Political Science

This work adds to the existing research on regime change by exploring the political history of Czechoslovakia in 1989. Using an integrative approach of agency and structure, game-theoretical models founded on rational choice theory, and the political process model are employed to describe politics in communist Czechoslovakia. The classical works on democratisation by Moore, Przeworski, and Huntington as well as the 'transitologist' and 'post-totalitarian' concepts are discussed. Moreover, an original consolidative model for interpreting actors and institutions in a non-democratic regime is presented.

about portfolio allocation in Eastern and Western Europe is replicated with a differently constituted equation. While Druckman and Roberts's original OLS regression presented a model where constitutive terms were not included, this research note argues that such exclusion is not theoretically sustainable. A new regression is carried out and its results are given an interpretation different from the one proposed by Druckman and Roberts.

The article deals with a pivotal conceptual distinction employed in philosophical discussions about global justice. Cosmopolitans claim that arguing from the perspective of moral cosmopolitanism does not necessarily entail defending a global coercive political authority, or a "world-state", and suggest that ambitious political and economic (social) goals implied in moral cosmopolitanism may be achieved via some kind of non-hierarchical, dispersed and/or decentralised institutional arrangements. I argue that insofar as moral cosmopolitans retain "strong" moral claims, this is an untenable position, and that the goals of cosmopolitan justice, as explicated by its major proponents, require nothing less than a global state-like entity with coercive powers. My background ambition is to supplement some existing works questioning the notion of "governance without government" with an argument that goes right to the conceptual heart of cosmopolitan thought. To embed my central theoretical argument in real-world developments, I draw on some recent scholarship
regarding the nature of international organizations, European Union, or transnational democratization. Finally I suggest that only after curbing moral aspirations in the first place can a more self-consciously moderate position be constructed, one that will carry practical and feasible implications for institutional design.

For download here is an "intermediate" version, i.e. including the main body of the argument, but before final amendments and updates following the peer review. For full reader enjoyment I recommend getting hold of the print (published) version of the article, to which a link is provided below (CUP/IT  website)!

Contemporary normative debates about justice in an increasing manner revolve around the problem of extending the principles of justice and the corresponding theories beyond the level of the nation-state, to which they have been for a long time confined. The article below discusses several authors from within the wide and heterogenous politico-philosophical current of liberal egalitarianism, which can be considered one of the leading contemporary schools of thought, or the mainstream. There are two interrelated goals in this enterprise: First, to show how varied and cross-cutting the normative landscape of justice is, even within this specific current. Second, since I concentrate on the problem of extending principles and theories of justice to supra-state levels, the universality (or the „cosmopolitan reach“) of these stands out as one of the most interesting features of the discussions. The work of Brian Barry, David Miller, Onora O’Neill and John Rawls exemplifies many crucial issues that any theory of justice with cosmopolitan ambitions has to cope with. The article concludes that the concept of (universal) human rights seems to be the only value that can buttress any cosmopolitan theories of justice; however, the normative debate over (1) their grounding, scope and corresponding obligations and (2) their connection to a comprehensive account of a good society, i.e. liberal democracy – and therefore, the acknowledged danger of ethnocentrism – is still far from being resolved.

Book Chapter, in: Jiří Hanuš, Jan Vybíral (eds.), Náboženství v globální občanské společnosti. Brno: CDK, 2008. pp. 25–32 ———

Autor se v textu pokouší ukázat, že globálně-občanský diskurs ('GCS talk') předpokládá vyjasnění samotného pojmu 'občanské společnosti', přinejmenším pak některých jejích charakteristik, které jsou v běžných mediálních diskusích přehlíženy. Dále adresuje skutečnost, že 'GCS talk' trpí jistou amorfností, která ztěžuje pochopení toho, co vlastně globální občanská společnost je a jaké funkce plní či může plnit. Text uzavírá upozornění, že tuto teoretickou oblast nelze oddělit od širších otázek, týkajících se uspořádání lidských společenství (lidského společenství?) na počátku 21. století.

