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.

Monument to Marshal Konev as a victim of Czech contradictions on Russia

2021 ◽  
pp. 197-210
Author(s):  
Vadim V. Trukhachev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Local Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Red Army ◽  
Army Soldiers ◽  
Political Disputes

The authorities of the Prague 6 district took down the monument to Marshal Konev, who liberated the Czech capital in May 1945. Russia could not prevent this, because the monument was not subject to an intergovernmental agreement. The laws of the Czech Republic allow municipal authorities to decide the fate of monuments standing on their territory. The actions of Czech politicians on a regional level appeared to demonstrate profound ingratitude in the eyes of many people - some condemned the politicians in the sharpest possible terms, but others supported and praised the decision. Representatives of the majority of political parties represented in the Czech Parliament, as well as the country's President Miloš Zeman, spoke on the topic. The “bronze Marshal” became a victim of Czech internal political disputes over relations with Russia. There is no state-level “war” against monuments to Red Army soldiers in the Czech Republic. However, decisions to remove them have been taken several times at 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 Public Participation in the Process of EIA Intentions of Wind Power Plants in the Czech Republic

2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-182
Author(s):  
Jiří Schneider ◽  
Petr Mudra ◽  
Alice Kozumplíková
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Public ◽  
Wind Power Plants

Public participation in decision‑making process is an important function of the process called Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The respect for the public right in the participation of environmental impact assessment and the right to information are generally controlled by non‑governmental organizations (NGOs) in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment. The support of public is provided in the cases in which queried entity tries not to give the requested information in the appropriate range. NGOs do not follow how the public is involved in the EIA process, and how the comments are relevant or incorporated and whether the final standpoint is influenced. This standpoint is not monitored by Czech Statistical Office. The article deals with the involvement of the general public in the EIA process of wind power plants in the Czech Republic. In selected regions (Moravskoslezský, Olomoucký, Ústecký and Jihomoravský), not only the quantity but also the relevance of the comments in relation to the outcome of the process are evaluated. The own typology groups of the public (individuals, petitions, self‑government etc.) and also applying comments (noise, nature protection, administrative mistakes etc.) were used for the evaluation. All intentions obtained concurring standpoints in the case of zero or low interest of the public.

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.

Central Banks of the Visegrad Group States in the Light of Constitutional Regulations

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martyna Wilmanowicz-Słupczewska ◽  
Maciej Serowaniec ◽  
Jacek Wantoch-Rekowski
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Political System ◽  
Central Banks ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Central European ◽  
Original Presentation ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Visegrad Group

Abstract The Visegrad Group is a regional form of cooperation of four Central European states, i.e. Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. The above states have been members of the European Union since 2004. What is more, the Visegrad Group is recognized as an alliance and forum for exchanging experiences and developing common positions on matters of particular importance for the future of the region and the European Union. The constitutional provisions of the Visegrad Group states regarding the legal and constitutional status of a central bank were analysed and compared on the basis of analogies and differences. Importantly, today central banks play a significant role in the socio-economic and political system of a state. In particular, the article contains an innovative approach to the subject by comparing the subject matter from the perspective of constitutional regulations. The considerations are based on both the literature of scientific representatives and constitutional regulations, creating a complete and original presentation of the issue.

scholarly journals Local Community Versus Globalization Tendencies: Case Study of Czech Villages in Romanian Banat Region

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markéta Šantrůčková ◽  
Mária Pákozdiová ◽  
Monika Hamanová
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Hard Work ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Wind Power Plants

Abstract The research question is the relationship between the local community and globalization tendencies and transformation or maintenance of local traditions. The research area is a specific locality of a Czech village in Romanian Banat. The local community has evolved in a relative isolation. Agriculture was the most important activity despite the fact that a mining factory was opened there. Agriculture was and in many features still is traditional, self-supplying, and hard-work. The life-style has always been environmentally friendly as it has been without modern technologies. Nevertheless, modernization exploded dramatically in these villages after 1989, when the communist policies collapsed along with Romania's isolation. People from the Czech Republic have rediscovered Romanian Banat and a rather busy (agro) tourism has developed there. The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs supports development projects for making living conditions in the village better. Simultaneously, strong migration from Banat to the Czech Republic has started. People find living conditions in the Czech Republic easier and leave hard work, poverty and unemployment. It brings huge land cover changes because people who remain cannot use all arable land, which is thus abandoned and left for the natural process. One of the distinct manifestations of globalization tendencies is the build-up of wind power plants.

