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This article presents the initial results of a research project on the politics of local referendums in the Czech Republic, situating the Czech experience in the context of other Visegrad states. Data on Czech local referendums from 20002005 have been compiled from multiple sources -- local and national newspapers, data from municipal, district and regional authorities, interviews, and statistical indicators -- to ensure the completeness and comprehensiveness of the dataset. The article conceptualizes local referendums as the product of often arduous civic campaigns that, in the light of local political opposition, frequently fail to carry out the referendum. The study thus takes a referendum campaign's level of "success" as the dependent variable, and considers a range of demographic, political and civic factors as independent variables. Quantitative as well as case-study evidence is provided. The article finds that of the 114 local referendum campaigns that were initiated from 20002005, 82 referendums were ultimately held, of which about 48 were initiated by environmental NGOs or directly addressed environmental issues. The key variables determining the success of local referendum campaigns are municipal size, referendum theme, and the legal capacities and campaign strategies of the referendum initiators. In that regard, environmental NGOs have demonstrated a high level of organizational and political efficacy in comparison to other actors. Adapted from the source document.

The aim of the discussion paper is to assess the current state of Romanian−Hungarian relations in Transylvania, the causes of the problems and possible ways to improve interethnic links. The proposals include legal and non-legal solutions. From a Hungarian point of view, is not possible to circumvent the redesign of the dialogue; it is necessary to be able to explain why the goal is to achieve consociational democracy. In this context, it is also necessary to write a short programe document in Romanian outlining the ideal model of coexistence. The legal instrument for moving forward still seems to be the Minority Act provided for in the Constitution but never adopted. In this regard, Romania is in a situation of anti-constitutionality due to omission. Resolving the problem of language use in the judiciary is also a key issue. The establishment of training centres in Cluj-Napoca and Iași within the framework of the National Institute of Magistracy in the short term may be a step forward to tackle the under-representation in the judiciary, while consociational democracy is the solution in the long term for this issue as well. The topic of cultural autonomy, which already exists in certain elements, is also open and may lead to progress, and this must be resolved within the framework of the Minority Act.

The status of minorities is in the modern world generally considered to be one of the measures of consolidation of democracy. This text analyzes position of members of Italian and Hungarian minorities in Slovene political system and the rate of their political participation in the decision-making process. The first part of this study is based on the analysis of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia and other fundamental laws that determinate the position of autochthonous minorities in Slovenia. The second part subsequently deals with the real possibilities of minorities' representatives to influence political decisions and their ability to enforce their rights and claims both on the local and state level.

This paper examines the issue of ballot voting in elections with a focus on traditional and modern voting methods. The purpose is to provide policy analysis with a survey of the development of voting methods, from their earliest form up to contemporary democratic technologies. The study offers a systematic evaluation of the voting mechanism, especially the paper ballot, machine voting, punchcard voting, optical mark-sense voting and electronic voting. On the basis of case studies, their impact on electoral process and the accuracy of election results is evaluated, as well as their impact on the quality of democracy. The accent is put on voting procedures which are user-friendly and trustworthy at the same time.

A reply to Jan Keller (2007), Jaroslaw Kilias (2006), & Johann Arnason (2007) as critical reviewers of Machonin's Ceska spolecnost a sociologicke poznani. Problemy spolecenske transformace a modernizace od poloviny sedesatych let 20. stoleti do soucasnosti ([The Czech Society and Sociological Knowledge. Problems of Social Transformation and Modernization from the Mid 1960s to the Present] Prague: ISV, 2005). Keller's critique is found to be fed by his personal, 'hyperskeptical' & overly pessimistic, view of modernization. Kilias misreads the book in the context of his own theoretical-methodological conceptions. Arnason's criticism is discussed in more detail, addressing the following issues: (1) the variety & diversity of epistemological approaches in sociological research, (2) the liberal thought in classical Marxism & the notions of social liberalism & democratic socialism, (3) the theory of multiple modernities, & (4) the concept & term 'state socialism' & the question whether state socialism, as practiced in the Soviet bloc countries, qualifies as a special type of modernity.

In South America in the 1960s and 1970s the contradictions of economic, social and political structures were deepening. The excepcional states of the new militarism appeared on the continent. Formally these state systems were set up by the institutional takeover of the armed forces. The military governments strove for the total reorganization and modernization of the societies in their all ‒ economic, political and ideological ‒ territories.The break-down of the military dictatorships in South America, in the one of three semi-peripherical areas of the world, took place in the 1970s and 1980s and 1990s and it was followed by the restoration of the civil governing in the form of hybrid systems. All these processes constituted the parts of the democratization.However in those societies have been present the authoritarian enclaves and the so-called "powers that be" as well as the inherited non-elected system of institutions of the controlled democray endangering the democratic establishment.The study aims at analizing these processes, the governmental and the state structures and the Económic transformations on the ground of the Brazilian experiences.

This paper introduces an alternative concept of corruption. The cornerstone of the analysis is the model of secret transactions for profit, in which the actors give priority to informal particular norms over universal norms of democracy. Further, a model of corruption as a process is constructed. This model is applied to the social conditions as they have developed in the Czech Republic after 1989. Corruption seems to be a stable part of the social organization of the Czech society. It closely relates to the influence of pre-1989 networks, clientelism & nepotism. The combination of a weak official system (that should assert universal norms) & strong unofficial systems of community interests (that encourage corruption) builds a strong corruptogenic setting in the macrostructure. On the micro-level this outcome is fostered by the weak loyalty of nationals to the state & their tendency to distrust & resist the authorities. 5 Figures, 27 References. Adapted from the source document.