This long work of imagination is a culmination of years of writing about two characters, cousins Barb and Debbie: Barbara Catherin Owens and Deborah Jean Magee. Born in south-eastern Arkansas, Barb and Debbie haunted Amber Nicole Brooks until she initiated them into the world of fiction in an initial short story set in 1970. Since then, many stories, ranging from the 1960s to 1990s, have been born of these characters’ exploits, despair, and erotic encounters. In a drastic overhaul of prose, Amber has reworked the episodes of these characters lives into one long, linear narrative, a thing some folks might perhaps characterize as a novel.

My Master?s thesis will be dealing with a field trip into the Parliament of the Czech Republic as a part of civics lessons in the 6th to the 9th grade of a primary school. It emphasises the meaning of field trips, their organization and it describes possible difficulties which the organizer can get into. The first part focuses on a political system in the Czech Republic with emphasis on general power division in the land. Its aim is to monitor the evolution of legislative power in Czech lands in the 20th century. The second part deals with a teaching method of a field trip as a progressive teaching method which has been out of interest of pedagogy and didactics. In the third part the emphasis is put on the preparation, accomplishment and consequent evaluation of the field trips into the Parliament of the Czech Republic in a form of a case study. It gives instructions for their organisation and mentions basic data about the running of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. It also analyses how much the field trip can supplement theoretical knowledge of the pupils gained in the civics lessons. The aim is to deal with the experience from a direct contact with the observed reality from the point of view of the 6th to the 9th grade primary school pupils. Diploma thesis can be used as a methodical tool for pedagogues of civics lessons to organise field trips into the Parliament of the Czech Republic.

