The article examines the Slovene “progressive” political parties,
treated as the interwar heirs to the 19th century national liberal traditions, and puts forward references to similar parties from the Czech political context. It demonstrates how the dominant position of political Catholicism within the Slovene political landscape also largely determined the ideological profile and political behavior of the main opposing camp. Pronounced “anti-clerical” orientation was thus essential for Slovene (post-)liberals, marking an important difference to their counterparts in the more secularized Czech context. On other hand the appeal to the national idea remained central for both the Slovene and the Czech interwar national liberal heirs. The specificities of progressives’ national politics are discussed in the second section, where it is indicated that the complexities of their Yugoslavist course, being based not
merely on pragmatic considerations, had mostly different underpinnings than the Czechoslovakist conceptions had in the Czech (post-)liberal politics. and Článek zahrnuje poznámkový aparát pod čarou
Dle recenze se autor přidržuje svědomitého archivního výzkumu a snaží se věcně a uceleně zmapovat zrod, činnost a zánik největší nekomunistické strany poválečného Československa. Rekapituluje známá fakta, ale také přináší četné nové poznatky, čtenáři by však asi přivítali méně popisný a živější jazyk. and [autor recenze] Jaroslav Rokovský.
The so-called opposition agreement was concluded by the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) and the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) after the Chamber of Deputies elections of 1998. It paved the way for a ČSSD minority government in 1998–2002. To present day, it continues to represent one of the most contested moments of the country’s post-communist political history. Both general awareness and the publicist discourse are dominated by a categorically negative, accusatory evaluation of the agreement as a deviation from the democratic framework, a catalyst of systemic corruption and clientelism, and a source of deep scepticism and political disaffection in the Czech general public. While scholarly literature also features strongly critical attitudes to the opposition agreement, there have been a number of works which compared it to the ways minority governments were formed and operated in other countries or which studied the circumstances of its formation and how the situation evolved. Such works have argued that the opposition agreement was a relatively standard case of minority government with under-developed institutional support.
The present study is based on the continual data from surveys of the Public Opinion Research Centre. It deals with the ways public opinion responded to the opposition agreement at the time of its formation and perceived the political situation and overall development in 1998–2002, comparing it to the preceding and subsequent time periods. The empirical evidence shows that most citizens perceived the opposition agreement negatively in general, and especially as the details of its formation have been blurred by the growing time distance from the June 1998 elections. Such negative perceptions,
along with the aftermath of the 1997–1999 economic crisis, gave rise to phenomena such as a considerable decline of popular support for the ČSSD, decreasing trust in government, and growing political discontent between September 1998 and the end of 1999. However, evidence from studies that focused more specifically on the opposition agreement demonstrates that the public attitudes to the opposition agreement were not negative en bloc.
Moreover, the 2000–2002 period saw an apparent shift towards positive attitudes. At the same time, the attitudes to economic and political realities changed considerably throughout the era. The negative trends that prevailed in the first half of the election cycle, and especially in 1999, were replaced by a positive trend as the country overcame the post-1997 economic recession. At the end of the era, the ČSSD and its minority government were perceived as successful by a much broader segment of the population than just the social democratic constituency or left-wing voters in general. These circumstances were probably responsible for the ČSSD’s election victory in 2002, while negative attitudes to the opposition agreement had ceased to play a major role by that time.
This study has two key aims. First, it explores the two main methods used in the Czech Republic to operationalize the concept of party identification. Second this study demonstrates the merits of both methods; and on the basis of this research proposes one of these party identification measures for use in future studies. This study builds on the classical conceptualization of party identification developed by the Michigan School, but also utilizes (1) reformulations proposed by the Revisionist School; (2) Macropartisanship theory; (3) the Social Identity approach; and (4) experience of using the party identification measure in Europe. Using the Czech Election Study of 2002 this research shows that estimates of partisanship are influenced by how the survey question is formulated. Thereafter, the relationship between the two main variants used in the Czech Republic is presented. This work reveals that use of a (prior) vote intention item leads to an ‘over estimation’ of partisanship when compared to the other partisan measure. Comparing estimates from the Czech Election Studies of 1996, 2002 and 2006 this article reveals that there is no simple association between party identification and voter turnout. In fact, it is better to think of party identification as having two components: (a) probability to vote; and (b) probability to support a party that elicits a sense of identity from voters., Lukáš Linek., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
The article deals with the conceptualisation of the issue of European integration from the perspective of cleavages. First, the author presents 'post-Rokkanian' politics as a metaphor for the current composition of European societies and subsequently more fluid ties between parties and voters in the political space. The effects that lead to the re-conceptualising of the cleavage concept are discussed within this context. In agreement with Bartolini and Mair, cleavages are seen as the combination of a societal division, a value element and an element of political organisation, but more emphasis is put on the active structuration of social and political conflicts by political parties. Second, the author analyses European integration observed in terms of its cleavage-producing potential. The main argument is based on a specific feature of 'European' cleavages, which combine both functional and territorial dimensions that reflect social and political structures. Only in cases where different aspects of these dimensions are reinforced do 'European' cleavages emerge.
