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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.

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.

This article focuses on a comparative analysis of the organization of contemporary Czech parliamentary parties. It emphasizes the structural and functional differences between the new parties—ANO (meaning "yes" in Czech) and Dawn of Direct Democracy—and older parties. The theoretical section presents the basic organizational types – in particular, the concept of the business-firm party. The following organizational aspects of parties are then compared: membership, form of funding, the role played by ground organizations, the position and composition of top party bodies, the role played by the party leader, and media resources. This analysis reveals that ANO and Dawn have a more exclusive membership than older parties and have centralized more power into the hands of the party leader, who is supported both by formal statutes and by informal structures. In the case of ANO, the central leadership dominates over lower-level ground organizations; Dawn forgoes them altogether. Its missing institutional base accelerated Dawn's implosion in 2015. ANO is characterised by a high degree of professionalism and control over key media, both of which were missing in the case of Dawn. ; This article focuses on a comparative analysis of the organization of contemporary Czech parliamentary parties. It emphasizes the structural and functional differences between the new parties—ANO (meaning "yes" in Czech) and Dawn of Direct Democracy—and older parties. The theoretical section presents the basic organizational types – in particular, the concept of the business-firm party. The following organizational aspects of parties are then compared: membership, form of funding, the role played by ground organizations, the position and composition of top party bodies, the role played by the party leader, and media resources. This analysis reveals that ANO and Dawn have a more exclusive membership than older parties and have centralized more power into the hands of the party leader, who is supported both by formal statutes and by informal ...

Článek se soustředí na důrazy na výchovu a vzdělávání obsažené v politických programech pěti největších stran první československé republiky. Vychází z oficiálních stranických dokumentů, jako byly volební programy, rezoluce schvalované na sjezdech nebo prohlášení významných představitelů strany. Ačkoliv nelze už ze samé podstaty dokumentů předpokládat, že všechny postuláty v politických prohlášeních skutečně měly vliv na vzdělávání, zachycují vývoj uvažování o výchově vzdělávání jako o součásti kulturní politiky. Přestože vybrané strany uvažovaly o výchově a vzdělávání velmi podobným způsobem a zabývaly se stejnými problémy, uplatňovaly nezřídka odlišné důrazy. Cílem příspěvku je popsat stranické koncepce vzdělávání ve vztahu k ideovým odlišnostem a širšímu kulturnímu i politickému kontextu. ; This paper focuses on educational goals that were emphasised in the political programs of five the largest political parties of the First Czechoslovak Republic. The article is based on official documents of political parties such as programs approved by party congresses and election programs or statements of prominent party representatives. The character of all those documents was influenced by the goal to form statements and inform party members or persuade possible voters. It means those documents are subjective and their content was not necessarily a political commitment. Therefore it cannot be assumed that all the postulates in the programs had a real influence on the education. On the contrary the documents depict the development of the considerations about education as a part of cultural policy. Political parties of the First Czechoslovak Republic were considering education in very similar way and in continuity with development before 1918. They were concerning about same issues especially in the social context but with different emphasises. This contribution aims to describe the party-specific concepts of education in relation to the ideological peculiarities of the individual parties and their cultural and political context.

This article is divided into two parts. The first part describes the cartel party presented by R. Katz and P. Mair and the discussion about the new party type between the two and R. Koole. The second part compares the theoretical descriptions with practical features of Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) and Slovak political system. While the system author finds cartel supporting and not yet cartelized, SDKÚ is not a cartel party but rather one of the new alike types. Author agrees with the demand of R. Koole on search for a scheme of similar party types rather than one perfect type. ; This article is divided into two parts. The first part describes the cartel party presented by R. Katz and P. Mair and the discussion about the new party type between the two and R. Koole. The second part compares the theoretical descriptions with practical features of Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) and Slovak political system. While the system author finds cartel supporting and not yet cartelized, SDKÚ is not a cartel party but rather one of the new alike types. Author agrees with the demand of R. Koole on search for a scheme of similar party types rather than one perfect type.

