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This article provides a look at the main turning points in research on educational inequalities, both at the level of the fi eld's subject matter and its methodology. The text focuses on authors and concepts that in their time constituted a major innovation, signifi cantly advancing analysis and knowledge in the fi eld of research on educational inequalities. In the article the authors propose viewing researchers in the fi eld of educational inequalities through the lens of their era and in relation to the major turning points between them, which can be identifi ed in terms of subject matter and methodology, and even chronologically. The authors define three basic periods, and for each one present two key concepts. The first period is represented by the basic model of the stratification process and by the socio-psychological model. The second period is characterised by the concept of educational allocation and the theory of 'maximally maintained inequality' (MMI). Presented for the third period are the multinomial transition model and the theory of 'effectively maintained inequality' (EMI). Across these stages of development the authors highlight three of the cited concepts as ground-breaking methodological innovations (the basic model of the stratification process, the concept of educational allocation, and the multinomial transition model) and the other three as innovations in subject matter (interpretive), though closely tied to the advancement of quantitative methods used in the analysis of educational inequalities (the socio-psychological model and the MMI and EMI theories).

Infertility is a problem that affects around 15% of Czech couples of reproductive age. Using data from the survey 'Marriage, Work, Family' the objective of this analysis is to identify the attitudes that Czech men and women maintain towards various strategies for overcoming infertility (adoption, different forms of assisted reproduction) and the factors that influence and shape these attitudes. The fi rst part of the analysis looks for the determinants behind attitudes towards adoption and assisted reproduction in the respondent's external characteristics. For example, education and religion were found to have a signifi cant influence. More educated respondents are more open to methods of assisted reproduction; religious respondents are more open to adoption. In terms of inner determinants (the respondent's attitude patterns) the authors, building on the preference theory proposed by Catherine Hakim, found a preference effect among women. The fi ndings are seemingly paradoxical: of three groups of women (work-centred, home-centred, and adaptive) it is work-centred women (and the partners of work-centred women) who are most likely to take various infertility strategies into consideration. The third part of the analysis – an analysis of the external determinants of attitudes towards infertility strategies – revealed that in some cases attitudes are influenced by the characteristics of the partner more than by the respondent's own characteristics – in particular, the woman's attitudes are shaped more by the characteristics of her partner than by her own characteristics.

The article analyses the evolution of the Slovak political party "Smer" (Direction) and its position in the party system of Slovak Republic. The article focuses on the shift of the party program from the "Centrist Populism" towards "Social Democracy." According to the first program documents the Party of "Smer" (Direction) was designed as pragmatic, non-ideological party. In the persistent conflict between authoritarianism vs. democracy "Smer" identified itself as the pro-democratic and pro-market force. Party policy before 2002 contained only few social democratic components; it was closer to the conservative or right-wing populist parties. After the parliamentary election 2002 and the failure of non-communist left "Smer" decided to become a member of the Socialist International (SI) and Party of European Socialists (PES). The process of the institutional approach to the international Social Democratic Party structures was accompanied by the substantial changes in the social and economic program of the party. The process was completed on the institutional level in May 2005, when Smer joined both SI and PES, and on the level of political program on the Party Congress in December 2005. In the process of so called "socialdemocratisation" of "Smer" the international factor played crucial role, especially the need to have an international partner in the European Parliament. "Smer" met the standards of the Social Democratic identity only in the social and economic affairs. The other five dimensions - environmental policy, participative democracy, cultural and human-rights dimension, supra-national dimension and the dimension of equality and freedom "Smer" met only partially or not at all, so these process remains unfinished. According to some political declarations "Smer" remains the populist party and the uncompromising critic of the right-wing government of Mikuláš Dzurinda, on the other side the official documents of the party anticipate only the moderate corrections of the economical and social reforms, ...

The main goals of the transformed military-political bloc in Burma are to create an "Asian democracy" in the country and to continue in its control of its economic and political life. For this purpose, it adopted a new constitution, organized general elections, and established the current national and state parliaments and the new government. The main pillars of its actual power are the office of the president, the parliaments, the army and the pro-government Union Solidarity and Development Party. Meanwhile, the democratic opposition movement is weak and fragmented. Also the ethnic minorities' movement is unable to create a common political platform on the national level. In this situation, it is hard to expect radical changes in the political development in Burma. The domination of the transformed military-political bloc will thus continue. Adapted from the source document.

This paper provides a framework for the analysis of social movements, drawing on political process theory (PPT). The author argues that the concept of political opportunity structure is still adequate, although it has to be re-conceptualized at various points. Firstly, when analyzing contentious politics or collective action, it is much more suitable to handle the social movement as the unit of analysis rather then the protest event. Attention should also be paid to how the concept is applied. Finally, cultural aspects & the context of multilevel governance are implemented into PPT. This framework is used in the second part of the paper to analyze the Czech women's movement between 1989 & 2006. Adapted from the source document.