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The article discusses the concept of cleavages in the 21st century. Cleavages are understood as the criteria dividing members of a community or sub-community into groups. The application of the original Lipset & Rokkan cleavage theory on the current socio-political reality can be done only with difficulties, or at the price of considerable simplification (which is the consequence of the defreezing of party systems). Therefore on the basis of the work of Mair & Bartolini, the article looks for the criteria "that makes cleavage a cleavage." Furthermore, using the example of the digital divide concept, it is shown there are at present latent cleavages in society, but their "strength" & importance is dependent on their saliency (in connection with political actor behavior). This leads to the assumption that current cleavages are "dynamic" rather than "static.". Adapted from the source document.

The article attempts to interpret changes in the character of communication strategies applied in election competitions during the 20th century. The most important change seems to be shift from cleavage-based to issue-based communication in election campaigns. Such a shift can be interpreted as the result of modernization process (individualizing) & the growing rationality of both factions: voters tend to support specific political parties expecting certain benefits, whereas political parties tend to emphasize those issues which can satisfy voters' demand. Over time, particular issues can, on the basis of successfully executed policies, be "transferred" into the ownership of specific political parties. When the communicated issue is salient, the issue ownership can bring advantages in polling. This brings a new dimension to party competition: Now parties have to compete with other agenda setters for (issue) dominance in the public, media & political spheres. Adapted from the source document.

1. A Brief Historical Overview of Political Campaigning: Theories, Concepts and Approaches (Otto Eibl, Miloš Gregor) -- Part I. Baltic States -- 2. Characteristics of the Baltic States (Vít Hloušek) -- 3. Estonia (Marju Lauristin, Sten Hansson) -- 4. Latvia (Ieva Bērziņa) -- 5. Lithuania (Ingrida Unikaitė – Jakuntavičienė) -- 6. Summary for the Baltic States (Otto Eibl) -- Part II. Central Europe -- 7. Characteristics of the Central Europe (Lubomír Kopeček) -- 8. Czech Republic (Miloš Gregor) -- 9. Hungary (Gabriella Szabo, Balazs Kiss) -- 10. Poland (Wojciech Cwalina, Milena Drzewiecka) -- 11. Slovakia (Jozef Zagrapan) -- 12. Summary for Central Europe (Miloš Gregor) -- Part III. The Balkans -- 13. Characteristics of the Balkans (Věra Stojarová) -- 14. Albania (Afrim Krasniqi) -- 15. Bosnia and Herzegovina (Adnan Huskić) -- 16. Bulgaria (Ivanka Mavrodieva) -- 17. Croatia (Marija Grbeša, Berto Šalaj) -- 18. North Macedonia (Mirjana Maleska) -- 19. Romania (Ruxandra Boicu, Adriana Stefanel, Silvia Breanea) -- 20. Slovenia (Alenka Krašovec, Tomaž Deželan) -- 21. Serbia (Siniša Atlagić, Dušan Vučićević) -- 22. Summary for the Balkans (Miloš Gregor) -- Part IV. Eastern Europe -- 23. Characteristics of Eastern Europe (Jan Holzer) -- 24. Moldova (Igor Munteanu) -- 25. Ukraine (Larisa Doroshenko) -- 26. Russia (John Ishiyama) -- 27. Summary for Eastern Europe (Otto Eibl) -- Part V. Conclusion -- 28. Conclusion (Otto Eibl, Miloš Gregor)

The paper deals with the phenomenon of celebrity politics in the Czech Republic, particularly the involvement of celebrities in Czech politics between 1996 and 2013. The authors draw from the celebrity politics' typologies of Paul 't Hart and Karen Tindall, and John Street. Employing a content analysis of newspaper articles from the journals MF Dnes and Blesk during the periods preceding the elections of the Chamber of Deputies, the authors shed light on celebrity involvement in Czech politics. Specifically, they trace three categories mentioned in the media: the celebrity expression of political topics in general, celebrity political endorsement and the candidacy of celebrities. Building upon the collected data, the authors interpret the results within the political and social context of the parliamentary period and indicate more general patterns of celebrity involvement in Czech politics.

The aim of this paper is to analyze how political marketing was used and applied in the 2006 electoral campaign and how marketing influenced and changed party behaviour (even after the elections). Political marketing can be described as the use of marketing concepts and methods in politics. It allows us to analyze political parties from a new and different perspective. We focus mainly on the relevant political actors (who were successful in entering Parliament), with special attention to the campaign of the Social Democrats (ČSSD). The objectives of this paper are to analyze the electoral process as a changing and evolving activity and to answer the following questions: How did the party formulate its strategy and how did it use political communication? Second, how was the campaign organized? Third, what attitude do Czech political parties hold towards campaigning and elections and what changes may be expected in this area? Methodologically, we will approach the topic by introducing the Election Cycle Model. This is a heuristic model which examines elections, campaigning and governing as mutually influenced processes. We are aware that the model was tailor-made for the 2006 Czech Elections but it still offers a very solid framework for further analysis of party behaviour. ; The aim of this paper is to analyze how political marketing was used and applied in the 2006 electoral campaign and how marketing influenced and changed party behaviour (even after the elections). Political marketing can be described as the use of marketing concepts and methods in politics. It allows us to analyze political parties from a new and different perspective. We focus mainly on the relevant political actors (who were successful in entering Parliament), with special attention to the campaign of the Social Democrats (ČSSD). The objectives of this paper are to analyze the electoral process as a changing and evolving activity and to answer the following questions: How did the party formulate its strategy and how did it use political ...

The aim of this paper is to analyze how the political marketing was used and applied in the electoral campaign 2006 and how marketing influenced and changed the party's behaviour (even after the elections). Political marketing can be described as the use of marketing concepts and methods in politics. It allows us to analyze political parties from a new and different perspective. We focus mainly on the relevant political subjects (which successfully entered the Parliament) with a special accent on the campaign of Social Democrats (ČSSD). The objectives of this paper are to analyze the electoral process as changing and developing activity and answer following questions. How the party formulated their strategies and how they use political communication. Secondly, to review how the campaign was organized. Thirdly, what attitude does the Czech political parties towards campaigning and elections and what changes we can expect in this field? Methodologically, we will approach it by introducing the Election Cycle Model. It is a heuristic model and it examines elections, campaigning and governing as mutually influenced process. We are aware that the model was tailored for the Czech Elections 2006; anyway, it provides us with a very solid framework for further analysis of the party's behaviour.