The thesis "Proposals to amend the electoral and political system in contemporary Czech public debate" examines proposals presented by different types of entities who are trying to rectify the Czech policy. The current political scene is struggling with problems such as corruption, bribery and government instability. Such a situation leads to dissatisfaction with politicians and it may ultimately lead to their alienation. The starting point is to reform the policy and restore the confidence of citizens and their interest in public affairs. The aim of this paper is to describe what proposals dominate the current debate on the amendment of the Czech electoral system and in many cases can lead to a change of the political system. The thesis is divided into four thematic sections. The first, theoretical part briefly introduces the concept of democracy, individual elements of direct democracy and the typology of political systems. In addition, there are information about the Czech constitutional order and the development of the electoral system in the Czech Republic. Other three chapters deal with those proposals, which are divided according to the type of the entity that proposed them. This is a set of proposals by entities established by power and relevant political parties; smaller political...

Direct democracy in the 21st century: challenges and pitfalls Abstract The thesis deals with the position of direct democracy in the 21st century, what are its advantages and disadvantages and problem areas. Before that, it briefly presents why such strong voices calling for direct democracy have been heard in recent years. The first part of the thesis describes the emergence of representative democracy and how this process was influenced by opinions on direct democracy. Furthermore, the reasons for the existence of representative democracy are outlined and the theory behind it is briefly introduced. In its second part, the thesis discusses, in greater detail, the present of representative democracy, what are its advantages and disadvantages and what problems it faces, which quite possibly threaten its very existence. In this part the thesis is based, among other things, on sociological findings, especially in Czech society. These problems largely explain frequent considerations about the implementation of direct democracy. The third part turns its attention to direct democracy exclusively and describes its history, more precisely, important passages from it. It also describes the theoretical foundations of direct democracy, in which the defense of direct democracy by its promoters is hidden to some extent....

The objective of the submitted diploma thesis is to analyze the subject of a direct democracy system in the Czech Republic focusing on the local level of governance. The possibility of being able to participate imminently in the municipal government and thus amending the current representative model became the subject of not only political discussions over the last few years. The thesis is composed of a foreword and five chapters, which are hereafter divided to subchapters for better transparency. Findings and author suggestions concerning the possible future forms of the local democracy are summarized in the conclusion. The introductory chapter presents the direct democracy in a theoretical way and shows how it differs from the representative democracy model. It also contains the definition of the five most respected forms of a direct democracy, which are: referendum, plebiscite, citizen initiative, petition and recall. Following two chapters are focused on the situation in Czech Republic, first in general, then with an emphasis on the municipal scene. Efforts to establish an individual form of a direct democracy can be observed already from the year 1918 with various results, new possibilities appeared later as Czech Republic had entered supranational communities. A local referendum still remains...

This thesis deals with the comparison of selected topics from the political climate among students from both Germany and the Czech Republic. For this purpose, a survey of 108 Czech students from Charles University in Prague and 102 German students from the University Bremen was collected and the results were analysed. The research dealt with the claims rate of electoral and non-electoral participation, party preferences, whether left-right scale or support a particular party, the level of discussions about politics and watching political news, patriotism and attitude to European integration, civil society and direct democracy. The aim of the research is also a measure of political alienation and disgust with politics, media and confidence in the effectiveness of the state apparatus and not least the degree of knowledge about politics between Czech and German respondents. Each orientation is watched primarily by nationality of respondent, also according to gender in the whole group and in some cases also between the Czech and especially among German respondents. Where it was relevant, were also compared by field of study respondents. Most respondents from both countries have clearly defined links to the political system and its place in it, which showed such a high level of electoral participation,...

