of the world. </p> <p>But is it at all possible to export the EU model beyond its borders? </p> <p>Since the 1990s, EU external relations policy includes the promotion of regional integration and cooperation in other parts of the world. The main reason behind this is to share a recipe that has already proved successful by paving the way to peace and wealth in Europe. </p> <p>By now, the EU has - more or less - served as a model to regional groupings in Africa, Asia and Latin America, although none of these has come anywhere close to creating anything like the European set-up.</p> <p>Over half a century, the EU has evolved from a purely economic community to a recognized political player, with powers divided between the European Commission (the executive body), the Parliament (the only directly-elected body), and the Council (representing EU governments). </p> <p>Currently the 27-nation bloc has its own free-trade internal market, a single currency (in 13 EU states) and a series of treaties, which with time have extended and deepened mutual cooperation. </p> <p>To become a part of the bloc, strict political and economic criteria must be fulfilled. </p> <p>Africa's specifics<br> The African Union was modelled on the European Union five years ago, in 2002, with some of its structures appearing to mirror EU-style integration. </p> <p>Currently a 53-nation bloc, it is organized around three institutions - the African Commission with its president and college of ten commissioners, the Pan-African Parliament, which is aimed at becoming become the highest legislative body and finally, the Assembly composed of heads of state and government. </p> <p>Eventually, the AU also aspires to adopt a single currency, to set up an integrated defence force and a human rights court. </p> <p>"The European Union has served as source of inspiration", AU official Mohamed Mustoofe told EUobserver, but rejected the assumption that it was an exact copy of the EU model. </p> <p>"You cannot make one-to-one transposition, given Africa's specifics such as tribal conflicts, underdevelopment, HIV or malaria", Mr Mustoofe said, adding the continent's initial priority is to achieve a strong economic playing field, while further political integration is far off.</p> <p>ASEAN and Mercosur<br> At the same time, business appears to be the main glue holding together other regional clubs, such as ASEAN in Asia, and Mercosur in Latin America, both trying to emulate EU-style economic ties in order to gain more leverage in dealing with major powers like the US and China. </p> <p>ASEAN – a club of ten south-east nations formed in the 1960s as a bulwark against communism – is set to have a free-trade zone by 2015 and also wants to draft a common legally binding rule-book. </p> <p>Similar free-trade ambitions have been mooted by South America's 16-year old Mercosur. The project has been questioned by analysts however, as Mercosur's own member countries have been locked in trade or diplomatic disputes. </p> <p>According to Antonio Missiroli from the European Policy Centre, promoting regional integration elsewhere "is also part of the [EU's] so-called soft or public diplomacy" as by selling its own model "the EU potentially spreads stability and increases its own credibility."</p> <p>However, the ability of Africa, Asia or Latin America to act as a bloc has been very limited due to internal disputes and the EU remains a one-of-a-kind project for the time being, Mr Missiroli stressed. </p> <p>Earlier this month, the chief of the Asian Development Bank also poured cold water on the idea of ASEAN becoming like the EU. "Reaching a broad political and social consensus needed to develop a far-reaching pan-Asian grand plan of regional integration does not appear feasible at this stage", Haruhiko Kuroda said, according to AFP. </p> <p>'One-of-a-kind project'<br> According to Mr Kuroda, South-east Asia "should rely on a step-by-step, bottom-up and multi-speed approach, where a few countries can start working together on selected common issues, leaving the option for other countries to join later". </p> <p>But Michael Emerson from the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies is even more sceptical, saying the EU model cannot be exported, replicated or imposed in other parts of the world. </p> <p>"The EU grew out from the ruins of two world wars and the European continent shares common political and democratic values, which together make it a one-of-a-kind project," Mr Emerson said.<br> Back To the top<br> © 2007 EUobserver, All rights reserved</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/03/23/the_eu_a_model_impossible_to_export~1959324/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-03-22:/2007/03/22/privatization_in_bulgaria~1956717/fresa92007-03-22T22:50:48+01:002007-03-22T22:50:48+01:00 <p>Yana Popkostova</p> <p>Definition<br> In the economic literature privatization covers all forms of transformation of state-owned and municipal property - not only enterprises but likewise the land, and social services. Such a broad conception of privatization best fits its general definition as a process of denationalization. Privatization in Bulgaria includes at least three interrelated processes: privatization of state-owned and municipal enterprises under the provisions of the Privatization Law; privatization of the land and property of the former Collective Farms, and restitution. These three processes combine legal and institutional mechanisms for the sale and use of different types of state, municipal and cooperative property. Privatization is meant to be restructuring and modernization of the industries which will make them competitive and economically efficient.<br> History<br> In 1992, 3 years after the change of the political regime in Bulgaria, the new western oriented and democratic government passed the Privatization Act, allowing privatization of state-owned enterprises. Since February 1993, when the first state-owned enterprise was privatized, privatization has slowly been gaining momentum in Bulgaria. Despite this progress, however, the environment in Bulgaria was anything but conducive to privatization. The economic and political situations were unstable, scaring off potential investors. High inflation, high interest rates, an unstable banking system, an undeveloped financial sector, and a volatile political environment were the rule.<br> Bulgaria adopted its Privatization Law in 1992 - later than the other Central and Eastern European countries. (Actually, under the provisions of other Bulgarian governmental regulations, some privatization started before the adoption of the Law.) The Privatization Law favors capital privatization, i.e. sale, rather than free distribution of state property. This approach was accepted because of the belief that ownership should be transferred to persons with proper management skills and the ability to provide fresh investment.<br> The institutional framework was established and started operating at the end of 1992. It includes three main privatization institutions: (1) the Privatization Agency, (2) the ministries managing state participation in various areas of the economy and (3) the municipalities as owners of municipal property. The principal reason for the delay in privatization was because the responsible institutions had no strong interests in privatizing. Another reason for the delay was limited potential for Bulgarian citizens and the domestic private sector to participate in the privatization process. Large-scale privatization has been primarily accessible to foreign buyers only. These factors led to the introduction of a mass privatization scheme in Bulgaria. In May 1993, Prime Minister Lyuben Berov proposed a basic scheme of privatization through public distribution of coupons with deferred payment.<br> By 1995, rapid progress was being made at least in some areas. During that year more favorable conditions prevailed, including clear political support, intensive preparation, the availability of new types of financial instruments, and the simple fact that the officials responsible for privatization had nearly three years of experience under their belts. In fact, many small-scale privatization deals were finalized. Some projects were undertaken by the government to disseminate information among the general population, and to train privatization experts. These projects were grounded in the conviction that privatization and the development of the private sector are the foundation for all democratic reforms.<br> In early 1997, Bulgaria was on the edge of economic disaster. In order to address quickly the country's most acute problems on July 1, 1997 was created a currency board, and “Bulgaria2001” programme was developed by the government. The emphasis was put on “”accelerated, transparent and fair privatization process”, exercised according to legal principals.<br> Public Opinion<br> “Public opinion on privatization has been divided since 1990.” Each successive government prayed the same values as the one before, and supported “just privatization process”, however the widespread rumors about personal gains for politicians, corruption, and deals below the table made the population highly distrustful toward privatization (which was part of the developing trend of distrust towards politics as a whole). An opinion polls from the period show that “during the transition years, 60% to 80% of Bulgarians preferred that most of the SOEs remain state-owned”. The most striking thing though is that even at the late 90s, and at the beginning of the new century when the political climate in Bulgaria was stabilized, and the privatization process received “nationwide support”, “most people in Bulgaria preferred to work in a state-owned enterprise rather than in one that was privately owned.”<br> Mistakes and achievements<br> Most of the privatization deals in Bulgaria were completed in the period between late 1996 and 1999. The most successful deals of that period are the privatization of Kremikovci and Neftohim in 1999. Before that the mass confusion with the privatization model led to almost no privatization deals. The course of privatization was a complicated political process and an arena for fierce political discord. Conflicts related to the particular form of mass privatization to be employed arose among members of the government and was one of the reasons for the destabilization of the Government. In an effort to jump-start the mass privatization process, on September 8 1994, the government introduced in the National Assembly a bill, which amended the Privatization Law. This bill allowed Bulgarian citizens over eighteen who are permanently residing in the country to participate in the mass privatization program. The change of the model proved to be successful and resulted in 75% of the state-owned assets in 2000 to be in private hands. There is a slowdown of the privatization process in the last 5 years but that is mostly the result of the widespread privatization in the previous period which did not leave much to be privatized after that. The most substantial deal of the period after 2000 is the privatization of BTK finally in 2004.<br> One of the problems that accompanied privatization in the mid-1990s was that in enterprises where most assets have passed into private hands, there was no single owner with a controlling stake, which means there was no strategic investor with a strong incentive to inject much-needed capital into those companies. In most cases, individual participants and privatization funds had short-term speculative interests. The lack of viable capital markets hampered the transfer of corporate stock from passive small investors to owners of majority holdings.<br> With privatization developing more slowly in Bulgaria than elsewhere, it was difficult for its supporters to overcome the resistance of certain groups, such as SOE managers, government officials, and large banks. State officials were unwilling to give up their direct influence on the economy, which has effectively been blocking privatization's progress.<br> Another thing is the mentality of the Bulgarian nation. People were used to the state ownership and suspicious toward private entrepreneurship. Moreover, the high social expectations, followed by mass disillusionment exacerbated people’s view toward privatization. People expected higher wages and better working environment and in most cases they were either fired or displaced. It turned out that the new private owners had new demands which were not met by the old labor force.<br> The unrealistic estimation of the asset value added additionally to the slow rate of privatization in the past. International experts were estimating the price of a state-owned company to be far above the real market value. The large difference between the estimated price and the price at which the company was sold made the public suspicious of corruption within the government sector, and untrustworthy with the privatization process. In all of this the role of the state was not clear. The officials were not sure what kind of state they want to develop, thus there was no systematic privatization model - the method was changed with every change in government. This, accompanied with the constant change of privatization legislation made the process inflexible and full with loopholes.<br> Though most of these impediments were overcome there is still much to be done in the privatization process in Bulgaria in order it to be completed successfully. Still there is no overall concept of the role of the state in the process. Moreover, the perception is that the privatization process leads to private monopoly as a contrast to the state monopoly of the previous decade. The people’s suspicion and circle of criticism has to be surrounded. The integration process to the structures of the European Union, of course, made the political climate in Bulgaria more stable, and the economy more flexible and welcoming to changes. The privatization is expected to finish in full record with the European standards and the industries to be restructured and made competitive in the European market. Bulgaria’s privatization performance has been satisfactory and Bulgaria has to strive to hold and to build upon what has been achieved. </p> <p>Sources:<br> 1. “Privatization: Avoiding mikstakes of the past” – Alexander Boshkov lecture in AUBG<br> 2. “Economic reform today: The lessons of Privatization” – Maria Prohaska at <a href="http://www.cipe.org/publications">www.cipe.org/publications</a><br> 3. http://www.priv.government.bg/ap/eng/content06.shtml___##0##___ 4. http://www.iccs.bas.bg/privat/base.html</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/03/22/privatization_in_bulgaria~1956717/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-03-22:/2007/03/22/hinduism_societal_wisdom_moral_vision_an~1956683/fresa92007-03-22T22:44:50+01:002007-03-22T22:44:50+01:00 <p>Yana Popkostova</p> <p>Abstract<br> Today there are thousands of different religions and worships. The modern and developed world does not impede the individual’s freedom to choose the religion that best fits his/her spiritual needs. In the ocean of various worships, striking is the fact that only few are truly “experienced” religions. Under “experienced” the author means religions that have clear historical foundations, and that have overcome the tests of the time and continue to serve their followers. The most interesting example is the Hinduism. Probably it is the most diverse, complex, open-ended, and ambiguous religion known to men . It is a religion which lays in the souls of the Indian society. It is a religion which is not hold by powerful religious organizations and ardent missionaries, but which grows together with the society like a living organism. Hinduism is internally heterogeneous, composed of thousands of different doctrines, moral norms, cults, and attitudes toward life. There are more than 330 million deities within the Hindu umbrella - one for every single human need and desire, and every man should choose which deity will be central within his life. It is an all-inclusive religion, giving everything to everyone, and presenting various paths to salvation and happiness. Hinduism is easily adaptable to the changing environment but at the same time is jealously keeping its peculiarity. Exactly this unusual relationship between tradition and modernization is of central interest to the author. Respectively, this paper will try to explain the impact of the Hinduism on the Indian society. The analysis will be separated in three basic parts. The first one will investigate the India’s complexity as a precondition for the rise and development of such a multifaceted religion. India has rich and varied history. The relationships with a variety of foreign people made through travel, combined with the existence of many contributing tribes and peoples in the broad geographic expanse of India also constitutes a factor in the development of Hinduism. The second part will provide with a brief historical and analytical overview of Hinduism which will try to imply the continuity and change within its beliefs. The last part will be a comparative study of religion and society: how Hinduism influences the eternal goals within individual’s life, how Hinduism influences the social system of the society, and how Hinduism influences the everyday life of its followers by ritualism and spiritualism. The conclusion of the paper will try to exemplify the Hindu movement today and its continuous relevance to the life of its followers in today’s industrialized and modern world.</p> <p>The birthplace of a great religion</p> <p> In order to be able to explain the extreme complexity of the Hindu religion the author will try to find some arguments for it within the environment where it was born. India is an exotic place, a place that has always been able to preserve its peculiarity and authenticity. A place mystic and secretive as it is, which was a topic of research for not one anthropologist and religious follower. India is too complex, geographically, ethnically, linguistically, and religiously to allow any definite statements to be made about it . From what was said above the author makes the conclusion that exactly in this complexity embedded within the Indian continent itself, within the culture and beliefs of its society is hidden the basic explanation of the complexity and all-inclusiveness of the Hindu religion. In a place where there are thousands of Gods, languages, castes and mentalities it is more than natural that a homogeneous religion will not be able to sustain. Thus, the Hinduism with its variousness serves all the different aspects of the Indian society, helping its followers being united in diversity and strong in complexity.<br> Hinduism lacks something which is of central importance for the other great living religions, and namely monotheism. It will be impossible even for the most stubborn researcher to find the sole founder of the religion, nor the church or the religious leader. Nor is there one holy book or one doctrine, one religious symbol or one holy center. As a result no binding authority could emerge . As complex as the Indian state itself, the basic religion there worships animals and trees together with Gods, allows spiritualism, mysticism, and sacrifices. The observer can find the commitment not to harm animals along with the bloody animal sacrifices. Nothing seems to be generally accepted (except maybe the doctrine of Karma which according to Max Weber is perhaps the only dogma of Hinduism but this will be the theme of the next part). All of these mutually contradicting practices strikingly live peaceful coexistence. In that respect one might almost say that religious postmodernism is realized in India . Here is the place to ask ourselves (away from the central topic of the paper) whether this tolerance can serve as an example for the western multi-cultural and multi-religious problems, whether the polytheism is the key to peaceful coexistence among different cultures in the developed world?<br> Along with the eternal tolerance enshrined in the Indian culture and Hindu religion the researcher can find a strictly hierarchical society for which the ideals of the French revolution – Equality, Liberty, Fraternity does not mean anything and does not serve the happiness of the society. In this respect India is different. Hinduism is different. The society is different. Thus, the response to the global forces that transformed the western societies completely, and led to the total isolation of religion within individual’s everyday life is different. The western religions do not serve the new needs and desires of the modern men. Their inability to adapt and to transform their rigid doctrines led to the total isolation of the religiousness of the everyday life of the materialist men. Here arises the question what is the force behind the Hinduism which makes it so powerful and eternal? How come that the Hindu religion continues to serve, and to give something to its followers across time? </p> <p>Continuity and change in the belief system of the Indian society</p> <p> This paper is not going to concentrate on the specific historical development of Hinduism according to different epochs and specific periods of time. The basic concentration in this part will be on the general trends in the Hindu developments which were and still are affecting its followers. Hinduism is indispensably connected to the India’s history, and it has been a subject of constant reform and revitalization in order to maintain its relevancy and cogency. As it is known Hinduism is among the oldest, and the most populous world’s living religions and it manages to hold its followers united. What is truly interesting for the Hindu religion is its ability to adapt and transform to the changing environment. New conceptions of life and the world, new gods, goals of salvation, forms of worship are developed according to the needs of the society in different periods of time. At the same time the religion stays the same and provides some niche of tranquility and stability into human’s life. Thus, the Mircia Eliade’s “fear of history” is softened and the Hindu followers can always find stability and cradle of hope into their life.<br> There are no specific dates and chronologies in the Hindu religion, rather there is the concept of timelessness and ancientness – sanatva. Hindus have great respect for the antiquity of their religion. The old is good, and the good is above reproach . The social codes, rituals, beliefs, and associations of Hindus are considered to comprise a sacred way of life; they are the sanatana dharma, or eternal law of the faith. There are numerous impacts on the Hindu religion throughout the years from another religious movements, tribal cults and belief movements. It is not a static religion with identifiable theology and dogmas, rather it is constantly changing and modernizing factor, it is a living organism, which grows and evolves with its followers and continue giving them hope, balance, and faith. It has been able to withstand reactions against it and to absorb influences upon it with ease and openness.