ПОЛИТИКА ПО ВРЕМЕ НА КРИЗА

The article examines the results of the European Parliament elections in Bul- garia in the general context of other European countries. It is argued that these are not key elections, but a symptom of a major change in the political attitudes of European citizens. In Bulgaria, the elections seem to confirm a new trend, beginning with the 2016 presidential election, of a political split not between the supporters of the two major parties but between those who voted for the winner and those who did not vote at all. The hypothesis is that a new political cleavage is emerging.

Bulgaria is so far the only member-state that is reproducing its European Parliament elections results in a third consecutive European election after 2009, both in terms of turnout and in terms of seats distribution among the major political actors, regardless of the variety of crises that have hit the EU since. The paper introduces its own analytical model that re-explores both the SOE and EU sali- ence theories in order to explain the different types of electoral strategies put in place by political actors. The paper is built on a comparative approach exploring data from previous EP elections in Bulgaria.

The reality of global risks is a condition to which humanity has adapted from the end of World War II to the present day. The state of total global war was replaced by the fear of a nuclear apocalypse. The great ideological and economic rivalry of the Cold War has been replaced by pervasive globalization, which, along with its pros, has come with many risks. The financial, economic, and humanitarian crises around the world are a clear evidence of this. Pandemics were left out of political analysis, even though the threat of a pandemic has been growingin recent years. This article analyses the changes that are taking place in the political system because of the pandemic threat. Political reaction is becoming the new reality, produced by a real risk to the population, which significantly affects its health status. This necessitates a more careful analysis of the emerging pandemic dystopia and the transformation of political reality.

The article is an attempt to conceptualize the escalating political crisis in the since 7th July 2020. This is the most significant domestic political crisis of a structural-functional type, after the landmark for the Bulgarian transition, crisis of 1996-1997. The research interest is also provoked by the fact that the current attempt for a radical political change is taking place in the context of the WHO-declared global pandemic of COVID-19. By itself, the pandemic could be categorized as a symbolic-propaganda crisis. On one hand, it is both an environment (domestic and international) for the manifestation of the political crisis, and on the other hand, it could be considered as a kind of “trigger”. This synchronous “superimposition” of crises of different order and nature necessitates a critical rethinking of the typological classification of domestic political crises developed by the author more than ten years ago. This is the main purpose of the article.

This article examines how the situation in the world and the tactical and strategic responses to the Coronavirus pandemic affect the EU’s aspiration for unity (of action and messages) and its active presence in the international field. Was the European reaction flexible and balanced enough? Did Europe exit stronger after the challenge? Specific emphasis is placed on the analysis of whether and to what extent the Coronavirus made senseless the so called “European values” or, conversely, stressed even more clearly the need for European solidarity in the recovery process.

The paper deals with the interaction of two processes in the European politics: the expansion of the radical right and the outburst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The influential interpretation that the first stage of the coronacrisishas registered the radical right’s failure to use the pandemic politically, is being examined. The text tries to demonstrate that the radical right’s inconsistency and ineffectiveness are genuine, but they do not thwart the classical agenda of ultranationalism, antiliberalism, populism and traditionalism and their reaffirmation in these new conditions. Moreover, the governmental responses to the pandemic in Europe encourage the radical right’s penetration in a new paradoxical field, the defence of democracy. It is concluded that the first months of 2020 have not eroded the ideological potential of this part of the political spectrum and consequently have not destroyed its chances for political rise without predetermining them.

The COVID-19 hospital crisis shines attention to municipalities’ governance needs and specifics. An attempt for analysis through approaches from political science, public administration and regional economy and research has been made. On the theoretical level the paper presents, grounds for a territorial governance approach, guided by local and regional interests. The conclusions are mainly theoretical but are also applicable in the field of interaction between strategic documents at the local level. The conducted comparative analysis of strategic documents of two comparable municipalities serves to illustrate the reached theoretical and applied conclusions. The hypothesis whether there is no interaction between the municipal development plans and the mayors’ political programs was tested in two case-studies. The results are used to prove the thesis that the lack of such interaction is a condition for a problem in local government and development and a prerequisite for risks and crises in different sectors at the local level. This assumption is considered through a specific policy sector - healthcare, given the relevance of the topic during the pandemic.

The crisis in 2020, as any crisis, brought many problems but also created opportunities in various areas of human life. In the field of politics, the crisis provided different opportunities for oppositional political actors in Bulgaria to be an alternative to the government, which is incapable of dealing with the biggest social problems, multiplied by the crisis. Chances, however, must be “caught”. If the opposition is not able to make the right decisions in the context of contemporary events, it will lose that political game undoubtedly. Even if, the opposition has all the necessary qualities and the necessary circumstances are there, the essence is contained in the right and prompt decisions.

This article traces the emergence and development of another major political crisis in the Republic of Northern Macedonia, as well as the options for overcoming it as a result of the parliamentary elections and the process offorming a new government. This is a continuous cycle, referred as “stability in instability”. Overcoming the crisis will not be enough, but rather will lead to another situation of “stability in instability”. Moreover, the pandemic caused by COVID–19 prolongs the crisis but does not play a fundamental role regarding the (in)stability of the political system in our southwestern neighbour.

