Modern Democratic Societies Research Articles

Katolicisme i Ingemanns danmarkshistorie

This study presents a reading of Catholicism in the historical novels of the Danish author Bernhard Severin Ingemann, written between 1824 and 1836, in the light of the so-called Nordic Sonderweg. The idea of a Nordic Sonderweg has been propounded in historical studies since the early 1990s and has gained significance ever since. The main idea is that the notion of a free peasant class, combined with Lutheranism, played a crucial role in the rise of modern democratic societies. Nordic peasants – so it is argued – enjoyed more freedom and equality, were more trusting, and earned greater respect and prestige than their fellows in southern European countries, who were hampered by feudalism, coercion, and Catholicism. My main argument is that Ingemann, as a pastoral enlightener in the North, represents the idea of a Nordic Sonderweg in his novels too and that his conception of Catholicism can be understood in the light of this grand narrative.

Editorial: Security Perspectives

Editorial: Security Perspectives

Law and morality: problems of interaction in the context of modern realities

Introduction. The article investigates the conceptual problems of interaction of law and morality in the context of modern value and ideological realities. Expanding the space of freedom in a democratic legal development, the rapid nature of scientific and technological progress, comprehensive informatization of all spheres and spheres of public life, increasing social inequality and other crisis realities of today objectively require clarifi cation and rethinking issues of interaction and interconnection of different social regulators, in particular, law and moral, the rules of which regulate the greatest number of social relations. The aim of the article. The purpose of this article is to identify the main problems of interaction of law and morality in the context of the socio-cultural realities of today. Results. In our opinion, problems of interaction of law and morality in modern realities are due to the transformation of understanding of the essence and nature of social norms in general and, in particular, its moral component, which increasingly loses its transcendent, absolute origins, thus becoming more democratic, individualistic, capable of endless meaningful experiments. and the perception of many alternatives. Among the specifi c features of the moral life of modern democratic society in the scientifi c literature are rightly noted such features as moral pluralism, development of professional and corporate codes of ethics (institutionalization of morality), the division of morality by ethnicity, orientation of moral requirements to a certain external standard, which opposes the traditional moral call for unlimited human self-improvement in a Christian or religious context, as well as a utilitarian approach that involves decision-making based on the so-called logic of lesser evil. In the context of these aspects, it can be argued that not morality as a special socionormative phenomenon converges with law, but its understanding and interpretation within modern discourse is fully consistent with the legal sphere of public life, whose mission is to serve purely utilitarian needs and interests of society and citizens, their material well-being. At the same time, morality as an objective socio-normative phenomenon that constitutes the highest value-teleological priorities of spiritual improvement of the individual, on the contrary, is increasingly moving away from the content of modern law, which has lost the status of a stable and solid basis for enduring moral values in public life. The loss of clear criteria for distinguishing between good and evil, morally permissible and inadmissible actions of people, measuring human happiness only by the degree of possession of a person’s material goods, etc., has led not only to the fact that law can solve only some practical problems of local nature, but also to the fact that today the law actually plays the role of one of the important factors of moral regression of society. The latter is manifested, in particular, in the strengthening of the global trend of legal regulation of such morally shameful phenomena as euthanasia, same-sex marriage, prostitution, and so on. At the same time, the logic of providing legal guarantees for such phenomena is based, as a rule, on a purely economic calculation and the need to ensure the fullest possible freedom of individual choice. Conclusions. Modern realities of legal systems, based only on the idea of ensuring and protecting human rights and freedoms, determine the equivalence of all lifestyles, each individual choice, because there are no general universal grounds for determining which way of life brings more benefi ts and happiness, and which is less. This normative approach, due to which traditional moral values have undergone signifi cant revision and even destruction, deprives the individual of life of relationships with the relevant social whole, denies or at least negates the importance of fi nding the ideal of moral development of the individual, the goals of his spiritual activity. Thus, the modern legal system, the development of which is infl uenced by the fundamental importance of liberal values of public life and the inversion of its moral component, must solve many additional problems in the process of its impact on the moral aspect of social relations, in particular, when deciding on the admissibility of prostitution, euthanasia, genetic engineering, artifi cial intelligence, etc. Key words: law, morality, human rights, ideology, legal norm, social regulation.