Since the 1960s, voting behaviour in advanced democratic states has undergone substantial changes. From this period, the transformation of social structures, increased education, and the expansion of new technologies in the field of mass media, among other things, are evident. The transformation factors that affect the voter and his choice are sooner or later reflected in new theoretical concepts describing electoral behaviour, whether it was the theory of party identification, voter choice based on issues or rational choice. So far, however, none of the theories have adequately reflected the effect of consumer-style thinking on electoral behaviour. A new trend in political marketing – political branding – aims to correct precisely this deficiency. Due to the fact that the relevant research in the field of political branding and its impact on the voting behaviour of individuals is still in its infancy, we are faced with a lack of robust theoretical foundations. The text thus aims to clarify this situation by gathering and analysing existing branding concepts, pointing to their strengths and weaknesses. Also, it contributes to the theoretical discussion by linking research on political branding to existing theories of voting behaviour, asking whether the related branding concepts are able to explain the voting behaviour of voters as well as whether they are open to further amendments and modifications. ; Since the 1960s, voting behaviour in advanced democratic states has undergone substantial changes. From this period, the transformation of social structures, increased education, and the expansion of new technologies in the field of mass media, among other things, are evident. The transformation factors that affect the voter and his choice are sooner or later reflected in new theoretical concepts describing electoral behaviour, whether it was the theory of party identification, voter choice based on issues or rational choice. So far, however, none of the theories have adequately reflected the effect of ...

Looking at the security environment and the genesis of military education in Czechoslovakia and the successor states, they point to the harmfulness of the ideologisation of this education, underestimation, insufficient funding and the absence of theoretical teaching and practical training in schools of all levels. The basic mechanism of functioning of the security environment not only in the Czech Republic is a comprehensive connection of military education with the life of society, which is influenced by internal and external vertical and horizontal relationships, where there are a number of friction areas and significant security risks. The main players in security on the threshold of the new decade of the 21st century are facing new challenges and perspectives. © 2022 The Author.

A common initiative of the European Parliament and the European Commission resulted in the unification of the rules governing lobbyists at EU level in June 2011. The aim of this paper is to fill the gap in the literature as regards evaluation of the new system of the EU Transparency Register using the CPI methodology and to generate a numerical value for the scheme for further comparative purposes. Detailed analysis of relevant documents indicates that the current EU scheme's index is 26, which mirrors its supposed low level of stringency. Thorough comparison with past regulatory schemes of the Parliament and Commission reveals that, surprisingly, it is the European Parliament which has made greater steps in lobby regulation, especially towards enhancing transparency in lobbying. Although the new scheme represents a compromise between both institutional approaches, regarding its individual elements, there is a clear dominance of the Commission's approach, which can be regarded as the true leader of reform. ; A common initiative of the European Parliament and the European Commission resulted in the unification of the rules governing lobbyists at EU level in June 2011. The aim of this paper is to fill the gap in the literature as regards evaluation of the new system of the EU Transparency Register using the CPI methodology and to generate a numerical value for the scheme for further comparative purposes. Detailed analysis of relevant documents indicates that the current EU scheme's index is 26, which mirrors its supposed low level of stringency. Thorough comparison with past regulatory schemes of the Parliament and Commission reveals that, surprisingly, it is the European Parliament which has made greater steps in lobby regulation, especially towards enhancing transparency in lobbying. Although the new scheme represents a compromise between both institutional approaches, regarding its individual elements, there is a clear dominance of the Commission's approach, which can be regarded as the true leader of reform.

The role of unilateral and collective sanctions in international has been increasing after\nthe ending of the "Cold War".New regimes of "smart" and "targeted" economic, financial and personal\nsanctions have been developed. Quite a new phenomenon is the impact of sanctions on non-State\nactors. The term "sanctions" is traditionally employed to indicate measures taken by the SC Art. 41 and\n42 of the UN Charter."Sanctions" according to prevailing views differ from the notion "countermeasures"\nas stipulated by the ILC Draft Articles on Responsibility of States.Regional organizations may\ntake sanctions against their own members, if their statute presumes it. Against third states they may\nimpose sanctions legally with authorization of the UNSC. It is controversial whether third states may\nresort to sanctions in case of a violation of obligations erga omnes, if this violation is not of serious\ngravity. The legal content of sanctions stricto sensu remains still to be seriously analyzed, especially\nwith regard to "countermeasures" and the practice of states.

The following paper focuses on the theoretical concept of the catch-all party developed by Kirchheimer and examines possibilities of its application in analyses of the political parties in the new Central-East European democracies. The paper is the case study of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). Through detailed analyses of the two core elements of the original catch-all party concept – intra-party organisation and character of the ideological appeal – article questions the scientific adequacy of frequent labelling of ODS as catch-all party. The argument points out that neither intra-organisational processes, nor ideological shifts of ODS provide a clear picture of the catch-all party. The case of ODS seems to be much more complex. Moreover, the paper points out that frequent usage of the catch-all label in the case of ODS is misleading also from a methodological point of view. Critique reveals that these works loose original concept too much. They ignore that theoretical concepts of all party types were designed for relatively long periods of time and should not be used as contingent categories describing a year or two in the party life. Paper is concluded with the proposition that analyses of political parties in Central-East Europe need complex revision of existing theoretical party types or development of the new ones based on detailed and precise case studies of individual parties in the region.

