Why Czech Parliamentary Party Groups Vote Less Unitedly. The Role of Frequent Voting and Big Majorities in Passing Bills

The article aims to explain voting unity in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic based on data from the years 1998-2002. It introduces the basic terminology & theoretical framework used in literature on the behaviour of parties in parliament & the basic institutional rules that should result in the unity of political parties in the Czech parliament. It then presents the data used to measure the unity of Czech parliamentary party groups. The initial assumption that specific institutional factors found in parliament & in political parties would lead to greater PPG unity in the Czech Republic was not confirmed. Although the institutional incentives are similar to those in Western European countries, they do not secure the same level of voting unity in Czech PPGs. The authors conclude that the relatively low party unity is caused by the size of the voting coalitions that pass individual bills

Biological Earth observation with animal sensors

Space-based tracking technology using low-cost miniature tags is now delivering data on fine-scale animal movement at near-global scale. Linked with remotely sensed environmental data, this offers a biological lens on habitat integrity and connectivity for conservation and human health; a global network of animal sentinels of environmen-tal change

Über die Veränderung der Musikrezeption von Digital Natives

Diese Magisterarbeit soll die gesammelten Erkenntnisse aus Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft, Musikwissenschaft und Musikwirtschaft vergleichen und zusammentragen. Ziel der Arbeit war es, einerseits einen historischen Überblick über die Entwicklung des Musikkonsums/ bzw. die Musikindustrie zu schaffen, andererseits die aktuellen Entwicklungen und Trends am diffizilen Musikmarkt zu beschreiben. In dieser Arbeit werden nicht nur unterschiedliche Theorien und Modelle vorgestellt, sondern auch, mithilfe von Studien und wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen, ein Querschnitt durch das Konsumverhalten des Digital Native präsentiert. Einen besonderen Schwerpunkt bildet die Beschreibung der Umwandlung (des Abstiegs) des ursprünglichen Primärmediums Musik zum industriell produzierten und qualitativ mangelhaften Tertiärmedium, welches es in der heutigen Zeit mehr und mehr darstellt. Ebenfalls sollen die Versäumnisse der Musikwirtschaft aufgezeigt werden und ein Überblick über die dadurch entstandene Problematik gegeben werden. Die Arbeit geht außerdem auf die Themen Stardom, „Streaming“ und „hochwertiges, aktives audiophiles“ Musikhören ein – sowohl aus kultureller, medienwissenschaftlicher, als auch aus technischer Sicht. Die Arbeit versucht den Mehrwert eines hochwertigen und entschleunigten (Musik-)Konsums aufzuzeigen und soll, basierend auf Erkenntnissen aus den unterschiedlichen wissenschaftlichen und wirtschaftlichen Disziplinen, gestützt durch Statistiken und Studien, auf eine große sozio-kulturelle Veränderung, sowie damit verbundene, wirtschaftliche Dringlichkeit (bzw. die mangelnde, konsequente Umsetzung) hinweisen. Zusätzlich geht die Arbeit auf die neue Orientierung, bzw. Produktions- Distributions- und Konsumverfahren am Musikmarkt, schwerpunktmäßig auf Prosumer und Artepreneur, ein. Gestützt auf eine breite, fächerübergreifende Literaturrecherche, soll somit ein aktueller und objektiver Überblick über die aktuellen Entwicklungen, sowie die wirtschaftliche Marktlage, dieses vielseitigen und alltäglichen Bereiches der globalen Musikwirtschaft dargestellt werden.This paper was meant to gather and compare knowledge from the different disciplines of communication studies, musicology and music-economy, to give an overview about the evolution of music consumption, the music industry and to describe historical and ongoing trends. Besides different models and theories, it gives – with insights from studies and scientific findings – a cross section of the consumerism of digital natives. A big focus lies on the transformation of the former "primary medium music" to an industrially produced tertiary medium, that is lower in quality. It should also illustrate the failures of the music industry and give an overview of the problems that were generated by those failures. This work takes a closer look at topics like Stardom, Streaming and "high-quality, active, audiophile listening“ from a cultural and technical point of view. The worth of a high-grade and decelerated music-consumption should be pointed out and, based on insights of different scientific and economic disciplines, statistics and studies, a great sociocultural change and the economic priorities that come along with it, should be illustrated. In addition, the paper gives an insight into the new ways of production, distribution and consumption within the music market, with focus on prosumer and artepreneur. Based on a wide and interdisciplinary literature research, an objective and current overview of the ongoing trends and the economic market situation should be given

