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The Influence of Cross-Border Cooperation on the Competitiveness of Euroregions
FRIEDRICHS, Marco Jerome
This master's thesis analyses the influence of cross-border cooperation on the competitiveness of Euroregions by means of a comparative case study of two selected Euroregions: the Greater Region at the intersection of the borders between the states of Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Germany, and the Euregio Egrensis, covering territories of the Czech Republic and the three German Länder Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia. The research objective raised first and foremost two questions: How to measure the influence of cross-border cooperation and how to measure the competitiveness of (Euro)regions? This thesis is therefore divided into two parts. First, the key concepts of Euroregions, cross-border cooperation and regional competitiveness are discussed at length as all of them are demanding notions in their own right and their understanding critical for the success of the subsequent comparative case study, which then forms this thesis's second part.
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Countering Islamist Radicalisation: A Comparative Study of Bulgaria and France's Practices, Experiences and Challenges
Nocheva, Nikolena Hristova ; Anceschi, Luca (advisor) ; Hynek, Nikola (referee) ; Biagini, Erika (referee)
This study aims to contribute to Islamist radicalisation and terrorism research in the EU context. It compares and assesses the counter-radicalisation policies that Bulgaria and France adopt. In addition, it seeks to evaluate whether effective practices can be incorporated and adopted in the respective countries. This study grounds its theoretical criticism within Lindekilde's theoretical framework for policy effectiveness. To analyse and better comprehend the main ingredients in the countries' counter-radicalisation model, this study relies on a hermeneutic methodology. The study uses Lindekilde's four evaluative criteria (time, policy design & logic, reception and implementation) to determine whether the existing counter radicalisation policies are well suited to their national contexts. The findings from this study indicate that Bulgaria and France share similar struggles with the implementation of their proposed measures. The study argues that both countries could improve their counter-radicalisation practices provided they introduce measures from a soft character. More precisely, the findings suggest that effective counter radicalisation policies are those which are tailored to the population's local needs and those which benefit from engaging with the richness of their societies. Key words:...
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The impact of a new scramble for Africa between the EU and China - a comparative case study of foreign direct investment in Senegal and Zambia
Mocák, Filip ; Kučerová, Irah (advisor) ; Mazač, Jan (referee)
The goal of this research is to shed light on the impact of European foreign direct investment and growing Chinese foreign direct investment in Sub-Saharan Africa through lenses of neocolonialism and orientalism. A case study analysis is utilized to grasp the topic appropriately. Two case studies were set - Senegal and Zambia case study. While Senegal serves predominantly as a case study for the impact of EU foreign direct investments, The case study of Zambia helps to understand how Chinese FDI inflow affects Sub-Saharan countries. Therefore, six hypotheses were outlined. This work researches the impact of FDI on the level of democracy represented by the democratic index of The Economist Intelligence Unit, business freedom embodied in The Heritage Foundation's economic freedom index, and stability of state symbolised by the fragile state index studied by The Fund for Peace. All three indexes above are available for free online. The correlation between EU FDI and level of democracy was confirmed while Chinese FDI negatively affects democratic development in studied countries. Next, European FDI positively affects the level of economic freedom in Senegal as well as Zambia. Nevertheless, increased Chinese FDI inflow to the countries deteriorated their economic freedom. Lastly, there is no clear...
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Critical Discourse Analysis of Turkish Newspapers on Gezi Protests and Arab Spring: A Comparative Analysis of 'Sabah' and 'Cumhuriyet' Newspapers.
Çakır, Alper ; Černý, Karel (advisor) ; Německý, Marek (referee)
Protests have been important social phenomena for the wider Middle East, especially since the Arab Spring, with the potential to achieve dramatic change. Understanding the nature of uprisings in the region is important for our understanding of the present and the future. To this end, this thesis tried to make sense of the dynamics and processes that led to the emergence of three protests in the region, the 25th of January Revolution in Egypt, the Syrian Uprising, and the Gezi protest. It tried to analyze the different aspects in which they were comparable. Furthermore, it tried to analyze their representation in the media by uncovering the differences and similarities between the discourse of two Turkish newspapers, Sabah and Cumhuriyet, in their columns and news reports regarding these instances of protests. Critical discourse analysis was used alongside comparative case study to see the differences between social reality and the discourse of the newspapers. Also, the thesis tried to explain the discrepancies and commonalities between the discourse of the newspapers. When the protests were compared with the help of the existing literature, it was seen that the protests had some similarities in the aspects such as causes of protest, the performance of the protestors, and state reaction. Moreover,...
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International Regimes against Trafficking in Human Beings: European Experience
Prixová, Barbora ; Karlas, Jan (advisor) ; Knutelská, Viera (referee)
The target of this research is to reveal causal factors that influence the way policy goals and instruments of international organizations in the domain of human trafficking are designed. By tracking evolutions of anti-trafficking policies undergone by the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the thesis demonstrates impact of specific factors on changes in the functioning of international organizations. To unravel mechanism explaining the internal workings of a policy formation within an IO, the thesis considers and tests theoretical assumptions of three rivalling theories on institutions; the realism, historical institutionalism and neoliberal institutionalism. Premises of respective theories, which offer contrasting perspectives on the functioning of international organizations, will help to formulate corresponding independent variables. The dependant variable being the changing design of institutions, the detailed cross-case analysis spanning a period of one decade uncovers causal relations between independent dependent variables. Thus, by means of time series data collection, patterns revealing which of independent variables can be designed as responsible for observed changes becomes visible. In this way, the study is able to answer to what extent...
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Which School? Placing of the Child with Physical Disability in Basic Education
Rudolfová, Jitka ; Mouralová, Magdalena (advisor) ; Klimešová, Magdaléna (referee)
This bachelor thesis deals with the process of special education placement of child with physical disability in the Czech Republic. The thesis sees the process from perspective of parents and explores their role within. The goal of the thesis is to clarify factors which determine choice special education form - it means factors that influence whether a child will be educated in mainstream school or in special one. The thesis is based on the value of equity and on the right to education of every individual. Parents of disabled children are viewed as subjects of mutually interacting system. In the first part the thesis describes the legislation related to school placement of children with disability and submit statistic overview of special education. A comparative case study is the centre of the second part of the thesis. It compares four histories of decision making about suitable school for a child with physical disability. These histories were extracted from four interviews with their mothers. The thesis concludes that the parents of these children really are those who choose the special education form. But it agues that their choice of the form is more likely determined by coincidence of circumstances, rather than by clear factors.
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