How can perception help us to understand the dynamic between EU member states? The state of the art

The paper reviews literature on perception within the international relations and the European Union (EU) studies in order to find out whether and how this concept can help us shed some light on the mutual relations between the EU member states. It examines the utilisation of perception as an analytical tool within the international relations where it was predominantly included into the foreign policy analysis approaches (image and role theory). Moreover, it was used for examining the views of the EU by other actors at not only bilateral but also multilateral level. Most studies analysed the perception of Asian countries, however, other areas, including Africa, were studied. Perception was utilised also at the EU level, when it was used for scrutinising different EU policies (foreign and security policies, enlargement), examining preference formation and influence of member states or investigating elite and public support for the European integration. The results show that perception is a valuable concept that can help us to analyse mutual relations between the EU member states in the enlarged and changed EU in several ways.     

Art 16 EMRK und die politische Integration Europas

Die Bestimmung des Art 16 EMRK wirkt wie ein Fremdkörper im System der Europäischen Menschenrechtskonvention. Sie ermöglicht den Mitgliedsstaaten des Europarates, die politische Tätigkeit von Ausländern hinsichtlich einiger Grundrechte zu beschränken. Der Wortlaut der Vorschrift lässt viele Fragen hinsichtlich ihrer Reichweite offen und führt dementsprechend zu dogmatischen Unsicherheiten. Es zeigt sich, dass den Mitgliedsstaaten bei der Beschränkung politischer Tätigkeiten von Ausländern weitgehende Gestaltungsfreiheit zukommt, jedoch willkürliche Eingriffe durch Art 16 EMRK nicht gedeckt sind. Weitaus enger als die Mitgliedsstaaten des Europarates sind die Mitglieder der Europäischen Union zusammengewachsen. Die gemeinschaftsrechtliche Integration geht mittlerweile weit über bloß wirtschaftliche Belange hinaus und ermöglicht den Unionsbürgern auch eine politische Mitwirkungsmöglichkeit in anderen EU-Staaten. Als letztes staatsbürgerliches "Reservat" ist hier noch das Wahlrecht zu den nationalen Vertretungskörpern auszumachen. In diesem Bereich hat bei dogmatischer Betrachtung auch die Bestimmung des Art 16 EMRK noch einen kleinen Anwendungsbereich.     

Impact of takeovers on profitability of target companies: Evidence from Croatian companies

It is possible to find scientific confirmation of positive, negative or neutral influence of takeovers on company's profitability. Therefore, this study aimed to highlight the sensitivity of research results on manipulation in terms of used methodology and indicators. Using t-test for paired samples and five selected profitability indicators for target and peer companies, it has been proven that it is possible to obtain significantly different results even when using the same sample and the same reference period. The research has been performed on the sample of Croatian companies, which were taken over in the period from year 2003–2008.     

Caretaker Governments in Czech Politics: What to Do about a Government Crisis

Czech politics suffers from a low durability of most of its governments, and frequent government crises. One of the products of this situation has been the phenomenon of caretaker governments. This article analyses why political elites have resorted to this solution, and discusses how this has reflected an older Czech tradition. Two cases of such governments are analysed in detail. The To?ovský government was characterised by the ability of the Czech president to advance his agenda through this government at a time when the party elites were divided. The Fischer government was characterised by the considerably higher role of parties that shaped and limited the agenda of the cabinet, and the president played a more static role.     

Why join the party in a one-party system?: Popularity versus political exchange

The paper investigates empirically the determinants of political stability in one-party states, taking as an example socialist Yugoslavia. We assume that the number of the Party members is an indicator of the stability of the regime and perform a time series analysis for the six Yugoslav republics in the 1953–1988 period. We find that rents distributed to the population were far more important than the popularity of economic policies and perhaps even more important than repression. These findings provide strong empirical support for economic models of dictatorship based on the notion of political exchange.