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EMPLOYMENT REHABILITATION DEVELOPMENTS, INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS AND RESEARCHES IN SLOVENIA FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES |
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Aleksandra Tabaj
Abstract
The purpose of an article is to present innovative solutions in the field of employment rehabilitation in Slovenia in last five years. The basis act for this field is Slovenian Act on Employment and Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (2004). All solutions described are nationally defined on the level of legislation, this is of highest importance.
Several innovative solutions occurred in Slovenia in the last five years:
- Assessment of disability, based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, and its outcomes in ordinary employment, sheltered employment, supported employment and social inclusion programmes
- Social inclusion programmes for persons with disability who are not able to work
- Employment centres-sheltered employment, as new form of employment, for severely disabled persons
- The beginning of supported employment
- New model of employment rehabilitation network, combining employment rehabilitation providers and services, with standards of services
- Main evaluations of the system, carried through Development centre of employment rehabilitation, are presented in the text.
Keywords: disabilities, evaluation, employment rehabilitation
M.Sc. Aleksandra Tabaj – head of Development Centre of Employment Rehabilitation at University Rehabilitation Institute Republic of Slovenia (
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)
Cite this article:
Tabaj Aleksandra. Employment Rehabilitation Developments, Innovative Solutions and Researches in Slovenia for Persons with Disabilities. Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences, vol.4, no.3:50-64, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.12959/issn.1855-0541.IIASS-2011-no3-art03
Digital Object Identifier(DOI): http://dx.doi.org/10.12959/issn.1855-0541.IIASS-2011-no3-art03
View full text in pdf: http://www.iiass.com/pdf/IIASS-2011-no3-art03.pdf |
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THE SIGNIFICANCE OF TRANSNATIONAL SOCIAL FIELDS AS A SOURCE OF EUROPEAN IDENTIFICATION |
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Tea Golob, Matej Makarovič
Abstract
The issue of European identity has been a topic of various political and academic discourses, which nonetheless narrate more about the functioning of particular institutions, integration projects or cultural politics on national or supranational levels, than the European identity itself. The article attempts to recognise, which factors influence the social processes enabling identifications with European space and who can participate in them. It is argued that the intensity of identifications on the European level depends significantly on the participation in European transnational social fields, where symbolic capital, embracing social and cultural capital, substantially influences the existence of European (transnational) habitus and accordingly the identifications. The most significant result of the analysisthus lies in the relationship between the structural properties in terms of what the people are and practices in terms of what they do within the (transnational) social fields and how are both related to the European identification. Applying binary logistic regression analyses to the survey data from all EU member states provides evidence that the practices within the transnational social fields do contribute to the European identification.
Keywords: European Union, European identification, transnational social fields, social practices
M.Sc., doctoral candidate at the School of Advanced Social Science, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
[Ph.D., Associate Professor at the School of Advanced Social Science, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
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STEERING INNOVATION AND CHANGE IN COMPLEX SOCIETIES |
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Borut Rončević, Nadja Damij
Abstract
What can a nation, region, locality or organisation do to adjust successfully to global challenges? There are indeed no clear-cut prescriptions for adjustment, as it is a highly demanding and complex process. Namely, successful adaptation to these challenges is taking place at different levels, which have to achieve sync in a process of ‘social becoming’. The outcome is a society which allows continuous innovations and strategic changes. In this paper we are analysing innovations and social change as a multidimensional process, in which we need to establish sync between macro, meso and micro levels. We offer social fields theory as a useful explanatory tool.
Keywords: societal change, innovations, complexity, steering, social fields
Borut Rončević, Ph.D., associate professor, School of Advanced Social Studies in Nova Gorica, Slovenia
Nadja Damij, Ph.D., associate professor, Faculty of Information Studies in Novo mesto, Slovenia.
Cite this article:
Rončević Borut, Damij Nadja. Steering Innovation and Change in Complex Societies. Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences, vol.4, no.3:5-25, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.12959/issn.1855-0541.IIASS-2011-no3-art01
Digital Object Identifier(DOI): http://dx.doi.org/10.12959/issn.1855-0541.IIASS-2011-no3-art01
View full text in pdf: http://www.iiass.com/pdf/IIASS-2011-no3-art01.pdf |
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HOW PAST REFORMS CHANGE THE FUTURE? LOCAL GOVERNANCE REFORMS AND THEIR IMPACT ON MAYOR'S ABILITY TO INFLUENCE THE MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT |
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Michaela Bátorová
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to track the historical development of local governance reforms in Slovakia (between years 1989 and 2009) and to reveal the consequences of these reforms on the perceived decision-making power of current Slovak Mayors to change the municipal development. As the decision-making power is a tool for performing a change, this paper clearly elaborates causal relation between the past state policies and its effects on the future municipal development from the municipal key actors’ point of view.