In the Slovak parliamentary elections of 2010, the reformist centre-right parties defeated the left-nationalist coalition government led by Robert Fico. The election results brought some other surprises – the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia and its leader, three-times Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar, as well as the Party of Hungarian Coalition were eliminated from the national parliament. Moreover, the election outcome of the radical right-wing Slovak National Party declined significantly. On the other hand, two new parties entered parliament. All in all, the election outcomes show the weakening of the nationalist agenda and the nationalist vote. The paper examines why this has happened and raises the question of to what extent it is sustainable.

Systemic corruption is not a failure of individuals, i.e. the result of their deviant behaviour, but a collective phenomenon shared mainly by public institutions as a whole. The phenomenon is based on an effort to establish a new set of corrupt norms inside such institutions affecting policymaking, administrative procedures, public procurements, and the behavior of employees etc. In spite of the fact that impacts of systemic corruption on the areas of government, civil freedoms, social cohesion, and public economy are well known, there is very little practical research involving concrete evidence of systemic corruption in particular cases. This paper attempts to clarify how to generate a set of indicators of systemic corruption and then identify and verify them in a real-life political environment – in our specific case, the administration and policymaking of Liberec City Council between 1998 and 2010. The research was based upon elaborated interviews (with politicians, public servants, prosecuting authorities etc.), document analysis (reports and papers of the city council and municipal government, contracts and invoices etc.), and political and media analysis. The results are significant, as only an understanding of how a corrupt system really works can lead to the implementation of suitable anticorruption measures. ; Systemic corruption is not a failure of individuals, i.e. the result of their deviant behaviour, but a collective phenomenon shared mainly by public institutions as a whole. The phenomenon is based on an effort to establish a new set of corrupt norms inside such institutions affecting policymaking, administrative procedures, public procurements, and the behavior of employees etc. In spite of the fact that impacts of systemic corruption on the areas of government, civil freedoms, social cohesion, and public economy are well known, there is very little practical research involving concrete evidence of systemic corruption in particular cases. This paper attempts to clarify how to generate a set of ...

When, in the beginning of 2009, the Party of Free Citizens was founded, it was believed that the main impulse for establishing a new political party was the generally positive approach towards the Lisbon Treaty adopted by the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) a couple of months before. Thus, since its foundation, the media, commentators and political analysts have labelled the Party of Free Citizens as a single issue Eurosceptic party. This article challenges this prevailing evaluation of the Party of Free Citizens and subsequently confronts the party´s programs and press releases with three concepts – the concept of Euroscepticism connected with the work of Taggart and Szczerbiak, the concept of a single issue party developed by Mudde, and the concept of a niche party brought into political science by Meguide. The article concludes that while the Party of Free Citizens is undoubtedly a Eurosceptic party, both in terms of its soft and hard versions, its overall performance as a political entity does not meet the criteria of Mudde´s concept of a single issue party. As the Party of Free Citizens puts a strong emphasis on European issues (compared to other mainstream Czech political parties), it can, at most, be described as a niche party. ; When, in the beginning of 2009, the Party of Free Citizens was founded, it was believed that the main impulse for establishing a new political party was the generally positive approach towards the Lisbon Treaty adopted by the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) a couple of months before. Thus, since its foundation, the media, commentators and political analysts have labelled the Party of Free Citizens as a single issue Eurosceptic party. This article challenges this prevailing evaluation of the Party of Free Citizens and subsequently confronts the party´s programs and press releases with three concepts – the concept of Euroscepticism connected with the work of Taggart and Szczerbiak, the concept of a single issue party developed by Mudde, and the concept of a niche party brought into ...

Slovak parliamentary election in September 2002 brought with it a few surprises. First, the Movement for Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) gained "only" 19,5% of votes (comp. 1992 – 37%, 1994 – 35% and 1998 – 27%). On the one side Mečiar´s HZDS formally won. On the other side it was not able to find some coalition partners and stayed outside government. Second, the election result of the new charismatic party Směr ("Direction") - 13,5% of votes, third place in election – was "weak" too. The main election aim of the party leader Robert Fico - the office of the primary minister – didn´t work out as he planned. The situation resulted in opposition position of Směr after election.Third surprise was a very good election result (15,1%, second place) of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ). Thus, the leader of SDKÚ Mikuláš Dzurinda could form relatively homogenous coalition government (with three small right – wing and centre – wing parties).