Suchergebnisse

The Czech Republic is comprised of different regions at the sub- national level. These are the historical lands of Bohemia, Moravia, & (part of) Silesia, small ethnographic regions, & administrative units. Their objective hierarchy derives from their former historical role, from their administrative function today, & their regional importance. In this article the authors attempt to describe the subjective hierarchy of these regions in the minds of their inhabitants, drawing on a survey of 1203 respondents from throughout the Czech Republic conducted in 2003 by the Centre for Public Opinion Research. The historical lands of Bohemia & Moravia are two regions whose existence Czechs recognize without question, while Silesia is in a weaker position & garners only two- thirds of the level of recognition accorded the other two historical lands. The cultural or ethnographic regions & the administrative units are on an approximately equal level, which is distinctively lower than that of the three Czech historical lands. More of these small regions are located in Moravia than in Bohemia or Silesia. The best known Czech regions are: Wallachia, Moravian Slovakia, Hana (all of which are in Moravia) & the Region of Khods (Bohemia). The best known region that is neither ethnographical nor one of the administrative units is the former industrial region of Ostrava.

The article presents an analysis of the performance of regional governments -- the institutions representing the self- governing regions in the Czech Republic. The authors try to answer the question of whether regional governments function similarly or whether they vary in terms of performance, & if they do vary, how structured & how large are these differences. After a review of the position occupied by the regions in the Czech public administration system, & after assessing the ways in which regional government performance can be understood & measured & the accessibility of necessary data, indicators are proposed & used to create an aggregate index of regional government performance. An analysis based on these indicators shows that there are considerable differences between regional governments in terms of the structure & the level of their performance. Based on the performance index it was possible to distinguish regions with above- average, average, & below- average regional government performance. The territorial distribution of these groups & some other factors confirm the validity of these measurements.

The article deals with the idea of Central Europe and aims to identify common developmental tendencies of the region in the medieval period and early modern age. The author emphasizes the advantages of the comparative approach primarily in the case of the medieval and early modern Polish, Czech and Hungarian states. Alongside common developmental tendencies the author emphasizes also important differences which cast doubt on the very idea of Central Europe.

The article explores the connections between the performance of the Czech regional governments, the economic development of the regions, & the level of social capital in the regions. Analyses suggest that there is no relationship between regional government performance & the economic performance of the regions, & no relationship between regional government performance & the level of social capital in the regions. Government performance does not appear to be dependent on either of these two factors. Some positive statistical relationships do exist between the level of social capital & the economic performance of the regions. This relationship is stronger when the dynamics of the changes are evaluated -- economic growth in the period between 1995 & 2004 was significantly higher in regions with a higher level of social capital. Analyses also revealed the strong effect of another factor -- the level of human capital as measured by the education of the population -- on all the other observed parameters of the regions. The regions with more educated inhabitants recorded more rapid economic growth, a higher level of social capital, & better performing governments.

The Central Asian region is often interpreted in European discourse as an arena of clashes between the "West" & Russia, particularly over energy resources. The significance of China in the region remains an underrated subject of research. At the same time China is expanding its influence in the region through "soft diplomacy" at the expense of Russia & (above all) other powers interested in local resources. The article analyses the Chinese presence in the region since 1991, emphasizing the first decade he Central of the 2111 century. The relations between Central Asia & China are researched from the Asian point of view & with a focus on the political, economical (stressing energy factors) & institutional (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) level. In sum, it seems that the growing Chinese influence over the region has its limits as well & that the "Chinese expansion" is overestimated to a large extent. Adapted from the source document.