Проблема визначення концепції національного розвитку України в післявоєнний період

Problem setting. Starting from February 24, 2022, the whole world lives in a new reality – in the conditions of a full-scale war against Ukraine deployed by the Russian Federation. Russia’s military aggression carries through the information and semantic war, which, according to its authors, can justify all atrocities and be their ideological cover. There is a denial of the conceptual definition of the democratic development of social and power relations in Ukraine and their subordination to totalitarianism. That is why the semantic opposition to hybrid warfare is of particular significance as a reflection of all the advantages of civilization over barbarism. In particular, it concerns the determination of the concept of development of Ukrainian society as a theoretical and methodological basis for the formation of legislative norms, organizational imperatives, principled instructions for public servants’ activities, civic world-view focuses. In this context, the author sets a task – to outline the problem of the need to substantiate the conceptual framework for the modernization of Ukraine in the post-war period. Paper main body The paper emphasizes that the development of a modern democratic society carries on a conceptually defined framework, scientific substantiation of innovative opportunities, and consideration of social requests for changes. At the same time, it states that the concept of national development of Ukraine has not found a proper theoretical solution and has not received institutional completion in the relevant documents. And in the conditions of the war against the aggression of the Russian Federation with its semantic component, the problem of forming such a concept of development in the post-war period has acquired a specific urgency and requires its determination. By comparing a concept with a theory and doctrine, the concept defines as a holistic answer to the questions “what is?” and “what to do?”; as an awareness of the subject of his motives and goals, as well as real possibilities of their practical implementation. The paper outlines the main challenges of the Ukrainian present, which necessitate the achievement of democratic processes, that is, the development of civil society, its initiative, and involvement in innovative changes. In parallel, it shows the significance of tendencies towards strengthening the state. In this context, the author carries out an analysis of the concept of libertarian paternalism, which, being formed in the economic sphere, may acquire a general social, as well as public managerial meaning. The reasoned conclusion is that this concept requires a critical rethinking by Ukrainian scientists, as well as interdisciplinary discourse on the possibilities of its application in Ukraine. Conclusions and suggestions concern the need for further theoretical substantiation and institutional approval of the Concept of Development of Ukraine as a methodological basis for the modernization of Ukrainian society. The unprecedented uniqueness of the domestic situation necessitates its interdisciplinary scientific consideration without mechanical borrowing or duplication of other people’s concepts and ideas.

Отношение молодежи к ограничениям, связанным с профилактикой коронавирусной инфекции (на примере QR-кодов)

The article focuses on questions of the attitude of young people of Moscow region towards the restrictions associated with the prevention of new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), in particular, to QR codes. The results of the author`s study are based on data obtained during the conduction of social survey in December 2021. The sample totaled 2,652 respondents. Empirical data showed that more than half of the respondents (51.6%) are afraid of contracting the coronavirus. However, almost two-thirds of the respondents (63.9%) have a negative attitude towards such a disease prevention measure as the introduction of QR codes. Young people were especially negative about the decision of the rectors of a number of universities to allow adult students to enter the territory of the university only if they have a QR code, a certificate of vaccination against COVID-19, or a fresh PCR test. Almost three-quarters of the respondents (73.7%) were against such a decision. Despite the fact that the severe restrictions caused by the spread of coronavirus infection in Russia have been canceled today, nevertheless, the social experiment associated with an attempt to limit individual freedoms in a modern democratic society, and its consequences, need further sociological reflection.

A Study on the Method of Press Freedom Value Assessment Based on Artificial Neural Network

Freedom of the press embodies an increasingly important role in modern democratic society, and people pay more and more attention to the value of freedom of press. The value of freedom of press has been elaborated from the basic concept, right attributes, and role functions of freedom of press, which are the basis for the existence of the value of freedom of the press and the jurisprudential basis for strengthening its legal construction. Freedom of press is a right extended from the freedom of speech and publication and is the application of freedom of speech and publication in news communication activities. Freedom of the press in the modern sense is considered an institutional right, both a fundamental right and a political right. As the role of press freedom in the process of modern democratic society becomes more and more prominent, the conflict between its value and other social values becomes more and more obvious. In such a context, this study introduces BP neural network technology into the assessment of press freedom value, expecting that a set of assessment method models with press freedom value as the core can be constructed. In order to achieve this goal, the core problem is how to use BP neural network technology to automatically evaluate the value of freedom of the press. A web crawler is used to crawl news from various online sources and the news are scored and evaluated by the system to present the most valuable news first to the readers. A dataset of 1440 data samples was created to be used in the experiments. The proposed GRU with multifeature fusion method has a higher accuracy and lower error rate as compared to LSTM, linear regression, and random forest-based model.

