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The development of novel high-gradient accelerating structures operating at THz frequencies is critical for future free-electron lasers and TeV scale linear colliders. To reach high energies with reasonable length requires high accelerating gradients of ~100 MV/m. The main limitation to reaching these high-energy gradients is the vacuum RF breakdown phenomenon, which disrupts normal accelerator operations. For stable operations and to understand the breakdown microscopic dynamics, a new device capable of detecting the breakdown occurrences is required. In this paper, we provide the design of a pulse length monitor based on an analog to digital converter for fast signal digitization without the need to use high-speed digitizers to be used in a commercial mm-wave heterodyne spectrometer.

The article explores the conditions under which incumbent leaders in initially competitive political systems manage to offset democratic resistance and establish an authoritarian regime. Autocratisation – the transition from a competitive political system to a regime dominated by a single political force – is a challenging effort for an incumbent and involves interventions in three 'arenas' to achieve (a) public legitimation, (b) institutional reforms increasing political repression and (c) mass-scale co-optation. Focusing on Slovakia and Belarus in the 1990s, where autocratisation efforts failed and succeeded respectively, the article finds that co-optation plays a catalytic role in helping the incumbent pass institutional reforms and escalate repression without risking de-legitimation. In Belarus, co-optation engulfed society and the economy whereas, in Slovakia, a socioeconomic environment with greater autonomy from government limited the scope for co-optation. The Slovak opposition was able to find the resources and supporters necessary to fight back against the incumbent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In competitive authoritarian systems, aspiring autocrats must win elections and marginalize the political opposition. In Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko's strategy for political hegemony heavily relied on socioeconomic co-optation, offering privileges to supporters and imposing sanctions on dissenters. In an economy dominated by the state, co-optation had a coercive effect on behavior. Without sizable areas of activity autonomous from the government, citizens could not defy or mitigate the cost of reprisals for openly supporting the political opposition. Through co-optation, Lukashenko weakened the opposition and built an authoritarian regime without resorting to extensive political violence, which could have undermined his claim of public legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on Belarus's presidential election including police killings and harsh sentences or loss of employment for the smallest acts of protest implementing mass privatization.

This article analyses the 'spiral of silence' as a mechanism of political communication in post-Communist Belarus in the cases of the presidential elections in 2001 and the general election in 2008, using methods of public opinion polls and content analysis of Belarusian state-run press. The authors argue that the phenomenon of the 'spiral of silence' -- a classic problem in political communication -- has some important peculiarities in the case of authoritarian post-Communist societies. On the one hand, authorities use mass media as an instrument of political control, mainly control of public opinion, especially during important political campaigns (elections and referenda). On the other hand, post-Communist society has an 'additional precondition' for the effectiveness of this mechanism: contrary to democratic societies (in both developed and developing countries), people in this society have much less cultural and psychological heritage of resistance to pressure from the majority due to the dominance of the principles of collectivism and unity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent work on competitive authoritarianism has not explored the full consequences of electoral participation for opposition movements. While prominent work argues that the government must employ a mix of side-payments and repression to fragment opposition to its rule, Belarus’ history since the ascension of President Alexander Lukashenko in 1994 shows that the opposition has been repressed after most parliamentary and presidential elections without any substantial co-optation. I argue that electoral contestation and subsequent post-electoral repression have led to the Belarusian opposition's fragmented state. This state is grounded in competition for foreign aid, which creates a need among Belarusian opposition leaders to demonstrate their ability to mobilize support through campaigns. Invariably, successful opposition leaders emerge as the principal challengers to the regime, leading to their arrest or exile. Repression then fosters division within anti-government movements and restarts the cycle for new aid-seeking parties and leaders. A quantitative test establishes that repression concentrates in post-electoral periods and a qualitative assessment shows that opposition fragmentation stems from the arrest or exile of opposition leaders. The empirical findings provide contrasting evidence to work on co-optation in autocracies while suggesting an adverse effect of foreign democracy assistance around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko's victory in October 2004 elections. Lukashenko of Belarus won a controversial referendum that allows him to change the constitution and run for a third term. The referendum, which was purposely scheduled to coincide with the parliamentary elections, galvanized the opposition. The official count gave Lukashenko a victory but was contradicted by polls conducted both internally and externally. Lukashenko's decision to combine the parliamentary elections and the referendum was carefully calculated.

The purpose of this article is to examine the Belarusian political regime under Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenka as a populist one, which is uncommon for a Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) country. In order to understand this peculiarity, it is insufficient to compare Belarusian politics with the politics of other CIS countries. It can only be understood in the context of polarisation of post-communist political and economic regimes. In contrast to the unitary state building in the Western post-communist countries, in CIS countries national-subnational political relations have been extremely deconcentrated, although the constitutions of most of these countries, except for Russia, declare that they have chosen a unitary path of state building.

Evaluates the accomplishments of Belarus under the Soviet Union. Reasons why the socio-economic situation in the country does not quite fit the abysmal picture painted by the international media; Reasons why the current economic paradigm embraced by the Belarus political regime is rooted in some Soviet-born constraints; Identification of the Belarusian political scene as bi-polar with the centrist part being least structured and organized.

The article analyses the meaning and the forms that contemporary democracy may take, especially in application to the new regimes in Eastern Europe. The evaluation of developing polities always poses a difficulty, as one never knows whether an existent form of government is the final one that a state aims to achieve, or whether it is simply an interim effort to survive transition. Furthermore, there may be as many forms of democracy as there are different states, and the currently prevailing liberal form of democracy may not necessarily be the only or the best means to form a sustainable government. From this perspective, contemporary Belarus provides an insightful study of a regime that may be labelled as 'authoritarian', but in this article is arguably viewed as a 'demagogical democracy' following Aristotle's conceptualisation of a democratic state. I wish to acknowledge the invaluable support of INTAS (99-00245) and the British Academy (SG-31102 and PDF/2001/174), without which the project on which my quotations are based would not have been possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies nation, gender and class formation in Belarus. Issues that dominate Belarusian political and cultural discourse; Political history; Women's rights; Anti-communist nationalism; Nationalism as a class; Liberal democracy.

Explains the historical and political factors that influenced civil society development in Belarus. Examination of the state of civil society in the country; Elements of civil society destroyed by Europe's last dictator Alexander Lukashenko; Definition of civil society; Overview of the historical obstacles facing civil society development; Reason for the failure of non-governmental organizations to develop in the country.

The development of novel high-gradient accelerating structures operating at THz frequencies is critical for future free-electron lasers and TeV scale linear colliders. To reach high energies with reasonable length requires high accelerating gradients of ~100 MV/m. The main limitation to reaching these high-energy gradients is the vacuum RF breakdown phenomenon, which disrupts normal accelerator operations. For stable operations and to understand the breakdown microscopic dynamics, a new device capable of detecting the breakdown occurrences is required. In this paper, we provide the design of a pulse length monitor based on an analog to digital converter for fast signal digitization without the need to use high-speed digitizers to be used in a commercial mm-wave heterodyne spectrometer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]