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Item Lobbying in Georgia(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Kevkhishvili, Mariana; ქევხიშვილი, მარიანაThe study is focused on the influence of non-governmental organizations on the public policy in the period of “Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia” governing. According to my judgement, in the conditions established by the new government starting from 2012, NGOs have been out of the capacity to influence the law-making process in the country. My judgement is backed up by the fact, that the leader of the party Bidzina Ivanishvili, according to his own words, has a sceptical attitude towards the third sector. In his speeches, he often attacks NGOs, relevantly, the majority of the Georgian Parliament, giving consideration to his judgements and attitudes, does not adopt the draft laws advanced by NGOs or does not take their remarks and substantiated opinions into account in the process of adoption of laws. The main goal of the study is to determine the level of influence, that the non-governmental organizations, engaged in advocating politics, have on the law-making process. We studied the issue of the adoption/rejection of the draft laws presented by NGOs to the parliament of Georgia in the years 2012-2018. The study covered the extent, to which non-governmental organizations managed to achieve the desired results for the draft laws advanced by them. In this process, studying the Georgian media is important, as it shows the attempts exercised by NGOs toward making this or that issue a subject of awareness and importance in the society. Their messages are directed toward both, mobilizing the public attention and bringing the relevant information to the knowledge of the members of the government. Therefore, the third sector is trying to lobby the issue through the mass media and obtaining the desirable decisions from the policy-makers. The question to be studied is: what is the level of influence, the non- governmental sector has upon the law-creating process in the period of the Georgian Dream government? Baumgartner and Jones' punctuated equilibrium theory and the path- departing change model were used as the theoretic framework. These theories explain the model of policy changes. According to the punctuated equilibrium theory, the long period of policy-making stability may be interrupted by a drastic change in a critical moment. But the players supporting status-quo are stronger than those voting for the policy changing. Although the successful campaign of advocating carried out by the policy course change supporters cause change of the status-quo. To study the Georgian media, we used the Framing’s method, that studies the way journalists separate out political information and get it ready for presentation before the public. They naturally create frames, when they bring news and narratives to our notice, thus creating a public opinion. Through these frame issues are given specific contents by way of underlining, interpretation and deduction. Content analysis was used as the method for this study. Through this method we studied the information published on the web-page of the Georgian parliament, concerning all the draft laws advanced and proposed by non-governmental organizations and the Georgian media reporting political issues.Item Routinization of Conflict in Ukraine as a Security Dilemma(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Güç, Kürşat; გუჩი, კურშატThe conflict in Ukraine left behind its fifth year. The clashes that caused the deaths of thousands of people and hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people are the sources of the political and humanitarian crises in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea. Although the conflict situation and territorial instability in Ukraine may seem like a major security problem for the country, the Ukrainian political decision-makers are also benefiting from the impasse of the problem. Because Ukraine uses Russia's so-called intervention in conflicts to obtain the support of the West. Thus, it is thought that the conflict would cause the West, especially Europe, to embrace and support Ukraine against the aggression of Russia. Thus, with the support of the West, Ukraine will prevent the entire country from entering the sphere of influence of Russia. Ukraine, which wants to use the image of the “expansionist and aggressive Russia”, which is created by the routine conflict, in the negotiation processes with the West, is about to disregard a part of the country and guarantee the rest. But this situation has been shaking the process of entering the European Union, which Ukraine has been looking for a long time. The European Union does not want to include a country which has lost control in a certain part of its borders and whose territorial integrity is unclear and there is a possibility of a hot conflict at any time. Therefore, the political uncertainty and conflict in both the Donbass region and the Crimea, on the one hand, will provide Kiev with external support and partial security, while at the same time deeply shaking the European integration process, which will provide full security. This is a paradoxical conclusion for the security of Ukraine.Item The Constituent Assembly of Georgia and the Batumi Oblast(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Orjonikidze, Tamar; ორჯონიკიძე, თამარThe Constituent Assembly of Georgia (1919-1921) is the most important stage in the history of Georgian Parliamentarianism. The study of its experiences is multifaceted and interesting, including the care of the restoration of territorial integrity of Georgia. During the first year of the work of The Constituent Assembly the jurisdiction of the Democratic Republic of Georgia did not apply to Batumi Oblast and Batumi Oblast was only returned to Georgia in July 1920. The Constituent Assembly systematically reviewed the issues of “marginal regions” and including the Batumi Oblast, the existing situation and the issue of their status in the state of Georgia. The work is prepared on the basis of the content analysis of the Stenographic Reports of The Constituent Assembly of Georgia (1919- 1921). The study showed, that in 1919 the condition in the Batumi Oblast was discussed on 7 meetings and in 1920 during 6 meetings of The Constituent Assembly. As a result of the survey the problems that were discussed in the respect of the mentioned Oblast are revealed. It was primarily to prevent the activities of hostile forces operating in the Batumi Oblast and to aid the development of a special state policy for integration the Batumi Oblast and its population into the Democratic Republic of Georgia. For the Batumi Oblast in accordance with the request of local political forces of Adjara, it was considered necessary to introduce autonomous governance in the composition of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. The issue was discussed at the sessions of the Constituent Assembly as well as on the session of the constitutional commission established by the Constituent Assembly, which was included in the 1921 Constitution of Georgia under the relevant Article (107). The separate regulation of autonomous governance should be developed separately (Article 108). The paper discusses the debates on this issue. Based on the biographical analysis, it was shown that three residents of the Batumi Oblast (Heidar Abashidze, Osman Mikeladze, Kadir Shervashidze) were members of the Constituent Assembly. It is important to consider the fact, that neither the main nor the additional elections have been held in Batumi Oblast. The work deals with the activities of these individuals in the Constituent Assembly. The Batumi Oblast was the last region of Georgia, which remained in the hands of the Georgian government during the February-March War of 1921 and was also a place, where the Constituent Assembly of Georgia completed its work. The last meeting of The Constituent Assembly was held in March 17, 1921 in the City Council building in Batumi. Based on the resolution, the Government of Georgia under the supervision of Noe Zhordania was granted the authorization. Afterwards he went into emigration to protect the interests of Georgia.Item Turkey’s Integration to European Union in Terms of Occupational Health and Safety and Transformations in Work Life(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Arpat, Bulent; არპათი, ბულენტIn 2012, the Law No. 6331 Occupational Health and Safety Law entered into force in Turkey with the European Union directive no 89/391/EEC, dated 12.06.1989. Upon this development, ILO contracts, no. 155 and no. 161, were added to the Turkish employment legislation. Up until 2012, Turkey has had a compensation-based approach with regards to occupational health and safety. In this approach, Turkey is mostly behind the EU legislation and practices on the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases. The main characteristics of the new approach adopted with the Law No. 6331 are the establishment of continuous improvement and prevention policy, the participation of employees to management, and continuous training of employees and their representatives on determined issues. The most important part of the EU integration in occupational health and safety legislation is to have the employees covered. The legislation before 2012 had very little employee coverage. With Law No. 6331, people in different employee statuses are now included in the legislation's scope regarding occupational accidents and diseases. The most important feature of the new period, which started with the entry into force of Law No. 6331, is that it has implemented a country policy supported by social parties and other stakeholders. The workplaces were classified during this period into “less dangerous”, “dangerous”, and “very dangerous” in accordance with NACE(Nomenclature générale des Activités économiques dans les Communautés Européennes); and employer responsibilities were determined in increasing levels according to this classification. The most important element of the preventive approach in the new period is the obligation for “Risk Assessment”. Risk assessment can be defined as determining the risks in the working environment and make the threats, that employees may face, known in advance. The aim is to prevent occupational accidents and diseases before they occur. The weakest group with regards to occupational health and safety are subcontracted workers. It is known that a great number of work accidents originating from the lack of coordination between the sub-employer and the principal employer are recorded. Law No. 6331 guarantees the coordination of the sub-employer and the principal employer by introducing healthy conditions. Ensuring integration to the EU in occupational health and safety legislation in Turkey also brings new improvements in working life. While dependent employees are not able to effectively exercise their right to work, because the subcontracting method is a pervasive employment model, the regulation in 2018 put about one million subcontractors working in the public sector into the permanent status. In all sectors, new maternity leave and wage rights for working women have been put into effect. Pensioners' economic rights have been improved by giving them two bonuses each year. In the resolutions currently discussed in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, improvements in the personal rights of many public employees are addressed. Turkey addressing the occupational health and safety regulations with the aim of integration into the EU has opened the doors to many substantial improvements in working life that are revolutionary. This study aims to evaluate the new working life rights that were introduced with the integration of occupational health and safety into the EU and continued with the domino effect within the context of the EU acquis. In the study, the transformation of working life starting with Law No. 6331 until today will be discussed with all its phases. This study highlights the essential effects of Turkey’s integration efforts to the EU on the improvement in working life.Item Exponential Capacity of Power and its Impact on Military Alliance Dynamics(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Esitashvili, Nikoloz; ესიტაშვილი, ნიკოლოზThe Cold War ended in 1989, yet the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) endures despite the disappearance of the Soviet Union—the principal rival that prompted the military alliance’s formation1 and purportedly warranted its endurance for over four decades.2 Moreover, the number of cooperative programs has steadily increased after the Cold War and currently, the US and its allies are cooperating in over 20 military programs.3 The enduring capacity of NATO is, indeed, a puzzling political event and a counterintuitive development regarding the internal logic of military alliance theory4. The central goal of the study is to find out why the cooperation among NATO members has endured and even increased since the end of the Cold War. The proposed study aims to advance an important theoretical contribution to the literature on military alliance theory. Its aim is to show, that the political economy of military production, a variable generally omitted when explaining military alliance dynamics, might be among important causal factors influencing the alliance decisions of states. The study employs a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods to find out why NATO members continued and deepened their military cooperation after the Cold War, in the absence of an external or extra- alliance threat. The explanation is based on the compatibility of interests among great powers and political economy of military production: the size and extent of scale economies, economies of scope, learning-by- doing and escalating R & D costs. The variables are measured with data available in industrial censuses and national trade statistics. Because there are only a few cases, the study employs the focused method of comparison in order to shed light on the compatibility of national interests of NATO members after the Cold War. The applied method is to be mixed with intensive case study approach to learn in depth about the states’ military and economic interests and alliance decisions they took. Such