Report on political participation of mobile EU citizens : Czech Republic

This report explores challenges to political participation of mobile EU citizens in the Czech Republic. It discusses electoral rights of non-resident citizens and non-citizen residents from the EU in European Parliament and local elections. The report also offers recommendations on how to increase political participation of mobile EU citizens in this country.This report was funded by the European Union's Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (2014-2020). The content of this report represents the views of the author only and is his/her sole responsibility. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains

Searching for the Right Organization - Ideology and Party Structure in East-Central Europe

The article examines four centre-right parties in East-Central Europe in order to assess the impact of ideology on party organization and revisit the thesis of organizational weakness in the region. The data collected indicate that, together with electoral success, inherited resources and national context, ideology does indeed shape the style of organization. Centre-right parties, as opposed to leftist parties, tend to be less bureau-cratized, have fewer staff members, a simpler structure, more individualized leadership and the 'party-in-public-office' tends also to have a more elevated role. Parties that have more individualistic ideologies tends also to have 'lighter' organization and weaker embeddedness, while parties subscribing to a more collectivist and corporatist type of conservatism have developed more complex party organization and rely more heavily on affiliate organizations. Analysis of temporal changes uncovers a degree of organizational vitality that is surprising given that the literature on both centre-right and on post-communist politics points towards organizational weakness

EU accession and party competition in post-communist Romania

This paper examines the impact of the EU on party competition in post-communist Romania by testing Robert Ladrech’s model for the Europeanization of Central and East European party systems. It argues that, although it certainly holds true for a variety of post-communist cases, Ladrech’s model has a very limited explanatory power in the Romanian case after accession, for two reasons. First, the post-accession period has seen further institutionalization of the party system through the gradual disappearance of the extreme-right from within the ranks of parliamentary parties, and through increased competition between established parties on the centre-left and the centre-right of the political spectrum. Second, there has been little change in parties’ stances on European integration. Thus, Romanian formations’ consensus on the benefits of EU membership has continued to exist in the period after accession, while conflicts over the EU’s socio-economic acquis, such as those emerging in Poland and the Czech Republic, have failed to materialize. The main explanation for this situation is the fact that Romania continues to be subject to monitoring in the form of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, which has essentially extended the EU’s conditionality into the post-accession period. Given continued monitoring by the European Commission, the distinction between the impact of the EU before and after accession is therefore less clear-cut in Romania’s case than in the case of other post-communist EU member states

