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The article deals with the question of who is to be represented within the institutions of modern representative democracy and systemizes the answers on the basis of fundamental approaches in political theory which address this problem. The exploration is contextualized within recent debates on transnational democracy, where the issue of political representation acquires renewed relevance. The article first outlines the liberal theory of representation, identified primarily as having an individualistic nature although it does incorporate certain elements of group representation in the setting of the modern state. Subsequently, the article explores the conservative and communitarian theory of representation, which builds upon the notions of representation of collectivities as morally relevant subjects endowed with distinct interests of their own. Finally, it covers the radical democratic theory of representation, which emphasizes chiefly the themes of acknowledging group difference and the necessity of recognizing the claims of disadvantaged groups in the area of political representation. The article concludes by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the respective approaches with regard to democratic functioning on the transnational level. Adapted from the source document.

The article focuses on an analysis of the professions of Czech deputies in the interwar period and in the period after 1989. Based on the theoretical framework of representation we assume that voting decisions are influenced not only by party electoral programs, but also by the individual characteristics of candidates. Candidate professions may indicate whether they are considered to be sufficiently qualified and whether they are considered to represent the interests of voters. The aim of the article is to analyse the differences between two historical periods and the differences among parliamentary parties. The analysis proved that the structure of professions of parliamentary representatives changed dramatically over time. The professions of representatives in the interwar period tended to resemble the professions of their core voters, and hence were rather different across political parties. In contrast, the professions of parliamentary representatives elected on the party list of different parties became rather similar after 1989. A clear tendency towards the emergence of professional politicians can be observed. A descriptive type of representation is on the decline. ; The article focuses on an analysis of the professions of Czech deputies in the interwar period and in the period after 1989. Based on the theoretical framework of representation we assume that voting decisions are influenced not only by party electoral programs, but also by the individual characteristics of candidates. Candidate professions may indicate whether they are considered to be sufficiently qualified and whether they are considered to represent the interests of voters. The aim of the article is to analyse the differences between two historical periods and the differences among parliamentary parties. The analysis proved that the structure of professions of parliamentary representatives changed dramatically over time. The professions of representatives in the interwar period tended to resemble the professions of their core voters, and ...

This paper maps and compares the main topics articulated by political parties in their manifestos published for the Slovak parliamentary elections in 2010 and 2012. First, the paper discusses the conceptual grounds of policy space dynamics. Next, it outlines the method used for the research, based upon quantitative content analysis of the parties' manifestos of the Comparative Manifestos Project Group. Relevance of individual issues is measured by their representation in manifestos. The paper also examines the change in parties' priorities for the 2012 election compared to the election of 2010. With the help of an additional methodology tool, the parties under review are then put along a left-right spectrum. Using this technique, the policy space during the period of both elections is examined. Simultaneously, party shifts along the left-right spectrum that emerged from the obtained data are presented. The final section of the article exposes the descriptive results to the theoretical assumptions about policy space dynamics presented in the beginning. Adapted from the source document.

The article aims to analyze representational practices which relied upon a series of relations that helped to legitimate U.S. foreign policy towards revolutionary Cuba in the years 1959-1960. Thinking of the U.S.-Cuban relations in terms of representational practices, the study deals with the representations of Cuba and explores how they were connected with certain strategies of political legitimization in the U.S. discourse. This attitude highlights an aspect of power as a producer of meanings, subject identities, their relationships and a range of imaginable conduct. For that matter, the analysis endorses the representational practices used to depict "the other" as a basis for conceptualization of the strategies. Adapted from the source document.

The article is concerned with analysis of independence of central banks of the EU Member States within the framework of the ESCB, as well as independence & responsibility of the ECB, & suggests an alternative institutional embodiment of its position, reflecting the specific framework of the EMU. The system of selection of members of the ECB's Executive Board blurs a real collective responsibility towards Member States, which opens possibilities for nontransparent lobbyism. Modified system is suggested so that national banks governors have a symbolic relationship to the political representation, i.e. that they reflect a national economic policy in some way, without being bound & restricted by its formation whatsoever. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