an approach allows to extract similarities and reach specific generalizations and conclusions.Item Peculiarities of Social Protest Formation in Georgia(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Karaia, Tamar; ქარაია, თამარIn post-Soviet Georgia government and society experienced a long way of confrontation. The Lack of legitimacy of the government, the weakness of political institutions, as well as social-economic and political problems were the main factors, that provoked a protest lead by the politicians - aimed to resign the government and gain power. In this protest citizens where part of decoration. Nowadays we face an upraise of various social groups and transformation of the protest repertoire from resigning government to policy change. This process can be observed from 2012, since a change of the government launched new windows for opportunities. Contentious movements including ecological, labor, LGBT, marihuana decriminalization make their voice heard, collect followers, close protest stage for politicians from opposition political parties, confront or collaborate with the decision makers and trying to reach their goals using different kind of strategies. Alongside to this process, the floor for the anti-governmental political pretest has disappeared. Above mentioned changes mostly influenced the demands and the topics of protest movements. If previous movements reach their goals through a change of government, contemporary protest movements aim to change policies. This process, from our point of view can be discussed as an indicator of positive changes toward the attitude to the political institutes. We will analyze the dynamics of the protest movements in 2003-2018. This timeframe includes a period of mass protest (2003-2010); appearing social groups and launching their protest (2010-2012; 2015-2018) and a perod of silence (2013-2014). Within the research, we rely on the theory of structural functionalism, so called “windows of opportunities” (Tilly, Tarrow) that attempts to explain that movements are conditioned by the social and political situation, while the uprising of movements can be explained by the decrease of trust and influence of political parties. The main aims of this research are to analyze: factors of protest transformation; how and why developments of various social groups where provoked how these social groups are trying to transform themselves to the political elite, to influence on the solution of the issue.Item What is Hybrid Warfare and Its Geostrategic Aspects (Fourth War Generation) – Cyber War Case-Study(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Maisaia, Vakhtang; მაისაია, ვახტანგ; Mikadze, Miranda; მიქაძე, მირანდაThe hybrid war is one of the main tools of the "New Generation War." At time being, with consideration of new realities, linked with contemporary international security processes, a war game modulation has been transformed into a new dimension – the introduction of a Fourth Warfare Generation associated with the Hybrid Warfare theory and strategy. Concrete cases of Hybrid Warfare are the occupation and further annexation of Crimea peninsula by the Russian Federation from Ukraine and the so-called “Green Men” affect. Crimea's annexation has caused a threat, that Russia might create a preemptive military presence in any country, and in addition hostilities in the conditions of a hybrid war in Syria's regional war. Moreover, it is clear that war game scenarios are developing and wagging not only in 3-D formats but also in a 4-D format, meaning: land-sea-air- space (cyber). This type of warfare is also determined by the factors linked with non-visible areas and aimed at dwelling on frustration and defragmentation of a foe’s cultural values and focusing on the inferiority on information channels and flows. The viral warfare in cyber warfare is also a variety of the hybrid warfare, called the cyber war. The cyber war is a new threat to national security. The general directions of military strategic parameters of the hybrid war can be presented as follows: • not physical, not moral and political defeat; • combined, coordinated, open and hidden use of terrorism, criminal and cyber combat techniques of Combined Martial Tactical Elements. The purpose of our report is to study the concept of "hybrid war" and to discuss its geostrategic aspects in the conceptual framework of cyber war. For this purpose, it is necessary to research this topic. This will give us an opportunity to find out more about the issue of hybrid war and its geostrategic aspects on the example of the cyber war. We will mainly use qualitative research methods, namely, the review of literature, through which we will develop the theoretical framework of the research and the case study analysis will help us to inspect the real facts in a better way.Item The Impact of European Integration on Montenegrin Politics and Society(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Vukićević, Boris; ვუკიჩევიჩი, ბორისMontenegro is the smallest of all former Yugoslav republics, and the last to become independent, in 2006 (except for Kosovo, whose status is still a matter of dispute). The European integration is an important topic on Montenegrin political scene, and, actually, it was an important topic in the discussions surrounding the referendum on independence in 2006. Ever since then, Montenegro is in the process of joining EU which is the most important goal of the country’s foreign policy and probably the only one which is, at least nominally, adopted by all political parties. Since Montenegro passed through tumultuous 1990s as a part of the internationally-isolated union with Serbia (led by Slobodan Milosevic at the time), while it was kept out of outright war, it still entered the new millennium economically, politically and culturally underdeveloped and far, not only from the EU-standards, but also from its own standings back in 1989. European integration gave impetus to various reforms Montenegro has been passing through since (re)gaining independence. It can be regarded on different levels – as mentioned before, it marks a unifying goal in the still highly divided nation. It also helped many reforms in legislation in order to harmonize a mostly communist-era legal system with the EU legislation. It also helped political changes in a country that still has to oversee the democratic transfer of power (the ruling party, DPS, originates from the League of Communists). On that very field the impact of European integration is huge, but it remains also the most vulnerable point for Montenegro. The EU integration (as well as NATO accession) also aided in setting up stronger economic ties with the Western countries, and the rise of Western investments and number of tourists from the EU visiting Montenegro (where tourism remains a very important source of income). This is contrary to the previous decade when Russian and Serbian tourists, as well as Russian, Turkish, Arab and Azerbaijani investments dominated. The foreign policy of Montenegro also saw a shift, which led it away from its historic alley, Russia, and firmly into the Western orbit to an extent, that it is being labelled by detractors of its foreign policy as a satellite without a will of its own). Overall, the impact of the European integration process on Montenegrin society and politics remains strong and is mostly beneficial for the country’s interests and its future development. