Archive 4/2008

Abstract

The paper deals with the Europeanization of Czech political parties. The authors assess the scope of Europeanization of Czech political parties from the point of view of manifesto changes, changes in organizational patterns, and other important aspects. The study focuses on relevant parties during the period when the Czech Republic was a candidate country, and later a member country of the European Union. The main thesis argued in the paper is the limited impact of Europeanization processes on Czech political parties. The authors also demonstrate that the prospective development leaves little room for further Europeanization of political parties.

Key words

Europeanization, Political Parties, Party System, the Czech Republic

Abstract

Since the early nineties it has been widely assumed that the Czech communist party (KSČM) will eventually disappear. To the surprise of many commentators there is currently little evidence to support this “decline and disappearance” thesis. This is the central puzzle addressed in this article. Using cohort analysis, an estimate of when electoral support for KSČM will fall below the critical five per cent electoral threshold is presented. The methodology adopted in this article proceeds in two steps. First, the validity of assuming a pure cohort model of electoral support is tested through an examination of the age structure of support for KSČM at two time points, i.e. 1996 and 2006. Second, estimates derived from a pure cohort model of KSČM electoral support between 2006 and 2023 are presented and discussed. This research demonstrates that (1) KSČM support will not decline below five per cent given likely demographic changes in Czech society over the next fifteen years, (2) the number of KSČM voters will decline to eight per cent if there is an average electoral turnout of sixty five per cent. In summary, expectations of the inevitable demise of KSČM are unlikely to be fulfilled some thirty five years after the Velvet Revolution.

Key words

elections, electoral behaviour, cohort analysis, Communist party of Bohemia and Moravia, age structure

Abstract

This article focuses on the transition to democracy in South Korea in 1987. The aim of this work is to explain the causes and processes of this transition, using the theory of transition to democracy as well as the classification of transition in typologies developed by Samuel P. Huntington, Phillippe C. Schmitter, and Terry Lynn Karl. For this purpose, author deals with the role of mass mobilization in the process.

Key words

South Korea, East Asia, democracy, democratization, regime change, transition, non-democratic regime, authoritarianism, mass mobilization, uprising, Huntington, Karl, Schmitter

Abstract

This paper aims to review the concepts and theories of political participation. The first part presents classic definitions of political participation offered by Verba, Barnes, and Kaase. Subsequently it shows how the repertoire of political activities has changed since the time these classical concepts were formulated. The paper argues that the transformation of political participation happened in three distinct dimensions, i.e. goals, targets, and space. On this basis, drawing on Teorell as well as Rosenstone and Hansen, a new definition of political participation as “action by ordinary citizens directed toward influencing some political outcomes: distribution of social goods and norms” is introduced. The second part of the paper deals with theories of political participation. It presents a three-level explanatory model that corresponds to the level of analysis used by particular theories: micro (individual), meso (intermediary), and macro (structural) levels. Last but not least, the paper focuses on major theories explaining political participation: individual resources and political values (micro), social capital (meso), and modernization and institutional explanation (macro).

Key words

political participation, individual resources, political values, social capital, modernization, institutions

Abstract

The paper attempts to interpret the subsidiarity principle as an intervening variable of a policy cycle, one of the models commonly used in the context of a broad policy analysis approach. The text is based on a legal analysis of the subsidiarity principle. Methodologically, the model of a policy cycle facilitates the “transfer” of its results into the framework of European studies and forms a basis for further research of the subsidiarity principle and its role in particular legislative processes in the multilevel political system of the European Union.

Key words

subsidiarity principle, policy analysis, policy cycle

Abstract

Oldřich Bureš. 2007. Operace na udržení míru, Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, 199 pages.

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Michael Hartmann. 2007. Eliten und Macht in Europa. Ein internationaler Vergleich, Frankfurt/Main: Campus Verlag, 268 pages.

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Marek Ženíšek, David Šanc a kol. 2007. Commonwealth. Politické systémy, Plzeň: Vydavatelství a nakladatelství Aleš Čeněk, 276 pages.

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Brno, 26. září 2008

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Praha, 23. října 2008

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