The diploma thesis "The French-Czech relations after the French EU Presidency (2009- 2013)" examines the relations between France and the Czech Republic during five years after the French presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2008, which was replaced by the Czech Presidency in the first half of 2009. It is evident that bilateral relations between Member States are influenced by their membership in the EU. The aim of this work is to find out whether we can observe a similar process in the opposite direction, that is, whether bilateral cooperation between France and the Czech Republic contributes to the Europeanisation of relations in the fields of foreign policy, defense and security, justice and home affairs, transport, environment, trade and economic relations, culture, science and education. The work is divided into two main parts. After a theoretical and methodological introduction, the first one treats the evolution of the French-Czech relations in the 20th and 21st century, the largest part of the work is the analysis of key areas derived from the text of Strategic Partnership established in 2008. In the final chapter, the author tries to generalize the Europeanisation of bilateral relations between these two EU Member States with regard to the importance of bilateral and...

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The interaction between the President and Congress is many times quite public and well documented (Cronin 1980; Covington et al. 1995; Fisher 1994; Schlesinger 2004). Similarly, relations between the Congress and the Supreme Court are well documented; Congress makes law and, if requested, the Court interprets it. The interaction between the president and the Court, however, is not nearly as well defined, and certainly not as public. Supreme Court cases involving the president directly are fairly rare. King and Meernik (1995) identify 347 cases involving the foreign policy powers of the president, decided from 1790 to 1996, which is roughly 1.5 cases per calendar year. This study will examine the influence of attitudinal and extra-attitudinal factors on the individual level decision-making of the U.S. Supreme Court justices in cases involving presidential power. By using both attitudinal and extra-attitudinal factors, such as public opinion and armed conflict, this study will explore the limitations of a simple attitudinal model in complex and highly salient cases such as those that involve presidential power. The cases to be examined will be all presidential power cases decided from 1949 to 2005 (N = 38). The unit of analysis will, however, be the justice's individual-level vote (N = 337).

This thesis examines the determinants of presidential success with Congress. Seven essential sources of presidential power in the current era of party polarization were derived from the extant literature, and these factors were delineated into the institutional (formal) and non-institutional (informal) policymaking tools of the presidency. Variables that explain presidential legislative success include: intraparty support in Congress, the use of veto bargaining, executive orders and signing statements (institutional factors); as well as public approval, ‘going public,’ and strategic lobbying of Congress (non-institutional factors). Case studies of the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush analyze the role of these policymaking tools in four key legislative battles of each presidency. Regression models were constructed to test the effect of these variables on presidential legislative success. The case studies elucidate the relationship between noninstitutional factors and their subsequent impact on key presidential policy priorities, particularly the interaction between public approval and going public. Findings indicate a positive relationship between a president’s strategic bargaining ability with Congress and subsequent legislative success. Findings also show no significant relationship between intraparty support and presidential success when focusing on only key legislative battles between the executive and legislative branches, contrary to the findings of prior research. Future research might examine the various relationships between these policymaking tools and how they affect the nature of presidential power in the current era of heightened party polarization and ideological homogeneity.

The rhetorical presidency encompasses all the ways a president communicates and acts. These rhetorical elements of the job are not prescribed in the Constitution and as a result it is the presidents themselves who help shape the cultural understanding of presidentiality, of what it means to be president. When President Barack Obama participated in a "Slow Jam the News" comedy sketch on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in 2012, he took the rhetorical presidency to a place it had never been before. This choice established a new genre of presidential rhetoric that President Obama would rely on throughout his time in the White House—communicating directly to target audiences via the YouTube bully pulpit. The aim of this thesis is twofold: first, provide historical context for presidents utilizing comedy and new forms of mass media for political ends; and second, rhetorically analyze select comedic YouTube videos to reveal how President Obama reshaped the rhetorical presidency to create new opportunities to succeed both culturally and politically.

The rhetorical presidency encompasses all the ways a president communicates and acts. These rhetorical elements of the job are not prescribed in the Constitution and as a result it is the presidents themselves who help shape the cultural understanding of presidentiality, of what it means to be president. When President Barack Obama participated in a œSlow Jam the News comedy sketch on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in 2012, he took the rhetorical presidency to a place it had never been before. This choice established a new genre of presidential rhetoric that President Obama would rely on throughout his time in the White House”communicating directly to target audiences via the YouTube bully pulpit. The aim of this thesis is twofold: first, provide historical context for presidents utilizing comedy and new forms of mass media for political ends; and second, rhetorically analyze select comedic YouTube videos to reveal how President Obama reshaped the rhetorical presidency to create new opportunities to succeed both culturally and politically.

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