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Europeanisation of municipalities in the Czech Republic
Schacherlová, Sylva ; Martinková, Viera (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
The diploma thesis Europeanisation of Municipalities in the Czech Republic deals with the effects of membership in the European Union on the administrative structures of selected municipalities. This is a comparative case study of municipalities of various sizes and significance, namely the capital city of Prague, the statutory city of Pilsen and the city with extended powers Pisek. The aim of the thesis is to clarify which institutions in these municipalities manage the European agenda. The thesis follows three dimensions of the concept of Europeanisation (top-down; bottom-up and horizontal), which allows us to observe this issue from different angles. Research questions follow the logic of these three dimensions and the last research question focuses on comparing the Europeanisation of selected municipalities and identifying differences based on their size. The main source of the information was interviews with officials and politicians responsible for the European agenda in selected municipalities. The results of the work confirm the theoretical assumption that the size of municipalities has a significant impact on the management of the EU agenda. Financial and administrative capacities, the setting of European funds for the given city and the opinions of local political elites play the role...
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Roles Women Play in the Alt-Right: Aspirations and Limitations
Chagas Linhares, Dominique ; Aslan, Emil (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
Despite women's historical involvement in far phenomenon is a mismatch between analysts' expectations and far right women's be The lack of substantial research that focuses on women's narratives and recollections of their women's positions. A recent replication of this phenomenon is right women's motivations in en the movement is aligned to their interests. Additionally, I engage with women's perspectives on right and the lack of space and support for women's the subjects of women's interests in the alt right' women's perspectives in women's terms, as such an approach will provide analysts and
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Brexit and its implications for European integration
Hecht, Petr ; Kučerová, Irah (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
The diploma thesis Brexit and its implications for European integration uses the method of explanatory case study in an effort to analyze the causes and impacts of the Great Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. The thesis therefore examines the historical context of the complicated relations between Great Britain and the European Communities from their formation in the 1950s to the present, which ultimately led to the historic step of United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020. The thesis then maps the negotiations regarding the Withdrawal Agreement and the future arrangement of mutual relations, which took place between 2016 - 2020. The effects of the UK's withdrawal from the EU on the composition and functioning of the European institutions and the impact of the changes on the remaining member states are also analyzed. In addition, the work presents possible arrangements of economic relations between the two parties, which are currently the subject of negotiations between the UK and the EU during the transitional period from 1 February 2020 to 31 December 2020. Lastly, the thesis works with the White Paper presented by the European Commission in 2017 in order to analyze five possible scenarios for the future development of European integration. For this, the thesis...
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Negotiation analysis of the third economic adjustment program for Greece: Greek strategy explained
Kult, Jakub ; Parízek, Michal (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
Thesis title reveals a lot about its intentions and objectives. Its research target is to explain the behavior and strategy of Greece in negotiations prior to agreement on the third economic adjustment program. Thesis asks what the key characteristic of the Greek bargaining strategy was. Negotiation analysis approach is employed as the theoretical/methodological framework. It leads us to examination of following factors. Actors' interests and preferences have to be understood and distinguished from positions. Next, alternatives to negotiated agreement, creating and claiming value techniques, and actions to change the game constitute the remaining basis of negotiation analysis. Moreover, the element of bargaining power is added as a relevant concept to research bargaining strategy. That leads us also to commitment tactic, use of threats, and commitment through domestic audiences and audience costs. Last but not least, two-level games factor is considered as well. Hypothesis and further explanation of analytical technique is followed by three chapters that provide historical context of the negotiations. Then finally empirical analysis is done based on theoretical framework mentioned above. My research shows mixed results. Greek strategy was significantly inconsistent and therefore I cannot consider...
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Discourse analysis of disinformation in Czech media during the 2019 European Parliament election
Šutová, Marijana ; Komasová, Sarah (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
Title Discourse analysis of disinformation in Czech media during the 2019 European Parliament election Abstract The thesis focuses on the content of fake news websites in the Czech online environment during the 2019 European Parliament election. Using the method of discourse analysis, the author characterizes main features of the discourse consisting of content published by selected six fake news websites. The main goal of the thesis is to analyse the discourse of selected websites and to define the problematic aspects of disinformation websites for Czech society during the elections. The emphasis is put on the prevailing narratives and topics leading the discussion within these websites. Through deeper look into the narratives as well as the authors and main actors of the discourse, the author reveals ideologies and thoughts which fuel the fake news content. At the same time, the author examines the extent to which the discourse emphasized emotions and polarization by using the "us" and "them" narrative. Specific language techniques and manipulation tools are then analysed within broader context. Furthermore, using the methods of critical discursive analysis referring to the works of Norman Fairclough and Teun van Dijk, the thesis defines how the analysed discourse could influence power relations within...