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the role of European integration in Montenegrin politics and Montenegrin society as a whole, by analyzing available data and relevant papers on this matter.Item Projecting Ideal Selves: EU’s and Russia’s Competing Cultural Narratives in the Post-Soviet Space(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Valenza, Domenico; ვალენზა, დომენიკოThis article attempts to analyse the European Union’s (EU) and Russia’s cultural diplomacy in the post-Soviet space (Eastern neighbourhood and Central Asia) and in particular their cultural narratives in the region. At the EU policy level, awareness of the role of cultural relations has risen sharply in the past decade, and in 2016 a more precise European approach to the role of culture in external relations was issued for the first time in a joint communication by the European Commission and the High Representative (EC and EEAS, 2016). In the Eastern Neighbourhood cultural relations have been an integral part of bilateral and multilateral agendas, and the EU has developed a sound experience in supporting the cultural sector. As the other key regional player, Russia’s soft power rationale arose in the aftermath of the colour revolutions in order to counter western activities and enhance Moscow’s image. This quest for attraction resulted in a number of policy initiatives and in the creation of a number of public and mixed agencies dealing with cultural goals. To analyse EU’s and Russia’s cultural narratives it is proposed to apply Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) theory and methodologies (Fairclough & Fairclough, 2012) to a selection of key legal and policy documents from European and Russian key institutions and agencies, together with political declarations released in pan-European and Russian media. Overall, this study hypothesises that the EU and Russia promote two contrasting approaches to cultural diplomacy in the region. Whereas the EU seeks co-creation and mutuality and targets the civil society sector, Russia displays a nexus of culture and security and the broader idea that cultural difference leads to conflict. Somewhat close to Huntington’s analyses (1997), to ensure its national security Russia portrays itself as ‘doomed’ to lead and reshape its neighbourhood through its culture and spiritual values. Similarities nevertheless appear when it comes to the way ‘others’ are depicted: in both actors’ narratives, civil society and broader foreign people are not synonymous with the best-representative sample of post-Soviet populations, but rather a cherry-picked selection of those forces and grouping that uphold European or Russian (and Eurasian) values.Item Crisis of Democracy and a New Class in Georgia(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Darbaidze, Eka; დარბაიძე, ეკაGender equality can’t be achieved without women's economic strengthening and their equal involvement in economic activity. Economic empowerment of women is measured with their equal participation in the labor market and equal access to the resources. So, equal labor rights, as a precondition for equal participation in the labor market, are an essential component for the economic empowerment of women and gender equality. The neoliberal economic policy in the context of economic globalization is contributed to create a new class structure, that the British researcher Guy Standing called “Precariat”, which is characterized by new types of relationships and more and more instability in relation towards this class, while distributing wealth. Precariat is a new social class, whose representatives are forced to work in low-paid, unstable and temporary services, without any social insurance and even without maternity leave. Often, the representatives of the precariat class, are women who are forced to accept jobs like this. Neoliberalism is characterized with subordination, exploitation, and control towards women. The "new economy" discourse, which is idealizing "creative workers", often makes it possible to hide its’ “precariatizm”. Characteristics for the majority of jobs in global capitalism are: the precarious of women's work, fragmentation, low status and low payment accordingly. The techniques of neoliberal governments allow the “Precariat” to be permanent and continuous. For a long period of unemployment, in Georgia many women suffered with disqualification and were forced to move to the unregistered, self- employment field. Many of them have come out of the labor market, i.e. in the informal sector - "shadow economy", where they work without any safety and their rights are grossly violated. Families, who do not have the conditions to create a livelihood, especially in rural areas, to support their family and children are forced to move to large cities or abroad to find jobs, where they can’t meet the needs of the labor market and are under risk to be involved in various informal activities. In large cities of Georgia, legal rights of women, especially of those who are employed in cafes, bars, restaurants, shops and booths, are often violated and they have very difficult conditions at work. The main goal of our research is to study the current condition of women employed in the labor market of Georgia; How the existing national legislative framework helps the establishment of gender and social equality in the labor market; How Georgia's labor law protects employed women, in this case, the rights of women employed in our target group - service centers, and whether the national legislative framework guarantees their protection.Item Adoption of the Coastal Zone of the Black Sea in Georgia Based on the Principles of Blue Economy(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Melikidze, Valerian; მელიქიძე, ვალერიან; Chkhaidze, Vladimer; ჩხაიძე, ვლადიმერ; Kobaidze, Salome; კობაიძე, სალომეOne of the most important resources for the sustainable development of Georgian economy is the coastal zone of the Black Sea which has to be developed under the principles of blue economy. The term of blue economy is a new concept for Georgia which is oriented to the sustainable development representing the extension of the concept of green economy in the water areas of the seas and oceans. Blue economy emphasizes on the rational utilization of the existent resources and maintaining the sustainability of the specific eco-system. The priorities of blue economy are: Fishing industry, Aquaculture, Fishery resources, Marine and coastal tourism and the sea transportation. The objective of the given work is to evaluate and assess the natural and resource-related potential of the Black Sea coastal zone in Georgia, explore the biodiversity and estimate its current level of economic development based on the principles of the blue economy. The presented work is current and important as, on the one hand, it is preconditioned by understanding and implementing the principles of blue economy which is nominated as