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The article aims to identify the development phases in the process of the regional differentiation in the Czech Republic after 1989, & examines whether this differentiation trend is currently changing. The assumption the article's hypothesis is based on is that during recent development the basic 'parameters' of the principal features of the country's regional structure have been stabilized amidst the conditions of parliamentary democracy & a market economy. Unlike the first phases of socio- economic transition, when differentiating trends prevailed, a certain degree of stabilization can now be assumed, alongside the emergence of new trends. The development of regional differences was analyzed using indicators of GDP, the unemployment rate, entrepreneurial activity, & tax revenue from self- employed physical persons. The findings show that over the course of the 1990s regional differences intensified at both the mezo- regional (regional) level & the micro- regional level. It was also confirmed that at the turn of the millennium the phase of divergent regional development ended, & since that time regional differences have hovered around the same level.

When examining the gender of institutions of parenthood, lone motherhood is a key issue. In this article the author focuses on the economic implications of lone motherhood and on the strategies that women living with children without a partner develop in order to ensure their livelihood. The author begins by presenting the theoretical background and some results from European and North American research on lone motherhood. She then provides an overview of research on lone parenthood done in the Czech Republic since 1959. Finally, the author describes the qualitative study she conducted on divorced mothers. The results show how women deal economically with marital separation and which livelihood strategies they opt for. The research methodology was based on constructivist grounded theory and the technique of interviews. From the research results the author distinguishes fi ve basic strategies that can be combined and that are based on the sources that women have at their disposal. Those strategies may differ in terms of their degree of success, dependence/independence on others, and their efficacy at different points in time. The results also indicate that the success of these working strategies depends mainly on the age of the youngest child in the family and the caring responsibilities required by that age. The author argues that while for some women heading one-parent families paid work is an option that allows them to obtain a certain degree of independence and self-confidence, its efficacy depends on the context and immediate conditions in which the women find themselves. Overstressing the employment of lone mothers as a universal solution may thus lead to new dependencies.

This paper is based on a survey among 435 Czech households caring for a dependent senior in the family to inquire into the conditions and circumstances of caring for seniors in the family. The concept of 'care as a labour of love' (Graham) is contrasted with the concept of the 'defamilisation of care' (Glenn) and 'social rights for elderly care' (Fine). The author finds that more demanding family care, measured as the level of IADL or BADL, is reflected in a growing number of hours spent on family care. The author shows the significant differences in the psychological and financial burden experienced by primary caregivers in relation to how demanding the level of care required is. The article presents evidence of the existence of 'collective family care' in situations where demanding personal care for a senior is required. The participation of other family members in providing care for a senior in situations of demanding personal care demonstrates some features of family cohesion.

In many advanced countries housing consumption plays a significant role in the social stratification of households. First, the article sets out to determine whether during the transformation period significant differentiation of housing consumption occurred and social stratification became linked to stratification by housing consumption. In other words, whether alongside the 'standard' criteria (age, education, income, and other socio-economic variables) influencing the stratification of Czech households it is also necessary to take into account the type and quality of housing. Second, in relation to these findings on stratification, Czech households are segmented into 12 segments. The article then makes some general prognoses for each household segment regarding the number of households in selected forms of housing and types of housing development for 2020. These prognoses showed that if 'optimistic' outlooks for economic development are met and Czech citizens' housing preferences remain constant, there could be a substantial increase compared to today in the share of Czech households living in family homes and even to a certain excess of supply of rental flats over demand.

Max Weber, Clifford Geertz, & Rudolf Bultmann are often cited by anthropologists & sociologists who are trying to determine the essence of human sciences through a deep analysis of the subjective meanings that the actor sets to his/her behavior. This article provides an analysis of theoretical & epistemological conceptions of the three thinkers mentioned above, & the author concludes that each of them uses the construction of subjective justification in a different way. Weber distinguishes behavior itself from its meaning, which is constituted by a subjective reference to the values of the actor, & also of the recipient (or researcher). In Weber's point of view, someone else's meaning of behavior is eventually undeterminable, & the researcher can only come close to the subjective meaning through an ideal-typical construction, although Weber eventually does not refuse such ideal-typical constructions behind the cognitive possibilities of the actor. Geertz's attempt at an orientation of a description according to the actor primarily leads to the view of cultural & social facts from a bird's eye perspective, to a presumably deeper understanding than the actor is able to have. In this article the author argues that the differences between Weber's & Geertz's theoretical constructions originate in their contrasting conceptions of the nature of culture. Another such case is Bultmann, owing to the fact that he does not concentrate on the subjective meaning of action in a narrow sense, while he aims at, in his eyes, all human existential experience of reality.

