Institute of International Relations and Political Science

Institute of International Relations and Political Science

Sukurta: 17 June 2019

tspmi10 Vokiečių, LT-01130 Vilnius
Tel. 251 4130
E-mail:
www http://www.tspmi.vu.lt

Director – Assoc. Prof. Dr Margarita Šešelgytė

 

STAFF

43 teachers (incl. 28 holding research degree), 2 research fellows (incl. 2 holding research degree), 16 doctoral students

DEPARTMENTS OF THE INSTITUTE

Department of Political Philosophy and History of Ideas
Department of Political Behaviour and Institutions
Department of International Relations
Centre of European Studies
Public Administration and Policy Analysis Centre

RESEARCH AREAS

Transformations of Lithuanian Political life: Theory and Practice
Development of the European Union after Lisbon Treaty
International Politics: Problems, Research Methods and Challenges for Lithuanian Foreign Policy

DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS MAINTAINED IN 2018

M. Skuodis. The Political Economy of European Financial Services Regulation: Explaining EU Banking Policy Stability and Change.
J. Ulinskaitė. The Conception of Representation of the Lithuanian Populist Parties and Its Relationship with Representative Democracy.

International conference When Reforms Do (Not) Happen: Labour Code Reform from the Perspective of Adaptive Leadership
National conference (annual conference of political science) Lithuanian Politics: Main Questions and Research (co-organizer Lithuanian Political Science Association)
International seminar Small States and the Changing Security Environment in Europe“ (co-organizer Institute of International Affairs, Centre for Small State Studies, University of Iceland)

BEST PRESENTATIONS MADE AT CONFERENCES ABROAD

R. Vilpišauskas. Strategies and approaches of international financial institutions towards Eastern Partnership countries, Annual conference of the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies, Cambridge.
D. Jakniūnaitė. Seeking Sovereignty in Abkhazia and South Ossetia: Manoeuvring Georgia, Russia, and the EU, 2018 ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops, Nicosia.
N. Arlauskaitė. The Still Is Not Enough: Re-Mediation of Photographic Archives in Post-Soviet Lithuanian Documentary, the NESC’2018 conference Media Tactics and Engagement, Amsterdam.
M. Jastramskis and V. Kuokštis. Turbulent elections, myopic (blind?) voting and the quality of electoral democracy in Central and Eastern Europe, the ECPR General Conference, Hamburg.
V. Nakrošis. Between politics and strategic planning: the management of government priorities in Lithuania, 2018 EGPA Conference, Lausanne.

MAIN SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2018

Collective monograph, edited by Mažvydas Jastramskis „Ar galime prognozuoti Seimo rinkimus? Trijų kūnų problema Lietuvos politikoje“ (Are the Seimas Elections Predictable? The Problem of Three Bodies in Lithuanian Politics). Vilnius: Vilniaus universiteto leidykla, 2018

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL BEHAVIOR AND INSTITUTIONS

10 Vokiečių, LT-01130 Vilnius
Tel. 2514130
E-mail:

Head – Prof. Dr. Ainė Ramonaitė

STAFF

Professor: Dr. A. Ramonaitė.
Associate professors: Dr. J. Dementavičius, Dr. L. Gudžinskas, Dr. M. Jastramskis, Dr. D. Šlekys, Dr. I. Vinogradnaitė.
Assistants: Dr. N. Maliukevičius, Dr. I. Petronytė – Urbonavičienė, Dr. L. Strupinskienė, Dr. J. Ulinskaitė
Junior assistants: J. Kavaliauskaitė.
Lecturer: V. Jurkonis.
Doctoral students: A. Dementavičienė, R. Garškaitė, P. Skirkevičius, L. Vervečkienė.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Party politics and electoral behaviour
Civil Society, political participation, political attitudes and political communication
Democracy, political institutions, comparative politics
Studies of the Soviet-era society, Sąjūdis, collective memory of post-Soviet society

DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

10 Vokiečių, LT-01130 Vilnius
Tel. 251 4130
E-mail:

Head – Prof. Dr. Dovilė Jakniūnaitė

STAFF

Professors: Dr. N. Arlauskaitė, Dr. T. Janeliūnas, Dr. D. Jakniūnaitė, Dr. R. Vilpišauskas, Dr. G. Vitkus.
Associate professors: Dr. K. Andrijauskas, Dr. V. Kuokštis, Dr. V. Sirutavičius, Dr. M. Šešelgytė, Dr. D. Šlekys.
Assistants: Dr. L. Jonavičius, Dr. I. Koreivaitė, Dr. V. Beržiūnas, Dr. E. Leonaitė, Dr. N. Maliukevičius, Dr. L. Strupinskienė.
Lecturers: G. Biržytė, V. Jurkonis.
Doctoral students: M. Antonovič, N. Bladaitė, I. Giedraitytė, J. Jachovič, A. Raginytė, I. Skurdauskaitė, A. Tumkevič, A. Žukauskas.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Analysis of global political processes, environment and structures
International relations; international law; international political economy; international institutions; the foreign policy of great powers; the changing nature of world power etc.
Area studies: Analysis of Russia, Europe (focusing on Eastern and Southern countries), Middle East; Eastern and Southern Asia; Latin America
Security and conflict studies
Analysis of Lithuanian foreign policy as well as its security policy

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY AND HISTORY OF IDEAS

10 Vokiečių, LT-01130 Vilnius
Tel. 2514130
E-mail:

Head – Prof. Dr. Alvydas Jokubaitis

STAFF

Professors: Dr. V. Davoliūtė, Dr. A. Jokubaitis.
Leading researcher: Dr. R. Lopata.
Associate professors: Dr. J. Dementavičius, Dr. A. Jankauskas, Dr. V. Sirutavičius, Dr. I. Vinogradnaitė.
Senior resarchers: Dr. N. Putinaitė.
Assistant: Dr. L. Jokubaitis.
Junior assistants: V. Bartininkas, J. Kavaliauskaitė, V. Mačkinis.
Affiliated researcher: Dr. K. Girnius.
Doctoral students: A. Dementavičienė, G. Karalius, G. Norkūnaitė, V. Rimaitė.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Politics and the self
Three strategies of accelerating political modernization: interwar period, Soviet years and the post-soviet era
Contradictions of modern political life
The relationship between democracy and republic

CENTRE OF EUROPEAN STUDIES

10 Vokiečių, LT-01130 Vilnius
Tel. 2514130
E-mail:

Head – Prof. Dr. Gediminas Vitkus

STAFF

Professors: Dr. R. Vilpišauskas, Dr. G. Vitkus.
Associate professors: Dr. L. Gudžinskas, Dr. V. Kuokštis.
Senior resarcher: Dr. N. Putinaitė.
Assistant: Dr. E. Leonaitė.
Junior assistant: R. Švedas.
Partnership professor: Dr. D. Kriaučiūnas.
Doctoral students: I. Giedraitytė, G. Karalius, L. Kojala.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

The topics related to contemporary Europe from its internal structure to its place in a wider World focusing on the European Union and its member states

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND POLICY ANALYSIS CENTRE

10 Vokiečių, LT-01130 Vilnius
Tel. 2514130
E-mail:

Head – Prof. Dr. Vitalis Nakrošis

STAFF

Professors: Dr. V. Nakrošis, Dr. R. Vilpišauskas.
Associate professors: Dr. E. Barcevičius, Dr. Ž. Martinaitis, Dr. V. Kuokštis, Dr. P. Ragauskas.
Assistants: Dr. I. Petronytė-Urbonavičienė.
Junior assistant: R. Švedas.
Junior assistants: L. Jurkonis, V. Pukinaitė.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Research in all areas of the discipline: public administration, public policy process and public policy analysis.

RESEARCH PROJECTS CARRIED OUT IN 2018

National Research Projects

Research Council of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Perception of War during the Interwar Period (1918–1940). (No. LIP – 001/2016). Prof. Dr. D. Šlekys. 2016–2018.