The article deals with causes of lower involvement of women in political functions in the Czech Republic. The author identifies three sets of significant factors: institutional, socioeconomic and political cultural. Her approach is based on the model proposed by Pippa Norris to explain ratio of women in political functions in western European states, which involves both institutional and social factors that influence women's political participation. Thus, the author focuses on institutional rules that constitute barriers of entry of women in political functions. Furthermore, she studies an influence of ways of functioning of political parties that affect the level of gender equality in political representation. Finally, she examines attitudes of Czech public and particularly Czech women to women's political participation as well as reflexion of the lower political representation of women in the public discourse.
Autor přibližuje politické sbližování mezi slovenskými katolíky a evangelíky na přelomu dvacátých a třicátých let minulého století, které se odehrávalo hlavně s ohledem na pragmatické prosazování národních požadavků a vyvrcholilo přijetím takzvaného Zvolenského manifestu na podzim 1932, požadujícího slovenskou autonomii v rámci Československa. Podle recenzenta je dobrým vypravěčem složitých a dramatických událostí, který se spolehlivě orientuje v pramenech a literatuře a není nekritický při posuzování slovenské politiky, na druhé straně však jeho práci poněkud chybí širší středoevropský kontext., The author discusses the political rapprochement between Slovak Roman Catholics and Lutherans in the late 1920s and early 1930s, which took place mainly with regard to the pragmatic advocacy of national demands and culminated in the adoption of the ‘Zvolen Manifesto’ in the autumn of 1932, which demanded autonomy for Slovakia in legislative matters in Czechoslovakia. According to the reviewer, the author does a good job of conveying these complicated, dramatic events, is well oriented in the primary sources and secondary literature, and is critical in his assessments of Slovak politics, but his work fails to provide the broader central European context., and [autor recenze] Marek Šmíd.
The aim of this article is to fill in the gap in research focusing on the problem of the political participation of women in the Czech Republic. Based on text and interview analysis, it explains the role of women activists in Czech parliamentary parties in endorsing women for election to representative bodies. The article begins by describing the associations formed by women party activists and their position within the party structure, and then looks at the role of these associations in supporting women’s access to political structures. It also describes how women party activists take into account the barriers to women’s political participation and possible ways of removing these restraints. The final part introduces the hypothesis that although the creation of these associations seems to be a positive step towards improving women chances of gaining access to representative bodies, in their present form and circumstances they have no power to achieve any significant improvement in the status quo., Veronika Šprincová., tabulka, and Obsahuje bibliografii
The article focuses on representatives of the regional (and most recently established) level of government in the Czech Republic. It describes the context behind the emergence of regional governments and how they differ from the local and national political levels. It notes the close personnel connection between local and regional political elites. Experience gained in local politics helps elites to succeed at the regional level. The presence of local politicians in regional government varies with the level of residential fragmentation and the degree of urbanisation in the given region. Unlike local politics, which is consistently comprised of a significant proportion of independents, regional representatives are almost exclusively members of political parties and movements. This situation on the one hand serves to increase the politicisation of local politics and on the other leads to greater competition within political parties, whose programmes and national leadership regional politicians wish to influence.
