This study looks at the evolution of the management of the biofuel energy in the transport sector in the European Union. This sector represents a big challenge for environmentally friendly and sustainable production and consumption of energy. In the past ten years biofuels have emerged as a burgeoning solution but have also received criticism from some quarters. The study analysis the European Commission's functions in the management of the biofuel market in Czech Republic through a single case study. The research is based on the Principal-Agent theory elaborated by the broader theory of rational-choice institutionalism. It argues that Czech Republic biofuel market may be driven by the European Commission if functions that enhance credible commitment, higher efficiency and information were delegated to it by the member states. Through the congruence method the study compares the expectations of the Principal- Agent theory with the real case situation. Under the European legislation, between the Directive 2009/28/EC and the Directive (EU) 2018/2001, the study finds that the European Commission has some significant function in the management of the sustainability of biofuels in the Czech Republic but has very limited power to directly influence the evolution of Czech biofuel production. The European...

The study examines the level of party voting discipline displayed by current Russian deputies. The objective is to discover whether deputies elected since the reintroduction of the mixed-member electoral system in 2016 showed a diverse level of party voting discipline. The study expands on the existing research and verifies results of earlier analysis proving weaker party discipline among politicians elected from single-member districts (SMDs). A sample of over 500 thousand deputy votes is analyzed with multiple regression analysis and other methods of quantitative research. The research explores the influence of several variables including the type of elections, political faction membership, double candidacy of a deputy and his incumbency in the previous term of office. Evaluation of results implies that the type of elections does not have a significant impact on party discipline of deputies. The most noticeable is the impact of the membership in various political factions. Greater independence in voting typical for SMD deputies does not manifest considerably in Russia because of the impact of the local hybrid regime and because the majority of SMD deputies belong to the faction of United Russia. Members of a faction with such importance tend to be less motivated to vote against their political...

The accession of Turkey to the EU has become one of the major unresolved issues of European integration and leads directly into bigger debates about the underpinnings and purpose of the EU. Should Turkey be a Member State with full rights or be connected to the through a yet undefined special relationship? That is the kind of question many are asking nowadays. Every Member State of the European Union has a different vision of Europe, with different views of how the Union should be defined and on what foundations it should be based. This work explores the relationship between the concept of Europe held by a country's political elite, through analysing its discourse, and the country's position towards Turkish EU membership. Three cases are presented: France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The Master's thesis "The Life Afterwards. The Return of Czechoslovak Political Prisoners to Society" is concerned with the topic of the re-integration of Czechoslovak political prisoners of the 1950s back into society after their release from prison. In the conceptual framework I provide the political and historical background of the Communist Czechoslovakia during the 1950s. I discuss the concept of political prisoner and describe the living conditions in prisons and labor camps. As observed from their narration, I also briefly outline the various strategies employed by political prisoners in their attempts to deal with imprisonment. Although the descriptions of the respondents' arrests and events that had led up to them are topics not directly concerned with the primary topic of my thesis, they are included, because they are vital in understanding the existential and other re-integration-related problems these prisoners faced. In my research, I employ the qualitative method of oral history. I focus on the time period when the interviewees were released from prison and try to describe the numerous issues they faced and had to deal with. More specifically, I focus on family and friendship relations, which had been often disrupted and the issue of seeking a new employment, an area of life in which...

Olga Davidová - Abstrakt DP - AJ Abstract Diploma thesis "Globalization and Health - access to health care for children of foreigners in the Czech Republic" addresses the issue of availability of health care for children of foreigners in the Czech Republic as development of legal framework in the Czech Republic and human rights issues. The main objective of this work is a critical reflection on the cause of discrimination against children of foreigners from third world countries (non-EU countries) in their access to health care. This is a retrospective case study which is selected by the institutional analysis of the key events of public policy focusing on the development of health insurance legislation. There are different mechanisms of protection of human rights at local, national, and international level in the availability of health care for children of foreign nationals from third world countries; unfortunately national legislation is not fully in line with international requirements in the area of health law. Although international documents are binding for the Czech Republic, they are not sufficiently applied in the Czech constitutional right to prevent violations of human rights.

This diploma thesis deals with a development of the socioeconomic cleavage in the party systems of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland in 2006 - 2012. At the beginning the theory of cleavages by S. Rokkan and S. M. Lipset and the enlargement to post-communist countries of Klaus von Beyme, are presented. There are also mentioned concepts of other authors. The thesis tries to answer a few questions. Firstly, what form did this line have in the monitored period (transformation line vs. classical socioeconomic line). Secondly, how big was an impact on the political right-left orientation of the political parties, and thirdly, how significant was this line for the party-political system of selected countries in this period. There is also a brief development of the party system after 1989 as well as the ideological profiles of parliamentary parties given in each chapter focused on particular country. One part of it deals also with the economic and social climate in the monitored period. Then the work is based mainly on the analysis of party's agenda, with an emphasis on the socioeconomic line.

The aim of this graduate thesis is to analyze if and how the extra-parliamentary subject Akce D.O.S.T. influence the society and if the subject can be described as radical right-wing populist. Case Mudd's concept of the populist radical right was applied in the Citizen Association Akce D.O.S.T. to answer to these questions. On the basis of the Piero Ignazi' s theory silent counterrevolution follows the evaluation if the current conditions for the growth of the extreme and radical right-wing parties and similar subjects are favourable in the Czech Republic and if their growth could be expected. Attention is also focused on whether the economic conditions that have an impact on voters, influence their support for right-wing parties.

The Diploma Thesis is based on the Case study of the direct election of the President of the Czech Republic. Due to this Case study it examines expertise of the Czech political parties. Is there any expertise in political parties represented in the Parliament of the Czech Republic? Why analytical capacities have (or not have) influence on policy decisions? In theoretical concept including democracy, policy work, expert capacities, elections etc. the Thesis examines the relationship between the expertise of political parties and enactment of the direct presidential elections.

The goal of this thesis is to explain the current dynamical development of the energy policy of the EU with the focus on the gas sector. Furthermore, this work examines what role in that process plays the European Commission. Lastly, it seeks to ascertain whether the EU's energy policy has a real impact on the development of the gas markets of Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Lithuania. The first two questions are answered with the aid of John W. Kingdon's Multiple stream theory. The conclusion has it that the key role in the creation of the EU's energy policy was taken up by the European Commission, which can be described as the Kingdon's policy entrepreneur. As a true entrepreneur the Commission attempted to build the way for the creation of the single EU gas market, which would be based on sufficient cross-border infrastructure and diversified gas imports. Such a conclusion is supported by the Commission's activities leading to the adoption of important energy legislation, as the third energy package, and essential funds as were European Energy Programme for Recovery and the Connecting Europe Facility. Latter, this work looks into the third research question. On the case studies of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Lithuania it proves, that the outputs of the entrepreneur activities of the Commission...

This thesis presents the theme of low political awareness of adult citizens in the Czech Republic from the perspective of public policy. Low level of political awareness is conceived as a major reason that voters are not able to vote according to their real interests. The focus is on whether the problem is a topic that public policy should pursue and whether it is possible to find a public policy tools to deal with it. It is mainly based on the three-dimensional model of political sophistication, Evert Vedung's concept of public policy instruments, the concept of the correct voting and ideas of participatory democracy. Despite the fact that the given issue bears the hallmarks of an ideal problem for public policy and we can find some tools that could improve the current situation, there are broader factors that hinder their operations. These include the impact of previous undemocratic regime or the behavior of politicians. Such barriers are closely related to the way of human thinking and can be removed only with difficulty.