Articles by CMCS Chair and Fellow published in International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society
The International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society (IJPS) published an article by CMCS Chair Monroe Price and one by CMCS Senior Research Fellow Peter Molnar in its December 2009 issue. Both articles are available online as well.
- Peter Molnar, Laws and Policies — Enabling or Withholding the Development of the Culture of Constitutional Democracy, pp. 465-484; view publisher's info or the full text as PDF file.
- Monroe E. Price, Media Transitions in the Rear-View Mirror: Some Reflections, pp. 485-496, view publisher's info or the full text as PDF file.
Most of the contributions in the issue, including those by Monroe and Peter, were originally prepared for the conference "1989 and Beyond: The Future of Democracy", which was organized in April 2008 at the New School for Social Research by its Transregional Center for Democratic Studies in collaboration with the European-based Research Network 1989.
Peter Molnar, Laws and Policies — Enabling or Withholding the Development of the Culture of Constitutional Democracy
Abstract
New regulations and policies can hardly change the attitude of people in former communist countries as fast as a law can be passed, but they can certainly have some influence on the development of the political culture of the society. Bad laws and policies can preserve long-standing tendencies of state secrecy, undue political influence in media, lack of civic courage, and fear of speaking really freely. Good laws and policies can have the opposite result. This article will analyze how international and national legislation and their application influence the development of fundamental elements of a constitutional democracy in newer democracies. I will provide a typology of how law can influence the cultural environment necessary for a well-functioning constitutional democracy, assuming that such a democracy is the best possible framework for human communities.
Full article info
International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society IJPS
Volume 22, Issue 4 / December, 2009, Page 465-484
Publisher Springer Netherlands
ISSN 0891-4486 (Print) 1573-3416 (Online)
DOI 10.1007/s10767-009-9075-7
The article is a revised and extended version of Peter Molnar: Law and the creation of free speech rights—the impact of international regulations in Central and Eastern Europe, Global Media Journal, Polish Edition No 1 (4), 2008.
Monroe E. Price, Media Transitions in the Rear-View Mirror: Some Reflections
Abstract
This essay explores the development of media systems in Central and Eastern Europe in the post-Soviet period, including the influence of social and political factors, outside media assistance, and the drive toward privatization and public service broadcasting, in an effort to understand what the experience teaches about democracy promotion, about the efficacy of various forms of media intervention, and about the utility of various forms of incentives and pressures in setting agendas and effecting political change. Despite differing historical, social, and political traditions and different forms of and reactions to media assistance efforts, factors, both exogenous (“Americanization” and “strategic communication”) and endogenous (“modernization,” secularization and commercialization), ultimately contributed to a homogenization of systems, rendering less relevant the particular distinctions among countries.
Full article info
International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society IJPS
Volume 22, Issue 4 / December, 2009, Page 485-496
Publisher Springer Netherlands
ISSN 0891-4486 (Print) 1573-3416 (Online)
DOI 10.1007/s10767-009-9078-4