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Trata a presente tese de estudo acerca do instituto denominado recall, existente nos Estados Unidos da América do Norte, que constitui mecanismo que permite a destituição de autoridades públicas e a revogação de decisões judiciais, por meio de decisão popular. O ineditismo da tese decorre do aprofundamento que se fez sobre o tema, bem como da análise minuciosa sobre as condições de aplicação desse instituto no Brasil. Para compreensão integral do objeto em análise, inicialmente, buscou-se compreender o fenômeno da representação política, não só sob o aspecto jurídico-formal como também pelo aspecto histórico, político e social. As teorias acerca da representação política são abordadas dentro de uma perspectiva evolutiva, histórica, desde os seus traços primitivos nas sociedades antigas, passando pelas instruções e mandato imperativo do período medieval, até as concepções de Hobbes, Locke, Burke e Siéyès, não deixando de lado as posições mais modernas e os dilemas existentes sobre o tema. Busca-se também a essência desse mecanismo denominado recall. Para tanto, torna-se obrigatória a passagem pelas suas origens e pela sua configuração jurídica, que se encontra relacionada com o princípio federativo, os sistemas eleitorais, sua caracterização como direito político, instituto de democracia participativa e semidireta, bem como seu caráter sancionador e como forma de expressão da oposição política. Faz-se, além disso, uma análise comparativa do recall no direito contemporâneo. Inicialmente focando o instituto nos Estados Unidos da América do Norte, pelo âmbito de aplicação do instituto na Federação norte-americana, as hipóteses e procedimentos de cada Estado-membro (onde se permite o instituto) e os resultados gerais de sua aplicação. Analisar-se-á, outrossim, institutos semelhantes ao recall existentes em outros sistemas jurídicos. Ao final, será tratada a questão relacionada ao recall e o sistema jurídico brasileiro, apresentando-se a história da revogação do mandato político no país, o panorama jurídico pelo aspecto federativo e dos sistemas eleitorais, bem como as condições para viabilizar a aplicação do instituto no Brasil. Tudo isso, para se demonstrar que o recall deve ser um mecanismo democrático a ser utilizado por eleitores responsáveis contra eleitos irresponsáveis. / This dissertation focuses on the mechanism referred to as recall, which exists in the United States of America, and is a mechanism that provides for the removal of public officials and the repeal of judicial decisions by means of public opinion. The originality of this dissertation arises out of the further understanding of the subject, as well as of the thorough analysis of the conditions under which such mechanism could be applied in Brazil. In order to fully understand the analyzed object, it was first necessary to understand the phenomenon of political representation, not only from the formal-legal aspect, but also from the historical, political and social perspectives. The theories on political representation are approached from a historical-developing standpoint, from its primitive traces in ancient societies, to the medieval instruments and imperative mandate, to the ideas of Hobbes, Locke, Burke and Siéyès, in addition to the more modern schools of thought and existing dilemmas on the subject-matter. The dissertation also focuses on the essence of the recall mechanism. In order to do so, it was necessary to examine its origins and its legal configuration, which has to do with the federative principle, the electoral systems, its characterization as public law, participatory and semi-direct democracy, as well as its sanctioning ability and political opposition form of expression. Furthermore, the comparative analysis of recall in contemporary law is also carried out. The assessment is initially focused on the mechanism in the United States of America, as per its application in the North American Federation, the hypotheses and procedures of each Member-State (in which the mechanism is provided for) and the general results of its application. Moreover, similar mechanisms available in other legal systems are also analyzed. Finally, the issue of the recall mechanism and the Brazilian legal system is assessed, through the history of the repeal of political mandates in the country, its legal framework on the federative aspect and the electoral systems, as well as the conditions necessary in order to render the application of the recall mechanism in Brazil feasible. The objective is to demonstrate that the recall mechanism should be a democratic mechanism to be used by responsible voters against irresponsible elected officials.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:23:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Leonardo Godoy Drigo.pdf: 1613271 bytes, checksum: 8304f420e4b4444f439987fa5291aeff (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-16 / The aim of this study was to observe the popular initiative as an instrument of execution of the democratic principle in Brazil. The hypotheses were the failure of normative forecasting theme in the Federal Constitution, as well as the existence of widespread and dominant interpretations which would tend to present even more restricted scope of this instrument of popular participation, well as social and economic factors involved in citizenship education and the media, for example, that promote belittling of the popular initiative in Brazil. Thus, using literature review and deductive method of dealing with the topic, came to the conclusion that indeed the use of the tool is small, much smaller than desirable in a political regime of semi-direct democracy, and that contribute to the poor efficiency of the popular initiative both confused and diminished constitutional provision of the theme, as the almost non-existent infra forecast, besides the already mentioned social and economic factors, which, in the current Brazilian reality, need further development so that they can make further progress of democratic practices in the country / O objetivo do presente estudo foi observar a iniciativa popular como instrumento de efetivação do princípio democrático no Brasil. As hipóteses avençadas eram da insuficiência da previsão normativa do tema na Constituição Federal, bem como a da existência de interpretações difundidas e dominantes cuja tendência seria a restrição ainda maior da abrangência desse instrumento de participação popular, além de fatores sociais e econômicos, envolvidos com a educação para a cidadania e a comunicação social, por exemplo, que promovem um amesquinhamento da iniciativa popular no Brasil. Assim, com utilização de análise bibliográfica e método dedutivo de abordagem dos temas, chegou-se à conclusão de que realmente a utilização do referido instrumento é pequena, muito menor que a desejável num regime político de Democracia semidireta, e que contribuem para a pouca efetividade da iniciativa popular tanto a previsão constitucional confusa e diminuta do tema, quanto a quase inexistente previsão infraconstitucional, além dos já citados fatores sociais e econômicos, que, na realidade brasileira atual, necessitam de maior desenvolvimento para que possam permitir um avanço das práticas democráticas no país

