DOI: 10.64608/DIEIP.2026.1-2.1-12

Abstract

This paper examines Ibn Khaldūn’s theory of political power from a legal-theoretical perspective. Its central claim is that Ibn Khaldūn does not understand state authority merely as formal rule, institutional command, or coercive power, but as a historically changing social and normative structure grounded in ʿaṣabiyyah (social cohesion). The study shows how political authority first emerges from collective solidarity, then becomes stabilised through law, administration, taxation, and institutionalised coercion.

The paper pays particular attention to the legal significance of Ibn Khaldūn’s cyclical theory of dynastic rule. In this model, law and institutions do not simply express power, but also preserve, formalise, and eventually conceal its weakening social foundations. The decline of a dynasty therefore appears not only as a political or military process, but also as a crisis of legal and institutional legitimacy. Ibn Khaldūn’s thought thus offers a valuable framework for understanding the relation between authority, legality, social cohesion, and the exhaustion of political order.

Keywords: Ibn Khaldūn, Muqaddimah, aṣabiyyah, legitimacy, institutionalisation, dynastic decline, Arabic legal thought

DOI: 10.64608/DIEIP.2026.1-2.13-20

Orcid: 0000-0002-2287-0117

Abstract

The 21st century world is facing a lot of problems, which are worrying individually, and collectively there is no end in sight for these processes. Among these, one of the main problems is political capitalism, which Max Weber also dealt with and defined as economic profit-making, which is done with the help of political power. Some of the problems of our time are related to this, while other challenges are independent of this. Our age is characterized by depersonalization and an immeasurable desire to own material goods, the gap between the poor and the rich is growing, while wars are taking place in the world and we are also surviving a pandemic. Each challenge has economic aspects, causes and consequences

Keywords: political capitalism, human rights, globalization

ORCID: 0009-0006-2097-324X

DOI: 10.64608/DIEIP.2026.1-2.21-33.

Abstract

The Early Modern Age was marked by the raison d’état in various countries in Europe, like in France, England or the Dutch Republic. Despite of the prestigious titles like the ’Rex Christianissimus’ in case of the king of France, or the title ’Defensor fidei’ in the case of the king of England, these powers allied with the Ottomans (whose’ aim was to eliminate the Christianity) openly and unscrupulously against the Habsburgs. It was the period of the spread of the capitalism in a significant part of Europe, where the Medieval noble ideal was replaced by the bourgeoisie, the idea of chivalry by entrepreneurship, the communities by the idea of individualism, and the common good by individual interests. But not in the Spanish Empire. The House of Habsburg did everything to maintain the crusader ideal, to restore the unity of the Christianity. The coats of arms they had, the titles they used, the crowns they owned symbolized perfectly their coherent policy during the 16th and 17th century.

Keywords: Habsburg, Spanish Empire, State symbols, Raison d’état, Christian Universalism

DOI: 10.64608/DIEIP.2026.1-2.34-50

Abstract

This study examines the development opportunities of small settlements in Hungary and the role of municipal associations in ensuring their long-term viability, administrative capacity and public service provision. The research focuses on the limitations of the current Hungarian local government framework, particularly the inability of voluntary municipal associations and joint local government offices to adequately address depopulation, fragmentation and the increasing burden of public tasks in small settlements. The paper applies a dogmatic legal and comparative methodology, analysing Hungarian local government regulation alongside selected European models, including Austria, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and several Visegrád countries

The study demonstrates that in several European states mandatory or strongly institutionalised inter-municipal cooperation has become an effective instrument for maintaining administrative efficiency and preserving rural communities. In contrast, the Hungarian system remains largely fragmented due to the predominance of voluntary cooperation and the centralisation of public services following the reforms of the 2010s. The paper distinguishes between municipal associations, joint municipal offices and associated representative bodies, while highlighting the overlapping functions and structural inefficiencies of these institutions.

Based on the comparative analysis, the study proposes the establishment of a new mandatory association model through the integration of joint municipal offices and municipal associations into a single legal institution. The proposed structure would combine administrative and public service functions, reduce parallel operational costs, strengthen development capacity and improve the efficiency of local governance while preserving municipal autonomy and local identity. The study argues that mandatory cooperation, if accompanied by adequate legal guarantees and financing mechanisms, could contribute significantly to sustainable rural development, the retention of population in small settlements and the modernisation of Hungarian local government administration.

Keywords: small settlements; municipal associations; local self-government; mandatory association; rural development; public administration;

DOI: 10.64608/DIEIP.2026.1-2.51-62

Orcid: 0000-0002-2530-2254

Abstract

The aim of this article is to provide a systematic overview of a ‘persistent question’ of jurisprudence, namely the question of legal gaps. The first part of the article focuses on the conceptual issues of legal gaps, which includes, for example, distinguishing between different types of legal gaps and separating the concepts of legal gaps and hard cases from each other. The second part of the article examines the necessity of legal gaps. From the theories that deny the possibility of legal gaps, I focus on the legal positivism of Hans Kelsen and Ronald Dworkin’s theory of law as integrity. Hart’s version of legal positivism and legal realism are discussed as prominent theories that perceive legal gaps as necessary ‘evils’ of legal systems.

Keywords:  legal gaps, types of legal gaps, logical closure of the legal system, judicial discretion, hard cases, the open texture of law, statutory positivism, legal realism.