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Department Profiles and Main Research
Areas
Department of International Relations and European Studies
PROFILE
The Department of International Relations and European Studies was founded in 2002 as a unit providing students with top-level knowledge in the field of international studies. It emerged as a result of the expansion of a subunit specialized in International Relations and European studies, initially established in the 1999/2000 academic year under the auspices of the Department of Political Science.
The Department of International Relations and European Studies maintains close contacts with other universities and research institutes in the Czech Republic and abroad and thus provides its students with opportunities to study abroad. Within the framework of the Erasmus program, for example, the department cooperates with the University of Bergen, University of Plymouth, Chemnitz University of Technology, University of Bologna, and the Otto-von-Guericke-University of Magdeburg. The department actively cooperates with the International Institute of Political Science.
RESEARCH
The faculty members of the Department of International Relations and European Studies work in diverse research areas, including comparative studies of Central and Western Europe, the links between political developments in Europe and the ongoing process of European integration, the problematic of EU enlargement, the study of the institutional structure of the EU, the study of other international organizations, the Europeanization of party politics, European political parties, theories of International Relations and their application, theories of integration and their application, US foreign policy, strategic and security studies. These areas of specialization are reflected in publication activities at the department. The
department's research endeavors enjoy the support of established foundations and grant agencies, both in the Czech Republic and abroad (the European Commission, the Open Society Fund, the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, the Jan Hus Educational Foundation, the University Development Fund).
The Department of International Relations and European Studies is involved in several extensive research projects.
"Political Actors in the Process of Europeanization and Internationalization of the Czech Political
Field" project's goal (between 2004-2009) is to thoroughly research the reactions and attitudes of relevant political actors (political parties, interest groups, non-governmental organizations, etc.) to the Czech
Republic entry into the EU and to the key demands of international integration and globalization.
On the other hand, "Political Systems of Democratic Countries and their Changes at the Beginning of 21st Century" (project supported by Grant Agency of CR for 2008–2010) focuses on world democracies and their recent changes and challenges.
Another EU-focused project "Political Parties and Interest Representation in Contemporary European Democracies " is carried out in close cooperation with Comparative Political Research Institute (see below).
Department of Political Science
PROFILE
The Department of Political Science at the Faculty of Social Studies of the Masaryk University was founded in 1990 as an academic unit providing students with high-quality education in the discipline. The courses taught at the department draw on extensive independent research. The department was initially part of the Faculty of Arts (1990-1997). In 1998 it was included, together with other social science departments, in the newly established
Faculty of Social Studies.
The department sustains a vigorous publishing activity. It launched the first Czech academic journal specialized in political science – the
Journal of Political Science. The journal Politics in the Czech Republic, published in both English and Czech, monitors the current political scene in the Czech Republic. Among the other publications of the Department of Political Science are an online academic journal –
Central European Political Studies Review – and numerous monographs and edited volumes.
The Department of Political Science closely cooperates with similar institutions in the Czech Republic and abroad and actively encourages exchange of students. It has co-organized a number of international conferences. It closely cooperates with the International Institute of Political Science, an interdisciplinary research institution focused on the study of the political and socio-economic developments in Czech society and providing support for social scientific research in the sphere of political science.
RESEARCH
The faculty members of the Department of Political Science work in particularly diverse research areas and are supported by established Czech and foreign grant agencies and foundations, such as the European Commission, the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, the Open Society Fund, the Jan Hus Educational Foundation and the University Development Fund. Two broad fields stand out as especially important in the research activities of the department: (1) comparative studies of East Central Europe and the impact of European integration on the countries in the region, and (2) comparative politics, above all the problematic of political parties and party systems. In addition, the department sustains a strong interest in the study of terrorism, in security studies, and in the theory of social movements. The members of the department have published extensively in these fields.
In 2005 the Department of Political Science launched an extensive five-year research project on the topic
"Political Parties and Interest Representation in Contemporary European
Democracies". Research in the framework of this project concentrates on the role political parties and other political actors play in the process of interest representation in democratic political systems in Europe, with a special focus on the Czech Republic and other Central and East European democracies. The project analyzes the impact of the Czech
Republic's EU membership on Czech political actors and the interactions among them. Special attention is paid to the current conditions of multi-level governance and to the role of political actors in interest representation at the different levels – European, state, regional and local. The project envisages a comparative analysis of the activities and development of political parties at all levels, as well as an extensive study on the process of Europeanization of political parties and its effects on the shape of party systems.
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