Vít Hloušek

Origin, Ideology and Transformation of Political Parties.East-Central and Western Europe Compared

Two decades have passed since the transition to democracy began in Eastern Europe. Today, West and East-Central European countries share a common political space - the European Union. This has created a fascinating opportunity for analysis of the similarities and differences between these countries. In this book, Vit Hlousek and Lubomir Kopecek critically apply the party families approach to political parties in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. With chapters devoted to social democrats, greens, the far right and left amongst many others, this book charts the parties origins, ideologies, and international ties alongside their Western European counterparts. By examining the political relevance of different party families, Hlousek and Kopecek are able to assess the validity of this typology in the analysis of the transformation of political parties in this region.

Europeanization of Political Parties and the Party System in the Czech Republic

The experience of the major political parties of the Czech Republic, both in the EU accession period and after joining the Union, suggests that processes of Europeanization have had only a limited impact, not simply on party programmes and organizations, but also on the structure and content of party politics and policies. Nonetheless, the field of policy appears to be a potentially more relevant area for Europeanization to have an impact than in the arena of politics, understood as the inter-party quest for power.

Caretaker Governments in Czech Politics: What to Do about a Government Crisis

Czech politics suffers from a low durability of most of its governments, and frequent government crises. One of the products of this situation has been the phenomenon of caretaker governments. This article analyses why political elites have resorted to this solution, and discusses how this has reflected an older Czech tradition. Two cases of such governments are analysed in detail. The Tošovský government was characterised by the ability of the Czech president to advance his agenda through this government at a time when the party elites were divided. The Fischer government was characterised by the considerably higher role of parties that shaped and limited the agenda of the cabinet, and the president played a more static role.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: The Story of the Populist Public Affairs Party in the Czech Republic

Abstract The 2010 parliamentary election resulted in the unprecedented electoral success of the Public Affairs, the first electorally successful exclusively populist political party in the history of the Czech Republic. The article examines the history, ideological profile and the internal organization of the party and concludes that the success of the party was facilitated by the growing dissatisfaction with the political situation. The VV result also indicates (together with the success of TOP 09 and the drop in electoral support for ODS) that the dynamics of the party system are changing, and that the right-wing/centre part of the political spectrum in the Czech Republic is undergoing restructuring. When assessing the organizational structure of the party, VV can be labelled as an excellent example of business-firm party.

Is the Czech Republic on its Way to Semi-Presidentialism?

ABSTRACT The main aim of the article is to contribute to the bourgeoning debate on semipresidentialism, its definition, and its characteristic features, with analysis of the empirical example of the Czech Republic, a country which, according to Elgie´s standard definition, shifted to semi-presidentialism in 2012. The author investigates whether and how Miloš Zeman, the first directly elected president of the Czech Republic, influences relations among the key political institutions in the direction of the model of a semi-presidential democracy. The paper sets out the working concept of semi-presidentialism first and, through the lenses of process tracing, analyses the goals and acts of Zeman after he entered office in January 2013. The case study of the Czech Republic sheds light not only on the recent development(s) in the Czech political system, but it can be seen as an interesting example of how strong political personalities are attempting to expand their influence on politics in a parliamentary democracy and what the possible limits of this effort are.

Different Ways of Institutionalising Entrepreneurial Parties :Czech Public Affairs Party and ANO

This article analyses and compares two Czech entrepreneurial parties, Public Affairs (VV) and ANO. The theoretical framework of the article is the development model of institutionalisation proposed by Robert Harmel and Lars Svasand, which has three phases: identification, organisation and stabilisation. In the paper, the reasons of the failure of Public Affairs and the successful stabilisation of ANO are explained. The main difference was identified in the phase of organisation.

Entrepreneurial Parties: A Basic Conceptual Framework

The paper offers a conceptual framework to investigate phenomenon of entrepreneurial parties in the countries of East-Central Europe. The authors evaluate existing concepts related to increasing interdependence of the party politics and the business sector and offer the minimal conceptualisation of an entrepreneurial party. The minimal conceptualisation is based on the five basic features: (1) the central role of the leader and his private initiative, party as a (2) personal vehicle, (3) crucial formative influence of leader over the political project. Two other features are related to social and institutional un-rootedness of the entrepreneurial party which is neither a product of (4) a promoter/sponsor organisation or social movement, nor it is an outcome of (5) parliamentary split or emergence of a new faction.

Shifting borders and contested identities: the quest for republican EU citizenship and polity

The book chapter deals with the issue of citizenship of the European Union facing the changing borders and contesting of various concepts of collective identities. The authors claim that for maintenance of coherence of the very idea of EU citizenship, a republican concept of it completing the human rights with political obligations and virtues is needed.

Dauerwahlkampf und die Tücken der Verhältniswahl bei fragilen Parteien

Der Beitrag verdeutlicht, dass die Verhaltniswahl zwar die Reprasentation politischer Interessen fordert, dies jedoch unter der Bedingung eines in Tschechien instabilen Parteiengefuges hinderlich fur die Regierungsbildung und –stabilitat sein kann. Trotz haufiger Wahlen zu verschiedenen Vertretungsorganen ist die Verbindung von Wahlern zu Reprasentanten nicht eng, sondern durch ein groses Misstrauen und einen geringen Anteil an Mitgliedschaften gepragt. Je tiefer die Ebene, desto schwacher ist die Rolle von Parteien. Das Parteiensystem entspricht dem extremen und polarisierten Pluralismus; nur 1996/1998 bis 2010/2013 gab es einen limitierten Pluralismus mit bipolarer Funktionslogik. Der Parteienwettbewerb umfasst neben dem soziookonomischen cleavage auch einen Streit uber die Beschaffenheit des Regimes und die Interpretation der Vergangenheit. Neu ist der Aufstieg von Unternehmerparteien, welche die Grenze zwischen wirtschaftlichen und politischen Interessen durchbrechen.

Anti-Islamism without Moslems: Cognitive Frames of Czech Antimigrant Politics

Abstract The paper deals with the way that the Czech extremist – as well as the mainstream – politicians use to frame the issues related to Moslem migration. The paper seeks to find the answer to a situation of successful use of anti-Islam and anti-immigrant campaigning in the country, which is neither a destination country nor an important transit country for the migrants. The paper approaches the topic through the conceptual lenses of the concept of cognitive frames. By discursive analysis of selected Czech politicians’ rhetoric in the period of 2015–2016, the authors show how politicians are constructing the cognitive frameworks on migrants and refugees, connecting these groups with radical Islam and the construct of danger, thus shifting the migration issue from the framework of international assistance and aid to securitized frameworks.