Theory after Practice

Theory after Practice

Dialogue Culture as a Response to the Challenges of Secularity in Democratic Societies to the Religion Teaching

The first part of the article analyses specific challenges established in modern democratic societies, such as consumerism, moral relativism, secularity, pluralisation, also problems, tensions, and conflicts in the religion teaching. The second part of the article focuses on the search for ways how the development of dialogue culture. The third part of the article presents the practical recommendations for the creation of a culture of dialogue in the religion teaching.

Human rights as a tool limiting state power

This article is devoted to the study of the limitation of state power through the concept of human rights. Numerous scientific researches and publications are devoted to the question of the balance of interests of the state and the person, the main purpose of which is to try to find and establish parity and balance between private and public. Speaking about human rights as an instrument of limiting state power, based on the idea that in today's world there are almost no absolute, unlimited rights, the authors emphasize the importance of restrictions imposed by the state, which must be commensurate and established by law. The article discusses the need to establish and have clear criteria for restricting human rights at the legislative and constitutional levels. This will be a guarantee against arbitrary actions of the state to reduce the scope of law enforcement of the individual and will act as a safeguard (factor) of limiting state power. In their work, the authors highlight the elements that form the basis and underlying the concept of restricting human rights and emphasize the positive and negative obligations of the state, as those that set the boundaries of public authority. Considering this issue, the authors explore the priority of human rights and refer to the rule of recognizing each individual as a full participant in legal relations, along with the inadmissibility of the individual as the object of such interaction, obliging public authorities to respect self-realization. The relevance of this publication indicates the need to find a balance and clearly delineate and distinguish the boundaries, elements, criteria and relations between man and the state, which is the guarantor of the realization and inviolability of rights, and in case of such violation - the guarantor of their protection. Nowadays, this topic is especially relevant for modern democratic societies, given the constant expansion of human rights, the practice of international (European) and national courts. Thus, the best possible understanding of the content of the concept of human rights as an instrument of limiting state power will promote their proper implementation and act as a guarantor of their security.

State disinformation: emotions at the service of the cause

Disinformation is not only a phenomenon of modern democratic societies, but also a tool at the service of states. In the current communication ecosystem, politics and society interrelate in the face of a phenomenon characterised by multiple information channels and sources in which emotions now play a central role. In international relations, the expression of a state’s political will through charisma and populism are the chief aspects detected in the analysis of emotions in political science. This has led to the construction of a narrative based on security threats and the friend-enemy distinction, among other things. On the basis of an exhaustive literature review, this study offers an overview of the political and social factors underlying the use of emotions in disinformation as regards four aspects: politics, economy, diplomacy and security. Likewise, it identifies the main defining traits and behaviours of domestic and international audiences. The analysis and verification of the research question contribute to elaborate an international theory of emotionally driven disinformation which has begun to play a leading role in both academia and politics.

FM Radio’s Response to a Dual Crisis Situation in the Republic of Croatia

The paper examines the programming and organisational responses of FM radio to a dual crisis situation in the Republic of Croatia. At the very beginning of the national COVID-19 lockdown, on 22 March 2020, the capital city of Zagreb was struck by the strongest earthquake in the last 140 years. With the purpose of ‘recording’ the situation at the time when the disaster was actually occurring, the research aims to question how the radio stations in the area acted under such unprecedented crisis circumstances. Methodologically, it is a qualitative and descriptive research based on the analysis of questionnaire answers. Open-ended questions are grouped into three main topics: organization and programme changes, sources of information and the role of digital platforms. The results reveal that radio stations tended to retain their formatted programme content regardless of the dual crisis. This finding indicates the necessity to re-examine the overall role of FM radio in a modern democratic society.

Religion as a Self-Referential System of Religious Communication: An Assessment with Questions for a Challenging New Theological System. Notes of a Preliminary and (Merely) Intuitive Approach

