Heino Nyyssönen

COCKS OF THE WOOD, HOBGOBLINS AND VAMPIRES

Political Culture and Stereotypes

The main thesis of this article is that stereotypes are essential elements of political culture, and they offer information on the political culture of both the users and the objects of the given stereotype. The article is based on the observation that it is not just political culture that is built on the totality of specifi c beliefs, topoi and presumptions, but the researchers of political culture themselves are bound to create and use stereotypes. The author reviews the usages of the notion of political culture in political science literature, and focuses mainly on the usability of the notion for research. In addition, he examines how stereotyping is used in creating the image of the other and in conceptualising the differences of political cultures in the mirror of Hungarian–Finnish interaction.

Keywords: political culture, stereotypes, Finland

Horváth, Péter

WHO SHOULD GOVERN? VOTER PREFERENCES AND GOVERNMENT FORMATION IN HUNGARY, 1990–2009.

In my paper I wish to refute the thesis of the classical theory of democracy that politicians implement people’s will, a product of aggregation of voter preferences. I seek to underpin my statement by testing the aggregative-populist model of democracy through empirical analysis of government formations in 1990–2009. I show that politicians ignore voter preferences in coalition composition and government formation scenarios and and preferences to the coalition patterns in an ex post manner. Building on theories of leadership democracy and herestetics, I also demonstrate that government formation lies in the hands of party leaders who have intrinsic political volition. People’s will does not exist because preferences and outcome of government formation are produced by the politicians through herestetic manoeuvres and their autonomy vis-à-vis the voters. It is the po liticians’ task to manage cross-cutting preferences and to form a viable government under power relations that are not completely predictable due to perverse effects. Politicians seek to minimize contingency by reducing the number of political alternatives, shaping or ignoring voter preferences, and by the rule of acknowledgement. In conclusion I make further conceptual restrictions for a minimalist defi nition of democracy. Voters set the political process of government formation in motion through their votes and authorize politicians to form a viable government, and they also give advance consent to the pros pec tive outcome of government formation. Democracy, however, does not make voters’ role hollow for 1. politicians are unable to control the content of votes, and 2. party competition for votes continues to exist. At the same time this also highlights the limits of the explanatory power of leadership democracy and herestetics.

Keywords: government and coalition formation, coalition composition, voter preferences, people’s will, political volition, autonomy of politicians

Mikecz, Dániel

CULTURE OF RESISTANCE

Culture and Identity in the Literature of Social Movement Studies

In this paper I stress the cultural aspects of social movements. After the ”cultural turn” in the 60s and 70s new methods and theories emerged in the social sciences as well. At the same time new fi elds of contention appeared. The students of the new social movements have elaborated the questions of identity, interpretation and the construction of meaning. After the introduction I briefl y present the history and effects of the cultural turn, then I stress the cultural concerns of the literature of social movement studies. Eventually I show the relation and characteristics of the key features of movement culture: the identity, the framing process and the movement subcultures.

Keywords: social movements, movement culture, identity, new social movemmnts, collective action

Szabó, Gabriella

CONCEPTS OF THE EUROPEAN PUBLIC SPHERE. PARADIGMS, DEFINITIONS AND APPROACHES FOR A POSSIBLE NEW DIRECTION OF EUROPEAN STUDIES

This paper aims at reviewing the most important aspects of the emerging literature on the European public sphere. The vivid academic debates on democratic defi cit, low level of legitimacy and lack of European demos show that the European Union suffers from serious problems in connecting its publics. I attempt to summarize how political scientists approach the importance of public sphere in the European integration. The main points of the most infl uential pa radigms, theoretical backgrounds and defi nitions will be presented such as the total rethinking of Habermas’s public sphere conception in the context of the EU and the deliberative supranationalism which is currently one of the most coherent ways to conceptualize the European public sphere.

Keywords: European Public Sphere, European Union, democracy, legitimacy,

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