People
Purger, Tibor
- PhD Candidate/Lecturer
- Phone: 848-932-1710
- Specialties:
Comparative Politics; International Relations; European Union; Media Politics; Minority Self-governance (Central Europe, Balkans)
- Bio:
I came to Washington as a White House correspondent at the outset of the Balkan Wars, and have worked for several American and Central European media houses (Radio Free Europe's Hungarian and South Slavic Service, Munich/Prague; Duna TV, Budapest; and Magyar Szó daily, Novi Sad).
I am a co-founder of the Press Freedom Foundation, a small NGO endeavoring to support independent journalism, especially in areas where there is heavy state interference in media operations.
Working at the Brookings Institution, I taught statistical computing to graduate students and led the statistical processing of data for nationwide research projects. In 1994, I established and, until 2009, directed Brookings's premier outreach vehicle (www.brookings.edu) that quickly became a major source of ideas for policymakers and the media.
Since 2010, I have been working at Rutgers as Director of the Libraries' Integrated Information Systems and Director of IT at the School of Social Work. Since 2014, I have been teaching at the Department of Political Science.
- Teaching:
[790:102] Introduction to International Relations (Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2017)
[790:345] Mass Media and U.S. Democracy (Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Summer and Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014)
Statistical Computing for the Social Sciences. Graduate courses at The Brookings Institution, Washington DC, using SAS (for minicomputers) and SPSS (for microcomputers)
- Publications:
Recent Guest Lectures
"The American Electoral System." Guest Lecture in the Political Science Masters Porgram, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary. November 16, 2020.
Recent Papers
"The Crisis of the American Political System" [In Serbian: "Kriza američkog političkog sistema"] Politikon, 2021(28) pp. 25-54. Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia.
"Efficacy or Pluralism: Conflict Between Depoliticization and Democratic Representation in Ethnic Politics" [In Serbian: "Efikasnost ili pluralizam: Sukob između depolitizacije i demokratske reprezentacije u etničkoj politici"] In Serbian. Politikon, 2020(21), pp. 81-96. Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia.
"The Distraction of the West?" [In Serbian: "Razaranje Zapada?"] In Serbian. Politikon, 2019(20) pp. 49-56. Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia.
"The End of the 'End of History,' or Just a Pause? Change of Administration or Regime? The American Presidential Elections of 2016" [In Serbian: "Kraj „kraja istorije“ – ili samo pauza? Promena vlasti ili režima: Američki predsednički izbori 2016"] Politikon, 2017(16) pp. 24-37. Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia.
"Political Consciousness on a Rollercoaster: Changing identities of National groups at the periphery of the European Union" [In Serbian: "Politički identitet na klackalici: Promene vladajućih vrednosti nacionalnih grupa na periferiji Evropske Unije"] Politikon, 2015(12), pp. 25 Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia.
"Revolution, Practice, Praxis – and Failure: The Political Philosophy of the Yugoslav Experiment with Self-management, 1948-1988" [In Serbian"Revolucija, praksa, Praxis – i raspad: Politička filozofija jugoslovenskog eksperimenta sa samoupravljanjem, 1948-1988"] Politikon, 2014(9). Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia. Pp. 30-60.
Books
"Forward or Backward? Attempts by American Social Movements to Probe the Limits of Representative Democracy" In: Questioning the State in the 21st century [In Hungarian: "Előre vagy hátra? Amerikai társadalmi mozgalmak próbálkozásai a képviseleti demokrácia korlátainak áthágására" In: A 21. századi államiság kérdőjelei] Budapest: János Kodolányi College, 2015.
The Empire Strikes Out. The Metamorphosis of a Humble Foreign Policy [In Hungarian: A Birodalom odavág: Egy jámbornak ígért külpolitika színeváltozása]. Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Former Yugoslavia: Forum Publishers. 2004. Pp. xxiii + 351. ISBN: 86-323-0597-2. LoC: E902 .P87 2004.
Conference Proceedings
"Identities on a Roller Coaster: Shifting Dominant Values of National Groups in New Member States and on the Periphery of the European Union" Conference on Europe, Nations, and Insecurity: Challenges to Identities. Organized by Vytautas Magnus University in cooperation with the Association for the Study of Nationalities. Kaunas, Lithuania, June 30-July 2, 2016.
"Party Carshers: Is Political Pluralism Possible in Ethnic Interest Representation? Examples from Serbia" Annual Convention of the Hungarian Political Science Association. Esztergom, June 17-18, 2016.
"(Re-)Constructed Identities: Transborder Allegiance of Unhappy Ethnic Groups on the Periphery of the European Union." Conference presentation at the 2016 World Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities. Columbia University, New York, April 14-16, 2016.
"Changing of Status, Consciousness, and Dominant Values of National Groups in the Balkans" In Serbian. Fifth International Conference on Values and Identity, Faculty of Law and Business Sudies, Novi Sad, Serbia, November 2015
"Identities on a Rollercoaster: Changing Political Identities of Minorities at the Balkan Periphery of the European Union" In Hungarian. Annual Convention of the Hungarian Political Science Association. Pécs, June 2015
"Autonomies and Parallel Societies: Vojvodina’s Experiments with Church, Ethnic, Territorial, and Cultural Autonomy." Conference presentation at the 2015 World Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities. Columbia University, New York, April 2015
"Ethnic Survival and Autonomy. Building Self-governance under Adverse Conditions: Kosovo, Romania, Serbia (and Ukraine). Nationalist Responses to Economic and Political Crises. Central European University and Association for the Study of Nationalities, Budapest, 2014
"Purge or Purchase Politics. American Endeavors to Go Overcome the Limits of Representative Democracy" Annual Convention of the Hungarian Political Science Association. Debrecen, 2014
"Struggle for, and against, Autonomy. A Comparative Study of Demands and Pushback." 19th World Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities, Columbia University, New York, 2014
"The Rationality of the Irrational: War and Emotions. Roger Petersen's Game Theoretic Approach to Foreign Intervention" Southeast European Foundation, Budapest, 2014
"Challenges in U.S. Higher Education" Southeast European Foundation, Budapest, 2013
"Interlocutors or Interlopers? Diaspora Activism in Home-country Politics" Southeast European Foundation, Budapest, 2012
"Ethnic Self-governance in Serbia. The First Two Years of the National Minority Councils" Association for the Study of Nationalities, 17th World Convention, Columbia University, New York, 2012
- Research:
My main research interest currently is the state of democracy, especially as affected by populist political practices. Are we in a new transitional era to "post-democracy"? What are the signs and potential consequences?
I am also interested in ethnic minorities struggling to gain or regain a modicum of self-governance. In the absence of international agreements (there are no useful foundational documents or guidelines by the UN, OSCE, or even the EU) on what minority rights should contain, each case is unique, but the fears/objections of majorities and the efforts of minorities are not.