ABSTRACTThe following considerations do not properly configure an academic article, but rather intend to offer a critical reaction to the lecture given by Prof. Dr. habil. Christian Danz, from the University of Vienna, on the occasion of the “25th Seminar in Dialogue with the Thought of Paul Tillich” – held under the title “Religion, Language, and Culture: Relevance and Limits of Paul Tillich’s Theology of Culture for the 21st Century,” between September 15th and 22nd, 2021. Danz’s lecture, entitled “Theology, Religion, Culture. Reflections on the Task of Systematic Theology following Paul Tillich,” brings not only an exegetical exposition of Tillich’s theology of culture, but also a sturdy criticism regarding the foundation of his concept of religion in the face of the religious pluralism of modern democratic societies. The thesis presented by Danz can be summarized in three points: 1) the transcendental foundation of Tillich’s concept of religion makes his theology incapable of dealing with religious pluralism; 2) given that the academic concept of religion is a product of neo-Protestantism, the concept of religion must be restricted to the Christian religion; 3) finally, the function of the concept of religion within the theological system lies in its ability to conceptually apprehend and determine Christianity as a religion. Based on the critique of the foundation of the concept of religion developed by Tillich, Danz proposes a new concept of religion in the perspective of a “self-referential system of religious communication.” Constitutive to the self-referential system of religious communication is the concept of “verstehende Aneignung,” or “understanding appropriation,” which, in turn, can only occur within the system of religious communication. The text that follows is an attempt, and while still incipient and intuitive, it offers a rather “suspicious” approach to the theological system proposed by Danz. The first part is intended for a comprehensive synthesis of the substantive content of the lecture given. The second part presents initial considerations and questions regarding the foundations of the proposed new theological system.

ПРАВОВІ ЗАСАДИ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ СЛУЖБИ БЕЗПЕКИ УКРАЇНИ ЯК СУБ’ЄКТА СФЕРИ БЕЗПЕКИ І ОБОРОНИ

This scientific article outlines the issues of ensuring and improving legal support for the activities of the Security Service of Ukraine as a subject of the security and defense sphere. The purpose, tasks and principles of the activity of the Security Service of Ukraine were determined. The place, role and legal status of the Security Service of Ukraine in the system of state authorities of Ukraine were analyzed, the normative and legal bases of the organization and activity of the Security Service of Ukraine were systematized and characterized from a formal, legal and substantive point of view, classified the powers of the Security Service of Ukraine and its divisions in the field of law enforcement activities, the peculiarities of the mechanism of the law enforcement agencies that ensure the state security of Ukraine in the implementation of the constitutional human right to security are characterized, the norms of modern law regulating the fundamentals of a person’s legal status and the obligation to strictly observe them are summarized in the implementation of the law enforcement function of the state to ensure the safety of the individual, society and the state, specific scientific and practical recommendations were developed and proposed to improve the legal regulation of the organization and activities of the Security Service bodies of Ukraine. The purpose of the study is to identify, scientifically understand and analyze the formal, legal and substantive aspects of the legal status of the Security Service of Ukraine in a modern democratic society. The author comes to the conclusion that it is possible to single out the following tasks of the SBU: identifying and eliminating the causes and conditions that can lead to manifestations of terrorism; protection of man and citizen, society and the state from terrorism; prevention, timely detection and prevention of external and internal threats to the security of Ukraine; minimization of socially dangerous consequences of terrorist actions; establishment of effective interaction of authorized bodies of state power, local self-government bodies with the public, and expansion of the sphere of combating terrorism; organization of international cooperation in the field of combating terrorism; termination of intelligence, terrorist and other illegal encroachments on the national security of Ukraine by foreign special forces and organizations, groups of persons and persons, etc.

On the Political Sociology of Intersectional Equality and Difference

This article contends that Axel Honneth’s critical social theory provides a compelling general framework with which to map out the political sociology of social equality in a way that takes due account of class-based inequalities, social identity differences, and ecological challenges of contemporary globalized societies. Honneth joins an emphasis on equal respect for all—a core aspect of equality in modern democratic societies—with an account of social esteem recognition—which establishes evaluative distinctions among people—in a way that illuminates the interplay of equality and difference. This is so, I argue, even though Honneth himself has focused on struggles for recognition and social freedom rather than equality, and despite some notable limitations of his political sociology.

