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Left behind places and spatial aspects of elections: nativism, populism, and the geography of discontent
Suchánek, Jonáš ; Hasman, Jiří (advisor) ; Kostelecký, Tomáš (referee) ; Maškarinec, Pavel (referee)
The topic of migration has come to the forefront of the European media and political discourse following the refugee wave in 2015 and 2016, accompanied by mainstreamed anti-immigrant and nativist narratives. In the subsequent years, populist radical right parties in many countries reached their electoral peaks and after Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential elections and the Brexit referendum, academic interest in studying populism surged intensely. One of the key conceptual approaches that contributed to the academic debate on exploring the causes of societal radicalization and polarization, as well as the resulting electoral manifestations, was the contextual understanding of specific peripheral areas through the lens of so-called left behind places and the geography of discontent. However, despite this contextual understanding of electoral processes, most studies rarely utilize modern spatial methods and the majority of such analyses primarily focus on the United States and countries in Western and Northern Europe. This dissertation thus introduces a comprehensive spatiotemporal analysis of the Czech (and Slovak) electoral environment at the detailed level of municipalities. This allows for verifying the validity of the given concepts that find application in other countries. In...
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Political ideologies in the local politics of selected Czech towns
Šebesta, Jan ; Hána, David (advisor) ; Kostelecký, Tomáš (referee)
The thesis deals with political ideologies in the local politics of selected cities in Czechia. The aim of the research is to explore whether political parties at local level are formed by political ideologies and to find out what their ideological positions are affected by. To represent political ideologies, I have chosen two ideological dimensions (the left-right economic dimension and the GAL-TAN socio-cultural dimension), of which 10 parties in 33 selected Czech cities were evaluated. The thesis is primarily based on data from the "Election calculator" for elections to municipal councils in 2022. Based on its questions, an evaluation scale was created for each dimension, which determines the ideological positions of parties in selected cities. The thesis thus verifies the applicability of the concept of ideological dimensions at the local level in Czechia. The theoretical part of the thesis describes political ideologies and the possibilities of their classification. The chapter mainly discusses the meaning and the defining characteristics of ideological dimensions. Factors that affect the ideological positions of the parties and the specifics of Czech politics are also discussed, with a focus on its local level. In the methodological part, the possibilities of commonly used research methods of...
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Residential mobility and residential preferences of young families and older adults from the Prague Metropolitan Area
Horňáková, Marie ; Špačková, Petra (advisor) ; Kostelecký, Tomáš (referee) ; Hoření Samec, Tomáš (referee)
The dissertation project examines the process of residential mobility and residential preferences in the Prague Metropolitan Area. With the diversification of life-course trajectories and lifestyles, but also rising housing prices, residential mobility and residential preferences have become more heterogeneous and ambiguous. The research aims to investigate new emerging patterns of residential mobility and residential preferences, and to explore how the selection of a new home is performed. The study focuses on two population groups: middle-class young families and middle-class older adults (empty nesters, seniors). A mixed-method research approach is adopted, combining quantitative and qualitative research methods. The study contributes to filling the gap in knowledge on residential mobility in post-socialist cities and the process of housing choice among young families and older adults.
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Transformations in social structure of housing estates in Prague and their changing position within the city
Fořtová, Barbora ; Sýkora, Luděk (advisor) ; Kostelecký, Tomáš (referee)
The thesis analyses transformations in social structure of housing estates in Prague and their changing position within the city in comparison with other residential types. The aim is to investigate whether a socio-spatial differentiation is growing in contemporary Prague and investigate a formation of spots with concentration of specific groups with different socioeconomic status. Post-communist transformation brought many social changes which influenced socio-spatial pattern. Localities of new construction either within the city or at the edge of the city attract people with higher social status. The result of this selective migration is potential formation of pockets of poverty. Socialist housing estates assumes to be a place where social status decline the most. The thesis begins with a brief introduction about patterns of social inequalities in post-socialist city comparing to capitalist and socialist cities. Theoretical part also focuses on history and current changes of housing estates not only in cities of former socialist bloc but also in cities of Western Europe. It also discusses recent concepts investigating changes in social structure and the impact to socio-spatial polarization within current city. Analysis of transformation in social structure of housing estates in Prague is based on data...
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Pork barrel in Czechia in 2003-2009: spatial dimension and the identification of some causal factors
Hána, David ; Feřtrová, Marie (advisor) ; Kostelecký, Tomáš (referee)
The aim of this diploma thesis is an attempt to reveal a regularity and dependence in spatial distribution of the pork barrel (i.e. the parliamentary grants) in the case of Czechia in 2003-2009. Moreover, the thesis attempts to identify some undermining factors of the proven spatial pattern in allocation of pork barrel financial sources. The selection of supported projects highly depends on subjective preferences of particular deputies being influenced by many factors. Accordingly, the diploma thesis examines a role of the spatial distribution of deputies' places of living and their influences on the spatial allocation of the pork barrel through the state budget being approved in the Lower House.
