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Democratization of Portugal and Romania: is it possible to study transitions to democracy by unified models?
Kasper, Petr ; Kučera, Rudolf (advisor) ; Šušlíková, Lada (referee)
In my paper, I will attempt to answer the question "Is it possible to study transitions to democracy by unified models?" I will seek for an answer using cases of Romania and Portugal, the two states where authoritarian rule had the form of personal dictatorship and was overthrown without government cooperation. My assumption is that studying by unified model is not possible and I will try to find evidence for this statement. In my paper I use theoretical work of Samuel P. Huntington, Vladimíra Dvořáková and Jiří Kunc who study types of transitions to democracy. Dvořáková and Kunc also describe phases of these transitions. From work of Adam Przeworski I use the view of democratization causes. Using these theoretical concepts I will study specific cases of democratization in Romania and Portugal. I will use works of Miroslav Tejchman, Kurt W. Treptow and Jiří Kocian in case of Romania and Jan Klíma, Simona Binková, Zuzana Budinová and Kenneth Maxwell in case of Portugal.
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Origin and development of the Vlaams Blok-Vlaams Belang. Extreme right-wing or populistic party
Kratochvílová, Andrea ; Kučera, Rudolf (advisor) ; Říchová, Blanka (referee)
The thesis "Origin and development of the Vlaams Blok - Vlaams Belang. Etreme right-wing or populistic party." deals with a Belgian political party Vlaams Blok/Vlaams Belang, which has been often accused of right-wing extremism. That was the main reason behind the dissolution of the Vlaams Blok in 2004 by the verdict of Ghent, but it was soons substituted by a similar political party Vlaams Belang, which has an identical program and leadership. VB's primary goal remains the division of the country, mainly because Flanders, the richer part of Belgium, are feeling that the poorer part of the country (Valonia) are holding them back. Another reason behind the fight for division is the language differences. The party often uses the division of Czechoslovakia as a reference. Even though VB has a constantly growing base of supporters, the traditional parties refuse to accept it into a dialogue or share the ruling of the country with it. Paradoxically, this can turn out to be a helpful act for VB, as it might turn the party into a sort of a martyr in the eyes of the public. More than that, those who voted for VB, might become angry, because the party they voted for cannot officially take part in ruling the country. Thus, VB is gaining more and more popularity among general people, mostly because of their...
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Civil Religion. Audit and Update
Jüptner, Jan ; Kučera, Rudolf (advisor) ; Franěk, Jakub (referee) ; Hrubec, Marek (referee)
PhD thesis assesses the history of the idea of civil religion and proposes a theoretical interface encompassing all its conceptualisations encountered to date (Rousseau, Bellah, Cristi, Parsons, Luhmann, and Lübbe). Civil religion is understood here as a system of reference points through which society, in the process of self-description, projects into the peripheries its autopoietic realities (of the past, future and eternality) so as to lend stability and import to its existence. By relating to these references, a discourse originates which, being characteristic of the presence of thick and comprehensive meanings, enables the society to communicate about its origins, ends and purpose. In its civil configuration this discourse is pluralist and the involvement of its actors is quite restrained. The model allows for an analysis of the entire serious symbol-based communication of the actors (weighty words, religious symbols, nationalism, conspiracy theories and political correctness) within a single context, as well as of preconditions for such communication. The crisis discourse opened in the USA after 9/11 and aspects of Czech life and institutions are also analysed. In the Czech Republic we identify a minority civil religion discourse, concentrated around semi-secularised references on truth and...
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Language and Totalitarianism
Váňa, Tomáš ; Mlejnek, Josef (advisor) ; Kučera, Rudolf (referee)
The diploma thesis Language and totalitarianism deals with the relation between these two phenomena. On the basis of key thinkers dealing with totalitarianism it formulates its own definition of totalitarianism. It presents the communication theory of Karl Wolfgang Deutsch, on which basis it points to the close relation between communication and political systems, concretely between language and totalitarianism. Language is analysed mainly on the thoughts of Ferdinand de Saussure and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Totalitarian language is explained using mainly Orwell's totalitarian language newspeak in 1984. A practical analysis of a sample of Rudé právo form the era of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in the years 1948-1989 shows its manifestations in real use. At the end of the thesis political correctness is introduced as an example of totalitarian tendencies in liberal democracies.
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Religious Political Parties in Israel
Nejedlá, Iveta ; Kučera, Rudolf (advisor) ; Kubátová, Hana (referee)
Thesis is focused on Israeli religious political parties and the question of their increasing influence. Furthermore, it is focused also on potential increase of the Israeli state's religiosity. Religious parties are classified according to three determining factors. These are: (i) attitude towards Zionism, (ii) number of Sephardi Jews in the party, i.e. whether it is an Ashkenazi or a Sephardi party, and (iii) position towards Arabs (Palestinians). The initial part of the Thesis describes historical evolution which led to the establishment of Israel as a state. Primarily to introduce the situation, and the moods, that was preceding the state's establishment, but also to provide better understanding of relations between the Jews and the Arabs. The level of Israel's religiosity is analyzed based on influence of the key religious institutions on the state affairs. Besides the Ministry of Religious Services these are mainly the Rabbinical Courts, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and local religious councils. To better assess the religious nature of the state the Thesis moreover analyzes and describes the status quo as regards the relationship of the state and the religion.
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