The electoral geography of the Slovak Republic: A comparison of the 1994, 1998, and 2002 parliamentary elections

In what can rightly be said to be one of the most dramatic geopolitical shifts in modern times, the collapse of communist regimes in Central Europe and the former Soviet Union brought about dramatic changes in the entire region. As a consequence, wide ranging political, economic, and social transformations have occurred in almost all of these countries since 1989. The Slovak Republic, as a newly democratic country, went through the establishment of the electoral and party systems that are the central mechanisms to the formation of almost all modern democratic governments. The primary research purpose of this dissertation was to describe and explain regional variations in party support during Slovakia’s ten years of democratic transformation. A secondary purpose was to relate these spatial variations to the evolution of political parties in the post-independence period in light of the literature on transitional electoral systems. Research questions were analyzed using both aggregate and survey data. Specifically, the study utilized electoral data from 1994, 1998, and 2002 Slovak parliamentary elections and socio-economic data of the population within Slovak regions which were eventually correlated with the voting results by party in the 79 Slovak districts. The results of this study demonstrate that there is a tendency among voters in certain regions to provide continuous support to the same political parties/movements over time. In addition, the socio-economic characteristics of the Slovak population (gender, age, education, religion, nationality, unemployment, work force distribution, wages, urban-rural variable, and population density) in different regions tend to influence voting preferences in the parliamentary elections. Finally, there is an evident correlation between party preference and the party’s position on integration into European Union, as measured by perceived attitudes regarding the benefits of EU membership.

The need for dialogue between the vocational psychological and organisational perspectives on career

As editors of the recently published Vocational psychological and organisational perspectives on career: Towards a multidisciplinary dialogue (Collin & Patton, 2009), we have considerable interest in this particular issue of the Australian Journal of Career Development. This short piece will first present the purpose and thesis of that book and, in the light of them, will then comment on the four papers. The book suggests that to understand the multidimensional and multilayered nature of career, “it has to be studied in a similarly multilayered and multi-perspectival way, and, indeed, it has been” (p. 3). Scholars have pointed out that there is a wide array of disciplines including economics, sociology, anthropology, geography, political science, various branches of psychology (e.g. industrial/organisational (I/O), vocational, counselling), psychiatry, education, organisation studies, organisational behaviour, personnel/human resource management, industrial relations, and more, all of which have something to say about career. Of these, the most influential, according to Peiperl and Arthur (2000), have been psychology, sociology, education and management. These many disciplinary perspectives on career constitute the rich field of career studies.

Focus on environmental risks and migration: causes and consequences

Environmental change poses risks to societies, including disrupting social and economic systems such as migration. At the same time, migration is an effective adaptation to environmental and other risks. We review novel science on interactions between migration, environmental risks and climate change. We highlight emergent findings, including how dominant flows of rural to urban migration mean that populations are exposed to new risks within destination areas and the requirement for urban sustainability. We highlight the issue of lack of mobility as a major issue limiting the effectiveness of migration as an adaptation strategy and leading to potentially trapped populations. The paper presents scenarios of future migration that show both displacement and trapped populations over the incoming decades. Papers in the special issue bring new insights from demography, human geography, political science and environmental science to this emerging field.

Politikai földrajz

A politikához kötődő kategóriák, adottságok, politikai jellemzők egy-egy térség, ország társadalmi–gazdasági arculatát igencsak sajátossá formálják. A határok, a szomszédok, a kisebbségek, a hatalmi viszonyok, a munkavállalás lehetőségei és az állampolgárság kérdései mind olyan dolgok, amelyek igen erősen befolyásolják egy-egy földrajzi térséghez kötött társadalom életkörülményeit. E rövid, összefoglaló jellegű fejezet a földrajzi tényezők és a politikai viszonyok kapcsolatának szövevényeit tárgyalja. Elsősorban a nemzetközi kérdések, és tágabb értelemben a társadalomtudományi területek felé orientálódó hallgatóknak ajánlhatjuk a fejezetet.

Re-imagining Yerevan in the post-Soviet era: Urban symbolism and narratives of the nation in the landscape of Armenia's capital

The urban landscape of Yerevan has experienced tremendous changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union and Armenia’s independence in 1991. Domestic and foreign investments have poured into Yerevan’s building sector, converting many downtown neighborhoods into sleek modern districts that now cater to foreign investors, tourists, and the newly rich Armenian nationals. Large portions of the city’s green parks and other public spaces have been commercialized for private and exclusive use, creating zones that are accessible only to the affluent. In this dissertation I explore the rapidly transforming landscape of Yerevan and its connections to the development of contemporary Armenian national identity. This research was guided by principles of ethnographic inquiry, and I employed diverse methods, including document and archival research, structured and semi-structured interviews and content analysis of news media. I also used geographic information systems (GIS) and satellite images to represent and visualize the stark transformations of spaces in Yerevan. Informed by and contributing to three literatures—on the relationship between landscape and identity formation, on the construction of national identity, and on Soviet and post-Soviet cities—this dissertation investigates how messages about contemporary Armenian national identity are being expressed via the transforming landscape of Armenia’s national capital. In it I describe the ways in which abrupt transformations have resulted in the physical and symbolic eviction of residents, introducing fierce public debates about belonging and exclusion within the changing urban context. I demonstrate that the new additions to Yerevan’s landscape and the symbolic messages that they carry are hotly contested by many long-time residents, who struggle for inclusion of their opinions and interests in the process of re-imagining their national capital. This dissertation illustrates many of the trends that are apparent in post-Soviet and post-Socialist space, while at the same time exposing some unique characteristics of the Armenian case.

Notas geográficas y geológicas

p. 147

Jeografía física i política de las provincias de la Nueva Granada por la Comisión Corográfica: provincias del Socorro, Vélez, Tunja i Tundama

Presenta hojas plegadas de tablas sinópticas con las distancias entre ciudades

[Ressenya del llibre Nationalism, Self-determination and Political Geography, de R.J. Johnston, D. Knight i E. Kofman (eds.)]

Cap als anys 80 la Geografia Política va començar a interessar-se no solament per l’Estat, sinó també per tota organització dotada de poder i/o acció política capaç d’inscriure’s en l’espai. En aquest marc és on cal situar l’interès en aquells anys pel nacionalisme, motivat també per l’esclat nacionalista que viu el món de finals del S. XX

Sketches of Algiers, political, historical, and civil : containing an account of the geography, population, government, revenues, commerce, agriculture, arts, civil institutions, tribes, manners, languages, and recent political history of that country /

Mode of access: Internet.

Over-sea Britain : a descriptive record of the geography, the historical, ethnological, and political development, and the economic resources of the empire : the nearer empire, the Mediterranean, British Africa, and British America /

Includes index.

A political geography of the British Empire /

Printed in Great Britain.

A pictorial geography of the world : comprising a system of universal geography, popular and scientific, including a physical, political, and statistical account of the earth and its various divisions, with numerous sketches from recent travels, and illustrated by more than twelve hundred engravings of manners, costumes, curiosities, cities, edifices, ruins, beasts, birds, fishes, reptiles, trees, plants, fruits, etc., with a copious index, answering the purpose of a gazetteer /

Added title page engraved

Modern geography : a description of the empires, kingdoms, states, and colonies ; with the oceans, seas, and isles ; in all parts of the world : including the most recent discoveries, and political alterations, digested on a new plan /

Mode of access: Internet.