East European Politics & Societies current issue

Socialism with a Slovak Face: Federalization, Democratization, and the Prague Spring

Brown, S. — 2008-07-17

Exploring the "federalization debate" that occurred in the context of the Prague Spring, this article highlights the diversity of opinions among political elites in Slovakia regarding the federalization and democratization discussions in 1968. The language Slovaks used to call for federalization reveals how they conceive of democracy and democratization, and it shows the variety of meanings Slovaks ascribed to federalization and to the popular slogan, "First federalization, then democratization." Federalization and democratization were mutually dependent in the minds of many Slovaks. The author argues that Slovak political and cultural figures writing in the late 1960s saw federalization as a necessary precondition for democracy; they regarded the nation as one of the basic units of democracy, which led them to champion institutional safeguards for Slovak national rights as a prerequisite for successful democratization.

Social Policy in the Czech "Republic": The Past and the Future of Reforms

Vecernik, J. — 2008-07-17

The article describes the development of Czech policy after 1989 and the controversies it caused. It first looks at the ambiguous nature of the communist welfare state and then proceeds to outline the theoretical alternatives. After early and energetic changes in the system, stagnation set in around the mid-1990s. Despite some problems, the current performance of the system is satisfactory, but its outlook in terms of long-term efficiency is unsatisfactory, as it will generate a rising debt into the future. In particular, the disadvantaged situation for families, the insufficient work motivation, and the frozen pension system are all causes for concern. The political shift to the right after 2006 ushered in reform measures and new reform plans. While reforms are necessary, their feasibility is uncertain owing to the fragility of the Czech political scene.

Cleavages in the Contemporary Czech and Slovak Politics Between Persistence and Change

Hlousek, V., Kopecek, L. — 2008-07-17

This study describes and compares Czech and Slovak party politics after 1989. The concept of cleavages is used as a theoretical starting point. The authors point out that although the communist period overshadowed the traditional cleavages dating from the second half of the nineteenth century, it is possible to analyze some politically-based cleavages in the respective party arrangements of the two countries. The main conclusion of the article is as follows: that despite differing trajectories of political development during the 1990s, at the present time, both the Czech and Slovak party systems show great similarities in terms of the prevalence of the socioeconomic cleavage. Socioeconomic cleavage emerged quite early after 1989 in the Czech Republic; in Slovakia the socioeconomic cleavage has become dominant only in recent years. This has contributed to the stabilization of the classic left-right model of political competition and the consolidation of the two countries' party systems.

The Politics of Minimal "Consensus": Interethnic Opposition Coalitions in Post-Communist Romania (1990-96) and Slovakia (1990-98)

Mihailescu, M. — 2008-07-17

This article argues that the inclusion of ethnic Hungarian parties within the Slovak and Romanian democratic oppositions during the early years of democratic transition was a critical element for the peaceful management of interethnic relations in these two multiethnic new democracies. Contrary to what the existing literature suggests, violent conflict was averted despite the absence of institutions specially designed to manage interethnic relations, the exclusion of ethnic minorities from government, and quasi-majoritarian political environments. In the two studied cases, interethnic opposition coalitions resulted from the adoption of basic democratic political institutions, which constrained actors across the ethnic divide to cooperate based on a minimal consensus agenda. More broadly, this article questions the claim that multiethnic countries are unlikely candidates for peaceful democratization, and suggests that as long as participation in democratic processes, either in government or in opposition, is possible for ethnic minorities, violent conflict can be averted.

Czech Diplomacy: Challenges and Opportunities

Murphy, R. — 2008-07-17

This article examines changes in the structure and operation of the Czech Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) after the collapse of communism through its entry into the European Union. Like all foreign ministries, the MFA must adapt to the changing nature of diplomacy, where the distinction between foreign policy and domestic policy has become increasingly blurred. The MFA must compete in a more crowded foreign policy-making environment. However, the MFA has also been transformed by the collapse of communism. The ministry has been purged and forced to reevaluate its operations, goals, and institutional culture. This article evaluates the success of the MFA in meeting these significant challenges, and compares these reforms to the reforms of other ministries in the Czech Republic and other foreign ministries.

The Visegrad Group in the Expanded European Union: From Preaccession to Postaccession Cooperation

Dangerfield, M. — 2008-07-17

This article investigates whether the Visegrád Group (VG) is proving capable of a successful transition from preaccession to postaccession cooperation in the expanded European Union (EU). Prior to EU accession, the VG agenda mainly emphasised political cooperation around strategic goals of EU and NATO membership, acting as an incubation chamber and the organising framework for joint policies and actions. The article finds that pessimistic prognoses for postaccession VG cooperation in circulation around the time of EU entry rather underestimated the VG's staying power and its usefulness as a vehicle for serving some of the requirements and challenges of the actuality of the "return to Europe." The postaccession agenda seems to have opened up many new avenues for cooperation on both intra-VG and external affairs, including towards the EU, and seems to have given rise to the kind of substantial practical cooperation agenda that eluded the VG during the preaccession period.

Collective Guilt, Collective Responsibility and the Serbs

Clark, J. N. — 2008-07-17

Can an entire nation be collectively guilty for crimes committed in its name? Focusing on the case of Serbia, this article argues that collective guilt is a morally flawed and untenable concept that should be rejected. It presents various moral and practical objections to both the generic notion of collective guilt and the more specific idea of Serbian collective guilt and contends that the latter is a fundamental impediment to peace-building and reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia. On what basis might it be argued that the Serbs are collectively guilty? To claim that they are collectively guilty for having supported Milosevic both exaggerates levels of support for the former Serbian leader and does a major injustice to those individuals who bravely fought against the Milosevic regime. Drawing on the work of Hannah Arendt and Karl Jaspers, the article concludes by suggesting that perhaps we can speak of Serbian collective responsibility.

Review of Feinburg's Elusive Equality, Johnson and Robinson's Living Gender after Communism, and Wingfield and Bucur's Gender and War in Twentieth Century Eastern Europe: Elusive Equality: Gender, Citizenship, and the Limits of Democracy in Czechoslovakia, 1918--1950, by Melissa Feinberg. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2006. Living Gender after Communism, by Janet Elise Johnson and Jean C. Robinson. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2007. Gender and War in Twentieth Century Eastern Europe, edited by Nancy Wingfield and Maria Bucur. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006. $24.95 (paperback)

Frieze, I. H., Olson, J. E. — 2008-07-17

Note on Authors

2008-07-17