The paper provides an exploratory analysis of regional dynamics among 264 NUTS2 EU-27 regions over the period 1992-2006. Seven different regional indicators are analyzed including wages, household expenditures, retail sales, investments, productivity, GDP, & GDP adjusted for international purchasing power differences. Several aspects of regional dynamics are studied such as convergence, polarization, role of international component, overall mobility, & individual mobility of Czech regions. Different methods are employed including some traditional techniques such as Gini coefficient, Theil decomposition, or kernel density estimates but also more innovative measures based on the pair-wise comparisons of regions. The results suggest strong regional convergence in relative ratios hand in hand with increasing absolute gaps among European regions. The analysis also indicates a significant bipolarity in the investigated distributions & a major role of international component in the process of European regional development. From the Czech regions, only Praha & Stredni Cechy recorded some upward mobility in the European regional rank distributions, while the relative positions of all other units deteriorated. Adapted from the source document.

Peripheral regions are most often described in terms of economic geography. However, this study stresses more the sociological aspects of peripheries, studying not only the causes, but also the social effects of life in peripheral regions. The authors use the term 'inner peripheries' because most of the peripheral regions detected in their analyses are located in the inner parts of the country, mainly along the borders of the administrative regions (kraje). Their approach combines the concept of the life world (espace vécu) as defined by A. Frémont and A. Giddens when describing the social and cultural consequences of living in peripheries, and a modified version of G. Myrdal´s theory of cumulative circular causation when trying to explain the origin and growth of peripheries. In the Czech Republic inner peripheries are usually the peripheral zones of metropolitan areas and regional centre areas. In the mid-1990s population numbers stopped declining in some peripheries as a result of suburbanisation processes, but in other peripheries depopulation processes continued. This last category of inner peripheries can be described as the hard core of Czech peripheral regions and in the authors' opinion they warrant the development of specifi c regional policy measures, stressing the creation of new jobs, the improvement of public transport, greater accessibility of service centres, and co-operation among communities.

The article deals with the French regional elections in 2004. These elections were interesting for three reasons. Firstly, the majority of regions moved to the left. Secondly, a new mixed system of elections was used. Thirdly, the newly reformed Gaullist party lost its majority in regional councils. The article analyzes the results in each region & explains the patterns of cooperation among political parties. The article also reflects on the results in the departements overseas. 3 Tables, 6 References. Adapted from the source document.

The purpose of this article is to provide basic an empirical research framework for the new phenomena of interregionalism. First, the paper explores the history of regional integration & cooperation, & the subsequent emergence of interregional relations. The second part outlines the main theoretical concepts of this research as region, interregional relations, its structure & system. Furthermore, it explores the main incentives & impetus for regions to take part in interregional cooperation. The last section offers essential theoretical explanations, particularly within the field of international political economy. Adapted from the source document.

In den vergangenen 40 Jahren litten wir Ungarn - wie die Bürger der gesamten Region - unter dem Mangel an Freiheit. Heutzutage leiden wir unter dem Gefühl des Mangels an Gleichheit und Lebenssicherheit. Ähnlich wie die ursprüngliche Kapitalakkumulation geht auch die gegenwärtige auf Kosten der Armen. Faktoren wie Zusammenbruch der Wertehierarchie, Unzulänglichkeit des Rechtssystems und Transformation des Schulwesens (so insb. die Abschaffung des kostenlosen Schulunterrichts) bergen große Gefahren in sich. Den Meinungsumfragen zufolge empfinden 65% der Ungarn (wie auch der Polen oder der Slowaken) ihr derzeitiges Leben als schwerer als das von 1990. Materielle Opfer werden wir auch künftig aufbringen müßen. In einer relativ kurzen Zeit soll unsere Region zum Bestandteil des sich vereinigenden Europas werden. Auf Veränderungen unseres Lebens und noch mehr des Denkens drängen zudem die Globalisierungsprozesse und die Revolution der Informatik. All den Prozessen gegenüber, die uns unaufhaltsam in das Netz des Welthandels einfügen, müßen wir uns stellen. Gleichzeitig gilt es jedoch, jene nationale Charakterzüge, dank denen wir Tschechen, Ungarn, Slowaken, Polen etc. sind, beizubehalten. In dem weltumspannenden Wettbewerb können wir nur bestehen, wenn wir unsere Identität nicht aufgeben. (BIOst-Hrs)

