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As exemplified by the pan‐European 'Identitarian movement' (IM), contemporary far‐right populism defies the habitual matrix within which right‐wing radicalism has been criticised as a negation of liberal cosmopolitanism. The IM's political stance amalgamates features of cultural liberalism and racialist xenophobia into a defence of 'European way of life.' We offer an alternative decoding of the phenomenon by drawing on Jürgen Habermas's 'postnational constellation.' It casts the IM's protectionist qua chauvinistic populism as 'inverted' postnationalism, engendered through territorial and ethnic appropriation of universal political values. As such, inclusionary ideals of cosmopolitan liberalism and democracy purporting humanistic postnationalism have been transformed by Identitarians into elements of a privileged civilisational life‐style to be protected from 'intruders.' Remaining within the remit of the grammar of the postnational constellation, trans‐European chauvinism, we contend, is susceptible to inclusive articulation. Foregrounding radical emancipatory social transformation would however require not more democracy, but a principled critique of capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on Habermas's notion of cosmopolitan democracy. Reconfiguring the basic ideas of democracy in postnational terms is inevitable if social and political integration is to succeed on a supranational level. In exploring Habermas's ideas, we draw on Rancière, whose thought stands in a complex relationship to Habermas. On the one hand, Rancière largely shares Habermas's diagnosis of the present. Both bemoan the erosion of the political caused by post‐democracy and censure the rise of right‐wing extremism in Western societies. On the other hand, and in contrast to Habermas, Rancière holds that these problems should be addressed not primarily by strengthening political institutions and reaching a consensus between conflicting parties, but by rethinking conflict and resistance. We show that Habermas's and Rancière's propositions can be productively brought in dialogue by focusing on the paradigmatic types of political subjectivity involved in their accounts: the citizen (Habermas) and the plebeian (Rancière). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the empowerment of the European Parliament over the years is due to its special role in providing a bridge connecting the public’s policy preferences on the one hand, and the legislative behaviour of elected officials on the other. As the only popularly elected EU institution, successive treaty reforms increased the EP’s political power. These reforms were accompanied by an explicit desire to see citizens’ involvement in EU politics increase and, in turn, provide support and legitimacy to the European integration project. This paper models MEPs’ track records on various political issues, and assesses the extent to which their output is in line with the positions their party campaigned on and the policy preferences expressed in public opinion. The findings suggest that there are discrete patterns of representation, where some parties are more inclined toward greater congruence with their selectorate and manifesto than others. Furthermore, the degree of congruence varies across policy issues and is shaped, to a large extent, by institutional arrangements and political context. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Bosnia and Herzegovina has always been in Europe belonging to a community of the European countries and European cultural, historical and legal heritage. Thus, regardless of how much we agree or disagree with the thesis that a certain number of countries, especially those in transition and those which are undergoing a post-conflict period, deviate from the so called contemporary European standards, Bosnia and Herzegovina is indeed a part of Europe. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a part of European identity and conglomerate of that what makes up Europe. Bosnia and Herzegovina has, just as the entire former region of the southwest Balkans, especially overlooking the period of the last twenty years, enriched the European tradition and European identity by its people, languages, cultures, ethnicities etc. However, the „European identity" today represents a certain paradigm of specific standards that European countries strive towards. These standards are evolutive result of the development of the democracy and legal state, human rights and freedoms protection and other values that the scientific doctrine today accepts as the goal of the contemporary society. If this were to be taken as true, then one can surely say that Bosnia and Herzegovina „strives" towards Europe and is on the „European path" but has not arrived in „Europe" just yet. Only when Bosnia and Herzegovina meets the so called, European standards, regardless of that how unclear they are or how different viewpoints we might have on them, we can speak of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European identity. The Constitutional Court of BiH is very important constitutional institution. Its role is crucial when it comes to protection of constitutional order including human rights and freedoms. It is understandable that everyone wants the Constitutional Court of BiH to take decision he/she desires. However, the Court should uphold the Constitution of BiH, protect and adjudicate in accordance with it. On the other hand, the Constitutional Court of BiH should be independent and impartial. That is one of its basic characteristics and cornerstone of its successful work. Autonomy, independence and impartiality of the Constitutional Court of BiH are in the interest of all of its citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]