priority in the economic agenda of the European Union and, on the other hand, it defines and explores the capacity and potential of the development of this concept in the coastal zone of the Black Sea in Georgia as a whole and at the level of the municipalities of Zugdidi, Lanchkhuti, Khobi, Poti, Ozurgeti, Kobuleti, Batumi and Khelvachauri. The development of the coastal zone of Georgia according to the principles of the blue economy has to become an integral part of the social and economic politics of Georgia. The work researches the capacity of nature and the potential of resources on the coastal zone of the Black Sea in Georgia, it also concentrates on the marine and land biodiversity. Moreover, it assesses the existent conditions of economic development and the prospects for the future implementation. The paper focuses on the major economic activities realized in the coastal regions. The four leading sectors operating in the coastal zone of the Black Sea in Georgia are: Private sector, Public, Non- Governmental Organizations and educational/expert and their knowledge and awareness to share their competence and preparedness to implement the principles of the blue economy are assessed and explored. The research incorporates several methodical combinations. On the first stage of researching the relevant scientific literature is reviewed. Statistical data of the National Statistics Office of Georgia are analyzed, the database of the entrepreneurs is learnt and the investigations of the bordering countries of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean are elaborated. On the basis of the analysis of the secondary data the questionnaire of the empirical research is structured and afore-mentioned four target groups are stood out. In the process of research, the awareness regarding the blue economy and related realized activities and future perspectives are salient. The semi-structured interviews used on the first stage served to find the competent interviewees in the field of blue economy to then hold in-depth interviews respectively.Item The Role of the Polish Red Cross as a Non-Governmental Organization in the Social Sector(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Rynkowska, Dorota; რინკოვსკა, დოროთაOne of the characteristic phenomena of the modern world is the growing importance of non-governmental organizations. In the case of developed capitalist societies, where NGOs are a permanent and significant element in the space of social institutions, they view the base for the social economy, whereas in the post-socialist countries the third sector takes on a completely new dimension with which hopes for the development of civil society are associated. Establishment, development and activity of non-governmental organizations should be treated as one of the main determinants of the development of civil society. Organizations referred to as this are the third type of state and market institutions that meet collective needs in the sphere of social services. In each case, non-governmental organizations are presented as significant entities of social policy. Inclusion of public sector institutions and non-governmental organizations in the process of creating local social policy is an element of building a civil society. For more than a dozen years, Poland has been in the phase of forming a new social reality, in which actions aimed at improving the situation of the weakest members of society are particularly important. The systemic transformations and difficulties related to them in many areas of life evoke and begin to reveal new needs and challenges, and consequently cause the necessity to undertake assistance activities towards the weakest social groups. Difficulties with finding a new social situation, especially the older generation, helplessness and inability to organize one's life, mean that an increasing group of people in the social welfare are in need of various forms of support. This broad social context becomes the determinant of organizing various forms of care, help, upbringing and social support for many needy social groups, including the elderly. Non-governmental organizations, complementing the institutional structure of the state, become an important element of social cooperation and self-help. Their main strengths include: independence of operation, accurate recognition of community needs and existing social problems, relatively low operating costs, the ability to use various sources of financing, and above all, the capital inherent in people who selflessly engage in the common good. Changes in contemporary social assistance cover various areas of its functioning. Of important among them is the organization of caring, nursing or activating activities, which are increasingly and more often carried out by non-governmental organizations. After many years, the non-governmental sector was in the field of interest of the authorities, both from the national and local level, and non-governmental organizations were included in the landscape of functioning in the local dimension as well as the entire social system. The basis for their implementation are still mostly employees and institutions of a public nature, but more and more often their activities are supplemented by non-governmental organizations, such as the Polish Red Cross or self-help institutions operating in the immediate environment of the mentee. Among the Polish organizations, associations and foundations dominate. One of such examples is the activity of the Polish Red Cross, which is the oldest Polish humanitarian organization that provides social services. The aim of the presentation is to present various forms and scope of assistance offered by the Polish Red Cross to its beneficiaries.Item Issue of Minorities after the 2016 Parliamentary Elections Based (on the Analysis of the Ombudsman’s Reports)(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Mikhanashvili, Inga; მიხანაშვილი, ინგაOne of the important issues for the Georgian state and society is protecting the rights of national minorities and promoting civil integration. In 2005, Georgia ratified the European Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities, which contains a number of important provisions, namely: the recognition of the equality of national minorities before the law and the prohibition of any discrimination; the state should create for national minorities the conditions for the preservation and development of their culture and the protection of the fundamental elements of their identity - religion, language, traditions and cultural heritage; national minorities should be protected from any action aimed at assimilating against their will. The Government of Georgia has also adopted the National Concept and Action Plan for Tolerance and Civil Integration in 2009, to promote civil integration. Various ministries and agencies are carrying out a lot of programs and activities in the six main directions – the rule of law, education and state language, media and availability of information, political integration and civic engagement, social and regional integration, culture and identity preservation. Based on the analysis of the Ombudsman’s reports, I