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In recent decades, the topic of political parties' approaches towards European integration (especially the euro-skeptic parties) has become an integral part of political science research. The purpose of this text is to describe and compare the most frequently used methods or approaches of measuring the attitudes of political parties towards the EU: behavioral measures, textual approaches, self-reported positions, and reputation. The author of the text examines the advantages and disadvantages of the various methods, and compares their applicability in the context of different research goals (classification and/or description of attitudes of political parties towards the EU, identification of salience of the "European" issue, and identification of intra-party disputes over the "European" issue).

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 EU has been gradually increasing its emphasis on a common approach to energy security among its members in the last couple of years, and these member states have had to take this tendency into account when developing their own approach to energy policy. Additionally, both EU and its members have been forced to react to several challenges regarding energy security. Reactions and tendencies within energy policies can be assessed on the basis of theoretical approaches that can not only clarify reasons for implementing specific tools and procedures, but also can help to anticipate future development. This article is focused on the energy policy of the Czech Republic and the European Union from the perspectives of strategic as well as market-oriented approaches, which are the two dominant theoretical approaches in this field of study. The aim is to identify how these approaches are reflected in policy documents on both levels during the selected period of time (2004-2012) and what it means in terms of energy policy coordination within the EU. Adapted from the source document.

Significant international attention has been directed to the most pressing problem of the financial crisis of 2008/2009 -- global liquidity shortages. The use of adequate foreign exchange reserves during the crisis helped alleviate pressures. However, this was only partially effective in a number of important cases. Some countries also needed to rely on external official financing. The aim of this article is to compare and analyse the main sources of official global liquidity -- foreign exchange reserves, bilateral swap lines of central banks, regional financial arrangements arid IMF resources. To reach effective outcomes in relation to the accumulation of FX reserves and a strengthening of the global financial safety nets, effective international coordination will be necessary. Adapted from the source document.

Research on political speeches is often done in countries with strong presidential powers, typically in the USA. However, political speeches by presidents are also a critical method of influencing public opinion in the Czech Republic. Therefore this article is focused on the analysis of speeches of the former President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus. Our research is based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative content analysis of Klaus' speeches (thematic units are used as the unit of analysis) found on his website (www.klaus.cz) in the period from 1995 to the end of his presidency, March 2013 (N = 470). We aim to identify the changing structure of political issues in Klaus' speeches and changes in Klaus' position on those issues, and to uncover any characteristic features of his speeches (the use of personal pronouns, the role of the speaker, the tone of the speech, etc.). Adapted from the source document.

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).

The article focuses on an analysis of the situation in which information is obtained from respondents in questionnaire surveys. From the perspective of the cognitive aspects of survey methodology the article takes a complex view of this situation and applies theoretical concepts and empirical evidence in order to explain the close connection between the interview situation and the quality of the information obtained. The interview situation is portrayed in its twofold form: personal aspects (the mental operations of respondents) and social aspects (the interaction and communication between the interviewer and the respondent). The analysis of the interactive aspects of the interview situation draws attention to the rules of standard communication, which interfere with the ordinary concept of the standardised interview and the course of mental processes. The cognitive aspect of responding to questions is analysed from the perspective of the wider understanding of context effects, the author refers to the most important theoretical concepts relating to individual effects and empirical evidence of some effects that infl uence the response process. The article takes a somewhat untypical approach to some aspects of data collection in questionnaire surveys and into the Czech context introduces the cognitive aspects of the methodology of questionnaire surveys.

The article deals with the communication policy of the European Union -- specifically, the communication policy of the European Commission. Though the Commission has considered communication policy to be one of its most important priorities in recent years, opinion polls and the behaviour of EU citizens during various elections or referenda show that little progress has yet been made in this field. The authors try to uncover the reasons for this situation by examining the institutional set-up within the Commission's communication policy. In doing so, they base their research on the assumption derived from discursive institutionalism that EU communication policy is characterized by its complex co-ordinative discourse, which limits the potential of its communicative discourse. In order to specify the subject, the authors begin with an overview of current developments in the communication policy and an analysis of the main strategic documents introduced by the Commission. Then, the coordination discourse, first at EU level and second at national level, is explored through the examination of various actors institutionally involved in EU communication policy and the coordination mechanisms present among them. Subsequently, the communication discourse is analysed through research into the communication tools the Commission uses to achieve its goals in the field of communication policy. At the end, the relationship between the two discourses is discussed and potential solutions are proposed. Adapted from the source document.

Data on the economic development of OECD-Member countries show that tax structures in all OECD countries are changing, but one constant feature is that the share of taxes in GDP is rising. The aim of this article is to discus the main reasons for the increased tax burden in OECD countries, the difficulties of international comparisons of tax burden, & the conditions for tax burden reduction in the Czech Republic. An international comparison is difficult because national economic indicators can be distorted by methods used for measuring GDP on the one hand & by tax-revenues assessment on the other. For example, some countries tax/GDP ratios are underestimated on account of considerable & hidden 'tax expenditures.' Czech tax policy is limited by the coordination & harmonization with, & the fiscal objectives of its accession to, the European Union. 2 Tables, 24 References. Adapted from the source document.

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 aim of the article is to describe the relations between institutions in the public, private and non-profit sectors that are considered the most important actors of negotiation and decision-making in local development. These institutions and the relations between them are defined as a social network. A study was carried out in the small Czech towns of Blatná, Český Krumlov and Velké Meziříčí, and data were collected in 2007 and 2008. The first part of the article describes the institutional actors, the collection of the relational data, and the context of the three towns that were studied. The analytical part consists of social network analysis. Basic quantitative characteristics are used to describe and compare the social networks of the institutional actors in the local development of the three towns. The conclusions indicate the unconditional significance of local public administration institutions and the significance of other local institutions; relations to extra-local institutions are rather weak. A section on methodology at the end of the article contains methodological notes on Hellinger divergence and SNA.