The book analyzes the Czech EU Council Presidency from the first half of 2009. The book consists of twelfe chapters describing and analyzing all aspects of Czech EU Presidency. The Presidency is analyzed in wide context, including case studies on preceeding French EU Council Presidency and suceeding Swedish EU Council Presidency.
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Elections constitute a central component of all democratic political systems. Conventionally, the institute of elections is seen is an instrument of conferring and renewing political legitimacy of state officials, as well as a vehicle for expressing citizens’ preferences regarding the future of their country or some other territorial entity. Their particular shape is specified by electoral systems which translate the voters’ political will into the make-up of the elected body (typically parliaments). On the face of it, such a definition emphasises the “technical” aspect of distributing seats among successful parties; we cannot however ignore the fact that elections have an important personal dimension. Their point is always also to select particular people to elected offices and functions.So understood, elections simultaneously represent the outcome of a distinct organisational process that temporally precedes them. Selection of candidates constitutes an inseparable part of the pre-election period, together with formulating election programmes, planning the election campaign and raising funds for it. As a topic of scholarly research in political science, candidate selection (also preselection) has been gradually gaining ground, and both theoretical and empirical resources have been continually expanded. However, whereas international trends are apparent in this regard, the Czech political-scientific community still treats preselection as a topic of secondary importance. This fact underlines the relevance of the present book, which aims to provide an in-depth inquiry into this issue in the Czech context.
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Elections constitute a central component of all democratic political systems. Conventionally, the institute of elections is seen is an instrument of conferring and renewing political legitimacy of state officials, as well as a vehicle for expressing citizens’ preferences regarding the future of their country or some other territorial entity. Their particular shape is specified by electoral systems which translate the voters’ political will into the make-up of the elected body (typically parliaments). On the face of it, such a definition emphasises the “technical” aspect of distributing seats among successful parties; we cannot however ignore the fact that elections have an important personal dimension. Their point is always also to select particular people to elected offices and functions.
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The fall of communism in 1989 brought major social, political and cultural changes in the Czechoslovakia. This book concentrates on changes in one particular segment of the media market, the subsystem of local and regional print media. This segment of the media landscapeis rarely studied although – arguably – it is a significant part of the media system, particularlyas it enables strong identifications at the local/regional level. Czech local and regional press has been the centre of attention in relation to the entry of foreign owners on the market and particularlyin relation to issues of possible media concentration on this segment of the market but concentrated academic study of this subject is seriously lacking. The text aims at mapping structural changes that characterize this segment of the media market between 1989 and 2009. It analyzes political and economic factors that played a role in the transformation and identifies commercialization as a major influence. The book makes use of three research methods: document analysis, semi-structured in-depth interviews, survey and content analysis. The analysis operates at two levels, those of the media system and the media organization and it uses a case study approach for an in-depth analysis of the case of the Vltava-Labe-Press (VLP) publishing house that has become dominant on the Czech local and regional print media market. The main hypothesis that the book addresses is that the influence of commercialization (and its constituting elements on the macro and micro levels) within the transformation process leads to the gradual erosion of the local characteristics (a process we term delocalization) of this particular segment of the media system.
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V několika posledních desetiletích je mimo řadu jiných témat archeologie patrný zvýšený zájem o výzkum a následnou interpretaci fenoménu nazývaného v archeologických kruzích jako rondelová či sociokultovní architektura. Na Ústavu archeologie a muzeologie (dříve Katedře archeologie) Filozofické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity v Brně mátento směr bádání dlouhou tradici. Připomeňme jen, že jako první byl ve střední Evropě kompletně prozkoumán rondel v „Sutnách“ u Těšetic-Kyjovic nedaleko Znojma, a to meziléty 1968–1978 (dějiny výzkumu jsou i s literaturou uvedeny v kapitole 1), čímž rozběhl novou etapu oboru. Od té doby bylo do dnešních dnů objeveno řádově několik desítek podobných objektů.
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The aim of this book is to examine the relationship between international trade and political power in an appropriate historical and political context. The term “international trade” designates the exchange of goods between (relatively) distant regions but primarily between territories which are controlled by different political entities. In general, this kind of trade always has important political implications. It is a form of contact between members of different political entities who are usually of different ethnicities, sometimes even belonging to different religious groups or cultural regions. From the viewpoint of these different political entities (i.e. states), the exchange of goods (here understood as international trade) has always presented a mix of opportunities and risks, both political and economic.