The article represents a contribution to discussions about the basis, motives, and goals of European integration stimulated by the recent "normative turn" in EU studies. My aim is threefold: By addressing the issue of internal legitimacy in EU decision-making, I wish to show that the European Union is in need of a public "story" of European integration; however, a closer analysis suggests that there is much normative disagreement on the values and principles that are supposed to define such "Europeanness". This is also relevant for Europe's role within the scene of international or global politics, where the EU aspires to become a leading actor or is supposed to do so by cosmopolitan-minded authors. Lastly, the text defends the usefulness of the traditional conceptual apparatus of political theory, which has -in relation to European integration -in recent times come under attack.

with Michal Mochťak ———

The paper shall introduce the concept of negative voting, which is based on an endeavor to show our personal preference during the elections more freely. A theoretical principle is based on perception of Dahl´s democratic process criteria, liberal concepts of freedom, equality and justice. In particular situations that principle shall increase the rate of formal freedom of individual voter.

The article deals with the question of who is to be represented within the institutions of modern representative democracy and systemizes the answers on the basis of fundamental approaches in political theory which address this problem. The exploration is contextualized within recent debates on transnational democracy, where the issue of political representation acquires renewed relevance. The article first outlines the liberal theory of representation, identified as primarily of individualistic nature, although it does incorporate certain elements of group representation in the setting of the modern state. Subsequently, it explores conservative and communitarian theory of representation that builds upon the notions of representation of collectivities as morally relevant subjects endowed with distinct interests of their own. Finally, it covers the radical democratic theory of representation, which emphasizes chiefly the themes of acknowledging group difference and the necessity to recognize the claims of disadvantaged groups in the area of political representation. The article concludes by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the respective approaches with regard to democratic functioning on the transnational level.

The usage of Internet enabled phones has been a 21st century phenomenon that spreads for different purposes and functions. This study looks into the usage and perceived effect implications internet enabled phones have on the academic performance of the tertiary students using University of Ibadan students in Nigeria as a case study. The study was carried out in order to understand and bring to fore if the students' academic performance is affected due to the time channelled to the phone during class hours which has a general perception as a medium of distractions to students. The retrieval of the information gotten from this study was done with structured questionnaires administered to 200 students to obtain their personal opinions, while 15 in-depth interviews were conducted to have a grounded knowledge opinions of the students simultaneously with the data gathered during the course of this study. The analysis of the students' perception showed that the internet enabled phone usage does not affect the academic performance of the students but distractions by the usage of phone were notably admitted.

The aim of the article is to explore framing in the "No to the Bases" campaign against building the U.S. Missile Defence System in the Czech Republic which has been one of the largest and longest protest campaigns in the history of the Czech Republic. Framing is explored through metaphor analysis. First part of the text introduces metaphors that were used by the spokespersons of the "No to the Bases Initiative" with detailed illustration how were these metaphors used in given speeches. In the second part of the article I try to show how observed metaphors (conceptual metaphors) could work in diagnostic, prognostic and motivational framing which are the basic components of framing theory proposed by Snow and Benford. According to the analysis I argue that studying metaphors can help researchers to explore the meanings which are very important in the activists struggle for wide public support.

Tento příspěvek se zabývá teorií rámování sociálních hnutí a využitím analýzy metafor ve výzkumu sociálních hnutí, přičemž hlavním cílem je uvést analýzu metafor do diskuse o metodách pro výzkum rámování sociálních hnutí. První část textu je věnována představení teorie rámování s důrazem na její nejdůležitější aspekty, které je při empirickém výzkumu rámování třeba mít vždy na paměti. Následně představuji teorii metafor, která se zabývá metaforami z hlediska jejich významotvorné funkce, a ukazuji, že současné pojetí umožňuje využít analýzy metafor k výzkumu rámování.