<br> Hinduism is not a religion bound in its origins to a fixed point of time or to a personality . It was a variety of growing and grouping beliefs. Naturally enough it became not only a way of life but also a view of life . Religion is the manifestation of the most primitive of all human relationships – coming together and being together (latin:religare-“to bind together”), make the universe more understandable and reach a balance in life. Except this there is no guiding principle in Hinduism. As a religion Hinduism is remarkably flexible, permissive and inclusive in its outlook and nature. A short comparative study with the other great religions gives the important evidence of the Hinduism’s unparallel complexity. Most religions have taken the viewpoint that they and they alone are the final and autonomous norms of religiosity; they are conservative toward outside influence, variety and difference. The believers should be totally devoted to the religion and obedient to its basic principles. Contrary, the Hinduism historically stands in great contrast to the imperial claims of other religions. It has always maintained a most conspicuous attitude of tolerance and appreciation of other religions . Hinduism has expressed repeatedly its attitude toward other religions as one of complete acceptance. Most probably Hinduism is the only one world’s religion which does not have a missionary aim. It has not sought to convert non-Hindus to Hinduism.<br> The attitude of flexibility, permissiveness and inclusiveness which Hinduism has held regarding other religions is obvious within its own ranges as well . Different movements within the Hinduism tend to interpret the Hindu faith differently and to put emphasis on different doctrines but these distinctive movements are not in dead opposition to each other. They are tolerant and understandable. Nevertheless, there are five basic elements which bind all of these diverse beliefs. These elements constitute the essence of Hinduism and they are:<br> 1. Belief in God.<br> Hindus believe in a power beyond themselves which is controlling in their lives, but they are far from agreement as to the nature of that being<br> 2. Reverence for the Vedas<br> Vedas-scriptures are so diverse and comprehensive, so ambiguous and suggestive that almost every belief can refer to them.<br> 3. The practice of rituals<br> Rituals are indispensable part of the everyday life of the Indian citizen. There are meals devoted to gods, sacraments, and parts of the day devoted to God. Rituals inspire people to become one with the spirit. Through rituals people achieve self-purification and deity. The most well-known ritual is the practice of Yoga (or meditation) through which the Hindu believe will reach unity with the divine, physical discipline, and liberation from the material.</p> <p>4. Certain ideas that govern life<br> Belief in Karma (the wheel of life) – every human action or intention makes its own imprint upon the personality. A person is what he thinks and does. Karma signifies a causally moral, cosmically based law of retribution.<br> 5. Caste<br> The social system in India, following the Hindu belief is caste-based. There are four basic caste: Brahmin-priestly, Kshatriyas-warriors, Vaishyas – engaged in commerce, agriculture, and Sudras – serve the other three<br> Moreover, all of the diverse religious movements under the umbrella of Hinduism believe in the four stages in life: student, householder, forest dweller, homeless wonderer, and in the four eternal aims n life: arthas – material gain or worldly success; kama – sensory pleasure, dharma – aims of life can only be pursued if one stays in his/her social caste; moksha – almsgiving. Thus, it is easily assumed that even in their difference the various movements have something that unites them, and prevents them from outrageous opposition. Moreover, these uniting elements serve for the harmonious social order within the Indian political system.<br> It is assumed that every man has the right to believe as he wishes, and respectively there should be mutual respect, acceptance and understanding. The various individuals and sects within Hinduism are each striving to apprehend the truth; each has need of the other . The most interesting facet of the Hindu religion for the author was the fact that there is no formal doctrine of heresy within the Hindu religion. Contrary to the Christianity, for example, where heresy is a central theme which has played a significant role in the determination of faith, and in the maintenance of the autonomy of religious bodies, the Hinduism is a religion which historically and presently permits nonconformity. No Inquisition has ever marked Hinduism’s history . Thus, Hinduism is not a single religion but rather a set of different religions, therefore its chief characteristic is an internal diversity . But there are some facets of the religion which are identifiable in every internal movement, namely nature worship - an effort on the part of the human beings to enlist the aid of the deities to secure happy homes, long life, success over enemies, and other worldly gains; and ceremonial exercise with sacrifices (even bloody ones). Each movement values worship as a private communication between the individual and God. Each movement strives for reaching the divine reality - liberation from the wheel of life: Karma.<br> More emphasis on these parts of the religion and their impact on human life will be given in the next section together with the investigation of the caste system and the karma doctrine. </p> <p>Hindu religion and the everyday life of its followers: constant presence and influence</p> <p> The absolutely unique value of the Hindu religion is its ability to stay constantly into the everyday life of its followers. Religiousness is the degree to which a man puts into practice the ideals which he believes in. Hinduism is a sacred and loved religion. Its presence is evident in the everyday life of its followers. The basic tenets of the Hindu religion: Truth, Tolerance, Salvation are the basic motivators in the life of the Indian society. According to these tenets the Indian individual is living his/her life and is widely rejecting opposite influences. Hindu religion law does not see all human beings as having the same value, not as being subject to the same code of law. Individual freedom is sacrificed for harmony and for society’s ultimate and eventual collective liberation . Respectively this belief is deeply embedded into the citizens’ culture and social practices and into the Indian law.<br> Hinduism is the comprehension of a Truth which excludes nothing and nobody; its conception of Truth includes theists as well as atheists. Hinduism is based on the “know yourself” conception. In its conception of vastness of Truth, Hinduism recognizes that there is no one road by which the human mind can reach it; therefore, its conception of the unity of religion is through its recognition of the diversity of religions .<br> A central value in the Hindu religion is the spirit of tolerance. Hinduism does not claim that it is the only true religion. It is tolerant to all the diverse religions and beliefs. If intolerance begins in religion, it spreads to other spheres of human life and this threatens the peace of the world . While Hinduism does not persecute anyone as an “unbeliever”, its social system has allowed and “tolerated” the practice of “untouchability.” The distinction between caste and caste, the superiority of one over the other, is a phenomena now extending to race, to the domination of one race over the other. Mahatma Gandhi stood against this division of man from man, or man against man within Hinduism and outside it in the civilized world. The Hindu attitude is that religion is a matter of personal realization. Everything else, creeds, dogmas, symbols, all these are only instrumental.<br> A central belief within the Hindu doctrine, respectively within the belief system of the Indian society is the concept of Karma. Behind the karma belief lays the conviction that no one can escape his/her destiny. The belief in predestination is also a decisive factor in explaining the Hindu tolerance toward other religions and worships. It has never claimed to possess the final truth and to know the true way to salvation and eternal life. Thus, the Hindu takes the position toward life that there is a principle regulating individual, physical, and moral matters in which a binding and purposeful causality is controlling . The Hindus believe in the human limitation to truth. Man must be content to know only limited reality, because the final truth is not accessible to men . Moreover the Karma concept is connected to the belief that people get what they deserve, although not necessarily in this life. Thus, the religion (Hinduism) impacts its followers (the Indian society) in their understanding of life, and helps them establish social practices to keep the Hindu society in balance – and the world in order. In the Hindu society everyone has his/her own place, and a basic responsibility for the Hindu follower is to live his/her life according to the practices appropriate for his/her social status. Thus, the balance will be preserved and there will not be any crisis in the political and social development of the state. For the Hindu followers the birth location is indicative. People born in family with higher social status are concerned to be with higher spiritual nature, which reflects one’s good karma past . Indian society is strongly hierarchical and is separated in castes (again following the Hindu faith prescriptions). There are five basic castes (as already mentoned) which are the caste of the Brahmins – master the Vedic and ritual practice; kshatriyas – rule justly and protect the Aryan Society, Vaishyas – master artisanship and trade, multiplying the wealth of the society, and shudras – the manual workers. A person is obliged to remarry into his/her own caste in order to preserve the social balance. Under each varna (class) there are thousand of subgroups, and each of these subgroups has its central duty in life called Dharma.<br> The Brahmins caste is very important as the holders of the special key to the deities from whom human desires are satisfied. The central philosophy within the life of the Brahmins is gaining knowledge regarding ultimate reality . Their life is dedicated to constant search of the underlying connections between god and man. The Brahmins are extremely important for the life of the Indian society since they give legal prescriptions as to how one Hindu should live his/her life so that effective social functioning will eventually be reached. These legal prescriptions include advices how to rear children, prescriptions to be obedient to one’s parents, as well as norms one should follow in order to keep the appropriate relations among the castes. The devotional exercise and attitudes is also an important part of the Hindu everyday life according to these legal prescriptions. The Brahmins central goal in life is guiding the other caste’s life and reaching Brahma – the ultimate reality. In today’s life of India they are extremely powerful since people obey political doctrines less than the Brahmins prescriptions. </p> <p>Conclusions: Hindu Responses to the Challenges of the Modern World</p> <p>Unquestionably the Hindu religion has been a target not only by other world’s religions seeking dominance but also by politicians wanting to control the Indian society according to political laws rather than following the religions paths. As already mentioned Hinduism is a powerful religion that appeals to a lot of people. This power comes from its surprising elasticity of form. This remarkable ability to stretch and mould according to the specific time frame is best exemplified by the Hindu reaction toward Christianity. Christianity challenges to Hinduism were numerous with the most essential and convincing one: Colonialism as God’s justification against the untrue religion. The Christian missionaries were renouncing the wrong practices and morality of the Hindu people explaining the plight of the Indian society with the wrong faith. No matter how convincing were the arguments and charisma of the Christian priests the Hindu reaction was Rejection. The Indian people did not accept the new religion but the validative response was attempts to reform the Hinduism itself. Some Hindu reformers, in their defense of the faith against the aggressive Christianity, proclaimed monotheism of the faith, which was supposed to strengthen it. Some wanted to abolish the caste system. At the end all were united by the powerful conviction that God is one only, and not two. Different people call on him by different names: some as Allah, some as God, others as Krishna, Shiva, and Brahmin. But it is one and the same thing. Opinions are paths. Each religion is only a path leading to God, as rivers come from different directions and ultimately become one in the ocean . Gandhi the most influential reformer: wanted to remove the caste system and unify the Hindus against the colonial faith and practices. Through merging the European ideas with the reformist Hindu teachings India managed to reach independence. The role of the religion in the achievement of India’s freedom was enormous and the Hinduism’s involvement within the consecutive social reform was welcomed and appraised.<br> India has been rapidly modernizing and responding positively to the global challenges. In this rapid development observable is the persistence of religious beliefs and practices in post-colonial India. The Indian people, deeply influenced by the Hindu religion are convinced that there is “something more” in this world than satisfaction of basic human desires. In Hindu society God is watching all of the time, respectively one should live according to his preaching in order to reach balance and happiness. That is why even today a basic place within the everyday life of the Indian citizen is the communication with God, no matter which one. Rituals (mainly those associated with pleasing the four senses of the deities: flowers – for the sense of smell and sight, goods gratifying the taste, mantras and music pleasing the hearing, and cloth pleasing the deity’s tactile sense) are performed on a daily bases, and people pray in front of the icons (geometrical figures designed to give tranquility and meditation) which are channeling the divine presence.<br> The belief that no one can possibly possess the highest truth and the spirit of tolerance are still essential within for the modern Indian society. Hindu gurus continue directing one’s life and practices and way of sacrificing. The classical doctrines associated with Hindu belief: karma, reincarnation, salvation are still the focus in Hindu life. Fatalism or karma causality is still the most powerful force in one’s life and influences the way one lives.<br> The morality is central for the live of the Hindu. Contrary to the spoiled morale and ethics in the developed world, the influence of technology, medicine, European and American lifestyles are not detrimental for the Indian civilization and its basic Hindu morale. The Indian society is adopting what may be beneficial for it, and is rejecting the totally inappropriate and different. For example, Hindu priests proclaim the connection between science and Hinduism. Thus, they have been easily adapting to the changed environment, and quick to find scientific explanations and arguments for the Hindu faith. They use video for spreading the Hindu rituals and use the new technology to proclaim or propagate the growing linkage of the religion with politics. The Hinduism has been constantly developing religion. It has always been in deep connection with its followers being present in their everyday life and thoughts. The Hinduism is also a constantly growing religion. Thanks to the Internet, the television broadcasts, the easily publishable books, and before all thanks to the enhanced interests of western societies toward the ancient wisdom of Hinduism it has been reaching mass audience and becoming more and more popular even outside the Indian continent. Reformist practices are intensified in order to keep the faith “up-to-date” and this has proved to be the most successful religious campaign in the modern world.<br> Hindus believe that in the current era (Kali Yuga) human life moves from bad to much worse: Brahmins become unworthy, the Vedas are forgotten, castes mix unlawfully, and life spans decrease due to famine, war, and hunger . This can only be changed by the devotional practices of true believers. The complete abandonment of the ego is required in order for the Indian society to confront the global catastrophe of morality and ethics. </p> <p>Epilogue</p> <p>This paper was devoted to the aim of presenting the indispensable part of Hinduism within the development of the Indian society and state. Moreover, it made an attempt to exemplify the powerful role religion can play for the transformation of a society towards a higher, modernized level of establishment while preserving the moral order and social practices. Hinduism helped the Indian society combine modernization and traditionalism and presented a striking cultural continuity with the past. Contrary to the highly developed western society, the Indian one has something that is far more valuable than the material success, and namely – spiritual balance. The devotion to something which is higher than our earthy life gives the Indian people some spiritual satisfaction and harmony, which is so needed within the secular western societies. Maybe this is the right formula for success – both material and spiritual, maybe this is the explanation for the growing interest within the western societies towards the Asian wisdom, and maybe exactly this wisdom will help the western societies overcome their material fanaticism and spiritual emptiness. Time will show the answers to these questions, and time will show whether tolerance towards the different can find its place in the world’s politics. </p> <p>References:</p> <p>1. Justice, Christopher; Dying the Good Death: the Pilgrimage to die in India’s Holy City; State University of New York Press, 1997; pp. 140-197<br> 2. Chennakesavan, Sarasvati; A Critical Study of Hinduism; Asia Publishinh House, 1974; pp.1-38<br> 3. Stroup, Herbert; Like a Great River: An Introduction to Hinduism; Harper&Row Publishers, 1972; pp.1-60<br> 4. Michaels, Axel; Hinduism: Past and Present; Pinceton University Press, 2004; pp.3-31; pp.71-113<br> 5. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1998/e_asia/i4hindut.pdf___##0##___ 6. http://www.hindubooks.org/sudheer_birodkar/hindu_history/beliefs.html___##0##___ 7. Singer, Milton; When a Great Tradition modernizes</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/03/22/hinduism_societal_wisdom_moral_vision_an~1956683/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-03-22:/2007/03/22/the_role_of_gender_in_belief_systems_in_~1956650/fresa92007-03-22T22:39:20+01:002007-03-22T22:39:20+01:00 <p>Yana Popkostova</p> <p>Definition<br> In order to understand what is the role of gender in the belief systems of the post-industrial society one needs to be clear about two issues:<br> 1. What is gender?<br> 2. What is a “belief system”?<br> By answering to these two questions one will be more able to analyze how the significance of gender issues within the society has changed across time, and what stage has it reached in today’s societies. Moreover, it will be useful to define these terms so that it will be easier to compare the role of gender in people’s values and morale in different periods of history development.<br> Gender is a term generally defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as "classification of sex.” When mentioning this word the first thing that most of the time occurs to one’s mind is prejudice. Even today we are witnesses to situations in which one sex is preferred or favored over the other for particular job or responsibility. This inclination or preference refers to our belief systems, and presents a complex and constantly debatable issue. The belief system of a particular society is basically the way in which this society looks at the world around it. It is an organized way of trying to explain the world around us. It is something that distinguishes human beings and becomes an integral part of culture.1<br> 1. http://hsc.csu.edu.au/society_culture/belief_systems/nature/2500/BSNatureofbeliefSystems.html___##0##___ Historical analysis<br> The role of gender in traditional belief systems is a topic that has gained importance in the last century. With the advance of technology, with the destructions caused by the wars, with the design of the modern welfare state the importance of the gender, or more correctly the importance of the equality between males and females gained priority in everyday social and political discourse. Moreover, the emergence of feminism as a leading belief system in the 20th century made the importance of gender even more central for the cultural development of the nations.<br> 1. Pre-Industrial societies<br> In the pre-industrial societies there was a strict separation of the occupations and activities allowed for male and female persons. It was considered that the women are incapable of exercising certain activities. Those activities though were not only part of the physical domain, but also of the mental and psychological one. Most of<br> the societies were patriarchically organized and the place of the woman was far away<br> from political and economic matters. The education was not widely accessible for women, the suffrage rights were limited (if existent), the employment of women in factories was scarce: all of these serves as an argument for the belief that there was inequality between the sexes. It was enshrined into the belief system of the people at this period of time that the women were below the man both in physical and mental abilities. This belief was further supported by the religion. In the pre-industrial societies the two dominant world religions: Christianity and Islam did not place women at the same level as men, did not allow women to take high positions within the church, and preach that the sole responsibility in woman’s life is to serve the man. In these societies there was almost no separation between the church and the state, and the religion was of central importance within people’s everyday life. Thus, the belief that there is an inequality among the sexes was widespread and deeply embedded in people’s values and worldviews. With the advent of the 20th century though this general belief has started to blur away thanks to some new developments.