Promotion of Democracy

Since the fall of the Taliban, Youth have emerged as an important political and economic force in Afghanistan. They are one of the most important demographic groups, with nearly two-third of the population being under the age of 25 years.

Political socialization has been an absolute failure in the new Hungarian democracy. Facts and figures from "Political Capital - Policy Research & Consulting Institute" in co-operation with Heinrich Böll Stiftung.

New forms of protest movements have made their entry into the political arena in recent years in India. This study revisits the recent history of new protest movements in India. It analyses their causes and actors, their dynamics and forms of action, and their supporters and critics.

As Turkey enters into a period of elections, Perspectives analyzes the strategies of main political actors and emphasizes the role of urban politics for the municipal elections in March 2014. The Democracy section is supported by two extensive articles on the foreign policy of Turkey and cultural politics of the Gezi Protests.

The protests sprang from Gezi Park, and spread throughout Turkey in a short period of time, mark a historical turning point for Turkish democracy. Accounts and analyses of Gezi Protests are limited for foreign readers. Therefore, for this extraordinary occasion, we introduce a special cover story on Gezi Park Protests in our 5th issue.

Publication Series on Democracy 31: The present study by Andrea Fleschenberg shows that in national and international debates about the transition process in Afghanistan women’s voices are seldom present, or taken into consideration.

It is almost a year ago that Syrian citizens, inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, courageously took to the streets in protest against the decades-long denial of their basic rights by the Assad regime. But Syria as a topic for research has long been marginalized in cultural, social, and political studies. This publication written by authors from the region wants to give new perspectives on Syria.

Publication Series on Europe 7: The EU debt crisis has clearly shown that the monetary union cannot be upheld without coordinated fiscal and economic policies. However, there is an additional hold-up, as further «top-down» integration driven by the political elites runs into growing opposition. Thus the debt crisis may easily trigger a crisis of EU legitimacy.

The quarterly periodical "Perspectives" strives to be a source of reference for civil society, decision makers, opinion leaders in- and outside of Turkey. The feature articles of this first issue deal with the historical background and recent developments concerning the “deep state” of the country.