Archive 4/2005

Abstract

This study is based on a comparative analysis of political elites’ circulation in six countries – Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Finland, the Netherlands and Great Britain during the 1993–2003 period. For the purposes of the comparison, in each case study the members of parliament or the lower chamber are chosen as a representative sample of the political elites. The comparative analysis assesses the correctness of the following hypothesis: The type of elites and their circulation is interrelated with the type of political system. The study is methodologically based on the modern theory of elites and its hypothesis that every type of political system is tightly connected with the type of political elites that exist within it, and that every type of political elites can be distinguished by a specific type of circulation. Thus, by measuring the circulation of political elites we can infer the type of political elites and even the type of political regime. This study assesses the circulation of parliamentary representatives in the six selected countries during the 1993–2003 period and finds out that in the Central European states the figures are clearly distinctive from the respective figures in the Western European states, thus confirming the original hypothesis.

Key words

circulation of elites, political elites, Central Europe, Western Europe, democratic consolidation, parliaments

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze whether it is appropriate to classify the Norwegian Progress Party as a member of the extreme-right party family. The study first introduces the theoretical approaches to the identification of party families. The origins of parties, ideology, policies and political style are chosen as the most important criteria for the classification of political parties into party families. The article then defines the extreme-right party family on the basis of these criteria. The remainder of the article focuses on the analysis of the Norwegian Progress Party and examines whether the party fulfils the above-defined conditions for being classified as an extreme right-wing party. It concludes that it is appropriate to label the Norwegian Progress Party as a member of the far-right party family even though some of the criteria are not fulfilled or are not fulfilled completely. Thus the party can be considered as either a “diluted” version or a border case of contemporary European radical right.

Key words

Progress Party, extreme right, party family, political parties, Norway

Abstract

This article focuses on euroskeptical activities within the European Parliament and the possibility of the euroskeptic fractions setting up a transnational political party at the European level. After reviewing the history of euroskeptical fractions in the EP, the article argues that the ideological euroskepticism represented for example by the British UKIP or the Danish People’s Movement against the EU could be sufficient for the development of a long-lasting EP fraction. However, the euroskeptics’ lack of a positive program minimizes the probability that a transnational euroskeptic party would be established in the future.

Key words

European Parliament, Euroskepticism, European elections

Abstract

This article aims at explaining the success of the center-left coalition in the Italian regional elections in April 2005. Does it express voters’ real discontent with the government of the House of Freedoms? Or, alternatively, are the results due to the fact that in the so-called second-order elections governing parties are regularly punished and opposition parties preferred? This article takes into consideration the concept of second-order elections and explains on this basis the recent electoral results.

Key words

Italy, regional elections, second-order elections

Abstract

This article summarizes the basic theoretical approaches to the study of intelligence and intelligence control in the new Central European democracies. The existing theories are applied to the case of intelligence transformation in the Czech Republic. The Czech intelligence came through a reform similar to that of the intelligence services in neighboring countries, but with some significant exceptions. The Czech Republic’s intelligence community consists of three organizations: the Security Information Service, the Office for Foreign Relations and Information, and the Military intelligence (Military intelligence has two relatively independent parts: Military Defense Intelligence and Military Intelligence Service). Only the Security Information Service and the Military Defense Intelligence are under the control of special parliamentary bodies, though at present there are two suggestions about a legislative reform. The article summarizes both of these suggestions, makes critical notes, and presents the author’s own suggestion on how to improve democratic control of the Czech intelligence services.

Key words

Czech republic, intelligence, democratic control

Abstract

This article discusses the results of the French referendum in May 2005 which was very important for the ratification of the European constitution. It first describes the rules of referendum in the French political system of the Fifth Republic and then goes on to analyze the stances taken by the French political parties and their main representatives in the 2005 referendum. The results of the referendum are analyzed in connection with geographical areas and compared with the results of the referendum in 1992. In selected departments the results of the referendum are also compared with the results of the French presidential elections in 1995 and 2002.

Key words

France, referendum, EU constitution, electoral geography, election studies

Abstract

The article first describes the specific conditions of Czech “green politics” closely before and after November 1989 and argues that these conditions not only account for the Green Party’s unsuccessful involvement in Czech politics, but also led to the exclusion of politicians focused on environmental issues from decisive positions in the important political parties. It offers a detailed description of the developments in the Green Party around 2002, especially of the agreement between the Brandýs forum and the “old” Green Party, the “dark-green” fraction’s takeover of the Green Party, and the improvement of the Green Party’s political position that was nevertheless accompanied by internal conflict. An extensive subsequent part of the article deals with the policy of the Czech Ministry of the Environment. Finally, the article discusses the internal split within the Green Party and the future prospects of environmental policy in the Czech Republic.

Key words

Czech green politics, Green Party, Czech Ministry of the Environment, environmental policy

Abstract

Ladislav Hladký. 2005. Bosenská otázka v 19. a 20. století, Masarykova univerzita v Brně – International Institute of Political Science, 2005, 392 pages.

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Dejan Djokić, ed. 2003. Yugoslavism. Histories of a Failed Idea1918-1992, Hurst & Company, 356 pages.

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Zdeněk Kříž. 2004. Civilní řízení a demokratická kontrola armády v České republice. Peripetie transformace vojensko-civilních vztahů po roce 1989, Masarykova univerzita v Brně – International Institute of Political Science, 131 pages.

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Šárka Waisová. 2005. Řešení konfliktů v mezinárodních vztazích, Portál, 206 pages.

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Pierre Milza. 2005. Evropa v černých košilích, Themis, 488 pages.

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