Journal Czech Society Archive

The electronic version of the second number of the twelfth edition of the review Our Society (Naše společnost). Our Society issues Center for Public Opinion Research, Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

The article describes a sociological problem linked to decision-making about the locality in which a deep geological repository of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste is to be built in the Czech Republic. The introduction explains the social situation of negotiations about the repository and identifies concerned stakeholders. The article then outlines the legal framework of the negotia-tions and summarizes their progress up to the present day. The rest of the article analyses data from two public opinion surveys. The first one surveyed the attitudes of citizens in selected locali-ties toward the project of the deep geological repository. The second survey investigated the atti-tudes of the Czech public toward radioactive waste and the deep geological repository.

Working life is one of the important factors that affect overall quality of life and subjective well-being. Measuring its quality has been the focus of many recent projects and surveys implemented in the Czech Republic. The following text deals with the most general indicator of the quality of working life, namely overall working life satisfaction. It analyzes the relationship of this indicator with subjective well-being and its non-work aspects as well as with current job satisfaction. The results show that overall working life satisfaction is a broader category than current job satisfaction, it is much more closely related to subjective well-being than the latter, and it differs from the latter sufficiently to be considered a valid specific indicator.

>> Full text is available in Czech only <<

Levels of trust in political institutions and political actors are constantly low in the Czech Republic. This paper deals with the perspective of professional politicians, which is an unexplored topic in the Czech context. At the same time, we supplement the traditional view of political culture with an approach based on interpretive and constructivist sociology. We focus on the construction of symbolic boundaries by Czech politicians. We pursue a combination of narrative (Ricoeur) and critical discourse analysis (Wodak) based on 21 thematically oriented biographical interviews with politicians from three traditional political parties (ODS, ČSSD, KSČM) who have been actively involved in politics since the early 90's. The findings suggest that the politicians use symbolic boundaries as a cultural instrument for legitimizing their identity, status and practice of "traditional" politics. By defining others, the politicians are able to construct a reality in which they are on the same boat with citizens while standing on the command bridge.

The electronic version of the second number of the thirteenth edition of the review Our Society (Naše společnost). Our Society issues Center for Public Opinion Research, Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

The electronic version of the first number of the fourteenth edition of the review Our Society (Naše společnost). Our Society issues Center for Public Opinion Research, Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

Perception of the term “public” has undergone a complex historical development. In very simple terms “it gradually turned from the original meaning of public as a social elite consisting of independent, educated and committed citizens to the concept of plural publics, which are often a synonym for all public.” (Rendlová, Lebeda, 2002: 9). According to the Big Dictionary of Sociology the term public is currently understood as “a larger part of the society (or nation, people) involved in the outcomes of economic and social activities with a more general effect, in the solution of a certain social problem, or in social events as such.

On 1 May 2004, the Czech Republic became a fully-fledged member of the European Union. At the same time, another 9 states made the same step and the European Union enlarged to the current 25 member states. At present, the European integration process is considered for further continuation – Bulgaria and Romania already signed the accession treaty. Citizens decided in a referendum on the accession of our country.

Low rate of representation of women in politics is closely connected with the status of women, who are regarded rather as a social group than as individuals. At the same time, their social status is lower than that of men. Perception of citizenship as defined by French theoretician Chantal Mouffe in her theory of radical democracy is in direct contrast to this construct. According to Mouffe, citizenship should be perceived as a form of political identity, which is fully compliant with the principles of freedom and equality (Mouffe in Seidman, 1995).

The article discusses the relationship between educational attainment and the existence of cohabitation in the Czech Republic. Cohabitation of unmarried partners is a timely topic given a constant growth of this form of relationship in the Czech society, which almost tripled between the years 1991 and 2011. Based on data from the ISSP 2012 quantitative survey, the article seeks to demonstrate whether the educational attainment of an individual or his/her partner is associated with whether or not they cohabitate. Cohabitation is juxtaposed to marriage as well as to living-apart-together relationships, with partners living in different households.

The electronic version of the first number of the fifteenth edition of the review Our Society (Naše společnost). Our Society issues Center for Public Opinion Research, Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

The electronic version of the second number of the fifteenth edition of the review Our Society (Naše společnost). Our Society issues Center for Public Opinion Research, Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

The article deals with relationships between human capital and social capital. Often is mentioned that presence of social capital is key condition of success investment in human capital. The article presents opposite view – investments 
in human capital are necessary condition investments in social capital (at least in individual social capital). The three main form of social capital (bonding, bridging and linking social capital) are described at it is shown when generating each form can generate individuals profit and utility – in each case individuals must also invest in their human capital. Investments in human capital can also respond to the situation when investments in social capital become obsolete or devalue. 
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Media Tenor tracked media coverage of political parties in periods of three months prior to elections to the Chamber of Deputies in 2006 and 2010. Czech Social Democratic Party enjoyed overwhelming media prevalence in a first analyzed period, Civic Democratic Party prevailed in 2010. Neither of instances resulted in a highest voting outcome for the most covered party. The research confirmed private news services to be keeping conservative approaches while (not) presenting new and not well-known political groups. They covered TOP 09 Party and Public Affairs Party (Věci veřejné) rather marginally in 2010. Researchers focused also on a coverage of chairmen of main parties and air-time enjoyed by politicians to quote own party or co-party members. 
>> Full text is available in Czech only <<

Decrees of the President of the Republic, more commonly known as the Beneš decrees, were a series of laws that were drafted by the Czechslovak Government-in-Exile in the absence of the Czechoslovak parliament during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II and issued by President Edvard Beneš. This article deals with this for the Czech history important topic und it analyses, how these decrees perceives Czech society. The theoretical background captures the concept of the historical memory (M. Halbwachs). Important finding is, that it‘s slightly increasing the number of people who promote their boundless force.

