Suchergebnisse

This article analyzes the history, development, & continuity of the sociology of law within the context of Czech social & legal science since 1989. The sociology of law is depicted as a branch of both social & legal science that has suffered greatly from different political discontinuities & ideological repression during the communist era. After the 1989 political changes, the weak tradition of the Czech sociology of law had to be reconstituted. This development is mainly typical of the law faculties of different Czech universities, while academics trained in general sociology & social theory rather continue to ignore the importance & social functions of the legal system in the process of the postcommunist transformation of Czech society.

The application of the concepts of polity, politics & policy can serve as a useful tool for the analysis of the EU's regional policy. The aim of the article is to highlight several divergences that were recognized by applying the aforementioned concepts to a single policy. The main framework of the analysis is based on the partnership principle, which is closely linked to all three dimensions (ie, polity, politics, policy) of the regional policy of the EU. References. Adapted from the source document.

The publication output of all political science and international relations departments and their individual scholars in the Czech Republic is analyzed and ranked here using publication indicators from the Web of Science and Scopus citation databases. Both individual and departmental rankings are constructed based on a composite measure of publication activity which incorporates three indicators: the sum of author shares (in order to account for each authors contribution in the case of co-authored articles) of articles registered in either database, the number of citations of these articles, and the impact factor of the journal. The departmental rankings are further weighted by the size of a given department. The analysis takes into account all departments with an active undergraduate or graduate program in political science or international relations (a total of 14), and all researchers with an institutional affiliation to these departments. The original dataset used for this analysis was compiled from both citation databases and validated by information from the internet presentations of the departments and by sending a questionnaire to the heads of all the departments. The results suggest a weak overall performance of Czech political science in terms of the used publication indicators. However, the analysis of recent trends shows a significant increase in overall Czech publication activity since 2006. Both this trend and the emergence of scholars with consistent publication activity registered in the citation databases constitute a positive development and allow for optimism in the near future. Adapted from the source document.

A review essay on a book edited by Helmut Kramer, Demokratie und Kritik -- 40 Jahre Politikwissenschaft in Osterreich ([Democracy and Critique -- 40 Years of Political Science in Austria] Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Peter Lang, 2004).

This paper deals with the issue of building Wales as a unique region in the context of the European Union and its resources. The author focuses on the period after 1999, i.e. the time when devolution took place and when official Welsh representatives emerged via the National Assembly for Wales (NAW). Since then, Wales has entered into cooperation with the EU, in order to gain access to resources provided by the Union. The cooperation is however of a specific kind, since officially, Welsh representatives have to communicate with the EU through the political representation of Great Britain. Nevertheless, by acting informally, Welsh representatives manage to avoid the British government in relevant contexts and communicate with the EU directly. In this way, they are able to exploit the formal and informal rules for their advantage (i.e. for building Wales as a unique region). The main purpose of this text is to show that the case of Wales can be replicated by any region that has official political representation, even if it has only weak representative institutions and has to deal with limitations posed by the existence of a central government.

Although today national interest is a concept often deemed too old-fashioned for any relevant study of foreign policy or international relations, it is surprising how deeply embedded it is in practical political discourse. The aim of this article is therefore to recast the concept so as to make it a useful theoretical instrument again, hence renewing the conceptual link between the academic & practical discourses on the subject. The argument is divided into five steps: First, we will explain the realist account of national interest & its two major features -- essentialism & its non-normative nature. Second, we will dedicate some attention to the critics of the realist approach. Third, we will try to demonstrate that both sides of this debate have committed a fundamental error in considering national interest as a descriptive category. By pointing to the concept's historical evolution, we will show that national interest should be primarily understood as a normative concept. In the last two steps, we will couple the debate on interest to discussions in theories of democracy & set three criteria which must be met for interest to be considered legitimate. Adapted from the source document.

This article presents a qualitative and empirically oriented analysis of the Italian political discourse which took place in response to the immigration wave that appeared after the outbreak of the Arab Spring in the first half of 2011. Using the concept of securitization introduced by the Copenhagen School, the author seeks to deconstruct the discursive strategy of Silvio Berlusconi's government at the time, which was intended to legitimize extraordinary reactive measures at both national and supranational (EU) levels. The author also provides an interpretation of how the Italian cabinet presented the mass influx of African migrants while exerting instrumental pressure on the EU to provide appropriate assistance to Italy. The article concludes by showing how the discourse, which was accompanied by administrative and political practices, led to an escalation of the crisis within the EU and subsequently opened up the space for a fundamental revision of the rules regarding the Schengen area. Adapted from the source document.

Teachings of economic policy were present at the VSE from its inception in 1953 needless to say that most activities were highly influenced by the ruling political climate. Despite all limitations there were some achievements of value, esp. works of prof. Olsovsky and his team in 50s and early 60s. Till the economic reform of Ota Sik was real engagement people from the VSE in economic policy limited (Kurt Rozsypal arrived to the VSE years after his reform was already enacted). 70s were again years of high political influence characterized by creation of Institute of Marxism-Leninism where consisting of all original social science departments 80s were characterized by the hidden duality of teaching when dominating teachings of political economy of socialism was supplemented by teachings of political economy of capitalism mostly in a guise of history of economic theories. In 90s a full renaissance of economic policy as a subject followed. Adapted from the source document.

The article deals with class analysis in contemporary capitalist societies. The first part introduces the neo-Marxist version of class analysis & Erik Olin Wright's class schema. The second part discusses the neo-Weberian version of class analysis & introduces John Goldthorpe's class schema. The last part of the article deals with the comparison of these two versions of class analysis & answers the following question: What version of class schema is more appropriate to describe the contemporary class structure in capitalist societies? Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

The author presents a critical reply to Barsa's interpretation of his monograph (Jakoubek, M. Romove: konec/ne/jednoho mytu. Tractatus Culturo/mo/logicus, Socioklub, Praha 2004) & of two anthologies he has co-edited (Jakoubek, M. & Poduska, 0. [Eds], Romske osady v kulturologicke perspektive, Doplnek, Brno, 2003 & Jakoubek, M., Hirt, T. [Eds], Romove: kulturologicke etudy. Etnopolitika, pribuzenstvi a socialni organizace, Cenek, Plzen 2004). Taking the examples of his alleged orientalism & of his (also alleged) idea that Gypsies are carriers of the culture of poverty, the author illustrates that Barsa's interpretation is full of mistakes & inaccuracies. He also argues that the concept of culture used by Barsa is unacceptable in the social sciences & accuses his critic (together with the whole discourse of multiculturalism) of ethnocentrism. Regarding methodological issues, the author demonstrates that although Barsa claims to offer a better method of analysis, in actuality he fails to do so. References. Adapted from the source document.