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The article examines the meanings that space and things acquire in the context of ageing and old age. The author draws on a study that was conducted with the objective of understanding the signifi cance of autonomy in old age and the ways in which the elderly attempt to maintain it. The data from this study were subjected to a follow-up qualitative analysis based on the reformulated research question: 'What role do space and things play in the life of a senior as a person of a certain age at a certain period of life?' The results of the analysis are presented in the third part of the article, following sections devoted to the subject of space and things in sociological gerontology and to a description of the methodology used in the cited research. The analysis reveals that space and things are meaningful elements in the lives of seniors, who place them within three main frames: physical independence or personal autonomy and security, integration into informal social networks, and the home as a subjective centre of community. Space and things clearly become an important part of the strategies of 'coping with ageing'.

The paper seeks to find the relationship between the philosophical debate on absolute and relative space & the IR debate on territoriality. It shows the relation between the absolute space concept & the territorial definition of the modern state. It also seeks to find parallels between relativity & relative space on one hand & the current questioning of territoriality & attempts to find a substitute for it on the other. Due to the fact that relativity has not been overthrown in philosophy of physics, the article concludes that we cannot expect a relative conception of space to disappear from IR either. Adapted from the source document.

The main goal of the article is to highlight the marked difference between two understandings of geopolitics and space in general the understanding that is present in the field of geography and the understanding that is present in the field of International Relations. Whereas in International Relations (namely in the case of neorealists) space is conceptualized as a material, objective entity, in the field of geography there has been a shift toward a conceptualization of space as an inter-subjective entity. It follows that in the case of neorealists there is some (usually unintentional) tendency to revive (neo)classical geopolitics, or at least some of its basic assumptions. On the other hand, contemporary geographers have adopted a boldly critical approach toward (neo)classical geopolitics. Geographers consider (neo)classical geopolitics as potentially dangerous because of its justification of the conflictual discourses prevailing in international politics. The question remains whether the geographical neglect of objective space does not undermine the ability of critical geopolitics to effectively intervene in practical political issues. Adapted from the source document.

'Dialogical networks' are communications that occur in mass media. One of their characteristics is that contributions of individual actors - politicians, journalists, representatives of pressure groups, etc - are distributed in time & space. (A politician can, for instance, react in the media to what another politician expressed publicly elsewhere). Another central property of dialogical networks is that an individual's contribution to a network can be duplicated, or even multiplicated (eg, what is said in a TV studio may be reproduced in several newspapers). Working in a broadly ethnomethodological & conversation analytical framework, we focus on two aspects of sequential organization - adjacency pair structures & repair structures - with the aim to clarify the respects in which they differ in dialogical networks & in everyday conversations.

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.

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.

"Bringing space back" into comparative politics is a difficult task, perhaps inevitably accompanied by various substantive and methodological problems. This paper introduces the concepts of "territorial homogeneity" (of D. Caramani) and "party nationalization" (of M. Jones and S. Mainwaring), both of them dealing with political parties as actors and territorial space as an environment in which they operate. Our aim is to identify some of the typical issues/ matters (selection of cases, elaboration of relationships among variables) any researcher who would try to conceptualize the relationships between political parties and territorial units has to cope with. In respect of issues in question the solutions offered by Caramani and Jones&Mainwaring often seem neither intercompatible nor fully satisfactory. This may raise the question about inevitably ethnocentristic nature of the "homogeneity concepts". We further extend our methodological note, limiting -rather than delineating- the areas of possible use of the homogeneity concept for the post-communist countries, arguing that sensible comparisons would require much better control for intervening institutional variables- a task which is almost impossible to achieve with such a heterogeneous sample. ; "Bringing space back" into comparative politics is a difficult task, perhaps inevitably accompanied by various substantive and methodological problems. This paper introduces the concepts of "territorial homogeneity" (of D. Caramani) and "party nationalization" (of M. Jones and S. Mainwaring), both of them dealing with political parties as actors and territorial space as an environment in which they operate. Our aim is to identify some of the typical issues/ matters (selection of cases, elaboration of relationships among variables) any researcher who would try to conceptualize the relationships between political parties and territorial units has to cope with. In respect of issues in question the solutions offered by Caramani and Jones&Mainwaring often seem ...

