The goal of this thesis is to contribute to our understanding of the legislative framework governing public procurement in the Czech Republic. Using data from interviews, applying Game Theory and the Principal-A|gent model, and using the Goal Tree tool I show that individual actors behave rationally. Before submitting a tender they evaluate not only expected profits, but also possible corruption, threat of penalties. I also identify several practices used by actors in order to to manipulate public procurement. After evaluating actors' behaviour, developments inf public procurement legislation and of possible penalties, and drawing on extensive literature search I draw up recommendations for public policy. These t would help improve public procurement in the country, their efficiency, effectiveness and economy, without violating key public procurement principles (non-discrimination, equal treatment, transparency and proportionality). If adopted they would contribute to reducing the level of corruption in the Czech Republic.

This diploma thesis examines networking of interest groups. It presents potentional entrance points for influencing legislative processes in the EU. The thesis focuses mainly on European Commission's public consultations. It tries to answer the question whether the interest groups cooperate strategically or whether they try to reach their goals on their own. This thesis is grounded in the framework of the network theory and uses the method of graphic modeling. For the research we have selected three areas of European Commission's consultations. The participating interest groups were chosen based on their characteristics and the consultations they took part in. We have found out that among the interest groups gathered around European Commission there is no close collaboration taking place. Furthermore, the interest groups act rather spontaneously as they are generally only taking part in individual consultations. Only 12.3% of them participated in more than one consultation and they were mainly registered organizations.

La thèse examine les tentatives de professionnalisation et d’institutionnalisation du lobbying en Pologne et en République tchèque du début des années 1990 à 2016, en utilisant le cadre théorique de la sociologie des professions, de la sociologie de l’action publique et l’analyse interprétative des politiques publiques. Tout d’abord, sur la base d’une analyse statistique des trajectoires professionnelles de quatre-vingts lobbyistes consultants polonais et tchèques, elle présente leur typologie commune aux deux pays et montre comment sont liés les efforts de reconnaissance et d’amélioration de leur statut professionnel à leur poursuite de la légitimité politique. Ensuite, elle s’attache à montrer comment le lobbying a été construit comme un problème politique, analysant l’évolution de l’usage de ce terme dans la presse, les scandales politiques emblématiques liés au lobbying, ainsi que les débats parlementaires et débats d’experts. En analysant la mise sur agenda du lobbying comme problème, la thèse accorde une attention particulière au rôle des acteurs transnationaux dans ce processus. Enfin, les processus de régulation du lobbying sont analysés comme des arènes où la frontière symbolique entre les sphères publique et privée est négociée et redéfinie. / The dissertation examines attempts to professionalize and institutionalize lobbying in Poland and the Czech Republic from the beginning of the 1990s to 2016, using the theoretical framework of the sociology of professions, the sociology of public policy-making and interpretive policy analysis. First, on the basis of a statistical analysis of the professional paths of eighty Polish and Czech commercial lobbyists, it presents their common typology for both countries and shows how efforts to gain recognition and enhance their professional status, i.e. efforts to professionalize lobbying, are linked to their pursuit of political legitimacy. Then it analyses the construction of lobbying as a policy problem, analysing the evolution of its use in the press, emblematic political scandals related to lobbying, as well as debates in parliamentary and policy expert fora. It then explores the conditions under which lobbying in both countries was constructed as a problem and set on the agenda. In doing so, the dissertation pays particular attention to the role of transnational actors in this process. Finally, lobbying regulation processes are analysed as arenas where the symbolic boundary between the public and private spheres is negotiated and redefined. / Práce zkoumá pokusy o profesionalizaci a institucionalizaci lobbingu v Polsku a v České republice od začátku 90.-tých let 20. století do roku 2016, z hlediska sociologie profesí, sociologie tvorby veřejných politik a také jejich interpretativní analýzy. Nejdříve na základě analýzy profesních drah osmdesáti polských a českých lobbistů předkládá společnou typologii lobbistů konzultantů pro obě země a ukazuje, jak snahy o získání uznání a zlepšení profesního statusu, tedy snahy o profesionalizaci lobbingu, souvisejí se snahou o získání politické legitimity. Pak uchopuje lobbing jako specifický způsob politizace polické aktivity soukromých aktérů. Ukazuje, za jakých podmínek byl lobbing v obou zemích coby problém konstruován a nastolen na agendu, jakou roli v této politizaci sehrály mezinárodní organizace a externí aktéři, a konečně, jakým způsobem tyto pokusy o regulaci lobbingu participují na redefinici symbolické hranice mezi veřejnou a soukromou sférou.