The research findings were obtained by employing a triangulation method. The data was collected by a study of official documents, and interviews with key actors. The in-depth interviews with open-ended questions were conducted in eight Slovak municipalities with mayors who had been in charge for at least two electoral periods.
The research provides interesting results – different data produces different outcome. The documentary analysis shows that the past institutional changes have strong positive influence on mayoral formal decision-making power, because his or her powers (rights) to change the municipal development have been extended. On the other hand, the content analysis of the interview transcripts shows that the opinions of the respondents are ambiguous. Only few interviewees believe that the past institutional reforms positively contributed to their ability to shape the future municipal development; while, the rest think that the past reforms have not influenced their decision-making power. This means that for majority of studied mayors the ability to influence the municipal development depends on other than institutional change factors.
Key words: institutional change, local governance reforms (decentralization, NPM, politico-administrative reforms) the Slovak local governments, mayoral decision-making power,
Early version of this article was presented at the 19th Annual NISPAcee Conference in Varna, Bulgaria, May 2011.
Michaela Bátorová is a PhD candidate at the School of Management, University of Tampere, Finland.
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SMER-SD AND FIDESZ: THE NATIONAL INTERESTS AND POPULISM IN THE 2010 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS |
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Peter Horváth, Jaroslav Mihálik
Abstract
The paper explores two major political parties, FIDESZ in Hungary and SMER-SD in Slovakia and their success in the latest parliamentary elections from the comparative perspective.
The year 2010 was known as the elections´ year in the region of Central Europe. Apart from the possible changes of the governing elites there is a specific pressure in the communication strategies to strengthen the national issues and questions related to common history of the former post-war period when the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy dissolved and new sovereign states were created. Thus, the central concepts are not to fight the economic crisis, to improve the social status of citizens, unemployment, but the protection of national interests, historical grievances and its violent removal through the prism of electoral populism. It seems that the political elites are moving backwards in time and do not reflect the real existing needs of the citizens they govern. Although both countries are members of the EU and NATO, elections in April and June 2010 do not create proper conditions for good relations between these two countries.
Key words: parliamentary elections, populism, nationalism, Fidesz, Smer – SD
Director of the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Trnava, Slovakia
Assistant lecturer at UCM Trnava; Ph.D. candidate at Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences at Commenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia
Cite this article:
Horváth Peter, Mihálik Jaroslav . SMER-SD and FIDESZ: The National Interests and Populism in the 2010 Parliamentary Elections. Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences, vol.4, no.2:44-61, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.12959/issn.1855-0541.IIASS-2011-no2-art02
Digital Object Identifier(DOI): http://dx.doi.org/10.12959/issn.1855-0541.IIASS-2011-no2-art02
View full text in pdf: http://www.iiass.com/pdf/IIASS-2011-no2-art02.pdf
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TERRITORIAL COMPETITIVENESS FACTORS – DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS' APPROACHES AND ACTUAL STATE IN SLOVAKIA |
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Tomas Šoltés
Abstract
The aim of the article is to present a comparative study of territorial competitiveness factors. The analysis is realized in the form of content analysis of relevant strategic and legal documents both at international level and the level of Slovakia. The article focuses on identifying the most common factors used to determine territorial competitiveness. Therefore, it establishes several major groups based on comparable factor characteristics, divides the factors of each of the analyzed documents into the established groups and compares the perception of competitiveness by various institutions and documents.
Keywords: Slovakia, territorial competitiveness, economic crisis, development
Cite this article:
Šoltés Tomas . Territorial competitiveness factors – different institutions' approaches and actual state in Slovakia. Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences, vol.4, no.2:62-87, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.12959/issn.1855-0541.IIASS-2011-no2-art03
Digital Object Identifier(DOI): http://dx.doi.org/10.12959/issn.1855-0541.IIASS-2011-no2-art03
View full text in pdf: http://www.iiass.com/pdf/IIASS-2011-no2-art03.pdf |
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IN SEARCH FOR AN OPTIMAL LEVEL OF DECENTRALIZATION IN ROMANIA |
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Cătălin Dumitrică
Abstract
Starting with year 1990 and until the present, the Romanian administrative system was subjected to continuous reform measures, which had as main objective to increase administrative efficiency and flexibility, recording a substantial increase of the autonomy and competences of the local public administration.