The article looks at the last election campaign of GERB in its main phases – pre- paratory (preliminary), active and hot. It raises the thesis of the “preservation” campaigns of the party in the recent years. Additionally, the article explores the main actors, platform and messages of the campaign. Special attention is de- voted to the role of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in the hot phase of the cam- paign and his influence both on the attitudes of the electorate and on the overall dimension of electoral dynamics within the electoral period.

At the beginning of the campaign for the European Parliament elections in Bulgaria, most polls placed the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) either in the first place, or at slight difference after GERB, but in any case, with a real chance of winning this election. Such was the declared objective of the Bulgarian socialists. However, the votes cast on the ballot on May 26, 2019 showed a different picture: BSP ranked second for the fourth consecutive time, with a considerable distance from the first – GERB. The article seeks to answer the question regarding the dimensions and reasons for the results of BSP in the elections. This is done by tracing the overall process of preparing and conducting the campaign, from the formation of the candidate list and the adoption of the election platform, through the course and eatures of the Socialist’s Party campaign. The campaign results are compared with previous results of the Socialists and with the results of the main competitor since 2007 – GERB.

The article analyses the issue of the implementation of new electronic tech- nologies in the electoral process in Bulgaria over the last decade, focusing on the legislative regulation and the implementation of electronic voting in a con- trolled environment (the so-called electronic machine voting) during the Euro- pean Parliament elections in May 2019. In this context, the subject of analysis is the process of adopting legislative amendments in the Electoral Code, which finished before the elections. Deficiencies in the work of the election adminis- tration were also analysed, assessing the Central Election Commission’s activ- ities and the role of the Precinct Election Committees in counting the election results.

This article presents the essence and main features of preferential voting (as a constituent part of the proportional election system) as well as the Bulgarian experience in introducing the preferential vote in electoral practice. Chronolog- ically has been followed the emergence of the pan-European electoral tradition in terms of the formation of the European Parliament – the institution called to ensure the representation of the citizens of the member-states at the level of the European Union. The aim of the analysis is to confirm the inevitable need for a vote with preferences as a necessary component of any proportional system, and in particular for the election of MEPs.

At the European Parliament elections in May 2019, the European citizens voted on how the European Union should move ahead over in the next five years. In times of crisis, fake news, populism, sharp political opposition, and the constant search for a single European approach to the problems and challenges of the day, voters have shown that they want the people to whom they have delegated power, to act with wisdom, capacity for dialogue and compromise and, above all, show clear results. This article is an attempt for a recap of the results of the European Parliament elections. Special focus is put on Bulgaria, as well as on the debate on the election of the President of the European Commission.

This article is the result of a media monitoring conducted in the run-up to the 2019 European elections. Led by the maxim that “dialogue is at the root of democratic governance,” we decided to trace whether Bulgarian politicians used elements of hate speech during the campaign for European elections in 2019 and how was this reflected in the media.The monitoring of keywords and messages reflecting the crisis with the political speech and use of abusive vocabulary in Bulgaria was carried out during the hot phase of the election campaign of the European elections from 26th April to 25th May 2019. For this purpose, we followed the morning blocks of the three national televisions, the main political programs, the evening issues, as well as the deliberately organized debates within the BNT, BTV and Nova TV. The subject of the study was the information published in 22 electronic editions of major national daily newspapers and news agencies.The social networks “Facebook” and “Twitter” were also subject to moni- toring as they are one of the main conductors and distributors of hate speech to different groups of people and are increasingly being used as an information channel by politicians who want their messages to reach as quickly as possible a wide range of people.

This text focuses on the politicisation of the topic of migration in Bulgaria in the period between the European elections of 2014 and 2019, which coincides with the period of the migratory crisis and the consequences thereof. As opposed to the classic understanding of politicization, in Bulgaria the process occurs in the conditions of dominating populist discourse with extremely conservative and nationalistic talk and securitarian interpretation. All this has entailed the impossibility to devise and implement working policies in the realm of migration and integration and in reality, places the security of the state in a potentially much more precarious future situation.

The paper reveals the process of institutionalisation of the Bulgarian Parliament for the period from 1991 to 2018, by examining three dimensions: /1/ the par- ty discipline and cohesion; /2/ the changing structure of parliamentary representatives; /3/ the legislative process. The paper reports the results of a longitudinal study of Bulgarian parliament aimed at identifying factors, drivers and stages of its institutionalisation and democratisation such as changes of rules and regulations, landslide electoral victory of new parties, presidential veto and judicial review.

