Suchergebnisse

The European Constitutional Treaty is the most important document in the last decade of EU history not only because of its content, but also due to the process of its development. The European Convention on the future of the EU, as the founding platform of this treaty, reveals a number of controversial areas. It is questionable whether it is possible to declare the European Convention a genuinely democratic body & to accept its procedures as part of the EU's future. The aim of this paper is to outline the specifics of the Convention, especially its working methods, strategies & aspirations. The author maintains that the Convention can serve as an inspiration & possible supplement to current treaty procedures, but considering experience to date it cannot be an acceptable procedure for the EU treaties revision. Adapted from the source document.

This article aims at problems of legitimacy, sovereignty & decision-making process in the context of European integration. Several concepts of legitimacy & sovereignty are introduced & subsequently analyzed in the context of latest development of the European Union. Adapted from the source document.

The image of the social scientist as a stranger is well known. However, there are different approaches to the notion of the stranger in sociology. A comparison of Schutz's & Simmel's conceptions of the stranger enables us to distinguish two forms of fieldwork used in the project Transitional Processes. The social anthropological approach strives to avoid intrusive interventions into the research area. The so-called heuristic investigation uses intentional interventions. Both approaches bring some opportunities & threats especially in the case of cooperation with a scholar who is native to the studied locality. The local researcher can overstep his ethnocentrism thanks to the teamwork. On the other hand, collaboration with strangers may disrupt his loyalty to his ingroup.

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.

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.

The article analyses how the standpoints of political parties on energy related issues are formed. The effect of the process of forming these standpoints on energy policy in general in the Czech Republic, the divergence among ideologies (coming out not only from the election programs), and other factors, as well as the parties' ideological continuity in time are particularly emphasized. The analysis comes to the conclusion that energy related issues are important for each political party but not crucial. In addition, it is concluded that parties are internally consistent, their standpoints are based on ideology, and they are all rather constructive in policy formulation. An interesting conclusion is also the fact that energy policy in the Czech Republic is generally highly personalized, thus strongly influenced by particular individuals.

3.2.1 Národní demokracie v hlasité opozici (společně s fašisty)3.2.2 Konsolidace poměrů uvnitř národní demokracie na podzim 1926 -- nástup křídla živnostenské banky; 3.3 Volba prezidenta republiky 1927; 3.4 Politická emancipace fašistů na národní demokracii a komunální volby na podzim 1927; 3.5 Spor s mládeží demokratického zítřku a konec roku 1927; 3.6 Národnědemokratický ministr ve vládě; 3.7 Rozpad koalice občanských stran a hledání spojence do parlamentních voleb v roce 1929; 3.8 Politický nástup křídla živnostenské banky v národní demokracii a volby do Národního shromáždění 1929

The paper attempts to interpret the subsidiarity principle as an intervening variable of a policy cycle, one of the models commonly used in the context of a broad policy analysis approach. The text is based on a legal analysis of the subsidiarity principle. Methodologically, the model of a policy cycle facilitates the "transfer" of its results into the framework of European studies & forms a basis for further research of the subsidiarity principle & its role in particular legislative processes in the multilevel political system of the European Union. Adapted from the source document.

It is obvious that lobbying in European institutions is an inseparable part of the EU legislative process. The growth of lobbying & the greater sensitivity of European institutions to their public image have resulted in lobbying being more closely regulated now. The basic purpose of all regulation & codes is to bring lobbying into the open. The regulation of lobbying in Brussels seems essential so as to introduce greater transparency in EU law making. The aim of this paper is to outline the particularities of lobbying regulation in the European Commission & the European Parliament, ie., the two most lobbied EU institutions. The European Commission, with its monopoly of legislative initiative, offers a unique possibility to influence the process of legislation formation from the very beginning. The EP has been able to amend legislation since the enactment of the Single European Act in July 1987, thereby incorporating certain interests & policy aims in the decision making process. The paper aims to tackle the following questions: What is the development of European institutions' attitudes towards interest group actions? Are there any explicit regulation criteria for the assertion of interests? In this respect, does the EU act homogenously or not? And in the case that it does not, is there any substantiation for different approaches? Adapted from the source document.

This text analyses the development of internal procedures within the European Parliament through modifications to the Rules of Procedure, & how this impacts the legislative powers of the institution. The work assumes that the treaty revisions must be studied in a wider context to fully understand its real impact on European institutions & the EU as a whole. For a complete understanding of the European Parliament's legislative role in the EU, it is not enough to chart formal increases to its powers in treaties; it is necessary to examine how these formal changes in law & treaties are reflected in the Parliament's internal reforms. The aim of the text is to examine revisions to the EP Rules of Procedure, provide its analysis in historical sequence & to verify the hypothesis that the Rules of Procedure present an instrument through which this European institution can maximize its potential in the legislative sphere. Adapted from the source document.

One of the fundamental features of liberal democratic systems is the existence of diverse interests that seek to influence government decisions. It is therefore no surprise that the activities of organized interests present a natural and legitimate part of the democratic process. Nevertheless, we regard lobbyists with considerable skepticism, and the concept of lobbying often has negative connotations. This situation is mainly the result of a growth in the diversification and number of organized interests that often act in informal or unfair ways. Trying to distinguish lobbying from corruption or other illegal ways of influencing people in public office has led many countries to make efforts to level the playing field and the processes that take place in it. The result of these efforts is the introduction of the regulation of lobbying, which may be achieved by means of various tools. The aim of this paper is to briefly map the attempts by the Slovak government to establish rules governing the behavior of organized interests in the Slovak Republic and to identify the preferences of the particular actors in the Slovak political system with respect to the issue of regulating lobbying in Slovakia.

3.1 Prezidencializace politiky a politických stran3.2 Výběr kandidátů; 3.3 Personalizace volebních systémů; 3.4 Institucionální personalizace v České republice; 3.4.1 Prezidencializace; 3.4.2 Výběr kandidátů; 3.4.3 Personalizace českého volebního systému; 4. MEDIÁLNÍ PERSONALIZACE; 4.1 Celebritizace politiky; 4.2 Personalizace mediálních obsahů; 4.3 Mediální personalizace v České republice; 4.3.1 Celebritizace; 4.3.2 Personalizace mediálních obsahů; 5. BEHAVIORÁLNÍ PERSONALIZACE; 5.1 Preferenční hlasování; 5.2 Efekt lídra; 5.3 Behaviorální personalizace v České republice.