<br> 2. The achievements of the 20th century as a precondition for abandoning the old beliefs<br> At the end of the 19th century the rapid development of new technologies, opening up of modern industries, increased use of machines and modern equipment and the importance of economic efficiency displaced the old beliefs, and arranged the society according to new priorities. The labor-intensive production gave rise to increased employment of women, as well as increased training and education allowed to female workers. Moreover, in this time of economic centrality when the material became more important than the spiritual the religion was pushed aside of everyday life. In the West the secular state started governing the society according to new rules: less spiritual and more directed towards democratic rights and economic efficiency. With the diminished importance of religion in everyday’s life people started forgetting the principles of inequality embedded within the Christian tradition. In respect to the Islamic countries, unfortunately there the emancipation development has been slower than in the western world. The widespread belief that the women should be obedient to the men is still valid in the East even today. Despite this belief though, in some Asian countries (Turkey as a valid example), the desire to catch up with the West politically, socially, and economically gave rise to respect towards women’s rights and increased opportunities for women’s education and career advancement. Thus, it will not be wrong to assume that even in the Asiatic and predominantly Muslim communities the feminist development is gaining momentum and soon there will be reached approximate equality between the sexes.<br> With the rise of the 20th century came the catastrophes of the two world wars. What happened during the wars was an increased need of women. Most of the men were at the fronts so the only labor force left was female. Women were working at factories, women were producing weapons, and women alone were taking care of their reduced in size families. This trend continued after the wars as well. Millions have died during the two world wars and most of them were men, whose absence had profound and devastating consequences for those who remained in the post-war world2. During the fighting gender roles has changed dramatically, as women and children fended for themselves without fathers and husbands.3 With the separation of the world into two competing ideologies there was clear distinction in the belief systems in the eastern and the western world spheres. But one identical belief were noticed in the two competing ideologies. Both the capitalist and the communist proponents recognized the equality between the genders. In the communist east the opportunities for women employment increased radically. The fulfillment of the economic plans and the forced industrialization based on labor-intensive production needed the use of any human resources possible. Moreover, the educational institutions opened their gates for female students who start<br> 2. Mark Mazower, The Dark Continent, Health Bodies, Sick bodies, pp.233-245<br> 3. Mazower, Mark, The Dark Continent, Health Bodies, Sick Bodies, pp.243</p> <p>performing even better in the academic spheres than male ones. The majors reserved only for men like engineering, management, business administration start being overflowed by female students and future practitioners.<br> In the capitalist west a similar development has taken place. Women start recognizing their importance for society. They began establishing unions and create initiatives for enhancing their own role in political and economic matters. The rise of feminism was the most powerful development after the Second World War. Women emancipation and fight for equality was decisive for the creation of the new welfare state. The traditional authority of the male has been denounced, even threatened. The new constitutions were as already mentioned away from the morality preached by the Church, putting an emphasis on the equal roles in the new society played by the male and female citizens. Moreover, the rise of individualism above collectivism put a strong underline upon women’s selfishness, ambition, and fierce competition with men for career advancement and realization.<br> After the end of the cold war and respectively the end of the clear separation between East and West the feminist emancipation trend continued with even more ardent decisiveness. It has become increasingly difficult for the state to make women abandon their careers and produce babies. The woman-housewife was a forgotten model already. Moreover, with the invention of the baby pill and the widespread abortion (already legal in most countries) the role of the women has changed even more dramatically. They can control the nature and escape from their reserved role as baby producers and house-servants.<br> Today what is clearly evident is almost full equality between the sexes in almost every sphere of life. Issues which were taboos a century ago like women’s sexuality, women’s leadership, women’s political stand and economic importance today are part of our belief systems, and are accepted without even the smallest surprise or thought of inappropriateness. Today women smoke, display their bodies, play box or karate, and at the working place men are under their supervision or control.<br> Conclusions<br> With the advent of the industrial era came a profound transformation of widespread societal values. The traditional way of living and thinking was transformed. The role of state became more central within people’s lives versus the strongly decreased role of the church and religion. The two world catastrophes in the middle of the 20th century further changed the traditional beliefs within the societies. Along with the devastating consequences after the wars came the true realization of the need of democracy and equality between the sexes. Except this idealistic vision came the more practical concept connected with the aims of the cold war. The two competing blocks in their desire to subdue the other and become the world’s hyper power desperately needed both resources and mind potential, which gave way to increased opportunities for women. This trend continues almost 16 years after the official end of the Cold war. The mentality of today’s nations, respectively the belief system of the individual today accepts increased equality between genders and absolute equal opportunities and rights allowed t them. What is the most important thing for today’s societies is economic development and competition for if not global at least continental leadership in production levels, technological development and stable political environment. Thus, the belief system of the post-industrial societies is strictly based upon these targets. For achievement of better living conditions and consumer satisfaction what is needed both politically (stable democratic environment) and economically (use of any possible potential) is respect toward the Individual – no matter what gender he/she is. Thus, the role of gender in the belief systems of the post-industrial society even historically investigated is strictly connected to the pursuit of stable political environment and higher economic efficiency. The absolute equality between the genders will assure both conditions to be eventually fulfilled. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/03/22/the_role_of_gender_in_belief_systems_in_~1956650/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-03-22:/2007/03/22/maintaining_and_transforming_boundaries_~1956637/fresa92007-03-22T22:38:13+01:002007-03-22T22:38:13+01:00 <p>Yana Popkostova</p> <p>All the various religions no matter how different they are between each other in values, beliefs and goals use the human body as the main symbol of identity through which they deliver their messages. All of the rituals are indispensably connected to the human body, because only it can truly distinguish one ritual from the other, and only it is part of the society toward which the religion is directed, and from which the religion brings its followers. This clear distinction between the rituals exercised by different religious groups but directed essentially to the society is there in order to separate the different religions and their followers, and to draw the boundaries among them. The religious identity of a person, and its manifestations can be exercised thorough special rules, ways of clothing, and eating, or through protest towards the existing widespread political and social structures.<br> The question of identity is a fundamental one which can be compared in significance to the popular dilemma “to be or not to be”. The same biological body, created at the same way, and guided throughout its life by the same mechanisms can feel so differently inside. Exactly this different spiritual self-imaging differentiates people in separate groups which are fiercely defending their own, peculiar identity. People are devoting in most cases their identity, and individualism in certain aspects in order to serve the group’s interests better. The groups are striving to preserve their peculiarness by answering the same questions from contradicting angles. Exactly this different answers are what put the boundaries around the different groups. If one wants to belong to a particular group he/she would be required to answer to the same everyday questions from the established group perspective. No matter how exclusionary a group may be, there are certain recognized memberships rules that are the fundamental points of differentiation from all of the others, and that may be transformed in time and adapted to the new requirements, but rarely changed completely. As mentioned in the previous sentence “the others” are the “thing” that defines “us”. The encounter with someone who is totally different than me (or my group) is the basic point at which I can define myself as part of a certain whole which is different than the other whole. The boundaries between different groups can either be physical, or conceptual. In most cases, though the physical and conceptual boundaries are blurred into one existing boundary. They are interconnected, and it is almost impossible one to exist without the other. The physical uniqueness is a precondition for certain conceptual peculiarity, and vise versa – the rareness of a conceptual belief makes one looks different physically or establishes structures that are symbols of one’s matchless belief. As an example of this interconnectedness I will briefly summarize an argument I had with a friend not long ago about the beautiful women and their mind potential. As an anti-emancipist his argument was that 90% of the really beautiful women don’t have any ambition for academic development and achievements. I was arguing against that supporting my thesis with the argument that the mind is not connected to the outlook, and the fact that most of the eminent beautiful women are not extremely smart is just a mere coincidence. Unfortunately, I admit that I lost the argument. Though, of course there are thousands good-looking women with marvelous achievements in the academic sphere a rule of thumb is that most of the truly successful academically women are not that interested in the 90-60-90 measures of their bodies, don’t waste hours for deciding which color of lipstick they should put, and spend more time above the books than in front of the mirror. Nice-looking girls stick together because they are attracted to each other. They are similar in outlook and interests, and vise versa their outlook sometimes is a precondition for their interests (in order to continue looking great it is better to read fashionable magazines than analysis on Kant’s existentialism). These type of girls cannot be part of the group of the intelligent women, first because they will feel their own inferiority (conceptual boundary), and second they will differ drastically in their outlook (physical boundary). And of course it is evident that if some spends 5 hours per day in front of the mirror, and in desperate dilemmas which skirt is best for today, this person will not be able to devote time for reading. Gradually the person’s mind is completely unable to grasp any kind of serious academic material. Thus, the limits become clear, and the communication with people outside of this group is diminished to minimum.<br> Not all of the time though the social boundaries are so strict and unmanageable. If we use the above example there is evidence of merging of members of the two groups – the smart and the beautiful. The fancy dresses which were a marking characteristic of the “beautiful” girls (and purely expressing their identity) today are bought by the smart, and more and more beautiful girls find their place in educational institutions. In this merge for sure both sides will gain mutual benefits (there is even such a show on the television), but unfortunately such cases are extremely rare, and though in today’s world it is increasingly more and more difficult to be exclusionary and non-receptive to the other, when groups are extremely different even when the boundaries are a little bit blurred the distinction stays. Negotiating boundaries is exercised when one of the existing groups is feeling threatened or its power and influence above its members has been diminishing. If this happen the group is ready to change part of the rituals, to try to deliver its message to outsiders, to make some concessions (not fundamental changes) to the rules of membership, and to try to convert more people into its beliefs. A powerful example in this direction can be the recent actions led by the Vatican. The new pope started a campaign of modernizing the Christianity, and making it more accessible to people of today’s world. Faced with fierce opposition from the most conservative members of the church, who wanted to preserve the purity and initial holy rituals and exclusivity of the church, the pope realized that the Christianity is loosing ground, that less and less people pay attention to the religion, and less and less people can find it useful in today’s globalized world. Thus, it is essential for a belief to grow, and to transform itself with the times in which it lives. Rituals and traditions that were applicable 100 years ago cannot find place today. The modernizing campaign of the Christian faith, and the attempt of the Pope to make it more understandable and attracting to modern people, without changing its basic rules and beliefs is an honored example of negotiating boundaries in order to preserve the belief.<br> The last, and maybe the most powerful example of the strive for exclusion and difference of the various belief’s systems is the ways in which physical boundaries, that deliver spiritual messages are used to contest existing political practices and widespread understandings. The example of the medieval women-ascetics is an interesting one. These women totally devoted to God were starving in order to reach sanctity, to denote their female biology, and to contradict their inferior gender role in a patriarchal society. Thus, their obsession with physical suffering which was a way to show their strong belief, and to deliver the religion’s messages transformed itself into a powerful challenge to the existing political structures which put the women on an inferior level than the men. These women were trying to achieve sanctity through starvation. The explicit connection developed by W. Davis in his book Holy Anorexia between holiness and starvation made this women determined to show first of all their devotion to God, secondly to show to the world that women can achieve holiness, and respectively women are not inferior than men. Maybe these women ascetics were the first feminists, who were “manipulating private and public symbols as to contest the boundaries of gender and conventional female roles.” Thus, by exercising one’s religious beliefs one is able to deliver political messages and to challenge the existing system, to apply non-violent dissidence and to achieve universal goals in a piecemeal manner.<br> There are many instances in which we will be able to identify symbolism, and the use of it as a weapon for maintaining or transforming social boundaries. The manifestations of different beliefs are the defining characteristic of the peculiarity of the belief, and its distinction from the other similar movements. According to one’s own value system the person is free to choose which religious group best fit his/her interests. Moreover, the person will be able to understand whether he/she is appropriate for the specific group by analyzing the membership rules. In some cases these rules are extremely harsh and difficult to pass, in others they are almost not visibly existing, but in either case one have to share these rules, and the beliefs that they defend in order to become part of the group, and to identify him/herself as an individual from this group as opposing to one from another group. As the essay showed there are cases when the boundaries between different groups are blurred so that the belief is strengthened or most correctly adapted to the changing environment which will require negotiating of boundaries and slight transformation of identities. This transformation will not change the belief or the fundamental principles of the specific group, it will just make it fit into the changing environment. The symbolism of various religion movements can be also used as a wind of change, as a powerful, non-violent instrument of dissidence against the widespread political practices. The silent feminist opposition of the medieval women-ascetics best exemplifies this trend.<br> After all that has been said to conclude with I will say that “Power means ability to adapt”. Power implies more physical than spiritual activity, but I am convinced into the interdependence of the two concepts. If a religious movements want to preserve its identity and power it will need to define its boundaries, to have some membership rules which will distinct its members from the members of the other religious group. Though, these boundaries should be flexible and susceptible to life transformation. The religious movement should be able to negotiate its boundaries in order to find its place with the same vigor and strength in the changed physical environment. Moreover, in order to be powerful the religious group should be able to apply its symbolism in the political side of the world, so that to be able to participate in the practical world of its followers and to contest widespread injustices or wrongdoings. A combination of all these three concepts should be evident in order for a religious group to maintain its identity, and to preserve its power throughout the constantly changing global environment. </p> <p>References:<br> Anthropology of Religion (2000) Fiona Bowie-Chapter#3</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/03/22/maintaining_and_transforming_boundaries_~1956637/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-03-22:/2007/03/22/urbanization_and_education_as_factors_co~1954153/fresa92007-03-22T16:23:01+01:002007-03-22T16:39:57+01:00 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1265888" title="a1"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/888/1265888_8ac7f0a9c2_s.gif" alt="a1" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>Abstract<br> The central aim of the present paper will be to provide thorough analysis of urbanization and education as factors contributing to development not only on a global level but also on individual, regional, national, and continental one. The paper is separated in two basic parts. The first one will try to clarify the concept of development and why it is important to understand it in the conditions of the today’s world. Moreover, a vital target of the first part of the paper will be to identify what the international community is doing to promote general development and what additional actions should be carried out for the future. Afterthat, the paper will undertake the aim of analyzing the education and urbanization in regards to their political, social, economic, environmental and cultural implications for the progress of societies and countries. According to the author, the understanding of development as a concept and the adequate knowledge of two vitally important development factors enables people to live in the conditions of the interdependent world, and to work together for the achievement of more just and sustainable humanity in which resources and power are more equitably shared. The acute awareness of the issue of development with all of its complexity is critical for the success of countries, nations, and individuals.</p> <p>I. What is development? Theory and analysis</p> <p>1. Definition<br> Development has been identified through (and used interchangeably with) the concepts of growth, progress, and improvement. All of the three terms imply something that is continuously evolving and moving forward, thus development should be understood as a process not as one-time act. There is no start- or end-point in the course of development, and it is extremely multidimensional. Development is observable in every part of life and is not solely economic, but social, cultural, political, environmental, technological, business, etc. Exactly this complexity of the issue requires efforts and changes in internal and external levels in the global structure so that the desired upward movement of the social system can be effectively achieved.<br> The concept of development has highly positive connotation and is often associated with idealistic and everlasting desires of the humanity such as healthier and happier life for everyone, fair distribution of the world’s wealth, availability of consumer goods, general provision of at least the basic needs for all, political stability, benign relations among countries and nations, etc. But for the attainment of all of this first some basic qualities should be achieved. These qualities as generally agreed are: live substance; self-esteem; and freedom . On individual level a person can not develop him/herself if not having at the first place food, shelter, protection and safety. Moreover, a person who has been continuously tortured or persuaded in personal malfunction does not possess the will and belief in success needed to actually achieve it. And finally, a person who is living in highly censored and limited environment is not free to achieve his/her personal desires (if they spread beyond the officially recognized borders), thus this person is unable to develop. Though explained on an individual level all of the three basic qualities required for development are important on national and international level as well. That is why greater efforts are needed by the international society to extent the live substance for more people around the world, to decrease (and eventually extinguish) the states/nations living in the conditions of authoritarian regimes, and finally to assure that every person is living in an environment in which he/she can develop his/her self-esteem.<br> In order to develop a country must concurrently pay attention to social, economic, political, cultural and environmental issues to ensure that development is sustainable and beneficial to all. Reaching an acceptable standard of living for all people includes giving everyone access to the basics: Food, Housing, Jobs, Health Services, Education, Safety and Security . In this context even in the most economically developed countries development issues are occurring on daily basis (In the mid-90s one of the leading European economies Germany has almost 2% of the population, mostly minorities living on the edge of poverty ). Thus, in comprehending the concept of development it should be realized that development is not only about the Third World.