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Securitisation process of cyber security in the EU
Jiskra, Denis ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
21. 5. 2020 Abstract Securitisation proces of the cyber security in the EU Denis Jiskra Institute of Political Science Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University 2019/2020 The diploma thesis is dealing with the development of the European Union's cyber security policy during the specific time frame since the 1990's until the current time. The thesis is focused on the securitization process, that so, dynamic intersubjective process of threat construction with the aim to find out, to what extent securitization formed the cyber security policy of the European Union. The subject of the thesis is also an analysis of the cyber security narrative topics with the aim to determine which topic leads and if there are changes between them during the research period. In this respect, the model of cyber security discourse variations inspired by the Copenhagen school will be used. In the current thesis will be also introduced the development of cyber threats, its historical contextualization, as well as their gradual globalization.
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Post-Vilnius European Neighborhood Policy: The Case of South Caucasus
Akdemir, Enes ; Knutelská, Viera (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
This study attempts to analyze the evolution of the ENP in Southern Caucasus during post- Vilnius era. With contributions of the recent history, it aims to find out how these evolving policies affected the region from the competing theories perspective. It's seeking an answer to whether or not "initially neoliberal" strategy of ENP is designed to transform the region into a space with stability. While doing this, effectiveness of the ENP and multidirectional contributions it brought to the region is discussed. Neorealist and neoliberalist assumptions made for assessing the ENP's practices in the region. The thesis is methodologically supported with Congruence Analysis, which qualitatively enables us to observe theoretical developments based on multiple cases. Drawing on the main challenges to ENP's initial strategy, main hypotesis argue that neorealist assumptions are prevailing over neoliberalist assumptions, which can be shown as an outcome of the ENP's evolving policies in post- Vilnius era.
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Development cooperation as a foreign policy instrument: EU vs. China in Africa
Kreidl, Dominik ; Knutelská, Viera (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
The main topic of this thesis is the use of development cooperation as an instrument of foreign policy of the People's Republic of China (China) and the European Union (EU) in Africa. The aim of this diploma thesis was to find out whether the development cooperation policy of China, respectively the EU with African countries, is motivated rather by pragmatic or normative interests. In order to answer this research question, a qualitative content analysis was applied, in which the documents of these two actors were examined. The main theoretical concept of this diploma thesis is the concept of normative power, which served as an indicator of normative interests. In the case of the EU, the hypothesis that the EU would primarily act as a normative power in development cooperation, i.e. that it would be interested in disseminating its norms in the international system, has not been confirmed. The results of the content analysis reveal that pragmatic interests prevail in the development cooperation between the EU and African countries. In the case of China's involvement in development cooperation, the results of the analysis reveal that the main motivations within this policy are mainly normative interests, i.e. the interests of disseminating its norms in the international politics.
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Venezuela and the UN Discourse on Human Rights
Šulcová, Jana ; Soukup, Jaromír (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
The worsening humanitarian situation in Venezuela, rising migration flows and political crisis escalating in the beginning of 2019 was reflected in the increased attention to human rights issues in Venezuela. The aim of this thesis is to outline through discourse analysis the discourse of top UN officials on human rights situation in Venezuela. The introductory part of this thesis clarifies the theoretical and methodological background for the analysis and introduces the topic of human rights in the context of social constructivism and the UN human rights system. The second part of the thesis includes the discourse analysis, which focuses on the character of the discourse of top UN officials on the human rights situation in Venezuela and the development of this discourse between 2017 and 2019, as well as differences among the discourses of the UN Secretary General António Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and her predecessor, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. The discourse analysis is based on James Paul Gee's method, consisting of seven building tasks of language. These building tasks include significance, practices, identities, relationships, politics, connections and sign systems and knowledge. The primary materials for the analysis consist of three OHCHR reports from 2017-...
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World Health Organization: an independent guardian of global health?
Krestová, Kateřina ; Parízek, Michal (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
CHARLES UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Institute of Political Studies Department of Political Science Abstract 2020 Kateřina Krestová Abstract A decade ago, the WHO decided to make a commitment of reforming itself. Above all, the funding situation was unsustainable. The main source of WHO's funding is voluntary contributions. Anyhow promising the term voluntary might seem, the reality is more complicated since the majority of these contributions is tightly earmarked towards specific programmes. Implying the WHO is not allowed to use the money where it is needed but it must be spent according to donor's wishes. This makes budgeting highly inflexible, the financing is imbalanced between categories and efficiency of fulfilling WHO's mandate declines. The reform launched in 2010 ought to fix these issues. This thesis evaluates the efficiency of the reform; firstly, total budget patterns are compared. Followingly, the attention is given to a specific category of Noncommunicable diseases due to its most severe underfunding. The analysis was conducted based on extensive datasets never gathered before comparing all types of contributions for every category from 1999 to 2019. Findings indicate unsatisfactory results of the reform; flexible sources have not increased, contrarily earmarked donations have...
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