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In 1624, Abraham Goos, a Dutch graphic designer and map publisher, published a map of Moravia. I. A. Comenio was identified as the author of the map. Jan Amos Komenský (1592–1670), or John Amos Comenius, was the Bishop of the Bohemian Brethren, a philosopher, an educational theorist, and a man with a wide range of knowledge. He prepared materials for this cartographic work before he went into exile; he had planned to use the map as a supplement to his work about the history of Moravia. However, the result of his research and documentary work, which was intended to improve on the older Fabricius map, soon became a fully-fledged item in the list of his essential works. The 1624 publication was followed by more, and the original served as the basis for a number of versions that differed only in minor details or in the place of publication and publisher.
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On the most general level, it is evident that transnational activities and structures play a decisive role in our current globalized world. Accordingly, research focused on the transnational level has gained importance in the fields of political science and sociology. The past two decades of social science research have seen a number of publications written in the area. They include Císař 2004; Kolářová 2009; Della Porta, Tarrow 2005; Imig, Tarrow 1999, 2001; Snow, Benford 1999; Tarrow 1998; and Tarrow 2005. It is noteworthy that each of these researchers has chosen to examine transnationalism in the context of social movements.
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Tremendism is one of the most peculiar phenomena that appeared on the Spanish cultural scene in the 20th century. Its origin at the beginning of the 1940s had been accompanied with several polemics that have gradually faded out. Tremendism appeared along with a new literary group, the so called Generation of 36, whose literary works influenced the later development of the Spanish narrative. A greater revival of interest in this issue took place only much later, especially in the 1990s after Camilo Jose Cela, the leading representative of tremendism, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. At the same time, new writers from the Generation X published their tremendist novels. This monograph is a contribution to the academic discussion on tremendism as a literary phenomenon.
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A brief look into an etymological dictionary will show that the term economics is indirectly derived from the word nemein, meaning distribute, allot, apportion one‘s due. This implication is connected with the name of the Greek goddess of vengeance, Nemesis. The word economics therefore includes more than just a concern for economy: italso embodies the desire for justice.With respect to justice, the book does not consider its commutative form, but rather the distributive branch, where the examined problem consists in the use of private property for philanthropic and charitable purposes as opposed to the selfishness of one’s own benefit. In its final shape, the text subsumes three institutions of charity, or three universal patterns of behavior transmitted by education and culture, whose long line of development within European civilization can be followed from today’s complex system of social policies back to the realizations adopted in ancient Greece and Rome, obviously not excluding the essential intermezzo of medieval Christianity. The three institutions of charity are as follows: a gift (or alms), work (or an offer of sustenance), and loan. Eventhough specific activities of charitable organizations have been periodically transformed along with changes within the cultural and economic milieu, the patterns of human behavior remained the same.
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This book examines the controversy over the plans to construct a deep geological repository for highly radioactive waste in the Czech Republic. Since the 1990s, state authorities have identified a number of locations as potentially suitable for the construction of the repository. However, the plans have met strong opposition from the affected municipalities, as well as from local and national NGOs. The controversy has lasted for almost two decades now, and arguably has not progressed much since the beginning. This book provides a detailed account of this controversy based on interviews with key actors, observations from public meetings and debates, policy documents, technical reports, and media coverage. With inspiration from literature from the field of science and technology studies (STS), the book analyses the controversy in terms of how risk and uncertainty are dealt with in the negotiations. Ultimately, the author suggests that a shift from a risk-based to an uncertainty-based perspective may offer a way out of the negotiation deadlock.
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How do citizens form their political attitudes? How do political actors influence people’s political views in their everyday lives? Do people’s feelings towards political parties and politicians influence the public opinion? The book presents a series of laboratory experiments focused on the formation processes of citizens’ attitudes to political issues in the context of their emotional attachments to political actors. The research puts emphasis on negativity and negative feelings of citizens towards political actors and shows that this type of negative attachment influences the way people think about political issues. Since the experimental method is a newcomer in the field of Czech political science, the volume’s ambition is also to introduce experiments as a relevant and useful tool for extending knowledge of substantial political processes and phenomena.