Esta tese explora as relações entre federalismo e partidos legislativos no sistema político brasileiro. Demonstra que os maiores partidos nacionais apresentam expressiva concentração regional de suas bancadas na Câmara dos Deputados, isto é, a maior parte de seus deputados federais provém de poucos estados. Em geral, de três a sete seções estaduais são suficientes para compor a maioria simples das maiores bancadas partidárias na Câmara dos Deputados. Conjuntamente, esses partidos somam entre 75% e 91% (em média 81%) do plenário da Câmara dos Deputados. PPB, PTB, PMDB, PSDB e PT são legendas cujos parlamentares estão altamente concentrados em poucos distritos das regiões estados do Sul e Sudeste, enquanto a representação do PFL se concentra no Sudeste. Como conseqüência, uma minoria (entre 25 e 30%) dos deputados é capaz de mobilizar, através da formação de maiorias no interior dos seus respectivos partidos, a maioria qualificada (60%) no plenário da Câmara dos Deputados. Esta maioria é suficiente para aprovar qualquer legislação. A concentração partidária em poucas seções estaduais se traduz na escolha dos líderes partidários, sendo que dois em cada três deles é oriundo das seções partidárias estaduais de alta concentração. A escolha da presidência da Mesa Diretora da Casa segue lógica similar, reforçando a relação entre composição regional dos grandes partidos nacionais e controle de postos-chave no sistema de representação política. Do mesmo modo, seções estaduais têm vantajosas condições de barganha, por intermédio de seus partidos, para indicar cargos ministeriais junto ao Executivo. Do governo Collor ao governo Lula, três em cada quatro ministros dos grandes partidos nacionais estudados tinha sua origem nos estados de alta concentração. Esta distribuição desproporcional dos cargos no interior dos partidos permite aos membros de poucas seções controlarem os principais cargos do processo decisório tanto no Legislativo quanto no Executivo. Estes resultados observados subvertem os resultados esperados por regras institucionais que visaram produzir um desenho federativo, que alavancasse a capacidade de vocalização dos estados do Norte, Nordeste e Centro-Oeste. A sobre-representação destes estados na Câmara dos Deputados (malapportionment), a conversão de territórios em Unidades Federadas (reforçando sua presença no Legislativo), a extensa gama de poderes do Senado brasileiro; a exigência de partidos nacionais, medidas originadas em 1946 e/ou reiteradas pelas constituições federais posteriores, parecem não ter sido suficientes para alterar os padrões de distribuição de poder entre os entes federados. O controle de postos-chave do processo decisório ainda parece garantir um papel protagônico às seções partidárias estaduais que, supostamente, estariam sub-representadas no sistema politico brasileiro. / This thesis explores the relationship between federalism and legislative parties in the Brazilian political system. It shows how the biggest national parties demonstrate expressive regional concentration of its delegation in the Chamber of Deputies, which means that the most part of the federal representants come from a few states. In general, from three to seven state sections are enough to compose the biggest parties delegations simple majority in the Chamber of Deputies. Putting them together, those parties add between 75% and 91% (average 81%) of the Chamber of Deputies. PPB, PTB, PMDB, PSDB e PT are parties whose representants are highly concentrated in a few districts from South and Southeast regions, while PFL`s representation is concentrated in Northeast. As a consequence, a minority (between 25% and 30%) of the representants is capable to mobilize, through majoritys formation inside their own parties, qualified majority (60%) of the plenary assembly in the Chamber of Deputies. This majority is enough to approve any legislation. Partisan concentration in a few state sections is translated in the choice of partys leaders, since two in three of them came from partys sections in states with high concentration. The President of the Chamber of Deputies choice follows similar logic what reinforces the relationship between regional composition of big national parties and key-jobs control in the political representation system. In the same way state sections have advantages conditions of bargaining, through their parties, to indicate ministerial jobs in the Executive. From Collor (1990-1992) to Lula`s (2003-2007) government three in every four ministers who belonged to big national parties are originated from high concentration states. This disproportional distribution of jobs inside the parties allows their members from few state sections have the control of the main jobs in the decision-making process in the Legislative and Executive. Those (real) results subvert (expected) institutional rules` results that draw a federative picture that evidenced the capacity of north, northeast and middle-west states. Super representation that states from these regions have in the Chamber of Deputies (malapportionment), the conversion of territories in federal unities (which reinforce these regions presence in the Federal Legislative), Brazilian Senates extended group of powers, national parties exigency, procedures originated in 1946 and/or reinforced by later constitutions, they seem to being insufficient to change distribution of powers pattern between federative states. Key-jobs control in the decision-making process still seems to guarantee a protagonist place to state party sections who are supposed sub represented in the Brazilian political system.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:34:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cintia de Medeiros Suelotto.pdf: 1852066 bytes, checksum: 0b72dd0b25f3230790595519090d40e1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-02 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / This study is dedicated to the analysis of the participation of women in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, the 54th Legislature, corresponding to the 2011-2015 period and its influence on the achievement of gender equality. Initially, will be considered the aspects of the feminine citizenship, public/private dichotomy and the entry of women in the public sphere. The issue of gender equality will be focused specifically on the aspect of women s political participation and their contribution to equity. Through research, the profiles of parliamentary holders in the mentioned period will be analyzed, the areas in which they operate and the interests they represent. After collecting the data, it will be possible to see whether the political activity of the parliamentary covers the issue of gender equality or, on the other hand, the Deputies did not included, in a relevant way, the issue in their mandates. The dissertation will, finally, offer an overview about the female participation in the Chamber of Deputies in the 2011-2015 period, highlighting what kind of impact this work produces for gender equality in Brazil. / O presente estudo dedica-se à análise da participação das mulheres na Câmara dos Deputados brasileira, na 54ª Legislatura, correspondente ao período 2011-2015 e sua influência na concretização da igualdade de gênero. Inicialmente, serão considerados aspectos relativos à cidadania feminina, à dicotomia público/privado e à entrada das mulheres na esfera pública. A questão da igualdade de gênero será focada, especificamente, no aspecto da participação política feminina e sua contribuição para a equidade. Por meio da pesquisa, serão analisados os perfis das parlamentares titulares no período mencionado, as áreas em que atuaram e os interesses que defendem. Após a coleta dos dados, será possível constatar se a atuação política das parlamentares abrange a temática da igualdade de gênero ou se, por outro lado, as Deputadas não incluíram de modo relevante o tema em seus mandatos. A dissertação apresentará, finalmente, um panorama acerca da participação feminina na Câmara dos Deputados, no período de 2011-2015, destacando que tipo de impacto essa atuação produz para a igualdade de gênero no Brasil.

Parliamentary system of government demands parliamentary competent parties. Dissension within parties can block the entire political system; the government cannot rely on its majority and fails in processing its proposals on the agenda of the parliament. From the analytical perspective, inquiry in dissension in the parliamentary majority is one of basic questions. The thesis deals with dissension at the theoretical level. Using the Czech Chamber of Deputies as an example, the thesis conceptualizes forms of dissension (a disapproval of a governmental proposal at the first reading as the absolute dissent). The thesis conducts voting unity tests of Czech political parties that forge government. According to the empirical inquiry, the dissension that leads to the disapproval of governmental proposals stems from the dissent within the political parties, not from the dissent among parties.

