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Fossil Fuels Lobby and Climate Change: Influencing the Discourse in Politics and Media
Balková, Tereza ; Sehnálková, Jana (advisor) ; Fiřtová, Magdalena (referee)
Climate change denial is a widely spread phenomenon in the United States that has for decades shaped the country's response to the numerous environmental challenges it has been facing. This thesis deals with the role of the American fossil fuels lobby in the analyzed matter, as it constituted the main force behind its rise. The main goal of the thesis is to prove that the success of the climate change denial orchestrated by the fossil fuels industry was enabled by its ties to the political establishment. Moreover, it argues that this was done by using professionally drafted strategies, which turned a once-widely-accepted fact - backed by a scientific consensus - into a matter of debate, opinion, politics, ideology, and identity. In order to do that, the thesis firstly covers the historical development of the climate debate in the United Sates. It looks at the major milestones in the country's approach in dealing with the problem of the environment as well as the emergence of the climate change denial campaign itself. Secondly, it analyzes the various connections between U.S. politics, special interests, and climate science from the 1970s until the end of the George W. Bush Administration. Next, it introduces the specific tactics and methods employed by the climate change denial campaign. Moreover,...
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Walter Reed Scandal and Veterans' Healthcare in the U.S.
Balková, Tereza ; Sehnálková, Jana (advisor) ; Calda, Miloš (referee)
This bachelor thesis deals with the veterans' healthcare system in the United states and its development between the years 2007 and 2014. In 2007, the prestigious American newspaper The Washington Post reported in a series of articles on critical conditions in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. This scandal simultaneously revealed deep-rooted problems in the U.S. veteran' heathcare system in its entirety. Strong medialization of the events in Walter Reed naturally provoked an intense reaction from both public and the politicians. In the following years, the administrations of both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama took several legislative steps in order to improve the veteran's healthcare system and deal with its main problems. In 2014, the question was raised again with another scandal concerning veteran's care breaking out. This affair brought the legitimacy of all previously made changes and reforms into question as well as casted doubt over the efficiency of the healthcare system as a whole. This thesis follows the essential events and individual legislative steps taken in the given time period, analyzes their importance and meaning, brings them into a broader context and juxtaposes them with the general functionality of the healthcare system and its...
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