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Prevailing studies on silence and democracy, in spite of silence's inherently ambiguous nature, focus on subscribing meaning(s) to silence. Such attempts of turning silence into speech, point to an adversary relationship between silence and democratic theory. First, this article conducts an ontoepistemological critique of democratic theory's treatment of silence (as meaning). Second, it suggests that there are self-reflective analytical benefits for scholars of democratic theory should they broaden up their gaze from silence as meaning toward silence-as-doing. This article argues that this can be done by shifting the epistemological focus from interpreting possible meanings behind the nonvoters' silence into analyzing the context and/of interpretations of silence as ambiguous. Third, to illustrate this, the article uses the 2018 name referendum in North Macedonia which shows how the speech-centered approach of democratic theory is utilized to serve political goals rather than reaching the democratic ideal of "everyone having a vo-ice/te.". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article belongs to a forthcoming special cluster, "Contention Politics and International Statebuilding in Southeast Europe" guest-edited by Nemanja Džuverovic, Julia Rone and Tom Junes. This article looks at the impact of one of the recent waves of mobilization in the Republic of Macedonia, the "Citizens for Macedonia" platform, over policy outcomes that originally derived from the movement actors. Furthermore, the text highlights the crucial role of the international community in shaping and implementing the policy outcomes, playing the role of international statebuilders in the process of reintroducing democracy in the captured Macedonian state. The theoretical framework and the literature review present an attempt to bridge contemporary works on social movement studies with those on democratization and international state building. A lot of emphasis is also put on the peculiar political opportunity structure, and the difficult and movement-unfriendly conditions in which the citizens' platform operated. On the other hand, the article tries to show the gains and losses of a coalition between an established political party, and a loose horizontal network of citizens and citizens' organizations that advocate for rule of law and protection of human rights. The central conclusions that can be extrapolated from this work are the strong and committed claims by the movement, articulated through various repertoires of action, but also the active role of the international community, which presented a conditio sine qua non, bringing down the regime led by former PM Nikola Gruevski and freeing the state institutions previously occupied by the political parties in power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constitutional designers often construct political institutions to provide greater autonomy to ethnic minority groups. One tool available to constitutional designers is 'ethnic gerrymandering', where the boundaries of local government units are altered to provide greater representation to minority groups. This paper analyses the effects of changes in the ethnic composition of municipalities, which occur as a result of ethnic gerrymandering, on ethnic party behaviour. I compare ethnic party behaviour in local elections in the Republic of Macedonia from 2000 to 2013. I expand on a theory initially proposed by Sherrill Stroschein linking ethnic demography to ethnic party behaviour. I find that changes in the ethnic composition of municipalities influence whether rival ethnic parties engage in outbidding or whether ethnic communities unite behind a single ethnic party. My findings have important implications for those tasked with designing political institutions in ethnically divided societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We live in a time when the number of regulatory bodies or independent agencies or so-called parastatal organs is continually growing and gaining momentum as a part of a country's system of governance. In particular, in the Republic of Macedonia, in the period from 2002, around 24 independent organs have been established with the legislation, which shows that this is not only an actual topic for research and writing but also that there is an actual need for an in-depth study for the purpose of establishing these organs. Simply put, is their establishment in the legal system a necessity or a trend. Hence, the subjects of research in this paper are the reasons or the factors that contribute to the formation of the independent organs, their position in the system of government organization and the distinction between the independent state organs, the regulatory bodies and the independent organs of the state administration. Taking into consideration the fact that through the formation of these organs a new model of exercising public authorization has been developed, a question whether these organs are a new model of organization of the public administration is being raised. A model that enables the decentralisation of certain competencies for which have been the state administration concern so far, and for which the state administration now becomes only an execution controller. All this in order to enable a more efficient, more qualified and depoliticised execution of the public interest services. To achieve the aim of the research in the paper we used historical method, comparative method and normative method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to estimate the impact of public investment on economic growth in Macedonia during the 2003-2014 period. Using the method of simple linear regression and ordinary least squares method (OLS) we will make assessment of the impact of public investment on economic growth in the Republic of Macedonia. According to the results of empirical research we proposed that public investments have a high impact on average real growth of the economy of the