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:23:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marina Centurion Dardani.pdf: 1094751 bytes, checksum: 2e17c50d5e2d43d9982db3217bed204c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-09 / The scope of this dissertation was the study of the institutions of popular participation in the Public Administration of binding and non-binding character and the possible difficulties faced by citizens to take an active and conscious participation. Sought to both the analysis of the legal nature of these participatory institutions, as well as an understanding of the constitutional design excused by law to the principle of popular participation. It was also amounted a theoretical study of the principle of subsidiarity, the participatory democracy and citizenship, for, after, entering the classification of participatory institutions and the constitutional and infra predictions governing the principles of participation and popular sovereignty. Entering the examination of each of the institutes, the theories that delimit the scope of these institutes and the margin of citizen influence in shaping the administrative decision were analyzed. It was tried to demonstrate that the opening of the Public Administration to citizen participation in administrative procedure makes the most legitimate administrative decision and allows that, before making the decision, plural opinions, which create dissention for, might be, after, taken into account to achieve consensus / O escopo da presente dissertação foi o estudo dos institutos de participação popular na Administração Pública de caráter vinculante e de caráter não vinculante e as possíveis dificuldades enfrentadas pelos cidadãos para a efetivação de uma participação ativa e consciente. Buscou-se para tanto a análise da natureza jurídica desses institutos participativos, bem como a compreensão do delineamento constitucional dispensado pelo ordenamento jurídico ao princípio da participação popular. Perfez-se, ainda, um estudo teórico do princípio da subsidiariedade, da democracia participativa e da cidadania, para, após, adentrar na classificação dos institutos participativos e nas previsões constitucionais e infraconstitucionais que disciplinam os princípios da participação e da soberania populares. Adentrando no exame de cada um dos institutos, foram analisadas as teorias que delimitam o alcance desses institutos e a margem de influência do cidadão na formação da decisão administrativa. Tentou-se demonstrar que a abertura da Administração Pública à participação cidadã no procedimento administrativo torna a decisão administrativa mais legítima e permite que antes da tomada da decisão sejam levadas em consideração as opiniões plurais, que criam o dissenso para, após, se atingir o consenso

