Thesis (doctoral)--Technische Universität Chemnitz, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references.

Parliamentary talk, despite its central place in politics, has not been the focus of many qualitative studies. The present study investigates how parliamentary talk emerges in a dialogue between different arguments in the parliament. At the same time, this is a study of politics, of how human interaction gives birth to laws that regulate life in two contemporary democracies, Slovakia and Poland. It provides a close-reading of two political debates: on the state language in Slovakia and on gender parity in Poland. This study draws on hermeneutic and semiotic thinkers such as Gadamer, Bakhtin and Lotman to elaborate a dialogical understanding of language that can provide the basis for a method of textual analysis. The dialogical understanding of language emphasises that text and talk must be studied in the context of an interaction. The unit of analysis is a pair of utterances, a question and an answer. Until an utterance has been interpreted, it carries only the potential of meaning; its meaning is materialised by the responses it receives. The study further argues that conversation analysis and its tools can usefully be applied to the study of political debate. The method provides for the analysis of the dynamics between micro-scale interaction in the parliament and the macro-scale dynamics of culture. These dynamics assume two different forms that Lotman termed as “translation” and “explosion”. The study shows that parliamentary debate is characterised by a constantly evolving topic of discussion, namely that the meaning of the bill at the start of the debate and at the end of the debate are really two different bills. This is not because the content of the bill has undergone changes, but because in the course of the debate, the bill has generated new cultural connections. Casting a vote in support of the bill does not approve just the bill itself but a whole set of interconnected political, social and cultural values—what Lotman approached as the semiosphere. This study suggests Lotman’s cultural semiotics can provide for “imperfect hermeneutics” that is sensitive to the dynamic and contested nature of tradition in politics whilst acknowledging the inevitability of culture in mediating political talk.

The fall of Communism in 1989 presented a unique opportunity for social psychology to contribute to the understanding of these historic events. Through the framework of the theory of social representations, lay meanings and understanding of terms such as ‘democracy’, ‘the individual’ and ‘the community’ were examined in Slovakia and in Scotland. Lay representations of complex concepts are likely to be formed, maintained and changed by both implicit and explicit processes. Some features of representations may be deep-seated and transmitted across generations and across cultures, relatively resistant to change. Others are shaped by already existing thinking schemata and reflect more current social practices. Questions asked where, what were the effects of 40 years of Soviet totalitarianism on the meaning of these terms in Slovakia compared to Scotland, a stable democracy. What aspects of meaning are shared, what aspects vary and reflect the specific political, economic and social histories of these two nations. Data were collected over various phases from 1992 to 1996. The primary methods used were word associations and the rating of single terms through the use of various rating scales. Some interview data were also used. Results indicate that aspects of the meaning of democracy was relatively stable and shared between Slovaks and Scots. For both samples, democracy was conceived primarily in relation to freedom and to value terms such as rights, justice and equality. Compared to the Scottish sample, the meaning of democracy in the Slovaks revealed a highly emotive aspect which reflected the inter-relationship between the current political and social climate with that of their more recent past. For meanings attached to the terms ‘the individual’ and ‘the community’, results varied depending on the method. Conceived of as separate terms, the overall content of meaning of both ‘the individual’ and ‘the community’ were not largely shared by the Slovaks and Scots, lending some support to the dominant view that Soviet totalitarianism destroyed or distorted naturally occurring communities. Taking a more holistic approach and viewing the individual/community as a relational whole, shared aspects of meaning could be identified which were more deep-seated and enduring over histories and cultures, other aspects, in Slovaks, reflected more their recent past. These results are discussed in terms of a structural approach to social representations, which emphasis both stability and change in how meaning is formed, maintained and changed, as well as the multi-layered nature of meaning.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2010 May 24

The present article provides first microlevel (indirect) empirical evidence on changes in entry barriers, the determinants of firm profitability as well as the nature of competition for a transition economy. We estimate size thresholds required to support different numbers of firms for several retail and professional service industries in a large number of geographic markets in Slovakia. The 3 time periods in the analysis (1995, 2001 and 2010) characterize different stages of the transition process. Specific emphasis is given to spatial spill-over effects between local markets. Estimation results obtained from a spatial ordered probit model suggest that entry barriers have declined considerably (except for restaurants) and that the intensity of competition has increased on average. We further find that demand spill-overs and/or the effects associated with a positive correlation in unobservable explanatory variables seem to outweigh negative spill-over effects caused by competitive forces between neighbouring cities and villages. The importance of these spatial spill-over effects differs across industries.