<br> 2. Sustainable development <a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1265894" title="vcbbhj"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/894/1265894_56e4ef7821_s.jpg" alt="vcbbhj" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><br> In the last decade considerable emphasis has been put on environment and nature sustainability . Thus, in order to highlight these new considerations and trends the international community has been increasingly using the term “sustainable development”. Sustainable development is "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." . Sustainable development implies economic growth together with the protection of environmental quality. Many observers believe that participatory democracy, undominated by vested interests, is a prerequisite for achieving sustainable development . There are five main targets that clarify the concept of sustainable development. The so called Five Es of Sustainability are Economy, Ecology, Equity, Education, and Evaluation. Overall these five targets aim at the achievement of economy compatible with nature. They promote economic development plans that protect natural resources through improvements in management practices, technology, efficiency, and changes in life-style, as well as creating societal well-being for all people with equal access to jobs, education, natural resources, and services . Moreover, these targets strive for achieving life-long learning, awareness and training that will assist people make more informed choices.<br> 2. Why understanding development is important?<br> There are 6 billion people alive today: One billion people live in developed countries. The other 5 billion live in developing countries where they barely survive on less than a dollar a day. The one billion who live in developed countries control 80% of the global resources. This leaves the other five billion people to get by on 20% of the world’s resources .<br> This simple statistic provides the answer to the question why development is important for the live of people. In the conditions of the 21st century with its unprecedented economic growth and technological breakthroughs across cultures it is critically important greater justice and equality to be spread around the world and the acute imbalances between rich and poor to be corrected. The understanding of the meaning behind the development concept will enable people to understand the links between their own lives and those of people throughout the world, will help them comprehend the economic, social, political and environmental forces which shape their lives, and will bring cultures together . Moreover, 21st century welcomed a world which is completely interdependent. All countries are linked by trade, finance, environment, drugs, crime, migration, diseases/epidemics, etc. Problems in one country inevitably affect other countries. For example, internal conflict in one country puts in motion a slew of problems that transcend borders: diseases and epidemics can spread, refugees start moving, and trade is disrupted . Thus, in the interest of the developed countries is to cope with the development issues within their affluent realms, and to help the developing nations catch up faster. The aim of development is to help people become more productive and to improve the quality of life for individuals, families, communities and countries as a whole. As people become more productive, a country is in a better position to trade with other countries, and more trade means more goods and services to continue improving living conditions.<br> 3. Present actions, Challenges and Future Issues.<br> Development requires education and equality, as well as greater participation by the citizenry, better infrastructure worldwide, and higher environmental standards . Thus, the first challenge to engaging wider public with the development issue is connecting to the financial implication of this endeavor. Spending should be increased. Moreover, stereotypical images, connected to limited knowledge and understanding of the issue, and racial and cultural prejudices should be changed . The surveys showed a lack of understanding of the real issues of development . Moreover, the limited knowledge people possess is heavily weighted to those countries that had large scale disasters, respectively were covered by the media sources in the developed communities . There is existent lack of education in schools covering development issues and in most of the cases pupils tend to view developing countries negatively and later on as adults have no desire for radical change .<br> Key to progress has to be an engaged and informed active citizenry. This will not be achieved merely by communicating messages or organizing more campaigns. Providing opportunities for the public to learn and gain real understanding of global and development issues will ensure a more informed citizenry. Governments, NGOs and civil society bodies have to collectively invest in ensuring that people have the opportunities to learn about and engage in development. This includes enabling people to be able to make connections between their own lives and those of people elsewhere in the world and to have the knowledge, confidence and skills to make informed choices for positive change . Andrew Darnton in his research concludes that “formal education is best placed to deliver understanding of the complex issues of development.” People need the opportunity to learn, understand and develop the skills to actively engage in support of development issues. People need the knowledge and value base on which to critically assess how global development issues have been tackled. The widespread research on development issues identified the three basic challenges that need to be addressed in order greater understanding of the development issue to be achieved. These are:<br> • negative images and patronizing attitudes that are still prevalent in too many areas of the society in the developed world towards the South<br> • lack of opportunities for people to learn more about the issue<br> • voices of peoples from the South too often ignored in consultations on policy initiatives relating to development and education in developed countries .<br> Steps should be taken to raise the awareness and understanding of how global issues affect the lives of individuals, communities and societies. This aim can be achieved by widespread education about the subject which will bring global perspectives into all aspects of learning - the school classroom, universities, local community activities, and the media. Lifelong learning will help people in the developed countries understand the links between their own lives and those of people throughout the world. Moreover, it will motivate people to work towards achieving a more just and a more sustainable world in which power and resources are more equitably shared. </p> <p>II. Urbanization and education as factors affecting the process of development</p> <p>After clarifying the concept of development the paper will continue with examining two particular factors that contribute to development. These factors will be explored separately and the structure of the second part of the paper will follow the guidelines in the first one. First an attempt for an appropriate definition of the term will be made and afterthat the relevance of the concept in the today’s world will be considered with examples of present issues connected to the particular factor as well as suggestions (made by the author but based on extensive research on the topic) for future endeavors for promoting the factor will be made. At the end of the paper along with the final remarks the interdependence of the two factors will be explored with the hope that till that stage of the paper it will be more than obvious for the reader that the factors are completely inter-reliant.<br> 1. Education<br> Definition<a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1265898" title="education-kids-br"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/898/1265898_e120759932_s.jpg" alt="education-kids-br" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><br> The word education is derived from the Latin educare meaning "to raise", "to train", "to rear", via "educatio/nis", bringing up, raising, leading forth . Education was chosen as a factor of research in this paper because according to the author this is the most powerful mean through which development occurs on all levels of society – individual, national, and international. Education is the key factor and achievement in the developmental progress of people and countries. Education is the lubricant of development . It empowers people, strengthens nations, and is a key to attaining the Millennium Development Goals . Without education a person is not able to function properly in society and respectively a nation that has poor or irrelevant education is generally less developed than nations famous with their educational institutions. Education is necessary for absolutely every aspect of life and development, thus according to the author it affects all of the other factors of development. Education is necessary for regulating the birth rate and for better health and safety (families learn to make family planning and take contraception, thus the explosive demographic growth in some developing countries is managed and the person’s health and live expectancy increased); for helping countries industrialize faster and make the appropriate market choices (thus helping them develop functioning market economy which is critical for success in the capitalist world); for helping people make the right migration choices and find better jobs and assure themselves higher standard of living (thus education will assist mitigating the urbanization problem occurring in the last century); for improving the agricultural practices, increasing production and income(agricultural production is 25% higher among those with even 4 years of schooling ). Knowledge gives powerful advantages to those who possess it. Thus usually people with higher educational degree earn higher incomes, have leading positions in the professional hierarchy, and have more comfortable life than people on the opposite side of the educational scale. The analyses on country level follow the same logic. In some countries the educational content is outdated and the quality of education is dubious, respectively the development of those countries is hindered since their education is not sufficient or relevant to the international situation . In some places even rudimentary equipment such as writing facilities and paper are limited . Ethiopia is infamous with its development problems and when one looks closer at its educational system maybe part of the explanation for its problems is hidden in the poor didactic methods used in the country. America on the other hand is considered the dominant power of the century and again the universities in the USA are recognized as the best educational institutions in the world . The fundamental reason for the pre-eminence of the United States as a source of innovation in the 20th century is the pre-eminence of its universities. The most consequential technological breakthroughs have been the fruits of public investment in the scientific talent of universities. The author is not arguing that only the difference in education is explanation for the different developments of the states and individuals, but part of the explanation for these disparities may be found in the various educational systems. In developing countries people are sometimes unaware of the importance of education, and there is economic pressure from those parents who prioritize their children's making money in the short term over any long-term benefits of education . A lack of good universities and a low acceptance rate for good universities is evident in countries with a relatively high population density. In some countries there are uniform, overstructured, inflexible centralized programs from a central agency that regulates all aspects of education . In order the development of these countries to gain momentum the educational systems should be decisively transformed and this should be made with the join efforts of both the policy makers and nations in these countries themselves, and the relevant help of developed countries and international organizations.<br> Why education is important for development?<br> 115 million children around the world are not in school. Poor kids often can’t go to school because they need to work to help their families survive. Two-thirds of the kids who don’t go to school are girls. More than 70% of the out-of-school children are in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Of those who go to school, one-third drop out before they learn to read, write and count. Over 15% of children in developing countries don’t complete a course of primary education . In Sub-Saharan Africa, less than 60% of children complete a course of primary education. Nearly 1 billion adults in the world are illiterate. Women account for 2/3 of all illiterate adults. Enrolment in tertiary education in poor countries was less than 10% in 1997, compared to 57% in rich countries . Rich countries spend $4,000 on a student each year, while developing countries spend $40 . In South Asia, 36 million of children are out of school—22 million of them are girls. In East Asia and the Pacific, there are 12 million children out of school—6 million of them are girls. In the Arab States, there are 7.4 million children out of school—4.5 million of them are girls. In Latin America, there are 2.5 million children out of school—1.2 million of them are girls .<br> Education is important because of the figures quoted above and because in the 21st century it is unacceptable millions of people around the world not to be able to enjoy the breakthroughs and advances the rest of the mankind is taking for granted. Education is important because it provides widespread employment opportunities plus higher income for people and develops a more productive workforce within the country. It is outrageous that in the century of the machine in some countries children are deprived of their childhood and forced to work. This should be changed and the next part of the paper is analyzing what steps are currently taken and what future issues should be tacked so that in the next decade piecemeal more people will start improving themselves through education. Because education helps people strengthen their skills, learn their rights, and find their voice, which effectively will transform the developing countries and reduce the economic and social gap between the nations in the world .<br> What should be done? Present situation and future challenges<br> Presently the most significant step taken in regards increasing the educational levels in developing countries is the agreement reached by world leaders from 180 countries at the World Education Forum in 2000 that by 2015 all boys and girls should be enrolled in school and be able to complete primary education . This international commitment to give every boy and girl in developing countries a good, free and compulsory primary school education is called Education for All (EFA) . To help all countries accomplish the EFA goals, donors partnered up with the countries most in need to help them develop good education plans and help all kids complete their schooling. Donors provide financial and technical support while countries work to develop sound national education plans. As of June 2005, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Mauritania, Moldova, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Vietnam, and Yemen are receiving support from FTI .<br> Except this initiative private organizations such as the World Bank are funding educational development . The Bank works closely with governments, United Nations, donors, civil society organizations, and other partners to help developing countries enroll all children, especially girls and disadvantaged children, in school and enable them to complete a primary education .<br> Thanks to such initiatives overall, illiteracy has greatly decreased in recent years. For example, the percentage of population without any schooling decreased from 36% in 1960 to 25% in 2000 . Among developing countries, illiteracy and percentages without schooling in 2000 stood at about half the 1970 figures. Among developed countries, illiteracy rates decreased from 6 % to 1 %, and percentages without schooling decreased from 5 to 2 . Illiteracy rates in less economically developed countries surpassed those of more economically developed countries by a factor of 10 in 1970, and by a factor of about 20 in 2000 . Illiteracy decreased greatly in LDCs, and virtually disappeared in MDCs. Percentages of the population with no schooling varied greatly among LDCs in 2000, from less than 10 % to over 65 %. MDCs had much less variation, ranging from less than 2 % to 17 % .<br> Despite of these positive achievements further reform of education is necessary in order all of the problems connected to lack of education to be solved. One way of action should be directed towards the educational programmes and their relevancy. In some countries though advance in attendance and literacy has been made the material studied in schools is outdated and irrelevant. Current achievements in the realm of education (such as increased spending) should be strengthened and extended. Obvious from the data provided above is that the educational levels among women are lower, thus improvement for female attendance and opportunities is critical for advancement in the area. Moreover, education still reflects inequalities among countries, regions, and races. There is the clear divide between South and North and respectively the disparity in literacy rates is striking (see above). Moreover, within countries different regions has different access to educational opportunities. In a developing nation like Indonesia the disparity between people from bigger and central for the country cities and people from the suburbs and more isolated villages is huge with literacy within the core regions going up 87% compared to 2% in the villages ! Inequality is existent even in the most developed countries and it reflects the gap between the majority and minority groups (often different races). In America the difference between the majority (white non-Hispanic) and minority (Hispanics and Blacks) in educational levels is approximately 49% .<br> Other aspect of improvement in education globally will be decisive action for the increase of the education connected to change in employment or need of new work-occupational skills. Also, family improvement education – knowledge, skills, attitudes towards family planning and contraception should be reexamined. Furthermore, in developing countries quite acute problem is the gap in training, equipment, and shortages of entrepreneurs which does not allow these countries to compete internationally and push them into the vicious cycle of dependency and poverty. Education can help these nations escape from this cycle and develop rapidly.<br> In addition, steps should be taken in order the so-called knowledge-economy to be shared on a global scale. The knowledge cartels owned by the US, the EU, and Japan in software, pharmaceutical, chemical, and entertainment industries privatize knowledge which grants them the power to discipline markets and harass the nations which do not have access to this knowledge . An example of the drawbacks coming out of these knowledge cartels was the situation in India in the 1960s. Despite having one of the poorest populations in the world, India had some of the world's highest drug prices . Thus, only the small minority of rich Indians had access to drugs and pharmaceuticals, which eventually led to growing social disparities in the country. Nowadays though, the pharmaceutical drug cartel has been effectively broken by the will of international organizations and the Indian nation itself. Increasing political stability and technological development, gave India the capacity to produce quality affordable drugs locally, cheaply, and legally. Further steps should be taken in this direction so that the knowledge cartels can be effectively destroyed and widespread access to products and services should be assured.<br> A very positive example has been presented again by India with the launch of EDUSAT. EDUSAT is an education satellite that can reach most of the country at a greatly reduced cost . There is also an initiative started by a group out of MIT and supported by several major corporations to develop a $100 laptop. The laptops should be available by late 2006 or 2007. The laptops, sold at cost, will enable developing countries to give their children a digital education, and to close the digital divide across the world . Another praiseworthy initiative takes place in Africa. NEPAD has launched an "e-school programme” to provide all 600,000 primary and high schools with computer equipment, learning materials and internet access within 10 years . Hopefully more countries will be willing to develop such programmes and respectively more international organization will turn their attention to these problems and increase the financing of these initiatives.<br> 2. Urbanization<br> Definition<br> Urbanization is a natural expansion of an existing population, namely the proportion of total population or area in urban localities or areas (cities and towns), or the increase of this proportion over time . Cities, large and small, are at the heart of a fast changing global economy—they are a cause of and response to world economic growth. The world’s cities are growing because people are moving from rural areas in search of jobs and opportunities to improve their lives and create a better future for their children . Cities grow by natural increase and by migration. People migrate in hope of improving material status, having access to better schools and health services, and enhancing their opportunities for social contact and diversity . Moreover, the existence of war or famine in a country gives additional stimulus for people to migrate to more affluent and stable community. The constant influx of migrants together with the arrival of nationals from the countryside and the natural increase of cities gathered together result in serious problems such as infrastructure inadequacy, cultural differences, social isolation, growing unemployment, insufficient housing, polluted environment, worsening health, and increasing gaps between rich and poor. 21st century witness massive growth of urban population and the emergence of the metropolis. Presently the statistics show that the majority of the world’s population lives in urban areas and this rate will be increasing throughout the next decades . Respectively the problems connected to intensified urbanization eventually will be worsening.<br> Why urbanization is important as a factor contributing to development?<br> * 3 billion people—half the world’s population—live in cities<br> * Two-thirds of all people will live in cities by 2050. (In 1800, only 2% of people lived in cities and towns. In 1950, only 30% of the world population was urban.)