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 Double Food Quality: Media Coverage in the Czech Republic

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-25
Author(s):  
Miroslav Jurásek ◽  
Emil Velinov
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Food Quality ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Media Content Analysis ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Media Presentation

Nowadays in the globalized and connected world the European markets are becoming more and more secular. However, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that the quality of some food products sold in the Central and Eastern European supermarkets is lower than the analogical food items sold in the Western European supermarkets. Numerous studies confirm that food quality, for example in Germany and Austria, is higher than in the Czech Republic and Hungary. Cross – border selling of two different products (in terms of a lower content of primary ingredients or cheaper substitutes) in the same branded packaging is known as a double food quality problem which belongs among the most contentious issues of the actual agenda of the European Union. Without challenging the above – mentioned proves this paper raises the question of the hypothesized politicization of the matter. This exploratory study sheds light on the issue from the political perspective. The paper suggests that the political factors than any others (like consumer preferences or a particular consumer behavior in the Czech Republic) played a crucial role in presenting the topic publicly. The connection between the interest in this subject and its timing with regards to the political cycle in the Czech Republic is demonstrated by means of the (quantitative) media content analysis. If the hypothesis of the suggested connection is confirmed, the media presentation of the matter expressed by the number articles published in the chosen, most read Czech magazines and newspapers tends to be higher towards the Election Day (October 20-21, 2017). The paper puts attempts to classify the relevant media outputs based on the principal participants and their approach towards the matter. This is a secondary objective of the paper.

scholarly journals Aféra Nagygate mezi korupcí a organizovaným zločinem: korupční sítě a jejich možný vliv na kvalitu demokracie v České republice

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 237-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Kupka ◽  
Michal Mochťak
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Organized Crime ◽  
Political System ◽  
Social Boundaries ◽  
The Political ◽  
Democratic Regime ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Democratic Performance ◽  
Negative Impacts

The paper addresses the question of what sort of influence organized crime may have on democratic performance in the Czech Republic and which dimensions of its political system (if any) are endangered most. We define organized crime narrowly in terms of corruption networks, questioning in effect the predominant understanding of these two concepts as distinct or even exclusive phenomena. The paper thus construes corruption and organized crime as concepts referring to transgressive acts (i.e. behaviour that involves a violation of moral or social boundaries that do not have to be legally codified), rather than in terms of legal norms. The influence of corruption networks is demonstrated on the case of the "Nagygate" scandal, which is analysed by utilising the framework of possible harms, as developed by Michael Maltz. We argue that the debate on organized crime in the Czech Republic is, in fact, inherently tied to the study of corruption, since corruption constitutes an integral part of organized criminal activities. Our findings show that transgressive behaviour has mostly negative impacts that include the loss of trust, widespread beliefs that injustice goes unpunished, a weakening of the political system, and the overall degeneration of the democratic regime. Moreover, the Nagygate scandal provides evidence that democratic institutions are not solely the victim of organized crime but also a possible source of transgressive activities.

scholarly journals Features of the process of European integration of the Czech Republic

2021 ◽  
Vol 11/3 (-) ◽  
pp. 25-28
Author(s):  
Denys ROHOZIN ◽  
Tetiana KOMAROVA
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
German Population ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post War

This paper is devoted to highlighting the stages through which the Czech Republic went on its way to full membership in the European Union. At the beginning of the work, attention is paid to the works of Ukrainian, Russian and Czech scientists analyzed in this context, on which the work is based. Further, an introduction to the historical discourse of events in the political and social spheres in the Czechoslovak Republic after the Second World War is carried out. Attention is drawn to the process of division of the Czech and Slovak Republics in the first half of the 90s. The article tells about the choice by the Czech Republic of the political and social vector for «returning to Europe». Other problems of the Czech Republic on the path of European integration are analyzed, among which one can note the conflict with the Federal Republic of Germany over the forced eviction of the German population from the country in the post-war period, based on the decrees of the President of the Czech Republic Edward Benesh, as well as the solution of this problem through diplomatic means. Attention is also drawn to another problem, which was expressed in the conflict with the government of the Austrian Republic regarding the construction of the Temelin nuclear power plant in the South Bohemian region, in the immediate vicinity of the Austrian borders. The Melk Protocol was analyzed, on the basis of which this conflict was resolved. The general conclusions on this work are summarized, in which the success of the Czech strategy for European and Euro-Atlantic integration is stated. Problems that may arise for Ukraine on the same path are predicted, taking into account the consolidation of the European and Euro-Atlantic vectors of development in the preamble of the Constitution of Ukraine.

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