International Social Survey Programme: Role of Government IV - ISSP 2006

The International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) is a continuous programme of cross-national collaboration running annual surveys on topics important for the social sciences. The programme started in 1984 with four founding members - Australia, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States – and has now grown to almost 50 member countries from all over the world. As the surveys are designed for replication, they can be used for both, cross-national and cross-time comparisons. Each ISSP module focuses on a specific topic, which is repeated in regular time intervals. Please, consult the documentation for details on how the national ISSP surveys are fielded. The present study focuses on questions about political attitudes and the role of government.Attitude to compliance with law; attitudes to various forms of protest against the government; views regarding freedom of speech for extremists; attitude to justice error; attitudes towards state intervention in the economy; attitude to increased government spending for environmental protection, public health system, the police, education system, defense, pensions, unemployment benefits, culture and arts; attitude to welfare state and responsibility for jobs, price control, health care, decent standard of living, economic growth, reduction of income differences, support for students, housing supply and protection of environment; political interest; rating the government performance in providing health care and living standards as well as dealing with country`s security threats, controlling crime, fighting unemployment and protecting environment; attitude towards surveillance measures of the authorities in case of security challenges; political efficacy; trust in politicians and civil servants; assessment of tax equity with various income groups; trust in people; being treated fairly by public officials; treatment by public officials depends on personal contact; perceived amount of politicians and public officials involved in corruption; how often asked for bribe by public officials; number of persons respondent is in contact with per week. Demography: sex; age; marital status; steady life partner; years of schooling; highest education level; country specific education and degree; current employment status (respondent and partner); hours worked weekly; occupation (ISCO 1988) (respondent and partner); supervising function at work; working for private or public sector or self-employed (respondent and partner); if self-employed: number of employees; trade union membership; earnings of respondent (country specific); family income (country specific); size of household; household composition; party affiliation (left-right); country specific party affiliation; participation in last election; religious denomination; religious main groups; attendance of religious services; self-placement on a top-bottom scale; region (country specific); size of community (country specific); type of community: urban-rural area; country of origin or ethnic group affiliation. Additionally coded: administrative mode of data-collection; weight.Das International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) ist ein länderübergreifendes, fortlaufendes Umfrageprogramm, das jährlich Erhebungen zu Themen durchführt, die für die Sozialwissenschaften wichtig sind. Das Programm begann 1984 mit vier Gründungsmitgliedern - Australien, Deutschland, Großbritannien und den Vereinigten Staaten - und ist inzwischen auf fast 50 Mitgliedsländer aus aller Welt angewachsen. Da die Umfragen auf Replikationen ausgelegt sind, können die Daten sowohl für länder- als auch für zeitübergreifende Vergleiche genutzt werden. Jedes ISSP-Modul konzentriert sich auf ein bestimmtes Thema, das in regelmäßigen Zeitabständen wiederholt wird. Details zur Durchführung der nationalen ISSP-Umfragen entnehmen Sie bitte der Dokumentation. Die vorliegende Studie konzentriert sich auf Fragen zu politischen Einstellungen und der Rolle der Regierung.Einstellung zur Befolgung von Gesetzen (Gesetzestreue); Einstellung zu verschiedenen Protestformen gegen die Regierung; Ansichten bezüglich der Meinungsfreiheit für Extremisten; Einstellung zu einem Justizirrtum; Einstellung zu wirtschaftssteuernden Interventionen der Regierung durch Subventionen oder Änderung von Rahmenbedingungen (Skala); Einstellung zur Erhöhung von Regierungsausgaben für Umweltschutz, Gesundheitswesen, Polizei und Strafverfolgung, Bildungswesen, Verteidigung, Renten, Arbeitslosenunterstützung, Kultur und Kunst; Einstellung zum Wohlfahrtsstaat: Einschätzung der staatlichen Verantwortlichkeit für sozialpolitische Aufgaben (Absicherung von Arbeitsplätzen, Sicherung des Lebensstandards für alte und kranke Menschen sowie Studenten, Preisstabilität, Wirtschaftswachstum durch Hilfen an die Industrie, Wohnungsversorgung, Einkommensangleichung etc.); Issue-Kompetenz der Regierung in den Bereichen Gesundheitswesen, Altersversorgung, Sicherheit, Verbrechensbekämpfung, Bekämpfung der Arbeitslosigkeit und Umweltschutz; Einstellung zu ausgewählten staatlichen Überwachungsmaßnahmen bei Verdacht auf einen Terroranschlag; Politikinteresse; generelle Einstellung zur Politik; Einschätzung der politischen Wirksamkeit (efficacy), der eigenen politischen nformiertheit und Vertrauen zu Politikern und zu Staatsbediensteten (Skala); Einschätzung der Steuergerechtigkeit bezogen auf verschiedene Einkommensgruppen; Vertrauen zu den Mitmenschen; Befragter kann wichtige Entscheidungen zugunsten anderer beeinflussen bzw. Befragter ist jemand, der um Einflussnahme bittet; Einschätzung einer fairen Behandlung durch Beamte; Abhängigkeit der Behandlung durch Beamte von persönlichen Beziehungen; Einschätzung des Anteils korrupter Politiker und Beamter im eigenen Land; Häufigkeit von persönlich erlebter Anfrage von Bestechungsgeldern durch öffentliche Bedienstete; Anzahl der Kontaktpersonen pro Woche. Demographie: Geschlecht; Alter; Familienstand; Zusammenleben mit einem Partner; Anzahl Schuljahre; Schulbildung; Beschäftigungsstatus des Befragten sowie des Partners; Wochenarbeitsstunden; Beruf (ILO/ISCO 1988) des Befragten und des Partners sowie Beschäftigung im öffentlichen Sektor; selbständige Beschäftigung; Anzahl der Beschäftigten; Vorgesetztenstatus; Gewerkschaftsmitgliedschaft; Einkommen; Haushaltseinkommen; Haushaltsgröße; Haushaltszusammensetzung; Parteipräferenz ; Wahlbeteiligung bei der letzten Wahl; Konfession; Kirchgangshäufigkeit; Selbsteinstufung der Schichtzugehörigkeit (Oben-Unten-Skala); Region; Ortsgröße; Urbanisierungsgrad; ethnische oder nationale Zugehörigkeit bzw. Herkunft. Zusätzlich verkodet wurde: Erhebungsmethode; Gewichtungsfaktor

Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (2001-2006)