In connection to the process of the public administration reforms which take place in most of the European countries and also in connection to the "European administrative space", the issues of studying and mutually comparing administrative systems of various European countries, especially EU member countries, become more and more topical. They focus not only on purposeful and effective mutual use of experience in administrative systems improvements, but also on improving orientation in the already mentioned "European administrative space". There is nodue attention devoted so far to the systematic study of administrative systems of (other) European countries. Most of the publications which focus on this issue (mostly study books, study materials, or occassional articles) describe it only on a "descriptive" (mostly simplified) level. The cause of this lies in (apart from time and financial demands) significant complexity of the given issue, in terminological complications and in difficulties of getting adequate (essentially necessary) factography and in practically non-existing adequate methodology. Legal comparative jurisprudence and comparative studies of political systems might inspire onewhen developing the methodology. Even under the current situation, it would be efficient to pay more attention to the comparative studies of the structure of administrative systems, or to some selected areas of the public administration, for example to personnel systems in the public administration, financing public administration or administration of the public property. A thorough "stock -taking" of all the materials which have ever been published about this matter (even in different contexts) in our country orabroad might serve as a basis of these fragmented studies.

The fight against illegal migration has become one of the key issues in EU politics in recent years. The author of this publication deals profoundly with the way how EU protects its borders and with the role that the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders, generally known as FRONTEX, plays in border protection. This young agency, which was established only in 2005, has gained a position in the area of border protection in the EU. The aim of this book is to analyse the space FRONTEX has for autonomous action vis-a-vis the positions of the member states which perceive border protection to be one of their important competences

One of few can enjoy the pleasures of living in a time of transition to democracy and have the opportunity to comment on the development and raise critical questions about the future of the Central and Eastern Europe. Editors Kaldor and Vejvoda pose several such questions right at the beginning of their book: Do political systems within CEEC represent a particular variant of democracy that is specific to this part of the world? Is it possible to talk about a post-communist model sui generis that is influenced by the legacy of communism and at the same time by both the weaknesses and strengths of western democracy? Can we talk about an emergent concept of European Democratic Space [term introduced by editors] as a way of consolidating democracy in Central and Eastern European Countries and of reinvigorating democracy in Western Europe? ; One of few can enjoy the pleasures of living in a time of transition to democracy and have the opportunity to comment on the development and raise critical questions about the future of the Central and Eastern Europe. Editors Kaldor and Vejvoda pose several such questions right at the beginning of their book: Do political systems within CEEC represent a particular variant of democracy that is specific to this part of the world? Is it possible to talk about a post-communist model sui generis that is influenced by the legacy of communism and at the same time by both the weaknesses and strengths of western democracy? Can we talk about an emergent concept of European Democratic Space [term introduced by editors] as a way of consolidating democracy in Central and Eastern European Countries and of reinvigorating democracy in Western Europe?

The article presents a brief survey of selected trends observable within political science in the Czech Republic & offers a tentative interpretation of some major features that can be seen as typical for the current state of the field. However, the article is not intended as a comprehensive analysis; rather, it is meant to open up a discussion related to self-perceptions in Czech political science, & their relation to reality. Issues like methodological, research & teaching foci are all elaborated here, & serve to highlight the possible weaknesses & benefits of Czech political science, thus claiming a space for further, more substantial research. In this sense, the article should be understood as an attempt to make Czech political science launch a process of its own self-definition & self-identification. Adapted from the source document.

Comparative politics textbooks play an important role in scientific socialization within political science. Thus, textbook reviews should take their role in this process into account. Analytical review criteria have to be based on understanding the different potential roles textbooks may play within tertiary education & of the goals they may fulfill. The argument about different strategy patterns of comparative politics textbooks is illustrated here on the example of relatively recent textbooks by Daniele Caramani & Alan Siaroff. Such an analysis may serve not only to identify reasonable criteria to assess comparative politics textbooks, but it also utilizes the findings of Thomas Kuhn about the "discipline-forming" role of textbooks. Textbooks also play an important role as a space for meta-reflective analysis of comparative politics as a field of. To study textbooks therefore also means to study authoritative texts about comparative politics. 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.