The newest issue (2(07)/2017) of the journal is the first one published in English and there are prominent scholars from all around the world among the contributors. It was edited by Jerzy Wiatr and touches upon the topic of “New Authoritarianism”. The concept refers to the emergence of hybrid regimes which combine electorally expressed will of the people with the centralization of state power in the hands of the supreme leader and/or in the hands of the ruling oligarchy and with the destruction of the rule of law, the cornerstone of which are independent courts.
Inside the issue Adam Przeworski (New York University) discusses terminological, historical and comparative aspects of the conflict between democracy and authoritarianism. Late Zygmunt Bauman (1925–2017, Professor Emeritus of Leeds University), in the contribution written a few weeks before his death, raises the issue of populist-authoritarian tendencies in old democracies, as illustrated by the victory of Donald Trump in 2016. Janusz Reykowski (member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and professor in its Institute of Psychology) discusses the role of the circulation of political elites for the authoritarian trends in contemporary politics. Ilter Turan (Professor Emeritus of Istanbul Bilgi University and the president of the International Political Science Association, 2016–2018) presents the interpretation of the Turkish authoritarianism as a consequence of complicated history of modernization of a traditional society. Peter Anyang Nyong’o (Kenya’s Senator, former minister and a prominent political scientist) discusses the turbulent history of authoritarianism and democracy in his native country against the background of comparative reflections on democracy and authoritarianism in Africa. Jerzy Jaskiernia (Professor of law at Jan Kochanowski University of Kielce, former member of the Polish Parliament and former minister of justice) deals with the crisis of Poland’s democracy following the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2015. Jerzy Wiatr (Professor Emeritus of University of Warsaw, former parliamentarian and former minister of education) presents a comparative analysis of new authoritarianism.
The journal is available online at the Central and Eastern European Online Library (CEEOL). Direct link: https://www.ceeol.com/search/journal-detail?id=1943 and via major universities’ libraries’ websites.
The official website of the journal can be found under the following URL: http://www.is.uw.edu.pl/pl/badania-i-konferencje/studia-socjologiczno-p…
The editorial board can be contacted under: socpol.redakcja@is.uw.edu.pl
CONTENT:
■ Jerzy J. Wiatr From the Editor
■ Adam Przeworski A Conceptual History of Political Regimes: Democracy, Dictatorship, and Authoritarianism
■ Zygmunt Bauman Some of the Foremost Challenges to the Status Quo
■ Janusz Reykowski The Massive Exchange of Elites as a Mean of Formation of the Authoritarian Regime
■ Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o Authoritarianism with an Electoral Face in Africa
■ Ilter Turan The Rise of Populist Electoral Authoritarianism in Turkey: a Case of Culturally Rooted Recidivism
■ Jerzy Jaskiernia Authoritarian Tendencies in the Polish Political System
■ Jerzy J. Wiatr New and Old Authoritarianism in a Comparative Perspective
REVIEWS
■ Jerzy J. Wiatr
Putin’s Russia in Russian Eyes
■ Wojciech Rafałowski
Christopher Steed “A Question of Worth: Economy, Society
and the Quantification of Human Value”
■ Information for Authors