<br> * Almost 180,000 people move into cities each day.<br> * 60 million people move into cities each year in developing countries. This rate of movement will continue for the next 30 years<br> * Over the next 15 to 20 years, many cities in Africa and Asia will double in size<br> From the facts stated above and from extensive research done on urbanization it became evident that city populations are growing faster than city infrastructure can adapt. Many urban areas are growing because their rural hinterlands are depressed, which forces impoverished rural people to move to the cities in search of work . These newcomers often end up not finding the opportunities they are looking for, but become part of the urban poor. Upon arrival to the city, they often encounter lack of housing and set up shelters on city outskirts, usually on public owned land. This land tends to be dangerous and inhabitable, such as flood plains, river banks, and steep slopes or reclaimed land . The other problem is the lack of infrastructure services and the slum dwellers often live without electricity, running water, a sewerage system, roads and other urban services. Moreover, as illegal or unrecognized residents, slum dwellers have no property rights to the land they inhabit . Besides, people living in slums are at particular risk to disease: on top of dealing with pollution from dirty cooking fuels, primitive stoves, and poor access to water and sanitation, they are exposed to modern environmental hazards such as urban air pollution, exhaust fumes and industrial pollution. Another concern in the urbanist literature is the rising number of female-headed households and their difficult economic situation, respectively the growing poverty rates among children . Poverty among female-headed households is mostly a problem of the cities. In the USA in 1990, 26.6 percent of children under 18 in cities were poor, whereas in the suburbs the rate was 11.0 percent .<br> Table 1:These 19 cities had 10 million or more<br> inhabitants in 2000,<br> according to UN Habitat.<br> Rank City Millions<br> 1 Tokyo 26.4<br> 2 Mexico City 18.1<br> 3 Bombay 18.1<br> 4 Sao Paulo 17.8<br> 5 New York 16.6<br> 6 Lagos 13.4<br> 7 Los Angeles 13.1<br> 8 Calcutta 12.9<br> 9 Shanghai 12.9<br> 10 Buenos Aires 12.6<br> 11 Dhaka 12.3<br> 12 Karachi 11.8<br> 13 Delhi 11.7<br> 14 Jakarta 11.0<br> 15 Osaka 11.0<br> 16 Metro Manila 10.9<br> 17 Beijing 10.8<br> 18 Rio de Janeiro 10.6<br> 19 Cairo 10.6<br> Since more than half the world’s poor will live in cities by 2035, according to some estimates, the world’s welfare system would be put under increased constraint . Over the last 50 years the global population living in slums has risen from 35 million to over 900 million. Slum dwellers make up the majority of the urban population in Africa and South Asia. Thus, on continental level striking social and cultural disparities exist which additionally hinder the development of the respective nations living there. On national level countries that are characterized by increasing rates of urbanization like Nigeria experience as well difficulties in their economic development since the demand of goods supplied in the cities increased dramatically and the supply cannot catch as faster . Moreover, the rapid increase of particular regions within a country brings with it drastic health and housing imbalances and job inadequacy. Rather, they reflect new industrial structure shifts that favor knowledge-based advanced service industries in metropolitan areas. A case in point here can be the Bulgarian capital Sofia which tripled its population for the last 40 years . Though presently the problems are almost solved in the mid-90s the boom of the capital population led to serious problems connected to rising unemployment, homelessness and hospitals inadequacy. Despite of these problems though Sofia managed to develop quite rapidly, and to suffice the increased demand for jobs and housing. The example was followed by the rest of the urban areas in the country. This development though led to drastic regional imbalances in the country. The urban areas attracted huge flows of Foreign Direct Investment and appeared to be the place for the best education, health care, social opportunities, culture and business. They provided welfare services and high level education, which led to the drastic imbalances between the people living into or close to the urban university areas and the countryside. At the same time the privatization process left the production factories in the industrial regions empty and respectively the work-force there unemployed. Since no wide-spread re-orientation and re-training campaign took place the work force was left on the edge of poverty. Particular hardships were experienced by the minority Muslim and gipsy population in the south-eastern part of the country. Less educated than the Bulgarian majority they were not able to find employment in the bigger cities thus contributed to the development of ethnic shanty towns, slums-overcrowdedness and criminal activity. Duality between rich mostly white Bulgarian population and the poor mostly Muslim and gipsy minority was exacerbated and evident in the landscape. In summary, urban and regional restructuring has created sharper economic and demographic growth distinctions across regions and metropolitan areas (and this is not just the case of Bulgaria). They shape evolving patterns of minority and poverty concentrations in broad regions and metropolitan areas as well as in selected central cities . The changing structure of the global economy is increasingly concentrating poverty and unemployment among racial minorities on continental and national scale. For example in the USA, the joblessness, and the children in poverty and poor health rates are highest among the African-American population. These new minority-majority patterns are likely to continue during the new century, leading to wider disparities in the racial and ethnic compositions of regions, metropolitan areas, and communities .<br> The other side of the increasing urbanization process is the environmental setback. As cities grow so do environmental problems. Air quality worsens in cities. Each year 1 million people die from urban air pollution . One cause of it might be the MNCs who establish their production factories near developing countries’ urban areas in order to exploit cheap and qualified labor and to extract resources . They pollute and damage the local environment since the developing countries environmental regulations are looser than in the developed nations. Also, traffic increases, leading to more congestion and more road accidents. Half a million people die and 15 million are injured in urban traffic accidents in developing countries each year, according to the World Health Organization . Victims are mostly poor pedestrians and bicyclists. Those who survive are often left disabled. For example, in Bangladesh, it is reported that nearly 50% of hospital beds are occupied by road-accident victims . Even in highly developed nations urbanization and the concurrent environmental problems are existent. In the USA the growth in the amount and complexity of air pollution brought about by urbanization, industrial development, and the increasing use of motor vehicles, has resulted in mounting dangers to the public health and welfare, including injury to agricultural crops and livestock, damage to and the deterioration of property, and hazards to air and ground transportation . Another problem existent particularly in America is that the predominant part of the population is located in its rapidly expanding metropolitan and other urban areas, which generally cross the boundary lines of local jurisdictions and often extend into two or more States, thus makes it difficult for the smooth functioning of the jurisdictions of the neighboring states .<br> The problems connected to urbanization such as homelessness, welfare dependency, crime, drugs, gangs, and violence reduce national and world’s economic growth through the loss of human resources and labor productivity . Moreover, they diminish the quality of life throughout metropolitan areas.<a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1265900" title="urbanization-effects"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/900/1265900_2cc2e832f2_s.jpg" alt="urbanization-effects" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><br> What should be done? Present situation and Future Challenges<br> As became evident from the previous part urbanization brings with it problems which eventually will hinder the development and economic growth of the urbanized regions. The overcrowdedness, mounting unemployment and pollution, together with the explosive growth of city slums are problems that occupy the mind of policymakers and international organizations. Common problems connected to urbanization exist but the developed world is better positioned to cope with them, thus higher concentration of efforts should be directed towards the developing countries . Presently international agencies are working with poor countries to build adequate infrastructure, such as roads, houses, electricity, water and sanitation services, public transportation, schools and health clinics; to transform slums into legitimate communities; to strengthen urban governance; and overall to improve the lives of poor people and promote equity .<br> Urban poverty has emerged as a major policy concern over the last decade. Rising poverty rates in central cities and the increasing concentration of the poor in specific areas of cities have captured the attention of researchers and policymakers . The director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University Jeffrey D. Sachs, observed that the world’s cities will have to succeed on three policy dimensions to ensure all citizens have adequate living conditions in the urban areas. First, the cities have to be subject to urban planning, such as carefully laying out water, sanitation, transport and public health systems. Second, each city has to have urban development strategy, through tailoring their goals to their circumstances of their own regions. And lastly, cities have to have urban governance with legal procedures enabling better coping with developmental problems .<br> The low-income urban residents must be brought back into the mainstream of success and opportunities with decent jobs, stable families, adequate health care, affordable housing, and accessible transportation . A very positive example of this approach was posed by Peru. In the past decade the government of Peru issued property titles to 1.3 million urban households. Secure property rights enabled parents to find jobs rather than staying home to protect their property. Similarly, children can now attend school. As a result, the incidence of child labor has fallen by nearly 30% !<br> Also in the future more efforts should be directed towards answering some basic questions connected to urbanization, namely where will the new urban residents live? Which schools will their children go to? How will their rubbish be collected? Where should they vote? Who will protect them? Answering to these questions in an adequate and responsible manner is vital to the future development of urban areas and to tackling the problems connected to urbanization.<br> The primary responsibility of governments and international organizations should be the air pollution prevention as well as promotion of the public health and welfare and the productive capacity of the population . The financial assistance directed towards the developing world is essential for weak states to cope with the mounting dangers brought by urbanization. Another important endeavor would be an increase in the research and development programmes for prevention and control of air pollution first on regional, and then on national, continental and international level. The developed world should encourage and assist the developing countries with establishment and operation of air pollution prevention and control programmes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The basic aim of this paper was to present a brief analysis of the concept of development and to expose its importance in the 21st century. The research presented in the paper aims to raise awareness and understanding of how global issues affect the everyday lives of individuals, communities and societies and how all of us can and do influence the global. Development is a complex and multidimensional issue, thus in order to be properly understood it should be investigated and each factor contributing to development analyzed individually with its own implications to the process of development and collectively with other factors so that the dependency on factors on each other to be clearly revealed.<br> Here special attention was paid to two factors, which according to the author are among the most important contributors to development. Education is as already mentioned the lubricant of development. It benefits people, society, and the world as a whole. It enables people to read, reason, communicate, and make informed choices about their lives. A more educated person often has more opportunities in life, earns more and has a higher standard of living . Without education an individual cannot realize his/her potential and develop all of his/her skills. Skilled workers enable a country to develop and become wealthier as a nation, which benefits all. A country whose education is irrelevant and poor is destined to be exploited and servile to other nations that thanks to good educational systems and relevant knowledge and skills are able to occupy dominant (even hegemonic) positions into the world’s realm. A skilled labor force creates, applies and spreads new ideas and technologies. Continent no matter how large it is in which the highest percentage of population does not have good education does not have a strong say internationally and is servile to continents/nations with smaller size but better education (case in point Africa - huge area with uneducated population).<br> The same logic may be applied to the urbanization analysis. Though, urbanization is connected to increased and more efficient economic activity it can be extremely harmful for the environment and the less competitive and skillful parts of the urban residents. On regional level urbanization may be beneficial for the development of the urbanized regions and destructive for the sub-urban areas. On national level urbanization may lead to high imbalances among urban and suburban regions in respect to education, healthcare, security, and poverty concentration. Moreover, urbanization can destroy the urban environment, pollute the national air and water and overall harm the population. On continental level, a case in point may be the most urbanized nation in the world – America and despite of the fact that it is vital economic power it experience mounting environmental and minority poverty problems.<br> Education and urbanization are interconnected to the extent that one of the factors leading to urbanization is the search of better education. Regional and metropolitanwide industrial restructuring has created new dynamics of growth and decline across the national landscape, favoring locations that include corporate headquarters and advanced service centers, knowledge-based industries, resort and recreation facilities, and before all good schools and universities . Thus, the establishment of good educational institutions is a powerful pull factor for migration. On the other side good educational institutions will be established in central and urbanized areas. Hence, one of the factors cannot possibly develop its full potential without the other. Respectively attempts for coping with development problems and issues connected to these factors cannot be made individually without considering the implications a possible reform will have on the development of the other factor. Getting an education is one of the best things a person can do to ensure a better, more fulfilling and prosperous life for him/herself. Moreover a good multidimensional education will assist people increase their knowledge about development issues and enhance their participation in alleviating the developmental problems of our century. In that line of thinking better educated global population will be able to find solution to the escalating and seeming insurmountable urbanization problems.<br> To conclude with, the paper will point out one more time that development and the factors contributing to it is not only problematic concept for the Third world, and as clearly shown in the paper even the hyper power of the last decades – America faces difficulty in coping with some developmental problems. Stress should be put though on the fact that in developing countries, the number and seriousness of the problems faced is naturally greater. Thus, greater attention and efforts should be exerted by the powerful countries, international organizations, as well as the developing nations themselves to correct the development quandary in which the southern countries find themselves presently. </p> <p> ~ The End ~</p> <p>Bibliography:<br> 1.Angel, Shlomo. 2000. Housing Policy Matters: A Global Analysis. Oxford.<br> 2.Bartel, Ann P. 1989. “Where Do the New Immigrants Live?” Journal of Labor Economics, vol. 7, pp. 371–391.<br> 3.Buckley, Robert M. 1989. Housing Finance in Developing Countries: A Transaction Cost Approach. Working Paper. Washington, DC: World Bank, INU.<br> 4.Buckley, Robert M. 1996. Housing Finance in Developing Countries. Oxford.<br> 5.Bradbury, Katharine L., Anthony Downs, and Kenneth A. Small (1980) “Some Dynamics of Central City-Suburban Interactions,” American Economic Review, vol. 70, no. 20, pp. 410–414.<br> 6.Chang, Chin-Oh, and Peddy P.Y. Lai. 1993. 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Gross. 1986. “Shelter Strategies for the Urban Poor in Developing Countries,” World Bank Research Observer 1:183–203.<br> 17.Malpezzi, Stephen, and Gwendolyn Ball. 1993. “Measuring the Urban Policy Environment: An Exploratory Analysis Using Rent Controls,” Habitat International 17:39–52.<br> 18.Malpezzi, Stephen (2000) “Tales From the Real Side: The Implications of Urban Research for Real Estate Finance in Developing and Transition Economies” Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research • Volume 1, Number<br> 19.Netzer, D(1977) “The Economic Future of Cities: Winners and Losers,” New York Affairs, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 81–93.<br> 20.Ross, Eric (2000) “Poverty, Politics and Population in Capitalist Development”Monthly Review, New York, Vol. 52, No. 2.<br> 21.US Department of Housing and Urban Development – Beyond Shelter: Building Communities of Opportunity available at <a href="http://webstore.huduser.org/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=7426">http://webstore.huduser.org/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=7426</a><br> 22.Wikipedia – internet encyclopedia available at <a href="http://www.wikipedia.org">www.wikipedia.org</a><br> 23.“What next?” project of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, available at <a href="http://www.dhf.uu.se/whatnext/default.htm">http://www.dhf.uu.se/whatnext/default.htm</a><br> 24. <a href="http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk">http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk</a><br> 25. <a href="http://whttp://youthink.worldbank.org/issues/development/">http://whttp://youthink.worldbank.org/issues/development/</a><br> 26. <a href="http://www.dea.org.uk/">http://www.dea.org.uk/</a><br> 27. <a href="http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/</a><br> 28. <a href="http://www.gdrc.org/sustdev/definitions.html">http://www.gdrc.org/sustdev/definitions.html</a><br> 29. <a href="http://www.gdrc.org/sustdev/indicators.html">http://www.gdrc.org/sustdev/indicators.html</a><br> 30. <a href="http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlinfo/indicators/isd.htm">http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlinfo/indicators/isd.htm</a><br> 31. <a href="http://www.habitat.org/eca/">http://www.habitat.org/eca/</a><br> 32. <a href="http://www.dhf.uu.se/whatnext/WN_overview.html">www.dhf.uu.se/whatnext/WN_overview.html</a><br> 33. <a href="http://www.oecd.org/topic/0,2686,en_2649_37455_1_1_1_1_37455,00.html">http://www.oecd.org/topic/0,2686,en_2649_37455_1_1_1_1_37455,00.html</a><br> 34. <a href="http://www.palgrave-journals.com/development/wow.html">http://www.palgrave-journals.com/development/wow.html</a><br> 35. <a href="http://www.apc.org/english/index.shtml">http://www.apc.org/english/index.shtml</a><br> 36. <a href="http://www.ikzm-d.de/main.php?page=51,1030">http://www.ikzm-d.de/main.php?page=51,1030</a><br> 37. <a href="http://www.ikzm-d.de/main.php?page=51,918">http://www.ikzm-d.de/main.php?page=51,918</a><br> 38. <a href="http://www.iisd.org/measure/default.asp">http://www.iisd.org/measure/default.asp</a></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/03/22/urbanization_and_education_as_factors_co~1954153/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-03-22:/2007/03/22/the_main_ideological_families_of_parties~1954083/fresa92007-03-22T16:12:35+01:002007-03-22T16:16:17+01:00 <p><strong>Abstract*</strong> </p> <p>The central aim of the present paper will be to provide thorough analysis of three of the main political ideologies in western Europe with regard to their origins, economic and social views, as well as their different interpretations on what should be the basic functions of the government, and to what extent (if any) should the government intervene into the economic and social life of the country. Afterthat, the paper will undertake the risky aim of comparing parties from the analyzed ideological families in a nascent eastern European democracy - Bulgaria with their counterparts in western Europe. The target of this comparison will be to identify to what extent the Bulgaria parties are actually pursuing the same objectives and policies as their counterparts in western democracies. The case study of Bulgaria was motivated by the fact that so far, to the best of the author’s knowledge, no such comparison has been made and at the same time the development of the Bulgarian parties is representative about the ideological shift worldwide. It should be mentioned here, however, that the political parties are increasingly moving towards the centre of the political arena, therefore their differences are becoming less observable. This tendency is even more pronounced in the condensed political space of Bulgaria, where for a population of less than 8mln. the number of political parties approximates 200, and the accession process to the EU is putting severe constrains on the economic, political, and social behavior of the country and of the parties within it. Due to these factors any comparisons between parties on national or/and international level tend to be risky and uncertain.</p> <p><strong>I. Ideological families of parties in Western Europe: origins, economic and social views, attitudes towards the government.