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Traditionally, political rights are an important component of the relationship between the state and its citizens, and therefore only citizens are entitled to bear them. Nevertheless, due to international migration this approach is subject to change and nowadays many countries give voting rights also to foreigners who are resident there. The attitude of the Czech Republic has so far been conservative, which means that only the minimum standard enacted by European law is accommodated. However, preparatory work on a new electoral code has given rise to a discussion on the possible extension of voting rights also to foreigners from third countries resident in the country. This article tries to enhance the discussion in three ways. The first part consists of an analysis of what the potential percentage of foreign voters is, taking into consideration their geographic distribution in particular municipalities and thus providing an estimate of their influence on local councils. According to the results, potential foreign voters form a relevant minority only in 11 out of 6251 municipalities. The second part is focused on the actual exercise of voting rights by European citizens resident in the Czech Republic, who have it already. A representative survey conducted on a sample of 5% of municipalities shows that the turnout of these voters is negligible (approx. 2.4%), far below the EU average. The last part of the article deals with the legislation in this area which causes crucial obstacles to the real exercise of political rights by foreigners, and therefore is incompatible with the European law. Adapted from the source document.

New President of Romania Traian Băsescu is strong-willed to fight corruption which is a potential threat of national security. Fighting corruption, Băsescu and new government must smash through the shield of interposed persons. Such persons are covering "white collars" that are top-ranking businessmen or privatizers close to political parties. That is why new government and new President want to modify existing penal code and to widen criminal liability of involved persons and organized groups. Today's politically motley Parliament wouldn't be able to adopt such legal measures. In this case, President Băsescu, enjoying wide currency and making use of his accumulated electoral capital, will manifestly be leading the country to anticipated elections. By such a step he would provide current main coalition political parties (PD and PNL) with a comfortable majority in Parliament and with an appropriate milieu for adopting new penal code.

This book brings a new perspective of the United States, which arose from the necessity to overcome both uncritically admiring as well as uncritically condemning approaches. This new approach is based on a deeper understanding of the inner diversity, contradictions and quarrels within American politics and society. This offers unexpected possibilities of transatlantic cooperation in new areas and enriches the public debate about the course of the Czech Republic. It is necessary to awaken from the American dream to be able to clearly see the United States as important inspiration, whether positive or negative. In addition, the book aims to point out possibilities offered by the renaissance of territorial studies as an approach to examining the world around us, which is able to combine historical, political, economic, social and cultural approaches when answering serious and complex questions. This knowledge in different territorial contexts can significantly help us in making our own choices, both those made on a daily basis as well as the important and critical ones

The goal of this contribution is to evaluate the relevance of the institutional factors and the influence of the single variables on the corruption. The key task is to find not only suitable indicator of the amount of corruption but also suitable approximants of institutional characteristics, else economical characteristics. The important advantage of this article is its focus also on the corruption measured by alternative ways, compared to the often used CPI. From the institutional characteristic view for the corruption fight seems to be important stable legal background. Not less important is also the government stability and its accountability. In the contradiction with the expected hypotheses claiming the strong and resistant bureaucracy to be beneficial against the corruption fight, almost all executed analysis is based on the contra productivity of the bureaucracy independency on the corruption fight. It is also important to mention that the direct and indirect taxes vary with their influence on the corruption. ; Web of Science ; 60 ; 2 ; 186 ; 167

During both occasions of the 1st anniversary of the German Grand Coalition government CDU/CSU & SPD (2005/2006) & of the 10th anniversary of the Czech-German Declaration on reconciliation (1997) the author analysis the recent German foreign policy, especially the role of past burdens in the bilateral relations. Gradually, although they faced many complications, both a legal & political solution was found, & instilled, creating a prevision for, & to a certain degree institutionalizing "the culture of historical controversy." The rhetoric of historical guilt & responsibility slowly disappears in Germany's relationships to the states of Central & East Central Europe, it relates also to the reconciliation rituals. On the other hand the new German government (with the CDU-chancellorship) has accepted all declarations & treaties made by preceding governments, including those which deal with property issues between the F.R.G. & Poland/Czech Republics respectively. The main dash is not drawn between any single political camps; rather nowadays, it is drawn right across the German society & their political elites. Especially the topic of World War II & its victims has become a conventional subject & one of public historical memory. This appeared shortly after the new government was appointed into office, as well as the idea that the moral-historical dimension of the Czech-German, Polish-German (and any other neighbors to Germany) relations will not disappear, but instead achieve a new quality. Only the role of moderator will be given to the governments & to the political sphere. Parallel to the departure of the last generation of contemporaries, the theme will be changed, & there will be only one of many reference frameworks in German relations to its neighbor states & their societies. This will, however, not be a linear process: relapsing is not excluded & it will depend on the responsibility & maturity of the political elites as well as the quality of the Czech-German "community of interests" (including the constituting role of European Security & Energy policies), as to how they will be managed. Adapted from the source document.

