Wyniki wyszukiwania - Biblioteka Nauki

1

The Lithuanian Referendum on Extending the Working of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Station: The Rationality of Actors within (Un-)Changing Structures

100%

Mažylis L. , Jurgelionytė A.

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tom 5

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nr 1

117-136

EN

This article explores the structural factors and the arguments of the political actors in the Lithuanian referendum of 2008 on extending the working of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Station. By applying a new institutionalism theoretical perspective, this article studies campaign development, its structural framework and the actors' arguments. The presupposition has been confirmed that the value normative environment of the referendum was long-term and sustained, without any "paradigmatic shifts" during the referendum debates themselves. With that said, the equilibrium of competing normative attitudes was shifted towards agreeing with an extension of the work as a "minor evil". Within this structural environment, a range of "second order" features was typical for the referendum campaign model, additionally reinforced by another parallel (chronologically coinciding) campaign, that of the elections to the Seimas. Minor shifts in the otherwise overwhelming YES vote could be evoked by formal mechanical nuances, if nothing else. The diverse positions of the political actors involved in the campaign - whether active, critical, reluctant, or floating ones - were supposed to shift their opinion(s) within a stable structural value normative environment, not seeking any reconsideration. This model of referendum campaign development is typical for the Lithuanian direct democracy tradition. Frequently, a referendum serves as a supplementary formal institutional instrument allowing an expansion of the field of political debates and/or the possibility for political actors to place themselves within a stable value normative structure where they may strive for additional mobilization of behalf of their electorate.

2

Pro-Western Attitudes in the Five Central and East European States: Electoral Behavior

100%

Mažylis L. , Skirmantienė A.

Baltic Journal of Law & Politics

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2008

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tom 1

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nr 1

69-94

EN

This article examines electoral behavior in the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (Poland, the Baltic States and Ukraine). The main aim is to analyze electoral behavior in particular sub-national territories in order to discover differences and common trends in the countries examined. The article discusses interconnections between socio-economic, ethnic, and cultural characteristics of particular sub-national territories and the attitudes of their inhabitants expressed in voting results and opinion polls. The factor of post-World War II immigration (historic immigration) seems to still determine regional culture (including political preferences) in all the countries under consideration. The specific details of electoral behavior are analyzed using quantitative method. This method helps to examine the results of parliamentary and presidential elections and EU accession referenda of 2003. Correlations between independent and dependent variables repeated in a number of measurements show certain tendencies within each examined country. The totality of such tendencies demonstrates common trends of electoral behavior in post-communist space.

3

Banking System Stability and Public Security: the Cases of the Collapse of the Commercial Banks “Snoras” and “Ūkio bankas” in Lithuania

100%

Mažylis L. , Unikaitė-Jakuntavičienė I.

Lithuanian Annual Strategic Review

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2014

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tom 12

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nr 1

275-298

EN

The stability of the banking system is analyzed in the article as an important condition of security of the society. The article analyzes the short term and long term impact of the collapse of two commercial banks, “Snoras” and “Ūkio bankas”, on the public attitude about the banking activities in Lithuania. Employing new institutionalism theoretical approaches, an analytical model is constructed based on the reconstruction of discursive devices of two Lithuanian Internet news portals, Delfi.lt and Lrytas.lt. The positions of the main process actors (Bank of Lithuania, Heads of the State, and media itself) within a changing structural environment are assessed. The article argues that new institutionalism presents an appropriate theoretical framework for characterizing the processes analyzed, taking into account calculations of actors and explaining development of political processes, and taking into account circumstances of consensus reached in the former stages of political processes. Employing the discursive institutionalism approach enables the understanding of actors as actively influencing and changing structural environment. Five stages of bank collapse are defined according to the reflections in the news media portals. They differ by their continuity, intensity and by the means used for (re-)constructing discourses, comparing former case of collapse with the latter one. For instance, the position of the society caused by the “Snoras” bank collapse can be characterized as a classical case of cognitive dissonance: commercial banks are treated by the society as untrustworthy and at the same time society’s behavior shows that society is benefiting from the bank services. Politically the problem analyzed seems like a marginal one without any important influence on mainstream political processes. It seems that the situation after the bank collapse is different from early post-Soviet times when “safety of savings” was an important argument in the fight of political parties for the power. However, taking into account the influence of these two banks’ collapses for international country ratings we note that collapse as a “frequent phenomenon” worsened Lithuania’s position. “Normatively” interpreting the collapse cases we may argue that actors of the political field (mainstream media channels included) coped with the dynamic situation by appropriately minimizing negative outcomes of the collapse of the two commercial banks.

4

The Rise In Popularity Of The Lithuanian Political Party Drasos Kelias

80%

Mažylis L. , Unikaitė-Jakuntavičienė I. , Ivanovas B.

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nr 1

63-88

EN

This article examines the genesis of a new Lithuanian political unit, the Drasos kelias party, which was created in 2012 and successfully participated in the 2012 Lithuanian parliamentary elections, reconstructing it in three stages based on the analysis of news portals. Reconstruction of the first stage is based on the competing “conspiracy versions” (two different interpretations of the unsolved criminal story in the news media) in 2009- 2010. Two archetypal characters (criminal and/or hero) were sought in the interpretation of the two aforementioned versions. Agenda setting and media framing theories were used as explanatory theories. The second stage (2011-2012) is reconstructed through further analysis of the news portals as well as through the analysis of some additional research from the interviews and focus group discussions. This data allowed us to retrace the logic of collective thinking. This logic of collective thinking contributed to the formation of a continuous “single issue” protest community which was united by the slogan “do not hand the child to a paedophilia clan”. This group of people constantly hindered the governmental institutions from the implementation of the court decision to hand the child to her mother, and over a long period of time its protest arguments expanded from “not handing the child to her mother” to protests against the entire Lithuanian legal system. Further, the third stage associated with formal institutionalization of political party and its rising of popularity among the voters in the 2012 Lithuanian parliamentary elections is analyzed. The analysis stresses the importance of social and personal networks for the regional dispersion of party election results.

5

Two Competing Normative Trajectories in the Context of the First Baltic Gay Pride Parade in Lithuania

80%

Mažylis L. , Rakutienė S. , Unikaitė-Jakuntavičienė I.

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tom 7

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nr 2

37-76

EN

For a long time post-Soviet space has been perceived as homophobic and intolerant of LGBT persons. The three Baltic States - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - as former Soviet republics and current members of the European Union, represent the space where a strong homophobic post-Soviet atmosphere competes with pro-LGBT Western influence. This article examines how the first LGBT Pride Parade (which occurred in Vilnius in 2010) is reflected in Lithuanian media portals. The article also presents the broader context of LGBT issues by reviewing legal changes and Lithuanian political parties’ programs. Our analysis of the media and other sources is based on three arguments: 1) that the LGBT pride parade in Vilnius became the most important event for reflecting LGBT issues in the media and society; 2) it might have not been possible without support and influence from external institutions; and 3) the LGBT parade revealed the division of two competing normative trajectories in Lithuania. The reconstructed trajectories in the article are based on the theoretical framework of new institutionalism, media analysis, interviews and focus groups. Construction of the LGBT campaign and counter-campaign seem delimited rather than approaching them as value normative consensus. However, the way in which LGBT persons are reflected within the Lithuanian media is remarkably different in comparison with the early post-Soviet period. The Baltic gay pride parade “for equality” and external (Western) support for it were highly visible in the media, influenced a significant debate on the topic not otherwise experienced in Lithuania, and (re)introduced a question about the perception of ‘normality’ within society. These debates also raise the question of how norms and institutions change and adapt within society.