</strong> </p> <p>In the first part of the paper the emphasis will be put on distinguishing the main features of three political parties in western Europe using as a separation criteria their attitudes towards a set of variables, namely the economy, society, and government. It is important to be pointed out at this stage that similarities may arise in one or more of the chosen criteria even in the “ideal” types of the different parties. This tendency is even more distinct today , since in the globalized world extremes are rarely tolerated, and it is politically relevant to move towards the center. Moreover, in order to receive wider political support, enter government, and exercise political power parties are forced to form coalitions, and to compromise some of their strongest beliefs, which is largely the case with the coalition between NMS (liberals), BSP(socialists), and MRF(Turkish ethnic party) formed in Bulgaria after the 2005 parliamentary elections . The analysis will start with the social-democratic parties and will move along the political scale to the liberal and christian-democratic parties. The paper is not going to identify the far-left/communist, and far-right/fascist parties, as well as the agrarian and green movements, since they are not adequately represented in the Bulgarian political spectrum which will be taken as a case study at the second part of the paper . </p> <p><strong>Social democrat/labor parties </strong><br> The social democrat parties were inspired by the Marx ideology and the commitment to classless society. The social democrats put an emphasis on social reform and gradual, democratic change . The socialists acknowledge the need of government involvement into the economy in order to ensure smooth performance and lack of economic shocks. The government should also eradicate poverty, ameliorate the disadvantages of the less fortunate classes, immunize the society against the whip of the market and set conditions in which everyone is able to develop his potential to the fullness . The rhetoric on abolition of capitalism(characteristic for the communists) has been effectively changed by one stressing on humanizing it. Socialists believe in society working together cooperatively and morally as a community rather than each individual pursuing competitively his material self-interest.<br> Today the social democrats have effectively met the challenges posed by the economic globalization and the rise of the achievement culture. They have not abandoned the characteristic values of freedom, equality, solidarity, just redefined and represented them in terms of current problems instead of past struggles, which will become clear in the second part of the paper with the example of the Bulgarian Socialist Party .</p> <p><strong>Liberal parties </strong><br> With the state building process initiated at the late 18th century, and with the cult towards individualism emerged the liberal parties. The liberals believe the society is comprised from a collection of individuals with individual beliefs and values that should be respected. For the liberals the economy should be free with no state intervention into its functioning . There is fierce opposition and distrust towards “big government“ and special relations with the Church. Liberals endorse the idea of constitutional and representative government in which the constitution is such developed as to limit the intrusion and absolute power of the government . Another important characteristic of the liberal party is the centrality of meritocracy within its societal attitudes. According to the liberal ideas given equal opportunities each individual’s achievements are solely based on his/her personal merits and skills. Thus, the role of the government should be only to secure social justice, equal opportunities, and to provide minimum safety net for the less able, those who failed to compete successfully in the market. The government is seen as a solution of last resort when all the other options (family, market, etc.) have failed to provide the minimum living standards for the individual. Thus, the social provisions are attached to stigma for the beneficiaries .<br> The liberal ideology has undertaken a considerable transformation and adopted some socio-democratic ideas. Most liberal parties today believe that government should be responsible for delivering welfare services, such as health, pensions and education . The Bulgarian liberals National Movement Simeon 2 presents a hybrid between the liberal and socio-democratic ideology, and is an example of the altered creed of the liberal parties today. </p> <p><strong>Christian democrat/conservative parties </strong><br> The conservative parties have emerged as reaction against the mass movement for change and revolution. The conservatives believe in hierarchical society, human imperfection and in the need of state-prescribed morale, and strong connections with the Church . The government should support the established institutions of authority, family values, tradition and undertake only incremental reform. Moreover, the government should not be responsible for the welfare of the citizens, and can help only the less able on its own discretion, such help should not be expected as its responsibility .<br> The Christian democrats today are amongst the most pro-European parties, that put strong emphasis on morality, education, laizzes-faire economy, and minimalist state. The dramatic change the conservative ideology has undertaken is obvious when a close look is taken at the programme of the Bulgarian UDF. Being a truly opportunistic party the UDF has almost abandoned most of the christian-democratic principles and adopted the liberal and socio-democratic ideology.</p> <p> What is apparent from the short overview above is that parties have been moving towards each other along the political scale. Thus, today the parties that represent the different ideologies are closer in their views than their ideological labels actually allow them to be. This will become clear in the next part, where a case study of the three most influential parties in a young democratic system will be undertaken. The Bulgarian party system will be identified based on the criteria proposed by Meny&Knapp, the strength of the political parties within the system will be briefly evaluated based on the internal(constitutional) and external (international organizations, namely EU and IMF) constraints, and finally an attempt will be made to identify to what extent the Bulgarian parties have moved away from the characteristics of the ideology they have been following in the last 17 years .<br> II. Ideologies in Practice: The Bulgarian political parties<br> In developing countries, the parties created and organized often bear no more than a formal resemblance to the models claimed to inspire them, thus it is extremely difficult to make comparisons . In this second part of the paper, though, an attempt for a comparison between the parties in a young democracy, and the established models in western Europe will be made. The structure of the second part of the paper will start with identifying the formation of the Bulgarian party system, the institutionalization of the political parties, the basic functions that they exercise, and the public support they are receiving . Afterthat a closer study will be undertaken for the most influential players in the present Bulgarian political arena, and respectively their attachment to the values characteristic for their counterparts in western Europe. </p> <p><strong>Bulgarian Party System</strong> </p> <p>The party system in Bulgaria is a combination of numerous factors, the most important of which historical divisions, impact of international events, and the disability of existing parties to adapt and discourage the emergence of new competitors .<br> It was the case in Bulgaria for almost a decade after the fall of the communist regime in 1989 to have a duopolistic party system. There were not just two parties but there was always one of the two main in power. Gradually Bulgarian party system moved to multipartism, in which a propensity to form coalitions between different parties, even when they favor different programmes has been existent .<br> The parties in Bulgaria are constitutionally recognized and granted with almost unrestricted power. The age and the size of the parties seems to be of minor importance for the electorate in Bulgaria, thus the traditional parties that emerged after 1989 have constantly been changing or decomposing, and new parties have been emerging literally each month . The party manifestos which are the basic point for comparison between the various political groups, in Bulgaria proved to have identical ends .<br> The functions of the parties in Bulgaria have been to organize and express the choices of citizens. Since Bulgaria is a representative democracy, what government does should be affected by the parties who compose it . Though all of the parties irrespective of their ideology proved to be inadequate in answering the popular demands. This inadequacy has numerous explanations, but the most important one would be the decreased by the international organizations, such as EU and IMF, state’s ability to control its own affairs, respectively the space for maneuver for the political players is quite limited . In the present time the link between the citizens and the parties has been broken which is evident from the low turnout in the 2005 elections(53.8%) and overall disenchantment of the nation with any political party. </p> <p><strong>The formation of the political parties in Bulgaria and development of their ideas.</strong> </p> <p>The fall of the communist regime in 1989 presented a unique point of history for the Bulgarian political system when the process of state building started from the real beginning. New institutions have been build, new opportunities for expansion of the economy provided, and new political parties formed based on the already approved western models . Since the nation has been over-exhausted with the centralized government and planned economy everything that was different and supposedly democratic was associated with better development. Thus, the Christian-democratic UDF (United Democratic Forces) emerged. The founding members of the new party designed a populist programme which stigmatized the big government and controlled economy, and promised rapid economic recovery due to free market forces. The general goals of the programme were: a civil society, market economy, privatization of industries, open relations with the rest of the world, multiparty system, individual liberty and constitutional government . The cult to capitalism was established and any government intervention into the economy severely reprimanded. UDF developed the idea of capitalist welfare where the state should just provide the legal framework within which everyone will be able to pursue his/her own individual welfare. Appropriate areas for state intervention were just defense, rule of law, and the maintenance of certain public works and institutions that the market cannot fully provide, and relief from destitution . The UDF believes that the state with its bloated bureaucracy should “roll-back” and increased agencification for the provision of services should take place. Since at the beginning of the transitional period the UDF was willingly associating itself with the West, which proved to be a winning ticket, in time the mood of the public changed. The western capitalism was linked to exploitation and spoiled morale. Thus, the UDF met the popular electoral disillusionment. It was viewed as the party of the rich and utter individualists which are not fit for the communal mentality of the Bulgarian nation . In the last parliamentary elections UDF was unable to enter government.<br> The main opponent of the UDF has been BSP (Bulgarian Socialist Party) - the transformed communist party. As expected, immediately after the fall of the regime the BSP was not amongst the most prominent parties. In a few years, though, BSP gained momentum, altered its programme, and used the popular disillusionment with the UDF for expanding its electorate. BSP effectively designed its party manifesto including in it the approval of the market economy, individual liberty and open relations with the rest of the world. In the BSP platform underlining is the desire for mixed economy and higher commitment on the side of the state to welfare provisions. BSP presently is strongly pro-European with emphasis put on preservation of the national values, traditions and humanity into the new community . Politics in a stable multi-party democracy is a battle over the political center, and the last parliamentary election results demonstrated the BSP’s ability to move further to the center and form coalition with its former rivals .<br> The June 2001 parliamentary elections welcomed the emergence of a new party within the Bulgarian party system. The National Movement Simeon II (NMS) won half of the seats in parliament, even though it was established less than three months before the elections . NMS is a personally-oriented, organizationally-weak and non-issue based movement with little programmatic identity . The strong side of the NMS was the charisma of its leader. Deeply attached to its history and past glory, the Bulgaria nation was trustful and sympathetic with the ex-Bulgarian Tsar. Moreover, the new liberal party challenged the established left-right prism which was overused throughout the years, and presented new alternative to the tired voter. NMS was formed largely from an economic team of young, highly-successful, Western-educated financiers who presented themselves as the bright future of the country. NMS supports the EU integration process and put incredibly strong emphasis on market economy . The ex-Tsar promoted a policy of honesty in government, and a free-market programme to improve living standards within 800 days, stable economic growth, drastic reduction of unemployment together with promises for increase in welfare expenditures . NMS believes in social justice, equal opportunities and state strong only in the sphere of welfare provisions. Clearly there is some similarity between the liberalism in the West and the immature liberal movement NMS in Bulgaria, though the platform of the NMS is so abstract as to make it almost impossible to compare it to an established ideology.</p> <p><strong>Conclusions</strong></p> <p> The sole aim of the present paper was to identify three of the main ideological families of political parties in western Europe, and practically to show to what extent the parties in an eastern European democracy share the features of the model they have been following.<br> The party which proved to be closer to the western ideology is the socio-democratic Bulgarian Socialist Party. The emphasis on mixed economy, humane capitalism and classless society, together with the social responsibility of the state to grant social justice and equal welfare provisions for the society is identical between the western prototype and its eastern adherent.<br> On the opposite side of the spectrum, the party which deviated most from the prescriptions of the ideology it has been following is the Christian-Democratic United Democratic Forces. UDF favors constitution such designed as to limit the powers of the government, which is one of the main elements within the liberal ideology. The strong UDF opposition against the state bureaucracy, and intervention into the economy has similar elements with the western new-right rather than with the Christian Democratic ideology . Contrary to the CDPs in the west UDF favors reform, transformation of existent institutions, and clear separation between the state and the Church. The only characteristic which UDF shares with the conservative ideology is the opposition to the state’s welfare provisions, though even in this field this opposition is more implicit than clearly stated in the UDF programme . Thus, programmatically UDF has almost no resemblance to the Christian Democratic ideology, and has abandoned the basic principles of this ideology. The example posed by UDF is that the CDPs are increasingly adopting principles characteristic for the Socio-Democratic and Liberal ideologies.<br> It proved to be extremely difficult to distinguish the main points within the programme of the third analyzed party NMS, and to compare it with the established western liberal ideology. Apparently, NMS is following to a certain extent the basic tenets of the liberal ideology, such as strong support for the free market economy and opposition towards the big state. In regards to its view about society and welfare, NMS is closer to the socio-democrats than to the liberals, since it considers the state as responsible for assuring adequate living conditions for the population, and envisions the government as the first provider of ample living conditions. </p> <p> Political parties have been increasingly moving towards each other programmatically. They are abandoning the prescriptions of the ideological models they have been following, and there is obvious propensity among the parties to mix their ideologies in order to stay politically relevant and appealing to the electorate. The case of Bulgaria effectively showed that the parties are progressively moving towards the center, away from the ideal ideological model they have been following, and ready to compromise their principles. According to the author the development of the Bulgarian parties is to a greater extent representative of the political revision of ideologies on a macro level, and the hope behind the paper is that it managed to exemplify and prove this ideological transformation. </p> <p>Bibliography:<br> 1. Deschouwer, K . (1996) “Political Parties and Democracy: A mutual Murder?”, European Journal of Political Research 29(3)<br> 2. Gallagher, Michael. (1995) Representative Government in Western Europe, Ch.8 - From Governments to Public Policy; New York: McGraw Hill<br> 3. Gillespie&Peterson(eds.).(1993) Rethinking social democracy in Western Europe. Ch1: Paterson- Reprogramming Democratic Socialism, Ch9: Taylor-Trade Unions and the Politics of Socio Democratic Renewal, Ch.11: Gillespie- A programme for Socio Democratic Revival. London: Frank Press<br> 4. Heywood, A. (1998) Political Ideologies: an Introduction. Chs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.<br> 5. Meny, Y.,and Knapp. Government and Politics in Western Europe: UK, France, Italy, Germany. Ch.2 - Political parties, Ch.3 - Interest groups. 3d edition, 1998<br> 7. <a href="http://www.bsp.bg/en/program.php">http://www.bsp.bg/en/program.php</a><br> 8. <a href="http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/bulgaria/political_profile.htm">http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/bulgaria/political_profile.htm</a><br> 9. Ex-King Simeon returns to power in Bulgaria available : <a href="http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/european_news_file/76405">http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/european_news_file/76405</a> [accessed 16 March 2006]<br> 10. <a href="http://www.answers.com/topic/bulgaria">http://www.answers.com/topic/bulgaria</a><br> 11. <a href="http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107365.html">http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107365.html</a><br> 12. <a href="http://www.country-studies.com/bulgaria/the-union-of-democratic-forces.html">http://www.country-studies.com/bulgaria/the-union-of-democratic-forces.html</a><br> 13. <a href="http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0020325.html">http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0020325.html</a><br> 14. <a href="http://www.economist.com/countries/Bulgaria/profile.cfm?folder=Profile-Political%20Structure">http://www.economist.com/countries/Bulgaria/profile.cfm?folder=Profile-Political%20Structure</a></p> <p>Some minor insights taken out from:<br> 1. George, Vic. (1996) “The future of the welfare state” in George&Taylor-Gooby(eds) European Welfare Policy. Squaring the welfare circle, Besingstoke:Macmillan<br> 2. Esping-Anderson, Gosta.(1990)The Three worlds of welfare capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press<br> 3. Esping-Anderson, Gosta.(1985) Politics against markets. Ch.5 Princeton: Princeton University Press.<br> 4. Weir, Margaret and Theda Skocpol(1985) “Sate structures and possibilities for Keynesianism” in Evans, Peter, Skocpol, Theda (eds) Bringing the state back in, Capbridge: Cambridge University Press </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/03/22/the_main_ideological_families_of_parties~1954083/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-03-22:/2007/03/22/training_course_on_volunteer_resource_ma~1952696/fresa92007-03-22T12:55:53+01:002007-03-22T12:55:53+01:00 <p><em>Competences and skills obtained after one-week intensive training on project management.</p> <p>Yana Popkostova </em></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1265284" title="poland 031"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/284/1265284_b85b742cd0_s.jpg" alt="poland 031" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1265285" title="CIMG1044"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/285/1265285_3ad0bb4043_s.jpg" alt="CIMG1044" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/srv/media/media_item.php?item_ID=1265286" title="pol (1)"><img src="http://data2.blog.de/media/286/1265286_17e089cf74_s.jpg" alt="pol (1)" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>In the Training Course on Volunteer Resource Management I had the objective to acquaint myself better with the youth programmes around Europe and the opportunities for volunteer work provided to young people. My aim was to meet young people from different countries, with diverse backgrounds and cultures, to learn from their volunteer experience, and to share ideas and expertise with them. Furthermore, I wanted to get more practical knowledge presented in non-formal way about the process of volunteer work, from the development of the project, through recruitment of volunteers, to its finalization. I also acquainted myself with different strategies of conflict resolution, time management, and networking. After this training course I consider myself better prepared to meet the challenges of preparing and organizing youth volunteer projects.</p> <p>The Training Course on Volunteer Resource management gave me in addition to the academic knowledge on project management the opportunity to meet and interact with people from different countries who had different worldviews and perspectives than me. This was extremely useful for me since I learnt even better to work together in team with different people, to make compromises and to understand worldviews which are contradictory to mine. I feel my social skills improved after this training course regarding ability to talk, interact, work, and play with diverse people and to communicate with them even without knowing each other’s language.