Non-governmental organizations participate more than two decades on post-conflict reconstruction & peace-building. They participated on reconstruction of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Angola & Haiti. Existing experiences with post-conflict reconstruction shows that NGOs play a positive roles in the process. On the basis of analysis of post-conflict reconstruction in various countries the author thinks that the positive relationship between NGOs & governments by the post-conflict reconstruction & peace-building is weakening. Why after more than decade of successful evolution of relationship between NGOs & governments in the process of post-conflict reconstruction the skepticism about this relationship emerges? On the case study of post-conflict reconstruction of Afghanistan the possible answer will be offered. Adapted from the source document.

The main goals of the transformed military-political bloc in Burma are to create an "Asian democracy" in the country and to continue in its control of its economic and political life. For this purpose, it adopted a new constitution, organized general elections, and established the current national and state parliaments and the new government. The main pillars of its actual power are the office of the president, the parliaments, the army and the pro-government Union Solidarity and Development Party. Meanwhile, the democratic opposition movement is weak and fragmented. Also the ethnic minorities' movement is unable to create a common political platform on the national level. In this situation, it is hard to expect radical changes in the political development in Burma. The domination of the transformed military-political bloc will thus continue. Adapted from the source document.

This article attempts to portray basic aspects of Czech-Cambodian relations from the 16th century until the present day, 2006. It deals with the first reports of Czech missionaries in the 17th & 18th century as well as globetrotters, students, diplomats & specialists from the 19th & 20th century. Diplomatic relations between both countries were established in 1956. Mutual cooperation in the fields of economy, culture & education developed dynamically for the next 14 years, only to be violently interrupted by the Lon Nol's coup d'etat in 1970 followed by the genocidal regime of Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979. When the Cambodian United National Salvation Front assisted by Vietnamese troops overthrew Khmers Rouges, the communist government of Czechoslovakia & the leftist regime in Phnom Penh continued to maintain an active relationship. After the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989, mutual economic & trade cooperation fell considerably. Recently, Czechs & Cambodians try to reestablish these past ties of cooperation. The Czech program for developmental aid was favorably received by Cambodia & presently, future joint commercial projects are being discussed. Adapted from the source document.

On 2 January 2020, the Government of the Czech Republic submitted a bill to the Chamber of Deputies amending the Labor Code. The bill was sent to deputies as press 689/0 on 2 January 2020. The proposed amendment to the Labor Code was compiled by the Ministry of Labor and Social Aff airs of the Czech Republic, among other objectives, with the aim of achieving compliance with national legislation with EU regulations and case law. The proposed amendment to the Labor Code should explicitly regulate the conditions for the transfer of the employer's activities, and further specify the conditions for giving notice by an employee pursuant to Section 51a of the Labor Code when transferring rights and obligations from employment relationships. It is precisely in the issue of conditions for the transfer of the employer's activities that the current legal regulation has been repeatedly criticized due to insuffi cient use of EU legislation for the national legal regulation of the transfer of rights and obligations from labor relations.

The key argument of the presented text is the idea that the reform of the US security policy that started after 9/11; the US participation on counter-insurgency, stabilization and nation--building operations in Iraq and Afghanistan; and the big pressure on the domestic security structure led to a reorganization of the US security policy and a transformation of the domestic governance structures and practices according to the model of security governance. In an effort to defend the US against possible future terrorist attacks and formulate the robust counter-insurgency operation in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US Government started to create a new model of security policy organization and integrate diplomacy, development and defense instruments. While security policy used to have a clear chain of command, security governance is marked by a non-linear, horizontal, and networked policy coordination. Adapted from the source document.