Kamil Švec
Problémy demokracie v lokálním politickém prostoru
Problems of democracy in the local political arena
Petr Jüptner
Přímá volba starostů v evropské komparaci a české diskusi
Direct election of mayors in European comparison and Czech discussion
The aim of this article is to process the topic of extension of direct mayor election in the European comparison which creates a context for processing of development of the Czech political debate on the introduction of direct mayor election during the coalition government of Petr Nečas. Through content analysis of government documents are analysed three main issues: the proposed model of direct mayor election, a new position of mayors in the municipal order (local government system) as well as the possible impact of the proposed changes. Special attention is paid to the close relationship between the government proposal and Slovak model of direct elections.
Vratislav Havlík, Markéta Pitrová
Evropské komunální kanceláře jako nástroj prosazování zájmů německých obcí v Bruselu
European communal offices as a tool for promoting the interests of German municipalities in Brussels
The paper deals with the interest advocacy of German local authorities in the European Union and draws attention to this new research topic. The aim is to describe contact points in Brussels used by local structures to promote their interests and to evaluate their usage and validation. Special attention is paid to the European communal offices in Brussels which represent German communal entities. European Offices are presented as a potential useful contact point for cities and districts, which want to be informed about dealings in Brussels or to get into negotiation with EU officials. The paper discusses history and structure of these Offices, and analyses their daily practise in the European politics. Firstly, these issues are described in general and then concrete examples from Saxony are presented.
Sabina Ali, Filip Machart, Martin Kryšpín Vimmr
Negativní aspekty slučování municipalit: analýza akademické diskuze
Negative aspects of municipal amalgamation: an analysis of academic debate
This paper analyses negative aspects of municipal amalgamations in the european context. It focuses on two basic questions: What are risks of municipal amalgamations? Which negative consequences of municipal amalgamations are the most frequently mentioned in the academic discusion? Four european academic sources are analysed in this paper: two compilations edited by Paweł Swianiewicz (Consolidation or Fragmentation? The Size of Local Government in Central and Eastern Europe, 2002; Territorial Consolidation Reforms in Europe, 2010), academic journal Local Government Studies which studies problematics of local politics in general and academic journal Scandinavian Political Studies which focuses on different topics of politics in Scandinavia. The analysis of academic sources is limited by the time period from 2000 to 2012. During the research, there were created six categories of arguments against municipal amalgamations (based on basic categorization made by P. Swianiewicz). These categories cover these areas: Functionality of local community, institutional problems, access to local administration, voting behaviour, tensions in municipalities and economical problems. The way the arguments are distributed between different categories is discussed in the conclusion.
Michal Kubálek, Václav Bubeníček
Charakter lokální politiky v suburbánním politickém prostoru
The nature of local politics in the suburban political space
This paper presents the results of a case study of the local political environment of a specific smaller medium-sized municipality in the vicinity of Prague (Roztoky), i.e. a suburban area having the distinctive nature of a transforming social environment, primarily in relation to developer construction and subsequent increasing population coming mainly from the capital city. The study deals with the relevance of the question of the changing social environment on the local political process. The research is particularly focused on the issue of changes in the nature of local politics, local cleavages, the process of forming coalitions, voting behaviour and the format of the party system and reflection on whether the effects of social and demographic changes in some of the examined aspects can be confirmed.
Pavel Šaradín
Reformy územní samosprávy. Pohled obecních a krajských zastupitelů
Local government reforms. The perspective of municipal and regional representatives
The goal of the text is to show in what manner the selected reforms in the area of local and regional politics are perceived by the representatives of both levels of the territorial authorities. Several questionnaires were carried out in the Czech Republic, whose nature was to discover the opinions and attitudes of the local representatives, among other things regarding the administrative and territorial reforms. Simultaneously, at the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012, the first survey of regional representatives was carried out. The questions which were concerned with reforms were similar in both groups of representatives, which allows for their comparison. It can also be said that the main debates in the Czech Republic concentrate on the issues of the introduction of elements of direct democracy, or as the case may be, several reform measures such as changes in financing or the direct elections of mayors. In the proposals of the politicians, there is primarily a lack of solutions to the issue of the significant municipal disintegration.
Radek Kopřiva
Analytical possibilities of using preferential votes in researching voting behavior in municipal elections
In municipal policy research the issue of party systems is one of the core areas of interest. Mainly the variables that shape party systems are studied. In this context, in a number of case studies attention is devoted to local contextual factors which influence the decisions of voters in elections of municipal councils, and which are often used in the conclusions of such conceived works to interpret both personnel and party filling of positions in local politics. A smaller number of analytical works are based on the “reverse” (inductive) view. Their goal is usually to understand and explain the forms of behaviour (usually of voters) on the basis of available data (mostly election results). This second view is also used in a work whose results are published in this article. The work deals with preferential votes for candidates running for representative seats in the municipal elections. The key objective is to verify the applicability of this data to interpret voting behaviour and the fundamental nature of the local political process.
