Archive 3/2005

Abstract

The article identifies the most important controversies related to public opinion polls on electoral preferences, explains their substance, and discusses its impact on the possibility to use information obtained in the surveys. The article further focuses on the importance of surveys for representative democracy, the impact of the publication of opinion polls’ results on public opinion, the possibilities of manipulating surveys, the risks related to the growth of research production (high non-response rate and the growth of survey costs, non-transparency of the market, incorrect application of advanced data analyses), the limits to election forecasting, and issues related to the relationship between research and journalism. Opinion polls contribute to shaping the environment for political competition. The nature of their impact is determined by their quality. Serious risks are associated with the possibility for intentional manipulation, poor quality of the survey process, and misinterpretation of results. Knowledge on research, publication of contextual information together with the survey data, and free competition in the market can help reduce the risks. The possibilities for quantification in social research do not remove the obligation to ensure sound theoretical grounding and qualified judgment, which are the prerequisites for the credibility of all conclusions drawn from the data.

Key words

election studies, public opinion polls, polls and democracy, data quality

Abstract

The Individual Action Plan (IAP) is an Active Labour Market Policy measure that should be used by local public employment service offices. It is an active and preventive tool targeted at the young and long-term unemployed. In this paper we focus on identifying both its officially prescribed goals at the supranational and national level and on its real operational goals at the local level in the case of the Czech Republic. Identically to other EU states, we observe a high level of goal modification (i.e. regional policy discretion) in the Czech Republic. The results of the research are: (1) a typology of IAP’s operational (and related individual access) goals (2) the observation that the IAP in the Czech Republic is modified due to a particular bureaucratic and professional approach.

Key words

individual Action Plan, active labour market policy, European employment strategy, service model of public employment services, official goals, operational goals, policy modification, implementation deficit, implementation gap, bureaucracy, professionalism

Abstract

The theory of coalitions has been a significant part of political science analysis since 1960. We can distinguish two traditions in the theory of coalitions – the American tradition and the European one. While the American theory of coalitions puts an emphasis on game theory, the European theory of coalitions focuses on political culture, traditions and social environment. The two traditions evaluate existing coalitions differently. This article demonstrates these different approaches by analyzing governmental coalitions in Saxony in the 1990s.

Key words

coalition governments, Saxony, Germany, CDU, SPD, PDS

Abstract

The article examines the issue of the Czech Republic’s (CR) membership in the European Union as regards the external dimension of security policy. The focus is on the participation of the CR in peace missions, both military and civilian, in the “out of area” zone. Military missions are a key aspect of foreign and security policy, and a part of the contemporary European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). The framework of analysis utilizes the three-dimensional concept of politics – polity, politics and policy. According to our analysis, the CR’s participation in EU’s missions is a predictable and natural outcome of Czech membership. The article also discusses the area of possible EU operations. The perimeter of the “closer neighbourhood” will play an important role in the future. However, other areas such as central Africa and some parts of Asia will also become the target of EU activities, mainly due to the nature of contemporary security threats.

Key words

European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), Czech Republic, European Union, out of area missions, the process of accession, peace missions, international security, transatlantic relations

Abstract

In the 1990s, the research of political field was ultimately established as part of German political science. The article describes the development of the research of political field in both the international and the German contexts and overviews the current state of this research in Germany. First, the article introduces important researchers and research institutions. Further, the article discusses the relationship between basic and applied research and between research and politics. The list of sources at the end of the article contains not only available literature, but also Internet links of important researchers and institutions.

Key words

research of political field, policy analysis, development of the analysis of political field, political science in Germany

Abstract

This review article deals with the volume Democracy and Critique – 40 Years of Political Science in Austria edited by Helmut Kramer. The article not only covers and reviews the content of the volume, but also discusses the contemporary state of Austrian political science. This topic is critically discussed and in particular cases a comparison with the present state of Czech political science is made. Thus, the article offers an introduction to the development, structures, persons and problems of recent Austrian political science. Related fields (international relations studies, European studies) are covered, too. The article presents Austrian political science as an interesting example of a small “national” political science that has been built up in the turbulent atmosphere of the 1960s. Austrian political science is dominated by the critical-dialectic paradigm and has to compete not only with other social sciences, but also with “well-established” fields in the humanities such as history and law. Although Austrian political science celebrated its 40th anniversary, it still has to struggle for more public and political recognition. Thus, certain similarities between Austria and the Czech Republic are evident, regardless of the two countries’ different historical pathways and conditions.

Key words

Austrian political science, Czech political science, European Studies, International Relations, development of Austrian scientific community, paradigms of political science

Abstract

This review essay critically discusses J. Keane’s book Violence and Democracy (CUP, 2004). The condemnation of violence as an illegitimate use of force to effect decisions against the will of others is as widespread as the belief that democracy and democratization will have a major impact on global peace and cooperation. This makes the issue of violence – leaving aside its numerous and contradicting interpretations – as essentially political as the debate on democracy and the transition to democracy. Violence as a multidimensional and multilevel condition signifies the absence of human security, and, as such, can be properly addressed only within the framework of freedom and the rational action of human agency to subdue violence. While many researchers focus on the processes and manifestations of violence, often linked with the trade-off between conflicts and social costs, J. Keane advocates a “non-offensive defense”. The latter means scaling down and eliminating violence by democratic means.

Key words

democracy, violence, triangle of terror, nuclear instability, uncivil wars, apocalyptic terrorism

Abstract

Miroslav Mareš, Lubomír Kopeček, Pavel Pečínka, Věra Stýskalíková. 2004. Etnické menšiny a česká politika. Analýza stranických přístupů k etnické a migrační politice po roce 1989, Brno: CDK, 140 pages.

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Slavomír Horák. 2005. Střední Asie mezi východem a západem, Praha: Karolinum, 260 pages.

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ancy Fraserová, Axel Honneth. 2004. Přerozdělování nebo uznání? Praha: Filosofia, 333 pages.

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Larry Siedentop. 2004. Demokracie v Evropě, Barrister & Principal, 1. vydání, 229 pages.

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Rinus van Schendelen. 2004. Jak lobovat v Evropské unii aneb Machiavelli v Bruselu, Centrum strategických studií, Barrister & Principal, 350 pages.

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Brno, April 14 and 15, 2005

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Vídeň, 8.–13. srpna 2005

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