Suchergebnisse

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.

Drawing upon earlier work by the author, the text seeks to help answering the question of the sources of fear regarding the future integration of Slovakia. By looking at the roots & substance of this fear, the author aims to evaluate whether it has become unsubstantiated since the 2002 general election. Even though Dzurinda's 1998 government has fallen short of the voters' expectations, this has never been true in the foreign & security policy where the government delivered on its promises. The first chapter aims to identify the key factors, having the greatest effect on the policy- & decision-making of Slovakia's political elite between 1998 & 2002. These factors have been crucial in extending the country's image as being the most problematic out of the Visegrad group. The second chapter deals with Slovakia's internal political watershed: the 1998 general election. The problems weakening & ultimately threatening the ruling coalition from within are analyzed as well. The third chapter discusses economic & social aspects of Slovakia's post-1998 domestic development. The rather unbalanced performance & the lack of achievements are examined as the causes of doubts about the translation of Slovakia's integration ambitions into practical outcomes. Finally, the last chapter describes the societal perceptions in Slovakia as reflected in public opinion polls prior to the 2002 general election, summing up the election results. In answer to the question posed at the beginning, the author closes his analysis claiming that the current level of preparations for Slovakia's integration into both the European & Trans-Atlantic structures guarantees that the country will successfully join both. Despite the lack of any bulletproof guarantee of the stability of the country's post-2002 political scene, & in spite of potential change of the government or early elections, Slovakia's full integration into the European & Euro-Atlantic institutional structures in mid-2004 cannot be prevented. Slovakia will join along with its Visegrad partners. References. Adapted from the source document.