|
|
FROM EAST TO WEST: RELATIONS, COLLISIONS, AND DIVERGENCE OF CZECH AND JAPANESE CULTURE
Vaculík, David ; Čapková, Helena (referee) ; Mitášová, Monika (advisor)
The diploma thesis follows up the pre-diploma research dealing with the investigation of selected literature on Japanese traditional and modern architecture and gardens, archival research of extant 20th century buildings in Czech republic influenced by Czech-Japanese relations and the contemporary perception of Japan in the eyes of the Czech professional and uninitiated audience. It also includes a selective glossary of Japanese words and terms, containing study translations from English of selected architectural literature related to the topic. The output took the form of a Discovery Book with a short glossary, pictorial data and an anthology of translated texts. The thesis follows this preliminary "introductory research" with two main parts. The first part (A) explores concepts of space-making and spatial elements deeply rooted in Japanese traditional buildings as they were rediscovered and rethought, particularly by 20th century Japanese architects – who continued to use and revive these concepts in their own work. The text traces their understanding of Japanese traditional architecture. Then, using the example of three Japanese traditional spatial "icons", four works by 20th century Japanese architects, and three works by Czech architects in different phases of the 20th century, the thesis probes the relationship between these two architectural cultures in a European context. The second part (B) consists of texts on the architectural designing of model, utopian housing. The whole design follows a narrative – a scenario that shapes a temporal and spatial sequence that is not in line with the classical perception of time and space but spirals upwards. The next subsection interprets this story into spatio-temporal gradients and elements. Parts C and D contain conclusions and literature used. Model buildings are proposed on a range of scales: the smallest dwelling (a capsule), minimal dwelling, community dwelling, house, villa, city, and a coffin. The composition of the different scenarios and structures respects the movement along a spiral, where we can also observe the cyclical nature of life itself, which ends with the last terminal phase that escapes the gradient of scales – the coffin. These individual proposals are inspired by the studied phenomena and elements, texts and buildings of Japanese and European architecture with their interrelationships. The aim of this thesis is first to study the spatial, temporal, but also light and colour possibilities of Japanese traditional and modern architecture in the context of European, especially Czech, ones. Another aim is to propose a model-based, utopian housing project with a gradient layering of spaces, structures, materials, views and lighting based on various game strategies as well as the maxims of “Form follows fiction”.
|
|
|
The Trade Policy Review Mechanism: Shedding light on non-compliance?
Rosendorf, Ondřej ; Parízek, Michal (advisor) ; Karlas, Jan (referee)
This thesis examines the notion of monitoring mechanisms and their ability to identify non-compliance. The Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) of the World Trade Organization constitutes the main focus of analysis. The purpose of the thesis is to improve the current empirical account of the functioning of the mechanism, and to examine the extent to which the mechanism is able to detect rule violations before they are taken up to the court, as well as factors affecting this ability. From theoretical standpoint, the thesis draws mainly upon rational institutionalism and other approaches related to notions of transparency and compliance. In particular, the thesis focuses on the concept of the so called information systems in international regimes. As regards methodology, the thesis relies on the method of content analysis the purpose of which is to procure empirical evidence of occurrence of matters related to non-compliance in trade policy reviews. Thus procured empirical evidence is then subjected to statistical analysis, including logistic regression. The thesis finds that TPRM covers surprisingly large number of matters that later become subjects of judicially confirmed rule-violations at the WTO. As much as 72% of the matters that are eventually taken up to court are mentioned in trade policy...
|
|
|
things, we(do not) need
Kocúrová, Zuzana ; Sedlák, Michal (advisor) ; Raudenský, Martin (referee)
Kocúrová, Z.: The things we /do not/ need /Graduation Thesis/ Praha 2012 - Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Education, Department of Art Education. Supervisor M. Sedlák. The aim of the graduation thesis is the relation of human and space in the context of philosophy, psychology, social history, art and education. The theoretical part is focused on open and closed space, on their relationship to basic human needs as safeness and solidarity. Individuals apply isolation and control to defeat their fears. The means of open architecture are connected with these issues as well. The second part of my work concentrates on my art projects inspired by the mentioned concepts. My installations, actions and cycle of photographs is described. The third part is focused on applications of these topics in the art teaching. Key words: open space, closed space, fear, safeness, architecture, folding screen, bags, transparency, education.
|
|
|
Transparency of proceedings in international arbitration
Poliaková, Lucia ; Balaš, Vladimír (advisor) ; Horáček, Vít (referee)
1 Transparency of proceedings in international arbitration Summary The purpose of my thesis is to explore the concept of transparency in international arbitration. There are different types of international arbitration, characterized by different participants and naturally distinct aspects of procedure. One of these aspects is, according to my opinion, the said transparency of the proceedings. For the purposes of this thesis, I have decided to analyze the position of transparency in two major areas, namely in investment arbitration and in commercial arbitration, respectively. As the concept of transparency in international arbitration is only recently developing, there is much to be resolved. Thus, the state of the affairs with respect to the subject matter of this thesis is ambiguous and misty. The aim of my research is to describe the position of transparency in two basic types of arbitration and identify the reasons for different trends in this respect. The thesis is composed of an Introduction, four basic chapters and a Conclusion. Chapters are divided into subchapters and parts, respectively. The Introduction presents the topic, defines relevant terminology and sets out the aim of my thesis. Chapter One deals with the confidentiality of arbitration which is clearly opposite concept than that of the...