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Impact of internet on communal life in suburbia
Susová, Kateřina ; Ouředníček, Martin (advisor) ; Kostelecký, Tomáš (referee)
Thesis aims to describe the possibilities arising from the using of the Internet by residents of spatially defined suburban communities. Social environment in suburban areas is amended by arrival of large numbers of new residents, and any possibility of making new contacts becomes a potential benefit for community building and building of social capital in these rapidly changing areas. The work is focused on Internet forums of Prague suburb municipalities, which provide an opportunity for making new contacts between residents as well as participate in discussions on general issues with other locals and with representatives of local administration. Internet forums can significantly contribute to increase of civic or political engagement and the overall growth of social capital. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
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Geographic Analysis of Electoral Support for the Green Party in the Years 1990 - 2013
Komárková, Marta ; Kostelecký, Tomáš (advisor) ; Daněk, Petr (referee)
The electoral analysis, mainly detecting the causes of success of the particular political party, may bring important findings in the field of Czech democracy development and the society itself. The aim of the thesis is the geographic analysis of the elections (between the years 1990 - 2013), focused on the Green Party (GP), which exists at the Czech political scene since 1990. The main research purpose was to describe and evaluate the differences in the geographical distribution of the electoral support for the Green Party and to determine the factors, which affect the voters, since the party was found up to date, to the last elections at 2013. The special emphasis was put on the factor "air pollution". In the analytic part, the geographic distribution of electoral support is tested with the correlation analysis, coefficient of variance, LISA analysis and regression. As important result may be mentioned the geographical shift of the electoral support between years 1990 and 2013, from the east to the centre of the Republic, and farther to Moravia. The correlation coefficient shows the instability of the electoral base. It corresponds with the analysis of the chosen variables; educated people did not vote for the GP in 1990, whereas they supported GP since 2006 on. Similar evolution had the variable age,...
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The Social and Political Regulation of Labour Migration: The Case of the Czech Republic
Čaněk, Marek ; Barša, Pavel (advisor) ; Kostelecký, Tomáš (referee) ; Woolfson, Charles (referee)
This dissertation is about the changes in the regulation of labour migration in the Czech Republic, specifically between the period of economic boom in 2007 and 2008 and the beginning of the global economic and financial crisis. The developments of labour migration processes and policies were studied in relation to the political economy of foreign direct investment and the rise of the competition state in the Czech Republic. The materialisation of these developments resulted in the Czech Republic's further integration into the global labour market. Labour migration policy changes in the case of the Green Card project, however, did not confirm the thesis that the Czech Republic's migration policy eventually became subordinated to the competition state project. Not only did the Ministry of Industry and Trade lack bureaucratic capital in the field of migration regulation but also, there were tensions between different notions of the competition state project while 'migration management' was reorganised in the interest of the Ministry of the Interior. Closely following struggles over the regulation of labour migration in the administrative and political fields, this dissertation contributes to literature on the labour migration perspective of the competition state. The migration crisis is studied from...
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Together for a Better City
Sládek, Jan ; Illner, Michal (advisor) ; Kostelecký, Tomáš (referee) ; Bernard, Josef (referee)
The goal of this text is to provide understanding of the role that locally organized citizens have in changing general political behavior of Czech people after 1989. The text combines knowledge of urban sociology, political and urban transformation, and citizen/political participation in post-1989 Czech Republic. Theoretically, the text is based in critical reception of urban sociology showing its rather low rate of understanding when analyzing the role of citizens in urban change. The text works with the concept of transaction activism, using it to analytically evaluate the forms of examined collective local action of citizens. Last but not least, attention is paid to the role of ICTs, notably the Internet, in forms of local citizen engagement. To provide the necessary context, the text reflects on main events in political participation on state level as well as it reflects on main urban changes after 1989. Methodologically, the work is based on data from two representative questionnaire surveys and fifteen interviews with representatives of citizen organizations. The main theses are following: (1) low direct experience with political issues leads to predominance of "the politics" as portrayed by mass media, yet it is rather easily unmasked by direct political experience; (2) Although the public opinion...
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Social environment and local communities: city, suburb , countryside
Špačková, Petra ; Ouředníček, Martin (advisor) ; Kostelecký, Tomáš (referee) ; Ptáček, Pavel (referee)
Since the 19th century, the processes of modernization, industrialization and urbanization have fundamentally impacted the spatial organization and the actual contents of social ties. In particular, the role of place of residence in everyday life has significantly changed. Compared to the past, the spatial distance is less relevant for maintenance of interpersonal ties and non-local social relations are of growing importance. This process has been recently enhanced by development of communication technologies and the Internet in particular. The Internet has transferred many social ties into virtual communities without any spatial reference. The dissertation deals with the consequences of the above indicated changes for the social environments in urban, suburban and rural localities and it is built on the geographic perspective of social network research. The theoretical framework of the research is based on combination of the concepts of social environment and the concept of local community. Further, the conceptualization of the study of local social environment is presented. In addition, the factors undermining the differentiated social environment and the character of community ties in various types of geographical contexts are discussed. The attention is also paid to the importance of population...
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