The master's thesis Universal basic income as a political concept and unfulfilled social reality puts focus on the concept of universalism in social policy and the possibilities of introducing its elements in the Czech Republic. The global discussion of the philosophy of social support and the popularised idea of unconditional financial transfers from the state to all citizens are thus translated into the Czech environment. The goal is to evaluate the instances hitherto applied at home and abroad, consider the perks and shortcomings of universal income, set the discussion within the contemporary Czech social framework, and assess whether it is realistic to implement reforms of this kind. The first chapter describes universal income as a concept, the second evaluates the history of universalism in the Czech Republic, the third provides an overview of the current Czech social system, and the fourth ponders possible avenues of implementing universalist reforms. The thesis aims to verify two hypotheses: the first one is to determine to which extent previous forms of universalism in the Czech environment proved to be successful; the second deals with the possibility and merits of introducing further blanket instruments in 2020. In both cases, the research puts emphasis on cash transfers to the...

The Multiple Streams model developed by John Kingdon (1995) and Nikolaos Zahariadis (2007) provides a valuable framework for understanding the nature of policy change. This investigation draws extensively upon the Multiple Streams framework in order to understand the development of gun-control policy initiatives under President Barack Obama. The investigation uses a case-study approach with in-depth analysis of four different mass-shooting events that took place in the United States between 2009 and 2012. Reconstruction of the shooting events and detailed parsing of the Obama administration’s official responses to each incident, when viewed through the Multiple Streams lens, clearly explain why Obama’s aggressive policy initiative was so delayed in its emergence in spite of several shootings and the President’s clearly stated belief that gun-reform was a necessary step for the federal government. While the term “policy change” is broad and may encompass all sorts of governmental responsiveness, the term herein should be interpreted in the narrowest sense: exclusively encompassing legislative initiatives. Ultimately, the investigation concludes that numerous factors, but most prominently concerns about the timing and results of the 2010 Midterm and 2012 General Elections, prevented an aggressive pursuit of gun-reform prior to January 2013. The tragic shooting of 28 people in Newtown, Connecticut, then served as a prime focusing event for the President to aggressively engage a long-standing goal.