Republic of Macedonia. As we have found the majority of authors in their studies that public investments have a significant effect on the economic development of a country, and our results are of the same evaluation. Where possible we concluded that increasing public investment to 1%, would affect GDP growth for 0:35%. Since t-test shows that t = 1.26, is greater than 0.05 we may conclude that this ratio has significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Police as a state body is responsible for the protection of life, personal safety and property of citizens, maintaining a stable security situation, maintaining public law and order and law enforcement. Police, despite all the duties and powers by law also takes measures for protection of certain persons and facilities. The constant and rapid changes due to globalization lead to increased security risks and dangers and in that way the global security picture becomes complex. In connection to that critical infrastructure (vital state infrastructure facilities) gets new dimensions and increased importance at national and international level. Because critical infrastructure is an important segment of national security, its protection must be continually developed, and is one of the main security priorities of each country. Measures and activities for providing protection are taken by the police individually or in conjunction and cooperation with other authorities, organizations, legal entities and individuals, all within its competences and powers defined by the law. The emphasis should be put on the field of cooperation with private security, especially about the continuous exchange of data and information, which largely can improve identification and prevention of possible threats. The entities responsible for the protection of critical infrastructure need to constantly upgrade their facilities to monitor the situation and assess the level of safety of the facilities and the readiness of personnel protection and rapid response to deal with risks and dangers targeting critical infrastructure. The facilities will be safe if all the necessary measures in the area of prevention and early warning are taken timely. The successful protection of critical infrastructure is possible only by increasing cooperation and by continuously enhancing the performance of the police and private security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The organized and serious crime a serious socio-negative phenomenon, which threatens the security of the country, the economy, the rule of law, democracy and endangering the basic and essential human rights and freedoms established by the Constitution as the highest legal act of the state. The organized and serious crime is dynamic, flexible, includes a variety of forms of organized criminal activity and association with legitimate businesses. The organized crime groups are characterized by loose structure, adapting to new requirements and participating in that form of organized crime that is current at the moment and brings the greatest profits. Unlike the organized criminal groups in the wider international community who specialize and perform only one of the forms of organized crime in the country organized criminals easily fluctuate and are involved in various forms of organized crime, subject to availability and needs someone of high-quality forms of organized crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper are analyzed the research results of several battery questions for the assessments on the work of the police from 2008 to 2017. It is about field researches, conducted in all mountain regions in the Republic of Macedonia, among 30 and 40 municipalities. The number of the correspondents ranged from 1032 in 2017 to 1440 in 2011. (By years that is: in 2008 1163 correspondents, in 2009 1318 correspondents, in 2010 1309 correspondents, in 2011 1404 correspondents, in 2012 1240 correspondents, in 2013 1138 correspondents, in 2014 1167 correspondents, in 2015 1016 correspondents, in 2016 1044 correspondents and in 2017 1032 correspondents. The sample is structured as multi-staged and it belongs to the group of intentional samples. The paper through longitudinal approach shows the variations of the citizens' perceptions about the police, its relation with the citizens and the realization of the functions they perform in the society. Some of the results indicate that among the citizens' perceptions dominate the thinking that the police are instrumentalized by the governing party. Namely, more than one third or approximately 36,86% of the correspondents had that opinion. Also the proportions of the correspondents with that perception vary from 31,71% in 2013 to 41,09% in 2016. In this indicator framework belong the answers about the attitude of the police in the process of exercising the right to equality. Checked through the answer about selectivity in the police actions. The citizens' perceptions from 2009 to 2017 in average 38,43% had a positive attitude, and 61.57% negative attitude. The research results offer a certain indicator framework about the image of the police and their actions in the decade development which is a subject of interest of the researches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Development strategy for the private security comprises concrete goals and measures of whose operationalization should contribute for the development of the private security activity. The scientific explanation in this effort is based on two approaches. First, the research is founded on the scope of the basic theoretical assumptions about the terminological divergent for the notion strategy and its use, and afterwards follows a perception of the Development strategy for the private security in the Republic of Macedonia through the prism of the strategic goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the evaluation of recent research on post-communist political regime diversity in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. It offers a snapshot of