Poland's politics and the travails of transition after 2001: The 2005 elections

As previously, the 2005 election in Poland saw the defeat of the incumbent government, but unlike previous elections, it marked the end of the Solidarity – successor party divide that had characterised Polish politics since 1989. The near simultaneity of parliamentary and presidential election campaigns made the campaigns indistinguishable, and each interacted with the other. Party programmes were similar; transition-related issues dominated the election. Its unexpected victor was Law and Justice (PiS), which sought a radical break with the trajectory of post-communist development and a moral revolution in a new ‘Fourth Republic’. PiS successfully appropriated the welfare mantle of the discredited social democrats and mobilised traditional conservative and religious values. Despite formal plans for a PiS coalition with Civic Platform, the election resulted unexpectedly in PiS's coalition with the radical parties Self-Defence and the League of Polish Families.     

Doing more with less: the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Turkish elections,and the uncertain future of Turkish politics

The outcome of Turkey's June 2011 elections temporarily quelled – though by no means entirely put to rest – growing concern over the creeping autocratic tendencies of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). To ensure that democracy remains durable, the AKP must now clearly demonstrate that it is willing to shun heavy-handed tactics and instead engage the opposition in a genuine dialog regarding important matters of constitutional change, especially those related to individual rights and identity issues. A slide toward autocracy has been an all-too-common pitfall in Turkish politics over the years. Should it so choose, the AKP is well poised to break the cycle at this critical juncture in Turkish politics.     

Farewell to the Caucasus: Regional ethnic clan politics and the growing instability of the ruling elite after the 2012 presidential elections in Russia

One of the most lingering questions about Russian politics that dominates public discourse and media coverage is the future of political regime after the 2012 presidential elections. The answer to this question is inextricably linked to the extent of differences between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, how long their “tandemocracy” will last and what can bring about regime change as scarce critics of the Kremlin, from ultra-liberals to communists, have been haphazardly co-opted into the power system, leaving no political ambitions that they would not, in principle, be ready to abandon in return for proper compensation.In sharp contrast to the views of many regional experts and commentators, the present-day Russian Federation is the world's most anti-Soviet state. It is based upon a very different set of values: private ownership, dire individualism, the cult of money, a clan-based political system, and pervasive corruption at all levels of government. The North Caucasus ethnocratic elites, however, do not have access to abundant resources for sale, and are forced to look around for alternative sustenance, as rigid centralism and unification limit their rent-seeking capabilities. Alexander Khloponin, the incumbent presidential envoy in charge of the North Caucasus Federal District, seems to continue the policy of buying the loyalty of regional archaic clan-based elites that aggravates rather than improves the situation.The paper addresses this puzzle: why, against rigorous rhetoric and demonstration of tight grip over the region, neither Putin nor Medvedev has real power to bring change to the North Caucasus? In an attempt to solve this puzzle, the paper examines the triadic relationship among central political elite, who benefited from the massive privatisation of lucrative segments of Soviet industry in the early 1990s, regional clan-based ethnocracy, and non-systemic religious opposition. Drawing on the works of Russian scholars and experts in Russian politics, the paper explores the hypothesis that on-going instability in the North Caucasus can no longer be explained by a well-known set of theories of ethnic violence, because it is carefully negotiated by regional and central political elite, who do not see the North Caucasus as an indispensable part of the Russian Federation and whose clan-based rent-seeking agendas have gradually driven Russian statehood into a complete dead-end. Instead of facing the real challenges that are addressed in this paper, it is only able to make a public show of action on the eve of crucial political campaigns: the 2012 presidential elections and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The paper concludes that the deep freeze in the Russian political system has exhausted its debatable potential for change through the existing tandem model of government with its obscure division of roles between two leaders. What we actually see is an imitation of political reform and the resulting degradation of the entire system of governance. Over the past century, Russian polity has never been as weak as today, because the only legitimate source of power in Russia is corruption.     

When revenues are not revenues: the influence of municipal governance on revenue recognition within Swedish municipal waste management

This paper explores the influence of municipal governance forms and structures on accounting compliance in municipal organisations. If municipal governance forms and structures influence accounting compliance, then understanding these relationships becomes important when discussing heterogeneous practice and efficient accounting regulation. The context and object of analysis is the practices of revenue recognition within the Swedish municipal solid waste management sector. Overall, this analysis identifies that financial accounting compliance is influenced by municipal governance forms and structures, and the results further highlight how financial accounting practices might diffuse through local intra-organisational processes. The results emphasise that municipal governance forms and structures are important factors when considering heterogeneous accounting practices in the municipal sector which complement the more conventional analysis of how external institutional, political and economic forces influence accounting choice and compliance.     

Gorbachev, ideology, and the fate of Soviet communism

The collapse of the Soviet Union has spurred much scholarly debate about the reasons for the rapid disintegration of this apparently entrenched system. In this article, it is argued that the basic source of ultimate weakness was the obverse of the system's strengths, especially its form of organization and its relation to Marxist–Leninist ideology. Democratic centralism provided cohesion for the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) but also gave inordinate control over ideology to the party leader. Mikhail Gorbachev carried out an ideological revision that undercut the legitimacy of party elites and his restructuring of the system left the party with no clear functional role in the society. The successor party, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), has made a surprising comeback for communism, utilizing the Leninist model of party organization, which has proved to be highly effective in the Russian political culture. Furthermore, the CPRF, under party leaders like Gennadi Zyuganov, has avoided Gorbachev's ideological deviations while attempting to broaden the party's base through the cultivation of Russian nationalism.     

Regeneration,partnerships and communities: Towards an ideology for the third way

Government by Consent: The Principle and Practice of Accountability in Local Government, Margaret Simey, Bedford Square Press, pp. 53, £2.95.

Local Democracies: A Study in Comparative Local Government, Margaret Bowman and William Hampton (eds), Longman, Cheshire, 1983, pp. 207, £6.95 paperback.

Fiscal Tiers: the Economics of Multilevel Government, David King, George Allen and Unwin in association with The Centre for Research on Federal Financial Relations, The Australian National University, 1984, pp. vii + 326. No price given.

Fiscal Decentralisation, Thomas Wilson (ed.), Anglo‐German Foundation for the Study of Industrial Society, 1984, pp. vii + 197, £8,80.

Community Action for Change, Ray Lees and Majorie Mayo, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984, pp. 208, £6.95 paperback.

Women's Committees: A Study of Gender and Local Policy Formulation, Working Paper no. 45, S. Button, School for Advanced Urban Studies, University of Bristol, 1984, pp. 110, £4.20 paperback.

The Idea of Neighbourhood, What Local Politics Should be about, J. Seabrook, Pluto Press, 1984, pp. 147, £3.95 paperback.     

析外国一些共产党和左翼政党通过议会斗争道路上台执政

进入新世纪，世界社会主义运动总体仍处于低潮，但经过苏东剧变洗礼和调整革新，世界社会主义运动开始进入了新的发展时期，出现了一批共产党和左翼政党在选举中获胜的范例。摩尔多瓦共产党人党、塞浦路斯劳动人民进步党、尼泊尔共产党（毛主义）和一批拉美左翼政党纷纷上台执政，在新自由主义横行世界的全球化中开启了“另一个世界”的可能性，为多极世界选择了一种替代资本主义的发展模式。