</p> <p>The Training Course gave me a lot of useful information and background on how to be more active and motivated in developing youth programmes, and on how to be successful in motivating young people to participate in youth initiatives. My civic consciousness is improved now in regards to the need of young people to represent their interests in the policy-making domain and to influence decision-making. After this course I am more aware of the rights and power young people can have in their hands in regards to developing initiatives and projects with universal importance, such as anti-racism campaigns, environmental projects, youth networks and parliaments, etc. After the Course on Volunteer resource management I know my rights as a young person and I feel better prepared and encouraged to participate actively and to promote greater participation by my peers in various youth initiatives. </p> <p>The Training Course on Volunteer Resource Management gave me valuable insights into how to organize and develop youth initiatives by myself. I learnt how to recruit volunteers, how to answer to their needs and provide them secure and ambivalent work environment, how to make individual psychological profiles and to better understand people. I also have understanding now of the needs of the organization and how to make cost-benefit analyses on how to invest in new programmes, volunteers, trainings, projects, etc.</p> <p>Furthermore, in the Training course I had the opportunity not only to express my cultural identity and to present to the others my country, my religion and the various traditional characteristics of the Bulgarian nation, but also to learn more about other nations and their peculiarities. Personally for me this was the best part of the course, and the most valuable asset I got from participating in it. The opportunity to understand in depth the worldview, values and needs of the other, and to work with him/her irrespective of her-his nationality and religion gives more to the personal development than any kind of academic programme or formal knowledge. This experience improves the tolerance, humanity, and open-mindedness of people and I appreciate it highly.</p> <p>I think this course provided me with some important insights into how to develop my interests and research on the topic of humanity and intercultural communication. Now I am really more motivated to develop youth initiatives and I feel myself better prepared to do this, since I have more competences and knowledge on how to theoretically and practically develop a youth project on various topics and how to motivate larger part of the youth population to participate in such projects and initiatives. I am really enthusiastic now to start organizing my next project, developed together with people I met at this training course.</p> <p>I consider the Training Course on Resource Management extremely useful. It gave me as I already mentioned unique skills and knowledge into how to be more active and motivated in developing youth projects, how to manage and organize such projects, how to work with volunteers from different countries and with diverse backgrounds and religions. The course also gave me the opportunity to realize the importance of youth work in the context of European development and make me more aware of the crucial importance of youth initiatives for development of active civil society.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/03/22/training_course_on_volunteer_resource_ma~1952696/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-03-21:/2007/03/21/public_procurement_policy_in_denmark_yan~1949099/fresa92007-03-21T20:51:37+01:002007-03-22T16:07:43+01:00 <p>Public procurement policy is the process of acquisition, usually by means of a contractual agreement after public competition, of goods, services, works and other supplies by the public provider. Public procurement today is indispensably connected to the private sector, which delivers services previously reserved just for the public sector. The public procurement policy in Denmark is exclusively based on the strive towards greater transparency, efficiency and effectiveness in the public sector. For several years, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Development of Denmark has worked to implement the government’s strategy to promote the use of e-procurement in the public sector. The primary goal is to make the public sector more efficient via the use of e-procurement in close partnership with the private business sector. One of the latest initiatives is the Law on Public Payments. As part of the implementation of the law, the public authorities in Denmark must, as of February 2005, receive all invoices electronically. This initiative is intended not only to make the public sector more efficient but also to encourage a wider use of electronic invoicing in private companies. With its public sector e-invoicing initiative Denmark is setting a new standard for public government initiatives, for which the Ministry of Finance received the EU’s government 2005 award. As in any other country in the EU Denmark has to comply with the EU procurement rules, which are established as a preventive measure against distortion of competition in procurement policy and discrimination on geography or national bases. Thus, in order to understand how the procurement policy in Denmark is exercised, it is of crucial importance to comprehend what is the general trend in the European Union concerning procurement policy. </p> <p>EU Procurement Policy</p> <p>It is estimated internationally that there is high correlation between high levels of e-procurement activity and high business performance. The savings for the budget are around 10% and for the private businesses the savings are around 30-40%. The e-procurement leads to greater organizational efficiency and reduced costs and cycle times. E-procurement encourages good practices, opens new markets and answers the need of innovation and that’s why it is so highly appreciated in the EU. There is recognized need in the EU member states of greater adoption of sophisticated e-business process throughout the economy. The small and medium sized enterprises are of special importance for the EU since they need to adopt modern procurement techniques in order to be more flexible and competitive. </p> <p>EU requires from each member state in its public procurement policy to test critically for cost efficiency, effectiveness and affordability of the procurement deal. EU requires decreased bureaucracy and increased access of small and medium enterprises to the public procurement deals. Innovation, whole-life costing, efficiency (which does not equal lowest price), job creation and encouragement of ideas with growth potential is critical in the assessment of the bidding firms. The procurement policy is not only seen as a tool for achieving economic objectives but wider public goals like environmental sustainability, creation of jobs and wealth in society. The general trend in the EU is move towards electronic procurement; this leads to modernization and elimination of the red tape and of course positive effort to slash the procurement budgets of the member states. A massive volume of administration areas are covered by public procurement legislation and the use of electronic procurement can realize huge savings both for the private businesses and for the governments’ budgets. The EU Directive which came into force on 1st of January, 2006 has the sole objective to enable any business with a PC and Internet connection to bid for public contracts electronically anywhere in the EU, again with the aim to cut red tape and prevent barriers that can arise from incompatible systems in different member states. The public tendering is more bureaucratic and favorable for bigger firms with time and human resources to deliver the process. In the new e-procurement any bidder using simple and common equipment and with a minimum degree of IT Literacy should be able to participate in a public procurement conduced electronically, thus the whole process will become more simple, transparent and accessible. </p> <p>There is list prepared by the EU Commission of legal and functional requirements for e-procurement systems and tools in different member states which comes to assure compatibility and consistency in adoption of the EU directive and fair public procurement rules. The EU directive has the objective to modernize and simplify the EU procurement practices as well as to make coherent EU framework. It increases the accessibility of companies to the procurement process and the cross-border sharing of e-procurement software developments. The EU target is to make public procurement 100% electronic till 2010. The Nordic countries are among the first to embrace this target and make attempts to develop common patterns and standardize the procurement procedures amongst them. A universal business language has been developed to identify, classify and codify procurement items and assure transparency. Simultaneously a process of intense sharing of resources, responsibility, information, and know-how between the countries is progressing which leads to a drastic decrease of administrative costs and increase of effectiveness. What has been observed in this first attempt to harmonize procurement matters across Europe is not achievement of the lowest price possible but fulfilling an economically advantageous tender in which price, quality, delivery time, environmental and societal factors all matter at the same time. </p> <p>The EU directive has the sole aim to raise productivity and prosperity through transparency, effectiveness, and decreased bureaucracy. A successful example in this direction is the Danish procurement policy in which a high share of the procurement process is electronic and internet based, and where the highest results regarding transparency and fair competition has been fulfilled. </p> <p>Procurement process in Denmark</p> <p>In Denmark an ambitious effort to modernize and computerize the whole procurement process has been undertaken and the results from this are estimated by the high industry satisfaction. The horizontal solution of e-procurement across sectors answers the small and medium sized enterprises’ need of usable standards and make them more competitive in regards bigger companies. As an instrument to increase efficiency, strengthen competitiveness and enhance modernization, e-government has become an explicit com¬ponent of public sector reform. Conversely, reform of the public administration in Denmark has pro¬vided a general framework for defining e-government goals and responsibilities by setting an overall vision and objectives for improving the qual¬ity and efficiency of public services. IT officials in Denmark report that e-government has helped to improve planning, increase efficiency of working processes, enhance a customer-focused orientation and assist in the application of good governance principals of trans¬parency and accountability. Efficiencies arising from e-govern¬ment, for the most part, have been channeled towards improvements in the quality and availabil¬ity of online services rather than being recouped as cost savings. This is consistent with the Danish government’s service orientation. </p> <p>The forthcoming Forfás eBusiness Monitor Report highlights Denmark as one of the best<br> performing case study countries in terms of e-business adoption. One of the key factors<br> underpinning its good performance is the strong exemplar role being played by Government in the rollout of services for enterprise and citizens, in particular the establishment of an e-procurement portal for government services. The public procurement policy in Denmark is seen as an instrument for support for the small and medium enterprises and the ethnic minorities’ businesses for which the competitive opportunities are relatively restricted by the powerful and dominant companies. Denmark tries to make the government marketplace more attractive to SMEs by decreasing the barriers to entry and driving excessive bureaucracy out of the public procurement policy. The procurement policy in Denmark also strives to achieve fair trade and to give advantage not only to local firms but also to foreign companies in the bidding process for undertaking particular public project. The requirement for non-discrimination based on nationality is fundamental in the public procurement policy. Also under consideration is the ability of the bidding firm to put resources into innovation, provide race and gender equality, and promote not only purely economic objectives but also idealistic goals like greater accessibility, efficiency, etc. for the population. In addition, public procurement in Denmark should adhere to “value-for-money” principle, which comes to say that decisions in public procurement should be based on an assessment of whole life cost and quality, rather than lowest price alone. </p> <p>The Danish public procurement is considered as highly cost-effective both commercially and socially since it decreases the excessive bureaucracy in the whole public procurement process and is accountable to the citizens. Another interesting characteristic of the Danish public procurement policy is its consistency across all sectors, as well as integrity between social and economic considerations in public procurement. Thus, the whole process is easier for the companies since they understand their rights and obligations in any sphere of public procurement irrespective of the field. It is also crucial for the procurement process to be legal –to comply with the EU public procurement directive, integrative – to lack any trace of corruption and collusion, and informative –to provide enough information to companies and to allow them to make informative decisions. Other criteria that need to be met in the public procurement process in Denmark are the responsiveness – public bodies should endeavor to meet the aspirations, expectations, and needs of the community served by the procurement, and transparency – openness and clarity on public procurement and its delivery. For the Danish officials it is of critical importance to constantly develop and modernize the public procurement policy. The modernization of the sector is indispensably connected to decreased government spending and increased efficiency. In Denmark the so-called e-procurement and e-auctions are highly developed and wide-spread. The e-procurement increase savings and improve the standardization and accessibility of the process. Further, it increases the transparency and audit ability of the procurement expenditures, as well as promotes openness and use of fully integrated information systems. The deployment of e-catalogues and history of undertaken projects and their development leads to increased functionality and progress in the whole system of public procurement.</p> <p>The peculiar thing in Denmark is the constant training programmers for the people occupied with public procurement in order to increase their professionalism and introduce them to the best examples of public procurement across the world, thus stimulating greater innovation in the sector. In Denmark the so-called strategic shaping of the market is targeted, which comes to mean shaping and innovating at the earliest stages of the public procurement policies with the expectation that early innovation will improve the standards of delivery of the service and motivate further innovation on later stages. The need of new technologies and processes is estimated and further steps are taken to develop in this sector of capacity. It is critical to understand that problems are not always with the procurement process itself or the public bureaucracy, but with the culture and habit of doing things as well, thus decisive action is taken in Denmark to change the behavioral old-fashioned practices and introduce wider public to the e-procurement practices. </p> <p>E-public procurement is ensuring accountability, integrity and greater efficiency. It also prevents the corruption in public bidding and ensures increasing competition and transparency among suppliers. E-procurement is a horizontal solution to the whole administration in Denmark. System of checks and balances is established and constant monitoring of the whole system is exercised. Financial and budget limitations, together with the EU legal requirements are respected at any stage of the e-procurement process. Update of the accessible information is made regularly. The increased knowledge of best practices and principles and the improved access to procurement resources and expertise develop the process to answer better to societal needs. The e-procurement in Denmark leads to broader accessibility to state services, and increases fair competition. </p> <p>A Procurement Board has been established in Denmark to develop the procurement sector, to disseminate information for the best procurement methods, to co-ordinate public procurement policy across sectors and to monitor the implementation of approved procurement projects. Environmental considerations have critical role in each public procurement assessment. The procurement board estimates whether a scheme is workable or not. The criteria are money and time, savings for the administration and quality improvements and expenditure avoidance. It also assesses the extent to which departments meet their procurement goals. The Procurement Board works in close cooperation with the Danish competition authority which comes to ensure that all procurements in the public sector take place in free and equal competition. The Danish Competition Authority is an agency under the Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs. The Danish Competition Authority has been the responsible authority in the procurement area since 1993. The reason for placing the matters concerning the public procurement under the auspices of the Danish Competition Authority is the increasing importance of the public procurement rules as being a part of the competition rules. The Danish Competition Authority strives to ensure the development of effective and free competition in the field of public contracts. In addition the Danish Competition Authority plays an important role as a complaint authority in the procurement area. The rules established by the Danish competition authority for the exercise of public procurement are important instruments in gaining advantages such as lower prices, more and better products to choose among, better service from suppliers, better knowledge of the market and a better overview of the actual needs before entering into a contract. The rules for public procurement contain procedures for the award of public contracts – both in relation to supplies, services and works. The procurement rules are primarily to be found in the EU public procurement directives, which regulate the procurement of supplies, services and works. Public contracts are also regulated by the principles of the EC-Treaty, e.g. the principles of free movement, non-discrimination, mutual recognition, proportionality and transparency.</p> <p>Denmark is a unique example of a country that managed to save its peculiar national characteristics in the exercise of public procurement by modernizing the whole process and respecting the EU requirements. The progressing e-procurement in Denmark shows what are the gains from a new way of public contracting which is more transparent and cost-effective. The budget share of the government going towards the public procurement sector is considerably lowered after the introduction of e-procurement, the businesses have better information and reduced costs, and the whole public has improved access to the process and respectively more rights to ask questions and to monitor for fair-dealing and fair competition. </p> <p>The transition to e-procurement and e-commerce represents a challenge not only for public sector authorities but also for the private business sector – particularly small and medium-sized businesses. Being “e-ready” will, however, become an important competitive factor in the global market and it is important that smaller businesses are also included in this development. In Denmark the public procurement officials try to develop a service-oriented infrastructure that will make it as easy for businesses to exchange electronic business messages, as it is to send an e-mail. Private companies of any size are able to participate in electronic supply chains and other business interactions due to the low technical, administrative, and economic barriers.</p> <p>Denmark is the first country to implement a national initiative of this kind. And it is setting the standards for all Europe now by its highly effective public procurement with clear rules, improved financial and societal efficiency, accessibility and transparency of the process. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/03/21/public_procurement_policy_in_denmark_yan~1949099/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-03-21:/2007/03/21/a_1050_a_1086_a_1088_a_1091_a_1087_a_109~1949005/fresa92007-03-21T20:40:50+01:002007-03-21T20:40:50+01:00<p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/03/21/a_1050_a_1086_a_1088_a_1091_a_1087_a_109~1949005/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-03-21:/2007/03/21/a_1041_a_1102_a_1088_a_1086_a_1082_a_108~1948989/fresa92007-03-21T20:39:24+01:002007-03-21T20:39:24+01:00 <p>Тази седмица Европейския Съюз окончателно прие закона по Регистрация, Оценка, Разрешение и Ограничение на Химикали (REACH) след продължилите около 8 години упорити битки между индустриите и еколозите. Официалната цел на REACH е да подобри общественото здраве като предостави достатъчно знания на потребителя за опасните химични вещества и като замени опасните продукти от пазара с такива некриещи риск за здравето. Как това ще бъде осъществено е много интересно. Фирмите първо ще регистрират използваните в производството си химически вещества и специално създадената Агенция по Химическите вещества на ЕС ще решава дали те са разрешени или не, или с други думи една агенция от няколко човека ще решава и дава напътствия на мащабните индустрии в ЕС и на 450 милионното му население какво е полезно и какво не. Тук много естествено стигаме до извода, че европейският гражданин с всичките си дипломи и специализации е невежа и се нуждае от субективното мнение на изкуствено създадена агенция за да му каже какво да купува и какво не. Така свободата на избор е крайно ограничена от една засилена бюрокрация. А бюрократизацията в този важен сектор ще пропълзи и в други сектори и един ден Брюксел ще решава дали белите стени в офиса ни са полезни за колектива.<br> Освен, че централизира вземането на важни решения, новият закон на европейската общност ще изразходва милиони Евро по целия процес на регистрация и изследване на химичните вещества. При все че още не е изчислено какви средства ще бъдат заложени в изпълнението не REACH, се прогнозира, че те ще бъдат от порядъка на над 5млд. Евро, които не е сигурно доколко ще бъдат компенсирани от евентуалните здравословни ползи. Освен парите по провеждането на тестовете за безопасност, мащабен ресурс ще бъде загубен в областта на изследователска дейност и развитие на нови продукти и технологии. Тъй като предприятията не могат да бъдат сигурни дали даден продукт е 100% безопасен за потребителя, те първо трябва да вложат средства в разработването му, след това да го регистрират и да чакат оценката на Агенцията по Химически Вещества. Ако тази оценка е негативна (което никои не може да предвиди) то средствата за развитието на даденият продукт са безвъзвратно загубени. Към това да не забравяме непреките загуби от скъпите заместители (здравословни продукти), ограничената конкуренция и реструктурирането на производството (за да започне работа със разрешените химикали се изискват нови технологии). Сигурно е че малките бизнеси няма да издържат на натиска и ще отпаднат от пазара, а чуждестранните инвестиции ще намалеят драстично поради непрозрачното и субективно вземане на решения. Така от REACH всички ние ще спечелим ограничен избор и пазар в застой.