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Democracy and it´s perspectives in Latin America
Sedláčková, Michala ; Volenec, Otakar (advisor) ; Kochan, Jan (referee)
The purpose of this thesis was to observe, examine and describe the state of democracy in Latin American countries. I chose the major independent countries (19) in the region to describe the trends of democracy in Latin America. The theoretical part deals with the terms democracy and democratization and explains historical concepts of democracy. To be able to understand the current state of democracy an explication of historical, socioeconomic and cultural background of the region was necessary. In this part I am also showing its relation to democracy and democratic values in the society. To evaluate the level of democracy in the individual states I used three different reports or indexes. First of them is the Polity score, second Bertelsmann transformation index and the third is the annual report of Freedom House -- Freedom in the World. In the final part I am designing the possible perspectives of democracy in the region, which with few exceptions I consider very positive.
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Foreign policy of the USA and China towards Burma
Hlopková, Lucia ; Knotková, Vladimíra (advisor) ; Cibulková, Petra (referee)
Burma, abounds with vast natural resources and this coupled with its strategic geographical and political position draws the country increasing attention from the international community. However, any further cooperation with Burma is complicated by her nondemocratic regime represented by the military junta.The thesis presented here aims to compare the attitude of two world powers the U.S. and China towards Burma, find motives of their foreign policy and to evaluate the consequences of this policy. American foreign policy towards Burma is characterized by the imposition of isolating sanctions, while China opts for a policy of cooperation with the burmese junta. Recently however, the U.S. and China have been re-evaluating their foreign policy attitude towards Burma and this thesis attempts to point out possible future developments in this area.
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The information revolution in Senegal
Hankeová, Tereza ; Kváča, Vladimír (advisor) ; Kochan, Jan (referee)
This thesis deals with information and communication technologies in the developing world and particularly in Senegal. Its aim is to determine how the radio, television and Internet affect the democratization development of Senegalese society. The first part focuses on the historical introduction of information and communication technologies in Senegal and emphasizes the connection between the major turning point of modern history of Senegal and the growing social impact of information and communication technologies. The second part explores the impact of information and communication technologies on Senegalese society, culture, economy and politics.
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Social movements and their impact on the transition to democracy: the case of Zapatistas
Petříček, Martin ; Dvořáková, Vladimíra (advisor) ; Müller, Karel (referee) ; Opatrný, Josef (referee) ; Měšťánková, Petra (referee)
This dissertation aims to enrich the discussion about the role of social movements in the process of democratisation, ie. to assess their role in the transformation from authoritarian to democratic regime. In particular, it tries to find the way how to assess the impact of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, EZLN) and related movement on the Mexican transition to democracy in 1990s. The analysis tries to identify possible impacts on three different levels -- political (which means regime transition), social (which is related with the change of the nature of the relations between state and society, once described as corporatist) and economical (which means the end of neoliberal policy promoted by recent Mexican governments and the introduction of more equal, "more democratic" policy in zapatista logic). It looks both at the formal (direct through bargaining) and informal (influence) impact of the zapatista movement. From the methodological point of view, the study is case analysis, in some parts it uses historical analysis. The text is structured into five chapters. The first chapter shows main theoretical and methodological approaches to the social movements with special focus on Latin American context. It is followed by explaining the principles of methods used to assessment of the zapatista impacts. The second chapter presents main approaches to social change and process of democratic transition. The third chapter contains the historical analysis of transformation of relation between state and society during 20th century, from the introduction of (state) corporatist model in 1930s to its gradual dismantling in the late 20th century. The fourth chapter analysis the evolution of EZLN from its beginning in Lacandon jungle in southern Mexican state of Chiapas. In relation with the emphasis of movement's goals, the period from 1994, when zapatista uprising in Chiapas started, to 2010 is divided into four stages. In the fifth chapter, theoretical findings are applied on EZLN and zapatista movement and formulated hypotheses are tested.
