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.

Doktorská práce si klade za širší úkol prozkoumat jednu z rovin kulturního střetu mezi tradiční africkou kulturou a západní kulturou a jejími globalizač­ními vlivy, které se v subsaharské Africe začaly projevovat s nástupem koloni­alismu, a jejichž intenzita dále akcelerovala v postkoloniálním období. Pozornost je věnována kulturnímu subsystému, který představuje regulační funkce společnosti, konkrétně politice, která je však úzce, a místy neodděli­telně, spojena s ekonomikou. Toto velmi široké téma je dále zúženo tím, že předmětem zájmu, a současně hlavním cílem je zkoumání možností demo­kratického řešení konfliktů plynoucích ze současných sociopolitických roz­porů v subsaharské Africe, tedy především, zda jsou myšlenky demokracie v Africe uskutečnitelné, a pokud ano, tak za jakých podmínek.

Czechoslovakia during the Second World War - Influence of the Second World War on the political development of Czechoslovakia The years 1938-1945 determined the development that culminated in the communist coup d'état in February of 1948. At the same time, Czech society was undergoing a deep crisis that has been caused by bitter disappointment of the end of the First Republic and its internal political problems. The Great Depression, mass unemployment and the inability of government officials to deal with this situation satisfactorily led to dissatisfaction with the economic arrangement of the First Republic and became the subject of radical change. According to many, the First Republic political party system also had failed. Too many political parties, the need for coalition governments, selfish adherence to party interests instead of national interests, intrigues, were all given as reasons why democracy had not been able to confirm its primacy in the moments when it was most needed. Betrayal by the Western Allies, especially France (under the strong influence of Great Britain) and the relatively friendly behavior of the Soviet Union during the Munich crisis undermined foreign policy concepts, held in the interwar period. All these events had meant that almost no one wanted to return to pre-war...

The work searches for the main factors influencing local party systems in the District of Strakonice, it examines the rate of the political participation, the rate of the political plurality, the number of election parties and the ratio of the independents. Its secondary goal is exploring election change impacts from the year 2010. The political process was changed in 2010, the traditionally strongest parties were displaced by the new ones and the voters attitude to the political parties was changed too. The election change impacts influenced mainly the national politics, in the Parliament, where it changed the arrangement of the political powers. The work founded a similar change in the local level, it showed, that the main factor influencing the local party systems is the number of town inhabitants. According to the number of inhabitants it changes the local party systems and town reactions on the changes in the parliament politics.

Referendum in the Czech Republic Abstract This thesis focuses on the issue of the national referendum in the Czech Republic, which the Constitution assumes to be held, but the general legal regulation in the Czech legal system is missing. The most extensive part of this work is therefore devoted to the drafts of constitutional acts regulating the general national referendum (hereinafter also "proposals"), which have been submitted to the Chamber of Deputies since the establishment of the Czech Republic. At the beginning of the work, the author defines the concept of referendum and further categorizes the referendums according to the functions in which people can initiate them, the time when they are held, whether the obligation is to be performed, whether their results are binding, what their subject can be, what territory they are taking, their legislation form and whether judicial review is possible. This categorization is supplemented by examples of legal regulations of referendums from selected European Union countries (including the Czech Republic) and Switzerland. Categorization of referendums are used in the analysis of proposals, to which the second part of this paper is devoted. It is possible, for example, to find out how many proposals were submitted to the Chamber of Deputies since the...

Democracy and a state governed by the rule of law The diploma thesis deals with the topics of democracy, the rule of law and their interaction. It is focused on both themes in the context of their historical development and other ideas that have influenced one or the other phenomenon. For this reason, the reader encounters primarily the issues of an ancient understanding of democracy, ideas of republicanism, liberalism, constitutionalism, or the Anglo-American concept of government. In this diploma paper, democracy and the rule of law are analyzed as concepts that have a general, i.e., global, meaning. Examples of elements typical of democracy and the rule of law are, however, the provisions of the Czech law. The aim of the diploma thesis is to point out the influence of historical experience on the development of ideas about democracy and the rule of law, and to emphasize the phenomena that are being studied, how they differ and how they interact. In conclusion, the historical development of both phenomena has led to a fundamental change in their understanding. Both terms are limiting and balancing each other. At present, democracy is seen as a universal value and, together with the modern concept of the rule of law, creates a liberal democratic system of governance. At the same time, however,...

This study is about economic diplomacy of China in Africa. It describes development of China-Africa relations, their current form and examines, whether less democratic countries trade more with China than the democratic ones. The study is divided into four chapters. The first one defines economic diplomacy theoretically. The second one focuses on China-Africa relationship from its history up to establishing of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. It also describes motives of China-Africa cooperation, stressing China's energy dependance. The third chapter describes development of China-Africa trade, Chinese foreign direct investments and development aid and pros and cons of China's presence in Africa. The last chapter examines relationship between level of democracy in african countries and their trade with China.

The diploma thesis examines prospects of democracy in developing countries. The first part deals with the notion democracy, ways of its measuring and its conditions. The second part introduces democratization processes during the twentieth century. Next chapters outline contemporary situation in three developing continents -- Latin America, Africa and Asia. Final part summarizes prospects of democracy in today's world.

The objective of this thesis is to find out an answer for question why the reconstruction of Iraq is unsuccessful. There are mentioned previous regimes as initial conditions for the process. Firstly thesis concerns with democratization of Iraq, which is the main sense of reconstruction. Its pitfalls and whether it can be applied in Iraq. Secondly it describes barriers of reconstruction. Thirdly it points out mistakes which were made during the reconstruction. Findings answer the main question. Thesis concludes some recommendation which can lead to success of this process.

The paper is focused on relationship of Russian cultural values and cultural environ-ment to the liberal democratic form of government. The main objective of this paper is to analyze impact of the Russian culture on adoption and promotion of democracy in Russia. In the first part of this paper are described basic ideas on which is based Rus-sian society. In the following chapter base on researches of Geert Hofstede and Ronald Inglehart is described current system of values of the Russian society. The third part of the paper examines historical experience of Russia with the democracy and an influence of this experience on adoption of democratic form of government. In last part base on findings in previous chapters is assessed impact of Russian cultural envi-ronment on the adoption and promotion of democracy in Russia.