Contents
Editorial
FEDERALISM
Guy Héraud
Federalism
According
to the author, federalism brings a message of peace and happiness to humankind
and it cannot be taken for an utopia — at least, not in the pejorative sens of the
term — as its implementation into the life of societies and peoples depends
entirely on us, as much as the progress of the world’s moral, economical and
political unity also depends on us.
Daniel
J. Elazar
From Statism to Federalism — A Paradigm Shift
Since the
end of World War II and most particularly since the late 1970s, the world has
been in the midst of a paradigm shift from a world of states modeled after the idea of the nation-state developed in the
seventeenth century to a world of diminished state sovereignty and increasingly constitutionalized interstate linkages of a federal
character. In this new paradigm, existing states will not disappear; rather
they will be overlaid by a variety of federal arrangements of a confederal character that will tie them ever closer to each
other.
Paul
Philippi
Federalism
and Liberty
Presenting
the basic lines of the Transylvanian history, its heritage of tolerance and
pluralism, the author points out to Romania’s constant refusal — through its
successive Constitutions — to accept and integrate the province’s federalist heritage together with the
province itself.
Robert Agranoff
Federal
Evolution in Spain
The
gradual development of federal arrangements in Spain through its regional
governments is examined within five perspectives on “postmodern”
federalism: differentiation of the Spanish unitary state through the autonomous
communities; evolutionary compacting through negotiated agreements, creating
“self-rule plus shared rule”; complementary building of democratic institutions
and territorial distribution of power; federalism’s contribution to accomodating and managing center-periphery
conflicts; and the use of federal arrangements in building the Spanish welfare
state. While the Spanish system to date represents “incomplete federation”, the noncentralized estado de las autonomias exemplifies the
increasing federal character of states on the international scene.
DIALOGUE
Forum:
From “Monoculture” to Interculturality
The
Forum had interculturality as its central theme, aproached from three closely linked standpoints: Interculturality as a reinterpretation of the
majority-minority relation, From “monoculture” to interculturality, and Interculturality in the regional context. The debate here focuses on the shift to interculturality, where the term is contrasted to multiculturality. The latter implies only proximity of
cultures, while the former implies their dialogue. The instances analysed,
ranging from regional situations to worldwide configuration, disclose interculturality to be rather a project than an
accomplishment.
CASE STUDY
Brigitte Mihok
The
Roma Situation in Muresh County and Elaborating
Corresponding
Sensitizing Strategies
The
report contains a general pattern of arguments and criteria that should be
considered in planning, implementing, and supervising educational,cultural, and health activities for the Roma. It is
necessary that the analyses and conceptions designed be conducted according to
the village or town district in question, and that they be the basis for elaborating action strategies
fit for the respective socio-economical and cultural backgrounds, thus being
directed towards a specific target-group.
DOCUMENT
The
Romanian-Hungarian Basic Treaty
The
Romanian-Ukrainean Basic Treaty
Renate
Weber
Three
Ethnic Minorities and Their Demands: the Romanians of Ukraine, the Hungarians of Romania, the Gagauzians of Moldavia
Apart
from being a comparative study of the demands themselves, the contribution
analyses the differences arising in their interpretation according to
whether one is their petitioner or their would-be-granter.
FACES OF EUROPE
Fred
Urban
The
Concept of Nation in France
“For
all to be equal, all have to speak the same language” has been France’s guiding
principle through history. It is only now, while comparing herself to the other
EU states, that France has started reluctantly to accept compromise from this
principle, though not clearly stated in a legal form.
ECUMENICA
Bryan
Ronald Wilson
The
Hostility towards New Religious Movements
The
author argues that in the contemporary world, characterized by rapid changes of
all institutions, religion only is assigned an unchanging role and, hence, all
levels of society converge in manifesting intolerance and hostility towards any sects and new religious
movements.
ALTERA PARS
Claude Karnoouh
Logos without Ethos.
Interculturalism and Multiculturalism in Transylvania
Analysing
the present state of interculturalism and
multiculturalism in Transylvania, the author concludes that, in the postcomunist coutries — like
everywhere else in the Western world —, late modernity displays multiculturality and interculturality as its ideology while actually marching steadily towards globalization or, to
say it bluntly, world uniformization.
REVIEWS
Minorities
Romania and Its Minorities