The 29th NISPAcee Annual Conference

The 29th NISPAcee Annual Conference, Ljubljana, Slovenia, October 21 - October 23, 2021

Excellent conference. I really enjoyed the papers, speakers, schedule and location and great staff!

D.B., United States, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

...relating to public administration and policy. Good opportunities for networking.

N.D., Georgia, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

Excellent participants, argument-driven discussions, impartial and supportive Chairs in the Working Group.

D.G., Republic of North Macedonia, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

...to detail and I really enjoyed the supportive and encouraging atmosphere there. Thank you!

R.B., Lithuania, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

...both in terms of academic quality and logistics, and also social events. It was a true joy.

E.Z., Bulgaria, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

...The special programmes were really excellent and we took home many varied experiences.

P.N., Hungary, 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2019, Prague

...Sessions were interesting, scholars were engaging and all the social events were amazing!

B.K., Kazakhstan, 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2018, Iasi

Excellent organization, excellent food. Compliments to the organizers, they did a wonderful job!

V.J., Netherlands, 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2018, Iasi

...I must say that the PhD pre-conference seminar was the most useful seminar of my life. Very well...

K.V., Czech Republic, 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2018, Iasi

... I would even argue that they are the very best - both in terms of scientific content and also entertainment…

P.W., Denmark, 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference 2018, Iasi

An opportunity to learn from other researchers and other countries' experiences on certain topics.

G.A.C., Hungary, 25th Conference 2017, Kazan

Very well organised, excellent programme and fruitful discussions.

M.M.S., Slovakia, 25th Conference 2017, Kazan

The NISPAcee conference remains a very interesting conference.

M.D.V., Netherlands, 25th Conference 2017, Kazan

Thank you for the opportunity to be there, and for the work of the organisers.

D.Z., Hungary, 24th Conference 2016, Zagreb

Well organized, as always. Excellent conference topic and paper selection.

M.S., Serbia, 23rd Conference 2015, Georgia

Perfect conference. Well organised. Very informative.

M.deV., Netherlands, 22nd Conference 2014, Hungary

Excellent conference. Congratulations!

S. C., United States, 20th Conference 2012, Republic of Macedonia

Thanks for organising the pre-conference activity. I benefited significantly!

R. U., Uzbekistan, 19th Conference, Varna 2011

Each information I got, was received perfectly in time!

L. S., Latvia, 21st Conference 2013, Serbia

The Conference was very academically fruitful!

M. K., Republic of Macedonia, 20th Conference 2012, Republic of Macedonia

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 Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program  

for the  29th NISPAcee Annual Conference
  Program Overview
WG4: Inter-regional and Cross-border Coop. & Dev. (Physical)
Author(s)  Astrid Hedin 
  Malmo University
Malmo  Sweden
 
 
 Title  Communist era travel screening as inverse veto structure
File   Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. 
Presenter  Astrid Hedin
Abstract  
  
The history of communist state travel controls is an essential context for contemporary citizens’ participation in inter-regional cooperation. How do travelers perceive their own role in relation to the state? Which expectations does the state have on individual autonomy in the context of international travel? These are important questions for international cooperation. However, to understand how historical experiences may affect today’s practices, we first need to know how travel administration worked during the communist era.
This paper maps the historical administrative structure of political screening of individuals who were permitted to travel abroad for work during the 1970s and 1980s in historical communist East Germany. Since the state administration in East Germany (the GDR) was modeled on the Soviet experience – and constructed under Soviet supervision – the case study of East German travel controls provides a vital exemplar for future research into the administrative systems of other communist states.
Notably, the East German state regarded all individuals who traveled for work – whether they were university researchers, opthamologists or industry specialists – as delegates of the state. The goal of rigorous political screening was to ensure that every individual would represent the communist state’s world view and politics while abroad. Arguably, this system had a substantial long-term impact on how individuals in other countries perceived the communist states (Hedin 2019).
The paper analyzes the architecture of the travel screening process with the help of veto theorizing, as a series of veto points manned by veto players (Ganghof 2011; Tsebelis 2011). This theoretical approach helps explain how communist state administration remained stable, in the sense that it failed to reform, despite substantial societal pressure for increased freedom of travel.