the literature which looks for explanations for this diversity in four sets of factors: pre-communist and communist legacies, transitional institutional choices, political leadership, and foreign influence. The findings are based on the political evolution of three countries: Slovakia, Belarus, and Macedonia. They are representative for all post-communist countries both in terms of regime trajectory and regional location. The author concludes that post-communist political regime diversity can best be explained when the political leadership in general and the top politicians’ ideology, in particular, are placed at the centre of the analysis. This explanation correlates well with all types of post-communist regime, whether democracy, dictatorship, or intermediate regime. The other factors – legacies, institutional choices, and foreign influence – at best, may act only as reinforcing variables in some cases. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The actual changes in the world's energy market, with an emphasis on the revolution of the gas slates in USA and the economic rise of Asia, are factors whose mutual interaction implicates unavoidable changes in the balance of energy resources and global geopolitics. Energy dependent countries such as China, India and the European Union, supported by the traditional strategic partners (Russia and USA) are in permanent attempt to provide the necessary energy resources. Besides the uncompromising race, this development of events in the near future would result in serious confrontation of geopolitical and geostrategic interests of USA and the European Union on the one hand, and Russia and China on the other. The crisis in Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea and the fall of the prices of energy resources are recent examples that show the fact that energy is the basic element of national power, capable of changing the geopolitical landscape of Europe. The suspension of series of capital energy investments traced through the territory of the Balkan Peninsula, as the recent promotion of the Russian-Turkish and Russian-Greek relations are events, which, to the countries from the region, among which the Republic of Macedonia, offer a lot of geopolitical challenges, but at the same time risks, too. They could be a source of political power and vulnerability; they could also stimulate economic progress or regress. In this elaboration the basic factors and their influence on the security of the Republic of Macedonia, as a result of the tectonic movements of the global energy geopolitics, will be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The political platforms that are prepared before every political campaign generally are focused on information for the electorate, programs and plans that could lead to winning the hearts and minds of the voters. But sometimes with the quantity of advertising that is used in pre-election purposes, the political parties can cause negative effects towards the voters. The aim of this paper is to detect, highlight and define the role of advertising on political campaigns especially television advertising thorough empirical research. It tends to get an answer of the scientific thesis on the satisfaction of TV audience from the offered program, its preferences and the needs and desires for a new approach, if it is proven that the role of marketing in the pre-election period have caused a negative effect. For the purpose of this research, an empirical study will be conducted using survey as a research method. The paper will try to reach the conclusion using the conventional online questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed for respondents that have a right to vote, by law, which is from 18 years old. At the end, the conclusion is connected with the perception of the audience, the voters, and guidelines and recommendations for future political campaigns and the use of marketing in the pre-election period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the fast industrialization in the 1960s, there was production of goods that did not meet the basic consuming standards. The shortage of quality products, products that do not meet the standards for safe living and protection of the environment are the main reasons for emergence of the consumerism as movement. The purpose of consumerism is to protect the rights of consumers that face these problems and products. Republic of Macedonia makes efforts for protecting the consumers, by following the world trends in the field of protecting consumers. Consumerism and consumers' rights should be vital part of every modern economy. In this paper priority will be given to what is already done on this subject, and will be considered the possibilities for further upgrading and supplementing what should be done in the future in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of the new measure of security - pharmacologic medical treatment (a.k.a. chemical castration) in the Macedonian Criminal Code is the most ongoing issue in the criminal theory and practice not only in Macedonia but also in the Balkan region. This measure is the first of its kind implemented in the whole region of the Western Balkan countries. Somehow our country finds itself to be most committed to introducing this measure in our Criminal Code. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to give a theoretical explanation of the medical pharmacological treatment (chemical castration), to give a comparative approach of this measure in countries that have made chemical castration legal,, to explore the legal nature of this measure and, finally to elaborate the need of its implementation in our justice system so we can finally give comments and recommendation of this legal solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyze the etymological origin of Macedonian and French legal terms. The focus is on the Macedonian legal terminology, having in mind that etymology researches referring to Macedonian terminology are not numerous unlike those referring to French terminology and French vocabulary in general. Object of analysis will be terms of Latin origin that play a very important role in this field, but also terms of other origin such as Greek, Italian. The analysis should show the influence of different historical, sociological and cultural factors in the process of borrowing and developing a specific legal terminology in both languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the comparative study of the effects of electoral systems on the descriptive representation of ethnic minorities in parliament, Macedonia is a highly interesting case because the country had several elections under majoritarian as well as under proportional systems. Whereas most observers claim that ethnic Albanians have benefitted from the introduction of proportional representation, the article argues that the merits of PR have been overstated. First, scholars have often only reported members of political parties but not independent candidates in parliament. Second, when comparing the share of seats before and after the introduction of PR, the growing share of the Albanians in the population is usually ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Attorneyship as one of the basics elements of the judicial system plays a key role in highlighting and the protection of human rights and freedoms and their realization. Attorneys are obligated of high ethical and professional behavior and any deviation from these principles means the possibility of their responsibility under the law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject of the paper is processing and comparative analysis of contracts for alotman. The best way to work out these contracs is through analysis of the legal framework which regulates its placement. Try for comparative analysis of legislation in Macedonian and Serbian legislation is made through perceived positive and also negative sides of these contracts, and on the basis of this, conclusions are made, which law deeper regulates this issue and where it has overlap of contractual clauses of both legislation for contracts. Certainly the paper provides appropriate recommendations for improving the situation. Accetned is the role of the State market inspectorate of the Republic of Macedonia for preventing violation of the provisions of contracts, through control mechanism that has in its competence, regarding of operation and performance of travel agencies in the Republic of Macedonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international entities have directed their activities towards creating a global strategy and developing particular mechanisms for efficient combat against the organized crime, after it was recognized that the conventional and traditional approaches, means, methods and techniques were inadequately efficient for successful combat against the organized crime. Witness protection is one of the most current topics receiving most attention both internationally and nationally. The necessity of implementation of witness protection system is undisputable given the increasing organized crime and other severe criminal acts being perpetrated in our country as well. This is so owing to the expansion of new, more sophisticated forms of crime, and increasing violence and witness intimidation. Therefore, witness protection is one of the most important instruments for achieving justice in a modern society where many various forms of organized crime occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Republic of Macedonia is established combined (mixed) system of government organization, which included elements of parliamentary and presidential systems. Regarding the position of the President, Republic of Macedonia is a parliamentary-presidential state where the head of state and government are part of a (dual) executive. Because constitutional provisions the Government explicitly defined as a carrier executive, Macedonian President has more ceremonial than effective enforcement powers. And because of constitutional legal point position of the Macedonian president in the executive sphere is closer to the position of President parliamentary system of organization of power than the President of the Presidential system. The actual position of the Macedonian president apart from constitutional provisions depends on the personality of the President and toku therefore established a possibility combined (mixed) system in certain situations to function as a pure parliamentary or presidential system clean . To prevent this possibility, but also to provide the functionality of the existing model is necessary to strengthen the position of President in terms of defining its powers especially the relation of state President - Government of the Republic and President of the State - Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The juvenile justice system is a subject of a debate in numerous international documents that indicate directions and standard rules. It is not in their nature to set strict imperative and prohibitive regulations, whereas to define certain minimum standards that influence the criminal policy of the state and the selection of the most appropriate penal solutions that in the best possible way reflect the goals they proclaim. This paper contains analysis of the legal position of the child offenders and the proceedings in the competent institutions in the Republic of Macedonia, comparison of the solutions in the Macedonian legal system to the references in the international documents and last but not the least, determination of the degree of harmonization with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules, often referred to as the Beijing Rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interception of communications as a special investigative measure in the criminal procedural legislation of R. Macedonia was introduced with the Novelties in the Law of Criminal Procedure from 2004. The procedure for interception of communications is regulated with the Law of