This diploma thesis looks at lobbying as one of the tools for shaping European legislation. Lobbyists are often perceived as carriers of valuable information that make it possible for decision-makers to get expert opinions and perspectives directly from the industry. Lobbyists can therefore make a significant contribution to policy making and to improving European legislation that meets the needs of stakeholders. The main objective of the thesis is to find out in what way and at what stages the interest groups participate and intervene in the EU decision-making process and identify the access points through which they can enter into the legislative process. For the sake of clarity, this research is applied to a particular case of lobbying in the field of animal testing of cosmetics, which has greatly influenced the legal regulation of the area.

The diploma thesis aims to contribute to the clarification of the process of shaping new EU climate and energy policy and to describe European lobbying groups entering in the 2030 Climate and Energy Framework policy-making process. The thesis aims to assess influence and participation of selected lobbying groups in this policy-making process. The thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter is devoted to the theoretical aspects of energy policy, further it provides the definition of basic terms and description of the EU legislative process in terms of lobbying. The second chapter explains energy policy in the context of fight against climate change and defines this issue at international and European level. The last chapter of the thesis deals with the current policy-making process of the 2030 policy framework for climate and energy and specifically focuses on lobbying activities and the intensity of lobbying impact of selected political, governmental and social actors according to the classification of interest groups by Howlett and Ramesh.

The thesis analyses influence of actors in the regulatory mode of legislative process of the EU on a case study of liberalisation and integration of the Internal Market in electricity and natural gas. The Internal Market is regarded as an example of postmodern international system. Key arenas used for analysis of individual actors and their partial interests and goals (including ways of their pursuing) are national, regional and supranational.

Diploma thesis "Interest Groups, lobbying and it's regulation in the Czech Republic" deals with the phenomenon of lobbying and it's role in democratic political processes. First part of this thesis is aimed at political theories of interest groups, various definitions of lobbying and methods of regulating lobbyists. The second part containes a comparison of lobbying regulations in various western states. The third part containes an analysis of the present state of lobbying regulation in the Czech Republic. In the final fourth part, certain methods of lobbying regulation are proposed to take place in the Czech Republic and scrutinized for compliance with the oppinion of Czech political elites and professional lobbyists.

The diploma thesis is about corporate social responsibility and its application in a selected company. The introductory sections summarize the theoretical background and methodologies used. The following are the sections related to the analysis and the research performer. The design part contains the basic concept of the code of ethics, recommended activities and evaluation in terms of risks, time and finances. The result of the work is this proposal of social responsibility in the company.

The master's thesis focuses on the influence of interest groups during the creation of the 2012 Proposal for a Directive on collective rights management. In particular, the thesis deals with the pre-legislative phase of the legislative process, which began in April 2004. The theoretical framework includes conceptualization of interest groups, lobbying and influence. The mechanisms of influence are analysed using two theories - rational choice theory and rational choice institutionalism. The thesis utilizes process tracing - theory testing as a main methodological approach. Empirical evidence is investigated by analysing primary sources. The main subjects of the analysis are the most relevant documents from the European Commission concerning the pre-legislative phase. Four semi-structured interviews with selected relevant actors were also conducted. The thesis concludes by confirming/ disproving of the main hypothesis: Specific interest groups succeeded in influencing the text of the proposal for a directive on the collective management of copyright.

This diploma thesis called eGovernment from the perspective of interest groups engages with the current topic of the usage of eGovernment in the Czech Republic. The main goal of the thesis is to identify the main benefits and drawbacks of used eGovernment services from the perspective of selected interest groups. Supportive goals of the thesis are to identify interest groups that can view this issue differentially and characterize the actual status of eGovernment in the Czech Republic. A part of this thesis also focuses on the comparison of eGovernment status among the Visegrad Group countries. Benefits and drawbacks of eGovernment are identified by multiple methods, mainly by quantitative pre-research and qualitative research performed by the author of this thesis in the form of questionnaires and interviews with the representatives of selected interest groups. Prior to both types of research, the author conducted SWOT analyses of eGovernment services is conducted from the perspective of all selected interested groups. Furthermore, the thesis contains the analysis of settled Czech case-law that relates to eGovernment. At the basis of the research, the main benefits and drawbacks of eGovernment services are identified. At the end of the thesis, the potential solutions to the identified...