Electronic Library of Scientific Literature - © Academic Electronic Press
Volume 34, 2002, No. 1, p. 1-96
Štúdie / Studies
Mládež v procesoch európskej integrácie / Young People in the Processes of European Integration
Diskusia / Discussion
Informácie / Information
Recenzie / Book Reviews
Miloš Havelka
Ústav sociologie AV ČR, Praha
Czech Conservatism and Conservative Intellectuals. The article refers to problems of specifying the term and the actual working of conservatism in the Czech lands in the first half of the twentieth century. These allow for formulating the thesis on weakness of conservatism in the Czech history, already noticed by other authors (F. X. alda, J. Patočka, J. Křen and others). The article explains sociological reasons of this fact such as the specifics of the rise of the Czech nation in the nineteenth century. A typology of the Czech conservatisms is offered: aristocratic, autonomous - historism as a spontaneous conservatism, civic conservatism and situation conservatism; and their representatives are introduced: T. G. Masaryk, Albín Bráf, Jaroslav Goll, Josef Pekař, Jaroslav Durych, Karel Kramář, Lev Borský, Viktor Dyk a J. S. Machar.
Sociológia 2002 Vol 34 (No. 1: 5-22)
Ľudmila Malíková - Katarína Staroňová
Katedra politológie FF UK, Bratislava
Political-Administrative Relations in the Slovak Central Government. The aim of this paper is to provide a useful overview of the political-administrative relations in Slovakia on the central level of the government and to introduce factors that might play a significant role in the development of the interface between politics and administration. The analysis follows a theoretical model provided by Guy Peters. In Slovakia, a mixed pattern can be observed as elements of several models can be identified. Political-administrative relations in Slovakia are still in transitional mode and exhibit the main features of this process: the lack of continuity, legalistic tradition, inadequate organizational capacity for the development of professional top civil servants.
Sociológia 2002 Vol 34 (No. 1: 23-35)
Kenneth Roberts
University of Liverpool, UK
Youth Enterprise and Youth Unemployment in European Union Member and Associated Countries. Can East-Central Europe’s youth unemployment be solved by encouraging and assisting those concerned to start their own enterprises? It is argued that in the 1990s youngpeople in the new market economies had exceptional opportunities to succeed in business. However, as the new market economies mature, the young unemployed will become a section of the population least equipped to succeed in business, as is the case across Western Europe. It is further argued that the particular type of young unemployment that has spread in the new market economies will not be solved by creating low quality jobs. Young people expect, and are prepared to wait for, good quality employment. It is concluded that the best hope for matching demand and supply in East-Central Europe’s youth labour markets lies in developing some of the existing microenterprises into quality SMEs. This is the way in which policies towards the self-employed are most likely to contribute to hauling down youth unemployment.
Sociológia 2002 Vol 34 (No. 1: 37-46)
Sijka Kovačeva
Paissii Hilendarski University, Plovdiv
Development of Young People’s Civic Participation in East Central Europe. Participation is a concept constantly recurring in social research, especially in youth studies. The public assumptions about the pressing social problems of the day affect the way youth participation is understood and developed, as well as the structure and scope of involvement granted to the new generation. While after the Second World War the participation of young people was conceptualised rather passively, as their integration into the existing structure of society through internalising the dominant social norms, fifty years later a more pro-active understanding has come to the fore. From this perspective participation is the process of becoming an active citizen, of taking an active role in shaping the social environment at local, national and particularly European level.
The practice of youth participation also changed in the course of time, modifying the scope and forms of young people’s involvement in social life. The development of youth civic participation in East Central Europe is an interesting case for analysis, since it has significant policy implications. This paper starts with a review of the models and structures of young people’s public involvement during the communist regimes in the region, it then proceeds with a study of their transformation in post-communism and finishes with a discussion of the barriers in front of young people’s influence over the course of their countries’ transitions to democracy.
Sociológia 2002 Vol 34 (No.: 47-58)
Ladislav Macháček
Sociologický ústav SAV, Bratislava; Katedra politológie FF UCM,
Trnava
Civic Potential and the Formation of Youth Politics in Slovakia. The most important actors representing the interests of young people in the member states of the Council of Europe are the civic youth associations and, at national levels, the youth councils. The influence of youth associations in Slovakia after 1989 was very weak and in fact none of the political parties and coalitions consistently promoted the interests of young people.
The situation changed radically after 1998 elections. The youth associations, capable of activating the citizens, played a significant role in fostering the political changes at last reflected in election results. As a consequence, The Youth Council of Slovakia (YCS) used its growing influence to participate in the formulation of a new governmental program. YCS accomplished a real institutional breakthrough by devising the foundation of The Council of the Government of the Slovak Republic for the Issues of Children and Youth. Thus the prerequisites for the participation of YCS representatives in governmental decision making processes were created.
Sociológia 2002 Vol 34 (No. 1: 59-64)