have focused on the following issues of national minorities: preschool, general and higher education of national minorities; availability of study of the state language; full awareness of the population of the regions inhabited by national minorities; promoting the study of the native languages of small national minorities; the problems with the Roma community and the development of the culture of national minorities and preservation of their identity. In order to overcome this problem, it’s necessary to strengthen regional TV stations and prepare Armenian, Azerbaijanian and Ossetic programs, promoting the study of the native language of minor national minorities, problems with gypsy communities and other issues. At the same time in the presentation, using the comparative method, I will also analyze problems of the national minorities (according to the Ombudsmen reports) during 2012-2016 parliamentary elections and compare them. I’ll pay attention to the amendments made by the public defender’s recommendations. This topic is discussed in the context of the integration theory.Item The Problem of the Definition of Organized Crime(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Kukhianidze, Alexandre; კუხიანიძე, ალექსანდრეBy nature, organized crime is a complex phenomenon and has legal, economic, psychological, social and political aspects. Consequently, organized crime requires an interdisciplinary approach. Despite the fact, that there are many criminological definitions of organized crime, the political science definition is absent of academic literature and the topic of organized crime in political science is less analyzed. At the same time, politicians (especially in weak democracies) are often involved in scandals, where politics, organized crime and corruption are overlapped. On one hand, any influential mafia style organization seeks to be closely linked to politics and even penetrate into politics. On the other hand, politicians use organized crime for their purposes, for example to falsify elections. But that does not mean that we deal with politically motivated crime. The interest of the mafia style organized crime participation in politics is aimed only to ensure criminal business security and profit growth. It is acknowledged in special literature on organized crime, that a crime can be committed by an organized group that has political and ideological motivation instead of profit. But such type of crime is not given the qualification of an organized crime, which is not logical and harmful in practical terms. For example, the Nuremberg process of 1945-46, have recognized the Nazi leaders as international criminals - not as the prisoners of war - and the Nazi organizations were recognized as criminal organizations. The definition of organized crime is of theoretical and practical importance. On one hand, it defines the quality and direction of research, and on the other hand, security, prosecution, and investigation in a country. Usually, most definitions consider organized crime as profit motivated criminal organizations such as the Sicilian Mafia, Ndrangetta, Camorra, Cacra Corona Unita, Triads, Yakuza, Mexican Cartels, Colombian Mafia, Outlaw Motorcycle Club “Hells Angels”, Institute of Thieves in Law, etc. As a result, politically motivated crimes, which are committed by leaders of radical and extremist political parties or terrorist organizations are not qualified as forms of organized crime, and in many cases it has practical consequences when the arrested politicians and terrorist activists position themselves not as criminals but as fighters for justice. In this presentation the author divides organized crime in two classes – professional organized crime and political organized crime. The first one represents the Mafia style profit oriented criminal activities and the second one – politically motivated crimes which are committed by leaders and members of political parties, states or terrorist organizations. An analytical review of different definitions of organized crime in academic publications and by international organizations is given in the presentation.Item Men and Women in the Social Assistance System in Poland(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Pokrzywa, MagdalenaPoverty in Poland is a complex and diverse phenomenon. In a situation when limited income is not sufficient to meet families' needs, the representative of the family (or a single householder) can go to the social assistance institutions. In those institutions he can apply for various types of support, which is to enable the family and the individual to overcome difficult life situations. The essence of this support is, on the one hand, enabling social functioning in conditions corresponding to human dignity, and on the other hand, bringing about a situation in which the family (or individual) will not have to use this help anymore. The purpose of the speech is to present the situation of women and men in the social assistance system in Poland. In Poland the majority of social assistances workers (social workers) are women. The occupation of a social worker is undoubtedly a highly female-dominated trade. Visible are the negative sides of the feminization of the profession of social workers associated with the lower assessment of the profession and the low wages compared to other professions, in particular those made mostly by men. An important aspect of the speech is also the presentation of the functioning of men-social workers in the feminised work environment and determining whether the sex of social workers influences their treatment by social assistance clients, supervisors and co-workers. Statistical data collected by various social welfare centres in Poland show that the use of social assistance is strongly determined by gender. Over 80% of the people applying for social support in Poland are women, and they are as a rule not single mothers, but represent a full family in dealing with social assistance institutions. Such a situation results, according to some social workers, from the fact that the families receiving assistance often represent the traditional model of a family with fixed roles, where gender is the main criterion for the division of tasks in the family. Men avoid contact with social welfare institutions and turn to help only when they run a single-person household. The problems that men and women report are also differentiated by gender. The presentation will be based on empirical research which had a qualitative (90 In-depth Interviews - IDI) and quantitative (500 Computer assisted telephone interviews CATI) nature. Researches were carried out with social workers from the whole area of Poland.Item Critical Analysis on the Institutional Design of Democratic Decentralization in the Public Sphere and Urban Spaces of Local Governments(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Vargas-Hernández, José G.; ვარგას-ჰერნანდესი, ხოსეThe purpose of this paper is to conduct a critical analysis based on the institutional design of the democratic processes of the public sphere and urban spaces in the empowerment of local governments. The approach consists of a theoretical construction after reviewing