2014 Issue №6

The transformation of constitutional legislation in post-Communist countries follows two models: "reconstruction" and "dismantling". The Czechoslovak experience of constitutional legislation transformation follows that of dismantling. One of the positive features of this model is the rapid adoption of a new constitution. Experts and politicians stress that the main drawback of the Slovakian Constitution is that it has not eliminated the gap between values and rules and the actual condition of human rights. The prospects of further development of constitutional law in Slovakia are associated with overcoming the post-Communist attitudes of the Constitution.

The article presents the author’s view on modelling an expert system through the implementation of one of social paradigms. Such categories as ‘governance’, ‘leadership’, and ‘leadership management’ are identified as indicators of management interactions. Each of the categories is operationalized and provided with a detailed description, which includes autonomous social resources supporting effective governance in the situation of organizational interactions.

This article discusses the development of post-Soviet nationalist identity in Latvia under the influence of nationalist neo-Nazi organizations and persuasion. The ethnic component occupies a central place in today's political identification in Latvia. It is proved that major political groups and parties recognize and proclaim nationalist principles regardless of their basic ideology.

This article presents a semiotics-oriented methodology of analysing images of states. Based on the results obtained in the field of structural semiotics of narration, the author introduces a scheme for analysing the syntactics of images suggesting their consideration from the perspective of actantial roles characteristic of the states in question in certain discourses. A. J. Greimas's model of narrative syntactics is used to demonstrate how syntactic descriptions of images of states can be built in the case of Kosovo and South Ossetia as presented in official Russian political discourse.

This article considers the mechanism of financing of political parties in the Republic of Latvia. The author analyses the participation of financial and economic groups in the country’s political life. Key business actors affecting the formation of Latvian political system are identified. It is concluded that, since regaining independence in 1991, business has been a principal source of financing for Latvian political parties. The scope of financing of political parties in the republic depends on the intensity of political struggle and increases in the period of election campaigns. However, the scope of financing is closely correlated with the degree to which a party affects the political process in the country.

This article considers the role of the Baltic republics as partners of the State of Israel in the international arena in A. Lieberman’s period in office as head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The main areas of cooperation in economy and politics, as well as historical features of intergovernmental contacts are analysed. The author stresses the considerable potential of intergovernmental projects given the major differences are overcome, which include the issues of the restitution of Jewish property.