The aim of this project is to write and publish monograph about Lithuanian perception of war during the interwar period (1918–1940). The history of Lithuania it is clear that Lithuanians were a warring state. To prove the point it is enough to think about such historical moments like defence of Pilėnai, battle of Žalgiris, Wars of Independence and Resistance. The so-called heroic historical interpretation is a very good example of this narrative of belligerent nation. Therefore, this project aims to provide concise and clear picture of debate about the war in interwar Lithuania by analysing numerous articles in intellectual journals (Naujoji Romuva, Židinys, Varpas, Vairas) and major works of the influential thinkers and public figures of that time.

Research Council of Lithuania. Lithuanian National Election Study 2016 (LIP-023/2016). Prof. Dr. A. Ramonaitė. 2016–2018.

Lithuanian National Election Study 2016 is conducted by the team of the International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University and the Baltic Institute of Advanced Technologies. It will include a post-election survey with integrated CSES Module 5, a survey of the candidates to the Lithuanian parliament and a qualitative study of political attitudes and reception of strategic political communication.

Research Council of Lithuania. Soviet Life as Oral History: Challenges In Memory (Re)Construction (No. APP-10/2016). Assoc. Prof. Dr. I. Vinogradnaitė. 2016–2018.

The aim of the project is to develop theoretically and epistemologically justified guidelines for collecting, archiving and analysing ‘oral histories’ as a source of memory about Soviet life, and to collect new oral history data on the logic, experience and memory of Soviet social engineering projects. The objectives are (1) to develop theoretically and epistemologically adequate methodology of oral history on Soviet times, where “adequacy” means that methodological tools take into account the challenges of reconstructing memory of life in Soviet regime; (2) to conduct interviews with direct witnesses and survivors of Soviet regime (especially its early stages in the Baltic states) in order to preserve currently available information which is on the brink of disappearance, and to prepare this material for secondary analysis; (3) to analyse the interviews (their contents, structure, the process of interviewing, the process of the analysis of interviews) with an aim to identify social mechanisms and memory regimes which have to be taken into account in collecting and archiving ‘oral history’ as a source of information about Soviet life.

Research Council of Lithuania. Political Catholicism and Conservatism: (Trans)Formation of Tradition International Research Projects. (No. S–MOD 17–8). Assoc. Prof. Dr. J. Dementavičius. 2017–2019.

The main goal of this project is to analyse Lithuanian political Catholicism as a specific political ideology and to show its interrelation with contemporary conservatism. It is done by exploring its development since 19th century until present days and by researching its links with current trends in conservative ideology in Lithuania. Analysis will be done by using tools of hermeneutic interpretation, researching historical as well as contemporary trends in moderate right wing ideological worldviews. The main approach to this object will follow along the Oxford school of analysis of ideologies. One of the main features of it is attempt to research ideologies by studying their core ideas. But thick historical description can also help to link the most important right-wing representatives and their ideas with a wider European political context and intellectual debates.

Research Council of Lithuania. Voice of the Memory on the Screen: Poetics, History, and Politics. (No. S–MIP–17–39). Prof. Dr. N. Arlauskaitė. 2017–2019.

Three principal questions of the research may be formulated as follows: 1) How does the disembodied voice on the screen participate in producing and conveying personal and/or historical memory in relation to existing cinematic, cultural, and political conventions? 2) What kind of personal and historical memory speaks, to paraphrase Nabokov, through the multifariously invisible voice on the screen and by this – paradoxically – becomes present? 3) What viewing subjects are claimed by these narrative voice strategies?

Research Council of Lithuania (2014-2020 EU Investment in Lithuania). Developing Students’ Scientific Skills via Research Practice:

New Forms of Action of Small States in the EU: the Case of Lithuanian “Advocacy” for Ukraine. Prof. G. Vitkus, K. Šermukšnytė. 2018–2019.
Impact of Recommendations by the Sunset Commision on the Lithuanian Public Administration Policy in 1999-2016. Prof. V. Nakrošis, R. Bortkevičiūtė. 2017–2018.
Implementation of Military-Strategic Tasks by Tactical Unit of Lithuanian Armed Forces. Assoc. Prof. D. Šlekys, S. Vapsvaitė. 2017–2018.
Impact of Exchange Programmes on Personal Political Convictions. Assoc. Prof. V. Kuokštis, V. Gailiūtė. 2017–2018.