some important developments in the issues of the roles of the state, economy, civil society and the media on the decentralization processes of empowerment of local governments in their public spheres and urban spaces. This critical analysis is sustained on the political ideology, macro institutional design, political leadership and authority, developed by the New Left´s theoretical approach. With this critical analysis, it is pretended to further develop the ongoing debate of the democratic decentralization and the implications of the roles of state, the economy, civil society and the media on the public sphere and urban spaces in the empowerment of local governments. Democratic deliberation analysis requires to understand the social and cultural dimensions of political contestation in new democratic spaces. New democratic spaces for political deliberation, not always rational, were more sites dedicated to manifest plural expressions of political activism and construction of alliances. Contestation is the core issue of democratic conduct that enables differences of political actors to surface rather than be suppressed. Urban democracy can be expressed as urban scale in democracy in cities through more radical democratic practices as creating a more democratic society under a neo-liberal agenda. Democratic decision-making in urban localities, as a right of the city, must contribute to the production of urban space, clearly differentiating from democratic enfranchisement in liberal democracies of the state. Local neighborhood control over local urban spaces for those that inhabit and make decisions over their future, are more democratic that the control exerted by the city authorities which may not result in democratic outcomes. Art expressions in urban spaces may contribute to make a more democratic city, as the urban places and town squares in ancient Athens used to be, where the theater and other art expressions were performed. One important difference between modernism and postmodernism urban spaces should be how to abandon antidemocratic local settings to build more democratic and social green areas where people can meet and have more freedom to express themselves and get more involved in democratic deliberation for decision making processes.Item Civil Society in Hybrid Regimes: The Challenges of Democratization in Georgia(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Melikidze, Giorgi; მელიქიძე, გიორგიThe nowadays established term “Hybrid Regime” combines a broad group of states and covers the elements of democracy and authoritarianism. The hybrid regime is generated by the democratization of the authoritarian regime. The prospect of its transformation into an electoral democracy depends on many factors, and first of all on the development of a civil society. Totalitarianism causes the collapse of civil society and its restoration in post-totalitarianism conditions is a very difficult process. The stimulation of civil society is conducted by the non- governmental sector, although this is not a perfect civil society. The goal of this work is to determine the role of civil society in the ongoing process of democratization in Georgia. The democratic transformation of the hybrid regime is associated with the development of civil society. The special focus is made on the concept of civil society, because if it has only a facade nature, then it has no value for democratic transformation. According to the research hypothesis, in countries where a clientelistic / elite civil society was formed, democratization was impeded, which caused stagnation. In the 1990s the stimulation of civil society formation in Georgia had been carried out by a creation and activation of nongovernmental organizations, but these organizations were funded from the West. The NGO sector, which acted on behalf of the civil society, played a significant role in the “Rose Revolution.” A precedent of cooperation between the newly formed government and civil society was created, but this happened only at the initial stage. As during Saakashvili governance also in subsequent years, the civil society was opposed to the government. Civil society in post-soviet Georgia was not distinguished by a high level of development, which negatively impacted on the democratization process of the country. The building of democracy in post-soviet Georgia is the main statement of any government, however the country couldn’t go beyond the status of a hybrid regime. Georgia belongs to the countries which didn’t incline to the democratization or to authoritarian governance. The main challenges of Georgia are the rule of law, the election process and the state functions. The authoritative organization “Freedom House” called such governance “Outlaw Democracy”. The last ten years were a turning stage for Georgia, not only due to the Historical and Political processes, but also in terms of democratization. It is interesting, that from 2008 up-to-date the different indicator of democratization changed its position, however the civil society firmly kept an average indicator. A qualitative method is used in the research, such as in-depth, interviews with experts.Item European Integration: Goals and Reality (Comparing Central European, Baltic and the South Caucasus States)(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Gachechiladze, Revaz; გაჩეჩილაძე, რევაზ; Robakidze, George; რობაქიძე, გიორგიThe predecessor of the European Union – European Economic Community (EEC) –was established as an economic alliance of western (later -- southern) European states. The EU, which came into being in 1993, appeared to become an example of the most successful economic integration case in history, which brought welfare and secured peace to the western part of the European continent. After the collapse of the USSR, the example of European integration turned out to be attractive for the former communist states of central and eastern parts of Europe. The core of the European Union – its founding members – agreed to accept new members from Central and Eastern Europe. Ten countries – Cyprus, Malta, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia joined the EU in 2004, Bulgaria and Romania - in 2007 and Croatia - in 2013. Thus, the total number of EU member states reached 28. For all these countries, the membership in the EU turned out to be very beneficial. Multiparty democracy has strengthened and economic development accelerated. In 2004, the total GDP of the former Communist countries of Central Europe, better known as "Visegrad four" (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary) amounted to $521.7 billions, while in 2017 to $975,07 billions, in other words, after joining the EU, the total sum of the GDP of these countries increased by 86,9%. After restoring the independence (September 1991) the three Baltic states – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which were forcibly included by Moscow in the Soviet Union in 1940, had undergone a fast process of re- westernisation and they joined the European Union in 2004. Their total GDP grew by 111% in 2004-2017. Meanwhile the EU has focused its attention further eastwards to the former Soviet republics. In 