This Diploma Thesis deals with obstructions within the legislative process of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, more precisely in hearings at the Lower House. The aim of the thesis is to describe the phenomenon of obstructions and their importance in the legislative process. In the beginning, the author establishes three basic research questions, which he then tries to answer through quantitative methods. Firstly, the author answers the question whether either site of the ideological spectrum tends to use the tactic of obstruction more often. Secondly, he inquires whether there are any differences between the obstructions of a right-wing or a left-wing party. Finally, the author aims to clarify if the long-established parties in the Chamber of Deputies have an advantage in the practice of obstructions and thus are more successful in it than new parties are. The text is divided into three separate chapters with a logical structure starting from theoretical themes and continuing with an empirical analysis. The first part, which is purely theoretical, is followed by a chapter dealing with the legislative process which can be considered as a transition between the theoretical and empirical parts. The following chapter is based on empiricism and analyses stenographic records and interviews with the representatives of political parties. The carried out analyses suggest that it is impossible to state clearly which site of the ideological spectrum tends to use the tactic of obstruction more often, as in the majority of cases parties using this tactic find themselves in the opposition. However, while obstructing, both left-wing and right-wing parties use almost identical tools. Ultimately, it can be stated that parties represented in the House of Deputies for a long period are not more successful in practicing obstructions than other parties, even though they use strategies that are more sophisticated.

A influência dos partidos políticos nas decisões dos congressistas é um tema extremamente debatido na ciência política. No que diz respeito à política externa, usualmente considerada como tema suprapartidário, a questão apresenta-se ainda mais inconclusiva. A presente pesquisa analisa todas as votações nominais em temas de política externa das Legislaturas 1994-1998, 1998-2002 e 2002-2006 da Câmara dos Deputados do Chile. Após construir um mapa espacial das preferências dos deputados chilenos em política externa, por meio da utilização do programa estatístico NOMINATE, concluo que a ideologia do partido político do legislador é fator preditivo de seu comportamento em política externa. Os achados indicam que o pressuposto da não manifestação das preferências dos legisladores latino-americanos em temas de política externa (abdicação) não encontra respaldo no caso chileno. Ademais, a comparação dos resultados obtidos nesta dissertação com outros estudos acerca da atuação legislativa na política doméstica chilena, evidenciou a similaridade entre ambos, sugerindo que os fatores que estruturam as decisões dos deputados em política doméstica não difere daqueles em política externa / The influence of partisan politics in congressmen decisions is a much debated issue in political science. With respect to foreign policy, usually considered above parties, the question appears even more inconclusive. This research analyses all roll-call foreign policy votes for the 1994-1998, 1998-2002 and 2002-2006 Legislatures of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile. After constructing a spatial map of deputies preferences in foreign policy through NOMINATE program, we conclude that the ideology of legislators political parties constrains their votes in foreign policy. Our findings indicate that the presupposition of the non-manifestation of Latin American legislators preferences regarding foreign policy (abdication) does not apply to the Chilean case. Furthermore, the comparison of these data with those of other researchers for the domestic policy in Chile reveals a strong similarity between them, indicating that the factors that influence the legislators choices are the same in foreign and domestic policies

The presented thesis mainly focuses on an analysis of twenty years of the politics of electoral reform in Czechoslovakia (1990-1992), on the federal level (the Federal Assembly), and the national level (the Czech National Council), respectively, and later on the politics of electoral reform in the Czech Republic, on the national level (the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic). First, the thesis discusses how and why electoral systems are chosen and changed. Recent analysis of the politics of electoral reform has yielded two main theoretical perspectives regarding the reforms of recent decades. The first one, the power-maximizing perspective, assumes that politicians control the choice of the electoral system and that they are motivated to maximize their power. The other perspective allows for a wider range of actors - in particular, including ordinary citizens as well as politicians - and sees electoral reform as the product of a mix of inherent and contingent factors. Reform can, under this approach, occur in response to specific instances of systemic failure. More recently, Alan Renwick (in 2010 and more precisely in 2011) seeks to develop a more refined understanding of electoral reform processes through two steps. At the outset, there is an acknowledgement that there are...

