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Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and its European policy 1986-2007
Ježková, Simona ; Kunštát, Miroslav (advisor) ; Mejstřík, Martin (referee)
This master's thesis, titled Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and its Approach to European Integration 1986-2007, analyses an era of twenty-plus years in which the party, led by Jörg Haider, underwent a major ideological shift. The FPÖ abandoned its original liberal pro-European position and, in the 1990s, became a Eurosceptic populist movement akin to the far right. This work aims to assess whether these shifts can be described using the theories formulated by Paul Taggart and Aleks Szczerbiak and by Nick Sitter - who postulate that a party's participation in government is among the factors influencing the degree to which it is Eurosceptic. They suggest that a party's rhetoric regarding the European Union tamps down if the party participates in the government, becoming a part of a coalition government or supporting a minority government. During the period examined in this thesis, the FPÖ was a part of three governing coalitions. It was also a period of significant events which enable us to analyse the FPÖ's conduct - in particular, the Austrian accession to the EC/EU, the adoption of treaties modifying the functioning of the EU, the Austrian presidencies of the Council of the EU in 1998 and 2006, the European Parliament elections and their representative's activities in the EP, the process of...
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Transforming Democracy in the Digital Age: The Cambridge Analytica and Facebook Scandal
Tomšů, Adriana ; Šindelář, Jakub (advisor) ; Mejstřík, Martin (referee)
This bachelor's thesis focuses on the issue of the adaptation of democracy to the increasing influence of digitization. First, in the introductory part, the context is set in the ongoing debate about the given issue within the experts. After that, key concerns about democracy in the digital age, the attitudes of optimists and pessimists, and the possibilities of using social networks in political campaigns are presented. Subsequently, the practical part contains qualitative research, which is carried out using the case study method. The chosen case study is the misuse of data in the Brexit campaign, also known as the "Cambridge Analytica & Facebook scandal". The final part deals with the reaction of the European Union and the attitude towards the current measures. The aim of the thesis is to point out the issue of misuse of digital platforms in the framework of political campaigns and the violation of the basic principles of democracy. The thesis seeks an answer to the main research question leaked in the introduction: "Can we consider the way in which the European Union responded to the growing influence of technology in political campaigns to be sufficient?". Based on the obtained data and a detailed analysis of the given case study, this thesis concludes that the current measures in connection...
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Soft Counterterrorism Strategies: The Italian Case
Perez- Bouzada Baravelli, Carlota ; David, Maxine (advisor) ; Mejstřík, Martin (referee)
The discussion of the approach in counterterrorism started to arise especially around the United States and its tactics in its missions to other countries to "fight terrorism". Thus, this approach particularly developed around threats that did not come from 6 within but in relation to threats that were fought in other countries. With the worsening of the jihadist threat, the so-called new terrorism, the debate regarding homegrown threats became more pressing. In Europe, countries such as the United Kingdom, France, and Norway understood the need to develop strategies other than the classic hard approach to contain the new threat. Thus, soft power started to be applied in homeland security. This new method of approaching counter-terrorism, however, entails numerous criticisms, especially, due to problems in measuring the results obtained. The academic world is extremely divided on the utility and the benefits of the approach (see van Dongen, 2018). Italy has been dealing with homegrown terrorism since the birth of its first republic. However, contrary to its European neighbours, there seems to be a lack of debate surrounding the state of its counterterrorism approach and its prevention tactics. This gap represents the scenario that this thesis aims to fill. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
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No better place than social media: Georgian Party Politics and Networked Rivalry
Abramishvili, Lika ; Rodón, Toni (advisor) ; Mejstřík, Martin (referee)
The academic literature has extensively discussed the increasing role of traditional media in polarisation as well as different social media strategies pursued by political parties. However, this literature tends to ignore the timeframe for parties' social media use, which could inform academic debate on the contextual conditionings of social media's effects on polarisation. Similarly, this literature often disregards the role of other political factors, which have followed a similar upwards trend over the last years. This research addresses both the time trend and the role of personalisation by examining Facebook use of the two biggest Georgian parties between 2016 and 2020 Parliamentary Elections. Relying on qualitative content analysis of 564 Facebook posts and in-depth interviews with relevant experts, the upward trend of rising polarisation and negative tone in social media communication were confirmed. As for the personalisation, the upward trend in parallel with polarisation was only partially confirmed. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
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The Utilization of LGBT+ Rights in Politics
Abdou, Sebastian ; Bauer, Paul (advisor) ; Mejstřík, Martin (referee)
The Utilization of LGBT+ Rights in Politics: Between the NL & HU. Abstract This work investigates the reasons behind the political support for LGBT+ rights and the reasons which lead to opposition of such rights. The work investigates the history of sexuality, how the modern conception of LGBT+ as categories of identification were created, how heteronormativity as a power discourse connects to nationalism, how different processes of nation building lead to different attitudes on LGBT+ rights, and how the different conceptions of liberty and democracy contribute to different political stances on LGBT+ rights in the two countries compared: the Netherlands and Hungary. The main findings of the work show that ethnically conceived nations, represented by Hungary, tend to be more homophobic, while nations which are conceived in contractual liberalist terms, represented by the Netherlands, appear to have more accepting and more inclusive societies, which is reflected by higher acceptance to LGBT+ people and to members of social groups which may be deemed out-group.