Research Council of Lithuania. Grybauskaite's Doctrine: Lithuanian Foreign Policy and the Role of President (No. S–LIP-18-46). Prof. T. Janeliūnas. 2018–2019.

The main task of the project is to conduct a study on the foreign policy of the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė. Grybauskaitė’s positions and personal principles affecting Lithuania’s foreign policy decisions during the period of 2009–2019 will be analysed. The study should assess the mutual relationship between the 'structural forces' of the international system, that create a pressure for a small state to be adaptive and reactive, on the one hand, and the ambitions of 'an agent' having personal positions and believes, on the other hand. This would be the first coherent study in the field of the Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) in Lithuania. The case study would help to assess the role of the President in the process of Lithuania’s foreign policymaking. The study focuses on the shifts in Grybauskaitė’s positions from 2009 to 2019, and these dynamics are illustrated by reviewing the most important events of the decade of Lithuania’s foreign policy.

International Research Projects

Horizon 2020. The EU and Eastern Partnership Countries: An Inside-Out Analysis and Strategic Assessment. Prof. R. Vilpišauskas. 2016–2019.

The main goal of the project is to investigate under what conditions the EU strategies and instruments for its Eastern neighbours can be more effective. This project will address two questions: first, why has the EU fallen short of creating peace, prosperity and stability in its Eastern neighbourhood? Second, what can be done to strengthen the EU transformative power in supporting political and economic change in the six Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries?

Erasmus +. Jean Monnet Networks: Enhancing Visibility of the Academic Dialogue on EU-Turkey Cooperation (VIADUCT). Assoc. Prof. K. Andrijauskas. 2017–2020.

VIADUCT’s general objective is to foster policy dialogue and to contribute in the exchange of views among academics and practitioners on recent developments in both the EU and Turkey. The aim is to improve and to enhance the teaching and research on this topic. VIADUCT’s target groups are academics, students and practitioners, civil society and general public. Core of the project are three VIADUCT Weeks each consisting of an Annual Conference, a Working Turkey/PhD seminar and an Informal Policy Debate.

Erasmus +. Jean Monnet Networks: Navigating in the Storm. Prof. R. Vilpišauskas, Assoc. Prof. V. Kuokštis. 2017–2020.

VIADUCT’s general objective is to foster policy dialogue and to contribute in the exchange of Baldur Thorhallsson, Professor of Political Science at the University of Iceland leads the project on behalf of the University of Iceland in cooperation with Pia Hansson, Director of the Institute of International Affairs and Tómas Joensen, Project Manager at the Centre for Small State Studies. During the next three years the ten higher education institutions will develop close cooperation in the field of small state studies. The grant will be used to host workshops, roundtables for young researchers, publish academic papers, policy recommendations, and at the end of the project an academic book

Erasmus +. Small States Winter School Small States in Europe: Towards a Cross-Disciplinary Approach. Assoc. Prof. M. Šešelgytė. 2016–2018.

The primary objective of this partnership is to create a pan-European consortium of experts in small state studies that will train young teachers and researchers from International Relations and Political Science as well as other disciplines, such as Economics, Business, Public Administration and Law, in applying insights from small state studies to their research and teaching. As part of this project the partners organized two summer academies in Reykjavík, and intensive study programs in Ljubljana and Vilnius. At the end of the project the consortium will develop four new and innovative inter-disciplinary curricula in small state studies based on four teaching and research themes (TRT’s). TRT 1: Small states: Foreign policy and economic security; TRT 2: Small states addressing the migration crisis; TRT 3: Small states in international law; TRT 4: Small states and the challenges of good governance.

COST activity. EU Foreign Policy Facing New Realities: Perceptions, Contestation, Communication and Relations. Prof. D. Jakniūnaitė. 2018–2022.