Les explications politiques de la fin de la monarchie de Juillet demandent à être reconsidérées. L’historiographie, s’appuyant sur les témoignages des acteurs qui l’ont combattue a insisté sur le refus du roi d’accorder la réforme électorale et parlementaire, refus appuyé par le cabinet ministériel dirigé par Guizot et par la Chambre des députés. La Charte de 1830 définissait le cadre d’un régime où le roi avait sa place et où le gouvernement devait chercher l’appui et le concours des chambres parlementaires. Dans ces conditions, le pouvoir exécutif devait obtenir l’assentiment des assemblées pour mener sa politique. Le refus de la réforme s’explique alors par l’obtention d’une majorité parlementaire acquise au gouvernement par des moyens peu avouables (élections manipulées, corruption, pressions de toutes sortes sur les députés) et la présence massive de députés fonctionnaires a priori dociles et obéissants. Était-ce vraiment le cas ? La dernière Chambre des députés élue en 1846 voit une victoire ministérielle incontestable plus fondée sur les effets du suffrage censitaire que par des manipulations. Le comportement de cette majorité durant cette courte législature révèle en fait que le cabinet s’occupa plus de composer avec les dissensions qui sont apparues en son sein que d’essayer de la diriger et de la dominer. En réalité, on en vient à se demander si Guizot, loin d’imposer son point de vue aux députés ministériels n’était pas en fin de compte le porte-parole de leurs aspirations conservatrices. / The political explanations for the downfall of the July monarchy require re-examination. Relying on testimonies from the politicians who battled against it, historiography gives preference to the king’s refusal of parliamentary and electoral reform, a refusal that was backed by the ministerial cabinet under the direction of Guizot and the Chamber of deputies. The Charter of 1830 laid the foundations of a regime with a place for the king, and where the government had to solicit the assistance and cooperation of the assemblies. In these conditions, in order to conduct its policies, the executive branch had to first obtain the consent of the assemblies. The refusal of reform is thus attributed to the government’s winning the parliamentary majority by dubious means (corruption, rigged elections, and putting deputies under pressure of all sorts) and the immense presence of bureaucrats who were assumed obedient and docile. Was this really the case? The monarchy’s last Chamber of deputies, elected in 1846, reached an incontestable ministerial victory, due more to the effects of censitary suffrage than rigging. The behavior of this majority over the short course of this term of office actually reveals that the cabinet was more concerned with dissent from within than it was with trying to lead and dominate it. By this one is led to wonder if Guizot, far from imposing his point of view on ministerial deputies, wasn’t actually the spokesperson for their conservative aspirations.

A criação de novas províncias no Brasil Império não era algo simples nem tampouco rotineiro. Envolvia um processo complexo que, atravessando diversas instâncias da administração imperial, levava ao plenário do parlamento reivindicações autonomistas de grupos políticos que, com maior ou menor poder de barganha na arena parlamentar possuíam interesses que passavam pela criação de uma unidade administrativa que significaria alguma autonomia para esta elite gerir seus próprios interesses. Embora exista uma quantidade razoável de pedidos neste sentido, o fato é que durante todo o século XIX apenas duas propostas alcançaram êxito: Amazonas (1850) e Paraná (1853). Separados pela distância e envoltos em contextos regionais diferentes, estes projetos foram os únicos que conseguiram aglutinar em torno de si apoio político suficiente para permitir sua aprovação. Para isso contaram com situações extraordinárias que fizeram com que projetos locais fossem debatidos como políticas nacionais, tais como a ocorrência de levantes amados, de contestações de fronteiras e a existência de complicadas questões envolvendo as relações externas do país. Esta pesquisa objetiva analisar as discussões que se deram em torno de tais políticas no parlamento brasileiro. Vários elementos estiveram articulados neste debate: os interesses das elites provinciais, a necessidade de um Estado mais efetivo para negociar a ordem interna e problemas relativos à política externa, pois estavam em jogo as relações com os países vizinhos. Fatores estes que exigiam soluções dotadas de um equilíbrio do qual dependia a sobrevivência de um Estado em construção na contingência de redividir administrativamente seu território. / The creation of new provinces in the Empire of Brazil was not simple. It envolved a complex process across multiple instances of the central administration which led to the plenary of the Parliament autonomist demands of political groups which, with bigger or less bargaining power in the parliamentary arena, had interests that passed through the creation of a administrative unit, which would mean some autonomy to manage their own interests and needs. Although there is a reasonable amount of such requests, the fact is that througout the nineteenth century only two proposals have suceeded: Amazonas (1850) and Paraná (1853). Separated by distance and wrapped in different regional contexts, these projects were the only ones who managed to unite around him enough political support to enable this adoption. This thanks to extraordinary situations that have caused local projects were discussed as national policies, such as the ocurrence of armed movements, bordes disputes and the existence of complicated issues involving foreign relations. This work aims to analyse the debates that took place in the Brazilian Parliament around such policies. Several elements have been articulated in these discussions. The interests of the provincial elites, the need of a more effective State to manage the problems of internal order and foreign policy, as it was at risk the relations with neighboring countries. Factors that demanded solutions with a balance of which depended the survival of a State under construction in administrative contingency redivide its territory.