<br> Основен фактор в наредбата REACH е споменатото вече заместване на опасни с безопасни химикали в производството. Тъй като това е носещ довод в цялото законодателство, наш дълг е да го разгледаме по-подробно. Дефиницията на думата замествам не е трудна – това е чисто и просто синоним на избирам. Избирам по-доброто, изхвърлям лошото и си живея добре. Но ако задълбаем по надълбоко ще си зададем логичният въпрос как досега индустриите не са открили по-добрите продукти? И ако наистина дадени продукти бяха по-добри те от само себе си биха се наложили на пазара без да се налага скъпо законодателство да им помага. Много често заместителите са добре познати на индустрията но, неизползвани поради други фактори – производство на по-скъп и базисно различен продукт, които да речем не е канцерогенен 0.00001% но пък има други странични реакции.<br> Нашата позиция е свободна пазарна икономика, не бюрократичен контрол. Пазара се саморегулира достатъчно добре и го доказва ежедневно. Цената и качеството определят потреблението, не чиновник в някоя агенция. Истината е, че всеки път когато някои ни задължава да направим нещо то е защото това ще бъде угодно някому. В конкретния случаи, твърде много власт се съсредоточава в ръцете на една единствена агенция и много суверенитет се отнема първо от отделните държави, които сами да решават за обществено полезните химически вещества и второ от отделните индустрии и компании, които да се регулират от пазара и конкуренцията, а не от хармонизация и контрол. Още повече, че обемът информация и изследвания на продукти и химически вещества е доста голям и е немислимо за една агенция да се справи с него по релевантен начин. Оценява се, че над 30 000 химични вещества ще бъдат подвластни на новият закон и на агенцията за химически вещества ще са нужни от 50 до 80 години да оцени безопасността им.<br> За men REACH е поредната хитра приумица на ЕС да централизира властта в един важен икономически сектор. Субективната оценка и ограничената конкуренция ще възтържествуват, а европейският гражданин ще се радва на ...добро здраве. А дали?</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/03/21/a_1041_a_1102_a_1088_a_1086_a_1082_a_108~1948989/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-03-21:/2007/03/21/a_1052_a_1080_a_1090_a_1098_a_1090_a_107~1948967/fresa92007-03-21T20:37:53+01:002007-03-21T20:37:53+01:00 <p>Належащата нужда от ремонт в Българските училища е тема с неспираща актуалност през последните няколко години. Пари в българската хазна както ни е известно няма за нищо, но да оставиш българският интелект да се развива в условията на упадък е непростимо. Най-накрая министерството на образоването осъзна този факт и официално обяви конкурс за фирми, които да ремонтират българските учебни заведения. Дотук добре, но както се казва твърде лесно за да бъде истина. Обявата публикувана на 29 ноември в интернет страницата на Агенцията по обществени поръчки има няколко уловки: 1) конкурсът е достъпен само за големи строителни фирми; 2) само 3 фирми ще бъдат печеливши и ще поемат всички ремонти на училища в 6 района в България; 3) печелившите фирми ще бъдат избрани от министерството без консултация със Националното сдружение на общините или със строителната камара; 4) печелившите фирми ще се радват на абсолютен монопол върху ремонтите в продължение на 4 години, какъвто е срока за сключване на договора с министерството.</p> <p>Създадената национална програма по оптимизиране на училищната мрежа предвижда изразходване на над 32млн. лева по ремонтна дейност, заедно със предвидените над 40 млн. лева от бюджет 2007 за всяка община, целящи покриване разходите по ремонти в училищата. Ограниченията поставени от министерството на образованието обаче сякаш специфицират кой точно да поеме тези средства и да ги изразходва. Нагледната конкуренция (провеждане на конкурс) всъщност е крайно ограничаване. На пръсти се броят фирмите, които биха попълнили всички условия поставени от просветното ведомство. Първо, защо само мащабните фирми имат право да участват в конкурса? Както е уточнено в условията за участие кандидатстващите фирми трябва да са извършили строителни услуги за минимум 10 млн. лева за последните 3 години, да имат целият набор от разрешителни за газификация на обекти и да разполагат със сертификат за качество. От министерството обясняват, че причината за това условие е осигуряване на достатъчно опитна фирма с необходимия капацитет да се справи с проекта по релевантен и успешен начин. Министерството уточнява, че за всеки конкретен ремонт ще има конкуренция между забележете трите избрани компании и ще печели тази предложила най-ниска сума за изпълнението му. Но как е възможно министерството да избира кои компании да се конкурират? И може ли въобще да наречем това конкуренция? </p> <p>Второ, защо е решено, че точно три фирми трябва да спечелят конкурса, не може ли това да бъдат 5 или дори 10 фирми, които да си разпределят дейността? Така според нас би било първо по честно и прозрачно спрямо отчетност на изразходваните средства и разпределяне на комисионните по ремонтна дейност, както и по-ефикасно и бързо. Ако само три фирми си разпределят дейността по обновяване и газифициране на училищата в 6 различни района на България почти сигурно е, че ремонтната дейност ще се забави и предвидените 2-3 месеца лятна ваканция на училищата през които да се извърши ремонтната дейност няма да бъдат достатъчни на трите фирми да свършат ремонти във всички училища в различните части на България. Често сме били свидетели на подобна дейност в България. Дава се срок, дават се средства, съответно срокът се пресрочва и средствата се оказват недостатъчни, и в конкретния случаи ще патят учениците – от неефикасен ремонт на училищата и данъкоплатците от похабяване на данъците им. </p> <p>Друг проблем в обявеният конкурс е липсата на съгласуваност на усилията между МОН и общините. Гласът на строителната камара също не е чут. Защо МОН решава еднолично кои да бъдат фирмите, какви да бъдат условията на конкурса и за колко години договорът трябва да се сключи? Според нас релевантен принцип би било самите общини в духа на поетата децентрализация на общините да преценяват кои фирми да наемат за ремонта на училищата в тяхната територия и коя оферта е най-изгодна. Също така добре би било парите да се дадат директно на общините, а не министерството да решава как те да бъдат похарчени. Този общ конкурс и разпределение на средства през министерството ограничава свободата на общините и съсредоточава важните решения в ръцете на МОН, които не се консултира с никои при взимането на тези решения. Къде е демокрацията и свободната конкуренция в случая на нас ни е малко трудно да определим. </p> <p>Конкурсът е отворен до 15 януари и след това с избраните победители ще се сключи 4-годишен договор, които автоматично ще ограничи достъпа на други строителни компании в ремонтната дейност за този период. Как се е стигнало до периода от 4 години не е ясно. Според нас обаче би било по-добре всяка година да се организират нови конкурси. Ако фирмите избрани предходната година са се справили успешно с поставената задача, те лесно биха спечелили отново. А ако ли не пазарът ще бъде отворен за фирма с по-изгодна финансова оферта и по-ефикасна дейност. </p> <p>Moite опасения са, че отново милиони левове ще бъдат изразходвани по не-ефикасен начин и не по-предназначение. Цялата процедура би била далеч по-прозрачна и ефективна ако процеса не минава само и единствено през ръцете на МОН, а парите се предоставят на общините, които най-добре биха преценили кои фирми предлагат най-изгодни оферти. Още повече общините биха били по гъвкави по отношение на договорните условия, улеснявайки достъпа до конкурса на първо място, намалявайки дългосрочността на договора и даващи зелена светлина на постоянна конкуренция между строителните дружества. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/03/21/a_1052_a_1080_a_1090_a_1098_a_1090_a_107~1948967/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-03-21:/2007/03/21/a_1052_a_1080_a_1090_a_1098_a_1090_a_107~1948963/fresa92007-03-21T20:37:44+01:002007-03-21T20:37:44+01:00 <p>Належащата нужда от ремонт в Българските училища е тема с неспираща актуалност през последните няколко години. Пари в българската хазна както ни е известно няма за нищо, но да оставиш българският интелект да се развива в условията на упадък е непростимо. Най-накрая министерството на образоването осъзна този факт и официално обяви конкурс за фирми, които да ремонтират българските учебни заведения. Дотук добре, но както се казва твърде лесно за да бъде истина. Обявата публикувана на 29 ноември в интернет страницата на Агенцията по обществени поръчки има няколко уловки: 1) конкурсът е достъпен само за големи строителни фирми; 2) само 3 фирми ще бъдат печеливши и ще поемат всички ремонти на училища в 6 района в България; 3) печелившите фирми ще бъдат избрани от министерството без консултация със Националното сдружение на общините или със строителната камара; 4) печелившите фирми ще се радват на абсолютен монопол върху ремонтите в продължение на 4 години, какъвто е срока за сключване на договора с министерството.</p> <p>Създадената национална програма по оптимизиране на училищната мрежа предвижда изразходване на над 32млн. лева по ремонтна дейност, заедно със предвидените над 40 млн. лева от бюджет 2007 за всяка община, целящи покриване разходите по ремонти в училищата. Ограниченията поставени от министерството на образованието обаче сякаш специфицират кой точно да поеме тези средства и да ги изразходва. Нагледната конкуренция (провеждане на конкурс) всъщност е крайно ограничаване. На пръсти се броят фирмите, които биха попълнили всички условия поставени от просветното ведомство. Първо, защо само мащабните фирми имат право да участват в конкурса? Както е уточнено в условията за участие кандидатстващите фирми трябва да са извършили строителни услуги за минимум 10 млн. лева за последните 3 години, да имат целият набор от разрешителни за газификация на обекти и да разполагат със сертификат за качество. От министерството обясняват, че причината за това условие е осигуряване на достатъчно опитна фирма с необходимия капацитет да се справи с проекта по релевантен и успешен начин. Министерството уточнява, че за всеки конкретен ремонт ще има конкуренция между забележете трите избрани компании и ще печели тази предложила най-ниска сума за изпълнението му. Но как е възможно министерството да избира кои компании да се конкурират? И може ли въобще да наречем това конкуренция? </p> <p>Второ, защо е решено, че точно три фирми трябва да спечелят конкурса, не може ли това да бъдат 5 или дори 10 фирми, които да си разпределят дейността? Така според нас би било първо по честно и прозрачно спрямо отчетност на изразходваните средства и разпределяне на комисионните по ремонтна дейност, както и по-ефикасно и бързо. Ако само три фирми си разпределят дейността по обновяване и газифициране на училищата в 6 различни района на България почти сигурно е, че ремонтната дейност ще се забави и предвидените 2-3 месеца лятна ваканция на училищата през които да се извърши ремонтната дейност няма да бъдат достатъчни на трите фирми да свършат ремонти във всички училища в различните части на България. Често сме били свидетели на подобна дейност в България. Дава се срок, дават се средства, съответно срокът се пресрочва и средствата се оказват недостатъчни, и в конкретния случаи ще патят учениците – от неефикасен ремонт на училищата и данъкоплатците от похабяване на данъците им. </p> <p>Друг проблем в обявеният конкурс е липсата на съгласуваност на усилията между МОН и общините. Гласът на строителната камара също не е чут. Защо МОН решава еднолично кои да бъдат фирмите, какви да бъдат условията на конкурса и за колко години договорът трябва да се сключи? Според нас релевантен принцип би било самите общини в духа на поетата децентрализация на общините да преценяват кои фирми да наемат за ремонта на училищата в тяхната територия и коя оферта е най-изгодна. Също така добре би било парите да се дадат директно на общините, а не министерството да решава как те да бъдат похарчени. Този общ конкурс и разпределение на средства през министерството ограничава свободата на общините и съсредоточава важните решения в ръцете на МОН, които не се консултира с никои при взимането на тези решения. Къде е демокрацията и свободната конкуренция в случая на нас ни е малко трудно да определим. </p> <p>Конкурсът е отворен до 15 януари и след това с избраните победители ще се сключи 4-годишен договор, които автоматично ще ограничи достъпа на други строителни компании в ремонтната дейност за този период. Как се е стигнало до периода от 4 години не е ясно. Според нас обаче би било по-добре всяка година да се организират нови конкурси. Ако фирмите избрани предходната година са се справили успешно с поставената задача, те лесно биха спечелили отново. А ако ли не пазарът ще бъде отворен за фирма с по-изгодна финансова оферта и по-ефикасна дейност. </p> <p>Moite опасения са, че отново милиони левове ще бъдат изразходвани по не-ефикасен начин и не по-предназначение. Цялата процедура би била далеч по-прозрачна и ефективна ако процеса не минава само и единствено през ръцете на МОН, а парите се предоставят на общините, които най-добре биха преценили кои фирми предлагат най-изгодни оферти. Още повече общините биха били по гъвкави по отношение на договорните условия, улеснявайки достъпа до конкурса на първо място, намалявайки дългосрочността на договора и даващи зелена светлина на постоянна конкуренция между строителните дружества. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/03/21/a_1052_a_1080_a_1090_a_1098_a_1090_a_107~1948963/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-03-21:/2007/03/21/a_1044_a_1086_a_1082_a_1083_a_1072_a_107~1948944/fresa92007-03-21T20:34:38+01:002007-03-21T20:34:38+01:00 <p>Изследователският отдел на списание Economist публикува годишния си Индекс на демокрацията по света. </p> <p>Особености на индекса<br> Въпреки, че няма консенсус по това как се измерва демокрацията, изследователите са се опитали да компилират няколко характеристики, които според тях дават най-ясна представа за ръста на демокрация в едно общество.<br> Демократичният индекс се изчислява по пет основни категории показатели<br> • свободни избори и плурализъм на партийната система,<br> • граждански свободи,<br> • ефективно правителство,<br> • участие в политически формации и<br> • политическо възпитание на обществото.<br> Наличието на свободно провеждани избори и граждански свободи са основните изисквания, за да може едно общество да се нарече демократично.<br> Ефективността на правителството се отчита от броя на решенията, които са били приложени на практика. Независимо дали едно общество е демократично, ако законите гласувани от демократичният парламент не намират приложение в ежедневието, то тогава смисъла от демокрацията се губи.<br> Според индекса демокрацията не е само сбор от институции.<br> Политическото възпитание на едно общество е смятано за основен елемент за ефективното функциониране на демокрацията. Ако обществото е пасивно и апатично към политическите решения вземани от правителствените структури, то тогава демократичните устои на държавата са осезаемо разклатени. В този ред на мисли активното участие на гражданите в политическия живот на страната е от основно значение.<br> Според изследователите от Economist демокрацията е продължителен процес и различните общества са достигнали различно стъпало в хода на този процес. Така се обособяват четири основни типа страни по отношение на демократично развитие:<br> • абсолютни демокрации,<br> • дефектни демокрации,<br> • хибридни режими и<br> • авторитарни режими.<br> Индексът се изчислява като се осреднят стойностите на петте посочени по-горе показателя. Скалата варира от 0 до10, като съответно абсолютните демокрации имат ниво над 8, дефектните демокрации от 6-7.9, хибридните режими от 4-5.9 и авторитарните режими под 4.<br> Някои общи резултати</p> <p>Индекс на демокрацията: разпределение и населението според типа режим<br> Тип демокрация Брой страни % от всички страни % от световното население<br> Абсолютна демокрация 28 16.8 % 13 %<br> Дефектна демокрация 54 32.3 % 38.3 %<br> Хибриден режим 30 18.0 % 10.5 %<br> Авторитарен режим 55 32.9 % 38.2 %</p> <p>Индексът обхваща 167 страни, което е по-голяма част от световното население.<br> Няколко неща правят впечатление:<br> 1. Едва 28 страни се класират като абсолютни демокрации, което ще рече, че само 13% от световното население живее в абсолютно демократична политическа система.<br> 2. Въпреки напредъкът на демокрацията през последните години, около 40% от населението все още живее в условията на авторитарен режим (повечето от които са в Китай) .<br> 3. Почти перфектна демокрация е Швеция, следвана от останалите скандинавски страни.<br> 4. Изненадващо Америка, смятана за люлката на демокрацията пада в края на класацията на абсолютните демокрации. Причината е в някои аспекти на управлението и в ниската избирателна активност.<br> 5. Дефектните демокрации са концентрирани предимно в Латинска Америка и Източна Европа.<br> 6. Интересното за Източна Европа е, че тук се наблюдава разминаване на официално приетите степени на демокрация и реалното и съществуване . Оценено е, че от всички 28 страни в Източна Европа само две са абсолютни демокрации, а именно Чехия и Словения.</p> <p>България</p> <p>Режимите в Източна Европа<br> Индекс на демокрацията Брой страни Абсолютни демокрации Дефектни демокрации Хибридни режими Авторитарни режими<br> 5.76 28 2 14 6 6</p> <p>България попада в групата на дефектните демокрации, които са общо 54 от всички включени в индекса страни.<br> В рамките на Източна Европа България е една от 14-те такива страни.<br> В световната класация страната се нарежда на 49-то място, като демократичния индекс е 7.10 .<br> Страната има доста добри показатели по отношение на избирателния процес и плурализма в политическите партии и формации. Това се дължи на оценката за свободен избирателен процес в страната, наличието на универсални избирателни права и на многобройните партии. По този показател България се нарежда на едно от първите места със стойност от 9:58. Друг показател, по който България има добро място, е гражданската свобода, която е оценена с 8.53. Смята се, че има свобода на словото, медиите, политическите нагласи и религиозните вероизповедания.<br> България се представя зле предимно по показатели на политическо възпитание и активност на населението, което се тълкува като признак за крехкост на демократичното развитие. Показателите в тези сфери са респективно 5.00 за политическо възпитание и 6.67 за активност.<br> Важно е да се спомене, че ниските показатели за политическа култура и активност се определят от високото недоверие в правителството и влиянието на дългия преходен период от комунизъм към демокрация.<br> Особено нисък е показателят ефективност на правителството, което индекса оценява на ниво 5.71. Ниският индекс за ефективност на правителството се определя от тежката бюрокрация и липсата на легален и демократичен контрол върху решенията на правителството. Естествено, при това положение е ниско и общественото доверие в работата на правителството, което се съчетава с отчетливо наличие на корупция и липса на прозрачност при работата на правителството. </p> <p>България – дефектна демокрация</p> <p>Показатели за България<br> Място<br> (от 169) Индекс Избирателен процес и плурализъм Ефективност Политическа активност Политическо възпитание Граждански свободи<br> 49 7.10 9.58 5.71 6.67 5.00 8.53</p> <p>Изгледите пред България да се изкачи в класацията не са негативни. Ако страната успее да се справи с корупцията и политическата апатия в обществото може би следващата година страната ще се изкачи на по-високо място в класацията. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/03/21/a_1044_a_1086_a_1082_a_1083_a_1072_a_107~1948944/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:fresa9.blog.co.uk,2007-03-21:/2007/03/21/under_construction~1946278/fresa92007-03-21T14:20:42+01:002007-03-21T15:06:03+01:00 <p><em>I've just subscribed to this blog and I am still in the process of exploring it. So I apologize for the lack of enough interesting things and information in it. I promise to develop it each day till it becomes the best blog in the web ;-)))</p> <p>I guess at the first page I should write something about myself except the obvious from the picture and my style of writing...I strongly believe one can learn a lot about the others by reading their work (if any) or looking at their pictures (no matter how different they can be). </p> <p>As I have already written somewhere I can characterise myself as a hameleon, but peculiar kind since I hold strong to my values which never change, to my mativation and belief in myself, but I change regarding different people and I can have in the duration of one day all the spectrum of emotions from utter joy to sadness...I dont know whether this is good or bad, personallly I ascribe it to my inmaturity, frivolousness and a little bit weird character :-)) Overall, I can say I try to be a better person each day, to be tolerant with people, patient with ignorance, and humane towards suffering.</p> <p>I am interested exclusively in EU Policy-making, I read and write about this all of the time. Whether I am mostly positive or negative in regards to this experiment? Well, I guess it depends....I consider the EU as the most omnipowerful bureaucracy ever created which intrudes our daily life, which tells us what to eat, what cars to drive, in what schools to study, even how to dress. This said, I have to continue by stating my desire to work in the EU COmmission one day, because I want to be involved in the decision-making process of the union and to have my voice heard on the level of designing the new proposals for legislation for the 470 mln. people. </p> <p>I will continue later since I have to go to an interesting lecture about Ataturk (the greatest turkish revolutionist and politician) and his influence in Bulgaria. I came back form Turkey 2 weeks ago and I am truly impressed by this country which is a symbolic example of a hybrid between modernization (have you ever been to the business district in Istanbul?) and backwardness (the commercial streets of Anatolia with all the women covered and all the men smoking pipes). While being there and communicating with some quite intelligent young people I was able to sense that Ataturk is the second God after Allah in Turkey, so I guess I need to know more about him. Maybe I can share with you later:-)))</em></p> <p><img src="/img/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif" alt=":roll:" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://fresa9.blog.co.uk/2007/03/21/under_construction~1946278/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>