The above was the front page slogan under which the periodical Public Opinion appeared in the years 1946 - 1948. Its publisher was the Czechoslovak Institute for Public Opinion Research. The monthly was intended for both the professional as for the general public. It was published with 15 to 34 pages. It contained theoretical and methodological articles by foremost Czech sociologist as well as by international representatives of the field.

This article deals with the analysis of public opinion in the non-European countries and with their view about the European Union. The study is not yet an analysis of foreign and trade policies of these countries, but it based on the opinions of their inhabitants. The citizens of these countries assessed the EU as "soft power" and as an economic superpower. Highly valued are the activities in the field of peaceful reconstruction of the former war regions, however, it is alleged that it uses few use its economical potential in resolving conflicts. However the Union is criticized for their protectionist policies in the import. Politically remains the union largely unimportant player in international relations.

The paper focuses on the union formation in later life using SHARELIFE data from 13 European countries. First, it shows that proportion of single individuals aged 50-69 and the proportion of those who (re)partner vary significantly across European countries. The highest levels of (re)partnering were observed in Scandinavia and the lowest in Southern and Central Europe. Second, it shows that women are much less likely to enter a new coresidential union than men in all studied countries but the relative difference between men and women vary. The smallest difference was observed in Scandinavia and the Czech Republic, the largest in Southern Europe, Austria, and Switzerland. Third, repartnered individuals tend to be younger, more educated, and more likely divorced than widowed comparing to those who stay single.

This article deals with problems of religiosity research in sociology. First I concentrate on more general topics connected with religiosity research as is cross-country validity of survey instruments or relationship of theoretical concepts and empirical indicators in sociological surveys. Another part is about attending religious ceremonies which is one of the most significant (statistically as well as substantially) indicators in religiosity research.

Linek, Lukáš. 2013. „Rostoucí sociální nerovnosti ve volební účasti v Česku v letech 1990-2010." Naše společnost 11 (1): 3-14, http://dx.doi.org/10.13060/1214-438X.2013.11.1.1

The aim of this paper is to analyze the social and class inequalities in turnout in the Czech Republic between 1990 and 2010. Thus, the study focuses on a description of the evolution of the relationship between turnout and key characteristics of socio-economic status: education, income and social class. This research utilizes a pooled cross-sectional post-election survey dataset from the Czech Republic fielded over two decades; and employs standard statistical methods, i.e. contingency tables and convergence models, to analyze change in turnout among population subgroups. There are signs of a gradual crystallization of both social and class inequalities in electoral participation. Convergence models reveal a linear increase in educational and class inequalities in turnout. In the case of income, however, this study finds evidence of a crystallization of income based inequalities in participation rather than a growth in inequalities per se.

Chábová, Kristýna. „Komparace metodických postupů předvolebních průzkumů agentur CVVM, ppm factum, Median a STEM.“ Naše společnost 11 (1): 25-35, http://dx.doi.org/10.13060/1214-438X.2013.11.1.3

This article deals with the issue of pre-election polling and examines the methodological approaches used in pre-election polling in the Czech Republic. A selection of Czech research agencies is presented and explored, as well as the recommendations of various professional associations.  The core of this work examines and compares the methodological approaches used by the Czech agencies CVVM, ppm factum, Median and STEM. The aim of this article is to highlight the differences in the methodological approaches among the Czech agencies and to determine whether these differences could eventually affect the outcomes of pre-election polls.

The article focuses on leisure activities in the Czech Republic. After the introductory part defining leisure and its functions, data from the international research ISSP 2007 Leisure and Sport are analyzed. Frequencies of 13 leisure activities and perceived functions of leisure are described and the Czech results are briefly compared with the average of 18 European countries. Then attention is paid to the structure of leisure activities in the Czech society.

Pirate parties are new phenomena in politics. The first pirate party was established in Sweden in 2006 and inspired rise of pirate parties across the world. The aim of this article is to review discussion on pirate parties, describe major pirate issues and pirate parties’ sympathizers as well as to attempt to explain the rise of pirate parties. Pirate parties may be conceived as a sort of liberal parties, which are focused on free internet, communication and unrestrained access to public information.

The article stands as the third part of a series about the question answering process during standardized surveys and elaborates the judgment making phase. The first part deals with attitude questions. In this regard, relevant theories of the nature of attitude are explained (true attitude model, construal model, the belief-sampling model); context effects that influence decision-making processes in the course of answering are described (i.