scholarly journals Corruption Perception in the Czech Republic

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimír Naxera

Abstract This paper is focused on the issue of corruption perception in the Czech Republic. After introducing the general framework for corruption perception in post-communist countries, this paper uses the Czech Republic as an example of the ways in which corruption is perceived, the areas Czech citizens feel are most plagued by corruption, and the ways in which corruption perception has transformed in terms of post-communist developments. This paper points out the differences in corruption perception among Czech citizens, the media and political parties and their representatives. The conclusion of the paper attempts to answer the question of how corruption perception has affected the overall perception of the democratic regime in the Czech Republic. It also asks questions regarding how this has influenced the evaluation of democracy and the relationship between Czech citizens and political institutions, including individual political parties.

Author(s):  
Petr Jüptner

This chapter discusses and analyses the proposals for the introduction of directly elected mayors in the Czech Republic. Particular attention is paid to the proposed models of direct election and their potential impacts on the functioning of the municipal executive, and on the relationship between the mayor and other institutions of local government. It draws on research conducted by the author, in addition to government reports, legislative materials, and material from political parties and the media. It is argued that the reform process involves a debate that resembles a political game, which is connected to the experience of Austrian and Slovak mayors. Distinct periods can be identified within this debate.


Author(s):  
Tetiana Fedorchak

Using a retrospective approach, the author explores the changes that took place in Czechoslovakia after the 1989 «velvet revolution». The article emphasizes that the «velvet revolution» later grew into a national revolution and led to the emergence of two new nation-states; into a political revolution that destroyed the authoritarian regime and contributed to the emergence of new democratic political institutions; in the economic revolution, during which the mechanisms of a market economy were created in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The country made a simultaneous transition from dictatorship to democracy, from a command economy to a free market and to a nation state. Despite such a difficult situation and a large number of tasks, Czechoslovakia was able to eliminate the totalitarian legacy, solved the transformational tasks and problems of the division of Czechoslovakia into two sovereign states. In the Czech Republic, the classical political mechanisms of a democratic civil society had already been established in the 1990s and first, a multiparty political system. New democratic election laws laid the groundwork for a competitive multi-party system and political pluralism. The 1993 Constitution of the Czech Republic legislated a new political system for a democratic society, which was to be based on the voluntary creation and competition of political parties, who respect fundamental democratic principles and deny violence as a means to an end. The «velvet revolution» caused a sharp rise in civic activity. On the eve of the first parliamentary elections in 1992, more than 140 political parties and right-wing and left-wing social movements were registered in the CSFM. This was the peak of the quantitative growth of the number of political parties at the stage of building civil society.


Author(s):  
Tetiana Fedorchak

The author investigates political radicalism in the Czech Republic, a rather heterogeneous current considering the structure of participants: from political parties to the extremist organizations. The peculiarity of the Czech party system is the existence, along with typical radical parties, of other non-radical parties whose representatives support xenophobic, nationalist and anti-Islamic statements. This is primarily the Civil Democratic Party, known for its critical attitude towards European integration, and the Communist party of the Czech Republic and Moravia, which opposes Czech membership in NATO and the EU. Among the Czech politicians, who are close to radical views, analysts include the well-known for its anti-Islamic position of the Czech President M. Zeman and the leader of the movement ANO, billionaire A. Babich. Voters vote for them not because their economic or social programs are particularly attractive to the electorate, but because of dissatisfaction with the economic situation in the state. Almost all right populist parties oppose European integration, interpreting it as an anti-national project run by an elite distorted by a deficit of democracy and corruption. Keywords: Czech Republic, right-wing radical political parties, European integration, nationalism.


SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 215824402110095
Author(s):  
Jakub Dostál

The economic value of volunteering is an increasingly important part of volunteering management. It has become part of public policies. Some requests for proposals (RFP) enable nonprofits to include the value of volunteer time in compulsory co-financing. These RFP include the European Economic Area (EEA) Grants and Norway Grants. This article addresses the relationship in the value of volunteering, also called in-kind volunteering contributions. The research includes two case studies of finances from EEA and Norway Grants in the Czech Republic: the Czech NGO Programme, responsible for allocating grants between 2009 and 2014, and the Active Citizens Fund, responsible for allocating grants between 2014 and 2021. They share elements through the EEA and Norway Grants rules. However, they use different types of specialist replacement wages. The article summarizes the arguments for including in-kind volunteering contributions. It presents the possible values of these contributions in the selected cases, including the relationship between the type of volunteering and the number of hours necessary to achieve these values. The article defines the theoretical basis for calculating the value of in-kind volunteer contributions and illustrates this with real examples of allocations from EEA and Norway Grants.


2019 ◽  
pp. 135406881986362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergiu Gherghina ◽  
Adam Fagan

Much of the literature on fringe political parties in post-communist Europe focused on the relationship with mainstream parties. Little is known about what happens at the fringes, what are the features of politics at the fringes and when this type of politics becomes mainstream. This special issue moves beyond the notion of the fringe versus mainstream dichotomy: it is more ‘granular’ in its approach and seeks to differentiate between different forms of ‘fringe’ parties. The contributions aim to explore how and whether the fringe in post-communist countries changes in an age of populism and illiberalism. They represent an important attempt to take the fringe as a feature of politics that is not necessarily transient or a manifestation of the ‘growing pains’ of post-communism.


Author(s):  
Klára Margarisová ◽  
Lucie Vokáčová ◽  
Kateřina Kuralová ◽  
Tomáš Hlavsa

This article focuses on the experience of Czech customers with the purchase of products labelled by the Association of Regional Brands and Bohemian Paradise Association. The aim of this paper is to evaluate selected indicators associated with purchasing certified regional products. The studied characteristics focus on the knowledge and perception of several chosen microregional brands and on the purchase of a certified product itself. The article presents the results of research conducted through a questionnaire survey, whose 1390 respondents are residents as well as visitors of eight different micro‑regions in the Czech Republic. Awareness of regional brands within the sample surveyed is around 46 %. The relationship between awareness of regional brand and respondents’ age, education and status towards the region has been identified. The perception of consumers considered, a brand is most often associated with tangible products, namely food and agricultural produce. Consumers view brands chiefly as a guarantee of production in the given region and a certain tradition. Most often, the respondents take notice of brands on the packaging of a particular certified product.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-57
Author(s):  
Pavol Baboš

Abstract Trust in political institutions is an important issue in contemporary democracies, as it contributes to democratic regimes’ legitimacy and sustainability. This paper investigates what effects corruption, political allegiance, and the post-communist history of a country have on political trust. Political trust is measured as trust towards parliament, political parties, and politicians. Both individual-and country-level factors are included in the analytical model in order to account for the personal and contextual characteristics that might shape political trust. This research employs the multilevel modelling for empirical analysis. The results show that the winner effect and corruption perception impact are relatively strongly affecting political trust. Surprisingly, the post-communist history of a country seems to play no significant role in driving political trust. The concluding part links the findings of this study back to the theory and draws several implications not only for the future research but also the real world of policies and politics.


2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (No. 1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Jana Lososová ◽  
Jindřiška Kouřilová ◽  
Nikola Soukupová

Expansion of the wolf in the Czech Republic results in an increasing conflict between nature conservationists and other landscape users. In March 2020, the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic issued the "Wolf Management Programme". The document provoked negative reactions from organisations of farmers, breeders, and hunters. The article deals with the key issues triggered by the conflict and the attitudes of actors involved. We want to clarify to what extent the solutions designed by individual parties help to mitigate the conflict and how the financial demands related to this issue have been evolving. The problem may seem marginal in the Czech Republic, but the wolf population density in some regions may already be close to its bearable maximum. Key problems are the identification of specific target numbers of wolves, the absence of zoning as a future option, and clear rules for dealing with direct encounters of wolves with humans. The benefit of wolf management is primarily the sum of preventive measures it aims to address, but the relationship with other main actors and the area of education and promotion is debatable as it represents a further increase in the absorption of public funds without guarantees of effectiveness.


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