a1_Autor na rozboru strategie a taktiky Komunistické strany Československa v letech 1945 až 1948 sleduje, jak se v její tehdejší politice uplatňovalo téma takzvané specifické cesty osvobozené Československé republiky k socialistickému společenskému systému. Klade si otázku, jak mohla komunistická strana po válce získat tak masovou podporu, a jednu z příčin jejího úspěchu shledává v pragmaticky a pružně zvolené strategii, využívající vzepjaté národní cítění obyvatel v kombinaci s široce vyznávanými ideály sociální spravedlnosti. Domácí historické kořeny teze o svébytném směřování země k socialismu a její přitažlivosti nachází autor ve druhé polovině 19. století, kdy se v české společnosti a politice prosazovaly a propojovaly levicové a nacionální myšlenky, jejichž symbióza poté silně působila po celou dobu první republiky. Předseda KSČ Klement Gottwald (1896-1953) a další členové stranického vedení po květnu 1945 popisovali současnou situaci v termínech "národní a demokratické revoluce" a "budování lidové demokracie", v nichž ovšem zazníval akcent na jejich specifický charakter. Samotné heslo zvláštní československé cesty k socialismu zaznamenává autor v projevech komunistických představitelů až na podzim 1946 a rozhodující moment pro jeho formulaci spatřuje ve vítězství KSČ ve volbách v květnu téhož roku, které přesvědčily stranické špičky o tom, že je možné Československo přetvořit na socialistický stát pokojnou cestou stále radikálnějších reforem, bez násilí a "diktatury proletariátu" podle sovětského vzoru., a2_Tato myšlenka získala v praktické politice podobu hesla o boji za získání většiny národa, která by komunistické straně zajistila více než padesát procent hlasů v příštích volbách. Autor přitom upozorňuje na důležitost mezinárodního kontextu, zejména postojů Moskvy, která Stalinovými ústy deklarovala svůj souhlas s představou o rozdílných cestách vedoucích k socialismu v různých zemích, v závislosti na jejich domácích poměrech. Zásadní obrat v politice Moskvy v létě a na podzim 1947, který odráželo zejména založení Informačního byra komunistických a dělnických stran, se promítl do strategie KSČ, když v boji o moc začala vedle cesty voleb plánovat i alternativní postupy s využitím nátlakových a násilných metod. Ty nakonec efektivně použila v únorovém převratu roku 1948, o němž autor referuje z pohledu zpráv sovětských diplomatů a úředníků. Vedení KSČ se sice československé cesty k socialismu výslovně nezřeklo, po rozkolu SSSR s Jugoslávií a nastolení "zostřeného kurzu" Moskvou na podzim 1948 ji však zcela opustilo a přebíralo sovětský model socialismu. Autor resumuje, že povrchní a teoreticky nepropracovaná koncepce "československé cesty k socialismu" v politice KSČ jistý čas opravdu existovala, jejím cílem však bylo jen pokojné převzetí moci a v podstatě se jednalo o demokratickou kamufláž cesty ke komunistické diktatuře., a3_V závěru autor představuje sovětský dokument "O některých chybách v činnosti Komunistické strany Československa" (O někotorych ošibkach v dějatělnosti Kommunističeskoj partii Čechoslovakii), který je v českém překladu editován a publikován jako příloha článku. Význam dokumentu demonstruje na konkrétních změnách, které následovaly v politice KSČ v souladu s tezemi sovětských činitelů. Tento poměrně obsáhlý a k politice vedení KSČ velmi kritický text vypracovali úředníci aparátu Ústředního výboru Všesvazové komunistické strany (bolševiků) L. Baranov, V. Mošetov a A. Antipov, datován je 5. dubna 1948 a určen byl pro Michaila Andrejeviče Suslova (1902-1982), který byl tehdy vedoucím oddělení zahraniční politiky ÚV VKS(b). (Dokument byl rusky publikován v edici: VOLOKITINA, T. V. - ISLAMOV, T. M. - MURAŠKO, G. P. - NOSKOVA, A. F. - ROGOVAJA, A. L. (ed.): Vostočnaja Jevropa v dokumentach rossijskich archivov 1944-1953 gg., sv. 1: 1944-1948 gg. Moskva - Novosibirsk, Sibirskij chronograf 1997, s. 831-858.) Zpráva se zaměřuje na několik oblastí - strategii KSČ v boji o moc a její deklarované cíle, vnitřní výstavbu strany, národnostní politiku a zemědělskou politiku - a vytýká vedení československých komunistů řadu chyb a nedostatků. Největší chybu spatřuje právě v orientaci KSČ na pokojnou cestu k socialismu bez třídního boje a obětí, v přeceňování parlamentních forem boje a v podceňování významu revolučního vystoupení lidových mas., a4_Dále kritizuje masové rozšiřování členské základny KSČ, které hodnotí jako odmítání bolševických zásad organizační výstavby strany. Ostrý odsudek si vedení KSČ (stejně jako ostatní předúnorové strany) vysloužilo za nacionalistickou politiku uplatňovanou vůči německé a maďarské menšině v Československu, přezírající leninsko-stalinské přístupy v národnostní otázce. Podobné úchylky se údajně dopustilo v rolnické otázce, když nevypracovalo vědecký program jejího řešení a nenarušilo základy kapitalismu na vesnici. V závěru zprávy její pisatelé konstatují, že KSČ musí přezkoumat svá teoretická východiska i praktickou politiku, a formulují podmínky, které musí nutně splnit ke své nápravě v duchu marxismu-leninismu., a1_In this analysis of the strategy and tactics of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1945 to 1948, the author considers how, in its policies, the Party applied the notion of the so-called "special road" of liberated Czechoslovakia to a Socialist system. He asks how, after the Second World War, the Party could gain such mass support. He sees one of the reasons for its success in its pragmatically and flexibly choosing strategy and using the heightened popular national feeling in combination with the widely acknowledged ideal of social justice. The historical roots of the Czech notion of the country´s