|
|
|
Disclosure of Entities Supported by Call no. 30: Web Sites Content Analysis
Kubátová, Vendula ; Dohnalová, Marie (advisor) ; Legnerová, Kateřina (referee)
Virtual world is having an increasingly important role for us. Not only it affects our personal lives but also our shopping habits. Today it is more or less a necessity to be present online for many companies. The submitted work is the first exploratory analysis of websites content of social enterprises in the Czech Republic. This sample consists of 128 social enterprises, which were supported by a Call no. 30 "Social economy" of the European Social Fund. Supported organizations gain a considerable amount of funds for thein development. With incoming public finances it is necessary to raise a question of transparency and openness of these organizations. Work describes which information is available through websites of social enterprises, evaluates their level of transparency and monitors whether these organizations recognize themselves as social enterprises. It was examined whether organizations disclose information for which they could be described as a social enterprise organization that is in compliance with the principles created by the Thematic Network for Social Economy (TESSEA) a network, which created the first Czech definition of social enterprise. The results show that most social enterprises have a website. However, although the information sought on websites were more or less basic,...
|
|
|
Good Governance in Theory and Practice
Vošahlíková, Radka ; Ochrana, František (advisor) ; Půček, Milan Jan (referee)
This master's thesis offers comprehensive perspective of good governance concept in a theoretical level as well as from a practical point of view with emphasis on the Czech Republic. The objective of the thesis is to investigate the theoretical background of the good governance concept and its basic principles, focused on dealing with the concept in the Czech Republic. The work also provides the assessment of the critical points associated with the good governance concept implementation and attempts to provide the possible solutions to eliminate these points. Thirteen research interviews were conducted with the public administration staff members and the leading experts in the field to analyze the current state of good governance in the Czech Republic. Thematic analysis was utilized for this purpose and results have shown that good governance is not broadly applied yet. Besides the apparent issues such as problems with human resources, communication, politicization of public administration, departmentalism or absence of long-term vision, the key obstacle to implementation of the good governance concept in the Czech Republic seems to be low level of cultural and social standards.
|
|
|
The Fight against Corruption in Prague - the Anti-corruption Strategy of Government and Civil Society during the "Necas's government".
Urbanová, Hana ; Guasti, Petra (advisor) ; Navrátil, Jiří (referee)
Presented work deals with the issue of fighting against corruption. In a theoretical level the work informs about the causes of corruption and the tools that are currently used for its persecuting. In the practical part I try to find out the way of improvement of corruption range seen throgh the eyes of actors that operate in Prague city. The aim of the work is to identify possibilities of efficiency improvement of nonprofit organizations and the public sector in the field of fighting against the corruption. The analytical part of the work, therefore, maps the situation in relations between selected non-profit organizations and relations between them and the public administration, which is in this work represented by the Prague City Hall - an institution which represents by the local government activities.
|
|
|
Obligatory publication of information
Michálek, Jakub ; Korbel, František (advisor) ; Handrlica, Jakub (referee)
Duty to Publish Information (Abstract) I chose as my topic the obligation to publish official records, its legal grounds and connections with other areas. The analysis includes practical aspects and takes into account rapid changes in technology and the much slower development of ad- ministrative law institutes. In this frame I wanted to develop a procedural plan to make the public authority fulfill its duty to publish information, using legal means. I chose as my topic the duty to publish records, since I believe it to be the easist, most economical and effective way to make public records available to the citizens. This is currently a hot political topic, since new legislatation is being prepared in this area both in the Czech Republic and in the European Union, which is a response to the rapid technological progress. Nevertheless, the jurisprudence has devoted much less attention to the obligation to publish information than to disclosing the records upon a request to an individual. The thesis is divided to introduction, theoretical part, practical part and conclusion. The theoretical part deals with both the general regulation and with selected spe- cial cases of disclosure in domestic, EU and international regulation. I analyze and structure the legal regulation of mandatory publishing of records under...
|
|
|
US lobbyists in the EU: significance of home country regulation for lobbying behaviour in a less regulated environment
Vilimovská, Lucia ; Martinková, Viera (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
Diploma thesis "US lobbyists in the EU: significance of home country regulation for lobbying behaviour in a less regulated environment" tackles the topic of lobbying in terms of comparing two differently regulated environments and the behaviour of lobbyists in these environments. In the introduction, the thesis analyses the current definitions and theoretical anchoring of the expert debate on lobbying, attempts to define this concept and to determine the basic research characteristics. The thesis attempts to describe why lobbying should be regulated and how is affected by lobbying transparency enhancement debate. Subsequently, the thesis describes and compares the regulation of lobbying in the United States and the European Union, while also taking into account international standards. The empirical part of the thesis is based on data provided by the American research center "Center for Responsive Politics". From this basic dataset, the companies and associations that lobby in the United States and the European Union, in particular, their basic documents and websites, are then researched based on established criteria. The aim of the thesis is to analyse whether companies and associations lobbying in a more regulated environment of the United States of America are transferring their 'taught'...
|
|
|
The Determinants of central banking transparency: An Empirical Analysis
Ulrich, Tomáš ; Horváth, Roman (advisor) ; Jeřábek, Jakub (referee)
This thesis examines the central banking transparency and financial stability communication. The main goal is to find the determinants of the updated Monetary policy transparency index and the index for financial stability trans- parency, which cover 110 countries during the period 2000-2011. We analyse the individual components of transparencies and perform regression models with the set of economic and political variables in order to find drivers of all aspects of transparency. As a basic observation we verified the increasing trend in both types of transparencies during last two decades. We found out that economi- cally well developed countries with flexible exchange rates, quality government and stable political institutions tend to be more open about their monetary policies. Moreover, high degree of monetary policy transparency and the occu- rance of past systemic banking crisis implies higher openness of central banks about financial stability issues. The drivers of Financial stability transparency index components display significant variations, especially variables like rule of law or past financial distress. It is concluded that financial stability trans- parency is still a young field of study and many central banks are still in the developing phase of learning. Keywords central banking,...
|
guest ::