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Reasons for the migration from the south to the north of Italy and its consequences
Prošková, Petra ; Mejstřík, Martin (advisor) ; Lukešová, Anna (referee)
Migration within Italy began on a larger scale already after the Second World War, and in the following decades it resulted in the imaginary division of the state into an economically strong north and a weaker south. The issue was emphasised by the specific approach of the ruling Christian Democracy party, which was the key to the development of Italy in the second half of the twentieth century. Although it strove for the restoration and modernization of the southern regions, due to the inefficiency of redistribution of finances, corruption and the influence of the mafia, the necessary restructuring and restoration did not take place. For this reason, the issue of internal migration gradually intensified and normalized. Motives for mthe migration were in most cases of an economic nature, as it was mostly about job opportunities or higher wages, which were much more available in the north. This trend naturally caused many problems in connection with society, demography, economy, etc
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The attitude of the Czech populist parties towards the European Union during the coronavirus crisis
Koryntová, Eva ; Kubát, Michal (advisor) ; Mejstřík, Martin (referee)
This diploma thesis deals with the approach of Czech populist political entities, the ANO 2011 movement, the Freedom and Direct Democracy movement (SPD) and the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) to the European Union (EU) in connection with the coronavirus crisis. These parties are examined by discursive analysis based on debates of its members in the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic - the Chamber of Deputies. The thesis revealed that despite the Eurosceptic nature of all examined parties, their approach to the EU was not the same. The parties that were in the reviewed period in the opposition, the SPD movement, and KSČM - were critical to the EU at almost all examined points. They asked the government to act at the national level and used nearly identical arguments. The ANO government movement had more moderate rhetoric toward the EU, and in some cases, it even positioned itself as a defender of the EU policies. The only person criticizing the EU in the ANO movement turned out to be Andrej Babiš, whose statements toward the EU became more and more acute with the upcoming elections to the Chamber of Deputies.
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Volt Europa: A New Kind of European Political Party?
Trunečka, Adam ; Kasáková, Zuzana (advisor) ; Mejstřík, Martin (referee)
Alongside the process of European integration in a large number of policy areas, scholars have also observed political integration in the EC/EU. The major European political parties, or Europarties, were founded by and subjected to their constituent member parties, not their individual members - many of them do not even offer individual membership. This is why the Europarties are described as "parties of parties". Throughout time, there have been attempts at establishing grassroots pan-European parties. The most notable contemporary examples are DiEM25 and Volt Europa. The aim of this thesis is to understand whether the self-presentation of Volt as "the first pan-European party" is in fact reflected in its internal structure and whether it is different from the "classical" "parties of parties". The typologies of vertical party organization developed by Maurice Duverger served as a framework for this thesis. Using thematic analysis, I studied the statutes of Volt and some of its branches. This was complemented by semi-structured interviews with some of the party members. I concluded that Volt Europa gives its individual members extensive rights and a central role in its party structure. Conversely to typical Europarties, it also has some power over the national branches. Additionally, it partially...
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The political role of FC Barcelona in modern Catalonia
Vondruška, Tomáš ; Menclová, Barbora (advisor) ; Mejstřík, Martin (referee)
This bachelor's degree thesis deals with the political role of FC Barcelona in modern Catalonia a its reaction to the 2017 independence referendum. The timeline of the work is from the year 2012 till 2017. The main data is gathered from the club's online media and other international media. The beginning chapters consist of nationalism and nationalism in sport and then its connection to football. It is followed by a quick political review of Catalonia in the analysed years and the relationship between FC Barcelona and Catalonia throughout history. The thesis focuses on relation between an apolitical subject such as a football club and a stateless region and its role in the independence fight. The result is that the club stands in a neutral position towards politics, but it works with many other organisations with the aim of spreading the Catalan culture and overall situation worldwide. The fans of the club with their nationalistic flags also spread the fight with the help of televised matches. FC Barcelona supported the referendum but without favouring any side. This neutral stance towards politics is described only as a defence of democracy and the freedom of speech. These are the values the club showed throughout its history and now swears to continue in the same way.
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