scholarly journals Participative and Deliberative Democracy on the Local Level: How the Political Characteristics of Municipalities in the Czech Republic Relate to the Use of Selected Democratic Innovation within their Territory?

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 369-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hana Hurtikova ◽  
Michal Soukop
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The Political ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Unique Data ◽  
Utilisation Rate ◽  
Unexplored Area

Little current studies of democratic innovations have considered whether there is any connection between the political characteristics of a municipality and the higher degree of use of participative and deliberative tools within their territory. This article aims at contributing to the discussion by testing selected political indicators in the municipalities in relation to the utilisation rate of innovative tools. By using the case study of local territory within the Czech Republic during the election period of 2014–2018, the article uses unique data from the municipalities with extended powers to track common features of participative municipalities, e-municipalities, and transparent municipalities, and reveals the substantial positive effects of intergenerational renewal in the representative bodies and strong financial capital. Paper contributes to the discourse on democratic innovations by focusing on unexplored area, thanks to which participative and deliberative tools could become a normal part of the decision-making process on a local level.

scholarly journals Citizens local political participation in the Czech Republic: rural-urban comparison

2008 ◽  
Vol 53 (No. 1) ◽  
pp. 21-29
Author(s):  
J. Cmejrek
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Local Administration ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Public

The Velvet Revolution in November 1989 in the former Czechoslovakia opened the way to the renewal of the democratic political system. One of the most visible aspects of the Czech political development consisted in the renewal of the essential functions of elections and political parties. On the local level, however, the political process - as well as in other post-communist countries - continued to be for a long time influenced by the remains of the former centralized system wherein the local administration used to be subjected to the central state power. Municipal elections took hold in these countries, however, the local government remained in the embryonic state and a certain absence of real political and economic decision-making mechanism on the local level continued to show. The public administration in the Czech Republic had to deal with the changes in the administrative division of the state, the split of the Czechoslovak federation as well as the fragmentation of municipalities whose number increased by 50 percent. Decision making mechanisms on the local and regional level were suffering from the incomplete territorial hierarchy of public administration and from the unclear division of power between the state administration and local administration bodies. Only at the end of the 1990s, the public administration in the Czech Republic started to get a more integrated and specific shape. Citizens participation in the political process represents one of the key issues of representative democracy. The contemporary democracy has to face the decrease in voter turnout and the low interest of citizens to assume responsibility within the political process. The spread of democratising process following the fall of the iron curtain should not overshadow the risk of internal weakness of democracy. The solution should be looked for in more responsible citizenship and citizens’ political participation. The degree of political participation is considered (together with political pluralism) to be the key element of representative democracy in general terms, as well as of democratic process on the local and regional level. The objective of this paper is to describe the specifics of citizens local political participation in the Czech Republic and to show the differences between rural and urban areas. The paper concentrates on voting and voter turnout but deals also with other forms of citizens political participation.

scholarly journals A Curse of Coal? Exploring Unintended Regional Consequences of Coal Energy in The Czech Republic

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bohumil Frantál ◽  
Eva Nováková
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
District Heating ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Socioeconomic Characteristics ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Coal Power Plants ◽  
Coal Power

Abstract Focusing on coal energy from a geographical perspective, the unintended regional consequences of coal mining and combustion in the Czech Republic are discussed and analysed in terms of the environmental injustice and resource curse theories. The explorative case study attempts to identify significant associations between the spatially uneven distribution of coal power plants and the environmental and socioeconomic characteristics and development trends of affected areas. The findings indicate that the coal industries have contributed to slightly above average incomes and pensions, and have provided households with some technical services such as district heating. However, these positive effects have come at high environmental and health costs paid by the local populations. Above average rates of unemployment, homelessness and crime indicate that the benefits have been unevenly distributed economically. A higher proportion of uneducated people and ethnic minorities in affected districts suggest that coal energy is environmentally unjust.

scholarly journals Vliv institucionálního zapojení nevládních organizací na volbu strategií

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-53
Author(s):  
Aneta Pinková
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Political System ◽  
Strategy Choice ◽  
The Political ◽  
Advisory Committees ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Independent Variable

The article explores institutional platforms used to incorporate non-governmental groups into the decision making process and the possible impacts of such incorporation on their choice of strategy. The paper starts with an overview of relevant theories and concepts, such as the political opportunities structures, the concept of access points to the political system and, most importantly, the insider – outsider typology of interest groups. The empirical part of the paper focuses on the Czech Republic and the two institutional platforms available to NGOs within its political system: participation in advisory committees and formal commenting procedure. The article further presents a case study of employer and business groups in the Czech Republic, using a scale of institutional incorporation as an independent variable influencing the groups’ strategy choice. The scale roughly indicates the level of the organizations’ institutional incorporation, based on their involvement in both advisory committees and formal commenting procedure. On the basis of the findings from the case study, possible impacts of institutional incorporation on strategy choice are outlined, indicating that the so-called insider strategies are more often used by more incorporated groups. This suggests a continuing relevance of Grant’s insider – outsider typology, which has been questioned by political scientists in recent years. While the article focuses on a relatively narrowly defined category of organizations, the findings also suggest that the role and influence of institutionalized platforms on the overall strategy choice of traditional interest groups should not be ignored by researchers, as it is often the case both in the Czech Republic and internationally.

scholarly journals Referenda w systemie politycznym Republiki Czeskiej

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 77-91
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Koźbiał
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Political System ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Local Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Wind Power Plants

