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Egypt on the way towards democracy
Ptáčník, Martin ; Müller, Karel (advisor) ; Němec, Jan (referee)
This final thesis deals with the theoretical prerequisites and preconditions of democracy and the possibilities of its permanent establishing in Egypt. The main goal of the thesis is to answer the research question, if Egypt is prepared for democracy. In this case study, the role and the specific status of the Egyptian army is examinand as well. The first part deals with the theory of favorable conditions for establishing and maintaining of democracy, published by Robert Dahl, and Lipset's theoretical approach to conditions leading to the stability of democratic regimes. The second theoretical part is dedicated to the relationship among the army and democracy and the civilian control over the military. In this part Samuel Huntington's and Nordlinger's theories are used as well as the Lawson, May and Selochan's alternative concept, which is contributed to developing countries. All the theories used in the thesis are applied on the specific political reality of Egypt. Also theories related with the issue of the military and its position within the Egyptian political system are applied in the empirical part.
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The impact of oil on economic and political stability of petro-states
Koláčková, Ivana ; Jeníček, Vladimír (advisor) ; Vošta, Milan (referee)
The topic of the final thesis is the impact of oil on economic and political stability of petro-states. The first chapter summarizes basic data about oil, its reserves, production and consumption, as well as about oil trade and oil prices. Basic information about OPEC is included in this chapter.The second chapter includes different theories about effects of oil wealth on economic, political and social development in petro-states. The third chapter is an attempt to apply theories from chapter two on OPEC countries. The aim of the thesis is to present impacts of oil on OPEC countries.
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Right-wing extremism in the context of democracy
ŠLEMENDOVÁ, Barbora
The thesis deals with right-wing extremism in the context of democracy. In the first part, democracy, its development and basic values are characterised. The following part describes extremism and its rudimentary typology, historical roots of right-wing extremism and its strategy. The final part focuses on the fight of democracy against extremism. In this part, possible anti-extremist measures are proposed, including critical reflections on the principles of right-wing extremism. Furthermore, a concept of so-called militant democracy is introduced, along with the analysis of its application in the Czech Republic and its critical reflection.
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Education for democratic citizenship at secondary school
VÝLETOVÁ, Veronika
The diploma thesis deals with one of the cross-cutting issues in RVP ZV. It is devoted to the education which results in active citizenship in a democracy. A theoretical part is related to the following topics: education for citizenship, curriculum reform, core competencies, education for democratic citizenship and civics textbooks. A practical part contains a unique survey about the education for democratic citizenship at secondary school and worksheet drafts, which lead to anticipated results in such education.
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Political Marxism on two conceptions of democracy
Brabec, Martin
The article presents an analysis of democracy from the point of view of Political Marxism. Political Marxism is new stream in contemporary Marxism, which is based on the works of American historian Robert Brenner and the Canadian political scientist Ellen Wood. She distinguishes between two conceptions of democracy. The ancient concept of democracy grew out of a historical experience which had conferred a unique civic status on subordinate classes, creating in particular that unprecedented formation, the peasant citizen. Our contemporary concept of democracy, originating not in Athenian democracy but in European feudalism and culminating in liberal capitalism, with the major milestones, like Magna Carta and 1688, marks the ascent of the propertied classes. In this case, it is not a question of peasants liberating themselves from the political domination of their overlords but lords themselves asserting their independent powers against the claims of monarchy.
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Public opinion on the political system in the Czech Republic - February 2014
Čadová, Naděžda
In the February survey CVVM focused on views of Czech citizens in the political system in the Czech Republic and to what extent can our political system be considered democratic. We asked respondents to assess the political system in our country before 1989, the political system after 1989 (in the 1990s), the current political system and their views on what political system will be in our country in 10 years.
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Towards a Safer Europe
Hokovský, Radko ; Winzen, Thomas ; Breitner, Igor ; Trautvetter, Daniel ; Vassilopoulos, Theodore ; Miccinilli, Máximo ; Riedel, Rafal ; Martinsm, Nuno Wahnon ; Ghazaryan, Sargis
This paper summarises the discussions and conclusions of Working Group 1 of the 2010 European Values Network. The Working Group met for a two-day workshop in Brussels in March and since then has engaged in research and debate online. During a second workshop from 8–12 May 2010 in Prague, the group met to evaluate and refine the conclusions presented below. Our starting point is the observation that engagement in democratic politics is in a dissatisfactory state. There are many symptoms of this including declining electoral participation and low trust in political institutions and the governing elite. But above all, political disengagement represents a certain view of politics, remote and inaccessible to ordinary citizens, benefitting only a select few rather than making collectively acceptable choices. Disengagement from democratic politics challenges the way we organise decision-making in our societies. It goes to the heart of one of the most cherished set of norms, enshrined in the legal and living constitutions of states in Europe and beyond. We were asked to analyse the phenomenon in greater depth and to develop recommendations that could contribute to greater and deeper engagement with democratic politics. Political disengagement is a complex phenomenon that varies across social groups and over time both in terms of its manifestations and its determinants. Therefore, we found it preferable to focus our discussions on a sub-set of the problem and its solution: young people and education. Predispositions for political engagement are developed and habitualised at an early stage of political participation. The way young people engage in politics is likely to shape, though not determine, patterns of political disengagement throughout their lives.1 We focus on education because the way individuals become acquainted with politics in school can be shaped more easily than other influences on the political engagement of youth. Our purpose, in sum, is to discuss how educational systems could contribute to greater political engagement of young people. Political engagement is a two-dimensional phenomenon including, but not confined to, formal participation such as voting. Formal participation is of critical importance if “democracy” is to be more than merely a fashionable term. On the other hand, engagement also refers to the critical awareness of public affairs among individuals. That is, their interest in matters of common concern and their ability to make critical, informed and conscious choices as to how they wish to position themselves in relation to such matters. Participation and critical awareness form two sides of the concept of political engagement. Our question, therefore, must be how the educational system may contribute to either of these two dimensions. We come to two main conclusions. On the one hand, we need more and better courses in civic education. Importantly, quantity itself is not sufficient but the style and substance of the classes has to be taken into account. On the other hand, we also draw attention to a strategy of animating civic education and call for more opportunities for young people to experience real-world politics.
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When do stable democracies emerge? Mending the view of economics and political science
Kovář, Kamil ; Müller, Karel (advisor) ; Dvořáková, Vladimíra (referee)
This thesis deals with the economic theories of democracy and democratization and their synthesis with political science theories. First discussed is the 'static' model of Acemoglu and Robinson (2006), which focuses on economically motivated political conflict between elites and masses, and in which stable democracy emerges in countries with medium levels of economic inequality. The second discussed 'dynamic' approach comes from the North, Wallis and Weingast (2009), who postulate the existence of two social orders that inextricably combine economic and political elements . In the third chapter I argue that the economic models of democratization are not able to capture the dramatic spread of democracy around the world in the last three decades. For this purpose, they would have to include normative preference for dermokracy and political science concept of legitimacy. It is concluded that the synthesis of economic and political science models is essential for proper understanding of emergence of stable democracies.
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