2009 for six of them (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) the Eastern Partnership (EaP) programme had been established as a specific Eastern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). This programme is still ongoing. Unlike the Central European and Baltic states, where a common pro- western public opinion existed and the efforts of the political elites were directed towards European integration, in the three states of the South Caucasus no similar spirit of solidarity is to be felt. Their foreign policy is also affected by factors outside of the region. E.g. prior to September 2013, Georgia and Armenia worked in parallel to achieve a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with the EU, which is an initial step on their way to the European integration. But Moscow has forced Armenia to abandon this policy in 2013. As for Azerbaijan, it was from the beginning rather sceptical about the EU integration process. The incompatibility of foreign policy vectors and unresolved conflicts hinder the South Caucasus to be presented in the world as a single region that, in its turn, hampers the process of its integration with the European Union.Item Literary Text as a Space in the Context of Interculturality and Migration Processes(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Popiashvili, Nino; პოპიაშვილი, ნინოThe theory of interculturality includes the fields of politics, economics, education, as well as science, among them questions of sociology, art, and literature. It reflects the relations, influences and identities of different cultures. Interculturality can represent the peaceful coexistence of cultures, as well as conflicts and the fixation of cultural differences. In the context of globalization and migration processes, intercultural relations have become particularly intense. Cultural differences, along with cultural diversity, create an important intercultural unity, which is expressed in various areas. The literary text, as a space, reflects those important processes that are taking place at the global and local levels around the author. Intercultural literature as a phenomenon had existed for centuries, but over the past decades, this trend has acquired a special purpose. Intercultural literature represents literary texts, whose authors write under the influence of several cultures. The same term also refers to the synthesis of cultures and its representation in the literary text. The study of interculturality is one of the most important and key issues of modern science. From this point of view, one should mention the views on the interculturality of the German scholar of Hungarian origin Csaba Földes and the German-Iranian philosopher and cultural researcher Hamid Reza Yousefi. In particular, culture is defined as a program, which together with identity is one of the main actors. Interculturality is analyzed as a reaction and result of globalization and changes in the electronic era. The issue of culture is considered as an example; the problem of the existence of common culture in connection of their own culture and a foreign culture. The study of interculturality marks out both the issue of the existence of universal values, which are based on common values, and cultural differences, unacceptability of cultures, which create conflicts and confrontation. In the report we will discuss the representation of interculturality and migration processes in literary texts. We will consider the migration experience of modern Georgian authors according to literary works.Item Constituent Assembly of Georgia and Formation of Party System(Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi state university, Faculty of social and political sciences, 2019-06) Matsaberidze, Malkhaz; მაცაბერიძე, მალხაზBy the time of the declaration of independence (May 26, 1918), different political parties and groups, formed in the Russian Empire functioned in Georgia. After the formation of an independent state, locally based parties were supposed to form the basis for the party system in the country, while others were forced to disappear from the political arena. The real influence of the parties should have been proved through elections of the Constituent Assembly. Those elections were held on February 14-16, 1919. 15 political units participated in the elections. They can be divided into four groups: • Political parties and their breakaway parts – 7 units; • Political groups created by the Georgian intelligentsia – 3 units; • Political associations of ethnic minorities – 3 (4) units; • Foreign political parties – 2 units. Political parties, which were created by intelligentsia hurriedly, on the eve of elections (Union of non-party members, Shota Rustaveli Party, Aesthetic League of Patriots) did not win the support of the electorate and no single deputy of the Constituent Assembly was elected from these parties. Representatives of the political units of national minorities (National Council of the Muslims of Georgia, Union of Muslims of Borchalo district, Democratic Group of Georgian Greeks, National Party of Abkhazians) ended the elections with the same result. From the foreign parties, Revolutionary Federation “Dashnaktsjutjun” won three seats in 1 The paper was prepared in the framework of the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation project “Constituent Assemble of Georgia: Experience of the Georgian parliamentarism”, Code: FR – 18 – 20157. the Assembly; Social-Democratic Party of Russia did not collect enough votes. As for the first group of parties in our classification, initially 4 out of the 7 units won the elections, later on, 6 units were represented in the Assembly. The composition of parties in the Constituent Assembly looked as follows: Political parties Main elections - February1919 1st additional elections – August 1919 2nd additional elections – May 1920 Social-Democratic Party of Georgia 109 105 102 National-Democratic Party of Georgia 8 7 8 Socialist-Revolutionary Party of Georgia 5 5 6 Socialist-Federalist Party of Georgia 8 9 9 “Dashnaktsjutjun” - 3 3 National Party of Georgia - 1 2 The elections of the Constituent Assembly and two years of its activities revealed some trends in the development of the Georgian political spectrum, in particular, a domination of the leftist political parties (they had 122 and, later on, 120 seats out of 130 in the Assembly), a weakening of the Social-Democratic Party (the number of deputies decreased from 109 to 92), a formation of the radical leftist wing (“Akhali skhivi” group) by 1921, and a unification of the Right political forces (formation of the “Democratic Party”). The party composition of the Constituent Assembly by February 11, 1921, looked as follows: Party Seats in the Constituent Assembly Social-Democratic Labor Party of Georgia 92 Independent Social-Democratic faction “Skhivi” 10 Democratic fiction (union of non-socialist parties) 10 Socialist-Federalists 9 Socialist-Revolutinaries 6 “Dashnaktsjutjun” 3 In the Autumn of 1921 elections of the Parliament of Georgia should have been held on the basis of the Constitution of 1921, however, the Soviet occupation led to dramatic changes in the development of the country.