The issue of rural areas in the Czech Republic concerns about 5,800 municipalities, what is 93 % of all municipalities in the CR. These municipalities cover more than three-quarters of the CR territory where live over 3 million inhabitants, more than one third of the total population of the CR. Although there is consensus that the countryside faces a lot of problems which affect the lives of many people on a large territory, the adequate attention to this topic is still not given by official authorities. This confirms the facts that the CR has not adopted a clear definition of rural areas yet and the rural policy is not a priority of programs of political parties. But the urgency of solving problems in recent years stepped up. Quantity of scientific teams that focus on countryside problems increased. They are defined different typologies of rural areas, are seeking methods for dissolve disparities among different areas, there are efforts to measure the development potential of municipalities. This work is in accordance with these initiatives and by mixed research methods defines Development Potential Index (DPI). The DPI consists from 101 individual indicators. Verification of created index was done on data of 18 small villages located in three different regions of the Czech Republic, for which...

BAREŠ, P. 2013. Social Services in the Czech Republic and the Role of Public Institutions in their Provision. Doctoral Thesis. Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Social Science, Institute of Sociological Studies: Prague. Key words: Czech Republic, municipalities, non-governmental organisations, providers of social services, public administration, public policy, regions, social services, state Abstract: Social services should be perceived as important instrument of the system of social protection in the Czech Republic. The extent of provision of social services by organisation representing different institutional sectors should be considered as key characteristics of this system. Two main groups of organisations should be distinguished in this regard primarily - public and private organisations. However both these broad categories consist of different subjects: state, regional or municipal organisations in the first case and for-profit organisations, entrepreneurs, social enterprises or non-profit organisations in the second. The primary aim of the thesis is to analyse the extent of provision of social services by public organisations (all above mentioned types), however the provision of social services by private organisations has been analysed as well, because this question is complementary to the...

In this diploma thesis I wanted to find out how people who live in a close relationship with the river deal with the extremes like are floods and drought. I wondered if local settlers and the city administration identified the threat of flood differently from people who did not live in contact with the river, and if their relationship with the river could be useful for others. I tried to find out if and how the locals reflect climate change through their lived experiences with floods and droughts. During my six-month research, based on ethnographic methods I spent time with gardeners who have been critically affected by drought in recent years, with settlers who regularly experience floods and with representatives of the city administration. Thanks to ethnography, I was able to understand the context of the relationships I studied. I found out that living in contact with floods is not as dramatic as it may seem to an observer. Thanks to many years od experience with floods and the river have the locals developed local knowledge, that can be very useful for whole city; If the city administration can combine expert and local knowledge, solving potential problems with high water can become much more effective and proportionate to reality. People living under the threat of floods do not need to be seen...

The diploma thesis deals with the issue of forced administration in municipalities in Slovakia. The aim of the diploma thesis is to analyze the municipal policy of Slovak municipalities in forced administration. The theoretical part defines the terms related to the issue. The analysis and research in the practical part of the thesis aimes to point out the state of municipal policy of municipalities that were or are currently under compulsory administration, as well as the state of the institution of compulsory administration of municipalities in Slovakia and outline the necessary changes. In a comparative multi-case study, the features of municipalities at the time of economic collapse and the introduction of forced administration were identified and specified. It was found out how the forced administration in selected Slovak municipalities affected municipal elections, candidacy, turnout and local democracy. For the data collection, substantial interviews were conducted with representatives of municipalities whose municipality is currently under compulsory administration and with representatives of municipalities of former forced administration. Keywords: financing of municipalities, local politics, municipal elections, local democracy, forced administration, political impacts, Slovak...

This thesis deals with money management in municipality Libchavy in years 2005 - 2007. Its theoretical part sums sup the most important pieces of knowledge concerning municipality functioning and money management of municipality. The practical part comprises the analyses of the status of municipality money management in the field of budget receipts and budget expenditures. In terms of previous pieces of knowledge, there are defined proposals for improving money management and contribution of municipality.

This diploma work concentrates on carrying out an analysis of transport services in the region of Trhové Sviny. The aim of the work was to carry out an exhaustive evaluation of transport services in administrative district of municipality with extended competence Trhové Sviny on the basis of situational analysis, analysis of transport service and terrain investigation. The emphasis was put above all on the evaluation of transport services usable for tourism and conditions for cycling and hiking. On the basis of the results of the analysis of transport services and terrain investigation, it came to suggesting measures to make the region more attractive. In the work, two hypothesis were set the result of which is based on the made analyses. It resulted from the work that the most common way of transport in the region is road transport, especially by car and by bus. The region is sought for cycling and hiking as well. The main shortcoming of the region is seen in the level of roads which are even dangerous here and there. It could also come to improvement of the level of stops of regular bus service. Another suggestion is to increase connections transporting bicycles by one work day in the season. At the end of the work, a project concentrating on cycle nature trails was created. The project results from the knowledge gained from the foregoing analyses and investigation. This project takes into consideration natural, technical and historical attractions of the region.

The thesis deals with the processing of subsidy policies to support the activities of organizations working with children and youth. The work describes grant programs some ministries, higher territorial governments, municipalities and other donors. It also defines NGOs and their division. The work defines interest and informal education. The thesis contains tables and graphs with distributed financial amounts and numbers of people in different age categories. One of the chapters deals with the instructions for the preparation and submission of the grant application.

The aim of this thesis is to determine the influence of tourism on local development in Sezimovo Ústí. Other objectives are to analyze supply and demand of tourism, define the multiplier of tourism for the area and the impacts of tourism on the budget of the municipality and on the surrounding environment. They will be identified the impacts of tourism on the selected region and designed possibilities for further development of the area based on findings from the completed situation analysis and own field surveys.

The thesis targets at events which took place in the town of Prachatice and its surroundings at the end of the Second World War. It is based on written sources (filed in the State District Archives Prachatice), as well as on literature sources focusing on this topic and eyewitness memories. The first part presents a brief characterization of the town from geographical, social and economic point of view. The second chapter deals with events taking place in September 1938 when Prachatice was occupied by Nazi Germans. The third part shortly depicts the process of front war situations in Europe. The main part of the thesis consists of chapter 4 and 5 which present the way of living and events happening in the town from January 1945 to May 1945 when Prachatice was liberated by the US army. The thesis aims to connect general relations with events that happened in Prachatice and its surroundings not only to illustrate the topic from literature sources but also from people{\crq}s own memories. It tends to depict this period full of worries and hope. It is hoped to contribute to completion of the town history.

The theoretical part of this presented text specifies circumstances of social exclusion of caring families and the system of supportive measures in the Czech republic that should prevent the above mentioned social event. In compliance with the title of the work there has been a goal set: to identify the risks causing social exclusion of families caring for children with a disability.. To get the most complex view of the said problems the author undertook a partial inquiry by both social workers, by whom she was assessing the limits of their knowledge and skill potential, and by political representatives of municipalities, by whom she concentrated on the causes of limited application of municipal policy determining social exclusion of families caring for children with a disability. The above mentioned goal of this research was carried out by means of sociological qualitative and quantitative methods. The investigator was at the same time interested in how the caring families themselves used the means of civilian participation relating to improvement of their life situation.