Ondřej Mocek, Petr Kaniok
Skupina Evropských konzervatistů a reformistů: svoboda vyměněna za vliv?
European Conservatives and Reformists Group: Freedom traded for influence?
This article is searching for the motivation of founding of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament. It focuses on the two most important actors – the Czech Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and the British Conservative Party (CONS). The effort of the parties mentioned to exclude themselves from the mainstream is explained using the rational choice institutionalism. The special attention is paid to the case of ODS and CONS leaving the European People Party-European Democrats, and establishing their own political group. The analysis emphasizes the maximizing of the freedom of speech at the costs of political influence. The core of the analysis is a quantitative comparison of indicators which are evaluating the behaviour of the MEPs in all relevant aspects of their activities. The time period observed in the article is the 6th term of the EP and 7th term till 28. 11. 2011.
Daša Smetanková
Minority policy during the period of nation-building, using Slovakia as an example. Comparison of the Roma and Hungarian minorities
Slovakia is the most ethnically heterogeneous central European country. Relations between majority and minorities influences not only its internal policy but also its international relations. This article is focused on the governmental policy towards national minorities in Slovakia after the creation of the independent Slovak republic. This period was very important and influenced by many factors, mainly by governments nation-building policies. Moreover the government was made from nation-populists parties. How these factors influenced policies towards minorities? Were these policies cooperational and similar to all minorities? This text works with the hypothesis that it was not, that the relation between government and national minorities were mainly conflicting.
Tomáš Renner
Konec terorismu ve Spolkové republice Německo v 90. letech 20. století: trvalá evropská výjimka?
The end of terrorism in the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1990s: a lasting European exception?
This article examines not only the last statement of the German far-left terrorist organization The Red Army Faction from spring 1998 but it goes all the way to the foundation of the most ruthless post-war terrorist organization in Europe. By analyzing their thoughts it tries to show origins of radical thinking in the German society after the Second World War.
Jan Záhořík
Oromská otázka v politice Rohu Afriky
The Oromo Question in the Politics of the Horn of Africa
The article aims to critically consider relevancy of ambitions of the Oromo diaspora in regard to potential independence of Oromia, which is one of the main goals of some of the liberation fronts including the Oromo Liberation Front. As I argue, there exist several barriers and obstacles to the Oromo nationalism to reach these heights. These include the lack of internal coherence within the Oromo nationalism, and absolute lack of any kind of international support to the Oromo question. The Oromo secessionism is compared to other more or less successful secessionist attempts in the Horn of Africa including Eritrea, Somaliland, and South Sudan.
Jitka Gelnarová
"We cannot say that we have universal suffrage if it applies only to men." The 1907 electoral reform in the discourse of the Czech movement/movements for women's suffrage
The electoral reform of 1907 for the Lower House of the Austrian parliament abolished the system of corporate representation rested on curiae and the “universal” male suffrage became henceforth equal. Not only was women’s suffrage not included into the reform, but also the rest of previously existing restricted women’s rights was cancelled by it. The article deals with the Czech women’s suffrage movement/s discourse/es on the electoral reform of 1907. It aims to trace how the reform, and especially the fact that it did not include the women’s suffrage, was perceived and presented by the representatives of the movement/s and how these representatives themselves understood and used the term “universal suffrage”. The analysis shows that we can trace two different discourses on the reform: whereas the discourse of the representatives of the civic and national socialist women’s movements on the reform was based on the critique of the fact that women’s suffrage was not included, this fact was perceived as secondary by the representatives of the social democratic women’s movement who presented the introduction of the women’s suffrage as a logical consequence of the introduction of the “universal” male suffrage.
Miroslav Novák
My memories of Professor Miloslav Petrusek (October 15, 1936 – August 19, 2012), co-founder of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, and its second dean
Kamil Švec
V. Congress of Czech Political Scientists
Lukáš Linek
Vliv volební účasti na zisky politických stran ve volbách do Poslanecké sněmovny
The Influence of the Voter Turnout on Election Results in the National Elections in the Czech Republic
This paper analyses the partisan effect of turnout in the national elections in the Czech Republic in 2006 and 2010. The study utilizes the conventional (compositional) model and two-step defection model as the frameworks for the analysis. The analysis uses individual level data. After introduction of the main individual-level research strategies, it uses three ways of analysing partisan effects of turnout based on Highton-Wolfinger (2001), McAllister-Mughan (1986) and �Pe�ttersena-Rose (2007). The results show that higher turnout is advantageous for the parties whose voters lack strong party identification (ČSSD, Green Party,Public Affairs). On the other hand, it brings lower gains to parties with disciplined electorate (especially ODS, but also KDU-ČSL and KSČM). Generally, the partisan effects are context dependent and the main drivers of it seem to be (1) social inequalities in turnout and party choice, and (2) the intensity of party identification.
Matěj Trávníček
Pokus o reformu volebního systému pro volby do PS PČR z let 2007 až 2009
An Attempt to Reform the Electoral System for Elections to the Chamber of Deputies from the Years 2007-2009
The article deals with an attempt of the second Mirek Topolánek's government to reform the electoral system for elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic. The first part is focused on the current electoral system. It presents it and examines its various components. The next section then briefly introduced the reform of the electoral system, which was rejected by the Constitutional Court in 2001 and sets out options and limits of the reforming the electoral system in Czech republic. After that, the alternative proposals for reform are very briefly introduced and finally the last part analyzes the final form of a failed attempt to reform. The emphasis is on the design of constituencies, the introduction of a bonus for the winner and the measurement of proportionality of the electoral system. In the conclusion are presented proposals to innovate if necessary of this attempt, so it can better meet firstly its objectives and secondly make that its individual components would be in better compliance.
Lenka Andrýsová
Teorie sociálního kapitálu ve výzkumu občanské společnosti
The Theory of Social Capital in the Civil Society Research
Social capital refers to ties, networks and norms in the society. The analysis of these elements helps us uncover the basis of the functioning of society. In the 1990’s Robert Putnam used this approach to analyse civil society and described the civic participation of citizen in the U.S. and he marked current weaknesses of the society, which decrease activity of citizens and shrinking their social networks. In this article I will summarize selected theoretical issues of social capital researched by foreign scientists. The aim is to bring this issue to Czech political scientists, who may use the research in the theory of social capital in their empirical studies of different countries. I will outline a development of the definition of social capital, especially in the context of the research into civil society. I will describe its types, preconditions for the growth of social capital and finally, methodology, which may be used in the research on social capital in civil society.
Michal Nový, Vlastimil Havlík
Vládnutí v Chorvatsku: Tuđmanova smrt jako impuls pro koaliční spolupráci?
Governance in Croatia: Tuđman's Death as an Impulse for Coalition Cooperation?
This article provides an insight into specifics of governance in Croatia from 1990 up to this day. Due to Tuđman´s era in the nineties, we can explore the differences between coalitions in the context of hybrid semipresidential regime and parliamentary democracy. Based on analysis of previous executive configurations, it tries to find the main patterns of party cooperation. In the light of Müller´s and Str?m´s extensive study, the article also deals with three dimensions which are instrumental to comparison of particular governments. It concerns the power of governments in legislative body, their durability and the mechanism of expiration.
William Gilles
The Financial Good Governance in Europe: What Possibilities for Local Authorities?
The financial good governance is a current and common topic for all local authorities in Europe, especially in a crisis context but not only. However, because European States rest on a variety of administrative organization and on a diversity of the conception of local autonomy, we cannot say that there is a common pattern of financial good governance for local authorities in Europe. Indeed, according to countries, local authorities can have more or less powers depending on the model of autonomy (fiscal, budget or management autonomy). If their margins of maneuvers can depend on the nature of resources that are allocated to them, real financial possibilities also exist for local authorities whatever the model is, since the financial good governance can be reinforced through the rationalization of local policies, thanks to the digital revolution and through the financial innovation.
Iréne Bouhadana
The Transformation of Local Governance through the Digital Revolution in Czech Republic
At the digital era, local authorities are especially concerned by the implementation of the e-government. Indeed, a new conception of the running of public services has been elaborated since the digitalization is not only a computerization of the administration. Besides, this transformation occurs in public administrations not only at State level but at local level as well. In this context, local authorities are directly concerned by this wide transformation of public services. It means that implementing e-services at local level leads a new conception of the local good governance. This process has been analyzed in Czech Republic where it was necessary to realize a restructuration of some state department to implement changes issued by digitalization. Moreover because public services are decentralized, Czech local authorities are responsible for defining strategies and policies within their spheres of competences. Consequently, local authorities have henceforth a new responsibility due to the intervention of ICT in local governance.
Michel Perottino
„Občanské primárky“ Prezidentské primárky ve francouzské Socialistické straně
„Civil primaries“: Presidential primaries in the French Socialist Party
Martin Riegl
NYE, Joseph S.: Future of Power
Lukáš Novotný
COLLIER, Paul: Miliarda nejchudších. Proč se některým zemím nedaří a co s tím