Ce travail tente de mettre en lumière les raisons, tant institutionnelles que politiques, à l’origine de la sévérité et de la longueur des crises qui marquèrent la Californie pendant les années 2000. Après plusieurs années d’une croissance économique exponentielle dégageant un excédent budgétaire confortable, le Golden State dut faire face à plusieurs crises de manière consécutive. La première résulta de l’éclatement de la bulle internet en 2000, rapidement suivie d’une crise du système de production et d’approvisionnement de l’électricité due à sa déréglementation ratée. C’est également à cette période que l’Etat de Californie dut faire face à un déficit budgétaire grandissant qui ne se résorba qu’au début des années 2010. Enfin, l’éclatement de la bulle immobilière et la crise des subprime loans qui se déclencha en 2007 marquèrent à nouveau le début d’une période troublée, la Grande Récession culminant en 2009 dans cet Etat.Il a été observé que les conséquences de ces crises furent particulièrement sévères en Californie, et la thèse se propose d’en explorer les raisons. Elle met en avant la diversité d’intérêts très marquée qui se manifeste dans cet Etat du fait de sa taille, de sa structure économique et de la composition socio-ethnique de sa population. Cette diversité a pour conséquence de complexifier et de ralentir les prises de décision politiques, et parfois même de représenter ces intérêts de manière inégale. En outre, le clivage entre partis politiques est très marqué et même exacerbé en période de récession, ce qui conduisit à des impasses législatives qui, au cours des années 2000, empêchèrent les élus de résoudre les crises de manière prompte et efficace. De plus, la centralisation du pouvoir étatique au détriment de celui des collectivités territoriales constitua également un frein à la gestion des crises. Si la démocratie directe semble fonctionner et permettre aux citoyens de palier l’immobilisme législatif, il apparaît toutefois que certaines propositions adoptées par le biais du système référendaire ont eu des conséquences inattendues, et qui affectèrent notamment la capacité des élus à adapter les dépenses et les recettes en période de crise. En effet, la volatilité structurelle de la fiscalité californienne tend à être exacerbée lorsque l’économie se contracte, ce qui est difficile à compenser dans un Etat où il n’existe pas de taxe sur les services et où la majorité des deux-tiers est requise pour tout amendement du code des impôts. Enfin, plusieurs décisions politiques, parfois en faveur de certains lobbies et au détriment de l’intérêt général, peuvent être mises en cause. Il apparaît donc que la combinaison de ces faiblesses institutionnelles et politiques contribua à la sévérité des crises rencontrées par le Golden State au cours de la première décennie du XXIe siècle. / This dissertation focuses on the institutional and political reasons behind the severity and length of the crises that the State of California went through during the first decade of the 2000s. After several years of economic growth that generated significant budget surpluses, several crises hit the Golden State. The first started after the bursting of the dotcom bubble in 2000 and was directly followed by a power crisis resulting from a failed deregulation of the supply chain system. This coincided with the beginning of an era of budget deficits that would last for a decade. Finally, this time period had seen the worst crisis since the 1930s: the Great Recession that originated from the bursting of a housing bubble in 2007 and was followed by a global financial crisis that culminated in the Golden State in the year 2009.The consequences of these crises were particularly severe in California and this dissertation aims at identifying the reasons accounting for this severity. It first stresses that the significant diversity of interests that comes from the state’s size, its economic structure and its socio-ethnic profile slows down political decision-making and increases its complexity. It can even result in an unequal representation of those interests. In addition, political partisanship is very high, and recession periods tend to increase this divide. This is one of the reasons behind the political and budget gridlocks of the 2000s that prevented legislators from promptly and efficiently dealing with the consequences of the recessions. Handling these consequences was also made difficult by the shift in power from local governments to the state, resulting in a slowing down of the decision-making process as well as in a shortage of funds. Besides, even though direct democracy has proved efficient in allowing citizens to circumvent gridlocks, it appears that a few propositions adopted through the initiative process have had unintended negative consequences like limiting the ability of elected officials to adjust revenues and expenditures in a timely manner. Indeed, the volatility of the California tax structure tends to be exacerbated when the economy takes a hit. This volatility is rather hard to offset both because the state does not tax services and a two-thirds majority vote is required to amend the tax code. Finally, several political decisions can be questioned, sometimes because they were made in favor of special interest groups while being detrimental to the public good. We conclude that the severity of the crises the Golden State went through during the 2000s results from a combination of both institutional and political weaknesses.

The thesis proposes a theory for the development of substantive representation among social movement organisations (SMOs). Substantive representation (SR) is the extent to which political institutions advance the policy interests of their constituents, in particular the most disenfranchised. Despite their noble proclamations, institutions of representative democracy often fail to advance the interests of groups who have been ignored and absent at the proverbial table. The thesis establishes a causal process to explain the divergence in SR outcomes among informal SMOs, or all-volunteer groups that disavow formal hierarchy in favour of egalitarian modes of decision-making. It utilises a case study of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), an umbrella organisation dedicated to ending the HIV/AIDS crisis in the United States and worldwide. It explains an anomalous story of SR attainment through the ACT UP Philadelphia chapter, compared to sister groups in New York City and Boston. The analysis draws from 92 semi-structured interviews, 13 months of participant observation, periodical review, and archival databases. ACT UP Philadelphia translated common SMO intentions of inclusivity into the uncommon rituals of practice. It forged a deliberate pipeline to invest not only in the presence but also the power of disenfranchised people with HIV, people too dark and poor to interest counterpart groups in other cities. Through an analytic retelling of ACT UP's history, the thesis argues that the fulfilment of SR depends on the ability of SMOs to appeal to member self-interest. Critically, SMOs can offer material incentives and nurture feelings of debt and obligation: causal steps to recruitment and sustainability of a heterogeneous membership. In building a crucial if contentious core of dissimilar people and partnerships, SMOs can unleash an oft-unrealised power for collective action and SR, by and for disenfranchised peoples who had thought change to be impossible.