The module was administered as a post-election interview. The resulting data are provided along with voting, demographic, district and macro variables in a single dataset. CSES Variable List The list of variables is being provided on the CSES Website to help in understanding what content is available from CSES, and to compare the content available in each module. Themes: MICRO-LEVEL DATA: Identification and study administration variables: mode of interview; gender of interviewer; date questionnaire administered; election type; weighting factors; if multiple rounds: percent of vote selected parties received in first round; selection of head of state; direct election of head of state and process of direct election; threshold for first-round victory; selection of candidates for the final round; simple majority or absolute majority for 2nd round victory; primary electoral district of respondent; number of days the interview was conducted after the election Demography: age; gender; education; marital status; union membership; union membership of others in household; business association membership, farmers´ association membership; professional association membership; current employment status; main occupation; socio economic status; employment type - public or private; industrial sector; current employment status, occupation, socio economic status, employment type - public or private and industrial sector of spouse; household income; number of persons in household; number of children in household under the age of 18; attendance at religious services; race; ethnicity; religiosity; religious denomination; language usually spoken at home; region of residence; rural or urban residence Survey variables: political participation during the recent election campaign (persuade others, campaign activities) and frequency of political participation; contacted by candidate or party during the campaign; respondent cast a ballot at the current and the previous election; vote choice (presidential, lower house and upper house elections) at the current and the previous election; respondent cast candidate preference vote at the current election; most important issue; evaluation of governments performance concerning the most important issue and in general; satisfaction with the democratic process in the country; attitude towards selected statements: it makes a difference who is in power and who people vote for; democracy is better than any other form of government; respondent cast candidate preference vote at the previous election; judgement of the performance of the party the respondent voted for in the previous election; judgement how well voters´ views are represented in elections; party and leader that represent respondent´s view best; form of questionnaire (long or short); party identification; intensity of party identification; sympathy scale for selected parties; assessment of parties and political leaders on a left-right-scale; political participating during the last 5 years: contacted a politician or government, protest or demonstration, work with others who share the same concern; respect for individual freedom and human rights; assessment how much corruption is widespread in the country; self-placement on a left-right-scale; political information items DISTRICT-LEVEL DATA: number of seats contested in electoral district, number of candidates, number of party lists, percent vote of different parties, official voter turnout in electoral district MACRO-LEVEL DATA: percent of popular vote received by parties in current (lower house/upper house) legislative election; percent of seats in lower house received by parties in current lower house/upper house election; percentage of official voter turnout; number of portfolios held by each party in cabinet, prior to and after the most recent election; year of party foundation; ideological family the parties are closest to; European parliament political group and international organization the parties belong to; significant parties not represented before and after the election; left-right position of parties; general concensus on these left-right placements among informed observers in the country; alternative dimension placements; consensus on the alternative dimension placements; most salient factors in the election; consensus on the salience ranking; electoral alliances permitted during the election campaign; name of alliance and participant parties; number of elected legislative chambers; for lower house and upper house was asked: number of electoral segments; number of primary districts; number of seats; district magnitude (number of members elected from each district); number of secondary and tertiary electoral districts; compulsory voting; votes cast; voting procedure; transferable votes; cumulated votes if more than one can be cast; party threshold; used electoral formula; party lists close, open, or flexible; parties can run joint lists; possibility of apparentement; multi-party endorsements; ally party support; requirements for joint party lists; types of apparentement agreements; multi-party endorsements on ballot; head of state (regime type); year of presidential election (before or after this legislative election); process if indirect election; if by electoral college: selection of electors, deliberates, and voting procedure; if by legislature: chambers of the legislature, voting procedure; power of the head of state (introduce legislation, expedited action, package veto, partial veto, legislate by decree, emergency powers, negotiate agreements, commander of forces, introduce referenda, refer legislation to judiciary, legislative sessions); head of government (elected independently, is the head of state, selection method if not elected independently); authorities of the head of government concerning the composition of the cabinet (name ministers, nominate ministers, review ministerial nominations, dismiss ministers); authorities of the head of government concerning the policy making process (chair cabinet meetings, legislature schedules, policy alternatives, refers policy to committee, votes of confidence); methods of cabinet dismissal (head of state acting alone, by head of government alone, majority of legislature, plurality of legislature, combination); dissolution of legislature prior to regularly scheduled elections; dissolution of legislature by: head of state, head of government, majority of legislature, combination; restrictions on dissolving legislature (on the timing, as a response to action/inaction by the legislature); second chamber of the legislature (method of election, composition, exclusive legislative powers, power over the cabinet); constitutional federal structure; central power over peripher