This thesis deals with questions of land consolidation in the Czech Republic and in the Slovakia. The thesis should characterize briefly how the land consolidation proceed in the Czech Republic and above all it should show the land consolidation process in the Slovak Republic. The aim of the thesis is a comparison of land consolidation projection process in the Slovak Republic and in the Czech Republic according to specific criteria.

The perception of agrotourism in selected region of Czechia and Slovakia Abstract This diploma thesis deals with agrotourism and its perception in the Ústecký and Košický regions. The aim of the study is to identify key perceptual indicators that influence the operation of agro-touristic activities in selected regions. For this reason, the diploma thesis focuses on the perception of tourists and owners of economic facilities that operate the given form of rural tourism. The diploma thesis consists of two main parts. At the beginning of the study there is a general entry into the subject, which purposefully serves to understand the basic terms and concepts of the selected topic. The second part is focused on the field survey aimed at questioning tourists in agro-tourism facilities through questionnaire surveys and on structured interviews with property owners. The research itself took place in the months of July and August of 2017 in selected economic facilities in the Ústecký and Košický Regions. The conclusion highlights major benefits, points to further possible work and identifies key perceptual factors and conflicts that have been shown to influence both the provision and use of agrotourism in both regions under consideration. Key words: tourism, agrotourism, rural tourism, perception, Czechia, Slovakia

The aim of the thesis is to evaluate the current state of preparations for adoption of the European currency, in particular, the implications for the legal system of the Czech Republic and comparison with the adoption of the currency in Slovakia. In the first part describes the beginnings of European integration, the Maastricht criteria and the preparations for the introduction of the euro in Slovakia. In the second part of the thesis I deal with current preparations for the transition of the European currency in the Czech Republic and the fulfilment of the legal conditions of our country with regard to the adoption of the single currency euro as legal tender in the future. I focus on the impacts and necessary adjustments in the legal order of the Czech Republic, which will have to be made in the case of the integration of our country into the eurozone. In this part, attention is paid to the analysis of the preparations and the consequences of transition to the single currency in Slovakia.

The impact of demographic changes on the real estate market Abstract This diploma thesis monitors changes in the demographic behavior of the population of the Slovak Republic and their impact on the real estate market. The aim is to analyze consumer behavior on the demand side for residential real estate. Within the population development of the Slovak Republic between 1990 and 2060. The purpose of the analysis is to construct the function of the demand for residential real estate in the Slovak Republic. Which expresses the impact of demographic changes on demand for housing. The model reflects changes in demographic behavior of the population into quantitative and structural changes in residential property demand. We expect that despite the uncertainty of the uncertainty, the forecast for residential property demand is high inertia. This stems from the stable age structure of the population. We assume that the period of the next sixty years will be characterized by a change in the trend of population growth and the continuous aging of the population. What negatively affects the demand-side real estate market Keywords: demograpic change, real estate market, Slovakia

The diploma thesis focuses on the issue of Czechoslovak-Spanish and Slovak-Spanish relations and contacts during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Through the elaboration and analysis of the Slovak historical literature and the press on the subject of the Spanish war, it tries to offer a complex view of the issue, taking into account the political, social and economic problems of the mentioned period in the domestic scene as well as in Spain. The author deals not only with the development of Slovak-Spanish relations and their imposition into international context, but also with a critical analysis of Slovak newspapers and literary works dealing with the subject of the Spanish conflict, which were issued during this period, through foreign and domestic academic literature as well as memories of direct participants. The aim of this thesis is to offer an impartial overview on the topic Slovakia and the Spanish Civil War, with emphasis on key aspects of Czechoslovak, Slovak and Spanish history.