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.     

Liberal Legitimacy and the Question of Respect

In a modern pluralist society, the idea of liberal legitimacy as proposed by John Rawls offers a promising foundation for the further historic advancement of democracy. However, liberal legitimacy still seems to lack one key element—a unique type of respect at its foundations—without which such democratic advancement may not be achieved. Nor, on closer inspection, could the idea of liberal legitimacy succeed without this particular type of respect. When further refined at its foundation, arguably liberal legitimacy could open doors to previously unattainable improvements in democracy and legitimacy.     

Korrespondenz

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Wrongful birth,wrongful conception

Nach der dem Behandlungsvertrag zugrundeliegenden Wertung ist sowohl bei wrongful birth als auch bei wrongful conception eine Verrechnung ideeller Vorteile der Elternschaft mit dem Unterhaltsschaden ausgeschlossen. Aufgrund des von § 97 StGB vorgegebenen Schutzzwecks des Vertrags ist bei wrongful birth lediglich der behinderungsbedingte Mehraufwand und nicht auch der Basisunterhalt zu ersetzen. In den F?llen von wrongful conception ist hingegen für den gesamten Unterhaltsschaden zu haften.     

The Adaptation of the FSLN: Daniel Ortega's Leadership and Democracy in Nicaragua

This article explores the capacity of the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) to adapt to a changing Nicaraguan political environment over the last three decades. It focuses on the FSLN's transformation from the 1980s until its recent return to power. The analysis uses the tools offered by studies on the transformation and adaptation of political parties in adverse contexts. It concentrates on the four key stages of the FSLN's transformation: the 1980s, the five‐year period following the FSLN's defeat in the elections (1990–1995), the following decade in opposition (1996–2006), and the return to government. The key elements of the FSLN's adaptation relate to the centralization of party resources around the undisputed leadership of Daniel Ortega.     

“I'd like to participate,but . . .”: women farmers' scepticism towards agricultural extension/education programmes

This mixed research is inspired by our desire to explain why rural women are cautious in their attitudes towards agricultural extension/education. Fifty-two women livestock farmers from Thessaly-Greece were randomly selected to participate in the study. Our results indicate that at one end of the spectrum women express a high willingness to participate in agricultural extension/education programmes, while at the other end this willingness is not translated into participation mainly because of women's perception that agricultural extension/education constitutes a male dominated area. Another key determinant restricting women's participation arises from their low familiarity with education and the unpleasant experiences they recall from school.

« J'aimerais participer, mais… » : le scepticisme des agricultrices concernant les programmes de vulgarisation/d’éducation

Ce travail de recherches mixtes s'inspire de notre désir d'expliquer pourquoi les femmes en milieu rural font preuve de circonspection dans leurs attitudes envers la vulgarisation/l’éducation agricoles. Cinquante-deux éleveuses de Thessalie (Grèce) ont été sélectionnées au hasard pour prendre part à cette étude. Nos résultats indiquent qu’à une extrémité de l’éventail, les femmes expriment une forte volonté de participer à des programmes de vulgarisation/d’éducation agricoles, tandis qu’à l'autre cette volonté ne se traduit pas en participation, principalement du fait que les femmes considèrent que la vulgarisation/l’éducation agricoles constituent un domaine dominé par les hommes. Un autre facteur déterminant clé qui restreint la participation des femmes provient de leur manque de contact avec les services d’éducation et des expériences désagréables dont elles se souviennent du temps où elles allaient à l’école.

“Me gustaría participar, pero…”: el escepticismo de las campesinas ante los programas de extensión o de educación agrícola

Esta investigación mixta fue motivada por el objetivo de los autores de explicar las razones por las cuales, en sus actitudes, las mujeres campesinas son reticentes a la extensión o a la educación agrícola. En este sentido, se seleccionaron aleatoriamente 52 mujeres ganaderas de Thessaly, Grecia, con el fin de que participaran en el estudio. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que, en un extremo de la gama de opiniones, las mujeres expresan mucho interés en participar en los programas de extensión, mientras que, en el otro extremo, el interés expresado no se traduce en una participación real. En general, ello responde a la percepción de que la extensión/educación agrícola constituye un área dominada por los hombres. Asimismo, otro factor clave que representa una limitante para la participación de las mujeres tiene que ver con su poca familiaridad con la educación y con las experiencias desagradables que vivieron en la escuela.

“Eu gostaria de participar, mas . . .”: ceticismo das mulheres produtoras rurais em relação a programas de extensão/educação agrícola

Esta mescla de pesquisas é impulsionada pelo nosso desejo de explicar por que as mulheres da área rural são reticentes em suas atitudes em relação a programas de extensão/educação agrícola. Cinquenta e duas mulheres produtoras de gado de Tessália-Grécia foram aleatoriamente selecionadas para participar do estudo. Nossos resultados indicam que em um dos extremos, as mulheres expressam uma vontade muito grande de participar de programas de extensão/educação agrícola, enquanto que em outro extremo essa vontade não se traduz em participação, principalmente devido à percepção das mulheres de que a extensão/educação agrícola constitui uma área dominada pelos homens. Um outro determinante-chave que restringe a participação das mulheres surge da pouca familiaridade delas com a educação e de experiências desagradáveis que elas tiverem na escola.     

The personality of populists: provocateurs,charismatic leaders,or drunken dinner guests?

Abstract

The ‘populist phenomenon’ has received a lot of attention in recent years. Yet little is known about the populists themselves: who are they? They are often described as bad-mannered provocateurs disrupting the political game, but also as charismatic leaders able to persuade and motivate. Can a populist ‘style’ or ‘personality’ be identified? This article assesses to what extent populists score differently from ‘mainstream’ politicians on established personality inventories. Using a new dataset based on expert ratings for 152 candidates (including 33 populists) having competed in 73 elections worldwide, it is found that populists score lower on agreeableness, emotional stability and conscientiousness. At the same time, populists score higher on extraversion, narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism. These results have important implications for the study of the success of populists in contemporary democracies and beyond.     

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.