The important place that public administration occupies in our constitutional system derives from the consecration of the principle of separation and balance of powers, emphasizing both the defining traits of the state of law, and the type of democratic regime, the pluralism of the Romanian society and local autonomy.
PhD(c) Cătălin Dumitrică isTeaching assistant at National School of Political Studies and Public Administration, Faculty of Public Administration e-mail:
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Cite this article:
Dumitrică Cătălin. In search for an optimal level of decentralization in Romania. Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences, vol.4, no.1:6-44, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.12959/issn.1855-0541.IIASS-2011-no1-art01
Digital Object Identifier(DOI): http://dx.doi.org/10.12959/issn.1855-0541.IIASS-2011-no1-art01
View full text in pdf: http://www.iiass.com/pdf/IIASS-2011-no1-art01.pdf
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PUTTING ETHICAL ISSUES OF TOURISM INDUSTRY IN SOCIO/ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE, THE SLOVENIAN CASE OF GORIŠKA REGION |
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Tamara Besednjak Valič
Abstract
Solely economic view over the relation between costs and benefits of tourist industry nowadays no longer suffice. The author will made an attempt to put some of the most evident ethical issues with the emphasis on the size of the tourist facility in sociological perspective. In the paper we will aim towards enlightening the situation where claims state that more non-gambling related entertainment offer in casinos actually contribute towards more benefits than costs of gambling. Tentative conclusion show, that gambling related problems at younger generation of high school pupils do not seem to be directly connected with the size of gambling facilities and their offer in a region but they are based on other gambling games not conducted in casinos and gambling halls.
Key words Tourism, gambling, size of gambling facility, gambling problems.
Tamara Besednjak Valič, School of Advanced Social Studies in Nova Gorica, Slovenia, tamara.besednjak (at) fuds.si
Cite this article:
Valič Tamara Besednjak. Putting ethical issues of tourism industry in socio/economic perspective, the Slovenian case of Goriška region. Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences, vol.4, no.1:45-67, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.12959/issn.1855-0541.IIASS-2011-no1-art02
Digital Object Identifier(DOI): http://dx.doi.org/10.12959/issn.1855-0541.IIASS-2011-no1-art02
View full text in pdf: http://www.iiass.com/pdf/IIASS-2011-no1-art02.pdf |
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A LOOK AT THE STATE OF OPEN SOURCE USE IN SLOVENIA (FREEING SLOVENIAN ORGANIZATIONS) |
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Matej Mertik
Abstract
What does the world "freedom" mean to you? How can you achieve "freedom" for your organization in IT? Why is "freedom" so important? Where did it all began? How "free" is Slovenia in term s of IT "freedom"? These are the sort of questions we will try to tackle as we had already implemented some of the steps in introducing free libre open source software (FLOSS). However, have we done enough to stimulate the opportunities that the FLOSS technology has to offer?
Keywords: open source, free software, proprietary software, public administration, adoption
PhD. Matej Mertik, Faculty of information studies Novo mesto, Slovenia matej.mertik(at)gmail.com
Cite this article:
Mertik Matej. A look at the state of open source use in Slovenia
(Freeing Slovenian organizations). Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences, vol.4, no.1:68-75, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.12959/issn.1855-0541.IIASS-2011-no1-art03
Digital Object Identifier(DOI): http://dx.doi.org/10.12959/issn.1855-0541.IIASS-2011-no1-art03
View full text in pdf: http://www.iiass.com/pdf/IIASS-2011-no1-art03.pdf |
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INTERNATIONAL STATUS OF TIBET |
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Uroš Pinterič
Abstract:
Tibet represents one of the most controversial situations in world’s political situation. On one hand all objective criteria such as different conventions adopted by United Nations Organization (UN) shows violence of fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms. On the other hand international community does not react. In article we will discus a development of »Tibetan case« and potential reasons of such inactivity of international community, UN Organization and other reasons allowing Peoples Republic of China to violate basic principles accepted by international community represented in UN Organization. In the firs part of the article there is a short overview of Tibetan history. In the second part relations between Tibet and Peoples Republic of China are represented. In the last part there is an international dimension included. Hidden idea of this article is that international law is not enough powerful and that relations of power between states still prevail.
Key Words: Tibet, Peoples Republic of China, UN Organization, Human Rights, International community, International law
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IIASS -Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences is a trusted academic journal published 3 times yearly (January, May, September).
