Diasporas and democratization in the post-communist world

If diaspora communities are socialized with democratic values in Western societies, they could be expected to be sympathetic to the democratization of their home countries. However, there is a high degree of variation in their behavior. Contrary to the predominant understanding in the literature that diasporas act in exclusively nationalist ways, this article argues that they do engage with the democratization of their home countries. Various challenges to the sovereignty of their homelands explain whether diasporas involve with procedural or liberal aspects of democratization. Drawing evidence from the activities of the Ukrainian, Serbian, Albanian and Armenian diasporas after the end of communism, I argue that unless diasporas are linked to home countries that enjoy both international legal and domestic sovereignty, they will involve only with procedural aspects of democratization. Diasporas filter international pressure to democratize post-communist societies by utilizing democratic procedures to advance unresolved nationalist goals

A crucial turning point: The council of Lviv 1946, its background and consequences

The Ukrainian Catholic Church, with its allegiance to Rome and distinctly Eastern dogma, traditions and language occupies a unique position, representing the bridge church between Orthodox East and Catholic West. The Ukrainian Catholic Church was not only instrumental in the development and retention of Ukrainian self-identity, but in the Vatican\u27s Ostpolitik of converting the East. As such, it was a threat to the political hegemony of the tsarist and later Soviet government and especially the religious hegemony of the Russian Orthodox Church. This dissertation studies the events leading up to the 1946 Synod of Lviv which liquidated the Ukrainian Catholic Church and incorporated it into the Russian Orthodox Church. It demonstrates that there was a very close similarity between the 1946 Sobor and the one held in 1839 which liquidated the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the part of Ukraine which was incorporated into the Russian Empire following the partitions of Poland. The thesis of this dissertation is that the liquidation of the Ukrainian Catholic Church was motivated by political as well as religious considerations. This was not a spontaneous event as the Soviets would lead us to believe, but was planned prior to the Soviet\u27s first occupation of Ukraine in 1939. It is shown that the Sobor which liquidated the Church was invalid and illegal according to the canonical laws of both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. This is the first detailed study of the complete original documents of the liquidation Sobor, Diannia Soboru Hreko-Katolyc\u27koi cerkvy 8-10 bereznia 1946 u Lvovi (proceedings of the Council of the Greek-Catholic Church of March 8-10, 1946 in Lviv) (published in Ukrainian). Many of these documents have never been translated into the English language. The ramifications of the decision to liquidate the Ukrainian Catholic Church are analyzed from the point of view of the parties involved: the Soviet Government, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Vatican and the Ukrainian Catholic Church. The thesis concludes with a description of the Church\u27s attempts at survival and a study of the latest efforts at legalization of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the new Church of the Catacombs

MIGRATION TO METROPOLITAN AND NONMETROPOLITAN AREAS IN THE SUNBELT, 1975 TO 1977

Two demographic trends have received considerable attention in United States migration literature during the 1970\u27s: migration to the Sunbelt and migration to nonmetropolitan areas. Previous research has documented both streams in terms of numbers and characteristics of the migrants, producing evidence of both the growth of the Sunbelt and a revival of population growth in nonmetropolitan America. The literature suggests that metropolitan to nonmetropolitan migration is a nationwide trend, occurring at the expense of metropolitan areas. This dissertation examines migration in the Sunbelt region of the United States between 1975 and 1977 to determine whether and to what extent it is part of the recent nonmetropolitan renaissance movement in America. While it is commonly believed that migration occurs at the expense of metropolitan areas, evidence from the Sunbelt suggests otherwise. The following hypothesis was posed: Regardless of the type of area of origin, migrants to and within the Sunbelt are more likely to relocate in metropolitan rather than in nonmetropolitan areas. Further questions dealt with the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of both migrants and nonmigrants residing in the Sunbelt and the effect of migration on receiving areas. Tapes from the Current Population Survey of March 1977 provided the data base for this study. A total of 57,283 Sunbelt residents were described in terms of their geographic, demographic, socioeconomic and migration status. The analysis demonstrated that most migration to the Sunbelt was not occurring at the expense of metropolitan areas. Regardless of the area of origin, the majority of migrants to the Sunbelt had indeed chosen metropolitan, especially suburban, destinations. Younger, less decentralized Sunbelt metropolitan areas were still experiencing growth at a time when older Northern metropolitan areas were characterized by movement beyond the suburbs. Moreover, most traditional migration generalizations held for this sample of migrants, with the exception that migration to the Sunbelt appeared to be dominated by married couples. Future research should focus on the stability of these migration trends in the 1980\u27s