Republika Czeska jest jednym z tych krajów europejskich, w których bezpośrednie instrumenty demokratyczne, takie jak referenda, są rzadko stosowane na szczeblu państwowym. W Republice Czeskiej w ten sposób zdecydowano jedynie o przystąpieniu kraju do Unii Europejskiej (2003). Z drugiej strony, na poziomie lokalnym czeskie doświadczenia z referendami są bogate. W latach 2006‑2021 przeprowadzono ponad 300 referendów, średnio ponad 20 rocznie. Problematyka poruszana w tych referendach obejmowała kwestie infrastruktury, lokalizacji elektrowni wiatrowych czy składowania odpadów radioaktywnych. W przyszłości szersze niż dotychczas wykorzystanie referendów w czeskim systemie politycznym zależeć będzie m.in. od wyniku wyborów parlamentarnych, które odbędąsięjesienią2021 r. Czeska Partia Piratów, która ma duże szanse na zwycięstwo w tych wyborach, opowiada się za korzystaniem z tego typu głosowania znacznie częściej niż dotychczas. Referenda in the political system of the Czech Republic The Czech Republic is one of those European countries where direct democratic instruments, such as referendums, are rarely resorted to at the state level. Only the country’s accession to the European Union (2003) was decided in this way in the Czech Republic. On the local level, on the other hand, the Czech experience with referendums is rich. Between 2006 and 2021, more than 300 referendums were held, an average of more than 20 per year. The issues dealt with in these referendums included infrastructure issues, the location of wind power plants or the storage of radioactive waste. The future of the use of referendums more widely than before in the Czech political system will depend, among other things, on the outcome of the parliamentary elections to be held in the autumn of 2021. The Czech Pirate Party, which has a significant chance of winning this election, is in favour of using this type of voting far more often than before.

scholarly journals Globalization and Sustainability of Regions: The Role of Cultural and Creative Industries in Cutural Policies and their Implications for Regional Development – A Case Study of the Czech Republic

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 04032
Author(s):  
Blanka Wurst
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
City Region ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Policy Paper ◽  
Public Policy Implementation ◽  
Cultural And Creative Industries

This article examined the level of integration of the concept of Cultural and Creative Industries in strategic documents decisive for public policy implementation. On the case study of the Czech Republic, concrete goals, tools and measures of respective policies were examined, special focus has been laid on the implementation power and coordination mechanisms. In the methodological framework of the Multi-level Governance Concept, methods of content and comparative analysis were used. As the analysis shows, on the central level is the concept of CCIs explicitly reflected and very well elaborated, with concrete goals and instruments to achieve the given goals, on the local level predominantly the „cultural part“ is stressed, having the „creative aspects“ hidden in other policy areas. Concerning the local level, there is a „two axes“ flow. On one side, examined policy paper stresses the importance of culture for own citizens, especially for the community and identity feeling, promotion of a good name of the city (region, municipality) and last, not least, the identification of citizens with the place they live in. On the other hand, the second line aims at attracting tourists through a complex combination of cultural heritage visits, connected with various experience events.

scholarly journals Contemporary decision-making of mid-size city in the Czech Republic using Multiple Criteria Decision-making

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Meaza Birhane Haile ◽  
Martin Mastalka
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Strategic Planning ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Multiple Criteria Decision Making ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
The Czech Republic

The strategic planning process has been implemented into the local governance environment in the Czech Republic during last two decades. But the strategic goals that are expressed in the strategic development documents on the local level are only the part of the issues that are to be fulfilled or solved by the local government. In the everyday practical governance there is always a list of projects that appear from the actual technological, technical, public or political demand. The contemporary decision-making process is based on the personal or collective political decision or on the actual technical demand. But there are also municipalities that are already implementing strategic planning and want to avoid unsystematic interventions and decision-making processes. They try to adopt some attitudes from the corporate sphere to make the decision-making process more open and clear. This paper deals with the methodology of the mid-size city and tries to discuss it and offer some improvements. The paper’s other goals are to offer comparison of typical projects that could be found on the local level and to make a model of results provided by the different methodologies used for the decision-making process, specifically weighted sum average and analytic hierarchy process.

scholarly journals Transparency in the Allocation of Municipal Grants for Sports and Voucher Systems in the Czech Republic

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Pavlík
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Political Development ◽  
General Assumption ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
Sport Clubs ◽  
Municipal Level

Abstract This paper will assess transparency in the decision-making process in sports grants allocation. In comparison with other parts of the public sector, surprisingly little is known about transparency in the sports sector. An increasing portion of public funds is spent on sport grants; this establishes the necessity for research. Can any positive effects of sports grants be expected to appear without transparency in the decisionmaking process? An examination of the process in reality is crucial for future public resources allocation. Based on the general assumption that NGOs are important actors in economic and political development, we address the Czech Republic at the municipal level. The main goals of this paper are to assess the transparency of the allocation of public grants for sport organizations on the municipal level in the Czech Republic and to discuss one possible method for improving system transparency and efficiency: vouchers. We discuss sport vouchers as a possible tool for improving transparency. Vouchers solve the problem of transparency in the decision-making process by transferring the purchasing power to the client. Although using sports vouchers as a tool for allocating public resources is quite rare, there are a few examples of this practice in the Czech Republic. We established two research questions: (1) Do sport clubs perceive the allocation of sport grants at the municipality level as transparent? (2) Do sport clubs consider a voucher system as helpful for the transparency? To answer these questions, we discuss the theory and specific conditions in the Czech Republic; we perform a survey among sport clubs and we examine examples of voucher implementation; and we discuss the general consequences of our results.

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