Interception of Communications as a lex specialis regarding the monitoring of phone and other electronic communications. This paper determines the basic characteristics of the concept for legitimate interception and recording phone and other electronic communications in relation to conditions, purposes, authorized authorities, procedure and control over interception of communications. Our national legislation on the interception of communications in a relatively short time, underwent substantial changes. Hence, the paper makes comparative analyses of previous and the new legislation as a way to perceive the direction of motion of the legislation in the field of interception of communications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corruption is a social evil which greatly impairs the democratic processes and benefits of one society, and occupies a significant part of the criminal behaviour in the Republic of Macedonia. There are numerous activities that offenders undertake and are considered as corruption. The most important and most frequent are giving and receiving bribe, abuse of the official authority, and there are many other forms. That the corruption is an important deviant corruption and crime phenomenon in a society indicates the fact that the international community recognizes a field of action of democratic governments and states. So, in any reports of the European Union accession negotiations of Macedonia in the European Union, a special section deals with the implication of corruption to overcome the problems of corruption in the country. Motivated by this situation, a research team from the Faculty of Security- Skopje conducted a research on corruption in the Republic of Macedonia, which results represent a content of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theme of this article are some of the hallmarks of corruption in Republic of Macedonia, presented through the research results. In it is concluded that corruption is the reason for inefficiency of the state. In addition, basic phenomenal forms of corruption are: giving and receiving bribes, nepotism and abuse of authority or function for personal gain. It is associated with the undercover alliances of political and economic elites and the political parties ruling over the public sector and the attempts to establish institutional control that will eliminate the exchange of influences, power and money. In this paper is interpreted the opinion of respondents for corruption in certain institutions and activities ranging from 8.30 for receiving bribes to the lowest 3.94 for abuse of authority. It is concluded that from all forms of corruption more prevalent are giving and receiving bribes, and then follows the triad of giving, receiving bribes and abuse of authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discrimination as a concept incorporates three elements: Activity (manifested as: distinction, exclusion, limitation or preference (providing greater opportunities), Causes for the specific activity (personal characteristics of a person) and Aim or effect of the specific activity (preventing a person to practice his rights and freedoms in the same way as others). The subject of this paper is the positive discrimination (affirmative action of the state) on the minority, precisely "justified" deviation from the basic principle of formal equality in Macedonia and how this positive discrimination causes direct discrimination on the majority of citizens in the Republic of Macedonia later resulting with a forcing and employment of an inappropriate and unprofessional cadre in the public administration (law enforcement agencies). Special accent is placed on the instructions from The Ohrid framework Agreement concerning non-discrimination and equitable representation of minorities in the Republic of Macedonia and analysis on the quality of the first four generations of students at the Faculty of Security - Skopje from the very entrance enrollment through graduation finally to employment in the public sector based on ethnic affiliation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Money laundering is a synonym for a procedure in which criminals, money and other proceeds from any kind are being legalized, i.e. their criminal backgrounds are being hidden by putting it on accounts or using it in the trade of goods and services to make it legitimate, so the money are part of a process that is losing its true source, and seen its final form - the laundering or legality of money. According to the lawmakers, criminal - legal liable offenders are: every natural person, responsible person, official or responsible person in the subject's face that made matters of public interest and legal persons. The successful opposition of this crime is conditioned by the legal incrimination of the crime behavior performed offenders, as well as to define their status, occupational characteristics and of course, taking advantage of certain positions and competences as well as the professional characteristics of the offenders. This paper will analyze the criminal-legal liability of every possible perpetrator of this kind of crime under the Macedonian Criminal Code and the measures and sanctions provided for offenders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A census is not only a public policy tool to classify and enumerate the population but also to construct social reality. Establishing a particular vision of social reality during census taking is important because public resources are granted and denied to ethnic groups depending on their numbers. In principle, the bigger the number of an ethnic community, the bigger share of public resources and jobs its political representatives can claim. The Macedonian census conflict is directly related to ethnic rivalry for public resources. Since the Macedonian economy is weak and there is a high unemployment rate, public administration jobs are coveted assets. The failed 2011 census reveals that the ethnic Albanian and Macedonian elites had fears that their