Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2020, 56(3)

The Electoral Success of the Extreme Right: Is the Presence of a Minority Important?

Miloslav Bahna, Jozef Zagrapan

Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2020, 56(3): 291-313 | DOI: 10.13060/csr.2020.019  

Anti-minority rhetoric as an almost universal feature of extremeright parties is often analytically and empirically linked to their electoral success. This article tests the link between the presence of an outgroup and the vote for the extreme right in an attempt to explain the electoral success of the first openly anti-system extreme-right party to enter the Slovak parliament in 2016. A multilevel approach is used to analyse the connection between Roma presence in a municipality and extreme-right support while controlling for the individual characteristics of voters. Analysis using exit-poll data covering 161 municipalities and 20 128 voters reveals...

Party Membership in Romania: Political Legitimacy, Party Finance and Organisational Changes

Alexandra Iancu, Sorina Soare

Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2020, 56(3): 315-341 | DOI: 10.13060/csr.2020.020  

The article retraces the contradictions between the regulations and the practices shaping Romanian party membership in order to show why and how membership decline became an electoral-driven strategy. It contrasts high membership figures, the dynamics of legal definitions of party membership, and party routines. The results indicate that the Romanian example is an atypical case of incongruence between organisational configurations and party models of ‘constitutionalisation’. The frailty of party organisations in this post-communist country depends not only on the broken linkages between state and society but also on exogenous factors, such...

Individual Experiences of Surveillance: Attitudes towards Camera Surveillance in Slovakia

Martin Kovanič

Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2020, 56(3): 343-361 | DOI: 10.13060/csr.2020.021  

After the fall of the communist regime, Slovakia saw the introduction and subsequent rapid growth of camera surveillance, particularly around the turn of the millennium. These developments occurred in a specific political, cultural, and historical context, which affects perceptions of and reactions to surveillance by individual citizens. The post-communist context is characterised by relatively low levels of resistance to the introduction of various technological surveillance mechanisms, including the rapid introduction of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) in public spaces. However, individuals who are under surveillance (surveilled subjects) are not...

Climate Change and the Transition Movement in Eastern Europe: The Case of Czech Permaculture

Marta Kolářová

Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2020, 56(3): 363-386 | DOI: 10.13060/csr.2020.022  

This paper focuses on a grassroots community movement addressing climate change: the transnational Transition (Towns) movement. While this movement has mainly spread to Anglophone countries, it is almost entirely absent from Eastern Europe and the Czech Republic in particular. The aim of this paper is to explain why the Transition movement—a grassroots community initiative—has not been successfully adopted in the post-socialist Czech Republic, and why the issue of climate change has not become an important frame for the local permaculture movement which introduced the idea of Transition to the country. The paper presents an analysis of...

A Self-determined Profession? Perceived Work Conditions and the Satisfaction Paradox among Czech Academic Faculty

Jiří Mudrák, Kateřina Zábrodská, Kateřina Machovcová

Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2020, 56(3): 387-418 | DOI: 10.13060/csr.2020.023  

While the Czech academic profession faces a range of challenges and problems, quantitative surveys indicate a relatively high level of high job satisfaction among academic faculty. This article addresses this ‘satisfaction paradox’ by exploring the perceived work conditions of Czech academics based on their own reports. The data for this study included academics’ (N = 1202) qualitative responses to open-ended questions regarding the main problems and benefits of their current academic work and workplace. Content analysis was used to categorise the respondents’ answers. Academics reported heavy workloads (26.5% of participants),...

Kenneth Newton: Surprising News: How the Media Affect—and Do Not Affect—Politics

Staffan Kumlin

Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2020, 56(3): 419-421  

James C. Scott: Against the Grain. A Deep History of the Earliest States

Sergiu Delcea

Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2020, 56(3): 421-423  

Besnik Pula: Globalisation under and after Socialism: The Evolution of Transnational Capital in Central and Eastern Europe

Jasper P. Simons

Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2020, 56(3): 424-427  

Robert Plomin: Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are

Risto Conte Keivabu

Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2020, 56(3): 428-430  

James S. Fishkin: Democracy When the People Are Thinking: Revitalizing Our Politics Through Public Deliberation

Camilla Lund, Frederik Pfeiffer

Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2020, 56(3): 430-434  

Surendra Munshi (ed.): Democracy Under Threat

Jaemin Shim

Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2020, 56(3): 434-437  

Hilary Appel and Mitchell A. Orenstein: From Triumph to Crisis: Neoliberal Economic Reform in Postcommunist Countries

Sergiu Delcea

Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2020, 56(3): 437-441  

Wolfgang Streeck: How Will Capitalism End?

Christoffer Wisén

Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2020, 56(3): 441-443