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Category Archives: liberalism
Poland’s elections: Eyes down
As in 2007 Poland’s parliamentary elections in two weeks are being followed mainly as a battle between the (now incumbent) liberal Civic Platform (PO) and the conservative-national Law and Justice (PiS), which despite modest electoral revival has been on the … Continue reading
Getting the name right?
What do you do if you’re a fading historic right-wing party in a small northern European country with a strong, broadly social-democratic political culture? For the Scottish Conservatives, whose secular decline despite the electoral bounce- back of 2010 in England … Continue reading
Posted in British politics, Bulgaria, CEE centre-right, centre-right, ECR, Estonia, liberalism, ODS, Scotland
Tagged conservatives, Eastern Europe, scotland, sweden, tories
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>A tale of two Slovakias
> SSEES marks the 20th anniversary of November 1989 with two contrasting Slovak speakers – a nice touch, as the fall of communism in the Czechoslovakia is so often reduced to events in Prague. The Magic Lantern, Václav Havel, speech … Continue reading
Posted in left-wing politics, liberalism, Slovakia
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>BNP on Question Time: Kilroy wasn’t here
> I sat in the front of the TV with one eye on a sheaf of article from the Czech press and one eye on BBC TV’s widely billed, controversial edition of Question Time, it flagship panel discussion programme featuring … Continue reading
Posted in British politics, CEE far-right, liberalism, populism
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>Bulgaria: blogged down
> Transitions Online reports on the heavy handed attitude of the Bulgarian authorities to a blogger, who promoted an ecological ‘flash’ protest on his blog. The more interesting element is less the Bulgarian state’s dislike of civic protest or being … Continue reading
Posted in Bulgaria, Democracy, liberalism
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>Kosovo independence prompts pan-Slav stirrings in Bulgarian intelligentsia?
> I had assumed that Bulgaria’s intelligentsia had, by and large, had a liberal pro-Western orientation and that pan-Slavism – or perhaps I should call it pan-Othodoxy – was a sort of residual cultural baggage without the intellectual and political … Continue reading
Posted in Bulgaria, CEE far-right, liberalism
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>Christmas cheer for democracy?
> Despite an email from a student on Boxing Day asking about the critical case study method (I was sufficiently impressed by such dedication to answer at some length) and some very riotous kids fighting over a Peppa Pig playset, … Continue reading
>Guns ‘n Ponies: Christmas shopping sees sun set on liberal values
> Newly minted Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg may think we’re a nation of untapped liberal and progressive sentiment, but when Christmas shopping in Brighton I mugged by reality. It’s not unpleasant and is less hellish than I imagined and … Continue reading
Posted in liberalism, suburban life
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>Will Europe’s real liberals please step forward?
>An interesting discussion of the similarities and dissimilarities between Britain’s Liberal Democrats and Poland’s Civic Platform (PO) written by Ed Maxfield appears on the Lib Dem Liberal Voice website followed up by very intersting and intelligent discussion of the highways … Continue reading
Posted in British politics, liberalism, Poland
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>Sucked into a democratic black hole
> Surfing the web after an exam board made bearable by biscuits and tangerines on the house, I come once again on Ivan Krastev on OpenDemocracy.net comes up with a typically barbed commentary about the ‘black hole’ of populist politics … Continue reading
