Archive 1/2021

Sylvie Bláhová
University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
ORCID: 0000-0002-7673-7290
e-mail: sylvie.blahova@uhk.cz

Pavel Dufek
Masaryk Univesity Brno, Czech Republic
ORCID: 0000-0001-5822-8639
e-mail: duefk@fss.muni.cz

Abstract

This paper critically discusses the generally recognized dualism in the interpretation of the moral basis of public reason. We argue that in order to maintain the complementarity of both liberal and democratic values within the debate on public reason, the arguments from liberty and from civic friendship cannot be considered in isolation. With regard to the argument from liberty, we contend that because the idea of natural liberty is an indispensable starting point of liberal theory, no explanation of the justification of political power can do without it. In particular, we focus on the requirement of reasonableness and show that we should retain the epistemic aspect of the reasonableness of persons. Perhaps the main reason for this is to be found in the criterion of reciprocity which provides the deepest justification of the respect for people’s liberty – that is, the liberal aspect of liberal democracy. At the same time, however, we argue that reciprocity also provides the grounds for responding to the criticism that the essentially liberal approach fails to adequately take into consideration the role of political community. Because reciprocity may also be interpreted as being based on civic friendship, it provides the resources to respond to such criticism. It thus supplies the normative background also for the second, democratic pillar of public reason. We then critically examine the newly emerging approach built predominantly on the argument from civic friendship, arguing that by prioritising the civic friendship interpretation and, at times, tending to completely abandon the liberty-based one, it overlooks the indispensability of liberty-based considerations for the criterion of reciprocity. We conclude that in order to adequately capture the common liberal-democratic basis of public reason, both interpretations of reciprocity must be linked within a comprehensive account.

Key words

public reason; public justification; the liberty principle; civic friendship; reciprocity; political community

Miloš Brunclík
Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
ORCID: 0000-0003-2170-1650
e-mail: milos.brunclik@fsv.cuni.cz

Abstract

This review article provides an overview of research on constitutional conventions in the Czech Republic against the backdrop of the Anglo-Saxon scholarship on this theme. The article identifies three important gaps directly related to the study of constitutional conventions in the Czech Republic. All of them are closely linked as they pertain to the very understanding of constitutional conventions. First, there are varying definitions, including different terms used to denote constitutional conventions. Second, scholars often disagree on how constitutional conventions are established. Moreover, often they are not concerned with this question at all. Third, there is a great gap in research on sanctions for the breaching of constitutional conventions and rules enforcement. The Anglo-Saxon scholarship is instrumental in showing possible ways to fill the gaps.

Key words

Constitutional conventions; Czech Republic; constitution

Juraj Marušiak
Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
ORCID: 0000-0003-3972-8165
e-mail: polimars@savba.sk

Abstract

This paper is focused on the evolution of the ideology of Smer - Social Democracy (Smer-SD) party and its positions on European integration before the political elections in Slovakia in February 2020. As the ‘social-democratization’ of Smer-SD was the result of party’s Europeanization, the article explores the dimensions of de-Europeanization in the politics of this party in 2017–2020. Since 2006, Smer-SD has occupied a dominant position among political parties in Slovakia. However, a substantive decline in the electoral support of the party took place after 2016. Smer-SD faced a significant political challenge during the political crisis after the assassination of the journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová in February 2018. The result was the resignation of Prime Minister Robert Fico. The appointment of party vice chairman Peter Pellegrini as Prime Minister created a new situation within the party, as for the first time the positions of Prime Minister and head of the party were separated. The political crisis in 2018 revealed the presence of internal conflicts within the party and the weakening of the authority of its chairman, Robert Fico. The establishment of two centres of power within the party resulted in competition between Fico and Pellegrini and, finally, in June 2020, a split, as Pellegrini announced the founding of a new political party.

Key words

Slovakia; parliamentary elections 2020; Smer-SD; social democracy; Europeanization; de-Europeanization

Jan Osiška
Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic
ORCID: 0000-0002-8040-5002
e-mail: osicka@mail.muni.cz

Filip Černoch
Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic
ORCID: 0000-0002-2617-6456
e-mail: filip.cernoch@gmail.com

Lukáš Lehotský
Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic
ORCID: 0000-0002-7332-8782
e-mail: llehotsky@mail.muni.cz

Colin Kimbrell
Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic
ORCID: 0000-0003-0404-2825
e-mail: 442840@mail.muni.cz

Veronika Zapletalová
Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic
ORCID: 0000-0001-5105-8913
e-mail: zapletalova@mail.muni.cz

Abstract

The Visegrad Group ranks among the most visible examples of regional cooperation in Europe. Within the Group’s agenda, cooperation on energy policy appears to be especially important and it is also a field in which the Platform is considered to perform especially well. This article provides an account of what ‘energy cooperation’ is according to the Platform itself. Specifically, it seeks to find out which energy policy issues are reflected by the Platform, how their reflection has evolved over time, and how they are framed (made sense of). To find out, all the official documents and communications issued by the V4 between 2000 and 2018, totalling approximately 660,000 words of text, were thoroughly examined using three separate analytical approaches. The results show that energy indeed features prominently in the V4 agenda with a focus on energy security – tacitly understood as security of (natural gas) supply – and pursuing common interests within the EU. The results also indicate that the energy cooperation is largely reactive, with the V4 much more likely to find common positions and agree on joint actions when facing external pressures. Especially since 2015, the cooperation has been chiefly defined by common resistance to the ambitious climate policies pursued by the EU. The article concludes by suggesting that Visegrad energy cooperation is likely overrated and that there is little evidence in the documents of the Platform that this agenda represents an ‘especially successful’ field of cooperation.

Key words

Visegrad Four; energy policy; international cooperation; content analysis; frame analysis

Patrik Taufar
Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic
ORCID: 0000-0001-9577-7936
e-mail: taufar@mail.muni.cz

Abstract

In recent years the international landscape has undergone major shifts and deep transformations. These facts are mirrored in the academic literature introducing concepts of Global International Relations, pluralization of agency and norms contestation. Particularly, European studies is now confronted with a challenging task to contribute to the identification, analysis and further outline of the appropriate strategies for the EU in this new complex and more demanding reality. One of the latest conceptual attempts proposes solutions which ‘make sense of our multipolar order and…reconstitute European agency in a non-European world’ arrived in the package of the so-called ‘Decentring agenda’ (Nikolaïdis & Fisher Onar 2013). Recently authors have delivered on the operationalization of the decentring agenda into various spheres of scientific inquiry dealing with European affairs (Keukeleire & Lecocq, 2018). This article aims to further extend the reach of decentring, specifically towards practical application of decentring in strategic policy planning and policymaking. The EU’s External Human Rights Policy (EHRP) is a particularly sensitive subject calling for the application of the decentring approach. Particularly in this paper, decentring is demonstrated and illustratively applied on the very basic, direct and strategic level of Human Rights and Democracy Country Strategies (HRDCS). It intends to fill the small but crucial gap between academic conceptual work, which is still not fully in touch with practical application, and the demand from the side of policymakers who lack time for study and ‘translation’ of conceptual innovations stemming from political theory and political science into their daily practice.

Key words

decentring agenda; decentring operationalization; decentring application; human rights policymaking; EU external policy; Human Rights and Democracy Country Strategies (HRDCS)

Abstract

Otto Eibl, Miloš Gregor et al.: THIRTY YEARS OF POLITICAL CAMPAIGNING IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. 2019. 426 pages. ISBN 978-3-030-27692-8

Key words