ПРОБЛЕМИ РОЗВИТКУ СОЦІАЛЬНОГО ПАРТНЕРСТВА В УКРАЇНІ

The article analyzes the current problems of social partnership in Ukraine and examines foreign experience in the mechanisms of its implementation. Social partnership is one of the basic principles of functioning of a modern democratic society, an important tool for the implementation of social policy of the state, a means of preventing and resolving social conflicts. Its special role in the system of social and labor relations necessitates the study of the current state, trends and problems of development in order to find ways to solve them. The need to improve the domestic social partnership system is due to significant problems in the labor market facing the country, such as low employment with a gender gap, high labor emigration, high unemployment and significant skills mismatch. According to the reports of the National Mediation and Conciliation Service, an increase in the number of social and labor disputes (conflicts) in Ukraine has been revealed. An analysis of the structure of claims made by participants in labor disputes, found that 50% of them relate to non-compliance with labor legislation. The indicator of arrears of wages is analyzed, the conclusion about its active dynamics is made. The article draws attention to the existence of gender inequality in Ukraine in terms of access to decent work, analyzes the causes of discrimination against women in employment and pay. The author notes that the effectiveness of the social partnership system in Ukraine is low, it does not meet the requirements of society to address important economic and social issues. Among the reasons for this situation are the dominance of paternalistic sentiments in the minds of citizens, the weakness of trade unions, the formal nature of the collective bargaining process, the dominance of employers in social dialogue, non-compliance with collective agreements, corruption and a significant share of the shadow economy. Foreign experience of mechanisms of realization of social partnership is investigated. Foreign models of social partnership, such as Swedish and German, are singled out, their content and features are revealed. According to the results of the study, a conclusion was made about the need to use foreign experience to increase the effectiveness of the social partnership system in Ukraine.

FOMO Presence among Students of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Tuzla – (Non)Dangerous Phenomenon?

The present paper discusses the phenomenon of excessive use of smartphones focusing on social networks – primarily Facebook and Instagram. Subjects in focus were students of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Tuzla from all study fields, undergraduates and postgraduates. Paper is theoretically focused on the phenomenon, recognized by recent academic literature, as FOMO or "fear of missing out)" and also partially investigates nomophobia ("NO MObilePHonePhoBIA) as a new subtype of "addiction" (whether it is an addiction or not, the academic community is still divided). It also includes a theoretical introduction and description of FOMO syndrome and nomophobia in developed democracies with available statistics and data on recent research that focuses – mainly – on young people (not older than 35 years). Based on the available research, FOMO was defined and also indicators that can be interpreted or related to nomophobia. A considerable number of indicators were found which confirm the possible wide existence of FOMO and nomophobia among students of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Tuzla. The empirical part consists of a theoretical analysis of the phenomenon in modern democratic societies (with a focus on the younger population) and a comparison with the data obtained from an online survey in which 110 students participated. Quantitative indicators point to a justified assumption of the existence of FOMO phenomena and nomophobia among students of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Tuzla. 25% of them feel a sudden need to check their smartphones if they haven’t done so in the last hour; 21% say that it never happens to them that they don’t check social networks for more than an hour. 46% of students would not be able to abstain from social media and a similar percentage said they have problems related to sleep. A significant number of respondents admit that they spend too much time on social media, but, as they subjectively assess, they do not feel that it’s a "digital addiction" but a habit.

Is the library for “every body”? Examining fatphobia in library spaces through online library furniture catalogues

Despite Library and Information Science’s engagement with other matters of social justice, nearly no scholarly attention has been paid to fat issues within the library. Through the critical lens of the author’s own experiences as a fat Library and Information Science scholar, a critical discourse analysis of online library furniture catalogues reveals the exclusionary ways in which they perpetuate fatphobic body size standards. Given that library spaces are often considered a cornerstone of modern democratic societies, and that librarianship claims to champion ideals such as universal access to information, the exclusion of fat bodies in library spaces is problematic.

Fragmented Pragmatism: On Sungmoon Kim’s Pragmatic Confucian Democracy

Fragmented Pragmatism: On Sungmoon Kim’s Pragmatic Confucian Democracy

Wong Cilik in Javanese History and Culture, Indonesia

In every country, regional social concepts are of significance in the political environment. In Indonesia, about 40% of the population are ethnic Javanese. Accordingly, their cultural concepts bear a considerable influence on the political map and presidential elections. As a large community, the Javanese hold on to longstanding historical notions of the position of the ruler and the wong cilik or commoner in the mechanics of governance and governmental administration. In Javanese social stratification, the ruler and the people are conceptualised and positioned in different ways compared with governance in modern democratic societies. Two broad social levels can be distinguished the wong cilik, consisting of peasants and the city lower classes, and the priyayi (or ruling elite and high class society). They can be somehow compared with the traditional classification of the proletariat or the working class and the bourgeois, the holders of the means of production. Both have their own social and economic life but have an interdependent relationship of exchanging services and goods. This relationship is known in Java as kawula and gusti, a cultural “patron-client” relation, containing supporting reciprocally based on authority.

Formation of Religious Tolerance in Young People

This article covers issues such as the formation of religious tolerance in youth, religious tolerance in modern democratic societies, the creation of a legal framework for ensuring religious tolerance.