Simmel's social theory, namely his formal sociology, has long been considered if not dead, then of little relevance for contemporary sociological theories. This study is an attempt at proving the contrary. Our aim is to show that Simmel's social ontology can be seen as a form of semiology, i.e. a complex body capable of integrating seemingly irreconcilable segments of society into a social science of signs, thus showing that his "social grammar" is a true social theory of sign systems. A keystone which helped us span the bridge between society and language, linguistics and sociology, was the concept of value. By dint of Simmel's theory of economic value we try to connect his social theory, on which it lies, with his theory of sign-money, which it supports. Simmel's social theory is based on an unorthodox concept of interaction, whose main qualities are that of perfect synchrony and unity that is dealt with by Simmel on the empirical as well as experience level. The puzzling term of form is revealed as Simmel's attempt to conceptually grasp this synchronic dimension of interaction. Simmel's theory of economic value is seen as an extension of Simmel's formal sociology. Simmel conceives value as a relation between two processes of valuation brought about within the exchange as a form of interaction. Money is the physical representation of this relation. To prove that Simmel's social theory can be regarded as a fully-grown theory of sign systems, as well as to elaborate our analysis of his social theory, we use the conceptual apparatus of Saussure's linguistics showing that not only does Simmel's theory imply all Saussure's key concepts, but it also solves some of its blind spots in contemporary sociology and spans the so far unsurpassable gulf between the individual and society or structure and development.

As a consequence of the new regionalism a marked increase in the number of regional groupings can be observed which makes the preferential relations between states even more complicated & complex. One of such complex relationships, which did not come to being during the third wave of regionalism but was strongly supported by it, is subregionalism -- simply said, overlapping of regional integrations. The aim of this comparative study is to analyze a current state & development of subregionalism within two region-wide integrations -- the European Union (EU) & the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) -- & on the basis of this analysis to compare the effects of this phenomenon in both regions. Some general conclusions enabling an assessment of future development of subregionalism & its impact on regionalism in Europe & Asia are the main outcomes of the comparison. References. Adapted from the source document.

Versuche Rußlands, seinen Einfluß im Gebiet Mitteleuropas wiederzugewinnen, werden hier nacheinander an Fällen der Slowakei, Ungarns und Bulgariens in aller Konkretheit demonstriert. Das Hauptaugenmerk gilt der wachsenden wirtschaftlichen Verflechtung, und in deren Rahmen vor allem den Instrumenten der Energiepolitik und des Waffenexports, der zugleich als Mittel zur Lösung der russischen Verschuldung eingesetzt wird. Eine für Rußland verstärkte Bedeutung wird nach der Fertigstellung einer neuen Gasleitung auch Polen als das Land spielen, das in der Region eine Schlüßelstellung innehat. (BIOst-Hrs)

This study deals with the phenomenon of paradiplomacy, or parallel diplomacy. Paradiplomacy refers to international activities of cities and regions and includes marketing and public diplomacy, cross-border cooperation, functional trans-border cooperation, cultural and educational cooperation, and other activities. Paradiplomacy developed in the last third of the 20th century as a result of economic globalization, state decentralization, nationalism and the strengthening of regional identity, European integration, and the internationalization of cultural, educational, environmental, transport and other topics labelled as "low politics". Thus, we can identify both economic and political foundations of paradiplomacy. The first part of the study presents a review of literature on paradiplomacy; the second part is a case study of foreign policy instituted by the City of Prague in the electoral term 2006-2010. This case study confirmed initial hypotheses: first, that paradiplomacy is influenced by three supra-national factors: economic globalization (a), regional and global political and economic regimes (b), and transnational networks, mainly based in the EU (c); second, that paradiplomacy is influenced by institutional and constitutional relations between the centre and regions; third, that paradiplomacy is influenced by the antagonistic nature of these relations. Adapted from the source document.