The main aim and objective of the Action is to improve our understanding of central properties of European Union foreign policy in times of major internal and external change and to develop strategies to help practitioners to make the EU more resilient. This Action addresses the following questions: How these new foreign policy realities could be conceptualized, how they impact on European views and practices and what can be recommended to the EU.

NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme. Small States and the New Security Environment (SSANSE). Assoc. Prof. M. Šešelgytė. 2017–2019.

The SSANSE project is a preparedness initiative examining the defence and foreign policy choices and challenges of small states in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Oceania in the new security environment. Small states make up half of the membership of the United Nations. Small states may be small in population and territory, but they have frequently had a disproportionate effect on global politics and they are more often affected by global shifts in power. SSANSE will extend theoretical debates on the role of small states in the changing international system as well as on the issue of how states manage their relations between the major powers in the new security environment.

MAIN R&D&I (RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION) PARTNERS

TransEuropean Policy Studies Association (TEPSA)
Institute of International Affairs and Centre for Small States Studies, University of Iceland (Iceland)
Freie Universität Berlin (Germany)
Leiden University (The Netherlands)
Public Policy and Management Institute (Lithuania)

OTHER SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES

Prof. N. Arlauskaitė –

Prof. D. Jakniūnaitė -

Prof. T. Janeliūnas -

Prof. A. Jokubaitis -

Prof. V. Nakrošis –

Prof. A. Ramonaitė –

Prof. R. Vilpišauskas –

Prof. G. Vitkus –

Assoc. Prof. L. Gudžinskas –

Assoc. Prof. A. Jankauskas –

Assoc. Prof. M. Šešelgytė –

MOST IMPORTANT NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AWARDS RECEIVED FOR R&D ACTIVITIES

V. Kuokštis received a prize as the winner of 2017 Young Scientists’ and Doctoral Students’ Research competition, organized by the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
A. Ramonaitė received Vilnius University Rector’s Prize for Research

MOST IMPORTANT PARTICIPATION CASES OF RESEARCHERS IN WORKING GROUPS OR COMMISSIONS SET UP BY STATE AUTHORITIES, STATE AND MUNICIPAL INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANISATIONS, AND BUSINESS ENTITIES

N. Arlauskaitė - member of the Film Indexing Commission
J. Dementavičius - member of the advisory group on the integrated Lithuanian education program
T. Janeliūnas - member of the Judicial Ethics and Discipline Commission
A. Jankauskas - member of the Working Group on the Preparation of the Programme for the Commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of Romualdas Ozolas
R. Vilpišauskas - member of the Commission for the Improvement of Public Administration (Sunset Commission)

CONSULTATIONS PROVIDED BY THE UNIT TO THE PUBLIC OR ECONOMIC ENTITIES

Newsletter ”I think!” (”Topicalities! What do you think?” until 2016) – materials for History, civic education, and geography teachers at secondary schools
Trainings for the Policy Monitoring Network ”Learn before you vote”
Consultations for the Meno Avilys, an NGO based in Vilnius, Lithuania, specializes in the area of film education and film preservation (for conducting research project ”Women in Film Industry”)

MOST IMPORTANT RESEARCH DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES

A cycle of disputes for the commemoration of the centenary Dangerous Ideas. Disputes in 2018: “Is a National Sentiment Dangerous”, “Can Lithuania Free Itself from the Shadow of Romantic Vytis”, “Are We Worth to Be Free?”, http://www.tspmi.vu.lt/naujienos/simtmecio-minejimui-skirtu-disputu-ciklas-pavojingos-mintys/
Comments of political events and phenomena for mass media (interviews, written comments, debates) – 42 researchers and PhD students made comments in 2018 (total number of comments (including repetitions) is appr. 5 000). The main topics were the functioning of Lithuanian party system and political institutions, forthcoming presidential elections, Russian foreign and domestic policy, American politics.
Podcasts Let’s Ask the Doctor (Klauskite daktaro) to present research results for a wider audience. 4 episodes were recorded in 2018 (on populism in contemporary democracies, on soviet oral history, on electoral systems and electoral predictions, and collective traumas and contemporary memory narratives). (https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/klausiame-daktaro-2/klausiame-daktaro)