distinctive orientation towards socialism and its attractiveness, argues the author, are in the second half of the nineteenth century, when left-wing nacionalist ideas were promoted and linked together in Czech society and politics. Their symbiosis then had a strong effect during the whole existence of the first republic. The chairman of the Party, Klement Gottwald (1896-1953), like other members of the leadership, described the contemporary situation after May 1945 as a "national and democratic revolution" and the "building of a people´s democracy", in which, however, the accent was on their special character., a2_The author finds the first use of the slogan "the Czechoslovak road to socialism" in speeches of Communist Party representatives in autumn 1946, and he considers the decisive moment for its formulation to be the victory of the Communist Party in the general elections of May 1946, when the top-level members of the Party convinced themselves that it was possible to remake Czechoslovakia into a Socialist state by following a peaceful road of increasinly radical reforms, without the violence or "dictatorship of the proletariat" of the Soviet model. In practice this idea was expressed in the slogan about the struggle to win over the majority of the nation, which was meant to ensure the Communist Party more than fifty per cent of the vote in the next elections. The author points to the importance of the international context, particularly the attitudes of Moscow, which, as Stalin said, declared that it agreed to the notion of different roads leading to socialism in different countries, depending on the local circumstances in each. The fundamental turnaround in Kremlin policy in summer and autumn 1947, reflected particularly in the founding of the Cominform (Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers´ Parties), was projected into the strategy of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, when, in the struggle for power, it began, in addition to elections, to plan alternative approaches using pressure and violence. Ultimately these were effectively employed in the February 1948 takeover, which the author examines from the viewpoint of reports by Soviet diplomats and bureaucrats. Though the Czechoslovak Communist Party leadership did not explicitely reject the Czechoslovak road to socialism, after the Soviet-Yugoslav split and the establishment of a more hard-line course by the Kremlin in autumn 1948, it completely abandoned the Czechoslovak road and adopted the Soviet model of Socialism., a3_The author sums up by saying that although the superficial and undeveloped concept of the Cezchoslovak road did indeed exist for a while in Czechoslovak Communist Party policy, it was only intended for the purpose of taking power peacefully and was essentially a tactic to make the road to Communist dictatorship appear democratic. The author concludes with the Soviet document "O nekotorykh oshibkakh v deyatelnosti Kommunisticheskoy partii Chekhoslovakii", presented here in Czech translation as a supplement to the article. The author demonstrates the importance of the document by discussing particular changes in Czechoslovak Communist Party policy in accord with Soviet ideas. This long text, highly critical of the Czechoslovak Communist Party leadership, was drawn up by three officials of the apparat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), L. Baranov, V. Moshetov, and A. Antipov, on 5 April 1948, for Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov (1902-1082), the head of the foreign policy department of the Central Committee. (The document was published in Russian in T. V. Volokitina et al., Vostochnaia Evropa v dokumentakh rossijskikh arkhivov 1944-1953 gg., vol. 1, 1944-1948 gg. Moscow and Novosibirsk: Sibirskii Khronograf, 1997, pp. 831-58.) The report focuses on several areas - Party strategy in the power struggle and its declared aims, the internal building up of the Party, nationalities policy and agricultural policy -, and it reproaches the Czechoslovak leadership for a number of mistakes and shortcomings., a4_The report sees the greatest mistake in the Czechoslovak Communist Party´s orientation to a peaceful road to Socialism without class struggle or victims, in its overrating of parliamentary forms of struggle and underestimating the importance of the revolutionary rising up of the masses. It also criticizes the mass expansion of the membership base of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, which it considers to be a rejection of the Bolshevik principles of the organizational building up of the Party. The report condemns the leadership of the Czechoslovak Communist Party (and other parties before the February takeover) for its nationalities policy when dealing with the German and Hungarian minorities in Czechoslovakia, because the leadership ignored Leninist-Stalinist approaches to this question. The Czechoslovak Communist Party leadership, according to the authors of the report, were guilty of similar deviations on the peasant question, because it had failed to work out a "scientific" solution and did not strike at the very foundations of capitalism in the villages. In the conclusion of the report, the authors state that the Czechoslovak Communist Party shoud have re-examined its theoretical starting points and practical policy, and they set out the terms and conditions that the leadership had to meet in order to rectify the situation in the Marxist-Leninist spirit., Jiří Pernes., Součástí článku je sovětský dokument uvedený v překladu Jany Váchové v Příloze, and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy