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The spatial polarisation of society is open to various research perspectives. It takes several forms and involves various epiphenomena. Consequently, it is the subject of research interest to scholars in various fi elds, especially sociologists, economists, regionalists, and regional geographers. The article focuses on selected aspects of peripherality and peripheral regions. The first part is devoted to the theoretical aspects of the polarisation of society, developmental interactions between the centre and the periphery, the relationship between peripherality and levels of hierarchy, peripherality and time, and the primary criteria of peripherality in inland and borderland regions. The second part applies theoretical-methodological findings to regions of Slovakia using selected quantitative methods. The author attempts to describe peripherality in multidimensional terms, and to identify the interconnections between various types of peripherality. Based on detailed statistical data on municipalities, he uses a broad range of indicators divided into four groups: human resources, economic potential, personal amenities, and access to centres. In conclusion the author identifies and categorises the peripheral regions of Slovakia and notes the existence of peripherality at regional and local levels.

The Caspian region is one from the most oil- and gas-rich regions in the world. The estimated oil and gas reserves are believed to be around 16 billion tons. The geological location of the most perspective oil and gas fields at the Caspian shelf determines the policy of littoral states concerning the legal status of the basin which has not been solved yet. Oil- and gas-rich Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have proposed the division of the Caspian Sea into five sectors according to terrestrial border points. The Russian Federation and Iran (without real oil and gas perspectives in their believed sectors) are opposing this attitude and are insisting on a common use of the Caspian Sea in condominium. As a matter of fact, the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons is going on, controlled by international oil and gas companies. The main technical problem to solve is the lack of transportation opportunities, as the construction of new pipelines from the region so as to access world markets is needed. Russia and Turkey are those most active in this question, followed by Georgia and Iran. The proposed oil pipelines through Russian or Georgian territories are to be terminated at Black Sea ports from where oil should be transported by supertankers, passing thus the Bosporus - Dardanelles Straits and in a case of accident then jeopardising 12 millions of inhabitants of Istanbul. Therefore and also from political reasons Turkey has proposed to build up a pipeline to Turkish Mediterranean oil terminal of Ceyhan. The Turkish position is backed by the USA looking for cutting of the Russian influence in the Caspian Region. Due to technical and political reasons, it seems the most probable that all of the three proposed routes for oil will be constructed in ten years, if the output of oil will be as high as it is expected today. (SOI : MO: S. 307)

Analysis of elections to the bodies of self-governing regions in the Slovak Republic Elections are an essential part of any democratic country. With the establishment of self-governing regions, the first elections to the bodies of higher territorial units took place in Slovakia in 2001. Through them, voters can influence decisions at the regional level and be fully involved in decision-making processes. Only through elections is it possible to ensure the full participation of the population in decision-making on regional policy, which is ensured by the second level of regional self-government. The aim of the article is to analyze the constitutional regulation of regional elections in the Slovak Republic, to analyze all regional elections held since 2001 with a focus on voters participation, causes of non-participation and certain specifics that result from individual elections. Last but not least, the aim is to assess the participation of independent candidates and their growing popularity among voters. URL: https://vsas.fvs.upjs.sk/

Research is focused on mapping opinions of Slovak citizens older than 18 years on the selection of judges in Slovakia. Research methodology is quantitative, research tool was a standardized questionnaire which had three questions concerning the selection of judges and others were demographic questions. The sample of respondents is representative of the Slovak Republic. The sample consisted of 1,028 respondents. Respondents were chosen by quota sampling. Sampling attributes were gender, age, education, nationality, size and region of residence (county) of residence. Fieldwork took place since 3rd to 10th April 2012.

Since 1992 Russia is on the way to reform and decentralizing ist government, which means the differentiation of power and property, between the state and society, the center and regions. The country was able to keep its area, but not a peaceful process of changes. Two extreme conflicts developed during the last period of time in this area, OSETIN-INGUSSIAN and CHECHENIAN conflicts, which grew up into an armed conflict, both were settled down, but no termination by peaceful political settlement was possible. The danger of a widespread violence is still a current emergency. All these events are occuring in the backgrouud of the massive political crisis, which developed in Moscow in the fall of 1993, and a later socieconomic crisis, causing a new wave of inflation aud destabilization of existing regime in August 1998. (SOI : MO: S. 63f.)

The survey covers the second month of quarantine measures after the first diagnosed case of COVID-19 in Slovakia on March 6 2020. A week before the fieldwork, the measure limiting movements between administrative regions (SK: okres) of Slovakia during Easter holidays – the most limiting quarantine measure so far - has been lifted. The survey monitors fears of the disease, the expected duration of the epidemic, agreement and compliance with the introduced quarantine measures, changes of behavior at times of the epidemic and the approval of restrictions introduced by the government limiting personal freedoms. Surveyed are also fears of loosing work, changes in the income situation and changes in leisure time activities and relations within households. The survey also includes questions from the Austrian Corona Panel Project which was fielded in the same time in Austria. This is the second survey from the "How are you, Slovakia?" survey series.

It is clear from political science literature that political parties are not static entities. Similar to other political institutions, they tend to transform with time, in response to changes in their surrounding environment. If the economic, social, cultural and political parameters in society are to substantially change, it is possible to deduce a change in the role of a political party and its organisational structure. The transition from totalitarian to democratic societies in Central, and partially in Eastern Europe, presents a process so unique that one may legitimately question if this has not resulted in a serious modification of the catch-all party type. In the region of Central Europe, Czechoslovakia - and after 1993 the Czech Republic - presents a special case, where during political and economic transformation next to general features, specific factors were also enforced, which eventually influenced the set-up and formation of parties in their early stages. It is left to consideration and further scrutiny to decide whether the unrepeatable environment of the Czech-Moravian melting pot, has not cultivated the clientelistic form of political party. Adapted from the source document.

The aim of the paper is to find out the degree of financial dependence of local and regional self-government from the state in Slovakia in years 2005-2016. Financial dependency will be analyzed for eight regional capital cities (local level) and eight self-governing regions (regional level). This type of research conveys a number of important results, it also provides the scope for analyzing and comparing the partial results of individual self-governing units and their average rates over a twelve-year period. Here is also an option to monitor the value development of the financial dependency of regional and local self-government budgets for the years 2005-2016. In the processing of this issue, we arose from a modified formula for calculation the financial independence. We determined the dependence of a selected sample of territorial self-governments on foreign/transfer revenues. They cannot directly affect the amount of these revenues. We have clearly presented the results in the tables and the graph on the basis of the analysis, comparison and synthesis of the obtained information. In the end, we have summarized the knowledge about the financial dependence of the territorial self-government in Slovakia in the time period under review.

The paper analyzes the far right People's Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) in 2006, 2010 and 2012 Slovak parliamentary elections. The main questions that the paper seeks to answer are 1) whether and how has the party changed its main themes during the periods before elections, 2) what the party's position toward the Roma minority has been, and 3) how the thematic adaptation has affected electoral results of the party. The paper analyzes the changing position of the party toward the Roma minority in the context of three electoral periods and it links the party's electoral results with the occurrence of so-called Roma settlements in the areas, where the party gained a significant share of the vote. We found that during the 2006 elections the party mostly emphasized the need for the renaissance of the (Slovak) nation and the reflection of its roots and national historical figures. In both the 2010 and 2012 elections the party for the most part sharply criticized the Roma minority and the mainstream political parties. We argue that this change was reflected in the party's electoral gain. Since 2010 the party has changed its focus to an active campaign against Roma and electoral results of the party have improved. In 2006 LSNS gained the most votes in areas where the local appeal of its leaders emphasizing the nationalistic themes was the largest and in both 2010 and 2012 the party gained the most votes in regions with the highest occurrence of Roma settlements. We also identified all four features that according to Mudde (2000) characterize far right parties in the electoral themes emphasized by LSNS. Adapted from the source document.