kin had declined in absolute numbers, and in relation to the other ethnic group, and that this decline could lead to potential loss of their political influence and power. The principle of ‘equitable and just representation of non-majority communities’, enshrined in the public policies of the country since 2002, has direct implication on census taking in Macedonia. The paper argues that reforming the affirmative action policies to focus on economically disadvantaged instead of ethnic groups would be a good first step to eliminate some of the tensions in conducting a census in Macedonia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This research focuses on the interpretative dimension of European Union (EU) integration and on its role in post-communist democratization. It offers an understanding of the significance of taking part in political life. This significance takes shape under specific circumstances, which are part of the asymmetrical power relations with the EU. My findings are based on field trips in two post-communist countries that are situated at different stages of the EU integration process: Bulgaria, which became an EU member in 2007, and Macedonia, which is a candidate country. Methodologically, I use qualitative methods that triangulate findings into converging cultural trajectories. I conclude that EU integration, as a phenomenon within the world of meaning, acts simultaneously as a boost to and an inhibitor of democratic political culture. People create different subcultures where different interpretations of the EU integration process lead to dissimilar effects. Discursive communities of people representing these different subcultures may also produce dissimilar effects on the national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driven by the Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA), decentralisation in Macedonia is a policy choice for spurring national cohesion rather than an economic instrument for the more efficient delivery of services. The OFA resulted in a new Macedonian Constitution with policies related to the decentralisation process and equitable representation of communities. This paper aims first to estimate the spending efficiency of Macedonian municipalities in service delivery from their own resources and, second, to ascertain the determinants of that efficiency. The ethnic fragmentation of municipalities is taken into account as a possible determinant of efficiency, which represents a novelty in such types of studies. We employ the DEA-VRS, Kernel and SFA estimation techniques to control for the robustness of our estimates. Our findings show that on average Macedonian municipalities exhibit low efficiency in service delivery, although there are significant variations among municipalities. The ethnic fragmentation of municipalities together with the population density, own tax revenues and political affiliation of the mayor with the leading political coalition at the state level explain differences in their efficiencies. More fragmented municipalities tend to be less efficient when providing services to citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is the first part of a study exploring the success and limits of external non-military coercion in intrastate conflict. This part seeks to understand the conditions and methods that made non-military coercion a useful conflict management strategy in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The study aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of non-military coercion as a reasonable alternative to military forms of intervention. Empirical data were drawn from a series of elite interviews and documentary accounts collected in three subsequent field trips. The analysis separates the conflict into three distinct phases, emergence, escalation and settlement, to illustrate the influence of coercion on the decision-making calculus of conflict participants, and outlines the coordinated use of positive inducements and pressures to portray the positive influence of non-military coercion on the de-escalation of interethnic violence. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper discusses the problem of lack of interaction between different EU accession requirements as an intrinsic feature of the EU external governance that impacts the quality of the Europeanisation outcomes in the candidate countries. It takes the Macedonian equitable representation policy of the smaller ethnic communities as a case study, and discusses its interplay with the requirement on Public Administration reform. On the basis of a qualitative analysis of the EU Progress Reports and a desktop research on the implementation of the equitable representation policy vis-à-vis the Public Administration reform, the paper infers that the EU approach seriously fails in linking these interrelated accession requirements. This contributes to overlooking the real roots of the problems, and additionally reflects on the lack of clear guidelines and recommendations for the candidates. Thus, EU fails to establish a right 'diagnosis' and 'therapy' for the country, which leads to suboptimal Europeanisation outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), the official name of Republika Makedonija, adopted to avoid confusing the new Slavic republic with the province of Macedonia in Greece. It states that FYROM's problems vary in severity from small nuisance to serious complications that may threaten Balkan stability. According to the author, FYROM has made progress in its own security and will never be a threat to any of its neighbors including Albania, Bulgaria, and Greece.

