New Approaches for Maintaining the Peace at Political Demonstrations : Communication and Dialogue as Important Strategic and Tactical Tools of Public Assembly Management

The unsustainability of the traditional, force – and coercion–based strategies and tactics used in public assembly management has been recognized in many European countries. This paradigm shift has been confirmed by the events that occurred in Kiev, in the period of November 2013 and January 2014. The improperly chosen public assembly management strategies and procedures applied during the Maidan square events have not only shook public order fundamentally, but also led to consequences which may hurt the state sovereignty and territorial integrity itself. The democratic rule of law, the pressure of the mass media — complete with the modern theories of social psychology developed in relation to the behaviour of the crowd — force giving up the practice previously used by the law enforcement organizations implementing public assembly management. As the first–line defender of the freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, European law enforcement organizations recently had to look for new methods, and had to organize their practice used in public assembly management along entirely new concepts. Backed up by the results of social science, the police strategies and tactics based on communication, dialogue, and facilitation gather ground in Europe more and more. In my study I would like to introduce these new principles used in public assembly management.