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Actors of economic globalization, civil society and the state
Rohrbacher, Tomáš ; Müller, Karel (advisor) ; Lehmannová, Zuzana (referee) ; Prorok, Vladimír (referee) ; Dohnalová, Marie (referee)
Presented thesis focuses on civil society within the context of ongoing processes of globalization. The core of disputed issues lies in creation of relationships between the actors of civil society (with stress on alter-globalization movement) and institutions of international governance (with accent on multilateral economic institutions -- WB, IMF, WTO). The thesis analyzes concepts of (global) civil society and functions which civil society fulfills in relations to centres of political power -- traditionally towards the state, currently also towards international governance institutions. It deals also with preconditions of creation and existence of global civil society (post-material middle-class, cosmopolitism and the role of the internet). Theoretical chapters are supported by empirical datas which are analysed especially regarding alter-globalist discourse, self-definition of the actors and current state of relationships between civil society and WB, IMF and WTO. Applied research shows that these institutions open themselves to the control of public and civil society (although with different pace) in levels of transparency, accountability and access, and thus civil society contributes to their democratization.
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The role of women in democratization processes in francophone Africa
Pavlicová, Vendula ; Kváča, Vladimír (advisor) ; Knotková, Vladimíra (referee)
This thesis deals with the African women standing in their societies and attemps to find out what are their possibilities, within this standing, to participate in the current processes of democratization. It tries to identify important facts - by mapping their role in the traditional society and describing its changes during the French colonialism and after the decolonization - that determine women's current status. This serves as a basis for the research of ways in which women participate in the democratization processes that are currently under way in francophone Africa. The thesis focuses not only on their possibilities to take part in the decision-making within the elected bodies, but is also concerned with their chances to influence the politics in a less formal way. The emphasis is on the activities of women's organizations that seem to be an appropriate tool of democratization of the African society.
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Civil society and civil participation at municipal level (case study of Prague 5 district)
Bazgerová, Martina ; Müller, Karel (advisor) ; Lisa, Aleš (referee)
In connection with a process of democratization of the Czech Republic the topic of an civil society becomes more and more topical. This study focuses mainly on one of its functions -- civil participation -- and on the case of the Czech Republic it proves Beck's hypothesis that civil society and civil participation mobilize itself in reaction on critical situation, and it tries to find an explanation of this hypothesis. To set criteria for analyzing the given hypothesis, and its subsequent explanation the condition of civil society in the Czech Republic is analyzed with regard to both historical and contemporary influences and public opinions of citizens. Then, the study moves to verifying the main hypothesis on the case of the Prague 5 district. For this purpose analyzing of medial causes and mainly reactions of citizens to it, is used.
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Globalisation and Developing Countries
Blažek, Ivan ; Volenec, Otakar (advisor) ; Knotková, Vladimíra (referee)
The thesis examines the impacts of globalisation on the spheres of economy, politics and culture of the developing world, in the sense of understanding globalisation as interconnecting the civilisational, regulatory and spiritual human constructs into a global system. This scheme is extended to the environmental dimension as a reflection of the conflict between the global system created by man and the pre-existent and superior global system of the ecosphere. In each dimension, the aim is to identify the particular impacts of globalisation on developing countries considering the positive or negative influences on their situation and problems.
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Formation of the political system of Chile after 1989
Vejmelka, Jan ; Pešková, Vladimíra (advisor) ; Němec, Jan (referee)
Předmětem práce je přechod k demokracii a konsolidace demokracie v Chile. Výchozím bodem je politický systém Chile před rokem 1973. Nejprve jsou hledány příčiny politické a ústavní krize v roce 1973, zejména ty, které jsou zakotveny v ústavě z roku 1925. Jádrem práce je posouzení změn v konfiguraci politického systému Chile po roce 1989.U konkrétních parametrů systému (forma vlády, volební systém, stranický systém atp.) je zjišťováno, zda v nich nový politický systém navazuje na politický systém před rokem 1973, či na autoritářský režim, tedy zda je v novém politickém systému patrné poučení z minulého vývoje.
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