In this article the authors map the theoretical arguments on the gender dimension of the welfare state. They propose three integral dimensions of conceptualising the exercise of parenthood in Czech society in relation to gender equality in the labour market that co-determine the position of parents in the labour market. The authors analyse these dimensions using data from two representative sociological surveys. 1) The right to be a parent (to care for one's child) and the right to work: the measures provided in the Czech welfare state are based on the myth that there are two separate worlds of work and care in conformity with the gender principle, even though there are no significant differences between Czech men and women in terms of the value of work in their lives. 2) Equality or non-discrimination in parenthood: the right to work of mothers of young children is violated in the context of generally increasing gender inequalities in the labour market. 3) The opportunity to achieve a work/life balance: in Czech society flexible forms of employment are uncommon, working hours tend to have a fi xed start and finish, or there is negative flexibility, which renders a work/life balance impossible. The way in which state policy defi nes and employers apply the conditions of parenthood in relation to the labour market and in the context of the gender structure of Czech society makes parenthood a significant handicap for the social inclusion of women who are mothers of young children in the Czech Republic.

The theme is crucial to the concrete question, whether moravian identity really exists. It´s about phenomena which is natural and important for some parts of population or on the other hand we can see this identity as the artificial problem. The main goal is connecting with results from the field work. I would like to explain something about moravian political elites according to the non-political activism. It´s also necessary to mark historical processes which are important for present time. The polemic should have done some reflexive view on regionalism, activation of moravian elites and civic movements. ; The theme is crucial to the concrete question, whether moravian identity really exists. It´s about phenomena which is natural and important for some parts of population or on the other hand we can see this identity as the artificial problem. The main goal is connecting with results from the field work. I would like to explain something about moravian political elites according to the non-political activism. It´s also necessary to mark historical processes which are important for present time. The polemic should have done some reflexive view on regionalism, activation of moravian elites and civic movements.

The paper tries to show that the East enlargement was realized under partly changed conditions and strategies. It is focused on the enlargement waves formation including the European Commission position. The paper analyzes the classical method of EU enlargement and compares these principles with the undergoing EU expansion. In the end the attention is devoted to the special conditions in common agricultural policy they were offer to the candidate countries as the result of financial costs of the enlargement to the East.

While reading academic papers and books on political regimes in Central Europe, one can become aware of an interesting and remarkable fact: these regimes (forms of government) are classified rather differently. Whereas some scholars tend to approach them as parliamentary regimes, others classify them as semi-presidential ones. The major dividing line between these two perspectives runs between a large group of English-writing scholars based outside Central Europe and those from Central Europe itself. Having reviewed a large number of relevant studies in this field, the authors of this article argue that the key reason for the different assessments of Central European regimes resides mainly in a different theoretical (but also methodological) approach, which has important implications when considering how these regimes are treated in various studies. Whereas the group of English-writing scholars tends to adopt a minimalist institutional definition suggested by Robert Elgie, most Central European scholars prefer an approach (inspired by Duverger or Sartori) that emphasizes presidential powers, which are irrelevant to Elgie's definition. ; While reading academic papers and books on political regimes in Central Europe, one can become aware of an interesting and remarkable fact: these regimes (forms of government) are classified rather differently. Whereas some scholars tend to approach them as parliamentary regimes, others classify them as semi-presidential ones. The major dividing line between these two perspectives runs between a large group of English-writing scholars based outside Central Europe and those from Central Europe itself. Having reviewed a large number of relevant studies in this field, the authors of this article argue that the key reason for the different assessments of Central European regimes resides mainly in a different theoretical (but also methodological) approach, which has important implications when considering how these regimes are treated in various studies. Whereas the group of ...

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.

Survey-based measures of subjective well-being are more and more often analyzed cross-culturally. However, international comparison of these measures requires measurement invariance. Therefore, the major goal of this study was to investigate the cross-country comparability of the five-item subjective well-being scales used in the International Social Survey Programme (2011, 2017). This study applied both the traditional exact and the more recent Bayesian approximate approach to assess whether the subjective well-being scales were measurement invariant. The Bayesian approach detected several non‑invariant items that were problematic for cross-national comparison and could be dropped from the scales. Consequently, measurement invariance was established in all countries for the reduced scales, allowing researchers to meaningfully compare their latent mean scores and the relationships with other theoretical constructs of interest. Thus, the study highlighted the advantages of using multiple indicators and the necessity of measurement invariance testing in subjective well-being research.