This article analyses the progress made and obstacles encountered by the process to bring Macedonia into the European Union. After studying the history of relations between Macedonia and the EU and the Union's new strategies for enlargement with respect to the Balkans, the author specifically analyses the problems which have, to date, hampered the progress of Macedonia's candidacy (one particularly important example being the dispute with Greece over its name), as well as its strengths, paying particular attention to the backing given by public opinion and numerous EU-related areas. Finally, the author reflects on the negative consequences that the current blockade could have for the stability of the country and of the region, and formulates several proposals for action to avert this situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that from the very start of the transition process in Macedonia, a fusion of concerns about security and democratisation locked local nationalist elites and international organisations intoa political dynamic that prioritised security over democratisation. This dynamic resulted in little progress in the implementation of human and minority rights until 2009, despite heavy EU involvement in Macedonia after the internal warfare of 2001. The effects of this informally institutionalised relationship have been overlooked by scholarship on EU enlargement towards Eastern Europe, which has made generalisations based on assumptions relevant to the democratisation of countries in Eastern Europe, but not the Western Balkans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to analyse territorial reorganisation policy interventions in Macedonia, first in 1995 and again in 2004, which overreached their aims and objectives; and where economic viability and institutional reform were trumped by ethnic factors in defining local government boundaries. The core argument is that through territorial reorganisation, opportunities are provided to major ethnic political parties, both Macedonian and Albanian, in order to exercise more power by increasing their 'market share' in local governments. This paper argues that this political approach adds to a higher level of segregation among ethnic communities. Further, this paper clearly explains how balancing political, economical and institutional qualifications for the two territorial policy interventions posed challenges in Macedonia due to its citizens perceptions and demographic profile. In understanding the need for territorial re-organisations in Macedonia, one must not ignore historical legacy and developments around the region in the last decade. Immediately after Macedonia became a sovereign and independent state in September 1991, the new Macedonian constitution was drawn up and later adopted in November 1991. This revealed tensions between two major ethnic groups over constitutional nationalism and the principle of democracy. It was not until 2001 when the Ohrid Framework Agreement was signed through mediation of the international community that the country's political leadership recognised the need for a new political discourse in order to bring more social and economic progress to the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution considers whether European Union (EU) pre-accession aid is contributing to the development of a more compound polity in F.Y.R. Macedonia and, specifically, the extent to which there is a process of Europeanization characterized by emergent features of multi-level governance. After examining the state of play concerning governance and politics, the different EU pre-accession instruments are discussed with a focus on the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance. The main argument advanced is that F.Y.R. Macedonia is a simple polity that is quickly evolving into a compound polity and that the EU accession process and the requirements of pre-accession aid are important factors in this evolution process. However, alongside EU-induced changes are other initiatives and processes that are often promoting change in the same direction that make it increasingly difficult to isolate the independent effect of EU pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macedonia should not worry about Kosovo becoming independent. This article reviews the current state of affairs in the northern neighbour. The author analyses whether there is a potential danger of an independent Kosovo negatively affecting internal politics in Macedonia. Is there the danger of the escalation of a new conflict. Presenting the factors that impeded democratic consolidation, it is argued that since the configuration of factors that existed in early 2001 and contributed to the mini-war in Macedonia are either non-existent or have been ameliorated, the chances are good that Macedonia will instead continue on its path to European integration. Macedonia should only be concerned if the situation in Kosovo deteriorates and partition is implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Albanian minority, which makes up about 25% of Macedonia's population, suffered from decades of structural discrimination before the country's independence in 1991. Since democratization, Albanian political parties have played a major role in the politics of Macedonia, a country where cleavages run along mainly ethnic but also social and confessional lines. Highly politicized ethnic identities have led to unanimous voting patterns. Although the participation of Albanian parties in government since 1992 is evidence that they are stakeholders in the country, it has also been motivated by the desire to share in the spoils of power. Ethnic patronage and corruption have undermined the legitimacy of Albanian parties. This, along with the intransigence of Macedonian politicians, led to the outbreak of violence in 2001. Although most Albanian demands have been met in the meantime, their parties still play the only game they know: the ethnic one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the challenges faced by the Republic of Macedonia in its bid to establish political stability after seceding from the former Yugoslavia. Role of non-party-based `government of experts' and the legislature during the early days of Macedonia; Dilemma faced by government of Macedonia during the influx of refugees from Kosovo, Yugoslavia; Need for the co-existence of various ethnic groups. INSET: Macedonia's ethnic divide..