The paper explores the link between the rise of national-populism and the return of religion to the mainstream of politics. One of the most popular theories explains the rise of populism with a fundamental conservative and religious shift in public attitudes in western countries. The paper tests this hypothesis by an analysis of one of the central themes – the connection between political power and compassion. The main argument is that contemporary populists, as a rule, are indifferent to or even disintegrate the institutional forms of compassion. They most often lower taxes, avoid redistributive policies, do not expand the system of socio-economic rights, and do not strengthen trade unions or NGOs targeting poor people. From this point of view populists use Christianity as a “label” without respecting its doctrinal requirements about compassion. Because of that the new synthesis between religion and politics is very different from traditional forms, as Christian-democracy for instance. Populism relies on the mobilisation of “threatened” majorities: majorities that feel they are loosing social status. Christian identity becomes a marker of the protective stance and closure of these majorities; it is also used as a call for the marginalisation of minorities: migrants, ethnic, sexual and other minorities. The reasons for these processes are at their core political and are not related to deep shifts in fundamental religious attitudes.

The article aims to outline two directions in which in recent decades different political theories search for reasons and possibilities for change of liberal representative democracy. The first of them is connected with the development of the libertarian theories for which democracy ceases to be indispensable requirement to political order, and the second one with development of theories of participatory democracy, trying to expand and deepen the application of democratic principles not only beyond the representative democracy but also beyond the political system, regarding it as a supreme normative ideal. These two types of theories are explored from point of view of their underlying philosophical-political conceptions of freedom and equality. Comparative analysis and critical assessment of some of their premises and conclusions are offered, some predictable results of their conceivable application to the organization of contemporary late modern societies are outlined.

The article analyses the problematic nature of the methodological approach examining populism as an ideology. There is an emphasis on several aspects. Firstly, the lack of a worldview, which would give an ideological value of populism. Secondly, on the insignificance of populism understood as lack of ideas for the development of politics, economics and society. Thirdly on its collaboration with left and right ideologies, as well as on the insubstantiality of the ideological approach, in that it draws some of its intuitions from the paradigm that considers populism as a strategy for political mobilization.

Based on an analysis of semi-structured biographical interviews with participants in the Green Movement, conducted between 2005 and 2015, the article shows a typological portrait of the Bulgarian environmental activist. The main focus of the analysis is the motivation for participation. This is examined in the light of the interaction between the motivation and the political and civic culture of the interviewees, their views on politics, democracy, participation, the meaning of life, as well as their outlook on nature and their surrounding environment. This typology highlights important political and ideological cleavages within the environmental community, and it reveals the diversity and complexity of the tendencies, motivations and values that the environmental movement encompasses. The green citizen is an ambiguous and yet a monolithic persona: He/ She could simultaneously be a Patriot and a Cosmopolite, a Traditionalist and a Pioneer, a Radical and a Reformer, a Leftist and a Rightist, Formal and Informalbut in any case – he/she is an opponent of the status quo, a witness and a participant in the overcoming of the traditional models and oppositions which are characteristic for the 20th century. Additionally, the green citizen is a co-creator of new value syntheses, but also of new oppositions.

The study examines the perception of the election process of representatives of the four main groups of participants – voters, candidates for elective office, campaigners and representatives of election administration. The study consists of sixteen separate face-to-face interviews in the form of series of questions. The study was realized in a non-election environment, as interviews were conducted approximately six months after the local elections in 2015.

The study illustrates and analyses the main problems and political challenges faced by the funded pension pillars in Bulgaria. It is motivated by the specific direction of the pension debate, which resumed in the country and by the recent reform attempts that contravene the multiplier design and complementary balance between the solidarity and funded approaches of meeting the retirement risk. Approaches on which the new pension model was developed after 1999. The main goal of the study is to put under critical analysis and evaluation the development and the leading problems of the funded pension pillars in Bulgaria and to discuss possible reform steps and directions for their future evolution.

Effective democracy depends to a large extent on effective communication. In this regard, comes one of the main, continuous deficits that the European Union is facing. The key to a proper understanding of the essence and way of functioning of the Union is above all to raise citizens' awareness. This is a long educational process that runs through several channels, including political parties, EU institutions, non-governmental organizations, universities, schools. With the White Paper, the European Commission launched a new debate on the future of the EU of 27 Member States. As a key priority, the Commission pointed out the need for active dialogue with citizens. Members of the Commission travelled all over Europe to listen to citizens' views on the various scenarios proposed, thus giving everyone the opportunity to contribute to defining the way forward for the Union.The author of this text has, as its main task, to examine the main shortcomings in the communication of European issues in the context of the current geopolitical challenges. Special emphasis is placed on the need to improve civic education and serious investment in the political literacy of young people. An attempt is also made to assess the results of the Citizens' Dialogue Initiative – in the light of the debates on Brexit and the key European Parliament elections.

The possibility for membership of Norway in the EU is a leading topic for the country’s foreign policy. Moreover, the assessments for potential membership are quite controversial. This leads to the formation of social divisions, which reflect in the political system. The current research aims to investigate the major cleavages formed by the experience of Norway in the field of European integration. These social divisions are not common only in Norway but are well observed in the rest of the member states of the EU. Their existence outlines a tendency, which can lead to significant changes in the EU, especially nowadays when Eurosceptic attitudes are becoming more common in the member-states.

Politics / Political Sciences, Political Theory, Political Sciences

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