Former Fellows

The proposed research would focus on the interaction between Eastern Orthodox Christianity and liberal democracy as developed in Southeastern Europe (SEE) after the fall of communist regimes. The central thesis would defend that Eastern Orthodoxy has a potential to foster the process of democratization in SEE societies by requiring an inclusive and participative political framework that corresponds to its basic religious doctrines. In their public statements Orthodox Church leaders often emphasize values and principles common to both liberal democracy and Orthodoxy - personal liberty, equal justice, responsible and participatory government.

A critical assessment, however, renders a more nuanced picture. Eastern Orthodoxy has a long-lasting tradition of reverence towards the secular state and its leadership often in their non-democratic form. Against more progressive understanding of Orthodoxy, its rich historical heritage include periods of cohabitation with empires and modern nation-states which were keen in utilizing religion for their own limited and often illegitimate goals. From this interaction both Eastern Christianity and the secular statehood suffered significant damages in their internal logic. Persisting focus within Orthodoxy either on the concept of symphonia (connected to the imperial legacy), or to the ethno-cultural understanding of Eastern Orthodoxy (related to the nation-state building of 19th century) may hamper its progressive and transformative potential in South East Europe.

In line with recent studies on the public role of religion in society (Habermas, Taylor, Burger), the research will focus on the idea that the religion could be present in the public sphere and this could be beneficial to church, state and society. In more conceptual terms, Eastern Christianity is presented as universalistic and personalistic, rather than particularistic and ethno-nationalistic, thus emphasizing its hidden participatory potential. This central claim of the research is vital in the context of democratization and EU integration of the SEE region - Orthodox doctrines could enhance the values and principles of emerging democratic polities. 

Project Outline

The proposed research project aims at studying the particular reasons for the inefficiency of the constitutional and legal system in the Central and Eastern European countries. Its analytical framework encompasses the political and institutional experience driven from the process of social change in Bulgaria after 1989. It focuses on the challenges - social, political and legal - to the designed constitutional model in Bulgaria, on types of threats to that model and present safeguards for the constitutional supremacy. The degree of citizens' attention and attitude to the constitution is analysed as a litmus test for the level of democratic development and potential in the civil society.

The project examines the social preconditions for an effective constitutional and legal regulator in the post-communist societies, the latter having undertaken radical institutional reforms to meet the political and economic standards of the developed Western democracies. The study also critically investigates the connections of the present political elite in Bulgaria to the former communist party and the secret services and attempts to explore the ways these links might influence the process of institutional decisionmaking behind the institutionalised forms and means of the legislative process.