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Před zhruba půlstoletím napsal prominentní britský prehistorik Gordon Vere Childe (1892–1957) jeden z prvních, ne-li vůbec první, novodobých úvodů do studia archeologie: A Short Introduction to Archaeology (Krátký úvod do archeologie). Od té doby byly takových úvodů napsány desítky, až po volnou, žertovnou formou napsanou repliku knihy G. V. Childa, Archaeology. A Very Short Introduction od Paula Bahna (Oxford University Press 1996, 2002; český překlad Anna Kalmanová, Archeologie. Průvodce pro každého, Vimperk: Dokořán, 2007). U nás byly nejvíce používány příručky: H. J. Eggers, Einführung in die Vorgeschichte (München 1959); S. J. Laet, Archeologija i jejproblemy (polské vydání, Warszawa 1960); F. Felgenhauer, Einführung in die Urgeschichtsforschung (Freiburg 1973); H. Müller-Karpe, Einführung in die Vorgeschichte (München 1979) a možná i poněkud náročnější polský sborník W. Hensel – G. Donato – S. Tabaczyński, eds., Teoria i praktika badań archeologicznych I. Przeslanki metodologiczne (Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków–Gdańsk–Łódź 1986).
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Cooperating or betraying – what pays off more? Are you able not to overeat if you eat from a shared plate? Are you saving up for retirement? What is the point of forgiving? How many grandchildren do unfaithful women have? Is evolution going forward? The first volume of Munice popular science series provides an unusual insight into game theory. It focuses on one of the most interesting problems of the interdisciplinary field: the prisoner’s dilemma. Fresh and swift, it explains its principles with the help of many original pictures and schemes.
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Building on theory and research, this book aims to share good practices and innovative ideas which have been successfully applied in the area of videoconferencing in language teaching and learning in the context of higher education. It offers practical ideas and methodologies, advantages and challenges of new approaches, and the what, how and why of individual cases so that readers can apply them in their own contexts. It intends to help language teachers and teacher trainers develop skills and confidence and to inspire them to reflect on their own teaching practices. It also offers insights on the impact of videoconferencing practices on learners and learning processes.
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The book describes the modern history of Vietnam from the 16th century till the present time. It covers the development of Vietnamese statehood before the colonial era and under the dynasties Lê, Mạc, and under the influential families of Trịnh and Nguyễn. After the Tây Sơn unification, the rule was returned back to the hands of Nguyễns with the help of French advisers. Later, the French took over the power in the war with China. Their colonial rule was not satisfactory for Vietnamese and it stimulated local nationalism. The war with the Western countries in the second half of the 20th century led to partial and formal friendship with its allies (China and the Soviet Union). Post-war modernization, own political authority, and renewed Confucian values are the main features of the recent development.
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Unusual in its theme, this comprehensive publication should please not only experts in onomastics but also fans of rail transport. For the first time, they can discover detailed linguistic analysis of the names of 357 trains that have been crossing the Czech Republic since its foundation. The core of the book consists in an extensive dictionary of proper names of train lines where each train connection is accompanied with a table of extra-linguistic factors such as the train category, its number, departure and destination, route, and time of operation. Supplementary charts and maps are provided at the end.
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The main outcome of this publication is a model describing the influence of the product quality (including customer satisfaction) on the company performance (including the relationship of product quality of a company and its competitors). Particular model variables (factors) were analyzed to determine statistical significance of their mutual relationship. Simultaneously, the research concerns the interaction of quality management system, company performance, cost management, and quality certificates. In line with this theoretical approach, the model has been extended into the field of quality management system. Moreover, the model became dynamic. From a statistical point of view, mutual interaction of sub- variables (factors) in the model but not the model as a whole was confirmed.
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The publication is focused on the topic of local media that is often neglected in the field of media studies. The main points of view are the analysis of local audiences and the characteristics of the relationship between local media and local audiences. The international group of nineteen authors maps the specifics of the functioning of local media and, more generally, local communication in different (mainly European) states.
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This paper offers a comprehensive look at the early parliamentary electionsof 2013. Analyzing the platforms of the individual political parties reveals increasing areas of commonality in their platform statements. This raises the question of whether it is still worthwhile to create and read such platforms. This is particularly true in view of the documented weakness of the relationship between Czech voters and political parties in general. Equally interesting is the contradiction between the meaning still accorded the platforms by voters, who may consider them an important factor in their decision-making process, and the details of the individual platforms themselves. It would appear that people tend to expose themselves only to those ideas with which they agree a priori. The level of exposure may then even end up strengthening their existing views (and this is also true for the opposite case: a confrontation with information which contradicts the original viewpoint may paradoxically strengthen that viewpoint).
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