The article explores several reasons why women in Czech politics are underrepresented not only relative to their overall share in the society but also relative to their presence at lower levels of politics. The article tests two principal hypotheses using data from both a unique post-electoral public opinion survey carried out in the Olomouc region in 2010, and from official electoral statistics. First, it concentrates on the structural barriers of female underrepresentation presented by the candidate nomination and selection processes of the political parties. Second, it explores the possibility that more flexible candidate lists are beneficial for female representation. We compare the proportions of preference votes received by women both prior to and after electoral reforms in 2010, which for the first time gave voters the possibility to cast four preference votes and thus made the list structures more flexible. The research design includes both OLS and logistic regression models, which specify the empirical relationships derived from previous theoretical debates. The results suggest that Czech women are heavily disadvantaged by the Czech parties' candidate selection mechanisms, and also that we do not have enough evidence to conclude that flexible lists are more conducive to higher female representation. The article concludes by considering various institutional means of reducing female political underrepresentation, including the introduction of electoral gender quotas. Adapted from the source document.

The inadequate representation of women at various levels of politics is a much discussed topic among politicians and the public. Socio-economic, institutional and cultural factors are often perceived as the main reasons which influence the supply and demand sides of political competition. In Czech local politics, the situation seems to be more propitious. The proportion of women in municipal assemblies is significantly higher, which brings us to the question of the influence of traditional barriers to women's decisions to enter politics. On the basis of quantitative research among representatives of municipalities of up to three thousand inhabitants in the Moravian-Silesian Region, we conclude that the defined barriers are present; however, their influence on the decision of women to enter politics is weakening. Adapted from the source document.

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 article explores the influence of the electoral polls on media coverage of political actors during election campaigns. Based on the presumptions of the structural media bias theory we investigate whether the polls can affect the way media report on particular political actors in the course of an electoral campaign. According to Zaller's media politics theory journalists are supposed to pay most attention to the candidate or political party leading in the polls. Also, the tone of media coverage of the leading candidate should be linked with his/her success in the race. This article adjusts the hypotheses of media politics to the condition of proportional party representation. The aim is to explore how media coverage of the non-parliamentary party Veci verejne related to its position in the polls and its anticipated importance for future development after the election. Adapted from the source document.

The article deals with concepts of the empirical threshold of representation as proposed by Rein Taagepera & the real threshold as proposed by Tomas Lebeda. Both empirical & real thresholds are operational methods of the actual threshold. The empirical threshold indicates the actual share of the vote which a party needs to have a fifty-fifty chance of gaining a seat. The real threshold indicates the minimal actual share of the vote which a party needs to gain representation. The author of the paper argues that real thresholds serve as an illustration of a hypothetical rather than a real situation & they do not always occur between the upper & the lower thresholds. The second part of the paper analyzes the original & the current electoral systems for the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament. While under the current electoral system a party with 6.15 per cent of the vote has a fifty-fifty chance of winning a seat within a district, the share was 4.36 per cent of the vote within the original electoral system. On the other hand, the national empirical threshold is lower under the current electoral system. This is caused by relatively large districts of the original system which are more hospitable to small parties at the district level, but not necessarily from the national perspective. Adapted from the source document.

This article presents a possible solution to the problem of the fall of the public in the political thought of Hannah Arendt & Jurgen Habermas. Arendt presents the public as the action of equal people discussing among themselves. Habermas sees it as the discussion of equal people too, but on the pages of newspapers or on radio waves. Both thinkers warn against the fall of the public & propose how to restore it. Arendt considers a system of councils to be a solution, whereas Habermas talks about the institutionalization of corresponding procedures of communication as a new form of the public. This article tries to put these solutions together. It applies Arendt's ideas to the communal or municipal level & those of Habermas to the national level, both in the context of the Czech Republic. One significant difference between a council system & the Czech political communal system is the recall of representatives. Recall can make representatives more responsible to citizens & citizens more engaged in politics so that they become the public, both at the communal & national level. Adapted from the source document.

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.

A pre-election analysis is going to describe the role of self-candidates in the 2006 Czech parliamentary election. The article is focused on the basic characteristics of ballots. The various ballots are compared from different views -- the number of candidates, the demographic representation, the role of local political authorities, & the candidacy of former parliament members. Adapted from the source document.