Resumé in English In the first chapter, author of the thesis focused on history and creation of the term "civil disobedience" Second chapter was focused on different views on what term civil disobedience actually means and how some of the famous legal theorethics as John Rawls, Hannah Arendt and Ronald Dworkin understand it. In the third chapter, there was specification of the term civil disobedience in all its theorethical aspects in context of polemics with all the different views in previous chapter. Fourth chapter was focused on civil disobedience in democracy and its role, specifics arising from the nature of democracy. In the fifth chapter autor was focused on specifics and nature of civil disobedience in non-democratic states together with mentioning a few examples from history. Sixth chapter compared effects and mutual influence of violent or non-violent civil disobedience and its effectivity. In the seventh chapter, author described in more detail one of the examples of civil disobedience in the Czech Republic which was decided by court, for describing how the process works in real life situations.

This dissertation examines the influence of executive ideological orientation on state foreign policy behavior. I advance an analytical model which asserts that foreign policy decisionmakers act in a manner consistent with the ideological principles presented in their political platforms, party manifestos, and their voters' expectations. Thus, I assert that within developed democracies, the further right a government is, the higher the propensity to behave more aggressively. Oppositely, the further left a government is, the more likely it is to behave more cooperatively. I empirically analyze this theoretical argument by developing three models where the foreign policy behavior is measured uniquely in each separate model. I estimate executive ideology by using two proxies: one which estimates the overall ideology of the executive while the other captures only the foreign policy dimension of executive ideology. To test the hypotheses derived from the theoretical model, I create a new dataset of responses to international crises. Foreign policy behavior is operationalized as an ordinal variable which takes into account a complex range of actions that governments take in the international arena, such as providing aid, mediation, non intervention, condemnation, sanctions, and the use of force. I employ Logit and Orderd Logit statistical analyses on a large-N cross national model. My dissertation focuses on all 22 OECD countries, during the period 1977 to 2001. The empirical findings partially support my theoretical argument, contingent upon the proxy used for executive ideology and the way state behavior is estimated. I find consistent support to my argument if executive ideology is estimated with the proxy which contains only the party manifestos' foreign policy variables.

Foreign aid is an integral aspect of international cooperation. The complexity and controversy of foreign aid has sparked a debate about the capacity of aid to foster development. This paper analyses the underlying discourses of UK and Sweden’s foreign aid strategies. Dryzek’s discourse analysis model was used in this paper to assess the respective aid strategies of the UK and Sweden and describe how foreign aid actors view and understand developmental issues. Foreign aid strategies have been applied to various development contexts such as economic growth, basic needs, human capabilities, and the goal achievement like the Millennium Development Goals and the current Sustainable Development Goals. Additionally, geostrategic, economical, and political factors orientate aid strategies. The comparison between aid strategies of the UK and Sweden shows that the UK and Swedish discourses emphasise on democratic states and individuals as key factors for a sustain development in recipient countries. Their discourses, however, differ in their approach to effectiveness of aid and the conditions they use around aid.

A tese aborda a comunicação estatal pró-ativa como garantia de direitos constitucionais em Estados Democráticos de Direito. Para tanto, apresenta excertos jurídicos da Teoria do Estado, o conceito de público segundo disciplinas das Ciências Sociais, com destaque para a publicidade estatal habermasiana, chegando às diversas reflexões dos pesquisadores italianos sobre a comunicação pública, suas subdivisões e modelos. Desses modelos resulta a sugestão de uma proposta passível de aplicação no Brasil e em outros países da América do Sul, particularmente Colômbia e Venezuela, para uma comunicação estatal pró-ativa capaz de garantir direitos fundamentais nas suas sociedades, se possível por meio de emendas constitucionais. / The thesis focuses on States proactive communication as a guarantee of constitutional rights in Democratic States. To this matter, presents legal excerpts from State Theory, the concept of Public based on Social Sciences disciplines, highlighting States propaganda as Habermas posits it, reaching several reflections of Italian researchers on public communication, its subdivisions and models. From these models originated a suggestion of a proposal applicable to Brazil and other South American countries, particularly Colombia and Venezuela, of a proactive State communication capable of guaranteeing fundamental rights in their societies, if possible through constitutional amendments.

A tese aborda a comunicação estatal pró-ativa como garantia de direitos constitucionais em Estados Democráticos de Direito. Para tanto, apresenta excertos jurídicos da Teoria do Estado, o conceito de público segundo disciplinas das Ciências Sociais, com destaque para a publicidade estatal habermasiana, chegando às diversas reflexões dos pesquisadores italianos sobre a comunicação pública, suas subdivisões e modelos. Desses modelos resulta a sugestão de uma proposta passível de aplicação no Brasil e em outros países da América do Sul, particularmente Colômbia e Venezuela, para uma comunicação estatal pró-ativa capaz de garantir direitos fundamentais nas suas sociedades, se possível por meio de emendas constitucionais. / The thesis focuses on States proactive communication as a guarantee of constitutional rights in Democratic States. To this matter, presents legal excerpts from State Theory, the concept of Public based on Social Sciences disciplines, highlighting States propaganda as Habermas posits it, reaching several reflections of Italian researchers on public communication, its subdivisions and models. From these models originated a suggestion of a proposal applicable to Brazil and other South American countries, particularly Colombia and Venezuela, of a proactive State communication capable of guaranteeing fundamental rights in their societies, if possible through constitutional amendments.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, the issue of civil-military relations has become critical to the development of the new Eastern European democracies. Both the United States and Germany have a long civil-military relations tradition. A comparison of the United States' and Germany's approaches to civil-military relations will provide clear examples for new democratic states to follow, as they develop their civil-military relations, especially as they consider multi-national NATO units. Following an overview of civil-military theory, this thesis highlights the historical and political developments of civil-military relations within both countries. The thesis further explains the similarities and differences in their developments, as well as the implications for the military profession. The thesis provides a comparison of both approaches to the military profession and to the primary civil-military relations theory, in order to determine if the requirement of democratic civilian control over the military has been met. The thesis summarizes advantages and disadvantages of both American and German approaches. / Lieutenant Colonel (GS), German Army