CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL SYSTEMS - Foundation Office North Macedonia
The main aim of writing this textbook derived, primarily, from the needs of the students attending lectures in Political Studies, Journalism Studies, as well as Public Relations Studies, organized as studies in the first cycle, including the students from the master studies in the field of Constitutional Law, and the master studies
in Political Sciences. In addition, this textbook corresponds with the curricula of the other faculties in the Republic of Macedonia, in relation to law sciences, journalism, public administration, public relations, as well as other similar academic areas. However, considering the goals of every higher education textbook, we believe that this work will be of practical use to all stakeholders outside the universities, who work with or are interested in the
issues related to the Constitutional Law and the political system.
The textbook Contemporary Political Systems comprises of a preface and two parts.The first part of the textbook is introductory and theoretical, exposing a detailed analysis of the nature of this scientific discipline, particularly in the area of the general terminology and categories that are part of the political system, for instance: what is politics, what is a political power, what is a system of organization of power, which are the elements of the legislative, the executive and the judicial powers etc. Furthermore, based on the exposed contents, there is an explication of the different classifications of the systems of organization of the state power, the types and subtypes of systems, the characteristics of the institutions functioning in the political systems (the parliament, the president, the government, the judiciary, etc.) the type of the authority they represent, the rights and responsibilities of the political institutions, the relations between the institutions, the issue of political responsibility etc.
The second part of the textbook is applicative and it provides a detailed overview of the constitutional and political system of the United Kingdom, as a monarchic state with the most consistently implemented parliamentary system of organization of the power, followed by the United States of America, as a state with the most consistently implemented presidential system of organization of the power, the Swiss Confederation, as a state with the most representative elements of the directorial system of organization of the power, as well as the Federal Republic of Germany, as a complex, federal state, with its rational parliamentarism as a type of mixed system of organization of the state power. Moreover, special focus in the textbook is given to the political system of the EU, as a special type of political system.
The introductory and theoretical insights into the systems and the applicative elements of the specific functioning of the political institutions in each of the analyzed states offer a detailed overview of the (in)efficiency, the (un)successfulness, and the results that each model of organization of the power has achieved in practice. The analyses of the specific positive and negative aspects of the way the political institutions function within the respective political systems wrap this scientific discipline into a whole.
The textbook Contemporary Political Systems has been written in consultation with the corresponding academic and scientific literature including the latest insights by referenced authors and scientific authorities.
The authors sincerely believe that this textbook will provide additional insights and will bring this complex and multi-layered study closer to all interested readers. Of course, besides the systematic approach and the apt comprehensive explications of each of the themes, this is still a complex and vast area that will be researched in the future, which will enable this work to grow and enrich its contents in the editions to come.